Challenge for the month of October :)

The challenge for this month can be summed up in one word...Acknowledge!!

In a world where everything happens quickly and where people thrive off immediate gratification..many of us have forgotten what it means to acknowledge others. 

ac·knowl·edge  

/akˈnälij/

Verb Accept or admit the existence or truth of. (of a body of opinion) Recognize the fact or importance or quality of.

I LOVE this definition because it really captures the challenge for this month - recognizing the importance of something/ someone. 

The challenge for this month is very much a challenge for myself, as much as it is, me challenging you. So here goes...it will only take a few minutes (you could make it a once off thing or an ongoing thing for the month of October, its up to you)...

Identify a respected person or team who inspire YOU with their commitment to live deliberately (with intention).  

# 1: First, you need to identify!!!

Think about someone/ people you look up to. A person who lives each day to the full. Someone who loves life and makes you want to embrace your life even more! 

# 2: Write their name/s down on a piece of paper - and decide whether you will acknowledge them all today, or 1 per week for the month of October (the decision is yours to make).

# 3: Now, take a few minutes to send a simple email or text...(this could all be today or weekly...you get the drift)

Aim on sharing 2-3 sentences about why you want to acknowledge this person and how they have influenced your life for the better. 

Remember that this isn't about you, this about THEM..so try not to expect a reply. It's your gift to them!!!

So July was set aside for focusing on what I, and my blog followers,are grateful for!

Being the one who blogged about this idea in the first place, sort of forced me to take the challenge seriously. So this month, I intentionally took photos of little things that I was grateful for each day..I said a little prayer of thanks and counted my blessings.

Living with a “grateful” attitude is nothing less than a BIG eye-opener. There are so many incredible people I get to interact with on a daily basis, so many beautiful sites I get to see, so many joy-soaked moments...all of which I take for granted. Daily.

Well this month was different – this month I was awakened to the little things of life..the things we forget to thank God for..the things we feel just fit into ‘normal life’; forgetting that your normal may be someone else’s dream.

So this month I thanked Jesus for my functioning healthy body, for the summer heat, for the river-path that allows us to escape city life on Saturday morning runs. For the little kids who cheer “waygook” when I walk past, for my tiny apartment, for the gift of faith.  I thanked him for my family, my friends, and for those challenging moments I’ve had over the past few weeks which have shaped and refined me. I thanked him too for giving me the freedom to dream, and to be privileged enough to encourage others to do the same.

You see the little things are what make the bigger picture. In the end, all these little passing moments become tiny vapours that make up the bubble I live in...the life I love!

It is my prayer that we would all start living grateful lives. It is but a tiny taste of positivity...but this very attitude could reveal realms of possibility, of hope, of a beautiful future that “negative” thinking may have convinced you otherwise of.

 

Grateful for the privilege, I had this past month, of addressing a large group of people..challenging them to start doing what they love and loving the life they live!

Check out what a few of my readers are grateful for...

 

I am grateful for my babies. Grateful that I come home every night to a very warm welcome and lots and lots of love!

 

FOREVER GRATEFUL for having you all with me during the biggest roller-coaster year of my life. Forever grateful

 

I am grateful for this girl. Nicky le roux. She has been a sister in this foreign land and watching her grow has been such a delight. she encourages me, loves me and knows me all too well. so grateful for her!

 

Sunsets

 

So grateful for Africa's precious and innocent little children.

 

This is my frying pan. Aside from the boring things like my bed and my phone, it probably brings me the most joy out of everything that I own. I saved up for it, and I'm taking extra good care of it. It is a non-stick Scanpan.

 

Here is a photo of Hout Bay I took the other day :) I'm grateful for the beautiful nature that we are surrounded with every day!

 

So I'm sending you a pic of what I'm grateful for.... It's a photo of my brother (Ricks) & my little girl (Kirsten). He's busy building a bike, that we auctioned at our church for charity, and Kirsten just wants to help him. She adores him :)

So, what am I grateful for? FAMILY!! I'm grateful for family, because without them we're just one little helpless individual.

 

I am the most grateful for a very simple thing, a pen. Without it, I could never connect my thoughts to paper. That and a little imagination is all you need!

 

That I had the opportunity to share the amazing experience of being in South Korea with my sister.

 

Grateful for moments like these.

Patiently awaiting your email...

I would be SO grateful if you'd email me a photo of something you grateful for - caitlyndebeer@gmail.com!! I wanna blog about it!!!!!!! 

http://inspiredformore.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/there-is-so-much-to-be-grateful-for/

Do one thing this week that scares you...

I was chatting to a client this past week and he shared how he just wasn’t getting around to putting his ideas into action…I challenged him by asking, “What’s stopping you?”..He thought for a while and then simply added, I guess I’m scared it won’t work out.

As a Life Coach…I believe that no one ever intends to live a difficult life. We create our “limiting beliefs” as a form of protection for ourselves. Usually we go through something unpleasant and our unconscious minds then decide to label this so called experience as a “NO GO” area – in other words, we create a belief that we should not try this again. This innate process we go through is not to limit us, it’s too protect us from ugly feelings; however, what our unconscious mind is not aware of, is that life is about giving things a second chance, it’s about taking risks and exploring avenues that may be scary but may yield beautiful results.

For the most part, we were not born with fears…they are learnt through a process of trial and error. When we fail at something or feel an unpleasant emotion while doing something, we label it, and from then on, we usually fear it! At first, fear has a tiny voice…only heard on certain occasions…but give it time and you’ll be checking with fear before you make any big life decisions. He’s that convincing!

I’ll give you a quick example. Most people think I’m game for anything outdoors-ey. This is true for the most part…except that I usually only embrace the things that I know I’m good at, things I’ve conquered or due to past experience, I feel I will catch onto quickly. In Grade 6, my family went water skiing. It was my first ever attempt at skiing and I failed, miserably. I tried to stand 4 times and after not getting the hang of it (this was only after about 10 minutes), I gave up. From the ripe age of 11, until almost my 22nd birthday…I avoided water skiing altogether. I would sit on the boat, I would wake board but skiing was now a “fear”, a “no go” area...I couldn’t do it and so I wouldn’t put myself in a situation where I felt like an idiot again.

That was until we were in Mauritius at the end of 2010 and we happened to go skiing one day. I decided the moment had come…I would take the risk and see if my fears had any right “at all” in dictating my life. And guess what…I failed to stand the first time but on my second attempt, I skied across our entire bay. Today…I’m not scared of skiing any more – it only took a tiny wink of courage, to try again.

So let’s get real friends.

Fears…well, we all have them. They may be different but all are limiting us in some regard.

Challenge yourself this week - 

Do something that scares you :)

It’s invigorating and freeing and oh so rewarding!!!

July is the month for photo-taking...

“I'm all about photos... What if for July, each day, you take a photo of something you're grateful for... whether it be a new ice cream you discovered...or some flowers that are blooming.” Alex Salinas

Thank you for all your comments, emails and inbox messages...I was secretly hoping for more replies but I get that you are busy and that we don’t all have time to stop and think creatively in our busy lives. I did, however, read through all your comments and LOVED them all – I will be posting them as our challenges for the up-and-coming months...but July is all about Photo’s & Gratefulness!!

TAKE A PHOTO A DAY OF SOMETHING YOU ARE GRATEFUL FOR!!

I LOVE this idea posted by Alex...as it requires us to Live Intentionally - and this.. has been my “buzz” word for the past few months! If you don’t have a camera phone, then I suggest just thinking/ writing down something you are grateful for each day...but for the rest of you with camera phones – the CHALLENGE is on.

I know, as well as you do, how these things work. We do it for a day or 2 and then life catches up with us...and we forget. NOT THIS MONTH! I have made a little picture card thing (you’ll find it at the end of this post)..Copy it, Paste in word, Print it..And then stick it somewhere where you know it’ll function as a good daily reminder for you to take your pics! Mine is on my computer :)

On the 31st of July, you’ll need to look through all your pics from this month and email me your favourite (Oh gracious, I left out the "u" in favourite at first...I am becoming more American by the day..damn Korean English). I’ll then write a blog post on the 1st of August with all the things we are grateful for, as a little blog community :) Let’s do this friends...don’t back down...if you forget, well start up again when you remember.

“Taking pictures is savoring life intensely, every hundredth of a second.” - Marc Riboud

My photo for the day.. (It's an old photo..but it is by far what I am most grateful for!! I will take my official photo for today after school)

My Husband....Hendrik :)

HAPPY PHOTO-TAKING :)

I need your help..... (Challenge for the month..)

So every month I want to set us a challenge...something we can all try to accomplish..I'm thinking something risky or trying something new....but I need your ideas!!!

I'll read through them all and hopefully yours will appear as this month's challenge...or in the months to come (You'll find the challenge for the month at the bottom of my homepage). 

Complete the sentence - July is the month for _____________________.

Please comment below or on my facebook wall.... (PS - I love seeing how many views I get on my blog...but I know nothing about who's reading it - help me out :) )

June is the month for Habit-making!!

What will your next 30 days look like??????

A Habit is said to be formed in 30 days... (June begins in just 4 sleeps)

Is there anything you want to ADD to your life/schedule??? Do you find yourself often looking at other's lives and saying.."Wow, I'd love to do something like that..."

NOW IS YOUR TIME!

I was so inspired by this guy - www.highexistence.com/30-challenges-for-30-days, that I have, personally, decided to create the following habits this month....

1.     Send an encouraging email every day 

      I'm currently living in Korea...and it's about time I let my friends/family know how much I miss them all.

2. Do YOGA every day

    This is something I have been told will help my running & posture so much..Excited to get into the habit of stretching.

So...Whose joining me??

Let's inspire each other with success stories :) You can also email me at caitlyndebeer@gmail.com

June - YOU will be a month to remember!!