“So life’s year begins and closes;
Days though shortening still can shine;
What though youth gave love and roses;
Age still leaves us friends and wine.”
— Thomas Moore

The shortening days of autumn are, indeed, upon us. I love the fall season. It is full and ripe. It is the culmination, harvesting and reaping of all that we have sewn this year.

And, so, it is time to celebrate. Fall harvest celebrations are happening in every corner of our continent. Images of grinning children, huge pumpkins and corn stocks come to mind. Here in the Okanagan Valley, we have just celebrated the Fall Wine Festival. So much bounty!! (So much wine, so little time….)

A time to give thanks. This season is the cornucopia of life. How can we not pause to take stock of all our blessings? We live in such a hurried environment these days, that sometimes we forget to stop and appreciate all that we have. We pass by those moments where we can bask in the warmth of accomplishment and fulfillment.

It’s a time to reflect on the past, and gaze into the future. Busy, chaotic Christmas/Holidays will be here before we know it! And, then the New Year is come and gone. Resolutions made in haste are soon forgotten.

I find this is the ideal time of year for crystal ball gazing. It’s more of a dreamy, soft sort of look ahead as opposed to the hard, by the numbers goals that I would set in January. The challenges and successes of this year are still a fresh taste in my mouth. I am savouring my victories, my accomplishments. I can still catch the bitterness of the disappointments. I have a generous sense of my potential.

So, I would invite you to sink into this season, and gather it around you like a warm blanket. See your glass full to the brim, and make a toast in celebration. Smell the aroma of all you have achieved this year. With each sip, say a word of thanks, appreciate the bounty you have created. And then, as you savour the lingering finish, dream into the future. Picture yourself in the rosy glow of next autumn. What will you be celebrating and giving thanks for then?

When we choose not to focus on what’s missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present…..we experience heaven on earth. Sarah Breathnach

This quote was on an email that I received recently, and I thought - “How true!”. And, I also thought about how this could apply to the “not enough” syndrome that most of us fall into at least occasionally.

It seems like there is this huge prevalence of scarcity thinking. “I don’t have enough of…”, or “I’ll do such & such as soon as….” or “when I get better at…” or “I can’t do (blank) because I don’t have….” or “I’m not good enough”.

We have a tendancy to put everything off “until”. We spend all our energy focusing on what it is we don’t have.

How would it be if we changed our thought patern just a tiny bit? What would change if I said “I can do xxx right now, and it will be even better when yyyy”. How would things be different if I really focused on what I already have, be grateful for it, and do what I can do today?

The Compass Coaching program is based on what they call “Abundance Intelligence” which has been adapted from Kim George’s book called “Coaching into Greatness“. I’ve been delving into their coaching program both as a client and now as a Certified Compass Coach for the last couple of months. And, I love it!

I find that feels really empowering. It gives me choice. It creates abundance. What is it I can do, right now? Today? It blows all of the obstacles out of the water!!

Every time I get stuck, I ask myself that question: “What can I do?”. And, it never fails to get me into action. It also makes me feel full, and blessed. I feel satisfied instead of wanting. I feel more peaceful, less anxious.

What would change for you if you chose to focus on what you do have? What you can do? Look at your strengths (and those of others) rather than weaknesses?

How would you feel?

PS. Another book that I have really enjoyed and found very enlightening on the topic of scarcity & abundance is “Trance of Scarcity” by Victoria Castle. Check it out!

Baby Ainsley Elizabeth was born on Thursday morning. We’ve spent the last few days visiting Mom, Dad and little Ainsley in the hospital.

And, it’s hard to say how I’m feeling about it exactly. Everyone expects me to be SO excited. And, I am thrilled. She is very cute. And I’m very glad to see my daughter and her husband so happy.

But, I haven’t got the ooey, gooey, mushy feelings - yet. I was worried about that. You know - new grandparents that were previously all grown up and “normal” start talking silly and gushing about the grandchild. Everyone seems to expect me to turn into one of those……

I’m not even really sure what I expected. I know I don’t feel “old’ enough to be a grandma. They’re grey and wrinkled and sit in rocking chairs, aren’t they? I’m feeling a little guilty about not feeling a need to hold her constantly. I guess I never have been much of a cuddly kind of person.

I always said I liked my kids more the older they got. To me, a 4 year old is a lot more fun than a 4 day old, or 4 month old.

I guess maybe, I’m still just feeling like me. How ’bout that?

And, I am pretty proud.

It’s funny how sometimes you hear a song, and all of a sudden the words take on meaning. I was driving yesterday, and heard the song “Thank You” by Alanis Morissette. And, the words just hit home. I’ve obviously heard the song so many times before, but for some reason, this time it was different.

“how bout me not blaming you for everything
how bout me enjoying the moment for once
how bout how good it feels to finally forgive you
how bout grieving it all one at a time”

And, then she thanks the hard things, like terror and disillusionment, and frailty.

It really reminded me that sometimes the hard stuff makes us appreciate the rest of it so much more. And, as she says, just letting go and getting back way more in return.

Hmmm, makes you think. There are so many lessons out there that are just waiting till we’re ready to hear them.

Thank you.

“Green Harvesting” is thinning out the grape clusters before they ripen to improve the quality and concentration of the wine. The excess clusters are cut from the vine and discarded.

It makes me think about what we need to “thin out” of our lives. Clutter? Tolerations? Energy drains? Those really annoying people?

Having such densely packed lives these days, we tend to want to keep it all. How much more rich and concentrated would our lives be if we cut off and discarded a bit of our own excess?

I did just that these last few weeks. I cleaned out a lot of junk! I cleaned out my closets and drawers and got rid of all my “skinny” clothes, I cleaned out the bathroom and linen closets. It was a literal purging - and actually kinda fun! I was ruthless.

And, I am noticing that I am feeling much lighter, more optimistic and energetic. I’m more focused, creative and productive. Wow!! I feel GOOD!

Give it a try. What have you got to lose?

Happy Groundhog Day! And, welcome to another 6 weeks of winter.

It’s official, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, got frightened and ran back into his den, and we get another 6 weeks of winter.

I’m thinking that we are a lot like that groundhog. How many things to do we run and hide from, only to have them persist for much longer than if we had dealt with it at the beginning?

What about when we are frightened by how big a shadow our presence casts? If we acknowlege our own bigness, and recognize that our shadow brings value, how much better off would the world be if we didn’t run and hide?

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.” This is a wonderful quote from Marianne Williamson that is often attributed to Nelson Mandela. I think there is a lot of truth in it.

A comment I received on the last post, 5 NYR for Wine Lovers was that one could make the same resolutions for food. That you could eat less, but better quality food, try new cuisines and keep a journal.

I got to thinking that we can really apply these resolutions to almost anything in life. What about life itself?

What if we reduced the clutter and focused only on the quality things in our lives? If we always expected the best, and gave the best of ourselves? What if we expanded our range by learning something new, meeting someone new, stepping out of our comfort zone?

And, what if we did it all conciously and intentially so that we could record the rich experience of our life in a journal?

What kind of legacy would we be leaving our children and grandchildren, and even the world?

Statistics apparently show that 22% of resolutions fail within a week, and over 50% have crashed and burned by the end of January.

So, what do you do? Don’t bother? Try again? How can you hope to succeed when past experience has proven that resolutions don’t work? Don’t give up!

Here are a few hints to help:

1. Do it differently! You know the old saying that the definition of success is repeating the same actions and expecting different results. So, how can you approach your resolution differently this year? Step back and ask yourself how you can make it easy and fun?

2. Be clear about the results you want. I know you’ve heard it all before: goals need to be clear, concise, and measurable. Instead of just writing it down, create a vision of the way you want things to be. Picture your goal as already achieved. Imagine what it will feel like with your goal already accomplished. Write it in a letter to yourself dated December 31, 2008. Create a vision board with pictures that depict how your life will be. Come up with an affirmation that you can say out loud to yourself daily. Use all of your senses to cement your desired outcome in your psyche.

3. Break it into tiny steps. Reduce to the ridiculous. Create tiny new habits that when repeated daily will become second nature and allow your resolution to be successful almost effortlessly. Tackle only one new good habit at a time.

4. Create accountability. Tell your spouse, a trusted friend, or your coach exactly what you want to do, how you are going to do it, and ask for their assistance. Ask them to keep you accountable to your goals. Ask them to give you encouragement when you need it, and hold your feet to the fire when you slip. Ongoing support will keep you focused and on track!

5. Plan to celebrate! Make the process fun by planning to celebrate every small success along the way. We instinctively minimize our accomplishments or think that we should have done more, faster. Instead, focus on and be thankful for each tiny step you make. Remember, the Law of Attraction says that what you focus on is what you will get more of. Focus and celebrate all that is positive!

Remember the old saying: How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time.

A client sent me an email last week commenting on his progress. Part of what he said was: “Small changes, big results…..” 

It reminded me that making big changes in our lives can seem overwhelming. And, it’s sometimes that sense of overwhelm that keeps us from taking action. We know what we want. But, it seems too far, too hard, too much to accomplish.

We can start moving forward by breaking the actions needed into teeny, tiny bites. “Reduce to the ridiculous” might be the motto here.

Let me give you an example. My client was looking to increase his energy and motivation.

We discussed some steps that might help such as being healthier and reducing clutter. Then we broke them down even further. The goal was to create habits by taking tiny baby steps over and over until they became habits. Then we’d add another step. 

First step - drink 1 glass of water every day.

2^nd step - walk to the end of the street and back

3^rd step - do the dishes first thing in the morning

And, lo & behold! He is starting to feel more positive and good things are coming into his life.

What daunting project have you been putting off? How teeny, tiny can you make the bites?

Harvest is over. The last of the 2007 grapes are fermenting or resting in quiet satisfaction in tanks and barrels. The fate of the 2007 Vintage has been cast.

How was your 2007 Vintage? Will it go down in your history as a “great year”? Or, is there some last minute tweaking you want to do to put this year to rest?

There’s still a month left, albeit a busy one! What would you dearly love to complete before the New Year is upon us? And, is it important?

A wine maker recently made the comment to me that sometimes “no action is the best action”

I invite you to take stock of all the “shoulds” you have crowding your to-do list for December and really ask yourself: “How will this contribute to my ultimate success in 2007?” Which activities and goals are really important in the overall picture?

Here’s what I want you to do. Sit back, relax. Stop everything you are doing. And focus on how you want the end of the year to be. Really tune in to how you would want to describe your 2007 vintage. What are the important elements? What do you want to stand out as the main characteristic or trait of this year?

And, just as wine makers have the choice to “finish” their wines with Malolactic fermentation, additions of acid, oak aging, you have the choice to make a few minor adjustments to your final product. Or not.

So, how do you want to use this last month of 2007?

I challenge you to get really tough with your to-do list. Get rid of all the “shoulds”! Only allow “want to’s” not have to’s”. Choose to do only those things that will contribute you finishing the year resting in quiet satisfaction.

Ahhh. 2007 was, indeed, another great Vintage. Enjoy!!!