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I have moved all the MaXIMIze posts to a new blog:

http://maximize-2012.blogspot.com/

MaXIMIze - Choice

Robert Frost's poem The Road Not Taken has been on my mind a lot lately, due to a myriad of life changes that have come and are still coming my way this year.

Since it is in the public domain, here is the poem in its entirety:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Standing at the crossroads can be a terrifying feeling at times, however, we all stand there at one point in time or another, and sometimes many times depending on where our lives take us.

What some of us never get to though is described in the third stanza of this poem, which is being able to truly continue on our journey instead of ending up in a repeating cycle. And this boils down to making choices - sometimes difficult ones - in order to truly move forward in life instead of spending it in the roundabout.

Instead of rushing willy nilly into what life throws our way, we need to stop, breathe, and listen to that small, still voice each of us has inside of us. We need to fully process what has gone on before rather than locking it in a box, throwing away the key, and hoping it never finds its way back home.

Putting what has gone before in a box temporarily, to take the time to stop, breathe, and listen, is one thing. However, you need to remember to open the box, take out what has gone before, and really examine it in the cold light of day in order to process it and move forward instead of repeating the same patterns over and over and over again.

I know this can be a scary thing - moving from the known to the unknown can be terrifying at times, even if the unknown you are moving toward is a good thing. However, this is how we grow as human beings - by moving forward. Some of us never grow, but instead remain like trees stunted by lack of water or lack of sun. Unlike those trees, who are rooted in place and cannot move to better conditions by their own volition, we do have the freedom to move on to better things.

So what is your choice today? Will you be a stunted tree, never reaching the sun, or will you take the time to stop, breathe, listen to the small, still voice inside of you and release the patterns of the past so you can move on to a bright and wonderful future?

MaXIMIzing - Getting Back Up

Yep, I fell off the blogging wagon there for a while - at least on the theme of MaXIMIzing for 2012 (and beyond).

Life happens, and my life struck in spades - January was a yin/yang month and February was all about recovery time. However, falling isn't failing; not getting back up is.

So, this is me getting back up!

Let's review my thoughts on MaXIMIzing your life thus far, shall we?

In my January 2nd post, I challenged you to set out at least three things you want to MaXIMIze this year. I then suggested you set smaller goals to help you achieve those things - monthly, weekly, and daily goals. Then I said you have to follow through in order to gain those things you want to MaXIMIze.

In my January 8th post, I challenged you to minimize the baggage you carry, both physical and otherwise. I showed you how you could do anything for fifteen minutes per day. I suggested using yoga and/or mediation to help lessen the otherwise baggage, as well as journaling and having a strong support group.

In my January 16th post, I encouraged you to follow your dreams. If we can conceive it, we can achieve it. I encouraged you to seek advice when need be along the path. This is also where I introduced the concept that falling isn't failing; not getting back up is. You cannot win if you do not play.

In my January 22nd post, I suggested you live your life by your values and your virtues. I shared that my strong ones are honesty, dignity, respect and honor.

In my January 29th post, I touched on the concept of Karma - something that is found in all major belief systems in the world, whether it be the Golden Rule, the Rule of Three, or some other description. I reminded us all that even though we work to change, the things we put out in the world in the past will continue to ripple through our future, until the ripples dissipate, as they will over time. Then, if we have truly done the work, the new things we are putting out in the world will replace those ripples with new ones.

My February and early March posts were focused on one of the things I do want to MaXIMIze this year - my writing! So, while I fell down on the posting to help you along your path to MaXIMIze your life this year, I was still traveling down my path towards that same goal!

For the last few weeks (perhaps even the last two months), I have seen the following saying on RUOFS (a fiberglass steer who hangs out on the sidewalk near Ruland's Used Office Furnishing on 16th Street in Sacramento):

A setback is a set-up for a comeback.

So, here is my hand held out to you, if you have fallen and need a lift to get up...now get back to MaXIMIzing your life!!!

Percopotomus - Day 10 - Saving Souls

Well, here we are, down to the final entry for this year's run of Percopotomus.

Prompt: saving souls is risky business

Writing can save a soul
or destroy it
writing for cleansing
or for closure
can loose more demons
than it destroys sometimes

The soul that can release
the demons loosed
can find redemption
and thus be saved

The soul that holds on
to even one demon loosed
in this manner
can only be consumed
by the demons it holds

For those who stare
into the abyss
fall
into the darkness

Those who turn away
from the darkness
and leave the demons
in the abyss
find freedom
find light
find life again

So what do you do with the demons loosed by writing?

Percopotomus - Day 9 - Memories

Prompts: cradled in the velvet darkness; There are many new opportunities waiting to be presented to you.

Cradled in the velvet darkness, Annaliese contemplated the fortune cookie she'd cracked open after lunch at the upscale Asian place near her work.

"There are many new opportunities waiting to be presented to you," it read.

For some reason she was reminded of the scene in the movie History of the World Part I where Madeline Kahn as Empress Nympho went through the supposedly eunuch guards lined up for her review. As she walked down the line, she peeked behind each guard's strategically placed shield, saying "no, no, no, no, yes..." as she went down the line.

Annaliese smiled as she drifted off to sleep, her purple teddy bear held tightly in her arms.

Percopotomus - Day 8 - RIP Davy Jones

This was written in response to the news that Davy Jones of the Monkees passed away today at the age of 66.

With the death of the daydream believer
the homecoming queen
lost her crown on that
Pleasant Valley Sunday

Now she's riding the last train
to Clarksville
so she can meet him at the station
and soon they'll be hiding together
'neath the Bluebird's wing
sharing coffee-flavored kisses
never to hear the six o'clock alarm ring again

Percopotomus - Day 7 - Lilacs and Roses

Prompts: Lilacs and Roses and terms for various groups of animals (from the San Diego Zoo)

Memories of the lilacs and roses
float through the clouds in my coffee
Brought to mind by the charm of finches
and the chattering of starlings
chasing the kettle of hawks away

That was before a murder of crows
swooped into the trees
portending a future
full of a clutter of spiders
and a den of snakes

When all I wanted to see was
a flutter of butterflies again

Instead, I got a pack of dogs
and a sounder of swine

Life truly is no bed of oysters

Perocoptomus - Day 6 - Love's Loss, Love's Gain

Prompt: dredging the bottom of winter

Love's loss is like
dredging the bottom of winter
looking for meaning
wondering what comes hinder

Love's gain is like
skimming the top of summer
reveling in warmth
awakening from slumber

Dredging the bottom of winter
sloughing through the pain
working through the loss
striving for some gain

Skimming the top of summer
feeling light and free
never stopping to think
is this really me

Summer love loses its shine
in the cold chill of winter

Seeds sown in spring
burst forth in fall

By following the proper sequence
you can truly have it all

To every season, turn, turn, turn
the toil in each must be done
lest the love won in summer
be lost to the winter's dreary sun

Percopotomus - Day 5 - Moon Beams

From the prompt: a sliver of moon in an azure sky

A sliver of moon in the azure sky
brings to mind lines of a song

It's only a paper moon
sailing over a cardboard sea
but it wouldn't be make-believe
if you believed in me

A full moon burning bright against the dark of night
brings to mind lines of a song

When the moon hits your eye
like a big pizza pie
that's amore

No moon shining against the stars
reminds me that you no longer are
here with me
under the sea
in an octopus's garden
in the shade

But then you never were

Percopotomus - Day 4 - Belonging

Prompts: I belong nowhere else; A wonder and moment of turning

I belong nowhere else than where I am right here, right now. I once would have said I belong nowhere else but there, or there, or even there. Now I know better.

It took a wonder and a moment of turning to realize that I am truly in the right place right now - even though my heart may not agree at times. My intuition, however, knows better.

That intuition is what sparked the wonder - wondering why my stomach hurt like something bad was happening, even though my head and my heart could not see it yet. The turning was the turning in, the tuning in to my intuition and truly listening to it for the first time in years.

So while the road ahead is rocky, having not been taken often, I know that whatever comes my way from this point forward, I belong nowhere else.

Percopotomus - Day 3 - Inside a Poem

Inspired by the prompt of the same name:

Inside a poem,
I can tell a story,
share my dreams,
my fears,
my life.

Inside a poem
I can put out a message,
to one person,
to many people,
to make people think.

Inside a poem
I can share
my perceptions,
my reality,
my truth.

Inside a poem
I can tell it
like it really is.

And only those who know me will truly understand.

Percopotomus 2012 - Day 2 - Light

The prompt for this entry was: The atheist turned a little pale.

Was it the Light surrounding Us that caused his skin to turn to alabaster?

Was it the Proof that when two or more of Us are gathered together, the Light within each of Us can no longer hide under the bushel of aloneness?

Or was it when he realized that to be the Master, one must also be the Servant?

For whatever reason, the atheist turned a little pale as he approached our circle in the old oak grove.

Percopotomus 2012 - Day 1 - Truth

So, CHPercolators - a Yahoo group I belong to - is doing the annual Percopotamus from 22 Feb 12 to 2 Mar 12.

Basically we write a piece every day - a complete piece - of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, etc. and post it to the group.

So, here is my submission du jour:

From today's prompt list: The artist cannot be deaf to the call of truth; it alone defines his/her creative will.

What is Truth after all?

Is what one calls reality Truth?

If reality is just perception how does one perceive Truth?

If perceptions are simply one's interpretation of the input of the five senses - sight, sound, touch, taste and smell - then how does one interpret Truth?

What about the sixth sense - intuition? Is it possible that Truth is what one's intuition perceives and tries to communicate through those gut feelings?

And if that is Truth, then what does one do when one knows Truth?

Does Truth truly set one free?

Or does Truth instead ensnare one in yet another web - either silken or thorn-laden - based on one's interpretation, perception and reality of Truth?

After all, what is Truth, really?

MaXIMIze Karma

With all that is going on in life right now, MaXIMIzing karma - the good kind - is much on my mind.

This concept whether it be described as karma or the rule of three or the Golden Rule, is prevalent in many of the belief systems around the world. What you put out in the world is what you get back - sometimes in spades. Personally, I prefer to get good things coming to me in my life, not bad, so over the past several months I have taken a hard look at myself and what I am doing in my life and what that is bringing into my life.

Now that is not to say that once you truly change your mindset and your ways that all of what you have put in out in the world previously will suddenly not continue on its path back to you. Just as the ripples caused by a stone dropped in a body of water continue to move towards shore long after the stone has settled on the bottom, the actions you put out in the world ripple through until they return to you. And if you continually put the same actions out into the world, those are the actions you will continually get back.

We change the world by changing ourselves. So what would you like to have come back to you today?

MaXIMIzing Life

MaXIMIze life by living by your values and virtues. For me, that means honesty, respect, dignity and honor. If you are not treating yourself and others with those four items to start with - and there are others, such as love, loyalty, fidelity...you get the drift - then you are not living life to its MaXIMum potential.

In fact you are shortchanging yourself and others and causing much more pain in the world than there truly needs to be. And believe you me, there is more than enough pain in the world to go around and definitely not enough love.

There is a saying that goes oh, what a tangled web we weave when we first practice to deceive. And once you get tangled up in such a web of lies, disrespect, dishonor, faithlessness and such, it is very hard to untangle yourself from it and you get drawn deeper and deeper more often than not.

So, do yourself and everyone your life touches a favor and MaXIMIze the virtues mentioned above.

An honest life is not always a peaceful life, however it is truly a kinder life to give to those around you and to yourself.

MaXIMIze Your Dream

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his "I Have a Dream" speech, today's blog is about MaXIMIzing your dream - whatever it may be.

If we can conceive it, we can achieve it. Or put another way, nothing is impossible, just improbable (one of my mother's favorite sayings). You cannot win if you do not play.

So, in order for you to achieve your dreams, whatever they may be, do not be afraid to seek advice - whether it is from friends and relations, a counselor or therapist, or in the form of self-help books and blogs and other information available through a variety of venues.

I may have noted in an earlier blog that one of my goals is to work through Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way - well, my good intentions have come to naught as yet, beyond reading the first chapter in the book again. Now, do I beat myself up for not being "on track" and "with the program"? No - I just pick up and begin again. We are not perfect, we are human beings - and it is okay to fall from time to time. This is not failure. Failure is not getting back up and moving again.

I have worked through other books over the years, and I will share a few of them here with you:

Self Matters, Dr. Phil McGraw (yes, he has a last name)

Take Time for Your Life, Cheryl Richardson (the copy I have is from 1999, and when I was in the book store yesterday I saw the most recent iteration on the shelf)

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Dr. Steven Covey (another timeless classic)

Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill (originally published in, I believe, 1937 - again, timeless)

Now, I have found pearls of wisdom in all sorts of places - novels I have read, subject-specific (mainly writing) books and articles, etc. - that are applicable over a wide variety of scenarios and subjects - not just the specific one that article or book was written for.

Move ahead with your dreams, even as you are seeking advice and counsel - remember you cannot win if you do not play. Motion begets motion; stagnation begets stagnation. Therefore, by continuing learning, growing, and stretching your wings, you will be fulfilling your dreams, whatever they may be!

MaXIMIze by Minimizing

You can MaXIMIze your life by minimizing the baggage you carry through it - both physically and otherwise. Sometimes though, you need to work through the otherwise to be able to minimize the physical baggage.

Whether you have an issue with collecting things - perhaps not to the extent of ending up on that show about hoarders, but enough that your obsession with owning things shuts out other things in life - or collecting non-so physical things like credit card debt, most of these habits can be traced back to things you experienced early in life.

And yes, doing the work to recognize and deal with the issues that led to these habits is not easy - you will find I rarely say anything is truly easy - however, your life will be much enriched by relieving yourself of excess baggage, no matter the source.

I may or may not get back to this subject during the course of this MaXIMIzing year, so I will give you some resources that have helped me over the years:

Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn (pronounced "decision") - three books gleaned from a newsletter she used to publish.

FlyLady.net - a friend at work turned me on to this site over ten years ago now - one little gleaning I remember is that you can spend 15 minutes doing anything. I've used that for housework, exercise, writing, anything I want to accomplish but sometimes feel is too big to tackle.

Patricia V. Davis - a more recent find and author of Harlot's Sauce and The Diva Doctrine.

Learning yoga - the holistic teaching of yoga, not just a gym class (although I did take this as the PE requirement in college - the teacher, however, taught it holistically).

Developing your support network - garnering mentors, joining groups that do things you enjoy or who help you grow (My Girlfriends' Garden in Auburn and Roseville do this for me!), etc.

These are just some of the things that have worked for me over the years to get from where I was ten years ago or so to now - and I'm still growing and shedding unneeded baggage as I go!

MMXII - MaXIMIze for 2012

I enjoy those daily calendars very much, and this year I have one called the MENSA Puzzle Calendar. The entry for today, 2 January 2012, stated that 2012 equals MMXII in Roman numerals. It then asked the reader to think of a common eight-letter word containing those letters. The word is MaXIMIze - a good theme for this year!

So I hereby dub the year 2012 as the year to MaXIMIze your self and MaXIMIze your life!

Rather than making New Year's resolutions, I prefer to develop goals and objectives to work towards for. This year, I will be working towards goals that bring more of what I want to see in my life to me - love, laughter, happiness, joy. I will also be working towards goals which help myself others become and/or continue to be/grow as healthy, happy, responsible human beings.

So, let's start with some food for thought, shall we?

What DO you want to see more of in your life?

Set out at least three things you want to maximize this year - describe how these things will manifest in your life - look, feel, taste, smell, sound. And remember, feel is both physical and emotional.

Now, think about what you can do to bring these things - the maximizing of these things - to fruition.

Set smaller goals (sometimes called objectives in "work" speak) - monthly, weekly, daily. Write them down and keep them where you can see them and reflect on them constantly. I use a white board for this purpose.

Most important of all - follow through! Don't beat yourself up because you missed a goal for a specific time (day, week, etc.). Reset yourself instead - analyze why you missed the goal and figure out how to attain that goal (if the goal is truly something you want to maximize!).

Some of the things I want to see more of in my life in concrete form are:

Writing Daily Pages (from Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way)

Going on an Artist Date - enjoying and nurturing my inner child, seeing the world through those eyes instead of these old "adult" eyes all the time (again from Julia Cameron)

Exercise - I enjoy riding my bike, hiking, bird walks, and so many other things.

Yoga and/or meditation - I know I feel better and more at peace when I practice yoga, so why don' t I have more of it in my life?

These are the things I will be working on (as well as some others) during the course of this MaXIMIzing year! What will you be working on?

Sharing Knowledge

This is one of several essays that came my way today...

“If you have knowledge, let others light their candles on it.” - Margaret Fuller

“This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine…” How many of us remember that from church or grade school?

“Knowledge shared is knowledge squared.” Another favorite quote of mine.

Knowledge is power, a power that grows by sharing it with others. The way I’m sharing my knowledge, my life learning, with you via this essay, this blog, and all my other ramblings and writings.

Knowledge can also be power lost. We lose it by hoarding it, refusing to share it, taking it with us when we leave. We also lose it by destroying it, as was done to the library of Alexandria, or by the senseless killings of wise men and women accused of crimes they did not commit, as has been done in the name of religion or political and material greed.

Knowledge can be destroyed or placed under a bushel by fear. Fear of the unknown seeking to be known. Fear of change, of growth, of loss. Fears that come from a place of lack, that dark place that shuns the light.

Knowledge brings light, the light at the end of the tunnel, the light that illuminates the darkness and chases away the demons of ignorance. Knowledge brings the light of abundance in its wake.

So, I’m going to let this little light of mine shine, lighting the way for others or lighting their candles to illuminate their own ways out of the darkness.

New Month, New Year, Different Choices

Yes, it is now October, a new month. Also, it is a new year for me - fiscal year that is - currently being a Federal civilian employee.

With all the newness, and thanks to the challenge Michelle Brunmier posted on her Facebook page (the one you can like to follow...), I've decided to do New Month Resolutions. On the post I'm referring to, she writes, "This month, my goal is to exercise and meditate at least 4 times a week (one more than last month), to read every day, and to write in my gratitude journal every night. Being grateful is key...I think we get lost in our "situations" and forget all the wonderful things we have."

As those of you who've known me for a while know, my life has not been the easiest these last nearly six months. I've done a lot of soul-searching, and am in the process of climbing up that long tunnel towards the light I can see shining brightly at the end - even though sometimes it only shines as a pinprick in the cavern of darkness I feel like I'm in at times, rather than as a window shining in the front room of life...one could say I have a tendency to "get lost in (my) 'situation(s)' and forget all the wonderful things (I) have."

So my first resolution is to keep in the front of my mind all the things I am grateful for - today, it is having a job, my wonderful husband, my adorable and brilliant children, grandchildren, step-children, and children of my heart, my expanding network of Girlfriends -both through My Girlfriends Garden and other areas, the rest of my family - brothers, sisters-in-law, nieces, cousins, et al, the rain that is moving through our area right now - lightly at the moment, my cat always happy to see me at the end of the day, my wonderful team mates at work (both Corps and sponsor/stakeholder team mates) who helped propel my little program to execute at 96% of what we expected - making us Green in the lingo of the Corps, my health, my hunger, desire, need to write that never goes away, and the many avenues I have to express and share what flows through me onto the page (like this one, for example!).

I could focus on the dark things in life, but why? Life is too short and too grand and too full of things full of light to allow the dark to overtake me for more than a very short time. The dismals is not where I want to dwell, not now, not ever!

My second resolution is to do things to propel the career I will have after I retire to fruition - writing prose, poetry, and essays, self-publishing where necessary, looking at venues to sell my wares - both writing and photography, looking into what it takes to become a yoga instructor and life coach (perhaps I should have said careers - plural???), and start building the connections now to make this all a reality sooner rather than later.

And those two resolutions are enough - for now! ; )