Posts Tagged ‘happiness’

Make Life A Game The Mary Poppins Principle

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

What would childhood be without games? We can broaden this question to life in general. What would life be without games?

Games are the one essential in life which we should strive to maintain, no matter how old we are and no matter how worn out we might be. I am not talking about sports, here, though some possess a “game” quality. I am talking about the act of having fun while doing certain activities.

Much like Mary Poppins. Remember that, just after she made herself hired and went to the children’s nursery, she decided that they should tidy up the room? The children were upset and she said that they would make a game of the activity.

“This is a game, isn’t it, Mary Poppins?” was Jane’s concerned question, in which she replied that you have to have an element of fun in everything you do. As a consequence, the activity, instead of being perceived as an ordeal or a chore, is then perceived as a collaborative game; it becomes enjoyable.

So, what did Mary Poppins do? She started a song (music is very important), added some magic in the activity, and pronto! The children were engaged and while doing the chore, everyone was super happy. What a game tidying up the nursery had become!

Now, granted, most of us can’t do magic, even if our lives depended on it (I could use some magic for house cleaning, trully); but the idea still remains. We sure can add the quality of fun in everything we do (house cleaning included).

So how can we make our daily activities enjoyable? Here are some examples:

1. Cleaning: Put on some music; dance and sing along. Desi Arnaz once put the newspaper in front of the vacuum cleaner so that he could enjoy the news while vacuuming the house; you could read a book, as Renee Zellweger did, in Bridget Jones;

2. Folding laundry: Watch you favorite movie or speak on the phone with your favorite person;

3. Cooking: Do what Cate Blanchet did in the film “Bandits,” but don’t overdo it or you will have a lot of cleaning to do after dinner is ready and you might regret that bit of fun;

4. Commuting: listen to a great comic relief on CD;

5. Homework: Listen to some Mozart while you are at it. You have heard of the Mozart Effect, I am sure.

6. Work: Take breaks every hour or so, take a deep breath, do a little stretching, read some jokes on the Internet, play with one of those magnet puzzles;

7. Errands: Make up a treasure hunt game and follow it whenever you need to go;

8. Dishes: “The best time for planning a book is while you’re doing the dishes. ~ Agatha Christie.” You can also plan your next vacations. Enough said.

9. Buying food: Pretend you are a spy. Look for hints of a bad guy in every aisle of the supermarket. Make sure no one is spying at you and hide when you spot a spy. Any person can be a counter spy.

10. Mowing the lawn: Do what Steve Martin did in “My Blue Heaven”: Dress up and read a book while you mow the lawn. People will think you are nuts. You will feel great!

So here are just some simple ideas on how you can use the Mary Poppins Principle to have more fun in life. What else can you think about? Go overboard, exaggerate, feel silly. But most important of all, feel good!

© Maria Moratto 2005

About the author

Dr. Maria Moratto holds 5 degrees and is a life coach. She promotes coaching, seminars and courses in developing the perfect life’s blueprint, which includes attracting abundance and loving relationships, time management, stress management, diversity, goal setting, career search and change, values clarification, leisure, self-improvement, college life, communication and learning styles, spirituality, natural health and lifestyle.

She is also writing two books: one on successful relationships and the other on attracting the perfect lifestyle; both coming soon. Visit her website at http://www.rx4bliss.com and sign up for a no-cost e-zine that is short, informative, and fun.

Go to her blog at: http://www.rx4bliss.blogspot.com for great discussions on these topics. You may reprint this article in its entirety as long as you add this source box. She would also appreciate an email to: drmoratto@rx4bliss.com Please, rate this article if you found it useful.

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Balance Entreprenurial or Workaholic

Sunday, April 26th, 2009

A workaholic is someone who has no identity beyond their work. Life is about so much more than what you do. It is about the relationships you develop and nurture. It is about social impact in your community. It is about the growth and learning you experience. It is about living passionately.

We are creative by our very nature, it’s in our genes. Applied intelligence equals creativity. Intelligence takes on many forms. So this creates a new question:

Where is your definition of a workaholic more likely? One living in passion or one living in isolation and fear?

The True Entrepreneur is one that I witness their values, passion, and whole way of being aligned with what they do. In this way, the entrepreneur is just being. The business, the vocation, the passion, the purpose, the values, interests, etc. are all a part of who the individual is.

Externally, I don’t think anyone could casually observe a difference between a workaholic and this entrepreneur. However, the individual knows. Deep down inside, the answer is known and typically the individual will turn away from acknowledging that truth and rationalize sticking to their tried and true behavior. The tried and true is comfortable. To admit the truth requires change and change is uncomfortable.

Many people welcome change in their external environment and consider themselves capable and open to change. Unfortunately, for most the relationship to the inner self is one of fear; there’s a whole can of worms that gets opened when we start doing the inner work. Knowing this, on a gut level, our subconscious quickly reverts to the tried and true. It’s hard work to change.

The good news though, is that many entrepreneurs have the ability to see what is happening around them. This ability is what makes entrepreneurs visionary go-getters. However, this does not exempt entrepreneurs from getting caught-up in their business to the detriment of a well-balanced life.

A well-balanced life is more powerful than the hard work that you put into a business. A well-balanced life feeds the brain, the spirit, the emotions, and the body. In creating the space for relationship, recreation, and rest, the benefits experienced will offer stronger focus, greater creativity (beneficial for problem-solving and decision-making), greater self-esteem, and mental/emotional/physical health. Knowing this, choices are made.

If incorporating a well-balanced life would allow you to achieve the same amount of output in 60 hours versus the 80 hours of perseverance, which would you choose?

The other thing entrepreneurs have difficulty with is learning when to say, “No.” and when to say, “That’s enough.” Always after a new conquest, a new experience, a new peak, and new challenges, an entrepreneur can get all that energy too caught up in the business arena. This will lead to the very thing you fear. Instead, split this energy to have a well-balanced life. Achievement will be far richer in the relationship arena and the personal growth arena.

The experience of Life can be incredibly rich, just don’t get so caught up in riches that you neglect your Whole Life.

Lee Down is a Professional Coach, Trainer/Facilitator, Speaker, & Writer of One Man Can Human Capital Development that focuses on relationships, the key foundation to success in business and life. With more than 15 years professional experience and a thirst for truth and understanding, he focuses on the human spirit and human capacity.

Working with clients, he facilitates the breaking down of beliefs, barriers or obstacles that bring clients forward on their journey of discovery with spirit, energy, abundance, passion and purpose, integrating the mind and body experience. Working with business, he brings visionary leadership and relationship skills to the forefront that witnesses an empowered culture evolve and develop directly impacting the improvement to the bottom-line.

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