Creating Sparks That Last & All Things Relationships

Are Your Goals Getting Away From You? On 2 July 2022, we'll be exactly halfway through the year. You’ve achieved some of your goals but others might not have worked out as you expected. So let’s reset our intentions for the second half of the year. https://unsplash.com/@soymeraki What direction do you want the rest of your year to go in? • Do you want to take your career up a notch? • Perhaps pivot your business ventures completely? • Maybe it’s your health and well-being you want to reset? • Or perhaps you want to enhance the quality of your relationships with the myriad people in your life? It’s not too late: Take 10 minutes right now to see yourself succeeding in your workplace: home-life, corporate or small business. I know that you love what you have envisioned for yourself and you want it so badly. And you CAN achieve it. Whatever it might be. The solution: Start today! As a writer, I’ve only recently built the habit of writing regularly. Sounds obvious right? I used to only

 The Art of a Meaningful Life by Vitaliy Katsenelson Book Review Vitaliy Katsenelson captures the delight in living a life in learning mode. By this I mean that he demonstrates how to be curious about new subjects and how to be open to learning more about subjects we are already familiar with. He shows us how to grow in sync with the maturity of our children, how to lead a business with a growth mindset encouraging the strengths of colleagues to shine in their role. Vitaliy also shows us the art of personal development in an ever-changing world. He draws parallels between classical music and the pain of learning through perceived failure. The wisdom of his father is woven into the fabric of his understanding of the world around him from an art vs craft perspective. Vitaliy emigrated to America from Russia and forged a successful career in investing, ultimately starting his own business. His interest in writing began with articles on stocks and became such a passion for him that he bega

https://unsplash.com/@yl1980 s Stress Busting in 2 Easy Moves Have you checked in with yourself lately? If you’re in a public space, simply take a few uplifting breaths – bring your awareness back to your surroundings. Listen to the noises around you. Birds? Cars? Air-conditioner? Chatter? Sensory overload can trigger a small dose of anxiety. Let’s use our senses to engage our clarity and drown out the anxiety. ♥ if you’re feeling frazzled, flick your fingers on one hand, or both hands if you can. Place your thumb over each fingernail one by one, flick away from your thumb with one finger at a time. Spring each finger forwards, away from your thumb. Notice your skin. Is it dry? Sweaty? Are your fingertips freezing? ♥ repeat as many times as needed until you feel a gentle tingling in your fingertips. Count each time you flick a finger forwards:  1, 2, 3, 4 Relax. Calm. Begin anew. Bringing yourself back to basic awareness is an instant stress buster! Rub your thumbnails with your index

A MARITAL TUNE-UP I am delighted to share today's blogpost with you from a reader who shares her findings on ways to 'create sparks that last' in her marriage. https://unsplash.com/@claudialam Although Stuart and I share a lot in common, we have come to learn from each other as well. From Stuart, his thoughtful and considerate ways. From me, my humor, laughter, and how to lighten up. April 15 th , 2022 marked our 39 th  wedding anniversary. Just. That. Fast. Both recently retired—not together; we read not to do it together—we became hyper-aware of a new phase in our lives and marriage. It was as though we were left holding a simmering love, one becoming all too familiar (Storge) instead of our once robust, romantic and physical love. Our minds and bodies were struggling with this shift: How to keep ‘us’ alive as we aged when it seemed we were on a fast track to becoming roommates. Stuart and I decided to seek counseling in order to make an immediate change in the direction

Are You Your Own Worst Enemy?  https://unsplash.com/@danielmingookkim Deep questions for sure. Let me start by asking you how often you find yourself having a heated discussion in your thoughts? How often do you find yourself defending your actions internally, in your mind? Okay, enough with the questions, I'm sure you get the picture. It happens in a millisecond. We do or think something that we feel someone will criticize and we immediately prepare our defense. Crazy right? I've caught myself doing this countless times and am more aware than ever to stop my thoughts in their tracks and remind myself that it's simply not true and there is no reason for defense. Just as importantly, I've started reminding myself that whatever the action is that I 'think' someone might criticize me for, is an action I am quite *entitled to take and need not feel defensive in the first place. *Provided you're not hurting another being. https://unsplash.com/@nkuutz You are free

Looking For Guest Bloggers About 6 months ago I had a very successful month of guest bloggers to freshen up our feed. I’d like to offer that opportunity again for the month of August.  https://unsplash.com/@arnelhasanovic You may think it’s far in advance, but from experience, I know it took a while to format and edit each article. So if this is something you’d be interested in doing, I’d love to hear from you. Topics my blog typically publishes revolve around all dynamics of relationships: ➡️ Relationship with ourself can include - • Self-care • Self-awareness • Setting boundaries • Finding voice • Anything related to personal growth ➡️ Romantic relationships - my topics don’t typically discuss intimacy - • Date nights • Communication • Shared goals • Individual interests incorporated into the relationship • Anything that helps couples strengthen their connection ➡️ Platonic relationships - • Friendships • Colleagues • Any adult relationship that is not family or romantically involved

Unsure what that even means? I invite you to read on... This is what mindbodygreen.com interprets a conscious relationship to mean: A conscious relationship is a romantic relationship in which both partners feel committed to a sense of purpose, and that purpose is growth.  Individual growth. Shared growth as a couple.  Collective growth that makes the world a better place. You can read the rest of their article at the following link: The 4 Qualities of a Conscious Relationship I would add that a conscious relationship is not limited to a romantic connection, but also extends to family and friends as the two are intrinsically linked as I will illustrate below. https://unsplash.com/@_visalliart I've recently had the absolute pleasure of reading a number of books related to all topics of connection in our lives. Each one shows how irrefutably our network of relating to each other stems from our perception of connection. ≽ Quoted from Stronger Connections by Rosie Kendall: People wil