What Do You Want in Your Life?

I just got back from Calgary, Alberta, Canada where I attended an amazing event called Engage Today 2009. Speakers included the Dalai Lama, Sir Richard Branson, Stephen Covey, F.W. De Klerk (released Nelson Mandella from prison), Tony Hsieh (CEO of Zappos shoes), Barbara De Angelis, and a host of others that you may or may not recognize by name.

Each and every speaker was outstanding, bringing huge contributions to the event. I'm still reeling from the amount of information and energy that was condensed into four days.

What I came away with was that, for me, the internet age is overwhelming me. I have let technology become my master. And I am not alone in that. Even speakers at the event talked of how easy it was to get caught up in checking e-mail too often, or following links; basically getting distracted from the important parts of their work and their lives.

My love/hate relationship with computers and the internet and the unlimited amount of information available is evidenced by the amount of time I spend at my computer and the vast amount of information stored in it or printed from it. It feels suffocating, not empowering.

So I am un-subscribing from vast numbers of e-mail lists, looking at what I've printed that I've not read (and maybe never will) and deciding that I will gain control again over my life.

Obviously, I never would have known about this amazing conference had I not been "tuned-in" in some manner on the internet. But selectivity is my new mode of operation. I purposely didn't take or use a computer for the week I was in Calgary and my world didn't fall apart. I spent the hours that I would have been in front of my computer screen at home listening to and interacting with amazing people both on and off the stage.

So to answer my own question, "What Do You Want in Life?" I want to build connections with people, not add random people to my Facebook and Twitter accounts. I want in-person and telephone interactions; I want to "engage today" and every day, with meaningful real-life interactions.

The internet has its place in my life, but it is no longer going to hold me hostage in life. I have regained my footing and will work on balancing my love of information and the abundance of it that the internet provides with the abundance that is gotten from living in the moment with family, friends and fresh air!

I'm Baaaaaack!

Wow, I can't believe how long its been since I've written a new blog here! I'm sorry but life got in the way and I've been in the doldrums - I'm sure you know what I mean! Just haven't "felt" like writing. And, as I'm sure you'll also understand, as soon as I got in here and started writing again I began to wonder why I haven't been!

So, I'm back and excited with life again and ready to share it all with you again!

There's been so much going on in the world I may have a difficult time choosing what to write about...any suggestions? Just leave a comment - I'd love to hear from you!

And you can also follow me on Twitter - click on the top right or look for me - I'm @kdsm100

Mary

Keeping Balance in Your Life

The last few days I've been thinking about this, and as often happens I read a post by someone on a forum I frequent on this very same topic just this morning.

One of the reasons I've gone a couple of days without making a post is because it's been unseasonably warm here, about 80 degrees. So I cut the chains tying me to my computer and my husband and I took some time for ourselves. Sat in the hot tub in the middle of the day, took a nap, took the dog for a long walk on the beach. Shut down my constantly whirling brain for the majority of the last couple of days.

Am I a little more behind in all that I have to do? Yes, but I'm also feeling less frazzled and more in balance with life again. After all, what am I working so hard for if not ultimately to be able to enjoy life more. But on a day-to-day basis I'm defeating that purpose by not taking time every day to do things that I enjoy. Putting off until tomorrow...we only truly have today, so there needs to be a balance between working towards a goal and enjoying the fleeting moments that we know for certain we have in this life.

Just 6 months ago we lost our 12 year old dog, a beautiful Border Collie that absolutely craved human interaction. She could have cared less about the other dogs at the beach, she was interested in saying hello to their owners! As I would sit typing on my keyboard she would come over and start using her nose to push my arm off of the keyboard. "Hey, give me some attention!" she'd be saying. And all too often I would scold her and tell her I was busy and to lie down. Some days she'd comply, others she would literally push her way up onto my lap, all 50 pounds of her, in about 2 seconds. There was no ignoring her then! I would laugh and give her some attention and then tell her she had to get down.

She fell ill while we where on a trip back east, 3,000 miles away and although we managed to nurse her back from the edge we only got another 2 months with her. And I regret every moment she asked for my attention and I was too "busy" to give it to her.

And yet even with that experience so fresh in my mind I still find it difficult to find the right balance in life. I still find myself putting off until tomorrow. But I'm working on it...you should, too.