What's Fun Got To Do With It?

What's Fun Got To Do With It?  Asking the Right Questions

Sometimes our mental health hinges on asking the right questions. When experiencing a bout of depression or anxiety, it may become easy to pathologize our current state i.e., view our condition as psychologically unhealthy or abnormal.  Certainly, in the present day environment of being trauma-informed, it seems like all the focus is on healing childhood "wounds" or grieving losses in adulthood.  But, what if it wasn't as complicated as all that?  What if we've been asking the wrong questions?  What if focusing on how bad we feel, or our anxiety was better dealt with by making a slight shift in our mindset?  This is where the question: What's Fun Got To Do With It? comes in.

When was the last time you had a roaring belly laugh?  Or grinned from ear-to-ear so hard your face hurt?  When was the last time you intentionally set out to have fun?  Do you even know what fun feels like anymore?  Fun is a necessary prelude to joy.  Fun brings us lightheartedness.  Fun is a giant stress reliever.  It resets our nervous system and offers a coffee break from becoming over focused on the negative.  Fun is a respite from the daily grind of life's responsibilities and chores.  Fun and laughter bond us to the people we care about and creates memories we share together.  Fun brings us back into balance and shifts our perspective making life worthwhile.  Fun eliminates the drudgery we can get caught up in when we work too hard.  Fun helps recharge and rejuvenate our physical energy.  It can also provide the space we need to shift into problem solving mode, instead of endlessly ruminating.

Just like getting enough sleep can reduce stress and anxiety levels, fun makes it easier to cope with emotional challenges.  There's something to be said for gallows humor.  At the end of his life, my father developed Lewy-Body dementia.  In our morning phone call, I would always ask him, "What's going on?", and he would reply, "You're asking me?".  Even though my Dad's memory was slowly waning, he never lost his sense of humor and was able to laugh at himself to keep going.

Here's a challenge for you.  Make a list of the top ten activities that make you laugh, smile, giggle, or feel joy.  Make sure to add silly nonsensical items to the list.  Then the next time you feel super anxious or depressed, pull out this list and do the quickest activity you can manage in the moment.  Take time to lighten up, put your emotions into perspective, and recognize not all negative feelings mean we are suffering from ongoing trauma or wounds.  

Here's my top ten list of fun mental health activities:

1.   Watch YouTube videos of the Beatles. 

2.   Joy ride in the car to my favorite rock-n-roll tunes.

3.   Watch the sunset over the beach.

4.   Pull goofy faces in the mirror.

5.   Watch dance videos on YouTube.

6.   Go to a Comedy Open Mic night.

7.   Tell Knock-Knock jokes to my friends.

8.   Pull a prank or practical joke on a friend.

9.   Listen to an oldie but goody AM radio station.

10.  Make up irreverent words to my favorite songs.

You get the point.  I leave you with a laugh track video from my YouTube channel. 

A fun laugh track from a sketch comedy improv writing session with my friend, Stan. 

In loving memory of Stan Fleisher, soulmate and running partner.  May he RIP.

 

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A Light in the Echos of Darkness

When Tragedy or Disappointment Strikes

 

I feel compelled to write something, do something, say something about the world today, and recent events, you all know what I mean.  But, I am at a loss.  Because I feel helpless, even though I know I'm not.  What I do know is I will spend the rest of my life at least trying to bring some peace to unrest and healing to others trauma.  As a Christian, it's all that is in Jesus that I love.  Every day, I aspire to what he taught about non-judgement and love.  Still, I fall short every day; and more often than I like, I miss the mark in struggling with my own Ego.  Yet, I keep on.  I invite everyone to use social media, FB, and other platforms wisely and judiciously, instead of perpetrating ugliness and division.  Civility and respect have been lost (especially in politics), and two wrongs never make a right.  Your neighbor is YOUR neighbor.  The President is OUR President.  WE, yes, we are all in this thing called, Life, together, as people, as human beings.  We only have THIS moment, to share with each other, and no other.

So ... Please practice self-control in your thoughts and actions. My parents and grandparents lived and preached self-control, which seems so lost in society today.   Hiding behind a phone screen makes it too easy to take others to task. It matters what you bring to the world - your energy, your attitude are contagious - please make it kind and considerate, be a light in the echos of the darkness in the sad events of our day.

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Divine Grace - The Gift of Forgiveness

An Open Letter in Extension of Divine Grace - A Christmas wish for all.

Dear Friends and Readers, This is my Christmas wish for you …

"May you always find the Grace in your heart to be forgiving, for it is by Divine Grace that we are forgiven in the eyes of God."

…..

Grace is a little understood concept in Christianity - if we waited until people deserved to be forgiven for their misdeeds, there would be little forgiveness in the world at all.  Grace offers forgiveness at no cost to the individual being forgiven; hence we forgive the debt they "owe" for their trespasses and set them free.  Forgiveness frees us because we are no longer looking back in anger or holding on to grudges or resentment surrounding the individual who harmed us.  Instead, we choose to live in Divine Grace, and extend undeserved grace to our enemies or perpetrators.  

I have found that after a period of time mulling over someone's offenses, if no suitable act of contrition or apology is forthcoming, then I must actively work to extend the grace of forgiveness.  The most effective way I have found to do this is to sincerely pray for the health and well being of the offending party, and summon gratitude for their positive characteristics.  In quiet meditation I ask for the help of the Holy Spirit to redeem all offending acts as forgiven and then bless the offender.   I do this in the conscious knowing that we ALL fall short of perfection and because we are human, we err and make blunders and mistakes.  But for the Grace of God, there go I.

I have had some truly powerful results with this simple formula.  I have seeded peace in others and found an inner peace I did not know was possible.  I have grown in my inner capacity to love unconditionally and give without expectations, all because I have found this inner peace and tranquility is the substance of true miracles.  And in the process, I AM HEALED.

May the Light of Divine Grace be bestowed on you as my Christmas gift, and may you find the peace we all desperately yearn for as your constant companion.  May you forgive and be forgiven, and be blessed!  Happy Holidays my friends!

All Content Copyright 2019 LLCC  (originally published 12/16/19, pre-Covid 2020)

Nightly Healing

Healing as a Meditation Practice

Before I go to sleep each night, I meditate - a healing meditation for certain people I know who are in need of healing.  You may not even know that you're on my secret list or you might be a close friend or associate or maybe someone I've had conflict with.  I do this practice nightly to offset the constant negativity of the news, politics, or disgruntled individuals I may encounter.

It is my choice to decide how I project my thoughts and intentions onto the world and no one can take that from me.  At the end of the day, it is my choice to bring thoughts of healing to my unconscious mind, instead of fear and agitation about things over which I have little or no control.  The World will be what it is, with or without me.  But the mantle I choose to carry with me in my being is my sacred possession and I alone am responsible for that energy.  My secret meditation list remains that, my anonymous gift to myself and others that keeps me free of the toxic negativity that can be so damaging in the World.  Try it.  I guarantee you will garner some amazing results.



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Why I Created Living Large Coaching

Living a Miraculous Life

 

I created this blog as a self help resource and tool for others to share what's worked for me in living a miraculous life. If you need help in doing that, I am all up for supporting you in that endeavor.

The concept and philosophy behind this venture stems from this simple truth:

"If you are lucky enough to wake up today on this side of the grave, I urge you to, "Live Large". This means living an unforgettable life beyond your wildest dreams …

Forget yesterday's woes, petty grievances, and where you might have gone wrong. Instead, find the forgiveness for yourself and others to move beyond a small life and find your deepest passion -- that place inside that moves you so deeply, so passionately that you can't stay away from it. Then cultivate that prompting and share it with the world so that others may help you, for they, too, yearn to live their dreams. The daring comes from learning to take the risk, to believe that the Universe will support you, and that yes, you are worthy of great love and a life so large that it changes the world, one star fish at a time."

Do you dare to dream?

Book a FREE Discovery Call, to see if working with me is right for you.

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What on Earth is Energy Psychology?

What on Earth is Energy Psychology?
(Or, Why Putting Out Love vs. Fear Matters)

Energy Psychology is the upcoming frontier in energy healing modalities.  It involves healing the body at the cellular, molecular level and is heavily influenced by strong emotions.  The kind of energy you put out and take in, negative vs. positive, matters way more than you may care to think.

Expert Evidence Review - George Norry Interview w/ Dr. Jill Blakeway, 4/3/19

Dr. Jill Blakeway, author, Energy Medicine, The Science and Mystery of Healing, holds a doctorate in acupuncture and Chinese medicine, is a licensed and board-certified acupuncturist and herbalist, and is the founder of the Yinova Center in New York.  She discussed the science that supports the effectiveness of healing techniques used to diagnose and treat illness by manipulating the vital life force (referred to as ‘’qi’’ in traditional Chinese medicine) that pulses through cells.

She has studied traditional Chinese medicine for many years and says that she has become so adept at being an energy healer that she typically only uses "probably about 10" needles for her patients in therapy.

Blakeway described the energy coming from the hands of practitioners of such traditions as qigong or reiki as electrical and that it can be measured by instruments.  She described this energy as "100 times stronger" than that produced by the human heart.

Blakeway also described the work of Dr. William Bengston, who in the year 2000 first performed experiments with mice to see if cancer could be affected by energy healing techniques.  The mice, which were supposed to die in 27 days if untreated, "all survived," even though some of the experimenters who participated in the hands-on healings were extremely skeptical.  She has also participated in studies with random number generators which appear to produce less random streams of numbers when she and other healers concentrated on them.

***  She said that "love and compassion and fear" as strong emotions seem to affect the randomness of the number generators the most.  ***
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This is huge.  For good or for ill, the kind of atmospheric emotions we surround ourselves with and put out impacts our lives way beyond what we can see.

When we heal our inner being, i.e., our negative emotions and trauma, and focus on love instead of fear, we significantly enhance our ability to create peace from the inside out.

This stuff really matters.  It's not a game or some feel good plethora of platitudes. It seems there is a 4th dimension to tap into - an unseen, invisible net of quantum energy that connects us.  What we continually focus on manifests in mysterious ways.  As an individual, you matter to the world.  When we heal ourselves, we heal the world around us. Let it begin with me.