hApPy "YOU" yEaR !

haPpy yOu yEaR!

Happy 2017, fun&freePps!

So we've dropped a big story in the past couple of days, and now it's time to rock it to the present and the future! This is your year of creating and celebrating the life you desire-- welcome to 2017! You are aLIVE and yoUr fabulous existence began as a strand of DNA . . . amazing . . . huh? 

How do you live your life on purpose, with purpose? 

I am doing a lot of stuff right now to figure out them meaning of my LIFE('s) juiciest purpose, and when I get in touch with me, I can check in to what gives me a feeling of passion and what brings me to LIFE!

When I used to live from the OUTSIDE:IN, I worried a lot about what other people thought of me--I found myself reacting to life rather than responding to it. And while responding is a more powerful place than reacting, I still wasn't living life & loving (myself and others) as a powerful coCreator!

I beLIeVE it is my destiny (& yours, too) to be the most powerful and fabulous expression of me I can be! That is each of our highest calling.

So, are you living life small? Or, are you living LARGE and in CHARGE--bursting forward with pursuing the amazing creative aCtS that give you energy and passion?

Have you every thought that the world will be a better place if you sHaRe your amazing gifts with the You-niverse, with your fellow travelers--otherwise, why would you be here? What presence do you wish to leave as your personal signature to your delicious and amazing existence?

That doesn't mean that life is easy, and there won't be challenges--as a matter of fact, the hard stuff is designed especially for us so we can learn and become even more amazing (I know it's hard to believe when your in the emotional and experiental crapper). Check out this Dr. Seuss vid called "Oh, The Places You'll Go" as a reminder of the awesome texture of LIFE!

Today, the first day of the NEW YEAR--I challenge you to do a bit of writing.

• Make a list of at least 10 things, people, experiences, or opportunities that you are incredibly grateful for--be as specific and detailed as you can. Read the list out loud and at the end of each item, graciously feel the gratitude and say Thank you in your mind's eye.
• Create another list of 5 things you desire to call in for this New Year--again, be very specific and write in the present tense. For example, I am earning an extra $1,000 each month, or, I run painlessly and freely each day. When this list is complete, read the list out loud, envision each desire fully with all of your senses-- and at the end of each item, graciously feel the gratitude and say Thank you, and so it is in your mind's eye. If you're really into it, you can create a vision board with the 5 things you's like to manifest--collect images, magazine snippets, drawings, whatever you like, and make a visual representation of each of your 5 desires that you can hang somewhere you'll see it every day.
• Revisit your lists daily, and do the gratitude piece to close each process.

This is just on step to living your life as your BeSt sElF--remember that every juicy moment and hOLy interaction is created jUsT for you to reaCh youR hIghEsT poTentIaL! What are some of your desires in the new year? Leave a comment on the blog--we appreciate you sharing your experience!

You are large and in charge! LOL!

Blessings in the New Year!

Dana

Let iT gO!

Here is an awesomely inspired video by 

SoulPancake

of OprahWinfreyNetwork

about ForGIVEness, letting go, and

Popping Your Problems

gReEtInGs fun & free people!

. . . a note about the whole name thing, specifically about the word free today. The word free has so many different meanings, doesn't it? . . .

• free to choose
• free to speak
• free to be YOU
• free to express yourself
• free to create
• free to choose your own path
• free from living from the OUT:side IN
• free from regret
• free from the past

Free basically means, unattached from expectations--like, what others think of us (but, like, not to mean you can just do whatever you want, like be cruel or do anything against the law...)

Sometimes, freedom means freely forGIVING people who have hurt us (whether they meant to or not, cuz we can never really know the TRUTH about that; sometimes it's stuff we make up in our head, in our STORIES).

It also means forgiving YOUrs(elf) (like, as in, your mean inner (s)Elf) . . .

When we carry resentment, it actually hurts US (not the person we are mad at . . .). I heard once that holding resentment is like holding a piece of really hot burning coal . . . and expecting the person we are mad at to get burned! Kind of crazy, but true! 

Think about it like this: 

re-sent-ment is like getting 

                     crappy energy 

                               re-sent (back to) me(nt). 

So LET IT GO! 

You'll feel much lighter (money back, guaranteed!)

More later about some ways to do this . . .

Breathe in the light and love!

;) Dana

Love Be-ing A TeacHer!

I'm so lucky to be a teacher!

hEy tHeRe!

Many teachers and kids do the countdown to summer toward the end of the school year--so excited for summer, right? Well;, I'm at work this morning as an 8th grade English teacher at Valley Middle School and guess what?

I LOVE IT!

I mean, what could be better than 

hanging out with kids all day?

(the groWn-Ups are okay, too, I guess . . . LOL!)

Honestly, I feel super lucky and blessed to have a job I love, and to tell the truth, teaching actually found mE. Here's the super no-coincidence story:

Once upon a time in my twenties after college, I was in my room late at night reading a college course catalog (yes, I was working at a department store in the mall with a 4-year degree, living at home with my parents . . . and that's okay . . . I just didn't have a direction, or a focus, and I wasn't sure what to do with my life, hence the college course catalog). I turned a page open and vwah-lah (is that how you spell it?), out popped a section in the catalog for a teaching license program for English (which was my degree in college).

I was like WHOA! COOL! I could be a teacher! and looked farther down the page. I needed two letters on reference from college professors, a copy of my college transcript, an essay explaining my interest in the program, and a filled-out application form. Not a problem, really . . . but then I looked at the deadline: 

iT was 

DuE the

vEry nExT dAy at 5:00 p.m.

I didn't know it at the time, but this was one of the very first times I felt the Universe leveraging itself for me. I knew I was going to be a teacher after I saw this program, and I knew I was going to meet the deadline.  

So, I stayed up all might long writing my essay and filling out the application, and in the morning right away, I called two of my favorite professors the and asked for references THE VERY SAME DAY. They agreed! (of course) . . . 

That very same day (fewer than 24 hours since I had read about the program), I headed down to the University of Minnesota with my application; I picked up the references from my two professors; I went to the transcript office and got an authorized copy of my college grades; AND, I hand-delivered my entire application at (you guessed it!) around 4:55 p.m.

I made the deadline!

Anyway, that is the story of the beginning of my love affair with teaching. I feel so blessed to be a teacher and to have a job that I absolutely adore. Deepak Chopra, in his Seven Laws of Spiritual Success describes The Law of Dharma in this way:

"Everyone has a purpose in life . . . a unique gift or special talent to give to others. And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals."

Do you think your work is connected to your dharma?

Let's continue tomorrow!

Blessings!

Dana

rEsIsTanCe iS fUtiLe; aCcEptaNcE iS PreSenCe!

Star Trek: Resistance is Futile

When you become defensive, blame others, and do not accept and surrender to the moment, your life meets resistance. Any time you encounter resistance, recognize that if you force the situation, the resistance will only increase. You don't want to stand rigid like a tall oak that cracks and collapses in the storm. Instead, you want to be flexible, like a reed that bends with the storm and survives.

Completely desist from defending your point of view. When you have no point to defend, you do not allow the birth of an argument. Someone once told me, "The past is history, the future is a mystery, and this moment is a gift. That is why this moment is called 'the present'."                              

~Deepak Chopra

Dear FunFreePeeps:

Most of us have experienced another person persecuting us, verbally; in other words, people are talking s#!+ about us. It's interesting how we humans do that to each other. And guess what? It meets some serious needs for the person who is talking s#!+.

Let's take a closer look:

• If I talk about you, I take the spotlight off of myself and what it is about ME that I need to change, shift, or look at.
• When I focus on YOU, I ASSume I know what's in your head and what you need. SUPER-DUPER LIE! 
• If I talk about being "worried" about YOU . . . I am ASSigning meaning to your life which is frankly, . . . NONE OF MY dA(m)nG BUSY-NESS . . . 

Which brings me to the idea of BUSY-NESS.

Have you ever noticed that people who are focused on the business of others do not look at their own business, and they create more and more BUSY-NESS out of their own habit of keeping up with what's going on with everyone else? 

It's okay. Like I wrote earlier, this is a need-seeking behavior. We all have a need for significance and belonging, and sometimes we feel significant when we have "THE (made up) GOODS" on someone else, and we stir the pot to create chaos and deflect focus from ourselves and our own stuff. HOW Convenient. Thanks, Church Lady (Dana Garvey from SNL). CLICK BELOW!

For those of us who have done this (and I, for sure, am guilty . . .) I invite you to kindly and firmly KNOCK IT OFF, and

LOOK IN THE MIRROR:RORRIM EHT NI KOOL 

People, frankly,

do not want to get sucked into your

s#!+STORM;

(note poop-brown color)

it's not interesting,

it's draining,

and it lacks integrity.

For those of us who have been the recipient of such diatribes:

• RELAX. Breathe. It's not about you!
• As Chopra said, DO NOT DEFEND YOURSELF. "Completely desist from defending your point of view." Everything in the Universe is energy, and in these situations, we need to conserve our energy for ourselves. Defending takes your energy away. 
• Know that this is need-seeking behavior (not about you) and try to have compassion for the person who persecutes you; remember time when you have done the same.
• LOVE YOURSELF EVEN MORE--WHATEVER THAT LOOKS LIKE FOR YOU. Here are some ideas that work for me:
• take a salt bath.
• exercise.
• change your environment.
• meditate (don't medicate . . .)
• write.
• scream into a pillow.
• rest.
• watch your favorite stupid show.

What are your feelings and thoughts about these emotional VaMpIrES?  How do you handle them in your amazing Life?

Let us know in the comments!

MonSTer (but not vampire) LovE!

Dana

trAnsFoRmAtiOn . . . and rE-bIrTh (Happy Easter!)

Metamorphosis is naturally destructive.

~Danielle LaPorte

One summer, a bUtTeRfLy landed on me, and then I kept seeing them over and over. I took this as a sign from the Universe of a newly arrived tOtEm: 

bUtTTerFly! 

Happy Easter!

(also a time of transFORmation, transMUtation, and change . . .)

The butterfly reminds us about biRtH and reBiRtH . . . and also gently whispers to us:

The only constant in

life is

cHaNGe! 

I don't know about you, but when I was a teenager, I sometime felt downright awkward, sluggish, and well, kind of wormISH, in a way (sometimes still feel like this, btw!). If you think about caterpillars, they are kind of the same 

. . . gross and not-so-good looking, perhaps?

Can you believe that yucky wormy caterpillars transform themselves into beautiful and amazing butterflies?

Do you think caterpillars realize their existence

in the dirt with the other worms and bugs is actually

preparing them for their 

most miraculous life 

above the ground in free flight?

Can you imagine the view--

the difference in perspective?!

(gOoSeBuMp alert!)

What if yoUr existence now--with all the good stuff and the yucky crap, too, is doing the same:

preparing you for yoUr

most miraculous life

above the ground in free flight?

Here's a reveal of a 

butterfly's

first emergence

(nice outfit!)

If you've ever watched a caterpillar spin a cocoon and emerge as a butterfly,

 you may have noticed a couple of things:

the process of

transformation

takes 

t . . . i . . . m . . . e

and

trUst

that

nAtUrE

knows what she's doing!

When you were born, just like any other creature, you had to trust that when you arrived, you would be caught and cared for, right?

Guess what?

You are still caught and cared for, . . . even if it may not be showing up the way you want.

Love it all,

Dana