Issue #14 | September 2010

Laughter is inner jogging.
- Norman Cousins

There is the connection to laughter and our true nature.  Why is it that infants begin smiling during the first weeks of life and laugh out loud within months of being born? 

Regardless of background, language, upbringing and different personalities, we all came into this world wanting to be playful and happy.  Even if you did not grow up in a household where laughter was a common sound, you can learn to laugh at any age.  Laughter connects us to our true nature and authentic selves

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“Celebrate your success and find humor in your failures.
Don’t take yourself so seriously.
Loosen up and everyone around you will loosen up.
Have fun and always show enthusiasm.
When all else fails, put on a costume and sing a silly song.”
- Sam Walton

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Have you been in the presence of someone who has a contagious smile, essence or laugh and you automatically want to laugh and smile with them?  Laughter creates a bond between people and draws you together.  In a world full of pain, loss, confusion and uncertainty laughter can bring us into present time and help us take hardships in stride.  A sense of humor is the key to resilience and helps us bounce back from adversity and loss.

Your body cannot heal without play.
Your mind cannot heal without laughter.
Your soul cannot heal without joy.
- Catherine Fenwick

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Laughter in Relationships

Laughing and playing together are essential components of strong, healthy relationships.  By making a conscious effort to incorporate more humor and play into your daily interactions, you can improve the quality of your love relationships— as well as your connections with co-workers, family members, and friends.

When conflict and disagreement throw a wrench in your relationships, humor and playfulness can help lighten things up and restore a sense of connection.  Laughter is strong medicine for both the body and the mind.  It helps you stay balanced, energetic, joyful, and healthy.

 When was the last time you laughed out loud or laughed until you cried?  Here are a few ideas on how you can help others create laughter or humor in their lives:

• Put on a red nose
• Make a funny face
• Sing out loud
• Laugh out load for no reason
• Go to a funny movie or play
• Tell a funny joke
• Look at something unpleasant and make it funny
• Laugh when you make a mistake
• Laugh with good friends or a stranger
• Dance in the middle of a crowd and smile
• Skip down the hall rather than walk

I believe we were meant to be happy, joyful and full of life.  Give yourself permission to smile, laugh and have fun!  I invite you to join me in making this a month of laughter!

Issue #13 | August 2010

Have you ever felt so distracted, overwhelmed and confused that all at once you start cleaning out your car and your closet and you call a friend you have had on your list for months?

In today’s society, we are pushed and pulled in so many directions that it’s hard to focus on what we have to do every day. We live at a constant non-stop, hectic pace.

Why do we live this way?

Perhaps it is because we have never taken time to sit down and find out what is really important to us in life. If you’re always on the go, you learn to never hit the stop button. And this can lead to a major meltdown.

Does any of this sound familiar?

When we unclutter our minds and surroundings by getting rid of unnecessary items and thoughts, it clears the path for us to see or create things with clarity and focus.

You need to set a limit on how much you are committed to do each day. Then you may find you have an epiphany on a new career, or how to improve your relationship, or to start a new workout routine that will be fun and easy!!

So, now it’s time to take a breath,
relax for five minutes and really think about
how you can find ways to make life a little easier.

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Start by visiting Michelle Powell’s website at www.spruceorganizing.com or hire a life coach to help to get focused on your goals with ease and excitement.

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Issue #12 | July 2010    

In July, we celebrate the birth of our great Nation, and the opportunities living in the US of A has afforded us.  What better time to look at what we have accomplished, who we have become and where we have come from.  This is a time to realize you are alive!  A time to recognize that you have a purpose to fulfill.  And, it is a time to be grateful.   

   

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It is so easy to look at our lives and ask,   

“What have I done lately?” or
“Why didn’t I do that differently?”    

It is easy to focus on our shortcomings or failures.   

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However, since July is a month of celebration, Let’s Celebrate!  Let’s turn our thoughts around and focus on what we DO have and what we HAVE accomplished.   

I have decided to make the month of July my time to look at what I do have and what I can be appreciative and grateful for. I want to celebrate myself and others. Think of the positive energy we could generate if we did this together!   

Will you join me?   

  

What I am proposing is that each of us sends out an email
to our friends and family, designating July the
“Month of CELEBRATION!!”     

Write what you have to celebrate about life and yourself. Here are some helpful ideas to get you started.   

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We live in a world that allows many opportunities to grow and express our unique individual selves

 There is beauty all around to admire that fills my soul.

 The world is my oyster.

 I’ve arrived.

 I have made the best decisions I could possible have made, given my understanding, knowledge and ability at that time.    

 

I’ve learned to forgive myself and others.

I have learned amazing things from my mistakes.

I have truly loved.

I know who I am.

I have a loving husband or wife.

 

My children are happy and healthy.

 I have good health.

 I have a job, home and food to eat.

 What amazing gifts I have in my friends and strangers who are shining their gift of love.

 I can never really be alone with so many caring people in this world.     

  

I have the ability and desire to give to others.

I am blessed to have lived the life I have had.

 With God, my higher power, spirit, soul all things are possible.

 I’m alive!

   

Pass this opportunity to everyone you know, including me,
so I can share in the Celebration of YOU!   

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Go out now and celebrate YOU, your LIFE and OTHERS.
Pass this on and share what you celebrate here on my blog!  

  

With appreciation and love,  
Terry Sidford, ACC 

Issue #11 | May 2010

Is happiness a destination or a state of mind?

Is there a process you are supposed to go through to get there or
can you change your mind in a moment and choose to be happy?

Let’s start with what Happiness is.

The dictionary defines it as:

1. A state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.
2. A state of mind or a feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure.

So my questions for you are

• Do you know when you are happy?
• What does happiness mean for you?

If your idea of happiness changes day to day or you don’t have a very good idea of what happiness looks like for you, how will you know when you get there?

During my life, my definition of happiness has changed. As a child, happiness was getting up in the morning with great excitement for what the day would bring. It was the simple pleasure of seeing my parent’s faces with love, learning something new, meeting new friends.  Everything was new and full of surprises.

A s I grew up, that excitement was varnished with disappointments. Happiness started to look like a life without drama and stress or a day to just do nothing. Finding an authentic person who loved life and lived it to the fullest – that reminded me, for a moment, what happiness used to be.

What I have come to realize, is that you can change your mind in a moment and decide to be happy.

I know what happiness is for me and I know that the outside world cannot take it away!

It is me being my true self.  A spiritual being, unique and full of amazing qualities that let me be, do and create great things in this world.

I also know this place called happiness is full of love and not fear.

When a person is not happy, I think it is because they chose to believe something that was not true and they became fearful. This fear led them away from their core values; the ones that make their heart sing.

Here are some quotes on happiness from some well-known authors throughout the years:

Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be.
Abraham Lincoln

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.
Helen Keller

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance, the wise man grows it under his feet.
James Oppenheim

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.
Buddha

Take some time to think about the times you were truly happy.

• What were you doing?
• How old were you?
• What thoughts did you have about yourself and life?

Ask yourself what is true and what is false about your happiness.

Is it a place to get to or can you get there now by changing your thought and perspective on what you see and feel?

Please send an email or comment on my blog the answers or thoughts you have on this newsletter and take advantage of my offer for a complimentary one-on-one session to see how Life Coaching can change your life.

With appreciation and love,

Terry Sidford, CPC
terrysidford@createyourlifecoaching.net
801.971.5039

Issue #10 | April 2010

There is a tremendous difference between talking and communicating. Everyone talks, but not all communicate with effectiveness. Communicating with power and influence is a skill that can be learned by anyone. Those who have learned this skill have used it to their advantage to:

• Further their careers
• Deepen their relationships with family and friends
• Successfully market their businesses

We’ve all met people who we felt were effective communicators. Think about some people in your life who were able to connect with others, succinctly and powerfully communicate a message, or move people to action: community leaders, a colleague, boss, or perhaps a friend or family member.

If you don’t feel you are a very good communicator right now, don’t worry. It is a skill that can be easily learned; and like any skill, the more you practice, the better at it you will become!

If you’d like to learn more about Effective Communication, click here for access to my full Special Report. It is full of skills you can learn and practice to help you become an Effective Communicator, such as:

Effective Communication Means Understanding
It Means Having a Connection

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Why is effective communication so powerful? The answer to that question can be found in a quote by Kim Krizan from the movie “Waking Life:”

“Language comes from our desire to move beyond our isolation and have some sort of connection with one another. Words by themselves are lifeless, they’re inert. They’re nothing more than symbols. So much of our experience is intangible; so much of what we perceive cannot be adequately expressed. And because of that, when we communicate with one another, and we feel we’ve connected, that we’re understood—it’s almost like having a spiritual communion with that person.” 

What we all want from one another is to connect. When we connect, we feel a special affinity with the person who we believe really understands us.

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Click here for access to my free resources and sign up for my next audio series The Power of Effective Communication.

P.S. If you are gifted with effective communication skills, there will be valuable tips for you too!

 Stay Tuned for my upcoming Teleseminar on Communication!

 

SPECIAL SPRING OFFER!  As a special thank you, if you sign up for coaching in the next 10 days (by April 11th) the initial intake session will be 50% OFF! That is a $75 value!

Don’t wait – contact me today!

What is the power of intention?
The definition I am writing about is: to purpose an intended outcome.

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If you picture the fulfillment of your desire and feel its reality you will experience the joy of the answers to your intentions or prayers. This is the power of intention! You can call it a universal force, spirit, soul or God. But this immeasurable life force is always available to us. When we are connected to this force, it allows us the ability to create and manifest thoughts, beliefs and intentions.

My experience with intention and manifesting has been profound and, at the same time, easily forgotten. As I go out into the world we live in, it is evident that the majority of the time the world does not support our magnificence and power of intention.

Unfortunately, the power of intention does not differentiate positive or negative thoughts or intentions. How often do you let negative chatter, gossip, feelings, blaming others for your condition or listening to the news affect your ability to connect to your source and create positive results in your life?

We all have the choice to connect to this force fully and continually, faintly and sparingly or not at all. It is up to every being to decide to connect to the truth of who they are. When you let negative thoughts, beliefs, or actions become your intention, it will be manifested as a reality. If you use positive thoughts and actions and intention to create your reality, you will see the magic of creating positive results in your life.

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What you decree and feel as true will come to pass,
decree harmony, health, peace and abundance.
~ Joseph Murphy 

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Here are a few tips in creating or manifesting your power of intention:

1. Bring your awareness to your thoughts and words. Are they positive or negative in nature?
2. Be very specific and think in present time.
3. Be aware of thoughts that pop up that disagree with your intention. Continue thinking the positive thoughts until there are no more counter-intention thoughts popping up.
4. Keep repeating them until you believe what you are thinking is true. This is when you will manifest your intention. It could take a moment, a day or even years.
5. Repeat your intentions daily, as often as you can, to get this result. And most importantly: never, never give up.

You are part of an amazingly powerful living force that creates your reality and future. This is our gift of life and it is here to be used. This is the place that miracles are created and the unexplainable is seen.

• This is when a dying person returns to full health without any medical explanation.
• This is when you receive a phone call from a long lost friend you had been thinking about.
• This is when you are offered a dream job you have always wanted without the education you thought you needed and never told anyone about it.
• This is an artist who is able to create beauty and magic without any training.

These are just a few of so many examples of manifesting your reality.

Please share your examples on my blog of times when you have connected to your life force, had the power of intention and manifested what you put your attention on.

Take a moment to re-commit to your power of intention and create the life you know you were meant to live.

With love and miracles,
Terry Sidford, CPC

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Love is above all, the gift of oneself.
~Jean Anouilh

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The human heart weighs between 7 and 15 ounces and is a little larger than the size of your fist. But there is another type of heart that can not be weighed or measured. In fact, its power is limitless. The human heart that keeps our bodies alive is very small in comparison to the human heart that keeps our souls and spirits alive; it is the vital center and source of one’s being. The emotional human heart is where one’s deepest and most sincere feelings and beliefs are kept.

We all have the ability to create miraculous things in our lives, and in the lives of others, because we have the ability to love and live our lives with heart.  Regardless of your personal spiritual beliefs of either a higher power, a spirit, an essence, or God, there is something that we all have in common:  that is love and the ability to show love and compassion.

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I can do no great things, only small things with great love.
~ Mother Teresa

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I believe that love and compassion are necessary in order for us to obtain true happiness and fulfillment; and that can only begin once we have love and compassion for who we are and what we are capable. Only then can we go out into the world and see it in others.

Love is a universal solvent to many difficult questions and situations in our life. The truest form of love and compassion can only be found in the human heart not the material world. Lead with your heart and life will present miracles beyond your wildest dreams.

As a life coach I have had the extraordinary opportunity to witness the courage, strength, greatness and power of the human heart.

This is a gift we have been given, not to hold just within ourselves, but, to be share between us. Remember, this is what we all have in common. Go out and look for the amazing brilliance of the human heart that is love and compassion and you will be transformed.

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The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove then the hunger for bread.
~ Mother Teresa

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 I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the people in my life who have demonstrated the ability to show and share their hearts with love and compassion. This includes my family, children, friends, strangers and most of all, my courageous clients who want to make a difference in their lives and the lives of others. You have touched me deeply and given me the greatest gift of experiencing what the human heart is truly capable of.

Peace, Joy, Compassion and most of all – Love,

Terry Sidford