January 16, 2008 - Tips for Thriving in The Year Ahead

Happy New Year!

Did you know that the word 'wealth' comes from the Middle English 'Welthe', which meant 'wellbeing' -- versus 'loading up on the cash'?

Who knew? These are the sorts of little, and big, revelations that are likely to come flying into every opened mind and window in the coming year.

From a whole range of perspectives, 2008 is looking to be a highly dynamic year with a whole lot of changing going on.

Before you get that queasy feeling in your gut, take a breath and hold the possibility that in this case, change may well be very, very good. Read on for clues…

With the great shifts and changes that are underway -- personally, collectively, globally -- it's not likely that most of us will feel anything near comfortable if we cling to the status quo.

More likely, if it's the status quo we try to protect or preserve, we'll end up feeling like a leaf clinging to a tree limb during a hurricane.

There are times when stepping out of the certainties, comfort zones, and illusions of security and into what the poet David Whyte calls 'the fierce edges of life' is exactly the right thing to do, even as it might seem to be the hardest.

Truly, in the comfort zone, strapped in place by the status quo, we might be able to survive and eke out a life, but it's only on those seemingly dizzying edges where real joy, purpose, authenticity, creativity, and potential come dancing alive.

And this is life, here for the living of it.

This edition of Ivy SeaZine explores just a few ideas about how to thrive in 2008, and offers a little bit of inspiration to guide the way.

You'll find more by browsing Ivy Sea Online or scheduling a personal consultation or insight-session.

Sincerely,

Jamie Walters
Founder, Ivy Sea
Author, Big Vision, Small Business (Berrett-Koehler Publishers)

Here's what's in this Ivy SeaZine edition:

** Article: Seven Vital Tips for Thriving in 2008

** VIP Resources, PDF Vision Catalysts, and More in the Store

** Tele-Consultations and Insight-Sessions - An Inspired Start to 2008

** Inspiring Quotations for Your Journey

** About Ivy Sea, the SeaZine, subscribing and unsubscribing

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Article: Seven Vital Tips for Thriving in 2008

The first step in thriving at any given time is to make the choice and set the intention: "Regardless of what's going on around me, regardless of the temporary circumstances at any given time, I choose to thrive."

Once you've decided to thrive rather than simply survive or eke out a life, there are many practices and resources available for you to play with.

Here are a few; you'll find more ideas and practices at Ivy Sea Online and in my blogs.

** Shift your perceptual orientation from 'outside in' to 'inside out'.

In Western culture, and American culture in particular, most of us have been very well trained to become someone other than who we are.

We operate by a very narrow set of outside expectations and definitions of 'success', and set about forgetting what really matters to us -- silencing the voice and wisdom of our hearts and souls -- to morph into the best possible version of the Good Daughter or Son of the Patriarchy.

Even when the result is disharmonious, unbalanced, depressing, fatiguing, and deadening, our training tells us to 'buck up', 'go along to get along,' and 'deal with it', for the promise of … what, exactly?

If nothing else is clear from the events of the past decade, it's that what we thought constituted 'security' and 'success' has been shown to be the impostor and havoc-wreaker that it is. The jig is up; the fake has been outed.

In 2008, I prophesy that playing it false will be out of fashion, and unveiling and expressing the True You will be very much in vogue.

'Success' will be redefined. By you, according to your own soul-defined standards, according to how it makes your gut and mind and body and soul feel.

If the feeling is joyful, harmonious, and healing for you, then you will be a joyful, harmonious, and healing force for those around you. May it be so.

How do you do this? Cultivate a new relationship with your own juicy center -- your heart and soul. It will guide you well and true.

** Decide that you thrive in uncertainty.

Make this proclamation right now: "I thrive in uncertainty; uncertainty brings me alive and delivers wonderful new blessings and opportunities into my life."

I suggest this because, by all counts, things are -- as a rule of Nature and right now on the planet -- very uncertain.

Our assumptions that things are static, secure, controllable, and certain have not delivered us to great places -- we all pretty much know that 'change is the only constant'.

Maybe it's time we decided that we really can, after all, learn to surf change and thrive in uncertainty.

I've always loved the quote from Immanuel Wallerstein, who said, "If everything is uncertain, then the future is open to human creativity, to possibility and therefore to a better world."

Phrased another way, if everything is certain, thoughts of creativity, possibility, real wealth (aka wellbeing), and a better, healthier world are moot.

Since creativity, possibility, real wellbeing, and a better, healthier world are desirable, it follows that uncertainty -- in which such wonders are gestated and from which they're birthed -- may not be half-bad.

Choose joy and grace.

In the Spring of 2005, just past the nadir (that's the rock-bottom) of a long walk through 'Dark Night of the Soul' land, a mantra of sorts erupted out of my spirit and then my mouth in a burst of spontaneity:

"I want more joy, colorfulness, and grace in my life."

I said it with serious conviction, too. I really, really meant it.

I had no idea at the time just how that was going to happen, exactly, and the several years just prior weren't shining examples of it.

But lo and behold, as 2005 unfolded, I started seeing more and more 'evidence for grace'; joy, colorfulness, and grace were indeed weaving themselves once more into my experience.

They were always there, no doubt, but in a moment of connection with my heart and spirit, I made that choice and uttered that prayer.

So rather than creating mantras like, "I hope such-and-such doesn't happen…", why not make a choice and voice a mantra filled with joy, colorfulness, and grace?

Upgrade your mental ecology (aka 'choose your thoughts and patterns mindfully').

The quality of our notions defines the quality of our experience, and often the quality of the quantity in our lives as well!

This is even true in the midst of the most horrible circumstances and experiences, as Psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl wrote about so movingly in the book, Man's Search for Meaning.

While I see the merit of the 'Law of Attraction' as it has been popularly presented recently, there is a deeper, more embodied experience we're going for here in choosing more wisely just what it is you allow into your awareness -- or allow to move in and set up house.

The Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith, in his book, The 40 Day Mind Fast Soul Feast (how fun is that?), shares a Chinese proverb:

Just because there are birds flying all around your head doesn't mean you have to let them build a nest in your hair.

Negativity may be flying around you; naysayers may very well abound; and yes, it really can be the case that a Negative Ned or Nelly is standing at the ready to dump buckets on the tiny, fragile flame of your vision and passion.

Notice that they're there, but don't let them make a nest in your hair.

Set an intention to notice where your mind wanders off to when it's on auto-pilot, and do your own little audit regarding whether that's what you want nesting in your hair and defining your experience.

The quality of your notions affects the quality of your experience -- and your ability to tap into and shine those amazing gifts of yours into the world.

Follow Your Energy to Your Heart's Passion.

Something in your soul nudges you and wanders off from time to time in hopes that you'll follow. It wants to lead you into your most vital authenticity, creativity, and joyful expression.

Too often, we ignore it -- not because we really want to, though we might, in some part, be terrified that it'll lead us out of the roost of status quo (called 'normal').

The Poet David Whyte, in Clear Mind, Wild Heart, shares a story from his own journey into authentic and joyful livelihood.

The gist of Whyte's story was that fatigue, burnout, a feeling of drudgery or unending 'efforting' and the need to 'will-power it to death' are all the results of not putting our energies into what has real heart and meaning for us.

Whyte describes this as, "That for which you have a deep affection."

Your energy and attention want to go towards that for which you have a deep affection. They want to go where the Heart leads them. And they will, and you'll feel their absence unless you make the conscious choice to align with them once more.

Inquire. Start a whole new conversation with your heartfulness and your energy. Ask into what truly it is that you have a deep affection and passion for.

You'll discover your very own wellspring and a sure-fire inner-compass.

Choose to communicate artfully, skillfully, and well.

We communicate in three areas, for the most part:

- With our higher guidance, intuition, or the Divine

- With ourselves

- With one another

The latter, 'with one another', includes the communication we do within groups and between organizations, as well as our interpersonal communication with another individual.

Health and skillfulness in all three areas is vital, because it ripples outward into the quality of interactions and relationships, locally and globally. Communicating artfully takes us to a whole different plane of existence.

Watching what's happening on the world stage right now, it's pretty clear that skillful, dignified, humane communication has gone by the wayside, badly.

But communication on the global scale is just a reflection of interpersonal communication -- and interpersonal interaction is a reflection of the dialogues we've got going on within us and with our 'Higher Selves' and/or the Divine, by whatever name we call it.

Wise women and men through the ages have said it many ways: The change starts within, with a change of heart and mind.

While it can often seem overwhelming to watch what's happening in the world and wonder how we -- little ol' 'we' -- can do anything remotely helpful, the fact is that what we think, what we choose, and how we interact with those around us makes an enormous difference.

Let me say that again: What you think, what you choose, and how you interact -- in your daily life -- with those around you makes an enormous difference.

For 2008, set the intention to cultivate a more artful, skillful, dignified, and respectful communication relationship with yourself, those around you, and that which is beyond you - Spirit, G-d, Allah, Goddess, the Universe.

It's a wonderful, rich practice; and has a wonderful, healing ripple effect.

VIP Resources, PDF Vision Catalysts, and More in the Store

The Ivy Sea Online VIP Member Center and PDF Resource Store offer a wealth of resources to re-engage you with your passion, reconnect you with your vision, and catalyze a passion for a new level of skillfulness.

You'll find online articles, PDF workbooks, audios, and more on topics such as:

* leading into the new era

* communication (interpersonal, organizational, leadership, inner-space)

* vision and visioning

* right-livelihood

* big-vision small business and 'conscious' business

* authentic communication and marketing

* wisdom paths and practices

* personal mastery

… and more, created to help you live into your Soul's purpose and potential, to the benefit and wellbeing of all.

Visit the Ivy Sea Online Store now to check out the offerings.

Tele-Consultations & Insight-Sessions: Unveil Your Potential in 2008

It's a powerful alchemy to clarify your vision and power-up forward-momentum -- and it's an alchemy that we at Ivy Sea are very familiar with, not just from 'intellectual knowledge' but from our own real-world experience.

Explore Ivy Sea Online or send us an email to schedule a tele-consultation, an insight-session, or arrange for a more indepth consultation.

Ivy Sea Online also offers a wealth of self-study resources to help you live (and work) into your authenticity and vision.

Take a step into a richer potential and more authentic experience.

To schedule a session or get more information on these or other Ivy Sea resources, check out our consultation options in the 'Sessions, Services & Dialogues' section, inquire by email.

We'd be delighted to schedule a conversation with you.

Inspiration for Your Journey

Until next month...

As you live into these first weeks of a new calendar year, may your own authentic, inspired, creative, audacious, passionate nature come alive and find joyful expression that benefits all.

It's time to leave behind the prison of old thinking and limited self-perception, and step into the fullness of who you truly are, wherever you are.

Wishing you an extraordinary year of blessings beyond imagining.

Sincerely,
Jamie S. Walters
Founder, Ivy Sea
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief, Ivy Sea Online &
Author, Big Vision, Small Business (Berrett-Koehler Publishers)

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