by tanyabittner | Sep 13, 2016 | Today
The kids are back in school – yipee! I miss them, sure. But I’d be flat out lying if I said I was sad. I’m not. At. All.
Freedom!
(chuckles – hands up)
Seriously though, I know there was a time when the girls were smaller and I whaled uncontrollably at the idea of being separated from them and even tiptoed outside nursery school windows, in the bushes and cacti (don’t judge me), to check on them. Hashtag no lie. I suppose I could craft something here about those frantic memories to be more relatable to moms who are struggling with this time of year, but that’s not very exciting or authentic to me as a mom or writer, now. It was a truth then. Not now.
Our teens and tweens need the type of structure and accountability that comes from having to wake up, get ready, and be where people are expecting them from 7:30am through 2:30pm every day, five-days-a-week. They need to be growing academically, participating, learning, and socializing face-to-face instead of through those stupid phones (eye roll).
They need to realign and get back into a healthy school routine.
Alignment is listening to your heart’s desire like it’s a religion.
Maybe you’re thinking their hearts’ desires probs (teen slang for probably) don’t involve going back to school :). Don’t worry, the fall season is when all their after-school desired activities formally resume – they’re hooked up.
Ok, enough about them :).
Alignment. You know the, “if you’re not doing what your heart desires you’re wasting your life” concept. Now’s a good time to get back on that.
First, let’s catch up – it was a long summer:
We went to Carlsbad, Vegas, Orlando, La Jolla – I also hit NYC and Brad jetted off to Boston and St. Augustine. We spent hours and hours in the pool on oversized floaties (think swans, turtles, and ice cream bars) with the Bose system blaring summer hits. It was the perfect lazy, family summer.
The bulk of my days are still packed with fulfilling work (thank the Lord) and now, chauffeuring kids to and from school. But while they’re in evening activities is when I’ve been working to update and synch business/family calendars, identifying pockets of travel, looking ahead to the holiday season, winter breaks, parties, and who goes where, when. Not very exciting I know but part of staying aligned for me is about being mentally and physically organized.
Then it’s on to the real personal stuff – health, money (sigh), and creating. It’s constant. The aligning and re-aligning. You align, things really get rocking (as they do when your heart + mind are working together), then you start putting you last, dead-last and alignment goes out the proverbial window.
And that’s ok. You get as many do-overs and re-starts as it takes because if you’re not getting it right, you’re misstepping, or, you’re realizing a bigger desire and things need to change again anyway. It’s an uncertain journey and aren’t we all just trying to get comfortable with it? (Curious – did you almost say “jiggy with it” when you read that? I thought of re-writing that sentence for a second).
Anyway, what I’m keenly interested in lately, is how to deepen the level of alignment in life. That’s the next thing whispering to me…
How’ve you been?
More to come,
Tanya B.
by tanyabittner | Jul 31, 2016 | Today
How are your thoughts helping you today?
How are they helping others?
The very definition of positivity is being “constructive in intention or attitude”.
Synonyms for positivity: useful, productive, helpful, worthwhile, beneficial, effective…
If the word positivity is too broad or sharp to incorporate into your thoughts given your current mood today that’s cool. Try substituting one of the others and get after your Sunday.
Deal?
You got this.
More to come,
Tanya B.
by tanyabittner | Jul 14, 2016 | Today
It’s so easy to be judgmental, isn’t it? Easy to think the worst of a situation or person, jump to the wrong conclusion, misinterpret something you heard or read, neglect to tell someone about your expectations then get annoyed when their not met, impose your moral compass on others, and see only what you want to see.
All of it.
Easy peasy.
What’s harder, yet far more satisfying, is to let your ego and fear fall away, and listen. Listen to learn something. Listen to grow and evolve personally, sure. Listen to feel empathy for others? Yaaaass!
But, “people just annoy me” you say.
Oftentimes those triggers that piss you off are mirrors of your own behavior. It’s the universe’s way of showing you, “you”… A cue it’s time for growth. A sign you need to be more understanding of others, to better understand you.
Continuously want to be a better, more enlightened you. A more empathic you. This world needs more empathy. Less cynicism. More forgiveness. Less judgment. More peace. Less war.
Thursday thoughts – more to come,
Tanya B.
by tanyabittner | Jul 13, 2016 | Today
We’re on day 13 of being away from home. Four more days to go. It’s been so much fun and very rewarding!! But it’s also been challenging – as extensive travel can often be.
Sleep patterns are crazy, digestion is wonky, space is limited, there’s an undercurrent of longing/missing loved ones, deadline pressures, and centers are off-kilter. It’s a recipe of uneasiness!
If you’re traveling a lot this summer, and any of this sounds familiar, here are a few tips (and I needed these myself today)!
Make time to chill. To meditate. To appreciate you. To forgive you. To love you.
Not letting the “to-do’s”, “be here’s” and emotions run you is tough enough when you’re at home with your tribe, in your routine. Throw extended travel, unfamiliar places, and adhoc schedules into the mix and it’s all ego – all hooks – all the time.
Slow the pace. Breathe. Enjoy.
You are right where you are meant to be. Peace.
More to come,
Tanya B.
by tanyabittner | Jun 12, 2016 | Today
I’ve always been somewhat of a Curious George. Yearning to learn, uncover… understand. It’s no coincidence then, my life path has presented me with so very much to learn, uncover and understand. From personal circumstances like divorce and the death of loved ones, to bizarre encounters with ex-spouses or colleagues to major news events like historic, if not harebrained, Presidential elections :). It’s part of the reason I became a journalist in the first place. “Digging deeper” was my motto. But…
That kind of curiosity can kill the cat.
The judgment kind.
The, “my moral compass is better than yours” kind. It was Walt Whitman who wrote, “Be curious, not judgmental”.
Asking questions that make you smarter or more compassionate after hearing the answers – that’s the good kind of curiosity. Wanting to know why someone believes they can speak with dead people for example… especially when you know regardless of any answer they offer up you’re never going to accept it or understand it – in fact, you’re likely to be even more critical of them afterward – well, that’s just judgey.
I’ve gone down rabbit hole after rabbit hole in search of explanations for the unexplainable. The answers to why are so elusive or utterly ridiculous they lead to even more confusion, fired up frustration and inevitably … the negative clouds roll in. You lose your seat.
My thirst for answers or some psychological or L O G I C A L understanding of the proverbial “why” would have me spending hours and hours reading or on the computer googling and searching; diagnosing and judging. Putting (more) energy into suffering.
Why do people lie? Why do people spin the truth? Why do they manipulate? Why do they alienate? Why do they kill? To what end? What is their motive? What will they do next? Why did this circumstance unfold the way it did?
We may never understand their answers to why.
Full.
Stop.
The moment I shed my hankering to understand why someone did something, said something, believed something or why a situation unfolded the way it did, my entire life illuminated with positivity. Those intermittent clouds rolled right on out. Hold your seat. Ah positivity reigns!
How?
I flipped the curiosity toward me.
I began asking myself, “Why are you so offended by what someone else has done or said or believes? Why are you letting this circumstance lead you – hook you? Why are you being captured by negativity?”
I’ll pause there.
To allow for introspection.
Ask yourself why.
Be curious to get smarter. Better. Faster. Kinder. Not to judge.
More to come,
Tanya B.
by tanyabittner | May 25, 2016 | Today
It’s so true. It. Just. Is.
The practice of positive thinking yields transformative results.
Perspective is everything. How you view your current situation already begins to determine its outcome.
More than laws of attraction… Perception is a form of obsession.
Be obsessed with positivity.
More to come,
Tanya B.
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