A behavior I’m going to abstain from this week is complaining. Especially since my knee got hurt last week and I’ve been on crutches complaining has been more alive in me.

Instead of complaining, my new behavior is that I’m going to catch myself and say, “I am so loved.” Then I’m going to give some proof for that.

Like: I am so loved. I have a cozy bedspread that I bought with a gift card from my mom last Christmas.

Just thinking in terms of how “I am so loved” tonight has helped shift my mindset in a positive way and I LIKE it.

So this is going to be great for me.

Mona, first of all, here is a great big hug for you…carefully so I don’t knock you off your crutches.
I’m so sorry that you had a painful ending to a fun experience…

More than anything else in my life, I need to release the negative thoughts I usually have when I awaken in the morning. I don’t have a problem going to sleep at night…do go to sleep with a meditation every night.

What I’ve done as a support for this is to accept the invitation to be part of a Healthy Breakfast Club that meets M-F at 7 am PT. (by the way, it’s free and open to other members).
This will encourage me to get up at a regular time, have something positive to connect to first thing in the morning, and then get moving into a more structured day.

My goal is also to be in bed by 11:30 at the latest each night in order to get a better sleep rhythm.

Most mornings I have an exercise class, aqua aerobics and/or yoga so that is good structure for me once I am up and going. I noticed that on Thursdays when I don’t have a scheduled class, I feel a bit lost in the morning.

This problem really baffles me. I have systems for so many parts of my life and then am just not doing well in others. My intention is to get more parts of my life into a flowing rhythm.

Nancy, thank you so much for visiting my website and blog! Your email was helpful in making it easier for people to find out about me. First of all, I changed my url on this comment to the url for my blog, Alzheimer’s in the Family. It is currently on blogger where I’ve had my blog for a long time.

Last week after feeling pretty frustrated with the progress of my new WordPress blog, I decided to commit to blogging daily on my old site and then will export the posts to my WordPressBlogSite (combo of blog and website)once it is complete.

I need to create a new “pink spoon” that is congruent with my new focus in my business. I’m working with business women who have a parent with Alzheimer’s to stay sane, healthy, and professional. Much of what I do with clients is similar for anyone who is trying to juggle family challenges and a business or other occupation. I decided that it is just too general to market “Family Challenges”. I’ve learned that from my keyword research as well as seeing who signed up for a free consultation regarding Family Challenges.

I was so pleased to see that today when I searched for “Alzheimer’s in the Family” on Google, I received almost 1700 results and I had the first two results on the first page of Google with my blog posts!

I’m currently working with a graphic designer from Elance to create a logo….process not going great…

And have some big snags with the theme I purchased..

Thanks again, Nancy, for reminding me to do more updates to my new focus.

Mona… what a great challenge for you this week. I would love to hear how that is going day by day. I thought about copying it, but honestly I don’t think i am that “strong” at the moment…. so kuddos to you for taking that one on.

Suzanne – I really hear you about the negative thoughts… I used to have a lot of them in the morning. Have you ever done “morning pages” (Julia Cameron of “The Artist’s Way)? I found them to be really helpful in allowing my mind to have its thoughts – since it was anyway, but setting a limit to the time alloted to them AND giving them an outlet. Just a thought in case it resonated with you. And it sounds like your morning support schedule with all your activities is really working for you!!! :)

I read this week’s card just now and I think I will give up acting on my recent cravings for sugar. I had lost a bunch of weight and felt really good about that, but lately with all this emotion swirling inside me I have been indulging my cravings for sugar… more Coke, ice cream at night, lots of bread during the day…. And I know this isn’t (1) Healthy, (2) creating a positive feeling that will last – those sugar rushes DO end!, (3) making me feel good about my body – as I have gained back several of the pounds I fought so hard to lose and (4) allowing me to really sleep well. If I snack before bed and then go right to sleep the sugar burn hits me pre-dawn and I wake up early feeling restless and unable to go back to sleep.

So, for this week it’s less carbs (especially processed ones), more protein, more water and hopefully a more stable emotional outlook!

Going right along with you there, Christi. I’m going to not eat anything at night for all of next week. Instead, I’ll be going to bed early and listen to those audio programs I’ve been wanting to listen to. And to make it more concrete, I’m going to make a schedule of programs to listen to each night as well as load them up on my ipod. Yeahaaa!!

Mona: Sure hope the knee is keeping on feeling better. I, too, thought of copying your plan. Then I realized, I know it when I whine-whine-whine, but I’m not at all clear on when a statement of fact becomes a complaint. For instance, suppose you said, “My knee hurts and it’s draining a lot of my energy.” Is that a statement or a complaint (or both)?

I tend to let my thoughts tie me in knots when I try to follow a “soft-edged” rule. Eat healthier. Drink more water. Stop complaining. None of those work for me, because they’re not a quantifiable goal.

Then I thought, like Christi, I’d go with giving up sugar. That’s a definite do-it-or-don’t assignment. But I simply don’t have the courage to tackle that at the moment. Scarfing down sugar when I need a pick-me-up has become such an addiction, I’m not willing to make that adjustment right now.

So I’m still thinking about which area of my life to purify.

Suzanne: Meanwhile, I did check out your websites. Found the blog and read some of your gentle, loving posts. Listened to the James Taylor clip. It makes a perfect background for reading your words. The new one looks good, too, as far as it’s gotten. I usually manage to find an enormous amount of frustration in tech issues, and I’m sorry to hear that you’re getting some of that too.

If you want to see a gloriously managed Google presence, check out what happens when you look up Mona’s name and programs. I betcha 95 out of the first 100 Google entries are our Mona. And the only reason Giovanni Cavalieri ranks lower is that he has a Renaissance painter of the same name to contend with. Mona, I don’t know if it’s you or Gio or a combination, but it’s an EXTREMELY impressive mastery of the online-search medium.

My complain-free approach was a good one! I caught myself a lot…sometimes just with little ones, but because I was thinking about it, it really helped me see how often I was complaining.

I choose to have this activity come with me into this week, also. I’ll continue with the plan that if I start to complain, I’ll catch myself and say to myself or aloud how loved I am.

Christine and Christi —> How did it go for you with your food and health choices?

Nancy: Thanks for the kind words about our Google happenings. Had you thought about an area to purify things in? What results did you notice?

Suzanne: How did it go with you eliminating negative thoughts in the morning?