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Sue-Marie's blog
Beautiful Day Activity
Beautiful Day Activity
My beautiful day happened the week before we went to EMP when I was down in the Bay Area on business. I took a side-track from work and drove through the wine country up to Harbin Hot Springs. I hadn’t been to Harbin for about 15 years and it felt good to go back.
My beautiful day started by waking up on a really comfortable bed with soft white sheets in an interesting structure, a Buckminster Fuller style dome. The inside of the dome was curvy and white like an adobe dwelling. There were lots of triangular windows and I could see that it was a beautiful day outside.
Forgiveness activity
Forgiveness Activity
I find it easier to forgive other people than myself. I am way harder on myself than I ever would be on anyone else. At the risk of sounding like an egomaniac, I decided to do this activity with my biggest ally and my worst foe in all of life, the one who definitely has caused me more heartache than anyone else but who has also given me more joy than anyone else. Myself. This is very personal, but I’ve decided to post it on the off chance it might help someone else. I’ve never really been very private anyway, and I know all my lumps and bumps are pretty standard. I'm not that special except in my own mind! So here goes, a dialog of forgiveness between my Self and my self. The small self is my nemesis who tries to psych me out from time to time. The big Self is my real self, or my higher Self, and she is the one writing the letter.
EMP response
EMP
When I found out we were going to EMP, my first reaction was cynical. “Been there, done that, I’ve got work to do!” But then the idea of a “field trip” reminded me of all the fun field trips I’d had during my childhood in hippy schools. I was still a little disappointed that we didn’t get to drive up in a yellow school bus, but I got to ride in Sue’s super cool mini-van so that made up for it. It would have been nice to all be together. But hey, were we lucky or what to get such a gorgeous day and incredible views of Mt. Rainier!
Response to The Resilience Factor
I am more than what I think
The Resilience Factor promises to help readers learn the ABCs of increasing resiliency by teaching seven skills that are grouped together into two subcategories, the "know theyself skills" (p. 66) and the "change skills" (ibid). There are three "know thyself skills," the ABCs of resiliency, Avoiding Thinking Traps, and Detecting Icebergs. There are four "change skills," Challenging Beliefs, Putting it in Perspective, Calming and Focusing, and Real-time Resilience (p. 146).
Gratitude Letter and Three Blessings Activities
Gratitude Letter and Visit
The challenge for me with the Gratitude Letter and Visit exercise was to think of someone locally for whom I hadn’t already done this because I tend to be quite acknowledging of the people in my life. Then I thought about my former office manager, a woman named Ruth. She still works for the company I used to own and operate, although I’ve since sold out and gone back to school. We have maintained our friendship although we don’t see each other often. As a boss, I was frequently annoyed by her because she moves at a much slower rate than I do and is chronically 15 minutes late to work. She also has a demanding daughter and grandchildren who often called her during the day to talk about things I considered trivial. I never considered Ruth one of my best employees, but she was very loyal and always brought her keen sense of humor to the job with her. My life back then was a crazy roller coaster of high octane stress and I know I was often very difficult to work with but she hung in with me through thick and thin.
