Dear Melissa,
WHAT YOU NOTICE MATTERS! And what I've
noticed is that nothing I do is unimportant. Each
thought, word and act has an energetic or physical
effect on other people, animal life, and the natural
world. We are all linked. I believe in making sure I
take responsibility for the effect I produce. I believe
in acting for positive effect. Trying to stay mindful
and aware helps me to do this.
As human being we have the great gift of being able
to connect with others mentally, emotionally,
physically and spiritually. There is great
responsibility in this gift. And, there is
wonderous power in all the good one person can do.
As all you pet lovers experience, we are
linked to the animal world both as direct caretakers
and as guardians of their habitats. So we have
responsiblity
there, too. And, as we already know
(from oil spills to global warming),
it's not in our best interest to get
sloppy in our relationship with the natural world
either. There are serious reprecussions.
So my wish during this month of transition,
as we leave behind summer and embrace the beauty
of fall, is
this: quietly or loudly intend for your thoughts,
words
and actions to resonate with
positive waves of effect. Be aware of how you
feel
as you act with intention for benefitial results. Be a
loving and generous link in the chain of humanity so
that your best self radiates out to the world.
I hope you
enjoy the interview with vegan expert and speaker
Sarah Taylor. Her dedication to conscious eating is
equal parts motivation and inspiration. Since our
interview, I'm rethinking the effect my diet has on
myself, animals, and the natural world. It's a must
read for anyone who has tinkered with the thought
of a cleaner, more compassionate diet.
Also, I've added some new
links to inspire daily living that is fully connected and
aware.
Live
aware, because what you SAY and DO matters!
I wish this to be a dialogue exchange, so I would
love to hear your
comments, ideas and questions. Please email me
anytime. You can click here to go to my contact
page.
AND PLEASE FORWARD THIS
EZINE TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT ENJOY IT.
Thanks! Have a Fabulous Fall!
Melissa Wadsworth is an
author
specializing in creative awareness and personal
growth topics. Through her public relations and public
speaking buisness, she emphasizes the vital
importance of curiosity, clear intentions and
conscious communications to a satisfying and
successful life path.
Food Chain Awareness: Meet Vegan Expert Sarah Taylor |
|
At first glance, it’s tempting to credit Sarah Taylor ‘s
tall, lean physique and clear-eyed, freckled, girl-next-
door beauty entirely to favorable genes. Then she
tells you about her highly conscious eating habits,
the hours of tennis she plays and her choice to live
surrounded by the small-town bucolic charm of Gig
Harbor, Washington. And, you start to
consider: “Maybe it’s not such an accident of birth
after all.”
Sarah is a vegan. She decided to stop eating animal
and dairy products cold turkey at the age of 30. In
2002, after getting married, she did what many of us
do: she put on ten to fifteen pounds. She was eating
out more, eating more treats and just generally
eating more than she ever did as a single gal.
“At the time, my four main food groups were Swiss,
Havarti, Cheddar and Chocolate,” she admits, with a
laugh. “The way I reacted to the extra weight you
would have made you think that I had gained
fifty pounds. It was really bothering me mentally and
emotionally.” And the dieting she tried wasn’t
working.
So Sarah decided to get informed. As a
pharmaceutical representative and speaker it was
something she did all the time to be successful. Yet,
this time the results were unexpected.
A Food Awareness Aha! Moment
Sarah and her husband were on their way to
Whistler, Canada for a vacation, and she wanted to
buy a diet book she could read during the week.
Usually she spent a lot of time browsing books and
picking the perfect one. On this occasion, however,
her husband was waiting in the car so she had to
make it fast.
She recalls, “I ran in and one of the first books I saw
on the diet shelf was Diet for a New America. I found
out that it had little to do with prescribing a weight-
loss diet and everything to do with how food gets to
our table. It was something I didn’t consciously want
to learn -- all the cruelty that goes on in the factory
farms. Yet, I found
it so compelling that I couldn’t stop reading.”
|
Five Elements of Personal Responsibility |
|
Personal responsibility. We each know we
have it in
the various areas of our lives: work and career,
family relationships, friends, future goals. But do we
always do all we could with it?
For instance, I know that I have a responsibility
to
give back to others. Each time I hear of
someone
volunteering with real heart and purpose, I am
reminded that I need to do more. In the meantime I
try to be friendly and helpful to people I come in
contact with. I’m not always as successful as I’d like
to be (Oops! I was in my head again and missed an
opportunity to return the smile of a nice
stranger).
I know that I have a responsibility to interact
with
others fairly and with kindness. We all get our
fear
buttons pushed. Such moments are prime
opportunities to push back. We can push back fear
and act with generosity and optimism. We can
imagine our connection to others and act more
inclusively.
There’s enough success to go around for everyone.
There’s enough business. We can remind ourselves
that our agenda shares a stage with many other
people and their own goals and plans. How
we execute our daily tasks and goals is just as
important as when we complete them. If at
the end of the day we can say we acted with grace
and honor to fulfill our goals, then it’s a very good
day indeed.
Of course, the most important responsibility we
have
is to ourselves. Since we are the first link in our
chain of influence and connection, we need to come
from a hopeful, grounded and honest place.
|
Inspirational Quote |
|
"And is a big thing for me. It's a connector
word -- not either/or. Way bigger than "the." Truth
is
in the and. And people are often
ostrasized. We try to box things and there's a danger
in that. And lets you go with the flow,
to take energy in and redirect it
positively."
Sara C. Roller President,
Buchanan Chocolates, Inc.
www.buchananchocolate.com
|
Living Awareness Exercise |
|
Pick a Day. Then note your connections to other
people, animals, and the natural world.
To get you started here are a few
suggestions:
- Note the people you smile at or say hello to. Take
notice of other people's reactions to your words and
actions. Consider whether you had the desired effect
you wanted.
- Notice your daily responsibilities. E.g. Your plants
rely on you to water them. Make a note of how you
feel about these responsibilities. Do you feel good
about them or resentful? What could you do or how
could you change your perspective to feel good
about your responsibilities?
- Notice how often you are called upon to assist
someone (a child with homework, a co-worker with a
project, a spouse with a household task). How does
helping others usually make you feel? Sometimes we
can get into the habit of feeling put upon rather than
grateful for these opportunities to help others. For
each occurance of helping others try to rate it: gift
or sacrifice?
|
Important: Reprint Permission Guidelines & Archived Issues |
|
If you wish to use any of the articles from Living
Awareness in your own electronic newsletter or
ezine please include the following paragraph:
Reprinted from Living Awareness, a free
ezine featuring interviews, articles and
exercises to inspire more life clarity, focus and joy.
To sign up go to:
www.melissawadsworth.com and receive a
free copy of Seven Steps to Self
Empowerment.
Click the links below to
view past issues:
August 2006: The Law of
Attraction
September 2006:
Successful Self-Awareness
|
|
|