What’s The Score? | Keeping Track Of Personal Progress

Do you know this? Busy all day, tired in the evening (or around noon ), next day the same, and the following day, and the day after…wondering WHY, because all that busy-ness never seems to lead to anything, at least not to anything of importance.

Dreams are lost on the way, occasional enthusiasm drowns in a workload which has only significance as far as quantity is concerned.

I have been living like this for years. No, not living. Existing. And it seemed normal to me, as most people around me existed the same way. It was so normal that I didn’t even question this lifestyle, until, well, until I couldn’t keep it up any longer. After several warnings (which I pushed aside, of course) I broke down completely. My strong will (or stubbornness, as I would call it) which used to supply me with sufficient energy to move from one day to the next was broken.

With the help of family and friends I recovered enough to decide on a radical change (in that case it was moving country and cutting off most connections to my former life – and no, I would NOT recommend it, there are much easier and more fun ways of turning one’s life around). This sudden change threw me off balance, but revived my stubbornness which resurfaced and kept me afloat. I began to heal.

Then just a few years later, I found myself in the same treadmill again, in a different country, with a different job, but nevertheless I recognized old patterns slowly reappearing.

And that was the point of change:

The Enermazing Weekly Ticker (9) 3rd – 9th October 2011

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You may or may not have noticed the additional page in the menu: Enermazing Quotes, where I collected all quotes from this blog on one page – it’s not that many yet

I don’t know about you, but when I come across a quote which attracts my interest I want to find out more about the person who said or wrote it. Therefore I have linked the authors’ names to websites which I hope will tell you a bit more about who’s behind the quote. Click on the links, they should open up as a new page in your browser.

Hope you enjoy browsing

Maria

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I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.  Douglas Adams: The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

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Are you where you want to be? If not, maybe you are going in the wrong direction? Or perhaps, like Douglas Adams, you are exactly where you need to be this moment?

Nicole (Purpose and Dream) has posted some interesting thoughts on Collective Consciousness which may give you some insight on why it’s often so difficult to choose a path and to stick to it: We are not alone…

Featured: The Art of Frugal Living

A frugal life is a rich life 

Frugality is often confused with “poverty”, “cheap” or “scarcity”, not having enough. And in a way that’s explainable, because need and necessity are often the initial sparks which make us do with what we’ve got. The ongoing economic crisis has forced even previously well-off people to consider their lifestyle.

like this....

...or like that?

Consumerism is out – frugality is in

But frugality is much more than making ends meet. It’s a lifestyle, a conscious choice to live economically within our environmental and social context. Instead of exploiting and wasting resources on things which end up cluttering our lives, we can take a step back and free ourselves from what we don’t need.

Freedom is in fact one of the great benefits of a frugal lifestyle. Experiencing how little we need boosts our self-confidence and gives us inner safety. Having less helps us focus on what we have already and what we really want – instead of chasing and taking what we can get.

Living frugally and giving freely is quite the opposite of a “poor” mindset

This week I feature a blog I discovered right in time for this post (meaning today): Notes From The Frugal Trenches – A Downshifting Journey 

I hope you enjoy “Frugal Trenches” as much as I do

Maria

Image source: publicphoto.org forest dump, green woods

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Related articles

• Frugality As a Lifestyle (couponshoebox.com)
• Quitting the Rat Race #5: Can Money/stuff Buy Happiness? Putting Things in Perspective (ritusthoughtcatcher.wordpress.com)
• Reflections: Life In Moderation… (eof737.wordpress.com)

Featured: “Save Somali Children from Hunger” – an eleven-year-old boy wants to raise $13 million

The East Africa Drought

"drought" - not only a natural phenomenon, but also a state of deprivation of Heart and Mind

Compassion, choice, determination and action know no age restrictions. Andrew Adansi-Bonnah, 11, wants to raise $13 million for his cause. Read how a Ghana schoolboy launches solo famine fundraiser (Associated Press via yahoo.com), and the related article on modernghana.com.

UNHCR spokesperson Melissa Fleming: “We estimate that a quarter of Somalia’s 7.5 million population is now either internally displaced or living outside the country as refugees. The drought is compounded by prevailing violence in southern and central parts of the country.”

Source of the quote and more on the Horn of Africa famine and how you can help: http://www.unhcr.org/4e16da4d9.html

How do you choose to act?

Maria

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Related articles:

• “Political” and “Politics” | Definition | Etymology (enermazing.wordpress.com))

The Enermazing Weekly Ticker (2)

Topic Of The Week 7th – 13th August 2011:  Vision

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My “vision” for the next weeks is to tweak the editorial calendar. I spend so much (enjoyable) time blogging that the Enermazing Project is suffering – although it is the main reason for the existence of this blog :/

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Do you trust your eyes? Can you spot the change?

Positive psychology for well-being: Does the World Need ‘Positive’ Psychology?

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Post the story of your own small and big successes in the comments section. Next week it will be featured in this spot. Nobody posted a success story last week – be the first

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If you had a magic wand, what would you do? Where would you stop?

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“…sometimes we become so obsessed with where we think we should be we forget to be where we are now – and most of all we forget to enjoy it!” comment by creatingreciprocity on enermazing-Featured: Tayla Kelley and David Barth

+ +++ +++ Creativity Prompt: Write, Draw, Paint, Make, Sing, Dance +++ +++ +

How would it make you feel to be a tree?
You’re welcome to post your response in the comments section

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Perspective – Zooming In And Out

No doubt about it: From your point of view life is not the same as from my point of view.

And your point of view is not the same now as it was one year ago or one hour ago. In fact, our point of view changes all the time, not only with our activities and roles, but also with what we learn or are confronted with. Yet often we stick to our point of view, even when it has become obsolete, is inadequate for the level we have arrived at.