BASK...365 Words of Well-Being for Women (day 14)

Bask in the warmth of the summer sun.  When your friend finishes college after twenty years, bask in the glow of her joy.  Bask in the moonlight.  Bask in another woman's glory without needing to snatch any of it your yourself.  Bask in the presence of a newborn child no matter whose it is.  Walk into a well-tended garden and bask in the colors and the scents and the profusion of textures.  Just drink it in.  Let the crisp autumn air wash over you; let the serenity of a windswept grassy plain envelop you.  When you walk into a room overflowing with a sacred hush, bask in it.  When everyone in your family is in one room, bask in it.  Don't talk, don't question, don't ask, just bask.

365 Words of Well-Being for Women, by Rachel Snyder (Day 13)

BARGAIN

Don't ever consider paying retail.  Offer five to start, and expect to pay three by the time you're done.  All right, settle for four.  Prowl through consignment shops and thrift shops and upscale second-hand shops.  Ask for a 25 percen discount because the button is falling off.  All right, settle for 15 percent.  Offer ninety-nine cents for that last piece of pie, the one with the broken crust and the forlorn filling.  When your boss offers you a raise, bargain for fewer hours instead.  When your partner offers to watch the kids for an afternoon, bargain until you've got yourself a three-day weekend.  Use your bargaining power to empower yourself.  Come to the bargaining table with your eyes wide open--just in case you're hit with a lot more than you bargained for.

365 Words of Well-Being for Women By Rachel Snyder (Day 12)

BALANCE

When you find yourself teetering too far in one direction, bring some balance back into your life.  Balance your work time with playtime.  Balance your social butterflying with quiet, uninterrupted periods of solitude.  If you've been giving too much, let everyone knwo you're ready to receive.  Balance your diet.  too much on any one thing--no matter how good--can never be good.  If you've been running around at breakneck speed, slow down before an accident or injury does it for you.  If you've been sitting in front of a screen (any screen!) for too long, get ukp from your chair and dance or walk or swim or stretch.  WHen you feel like you've been balancing too many things for too long, put some down.  Do it slowly and mindfully, so you don't lose your balance whild you do.

365 Words of Well-Being for Women, By Rachel Snyder (day 11)

BAKE

Bake bread the old-fashioned way.  Bake muffins crammed full of blueberries.  Bake exotic cakes with unpronounceable names and multicolored frosting.  Bake tortillas, flatbreads, scones, cookies, biscotti.  Make little people out of dough and bake them into life.  Make them elves, hobbits, gremlins with vests and boots and long beards and braids, and hang them on trees or walls or shelves.  Bake because it smells like the very best kitchen you ever remember, because it feels good to have flour on your hands and vanilla on your fingers.  Bake because you want to lick the whole bowl yourself without asking anyone's permission.  Bake because you really enjoy wearing an apron.  Bake because women have always baked and always will, and only by baking will you understand why.

365 Word of Well-Being for Women, by Rachel Snyder (Day 10)

AWAKEN

Wake up!  Refuse to sleepwalk through your life any longer.  Wake up!  Open your eyes and dare to see the world in a new and different way.  Wake up!  Awaken your passion for life and awaken it in those around you.  Awaken yourself spiritually. Find something larger than yourself to believe in.  Find a way to life youself above the mundane. Wake up!  Smell the coffee!  Take a long, hard look at all you've been missing, and decide not to miss any more.  Awaken your senses, your intuition, your desires.  Awaken the parts of yourself that have been sleeping:  the lover, the trickster, the artist, the maiden, the crone.  Wake up, and don't go back to sleep.  Life is a dream and to live it, yo must be awake!

365 Words of Well-Being for Women, (Day 9)

ATTRACT

Like a high-powered magnet, attract to yourself everything you desire.  Attract the right job by being impeccably clear about what you want--and why.  (Making some calls and sending a few letters won't hurt either!)  Attract the mone you need by affirming your worthiness and your willingness to receive.  (Taking an action step or two won't hurt either!)  To attract loving relationships, be as kind as caring, as attractive as the people you want to meet.  Anticipate the worst--and you're certain to attract it.  To atract joy, embrace oy.  To attract a spiritual teacher, quit whining and start accepting that you are one.  To have friends, be one.  To gain respect, respect yourself first and then move on to everyone around you.  EVERYONE!

365 Words of Well-Being for Women (Day 8)

ASK

Wishing doesn't make it so.  Ask, and you at least have a chance.  Ask anybody, ask everybody, ask God.  Ask for help with the dishes.  Ask for a ride because you don't have a car.  Ask what it's going to take for you to get a promotion.  Ask a friend for a loan.  Ask a beloved to hold you just one luscious minute more.  When a stranger asks how old you are, Ask Why does it matter?  Ask someone over for breakfast, then ask wheter they want hot fudge or peanut butter on their ice cream.  Ask yourself why it's so hard to ask.  And even harder to receive.  When the brownies are absolutely divine, ask for the recipe.  When the seminar is terminally boring, ask to be excused.