Live Inspired!
Inspirational Color Quote of the Week Go Green “If you are the kind of person who is waiting for the 'right' thing to happen, you might wait for a long time. It's like waiting for all the traffic lights to be green for five miles before starting the trip.” --Robert Kiyosaki (businessman, author, financial educator) What do you think? Are you the kind of person who doesn’t like taking risks or who procrastinates at making decisions or taking actions? Alternatively do you tend to jump in too fast, without giving things enough thought? These are hard questions because often there are no right answers. But think about it. You’re deciding where to go on your next vacation. Whether you want to change jobs. Whether it’s time to start a new relationship. The choices might involve the day-to day things we often don’t even think of as choices, or they might encompass some of the most defining decisions we’ll ever need to make. Ok, let’s hope most are the former, and let’s get more conscious about all the small choices and decisions we make on a routine basis. To call in sick on a given day. To eat a “healthy” or less healthy lunch. To stay home on a Friday night or to call a friend to find an adventure. In itself each one of these might not seem so consequential, but taken together, even these “small” choices add up to contribute to the fabric of our lives. I like Mr. Kiyosaki’s quote. It encourages us to get in the game and take appropriate action, and it does so by using an image (green lights) we can all relate to. Think about it for a minute. I like the metaphor of a green light; you’ve got a choice to make; as the universal symbol to go, waiting for that green signal seems like an apt way to think about choices. What signals point in the direction of saying yes/ stepping out there? For me, the metaphor of green light (on or off) simplifies any choice and helps make things concrete. By whatever process you use, you can say ok, here it’s green; I’ll go do it. On the flip side, the image of needing 5 miles of green lights before you take your first step is humorous enough to make you realize that waiting too long can be ridiculous. Five miles of green lights! Your vehicle is at the front of the line; a lot of cars are behind you; you’re holding up traffic! Decide already!, Two other thoughts here deepen how we understand decisions. As Mr. Kiyosaki says, “If you are the kind of person who is waiting for the 'right' thing to happen, you might wait for a long time.” So, there’s the flip side of go: the understandable inertia that keeps us doing the same old thing, the hesitation to risk a mistake, the possibility that something better will come along if we just wait. No doubt All justifiable considerations that can influence decisions and make us pull back. Though as he says, they can make us hesitate too long, risking missed opportunities. But then Mr. Kiyosaki also puts forward the image, no matter what we do with all the lights and signals out there, of starting a trip. You’re in it for the long haul. There’s a trip, a journey, the start of a vacation, the first step taken to begin an adventure. Doesn’t that image take the pressure off? Sure there are wrong moves, bad decisions and even downright mistakes. Let’s remember the signals that encourage us to get going might also point us in directions of correcting those mistakes, and if each choice is only one piece of a larger journey, there’s so much more room for re-routing and learning. In the end and no matter what our perspectives, let’s take advantage of the signals; quite simply, green encourages us to go. How do these ideas resonate with you, and what are one or two actions you might want to take in the next day or so on that basis?
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Live Inspired!
Inspirational Color Quote of the Week: Color Green Prime Green “Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which its loveliness arises.” --Pedro Calderon de la Barca (Spanish writer, poet, playwright, 1600s) What do you think? What’s your “prime” color?” What things or people or places are “prime” in your life? I like this quote. It asks us to think about color, and for Mr. De la Barca, it’s green that’s prime. Good choice. You find green in just about every aspect of nature. It’s a beautiful color featuring a wide variety of hues and shades, and it also provides a great background and brings out the vibrancy of other colors. Metaphorically, it’s associated with some pretty wonderful qualities, including growth, balance, harmony and relaxation. But as a side note, if you wanted to, I bet you could make a case for just about any other color too. And of course you can think about this with respect to just about any other aspect of your life. What people, things or places etc. are prime for you, and how do I cultivate more of that?? Wow, sometimes the simplest questions really are the most profound! Well, according to dictionary.com, there are at least three definitions of “prime,” and they compliment each other nicely. There’s the foundation: prime as meaning “of the first importance; demanding the fullest consideration.” Then there’s prime as meaning first-rate (a good cut of meat; the best ale), and there’s prime as specifying uniqueness—in mathematics, a prime number is a number that you can only get by multiplying the number by 1. (For instance, The only ways to get the numbers 3 or 5 are to multiply 3 or 5 by 1. On the other hand, if you want to get the number 4, 2 times 2 or 4 times 1 do the trick; to get the number 64, you can multiply 8 times 8; 4 times 16; 2 times 32; or 64 times 1.) Ok, enough math, but you get the idea. With his imagery for the color green, Mr. De la Barca for me really hits the nail on the head to illustrate the best of all three of these meanings. Think about it. “Green is the prime color, and that from which all the world’s loveliness arises.” You don’t have to have (though you could) as your foundation a specific goal, a to-do list to check off items or particular things you want to have around the house. For Mr. De la Barca, it’s simply the prime color for the world’s loveliness. Nothing to do. No reason to strive. Instead, Notice. Focus on what’s lovely and good, And simply enjoy. At its heart, isn’t that what setting a foundation and considering the best is all about? And it goes without saying that what’s important and what’s best for each of us is unique. We all have our favorite colors; our particular take on things that matter most to us; our unique sense of the qualities we value in ourselves. “Green is the prime color, and that from which all the world’s loveliness arises.” What a nice thought, and what a wonderful way to use green to help us get connected or reconnected with what for each of us is prime. How do these ideas resonate with you, and what are one or two actions you might want to take on that basis? Live Inspired!
Inspirational Color quote of the Week: Color Green Green for Sadness “They say it's better to bury your sadness in a graveyard or garden that waits for the spring to wake from its sleep and burst into green.” --Conor Oberst (singer) What do you think? Not simple but important: thinking of a time when you’ve felt sadness or even grief, how have you acknowledged and subsequently moved forward? At least for me, something of a hard question. Easier to deny feelings you think you can’t do much about? Easy to sweep under the rug because you don’t quite know exactly what to do, and you think if you start feeling too much, you might get stuck; the daily tasks of your life will fall by the wayside? Easy to deny especially if people around you tell you to just get on with things and move forward? But let’s put the obvious and often forgotten front and center: simply when sad things happen, it’s ok to feel sad. And I guess the expert advice would be to process things in whatever way works best for you. In this regard, Conor Oberst’s thoughts are particularly intriguing to me. He obviously gets me thinking about times when I have felt sadness or grief and how I have dealt with them. As someone who finds these emotions not among the easiest, his thought is particularly helpful. Even more, his idea for me provides a different perspective. I like his start with “they say” because you can imagine getting all kinds of input, and you’re left with deciding what works for you. But bury your sadness in a garden or a graveyard and wait for spring for the green to burst forth? Lots of nice images and interpretations. The time may need to be “right” to feel strong emotions. They don’t necessarily come when you expect them! Also you don’t need to just jump in; Remember the importance of developing a safe space—where you have whatever it is that you need to feel truly supported --and in your own time feel and honor what’s going on for you and let those feelings of sadness develop into what they’re meant to be—which might include a need to grow; a need to create a new kind of balance or simply a need to find what’s truly in your heart. If you want these qualities, the color perfectly fits the bill. Literally or metaphorically, surround yourself with a warm and nurturing green. As well, At least for me, I like the image of taking my sadness outdoors. I want the stillness; I want the spaciousness; I want to watch the growth and change of nature’s green. Bottom line: it’s easy to push tough emotions like sadness and grief under the rug; how we deal with those tough emotions is up to each of us; the thought that we might surround ourselves with a literal or figurative cocoon of green support inspires me to focus on the potential for the sadness to become a positive force for growth, for a new state of balance and potentially even for change. How do these ideas resonate with you, and what are one or two actions you might want to take in the next day or so on that basis? |
AuthorI am a Life Coach, a Color Wisdom Card Practitioner, and yes, even a Professor (political science, State University of New York at Albany). I use the Color Wisdom Cards to support clients in exploring priorities and taking concrete actions to stay on track with the goals they set. Because in my own life I have overcome a lot of self-doubt, I want to work with people towards more confidence and self-empowerment. You can do it! What is it you want to do? Categories
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