Joyful Soaring Tips

By Coach Barbara Luther Of Wind Beneath Your Wings

Email: Barbara@coach2soar.com
Web Site: www.coach2soar.com
Phone: (314) 878-4044

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In This Issue:

1) Joy Juice
2) The Sentinel
3) Let's Ponder
4) Soaring Free
5) Play Time
6) Joy Supplies
7) Class Offerings

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Good Morning! I hope you enjoy this issue of Joyful Soaring Tips and find something that helps you have a Joy-Filled week!

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~~ 1) Joy Juice ~~
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Your task is not to worry over what has been or what will be, but to focus on the joy and happiness that exist right now. All power takes place in the present moment. - Sinda Jordan

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~~ 2) The Sentinel ~~
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There's an old story of a carpenter who stopped outside his home each evening to touch the branches of a tree, leaving his troubles and worries hanging on the branches so that he didn't take them inside to his family.

This practice of setting our troubles and worries aside goes back to pre-biblical times when an entire village brought their upsets, frustrations, fears, and troubles to the priest who placed his hands on the head of goat and transferred all those negative things to the goat which was then driven from the village. That's how we came to have the concept of the scapegoat. It's still a pretty useful concept today.

As we start this new year, let's create a new ritual for ourselves based on this concept of the scapegoat. Choose a decoration to hang by the back door or that will sit just outside the entryway door. It might be a wreath or potted plant or even a small statue. Let's name it your Sentinel, the guardian who prevents negative thoughts and bad attitudes from entering your home with you. Then, as you come home each evening, reach out and touch your Sentinel. Lay on it your concerns, worries, and frustrations. Stand there with it until you can leave those thoughts there. Know that you can pick them up again in the morning.

What I expect you'll find, though, is that when you go out to pick them up the next day, there won't be nearly as many as you hung up the night before.

Try it, and let me know how it works for you!

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~~ 3) Let's Ponder ~~
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If you had to make a list of what you need for happiness, what would it include?

If I had my life to live over again, I'd try to make more mistakes next time. I would relax. I'd be sillier than I have been on this trip. I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers, and watch more sunsets. I would have more actual troubles and less imaginary ones. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else, just moments, one after another . . . . I would pick more daisies. - Nadine Stair (age 89)

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~~ 4) Soaring Free ~~
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Put on a favorite piece of music for yourself today. Or better yet, treat yourself with something new. Here's a suggestion: Putumayo World Music offers The Laura Love Collection. Can you imagine what Afro-Celtic music might sound like?!? Seattle's Laura Love combines American Blues, Soul, Jazz, Celtic, and African music influences. You'll be exhilarated with her sound!

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~~ 5) Play Time ~~
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If you don't already have a toy box in your office or work space, I urge you to get one immediately! It's one of the more important performance support tools you can have. When I'm working through an idea or just need a short break, I reach for something in my toy box. It's amazing how much better I can think with a Koosh™ ball in my hand. Actually, I have a curly version, a snowball version, and a larger pastel Koosh™ in my box. They're quiet, tactilely pleasing, and I can even throw it without serious repercussions.

If you don't have a toy box or drawer, start one today. Then head for your local toy store on an exploratory mission. I'll be sharing other toys from my toy box with you in future editions, and I'd love to hear what your favorite toy is. So, drop me a line!

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~~ 6) Joy Supplies ~~~
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I'm a book pusher. You should know that about me. This column will regularly highlight a book or some other resource that has helped me and my clients.

For this issue, I'm sharing one of the precious gifts I received for Christmas this year: it's a collection of Sunday strips of Rose Is Rose comics. It's titled Rose Is Rose In Loving Color by Pat Brady. You'll find a recipe for Pet Rainbows, How to keep your Gravity Bills down, guidelines for staying within the Teasing Budget, tips for fixing Computer Faces and Flat Smiles, Bubble Wrap Workouts, and wondrous insights from the Descendants of Dinosaurs, Yoga Master Maharishi Peekaboo, and Pasquale's Guardian Angel all waiting to brighten your day. Enjoy!

NOTE: Barbara offers links to many of the resources referenced here from her web site, www.coach2soar.com. If you cannot find some resource mentioned, contact Barbara for help at Barbara@coach2soar.com.

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~~ 7) Class Offerings ~~
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OPEN INVITATION: Beginning on January 27th, Barbara is offering a free monthly Happy Hour Telebration for anyone who wants to come celebrate the miracles, shifts, wins, and overall happy things they've experienced during the past month. It's an open, drop-in time to visit and share life's good news with new and old friends. Put it on your calendar now! It's the last Thursday of every month at 5pm EST. Contact Barbara for the bridge number.

Beginning in February, Barbara will be offering some one-time and ongoing teleclasses and groups. Go to her web site for a complete listing. You'll find a monthly Clutter Buster group, a coaches' practice building intensive, and classes on identifying personal unique talents, developing your own motivation inventory, learning to recognize ADD traits, understanding Restless Leg Syndrome, and learning to get the most from attending a conference.

If any of the above sounds intriguing, check it out and join the fun! And if you're looking for some other topic, drop Barbara a note. You just might find your topic in her next listing of classes.

Copyright (C) 2000 by Barbara Luther. All rights reserved.

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To contact Wind Beneath Your Wings
Coach Barbara Luther:
Email: Barbara@coach2soar.com
Web Site: www.coach2soar.com
Phone: (314) 878-4044
(Central Time Zone)
Fax: 208-988-2142
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o o o o o o o o Tired of Winging It Alone? o o o o o o o o

Call Barbara to discuss a coaching partnership today. Barbara Luther is a Master Certified Coach and a Certified Mentor Coach who specializes in working with successful professionals, tenure-track faculty, coaches, business owners, career types, creatives, and adults with Attention Deficit Disorder. She coaches via telephone and the internet, and in person for corporate teams.

Barbara is a graduate of Coach University, a virtual training organization, and the Optimal Functioning Institute, a virtual training organization for ADD coaches. She is also a member of the International Coach Federation and an ICF chapter host. She leads teleclasses for CoachU and Corporate CoachU, as well as teleclasses of her own. Prior to coaching, Barbara ran her own consulting business for 8 years, designing and developing online help and performance support systems for companies such as American Express, AAA of California, Bank One, Los Angeles County Employee Retirement Association, Wendy's, Pioneer, Utilicorp, Gap, and Bank of America. With a Master's in English, she has also taught college-level writing and worked in the corporate world as a technical writer, trainer, and project manager.

Along with Dr. Francena T. Hancock, Barbara is co-founder of the ADD Coach Group, an organization created to provide knowledge about the business-oriented positive qualities of adults with ADD, ways to identify employees who have ADD traits that impact their performance, and strategies and techniques to support to their specific needs. (Web site www.addcoachgroup.com coming soon.)

Barbara also hosts a coaching special interest group -- the GLBTQ SIG (Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender/Questioning), and she writes articles for their newsletter, Reaching for the Rainbow (To subscribe: send an email to: ReachingfortheRainbow-On@lists.webvalence.com)

Barbara says: My passion is assisting people in recognizing and embracing their power. My vision is a world where every person embraces their special talents and enjoys a life built around their passions. My mission is to assist people in identifying their special gifts and designing their lives to enjoy and share them. My life purpose is to provide a loving, safe space for self discovery.

Email: Barbara@coach2soar.com -=*=- Phone: (314) 878-4044