Wednesday Wisdom

Seed tomorrow with wise normal today!

The last year has taught us a lot about what it is to be human. Do you hear people talking about our “new normal” or wanting to “return to normal?”  And, have you ever tried to fit into being “normal.” Well, “normal” itself has changed.

I’ve recently learned that Unilever has decided to remove the word ‘normal’ on their personal care product labels. Why? Because when it comes to people, normal is an artificial construct. Normal is the center of a statistical bell curve, not a standard that we ought to seek to achieve, even if we could.

Normal is a distribution, not a person.

Yay us! Freedom to explore, discover, and be you rather than striving to be normal . . . whatever that was!

Life is calling . . .  Today’s the day!

Visit http://www.The Success Studio.com . . . Learn Lavishly. Live Significantly. Leave a Legacy.

www.marilynnsemonick.com

To read archived Wednesday Wisdoms visit http://www.thesuccessstudio.wordpress.com

Marilynn Semonick, CEO (Chief Exploration Officer)

Educator, Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, Professional Speaker

Marilynn@marilynnsemonick.com

Wednesday Wisdom

Seed tomorrow with wise kindness today!

Out of nowhere I received an email about the benefits of being kind. Hey, why not? The recent reduction of generously extending consideration, compassion, and charity inspire me to find the notion of Random Acts of Kindness intriguing.  There’s something compelling about giving to others without any request, expectation, or promise of anything in return. Contained in the email were benefits of kindness:

1. Can increase the feeling of strength & energy.
2. Generates endorphins, the body’s natural pain killer.  
3. Can become less depressed 
4. Can make one feel calmer 
5. It has been shown that people that are more kind have 23% less cortisol (the stress hormone) and age slower than the average population. 

Offering kindness makes a difference to the giver and everyone who receives. Perhaps today we can begin or continue a habit of expanding humanity in our everyday moments, starting with easy things like:

..  Increase attention to what’s happening around you to know when the need for kindness calls

..  Find opportunities to compliment someone you encounter during the day

..  Hold the door open for someone, or the elevator.

..  Smile genuinely at 5 strangers you pass throughout the day

..  Clean out your house and make a donation to your local charity

..  Allow someone to merge in traffic (as hard as that might be!)

..  And, the list goes on

As I practice, I suspect extending kindness will become easier over time and am convinced it will benefit the giver, perhaps more than the receiver. 

Life is calling . . .  Today’s the day!

Visit http://www.The Success Studio.com . . . Learn Lavishly. Live Significantly. Leave a Legacy.

www.marilynnsemonick.com

To read archived Wednesday Wisdoms visit http://www.thesuccessstudio.wordpress.com

Marilynn Semonick, CEO (Chief Exploration Officer)

Educator, Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, Professional Speaker

Marilynn@marilynnsemonick.com

Wednesday Wisdom

Seed tomorrow with wise authenticity today!

For years, I’ve heard and read people expressing the importance of being our “authentic self.” Who is that? What is it to be authentic? How do we know when we’re being true to ourselves? Recently, Seth Godin recently wrote:

Perhaps our considered self, the one that shows up when we’re doing our best to be consistent, generous and professional–that’s our authentic self. And the voice that slips out when we’re tired, stressed or busy is simply an incomplete and lesser version of who we actually are.

Yep, my cranky, judgmental, lesser-self feels free and justified to be noisy when I’m fatigued, weary, and not paying attention. As we become the accumulation of the interactions in which we partake and the contributions we make, it makes sense to do so with intentional kindness, generosity, and sincere engagement.

Life is calling . . .  Today’s the day!

Visit http://www.The Success Studio.com . . . Learn Lavishly. Live Significantly. Leave a Legacy.

www.marilynnsemonick.com

To read archived Wednesday Wisdoms visit http://www.thesuccessstudio.wordpress.com

Marilynn Semonick, CEO (Chief Exploration Officer)

Educator, Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, Professional Speaker

Marilynn@marilynnsemonick.com

Wednesday Wisdom

Seed tomorrow with wise self-compassion today!

I went to school with Nikki Nanos and almost 50 years later bumped into her at our profession’s annual convention. Turns out she’s a brilliant professional speaker, author, and stage coach, sharing strategies for living a mindful life. Some of her wise words:

When you open the squeaky door of self-judgement and spray it with the oil of self-compassion . . . that’s mindful living.

Think about how easy it is to list all your flaws, those things you want to change. Is it more challenging to identify, acknowledge, and grow the best parts of you?

Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It’s more about being honest with yourself and your relationships with others. A few tips to practice humility include: Spending time sincerely listening to others, practicing mindfulness and focusing on the present moment, being grateful for what you have, asking for help when you need it, seeking feedback from others, reviewing your actions against the language of pride, and ensuring that you don’t always need to be right over being empathic.

It was wonderful to see Nikki again and equally as lovely to see her words in print as I browsed research sites. May we regularly take moments to pick up the oil can and more than mist our self-care skills. Doing so will help more than our own lives.

Life is calling . . .  Today’s the day!

Visit http://www.The Success Studio.com . . . Learn Lavishly. Live Significantly. Leave a Legacy.

www.marilynnsemonick.com

To read archived Wednesday Wisdoms visit http://www.thesuccessstudio.wordpress.com

Marilynn Semonick, CEO (Chief Exploration Officer)

Educator, Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, Professional Speaker

Marilynn@marilynnsemonick.com

Wednesday Wisdom

Seed tomorrow with St Patrick wisdom today!

One of the many St. Patrick quotes I contemplate on this green-beer drinking Irish day:

Be still and know that I am God.

Be still and know that I am.

Be still and know.

Be still.

Be.

Stillness and being. A profound combination.

Life is calling . . .  Today’s the day!

Visit http://www.The Success Studio.com . . . Learn Lavishly. Live Significantly. Leave a Legacy.

www.marilynnsemonick.com

To read archived Wednesday Wisdoms visit http://www.thesuccessstudio.wordpress.com

Marilynn Semonick, CEO (Chief Exploration Officer)

Educator, Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, Professional Speaker

Marilynn@marilynnsemonick.com

Wednesday Wisdom

Seed tomorrow with wise hope and peace today!

I’ve always been intrigued by the macro / micro concepts of the universe. And, as above, so below adds another layer for me. Last week, Pope Francis made the first ever papal visit to Iraq, which was his first visit outside of the Vatican since the pandemic began.  Leading prayer, surrounded by the rubble of the city of Mosul, he said:

Hope is more powerful than hatred and peace more powerful than war.

Obviously, not words that apply only to Iraq. As in one part of the world, as in all. In this nation that we love, will we remember that peace and hope are worthy of attention, resources, and action to replace animosity, hostility, and combat?

It has been said that one cannot expect world peace when s/he battles with neighbor next door.

What one thing can I do today to expand hope and peace, right here in my small fragment of the universe?

Life is calling . . .  Today’s the day!

Visit http://www.The Success Studio.com . . . Learn Lavishly. Live Significantly. Leave a Legacy.

www.marilynnsemonick.com

To read archived Wednesday Wisdoms visit http://www.thesuccessstudio.wordpress.com

Marilynn Semonick, CEO (Chief Exploration Officer)

Educator, Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, Professional Speaker

Marilynn@marilynnsemonick.com

Wednesday Wisdom

Seed tomorrow with wise intentionality today!

The Seven Social Sins, attributed to Mahatma Gandhi:

Wealth without work.

Pleasure without conscience.

Knowledge without character.

Commerce without morality.

Science without humanity.

Worship without sacrifice.

Politics without principle.

As a nation, as humankind, we appear to be drifting deeply into depravity, cavorting with corruption, endorsing inequity, and sanctioning insignificance. If we’re wondering where to begin to turn things around, the list above may be a good start.

Life is calling . . .  Today’s the day!

Visit http://www.The Success Studio.com . . . Learn Lavishly. Live Significantly. Leave a Legacy.

www.marilynnsemonick.com

To read archived Wednesday Wisdoms visit http://www.thesuccessstudio.wordpress.com

Marilynn Semonick, CEO (Chief Exploration Officer)

Educator, Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, Professional Speaker

Marilynn@marilynnsemonick.com

Wednesday Wisdom

Seed tomorrow with wise birthing today!

James Baldwin, an American novelist, playwright, essayist, poet, and activist wrote:

An old world is dying and a new one, kicking in the belly of its mother, time, announces that it is ready to be born. The birth will not be easy and many of us are doomed to discover that we are exceedingly clumsy midwives.

What’s begging to be born? What would serve us best as an echo of the past and a stimulus for better? The birthing process may not be easy; however, the future calls us to endure the contractions and facilitate the delivery of what it takes to become our individual and collective better selves.

Activist Baldwin reminds us that:

Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

We are challenged to stare into the face of our struggles and address them with intelligence, empathy, and grace. No matter how inelegant our doula skills, let’s open opportunities to be brave parents of a better tomorrow.

Life is calling . . .  Today’s the day!

Visit http://www.The Success Studio.com . . . Learn Lavishly. Live Significantly. Leave a Legacy.

www.marilynnsemonick.com

To read archived Wednesday Wisdoms visit http://www.thesuccessstudio.wordpress.com

Marilynn Semonick, CEO (Chief Exploration Officer)

Educator, Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, Professional Speaker

Marilynn@marilynnsemonick.com

Wednesday Wisdom

Seed tomorrow with wise health and happiness today!

Earlier in the week my brother-in-law, a retired doctor, sent me this:

It is a poor government that does not realize that the prolonged life, health and happiness of its people are its greatest asset.

It is possible for a country to become great and sustain significance while creating poverty based on inequity, access and quality of education based on zip code, limited or inability to access effective health care, policies and practices that support injustice, economic structures that ensure wealth for a few and scraps for the majority?

America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good America will cease to be great.               

  ~ Alexis de Toucqueville

To survive, let alone thrive, it appears we need to look to our collective goodness and revisit the ways in which we live.

Life is calling . . .  Today’s the day!

Visit http://www.The Success Studio.com . . . Learn Lavishly. Live Significantly. Leave a Legacy.

www.marilynnsemonick.com

To read archived Wednesday Wisdoms visit http://www.thesuccessstudio.wordpress.com

Marilynn Semonick, CEO (Chief Exploration Officer)

Educator, Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, Professional Speaker

Marilynn@marilynnsemonick.com

Wednesday Wisdom

Seed tomorrow with wise unplugging today!

The notion of: Life is fast whether you’re wasting time or not has sabotaged any attempt to unwind my entire life and constantly riddled me with guilt into a need of doing at all times. This, my birthday month, is always one of deep reflection. I’m reminded of how grateful I am for another way to think about time, efficiency, and life itself:

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it, even you. ~ Anne Lamott

Why was it so hard for me to press pause, unplug and let go of being productive for over 6 decades?!

Today I give myself permission to read those books on the bottom of the pile, take a stab at all kinds of art even when the end result is unsatisfying, do things for the for sheer pleasure of it, let go of concerns and “to dos” for a while, luxuriously ponder without remorse, and indulge in moments of doing absolutely nothing.

During those times that I ran so rapidly through life I not only missed the scenery, sometimes I completely missed where I was going and why. It’s invigorating to stop, relax, and breathe more in.

Life is calling . . .  Today’s the day!

Visit http://www.The Success Studio.com . . . Learn Lavishly. Live Significantly. Leave a Legacy.

www.marilynnsemonick.com

To read archived Wednesday Wisdoms visit http://www.thesuccessstudio.wordpress.com

Marilynn Semonick, CEO (Chief Exploration Officer)

Educator, Consultant, Coach, Facilitator, Professional Speaker

Marilynn@marilynnsemonick.com