Category: ELAN Blog
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Who Do You Love?…
Do you love your neighbor? All of them? Even the cranky ones who let their dogs leave deposits in your yard? How much do you love the panhandler who holds a cardboard sign day after day? What about the person you like the least? These questions give me pause. I’m fascinated by people watching and…
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The Bad Tired…
How are you? If you consistently answer with Tired, I’msorry. It happens to all of us. We get rundown, but when my feet start to drag and my brain creeps to the clouds, I ask why my energy stores are depleted. Sometimes I just need to lean in to fallow times necessary for the rhythm of rest and…
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How Many Mondays?…
Today the moon will pass in front of the sun to create a total eclipse. It is an historic day. Although I’m not far from the “path of totality,” local commitments keep me away from that complete experience. Still, I’ll dig out the glasses and take a glance at my own darkening sky. Other than…
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It’s the Little Things…
It is often the little things that keep us from accomplishing the big things. Have you seen the object lesson with two equal jars and piles of stones, pebbles and sand? If you pour the sand first into one jar, then the pebbles, there will be no room for the stones. Now place the other,…
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Good and Plenty…
Abundance mentality is one of my guiding ELAN Principles. It does not mean to seek greedy gains, but rather to celebrate gifts that are freely given and to respond in kind. It is the opposite of the fear-based view of scarcity urging you to hoard that which you deem finite. Pay attention. Look for gifts…
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The Lone Writer…
Writing is a lonely act. Struck by inspiration, we choose to make something of it or move on and forget the flash of brilliance, all alone. No one holds my hand while I turn jotted notes into blog entries or scenes for a short story or novel. It is my ten fingers poking at the…
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Today…
Today. What a gift. Tomorrow will soon enough be today, another gift. What adjective describes your today? Joyful? Frenetic? Harried? Celebratory? How many decisions will you make and how will those inform your tomorrow? Today has a lot of work to do. No matter how you spend these 24 hours, it is churning away in…
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Living in the Deeps…
Another ELAN Principle is “Observe Your World.” It is “Stop and smell the roses,” amplified; a practice of deep seeing, deep listening, deep connections and deep feelings. It is a walking, active meditation in which one gives in to the moment at hand, releasing worries for the future or regrets about the past. Pay attention…
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Mantras Make Things Happen…
Another ELAN Principle is “Make Things Happen.” ELAN, which stands for Elevating Life Attitudes Now, is a self-improvement curriculum I created and facilitated many years ago, but I still rely on the tenets to work on my own “life in progress.” One of the most effective ways to make things happen is to write a…
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Watch Your Mantra…
One of the ELAN Principles that I strive to live by is “Watch Your Language.” It promotes good verbal practices such as choosing words carefully, deciding to speak or not speak and refraining from gossip. It also means to monitor your thoughts. The words you feed into your brain can nourish or deplete your soul,…
Patty Mayeux Blog 