Waiting or anticipating...what's your preferrence?

Maybe Tom Petty knew what he was talking about when he sang "The waiting is the hardest part"

Waiting:  to stay in place in expectation of...

And maybe the Heinz Ketchup people knew a little secret when they used Carley Simon's song...Anticipa...a...tion, and threw that in front of the waiting, befor the ketchup hit the burger.  We could taste the burst of tomatoie goodness before it ever hit our taste buds!

Anticipation:  the act of looking forward...

Boy...what a difference word choice can make.
Waiting... (blah...blah...blah...)
Anticipating! (here it comes)
Okay...lets try out some examples.

I'm waiting for dinner to be served.
I'm anticipating the taste of the perfectly fried onions on my medium well steak.


I'm waiting for this baby to be born.
I'm anticipating the birth of my child and how much fun it will be to hold him/her in my arms.

I'm waiting on line to check out.
I'm anticipating a quick and easy check out and I'll soon be on my way.

I don't know about you but anticipating sounds like a lot more fun and we are an active part in the outcome.  Notice any of the Law of Attraction principals in this?  If we're waiting...we're left the vitctim of an external outcome and we're just standing still...waiting for something to happen.

I just told my husband what my most recent blog was about and he said waiting and anticipating are the same thing.  Well, now is your chance to decide.  Spend the week anticipating rather than waiting and see which one you prefer...

I'll be actively anticipating some interesting feedback...

Sometimes not making a decision is the worst decision we can make...

Decisions...decisions...our lives are filled with them.  Should I accept this job, or wait to see if I get a call back on the one I really want?  Should I go out with him, but what if it doesn't work out?  Should I go to college, or go to work or both?  Some people are immune to the paralyzing grip of fear that accompanies the requirement of making a decision, but if your like most...it's the fear that we will make the wrong decision that holds us in the place we find our young lady in here on the left.  She is literally at a cross road (the one across her heart) sitting with her two choices but refusing to move in any direction.  She is being held captive by her own inability to decide and she refuses to see it to boot!  So here she sits and with every passing moment, she and her situation become more and more stagnant.  Sound familiar?  We've all been there at one time or another and I'm sure you'd agree...it's no fun.  Lack of movement in life, usually equals lack of life.  So what can we do?  Get over it already!  If we make a choice and then later find out it may not have been the right one...so what!  Just change it.  If the job doesn't work out...look for a new one.  If you should have gone to college full time, then fix it...if he wasn't the guy for you...break up!  Yes, it's that simple.  Sure, the fix doesn't happen overnight but it's not the end of the world.  You can always chalk it up to process of elimination.  Just remind yourself that you want to be absolutely sure of what you do want...so much so, that you're willing to make your way through all that you don't want to end up with the perfect end result.  And what better way to find out than to weed through the options.  And if neither choice suits you, put both those swords down, walk away and look for a third option.  Yes...it is that simple.  We don't get this time back so why waste it?  Move forward...charge ahead...go ahead, make a mistake and you'll be a wiser person for it.

Remember:  Challenges and obstacles can be viewed in one of two ways...as pebbles or boulders...you decide!

Remembering child-like abandon...

The endless days of summer, excitement over the ice cream truck and water balloon fights.  Bikes were our vehicles of choice and were our first key to freedom.  Our thoughts  never went beyond the adventure of the moment and with each new adventurous idea our stomachs would flutter with anticipation! 

We traveled light (usually forgetting our house key) but the most important thing was just getting out that door.  The local park was like exploring the Amazon and we didn't have a care in the world.  Worry wasn't even a word in our vocabulary.  Somehow the Universe always seemed to magically provide for us in the way of found quarters (enough to buy a Popsicle) or finding that when lost, the next left turn put us back on the street that would lead us back home.

Could that possibly be because we were open to receiving the signs our intuition was sending, and we didn't feel the need to question the process?

So what happened?  Why do most grown-ups I know look more like the pictures below? 

 Weighed down by responsibility, worry, regret, should's and shouldn'ts and a whole host of other downers.  What ever happened to trust, faith and joy?  I don't know about you but I'd much rather skip through life trusting my personal internal GPS like our foolish friend above, then remain prisoner to externals that no matter what I think will not change as a result of isolation, depression or worry!

So...when you look in the mirror and you see one of these constipated characters...turn on Amercia's Funniest Video's...go out for ice cream...catch lightning bugs or fly a kite...do anything to not look like them any more.  Cause looking like that isn't going to solve anything!

Life is supposed to be fun!  Smile...and remember that every minute of the day.  As soon as you feel yourself slipping, take a mini-mental holiday and remember the innocent, fun, wild days of your elementary youth and realize that you can have that feeling back...it's waiting for you to come out and play!

Give your mind a timeout and come to your senses...

Normally depicted as a soldier at rest from the battle (Rider-Waite 4 of Swords Left) it is an indicator to us to take a mental timeout.  Because, let's face it, we're all fighting a mental war whether with ourselves, others or just problems in general. Like soldiers, if we don't give ourselves the space to mentally rest, we're going to lose the battle.  But in our everyday lives when we need it the most, we can't just lay down and take a break!  So what do we do...we come to our senses.  In the Tarot of the 78 doors 4 of Swords (see right), the answer was just leaping off the card at me.  What an ingenious way to depict the same message.  This blind man has to engage almost all of his senses just to do the things we sleepwalk through.  He has to be conscious by default!  So...when this realization came to me, I started experimenting with this newly discovered wisdom to see if it would really work.  One night, when it was my turn to do the dishes, instead of thinking about all the other things I could be doing, or wanted to be doing, or should be doing, I just felt the wetness of the water, the texture of the sponge, I became aware of the smell of the dish detergent, and the sounds outside.  While I was experiencing all of that...low and behold, my mind was no longer looping.  It couldn't go on and on while I was inhaling life through all my senses.  It was awesome!  You just gotta try it some time.  If you are thinking how hard this might be and don't want to offend your mind, try the letter below.  It worked for me...maybe it'll work for you!

Dear Mind,

First let me start by saying thank you.  I know you work hard for me and I know how exhausting that can be.  I also know that we've been spending an awful lot of time together and I think you need a break, as do I.  I've recently discovered I've been neglecting my other friends, sight, sound, smell, taste and touch and I really miss them.  Please don't get upset.  I'll just be laying you off for a short time so we can regroup.  Enjoy your time off!  See ya soon.

Denise