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Out
on a Limb |
A
Monthly Newsletter from Martha Clark Scala |
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Invest
in bringing joy back to your life. |
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December
2009 |
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Welcome
to Out on a Limb,
a monthly newsletter from Martha Clark Scala. This free e-zine
is meant to invite and inspire you to maximize the joy in
your life.
3rd
Annual Prompts for Joy: Manageability
If
you’ve been receiving Out on a Limb
for a couple of years, you might be expecting the 3rd Annual
Prompts
for Joy
in this December issue. Two years ago, YouTube was still pretty
new; the novelty of being able to share videos that brought
joy was exciting. But now, not only are YouTube videos more
mainstream, but they are being shared with others via the explosion
in social networking. Facebook, My Space, and Twitter all offer
the opportunity to provide a link to videos worth seeing. The
videos are just as compelling as they were a couple of years
ago, but in the interest of manageability, I dare not contribute
to anyone’s overwhelm or media overload! From now on,
each monthly newsletter will offer one or two links that will
serve as potential prompts for joy. If you are a newcomer to
this newsletter, click
here to get some background on what is meant
by Prompts for Joy. The December 2009 Prompts for Joy are:
What a Wonderful World: Animal
lovers will especially like this short one. (~ 2 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnox0YM9pWQ&annotation_id=annotation_603355&feature=iv
Bodhisattva
in Metro: This one’s a little bit longer.
Just try not to laugh. (~6 ½ minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jedd2FiZTqM
(Many thanks to Roberta Gelt and Amber Sumrall for sharing
these videos with me.)
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In
Pursuit of Manageability
A
dear friend of mine does not send or receive e-mail and he
doesn’t own a cell phone. If you call his home number,
you hear his voice say “as long as I am working on
my current project, I am only using the phone between 5 and
9pm.” These may seem like drastic measures, to some,
but I bet this person still has days when life feels unmanageable.
Perhaps it can’t be avoided, entirely, but that doesn’t
mean we should give up trying, does it? Joy is at stake here! |
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Emptying
the Plate
If “too
much on my plate” is the problem, what is the solution?
Trying to gobble everything up? Or is it putting less on
the plate in the first place? Just as we might not want to
miss one good, joy-inducing YouTube video, to what extent
do we bring unmanageability to our lives by trying to do,
see and be too much? Perhaps it is best to meditate on phrases
such as this: “There is always enough and enough is
plenty.” I don’t know who I’m quoting
but I’ll not make my life more unmanageable by trying
to figure it out!
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Grief
Counsel
Two more
of my FAQ responses are posted at the Caring.com website.
Feel free to comment or indicate whether you find these
helpful, at the end of each FAQ! Also, please forward these
to anyone who might benefit from reading the FAQs.
Click
here for “What if I Don’t Feel Sad After
a Loved One’s Death?”
Click
here for “Is it Normal to Wish I Could End My
Own Life After My Loved One Has Died?”
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Joy-Gram for December 2009
Ask
yourself if your life feels unmanageable in any of these areas:
social calendar, work/life balance, self-care, computer time,
spending, eating, home life, substance use. What one thing could
you do different, or could you take off your plate to alleviate
stress and increase manageability?
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Archives
Now Available
To
re-read or share past Out On A Limb newsletters, click
here, or type the following url into your browser: http://www.mcscala.com/html/EZineArchives.html.
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Disclaimer
By no means
do I have joy “figured out.” Please do not assume
that I do! I write Out On a Limb as much as a meditation for
myself in the ongoing pursuit of joy, as for you. I think this
pursuit is a lifelong journey and that the full experience
of joy is, at best, episodic. May we all have more episodes! |
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Martha Clark Scala, MFT • 721 Colorado Ave., Suite 201, Palo Alto, CA 94303 •
info@MCScala.com
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