Have you a mischievous committee chattering away within your head? This committee consists<\/p>\n
of many members trying to make themselves heard. Some members want to grow and change
\nand tackle new and interesting challenges. Others want to maintain the status quo, still others
\noffer all the reasons why something just won’t work, or why the time isn’t right. Sound familiar?
\nPardon me while I make this personal analogy with our democratic world of business.<\/p>\n
Take this early morning reverie. I awoke to the sound of rain falling on the roof top. I wanted to
\njump out of bed, get dressed and head out for a nice long walk. I imagined feeling the rain on my
\nface and the wind ruffling through my hair. I imagined the sound of raindrops pelting the
\nsodden ground, and inhaling the perfume of an earthy spring ready to burst forth. I wanted to
\nfeel my body adjust and respond to the infusion of fresh air and exercise.<\/p>\n
Now!! This renegade little committee immediately went into session. It chattered away,
\ndisorganized, and not really listening to the Boss (the Chair). “You haven’t practiced your Yoga
\nyet! Guess I’d better do that! Oh, I’d rather just go for a walk”…”You really don’t want to get
\nwet, do you? A little rain won’t hurt you. But, I don’t have a rain suit! And to top it off, people
\nmight think I’m crazy walking in the rain at 6:00 in the morning.”… “You have work to do, lots
\nof work. I’ll do that after I have my breakfast.”… “Maybe I’ll just make a cup of tea and sit and
\nread instead.”<\/p>\n
I chuckle as I share this morning’s lighthearted story about my mischievous little committee. So
\nwhat did I do? I allowed the organized, industrious side of me to prevail. I did some word
\nprocessing, went and took a couple of photos, made a couple of phone calls, and temporarily
\nsatisfied myself that I could go for a long walk later in the day. In other words my mischievous
\nlittle committee was successful in diverting me from the enjoyment I would have gotten had I
\nlistened to my Boss.<\/p>\n
I sure do hope you’re all laughing, and not wondering if I’ve developed some new form of
\nmental dis-ease. Do you ever get derailed by your mischievous little committee? Is there
\nsomething you really want to do that will make you feel good about yourself? Is it a change from
\nyour usual schedule? Is your Boss strong enough to derail the chatter, or is it just a good day to
\nlet the chatter rule. Slows down your progress somewhat, but that is okay. The Boss always gives
\nus a choice.<\/p>\n
I believe we are programmed to follow a certain path. Must do this, gotta do that! Then when an
\nopportunity comes for enjoyment and change we allow ourselves to get caught up in internal
\ndialogue that throws a wrench into good works. It usually happens to me when I allow myself to
\nget overtired, or discouraged about something that’s happening – or not happening – in my life.
\nThe nature of my ‘labor of love’ means I have to take time for Joan. I have to allow the creative
\nside of me to burst forth. To do this I need to experience downtime and to experience different
\nopportunities.<\/p>\n
Let me share some of the ways I try to nourish my soul and calm the chatter. I love long walks or
\nhikes, preferably in a wilderness surrounding. Have you ever tried a long hot bath with Epsom
\nsalts and baking soda (\u00b4 – 1 cup of each) with a dash of Lavender essence thrown in? Sometimes
\na lavender scented candle adds the extra oomph? Heavenly!! I love to read – books, magazines
\nand newspapers. And I often long for time to write in my ‘Spirit’ journal when there are no time
\nconstraints. Writing is an excellent catharsis for me.<\/p>\n
It’s during these times that I marvel at the precious life I’ve been given. It’s these times I really
\nlisten to the Still Small Voice within. It’s these time I allow myself to fill up with gratitude and
\nthanksgiving and just enjoy the uniqueness of me. Isn’t Live Wonderful? ’til next time….this is
\nJoan. Take the time to enjoy life’s little moments.<\/p>\n
Joan Brooks makes her home in Wawa, Ontario. Comments are always welcome and can be made through email:
\njoanbrooks@shaw.ca, telephone 856-0652 or by writing to Box 682, Wawa, On P0S 1K0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Have you a mischievous committee chattering away within your head? This committee consists of many members trying to make themselves heard. Some members want to grow and change and tackle new and interesting challenges. Others want to maintain the status quo, still others offer all the reasons why something just won’t work, or why the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[1920],"class_list":["post-18449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","tag-pathways"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-23 09:14:01","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18450,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18449\/revisions\/18450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}