ME Mapping: The Updates

I've updated the ME Mapping slidedecks and thought you might enjoy :)

To work on Current Life:

ME Mapping from Joy Meredith

And... to Create Your Year:

ME Mapping: Creating Your Year from Joy Meredith

HAPPY MAPPING!

...and if you'd like more or would like to Map with ME come join us for next
ME Workshop :)

Even In Your MILDEST DREAMS...

I hold WILDEST DREAMS CLUB events after my monthly workshops which always turn out to be an inspiring time to hear what people are dreaming about. There are huge dreams of changing the lives of inner-city youths, to embarking on earning a doctorate degree and traveling the world.

Will all these dreams come to fruition? Well some are taking form, some have already happened on a smaller scale, and some will take years to even get rolling. But the conversations always get those involved thinking- pondering what might be possible...

Before I started involving workshopers I had presented the question to my closest friends on their birthdays: what's your wildest dream for yourself this year? Since achieving one of mine- writing a book- I have been inspired to ask those I care about about theirs and when possible help support them in making it come true.

Shockingly some didn't enjoy this question. They don't like the idea of making up ridiculous unachievable goals just to have them hanging over their heads rotting on the vine. That Joy and her dreaming... it's not for me.

It's sad to me that people don't want to contemplate living into a big wild dream for themselves even if it only gets them an inch out of their comfort zone. But maybe it isn't the thought of dreaming that is the issue- maybe it's the wildest part that puts them off. Maybe if I rephrased it and they only needed to contemplate a little tiny dream...

A Mildest Dream! 

We all have something we wish to transform in our lives. One Mapper* during the workshop laughed in exasperation and said if she could only get her closet in order that would be a dream come true for her. Well who says that's not worthy of dreaming and declaring- not me!

Another had an old broken down refrigerator in her basement that she dreamed would magically disappear. It didn't. I need to make it clear dreaming is just the first step- doing is the next. She actually needed to make a call to ComEd to come pick it up, but it was a huge weight off her shoulders and freed her up to dream a bigger one of helping returning veterans.

When we get little things done that we didn't know how we were going to get to or take on we get the energy and inspiration to take on bigger things. We even grant others the silent permission to allow themselves to dream along the way.

One friend (story to follow in an upcoming post) got married last weekend after sketching out a relationship map of everything she wanted. She found her guy and is now living a huge dream come true. And here is the thing: she inspired another fellow Mapper she barely knows to dip her toe into the dating pool. See, we never know who we will inspire going for our dreams and even if they are small they lead to bigger dreams. Even if they are mild they can lead to the wild.

So dream. Share your dreams. Dreamers taking even a baby step of action are finding and creating the best kind of JOY! :)



* I refer to folks that take the ME (Mapping) Workshop as Mappers.

Active Gratitude Has Many Rewards $ :)

Being appreciative of our life and the people in it is great. What's even more powerful is active gratitude- for which I mean getting in action and thanking folks out-loud and through acts of acknowledgment.

Yesterday on Facebook two high school classmates of mine were posting things they were grateful for- not sure what sparked the posts but as an inspiration-junky I read along. Amy actually listed one of the happiness points in her day was when she found some cash for some friends and family members through ICash (an Illinois program for unclaimed property/$). She even posted the link and encouraged us all to check to see if our names were listed. Fast forward... I am now sending in for my $100+ lost dollars I didn't even know I had sitting on an old phone provider's account. 

Point is that if she would have not been counting her blessings and done it in a sharing way and gone the extra step of linking the info so we could play along I would not be rolling in the dough!

Cash is not the point though... last weekend I attended a wedding celebration for a dear friend and instead of just a simple thank you she wrote me a note about how much she loved what I had contributed to her day and the specific-ness of her appreciation made it worth so much more than a simple thank you. It was as though she had given me the gift.

So the next time you're feeling blessed - or even more importantly maybe when you're not - reach out and be actively grateful to someone and see what surprising ways you're rewarded. I'm sure your heart, and maybe even your wallet, will thank you. And isn't that what a rich life is all about?!     :)