Pay Attention to What Lights You Up – Treasure Your Life Now – v 9-11

by Sheila Finkelstein on October 9, 2013

sunset in Wakodahatchee Wetlands

As part of Living AND Treasuring Your Life Now, I invite you to always pay attention to what lights you up. When you have an “aha” about an experience make note to remember it.

As you read this issue, use it as an opportunity ask yourself, “What in my life DOES light me up?” If the question and introspection is somewhat foreign to you, write down your observations so you can refer to them whenever you feel the need for reenergizing.

For the first several years Picture to Ponder, Treasure Your Life Now’s predecessor, was sparked by the almost constant use of my camera. I had conditioned myself to taking pictures of whatever it was that caught my eye; then encouraged others to do the same, seeing their worlds with new eyes. That practice, for me, has fallen off in the past year or so, the resulting being decline in frequency of publishing TYLN.

Recently I was invited to participate with over 100 of today’s thought leaders to contribute quotes, “Sparks of Genius” to be included in the upcoming GENESIS TO GENIUS book. The aim Most appreciative of the honor, I went to my default “Pay Attention to What Lights You UP “. The latter is an integral part of my “7 Tips for Getting Out of A Funk” which most of you received when you became subscribers. If you wish to see it again (or for the first time), click on Getting Out of a Funk.

Taking photographs of whatever sparked my attention had been one of the things that was first and foremost for me in my life, as was encouraging others to do the same, seeing the world with new eyes.

When I started writing the requisite 200 – 250 words for my “Spark of Genius” in the book, I expanded it to our being aware of, paying attention, to what lights us up in ALL of our sensory experiences. Auditory has become particularly important to me in addition to visual.

Honors and Activities Lighting Me Up Right Now

Genesis of Genius Book coverBeing invited to be among 100 thought leaders contributing Sparks of Genius to the book GENESIS of GENIUS.

Quotes are being posted daily as part of the 21 Days of Genius Celebration, from October 3 to 23rd. You can get in touch with YOUR OWN genius, by seeing these “Sparks” during the days of the Celebration Launch of GENESIS OF GENIUS. You can also add your name and email address in the form on the right of that page to be reminded of the launch day. On that day there will be special bonuses with each book purchase. In the meantime enjoy the quotes on the Sparks of Genius Quotes page.

WECAI 2nd Annual Golden Mouse EventReceiving the Lifetime Achievement Award tomorrow night, Thursday October 10th at Women in eCommerce 2nd Annual Golden Mouse Event in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

See Golden Mouse Honorees for the write up. Click on the image on the left to link to the Event Home page.

One of the factors contributing to my being honored is the work I am currently doing supporting, coaching and educating seniors in feeling comfortable, having fun and ease in using technology to stay connected. See Technology for Seniors Made Easy.

ZOOM for using the internet to connect Seniors with family and friendsPaying attention to what lights me up these days I note making new discoveries about how we CAN EASILY use the Internet and the devices we have to become and stay connected with our loved ones.

So when I recently discovered Zoom.us, I tried it out with several friends and started playing with what I was learning. I most wanted, as a teaching tool, to be able to easily share my computer screen and my clients to be able to do the same. The fact that we can have up to 25 people in a training session, or in a simple gathering of family and/or friends, was an added bonus.

The image to the left of the text is a screen shot of me on my computer, showing 3 different images of me on my iPad, my iPhone and my iMac computer. It’s what I saw at the top of the desktop in my 3-way Zoom meeting with myself on my 3 devices. (The text was added to the image after it was captured.)

To learn how you, too, can set up and have your own meeting, at no charge, see my post on Zoom, Using the Internet to Easily Talk to Friends, Family, Business Associates.

Today’s Featured Photo
As I looked for a photo to represent “light” and “lighting up” for this issue, the Wakodahatchee Wetlands sunset was the one that showed up for me.

Though it’s the setting sun, thus diminishing light, there is still plenty of it there. The reflections of the light and the rippling water contribute to the sensory experiences that light me up.

Relationship Tip
In my last statement, I reference that most of this issue seems to be about I and ME.

Contrarily, most times, the key to effective communication and relationship building and keeping is to be in the space of focusing on the OTHER person – on what is most important to him or her.

Occasionally, when you are speaking to another, pause to listen to yourself. If you hear a lot of “I”s coming out of your mouth, take a deep breath and switch your focus. Ask some questions about what’s important to that person.

You could start off by asking what he/she heard you saying. Then question what it was about that, if anything, that was important to them. Then ask meaningful questions around their statements.

You might preface it with, “That’s interesting, can you tell me more?”

Do watch for body language, though, or extended silence if during a phone conversation. You want to make sure the person is not experiencing your questions as an attack.

Conclusion –
As always, have fun, and please share in the comments below your experiences with what comes up for you with these questions and your resultant actions.

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