A letter I received a week or so ago announcing a wellness seminar to be held in our community contained a quote that really got my attention.

Anything or anyone that does not bring you
alive is too small for you.
–David Whyte

(The author of this quote is a poet whose poetry and writing are wonderful. If you have a chance, catch up on his recent work.)

This quote really made me think. Of course, as with all single statements of this sort, we have to put it in context. We all know that there are a lot of things we have to do in life that checking to see if these activities make us feel alive would be silly. I think of taking the dishes out of the dishwasher or rolling the heavy garbage cans out to the road or a dozen other similar things I do in life that don’t have anything to do with whether or not they are too small for me or whether or not they make me feel alive! (more…)

During the first week of December of 2005, I spoke at two workshops on Tough Transitions in LaFayette, Louisiana, sponsored by the Grief Education Group. This was my first time to be in Louisiana since Hurricane Katrina, so the devastation and upheaval of that event were very much on my mind. No matter how many images I had seen on television or how many stories I had read in the newspaper, there was still something about being in Louisiana that made the hurricane’s aftermath so much more real for me.

At the Ramada Inn where I stayed there was a family of four in the room next to mine who were evacuees from New Orleans, one of twenty-some families living temporarily in the hotel because they had nowhere else to go. The two children in the family next to me in the hotel were quiet youngsters who, with their father and mother, were making do—as they had for months now—in a typical Ramada Inn room with two beds, a dresser, and a night stand. When the little boy and girl wanted to play or even just to be in another space, they had to go out on the sidewalk in front of the room. I saw them at breakfast the two mornings I was there, and it was clear that they had made a kind of routine for themselves. The food put out on the counter was the same every day; and the children and their parents clearly had a little menu they had made for themselves which they put together each morning. Somehow being so close in proximity to this family broke my heart in even new ways and made Katrina so much more than the name of a storm or a news event for me. (more…)

Hello, everyone. Last month I introduced you to Dr. Sharon Moore, and you read about her commitment to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro to raise money for an Alzheimer’s non-profit organization in Alberta, Canada, where she lives.

Well, as you will read below, Sharon made it to the top!! You will be
moved, thrilled, and inspired as you read the letter I got from her a few days ago.

If you are inspired for your own life in someway by Sharon’s actions and words, send me a note. I’d love to hear from you.

Love,
Elizabeth

Hi Elizabeth:

What an amazing journey so far. Hope you are well and that you got updates on the climb from Sue. It was a wonderful experience. Tough for the whole team. We had 12 people doing the climb and 37 people to look after us (2 head guides, 3 assistant guides, porters, and cooks). This is a really well run climb. Our team doctor from Vancouver treated our water every morning (the guides would not take responsibility for the water). We took the Rongai Route up the mountain which is one of the longer routes and has more climbing and some rock scrambling. We took 5 days going up and two down (took a route down that is much more maintained trail and more of a walk than a climb). (more…)

A couple of years ago, while speaking at a conference in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, I met a phenomenal woman, Dr. Sharon Moore. A university professor, author, speaker, photographer, quilter, wife, mother, Sharon inspired me by her verve for life—and the most current topic of her research: hope. Since then Sharon and I have kept in touch. She received her PhD from University of Texas at Austin, where I live, and loves the city. I was privileged a while back to open an unexpected package from Sharon and find a lovely photograph she had made which she reported she was inspired to make after reading a particular section of one of my books, Seven Choices.

Moore on the Mountain - You Gotta Have Hope
30 May 2005If the mountain won’t come to Moore…Dr. Sharon Moore, wife, mother, nurse, psychologist and AU professor, will attempt to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro this fall to raise funds for Alzheimer research. (more…)

How fast is emotion triggered?

120 milliseconds, (millisecond is .001)

Hummingbird wingbeat: .02 seconds

Blink of an eye: .025 seconds

In my new book Tough Transitions I write about our initial response when we find ourselves catapulted into a tough transition. I call these initial experiences Responding because that is what we do, whether we really want to or not. We respond to the event and often not in our best behavior. But our reactions are so normal, as you will read in the excerpt below. These paragraphs come from the chapter called Responding in Tough Transitions. After I describe the ways we Respond, I include an excerpt from the book containing a couple of positive things we can do during these initial experiences of a tough transitions. You’ll find many more examples of positive things to do in the complete chapter.

Excerpts from Responding Chapter of Tough Transitions

You’d think that we humans would be wired to begin problem-solving immediately when a disrupting change occurs in our lives. But instead we are wired to react with our emotions. The triggering of our emotions can do us a world of good if we need to run to get out of the way of a fast-moving bus, but they can cause a problem when we need to make well-thought-out decisions or step back from a situation and get our bearings. Our emotions exist, of course, to help us stay alive. Scientists tell us that there is always some part of us—our emotional center–that is trying hard to keep us “in a positively regulated life.” They tell us that this regulation, in fact, is “a deep and defining part of who we are.” Emotions exist to keep danger away or to help us take advantage of opportunities. They help us “maintain the coherence of [life’s] structures and function against life-threatening odds.” (more…)