January 2006

Greetings All --

Don't you love the feeling of a fresh slate? It's so motivating. My brand new, bright red Filofax is ready to go. I'm off and running on some goals for 2006. I feel a sense of balance, ambition, strength and joy. I'm ready to take on new life coaching clients and give them the same directed, heady feeling as we embark on the New Year together.

If that's you, contact me for a complimentary consultation and let's get to work. Please scroll down for this month's message.


NO REGRETS IN '06

It had been a long time, over a year, since I had a pumpkin cranberry muffin from Taylor's in the West Village. I had a craving, so I took a long walk on a brisk day and got there just in time to see construction guys tearing down the place. All the way home, I thought, "Nancy, why did you wait so long? Now the opportunity is gone."

Surely you know where I'm going with this. Carpe diem, baby. Seize the day. In this case it was just a muffin, but how often do we pass up opportunity, put things off with the notion of someday getting to them? What are we waiting for?

Last week I'm having dinner with a friend and he says, "It's like the guy in this Tolstoy short story who asks, 'What if my whole life has been wrong?'" That prompted me to read the story, The Death of Ivan Ilych , and effectively cringe. He did the societally accepted things with his life and then on his deathbed realized what he hadn't done. "It occurred to him that ... those scarcely noticeable impulses which he had immediately suppressed, might have been the real thing, and all the rest false."

How often do we dismiss our own scarcely noticeable impulses as frivolous or impractical or madcap? Couldn't we make the argument that we need a little madcap in our lives now and then? Or even regularly?

I was watching a television program about the devastating Asian tsunami that happened a year ago. There was footage of a family with small children excited that Father Christmas had stopped by and put presents under the sweetly decorated tree on their balcony. They were reveling in their decision to spend the holiday in this tropical paradise. And I am watching, holding my breath, because I know what's coming the very next day. The sea. It will recede just so it can return with deadly force.

Gone. Just like that. A holiday, a muffin, a life.

How about this for a New Year's resolution? Figure out what would allow you to live without regret and pay attention to it. Now.


Find out how satisfying it can be to streamline your life. Read the brand new book Give It Up! (Amazon | Barnes and Noble) by author and professional organizer Mary Carlomagno.


Previous newsletters:
2005
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
2004
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004