This story begins in the month of September, the year 2004. Picture a young woman (OK, so I was in my late 30s), wide-eyed with wonder and excitement... about to embark on an educational journey into the unknown world of the Industrial/Organizational Psychology Masters Program. (OK, say that 10 times fast -- I dare ya!)

Fast forward to the present moment...

With all the best intentions in the world I set out to have my degree in my hot little hands by September 2006. The long and short...due to some interesting and not so fun events with my thesis, September has come and gone and I am still in school. I'll admit, I was a tad disappointed at first, but once the disappointment subsided I reminded myself that all things happen for a reason.

Working on my Masters has certainly been a test of my endurance, my sanity (at times), and my patience. I have even proved to myself that I can be a better graduate student than undergrad (which is a good thing, let me tell ya). Now I am happy to report that I am at the end of the journey. On Wednesday, I defended my thesis and the outcome was wonderful! The good news, with a few minor additions my thesis is ready to go up for final review.

Cross your fingers and stay tuned. :)

Driving home on Friday (in rush hour traffic) I ran headlong into one of my biggest pet peeves...rudeness. Rush hour in Phoenix can be a trying experience at best but add rudeness to it and that makes for a caustic mix.

To explain...

There was a woman in front of me who was kind enough to let another motorist merge into traffic ahead of her. The motorist merged with not so much as a wave or small acknowledgment for the kind gesture offered to her. Instead she continued to talk on her cell phone and speed ahead without a second thought.

It truly makes me sad to witness some of the rude things that people do. It makes me  question where we are heading as a society if some cannot extend even the most common of courtesies. So here is what I am thinking...

I am thinking of creating a small video as an extension of The Kindness Movement that I blogged about many moons ago. The aim of this video will be to serve as a gentle reminder that we all have the power to help make this world a kinder, gentler place just by extending those small common courtesies to another.

More details to follow soon. In the meantime I encourage you to share your thoughts and experiences.

Don't you just love it when you are in that sweet stage of peacefulness just before you drift off to sleep. It is during that time when I have done some of my best thinking or come to some awesome solutions. (Good job I keep a journal close by my bed.)

To set the stage...for the past few days I have been feeling some heaviness, like there has been a massive weight sitting in the middle of my chest. Now I know that when I feel that sort of block it either means that something I am doing is not in alignment with who I am OR a massive change/shift is about to occur.

Well, the other night as I was dozing off to sleep a thought...OK, more like a message ran though my head. I sat up like a shot, grabbed my journal, and wrote the following... In order to manifest greatness I must energetically vibrate at a high level. I need to continue to work on me and my own feelings so that my energy remains high. It is then that the fears will subside and the good stuff will appear.

What a great reminder to just be me, to work on being the best me that I know how to be. (This is going to be fun!!) To help this endeavor along I am setting two intentions:

1) To share positive feelings and thoughts with others. I will share them with no expectations whatsoever.

2) To remind myself that I only have control over me, my feelings, my thoughts, and how I choose to respond to others.

So stayed tuned in and let's see what happens. :)

I mentioned last week that I was ready to come out of my poop sandbox and enter the land of the smellin' good and guess what? Monday morning came and with it came a kick-butt attitude. I made the decision before my feet hit the floor that I was going to have an awesome week!! Nothing was going to get me down, no one was going to drag me into their circle of gloom..no way, no how!

I did have an awesome week...

I received a VERY generous salary increase, had some really fun and productive coaching sessions, spent some enjoyable time with the people I love most...I could go on, but instead I will just say...

I am so grateful for the change in attitude, all the wonderous opportunities, and people I have in my life!!

Here is to another fantabulous week ahead, soaking in the good stuff and feeling the feelings!!

We all have bad days … times when we just feel in a funk. I call that funk the poop sandbox. As a matter of fact, I sometimes tell my clients that it is OK to sit in the poop sandbox, slinging poop in the air, building poop sandcastles…"sit and play for as long as you need to until you are ready to come out". (See what I mean about promoting feeling the feelings.)

Well this past week I felt my feelings of funk, sat in my own poop sandbox, and built poop sandcastles.  It did not feel all that hot, but it was obviously something I needed to do and now I am ready to come out! I am ready to stop stinkin’ like poop and to join the land of the smellin’ good.

It is my commitment and intention to have a joyful week this week, to enjoy life in a child-like fashion, to bring back the positive mojo, and have a blast! Stay tuned and see what fun stuff I get myself in to!