Take care of yourself!

Those are some simple words, but with a pretty significant impact.  Let us first explain that this is not going to be a lesson on selfishness.  Quite the contrary, we believe that by taking care of yourself, you will be better suited to take care of the things and people around you.

 Most of the people that we know are very busy taking care of their day to day responsibilities (whether or not kids are involved).  How many of you get to the end of the day and wonder “where did this day go?”  How many of you can remember the last time that you did something, really did something that was just for you?  Believe it or not, it is difficult to give of yourself, 100% of the time, without doing some nice things for you.

 So, with that in mind, make an effort to take care of yourself.  You could exercise, meditate, get a manicure, get a massage, go out with a friend, take that class you have been putting off, etc, etc, etc.  The point is that by taking care of yourself, you will be a better, happier person going through life, day to day.

 The Gurus of Get It!

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Weekend Challenge: Balance

Over the past several months  we’ve been working to get you to see your life in a different way, and then to do something about it.  If we’ve been at all successful, it means you’ve been putting a lot of extra thought and time into building your Perfect Life.

Likewise, as we dive into the Holiday season, we’ve all got extra  things to think about like year-end finances, shopping, end of semester, shopping, and family gatherings.  December tends to add a lot of stress to our lives.

With everything going on, it’s easy to just put your head down and plow ahead.  But when you do that, you tend to lose sight of the big picture.  And in the short term, that can be just a matter of survival, and that’s part of life;  if it lasts longer than the short term (a few days), it can suck all of the joy out of the season. 

So this weekend, while you’re still enjoying a few moments of quiet, invest time in yourself and the people closest to you.  Do what it takes to start next week with a feeling of balance.  Because that’ll get tested soon enough.

The Gurus of Get It!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We here at Get It! are very thankful that we live in the greatest country on the planet–a country that gives us the opportunity to strive, to achieve, and to try to influence others to do the same.  Towards that end, we suggest you watch the following video, and include in your prayers of Thanksgiving today those who guarantee those freedoms for us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ETrr-XHBjE

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

The Gurus of Get It!

Learn a name, make a friend!

There once was a nursing student who during their second month of nursing school was given a pop quiz by their professor.  This student was conscientious and had breezed through the questions, until they read the last one: “What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?”  Surely this was some kind of joke.  They had seen the cleaning woman several times, knew what she looked like, but how would they know her name?  Leaving the last question blank, they handed in their paper and asked if the last question would count toward the quiz grade.  “Absolutely,” said the professor.  “In your careers, you will meet many people.  All are significant.  They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and use their name to say hello.”  That was one lesson the student never forgot.

 As you make your way out into shops, restaurants or around your office, make special note to catch the people’s name of those who may be helping you.  When you need something or just want to say hello, notice their smile and friendlier body language when you have made that effort and actually use their name.

The Gurus of Get It!

Weekend Challenge: Thankfulness

Given the upcoming Holiday, we’re sure you are going to get used to hearing this question:  “What are you thankful for?”

And that’s a great question–gratefulness (yes, that’s a word!) is a wonderful way to enter the world.  But we want to turn that question around on you.  Over the course of the weekend and the upcoming week, we want you to answer this question:

What have you done lately that would make somebody Thankful for YOU?

We’re not talking your ordinary, every-day, living your life right kind of thankful.  We want you to really make an effort to do something special for somebody that would make them Thankful for you.  Do something special over the next few days that ADDS UNEXPECTED VALUE to somebody else’s life.  Funny thing is, we’re willing to bet that adding value to somebody else’s life will be returned to you and multiplied.

Want to add a level of difficulty to the challenge?  Do it anonymously.  Make somebody’s life better in a way that you do not get credit for.

The Gurus of Get It!

Don’t “Choose Poorly”

We love movies.  There’s often some odd bit of wisdom buried in movies.  Tonight’s thought grows out of one of those.

There’s a line at the end of “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” where the Knight Templar acknowledges the death of the archeologist who drank from the Chalice first with a simple “He chose poorly.”

Sometime today you will have a choice.  Maybe not a big one–in fact, it’s better when it’s simple.  Like what to watch on television.  You will have a choice between something that’s somewhat mindless and something that’s possibly uplifting.  Today, choose wisely.

We’re not saying to forever give up the mindless things that help us get through our days.  And we’re not saying that a bad choice will lead to a horrible, claymation-heavy death, like it did in “The Last Crusade.”  We’re saying, today.  Choose differently.

The Gurus of Get It!

Make a Difference

We often talk about the importance of giving back.  That does not always have to be a grand gesture, or even an ongoing one, sometimes it is a very simple act.  Today we want to share a simple story that illustrates our point:

One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.  Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”  The youth replied “Throwing starfish back into the ocean.  The surf is up and the tide is going out.  If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish?  You can’t possibly make a difference!”  After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it back into the surf.  Then, smiling at the man, he said “I made a difference for that one.”

As the holidays and end of the year approach, it is important to take some time, look around, and see if there is an opportunity to make that difference.  We promise that the impact it will have on your life is far greater than you may think.

The Gurus of Get It!

Weekend Challenge: A Complaint-Free Weekend!

We borrow this idea from Rev. Will Bowen, and it’s fairly simple:  quit complaining. 

For us to complain–to voice a negative thought about some aspect of our lives– several things have to happen, and none of them are good.  We have to notice the problem, we have to allow our egos to tell us that the problem is about US, we have to dwell on the problem, we have to think that somebody else would care about our problem, and then we have to articulate our complaint.  At which point, I suppose, our egos would demand that somebody else cares about our problem.

OR . . . . 

We could try NOT making it about us, NOT dwelling on the negative, and NOT bringing the people around us down.  Life is not perfect, but why focus on it and draw other peoples’ focus to it?  Refocus yourself and others on the good that is going on around you—you’ll be happier.

 To make yourself accountable for this, try a little “gentle reminder”: put a rubber band around your wrist, and every time you catch yourself complaining, snap yourself. 

Have fun! 

The Gurus of Get It!

A Lucy Spirit in a Susan World

Fans of the “Chronicles of Narnia” will understand this reference.  Susan and Lucy Pevensie are two of the main characters, and the two have very different outlooks on life.  Lucy was the first one to see the magical world of Narnia and its Great Lion when everyone else doubted; Susan was the one always “trying to be smart.”  In the second movie, “Prince Caspian,” Susan asks Lucy at one point why she (Susan) hadn’t seen the Great Lion when Lucy did; Lucy simply replied “Maybe you didn’t really want to.”

This culture constantly sends messages of cynicism and doubt, hidden behind fashionable euphemisms like “smart” and “prudent.”  Unfortunately, “smart” and “prudent” all too often become “cautious” and “afraid,” as in not taking risks and not believing in the myriad possibilities that your future holds for you, whether you are 16 or 60.  It becomes easy to always look for the problems and never see the opportunities.

To see the proverbial “Great Lion” in your own life, you have to want to.  You have to want to believe that there is a Perfect Life for you, one that utilizes all your gifts and fulfills all your dreams.  Look up every once in a while—lift your gaze to the horizon and disregard the dirt around your feet!

 The Gurus of Get It!

What are your Passions?

“What would you be doing if you won the lottery?” Most of us, at one time or another, have heard this or a version of this question. It is a great exercise to figure out what you would really love to be doing with your time. The concept is to answer that question and than, if it is career based, figure out how to make a living doing what you would love to do.

Our suggestion to you is to actually take some time to answer that question. We are not talking about just doing it for fun, but really thinking about what the answer would be. This could be based around a career, or simply a hobby that you have thought about for a long time, but never actually pursued.

The point is this. We have ample outlets to continually point out the negative that we are all faced with every day. It is time to take things into our own hands, figure out what WE can do to make OURSELVES happy and than actually do something about it. Make today the day that you figure what those passions are, and than take the steps to act on them.

The Gurus of Get It!