Unleashing Your Greatness

Part of being a growing, thriving individual is not just sitting in your comfort zone but stretching yourself and trying new things.  This week I’m going to add some adventure, playfulness, and challenge you a bit.  As we talked about at the beginning of the month, your home is a great place to try new things before you unleash them on an unsuspecting world.  Things like playing a musical instrument, learning some new dance moves, trying a new recipe, changing your hair or makeup, writing a book, taking up a new sport, or anything else that gets you going.

To begin creating a home where you and your family can soar, ask yourself the following questions: 

• Is your home set up to allow individuals to try new things?
• Is there an atmosphere that is encouraging and accepting?
• Is there a lightness that makes it easy to try new things and not feel heavy with the fear of failure?
• Do you support and encourage each other in your attempts?
• Does everyone have enough quiet time to dream the dreams and pursue their interests?  That includes you!

 We all have been given different gifts and talents.  By honoring that and creating the physical and mental space for each family member to pursue their own interests and passions, you will create a home that is authentic, fun, warm, and challenging.  This environment will encourage and support your family to be the best that they can be.  And who wouldn’t want to come home to that!

What are some things that you have been dying to try or learn?  Now is the time! 

Great job this month! Celebrate all you’ve accomplished!  And let us know what changes you’ve made, we would love to celebrate with you!

Fun and Laughter 

Most people love their families (well at least a few members anyway!) but we can get so caught up in the daily tasks of home management, stress of work, getting homework and everything else done that we forget to have some fun and laugh along the way. 

How to Get Started 

To begin creating more warmth in your home, think about the following questions:

•  How (and how often) do you show appreciation and gratitude in your family?
• When a family member comes home for the day, how is (s)he greeted?  Is it with happiness and energy or barely a grunt in that direction?
• How often do you give hugs and kisses or touch each other in your family?  When you kiss your partner, is it the pecking kind of kiss or the ‘let’s put the kids to bed early tonight’ kind?
• When was the last time you shared a really great side splitting laugh together?  Or even a few chuckles?

 Laughter is probably the most underrated medicine for relationships and improving the happiness scale in your home.  It takes away stress and bonds you tightly together (ala the “inside joke”).  Affection and appreciation also convey to your family how much you love and value them. 

 I challenge you this week to look at these areas and see if sharing a laugh, putting an arm around a family member, or expressing your appreciation doesn’t make things feel just a bit lighter and easier. 

Do you have a favorite memory or story of how laughter helped bring you closer to a friend or family member?  Share it with us!

 Have a fun week!