Is there anyone happier than Goldie Hawn? My whole life I have had a wish to meet her. I think being in her presence would be such a gift. She seems to have the magic touch when it comes to positivity and joy.
She has been making the podcast circuit and hearing her stories just makes me admire her more. My favorite statement from her — “I want to solve a problem, I don’t want to keep talking about it.”
To me, there are few people in the world who think this way. There is too much noise in the world — creativity is drowned out by all the media ideas — which to me is just designed to make money, not build a successful life.
Goldie Hawn’s Mind Up Program is designed to address the stress that kids deal with every day and to reduce their feelings of anxiety. I know for sure that my childhood gave me a great beginning to developing my imagination. I will say though, every generation believes their childhood was the best way to grow up.
Stress and anxiety lived deep within me once I reached my twenties. I was not confident and my lack of life experience gave me nothing to hang on to. My choices were right for the moment and my best lesson was that nothing was a mistake just a series of forward moves. I needed a mentor —
Who Is That Person For You?
I wish one thing — that I had learned meditation and a way to focus on what my goal was for the future. I had no plan, Without looking forward, it meant that anxiety became my friend.
I needed to believe in myself and not depend on anyone to make me happy. Lessons learned — looking back I know that my journey was exactly what led me to the joy that I feel now.
Will today’s emergency even be remembered? Will that thing you’re particularly anxious about have been hardly worth the time you put into it?
Better Question: What could you do today that would matter a year from now? Seth Godin
Anxiety became a part of my life at about age 20. I can’t say that before then I didn’t worry but it never caused me to lose sleep or suffer panic attacks. I was young and had no life experience. I was making decisions for myself with no thought about my goals. As a matter of fact, I had no goals.
My world was changing drastically and I guess you could say I was free falling, hanging onto my childhood and life at home for dear life. There was no push for me to go to college and even though I got good grades in high school, I had never thought about a career. In 1973 girls were still given a pass if they chose not to go to college. I had no money saved and going against type, I just left junior college without even withdrawing. I was bored and lost.
While I realize that my parent’s going through a heartbreaking divorce at the time had moved the needle toward anxiety, I cannot blame them or their choices for my own. High School was such a haven for me that I truly thought it would go on forever. How could I be so responsible yet so immature? I was definitely on a path to learn the hard way.
After reading the above quote from Seth Godin, I thought about what it meant. It seems obvious, the daily worries will subside and it’s better to plan for your future. I reread it many times to understand that anxiousness and worry are a dead end waste of energy. Then I realized that it took ENERGY(Definition: the capacity for vigorous activity; available power) to create my anxiety and more ENERGY to work through a panic attack. The lightbulb came on this morning to a solution — treat energy as a tangible thing, not just a feeling.
I’ve started taking a minute to test my energy level for every task of the day. Starting with just one day is less overwhelming. I’m trying to make my daily structure fulfilling and productive. Even cleaning a bathroom can be satisfying when you see the end result. Once the bathroom is clean, it leads to rearranging and moving things. A picture straightened and appreciated, a glass vase looking better on the other side of the sink with the dust being wiped off, the reflection in the mirror is better when there are no water marks on it. I began a process of being slow, steady and paying attention to what is front of me. While I am organizing and cleaning, my brain starts to sort itself out too. I faced each day calmer. My focus was better — instead of anxious I started to feel motivated.
My Energy Source
I was not ready for the world at 20 because I did not look at it as a great and wonderful source of choices. I was closed off to adventure. I stayed safe within the confines of pleasing. I followed the expected path. It doesn’t really please anyone to do what you think they want from you. The energy is directed away from your soul and dissipates out in the air with nothing to show for it. I now visualize my energy floating away — a great vision to check on myself.
So I thought about what and where I get energy from and how it has replaced worry and anxiety:
Writing this Blog
Organizing a Mess (throwing it all in the middle and sorting before it goes back)
Knowing what I have — financial and material
Reading Biographies (I am fascinated to see how people get where they are)
Family Time (grown kids are amazing friends who are honest and true)
I Need More Adventures
One thing missing on my list is “Planning Adventures” — I need to start small with day adventures and learn to leave the chores behind once in a while. Sometimes doing nothing accomplishes exactly what you need for the day.
