Are you striving to be ‘perfect’? Do you insist that you never ever make a mistake, get something wrong, cock up? Will you accept nothing less than perfection from yourself?

High expectations are all well and good, but not when they come at the expense of your peace of mind, your love of yourself, your joy in life. Most of us are much harder on ourselves than we would ever be on someone else, and by having absurdly high standards, we can really make our lives miserable.

By all means be the best you can be…but get there by having fun, by enjoying the journey, by striving for joy and laughter, by being kind and supportive and loving to yourself. You might be astonished to find that you are more likely to meet your high expecations if you apply some encouragement, joy, support and laughter to your life. And hey, even if you don’t, you’ll be having fun!

I doubt that you will get to the end of your life and say “I wish I had been even harder on myself and made my life more of a misery”. No, you are much more likely to say “Why was I worried about never failing – I wish I’d been more laid back, had more fun, laughed more”. Why not pre-empt that life-end statement and get on with the serious business of being laid back, having fun, and laughing a LOT?

Love

Donna.x

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How many choice points do you think you have in your life? Do you only see the “big” choice points – this job or that job, this relationship or a single life, buy a house or go to Australia. What would you think if I told you that this moment is a choice point?

And this one?

And this one?

And this moment right here?

What choices can you make in this moment?

Here’s a couple of ideas:

Do I do the most self-loving thing for myself now or not?

Do I look for the silver lining or not?

Do I do my best in this moment or do I just give in to apathy?

Do I choose to LIVE my life or do I wait for life to start?

Do I choose to raise my energy in this moment and do what I can to feel good or not?

Do I choose to smile or frown in this moment?

So what choices are you making? In every moment, you have the choice to change or not. There is no right or wrong in this by the way – no judgement, no blame. Just choice. So if you were to choose to do the most self-loving thing you could for yourself in this moment, what would happen? I understand that you may be at work and unable to have a long hot bath, but given the constraints you have, what would be the most self-loving thing to do?

How about if you chose to see the silver lining? What might change? Chose to do your best in this moment? Chose to LIVE? Chose to raise your energy? Chose to smile? (maybe even BEAM, chuckle, laugh, guffaw?!) You may choose to do the opposite of all of these – to see the worst, to do your worst, to exist apathetically, to lower your energy (we’re very good at that), to frown…but that’s your choice! So if that’s what you’ve chosen, I hope you’re enjoying it. (Once you get to a certain level of positivity, having a bad day can be fun too!)

What are you choosing in this moment? Let me know – leave a comment.

Love

Donna.x

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Part of our Christmas tradition is to listen to Frank Kelly’s version of 12 days of Christmas – it never fails to make me laugh, and my dad cry…with laughter. ENJOY this video!

Wishing you the Merriest of Merry Christmas’s!

Love, light and laughter

Donna.x

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It’s Wishcasting Wednesday. There is power in wishing – putting your wishes out there sets mighty forces into action…

Photo Credit: jdurham at morguefile.com

My deepest wish is that I am able to express my gifts in the most fulfilling and powerful way possible every day – my gifts of joy, laughter, life, friendship, love, passion as well as my ‘saleable’ gifts of writing, coaching, mentoring, inspiring, believing. My deepest wish is that I am able to live full out in every aspect of my life, never fearing to be fully who I am, never fearing that my needs will not be met as I do so, never worrying about money, never worrying about ‘success’, just enjoying being completely in love with my life, fulfilling my purpose, following my passion and having fun!

Get involved on Jamie’s blog, or leave a comment here about YOUR deepest wish. As you wish for yourself, I wish for you also.

Love

Donna.x

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It’s Wishcasting Wednesday. There is power in wishing – putting your wishes out there sets mighty forces into action…

How Do You Wish To Nourish Yourself?

I wish to nourish myself with love for myself, support for myself, 100% belief in myself. I wish to nourish myself with joy, laughter, self-expression, fun, dance (see the daily practice!), creativity, nature, beauty. I wish to nourish myself by caring for myself so well that I feel cradled in the arms of love. I wish to nourish myself in every way that I need nourishment…and mostly that is by backing myself 100%, trusting in me and believing that I can fly high.

Get involved on Jamie’s blog, or leave a comment here. As you wish for yourself, I wish for you also.

Love

Donna.x

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Just in case you missed any of the daily reminders on Facebook this month, here they all are in one place (feel free to bookmark this page to come back to whenever you need a reminder to laugh!):

1. The daily practice for October is…laughter! Are you going to join me in laughing every day this month?

2. Practice laughing for no reason. Just laugh. That’s the ‘purpose’ of Laughter Yoga (find the videos on YouTube) – one of my favourite things! Big breath…and HAHAHAHAHAHA. Just to laugh.

3. “May laughter fill your home, relieve your stress, and strengthen your friendships. Do not let a day go by without laughing; it is good for your health.” – Catherine Pulsifer, from SEVEN GIFTS TO GIVE TO A FRIEND

4. Here’s a video that will help if you don’t feel like laughing…http://youtu.be/HUkPGL4zQyw

5. What’s your favourite ‘crap’ joke? Here’s mine – What do you call a sheep with no legs? A cloud. Makes me laugh EVERY time! Xxx
What do you call a fish with no eyes…. A fsh
Why does Edward Woodward have so many D’s in his name?…. Cos he doesn’t want to be called Ewar Woowar

6. October Daily Practice: Laugh. Who’s your favourite comedian? Go onto YouTube and find some clips of your favourite comedian today (let me know who you’re looking up!).

7. Laugh. The most wasted of all days is one without laughter. ~e.e. cummings So get laughing today!

8. What films make you laugh? This weekend, put on a DVD of something that makes you laugh…and get laughing!

9. Laugh. Hoorah for youtube and funny clips – this is one of my fave tv moments of all time! http://bit.ly/nzBs56

10. “Laugh. I am thankful for laughter, except when milk comes out of my nose.” ~Woody Allen

11. What’s your favourite comedy show? For Irish humour (not for those who don’t like ‘bad language’!), check out Mrs Brown’s Boys. Funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdSaWW9vuow&feature=channel_video_title

12. Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward. ~Kurt Vonnegut

13. YouTube is such a gift for this practice of laughter – check this out – one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen: http://www.donnaonthebeach.com/blog/2009/03/friday-fun-japan-binocular-football/

14. What’s your favourite joke of all time? Here’s mine:http://www.donnaonthebeach.com/blog/2011/10/friday-fun-gis-a-push/

15. Dogs laugh, but they laugh with their tails. What puts man in a higher state of evolution is that he has got his laugh on the right end. ~Max Eastman

16. When was the last time you laughed until you cried? If it’s more than a week ago, that’s too long. Try harder!

17. Try this yoga laughter technique for laughing alone…let me know how you get on! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsbqDglPNsk

18. A good time to laugh is any time you can. ~Linda Ellerbee

19. October Daily Practice: Laughter. When you need to laugh quietly and alone… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvAkyoA7l4U&list=PL97C19BBBD0F7FDB5&index=3

20. Some more laughter yoga exercises – my favourite is at around 1.27 minutes – reminded me of starting my car…a good association, I can now laugh every time I start my car! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NoamivA4SY&list=PL97C19BBBD0F7FDB5&index=7

21. Laugh. A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor’s book. ~Irish Proverb

22. The sillier we are, the easier it is to laugh. Get more silly in your life, laugh more. Today, be silly.

23. Your mission today, should you choose to accept it is to laugh, cackle, chortle, chuckle, giggle, guffaw, snicker, snigger, snort and titter. 1 point for each. 10 bonus points for doing all 10 (and you can fake it – release your inner thespian and act them all out!)

24. More laughter yoga exercises – this one is a wonderful way to start the day! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZNKf7_ZJC0&list=PL97C19BBBD0F7FDB5&index=6

25. More crap jokes: What bee can’t you hear very well? A mumble bee.
What’s the name of Zippy’s wife ? Mississippi
What’s brown and sticky??
a STICK.
What do you call a boomerang that doesn’t work?…..
……a stick
Did you hear about the cat who swallowed a ball of yarn? She had mittens!
What is long, brown and runs around the garden??

A fence.

26. “I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it’s the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It’s probably the most important thing in a person.” Audrey Hepburn

27. They have to do more of these – I’m wiping away the tears of laughter! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmsh0kRKyB4&feature=related

28. This captures the joy of booking a cheap flight perfectly! http://youtu.be/uVASZ2lCY5Y

29. “It is impossible for you to be angry and laugh at the same time. Anger and laughter are mutually exclusive and you have the power to choose either.” Wayne Dyer

30. “Live by this credo: have a little laugh at life and look around you for happiness instead of sadness. Laughter has always brought me out of unhappy situations.” Red Skelton

31. It’s the last day of the daily practice for this month. Did you join in? Will you continue? Today, find any way and every way you can to laugh loud and free! And keep laughing!

With love and laugh.

Donna.x
PS Get ready for the November daily practice…it’s another fun one! Make sure you ‘like’ my facebook page to join in!

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In the spirit of the October Daily Practice of Laughter, I’ve been looking for old amusing things from the archives of my blog…and I found this little gem from August last year! Enjoy…

In Bill Ford‘s coaching newsletter this week:

One of my wife’s colleagues when she was working in the US was asked by a client in France to rush over to present at a meeting the next day. He got on a plane the same day and did not have time to pack. It was winter.

He got to the hotel in Paris with enough time to sleep. His suit was creased from the flight, so he turned on the shower and hung it in the bathroom to let the steam reduce the creases. He fell asleep. By the time he woke up the suit was sodden. So he hung it out on his balcony. He fell asleep again.

By the time he woke up, the suit was frozen. He had no choice, so he put it on and went to the meeting. As he was presenting he could tell that he was losing his audience as they seemed distracted. He asked what was going on and learned that there was steam coming off his suit. He explained what had happened, they fell about laughing, were impressed by his dedication and the MD suggested they go to lunch instead.

This made me cry with laughter and totally ruined me for doing any work until I’d sat in a corner for a bit calming down. I hope it brought you just half as much amusement. Happy Friday!

Love

Donna.x

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In honour of the October Daily Practice, here’s my favourite joke:

A man and his wife were awakened at 3 o’clock in the mnorning by a loud pounding on the door. The man gets up and goes to the door where a drunken stranger, standing in the pouring rain, is asking for a push.
“Not a chance,” says the husband, “it is 3 in the morning!” He slams the door and returns to bed.
“Who was that?” asked his wife.
“Just some drunk guy asking for a push,” he answers.
“Did you help him?” she asks.
“No, I did not, it is 3 o’clock in the morning and it is pouring with rain out there!”
“Well, you have a short memory,” says his wife. “Can’t you remember about three months ago when we broke down, and those two guys helped us? I think you should help him, and you should be ashamed of yourself!”
The man does as he is told, gets dressed, and goes out into the pounding rain.
He calls out into the dark, “Hello, are you still there?”
“Yes,” comes back the answer.
“Do you still need a push?” calls out the husband.
“Yes, please!” comes the reply from the dark.
“Where are you?” asks the husband.
“Over here on the swing,” replied the drunk

Utter GENIUS!

Happy Friday!

Love

Donna.x

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I heard from a friend this weekend who said she was feeling great…because she had spent 2 weeks making ‘feeling good’ her main priority. She made a real effort to make sure she was in a ‘giggly happy’ mood as much as she possibly could. I immediately decided that this was a brilliant idea and adopted it as my daily practice for September – FEELING GOOD! Do you fancy joining me?

What to do: commit to yourself that you will make it a priority to ‘feel good’ this month. For example, every day you can ask yourself: What would make this day/task more fun? What would I love to do today? What would make me feel good/better right now? Look around for something that will make you feel great. Do things you enjoy doing. Laugh a lot. Have some fun…just for one month (less than that as it’s already the 5th) make feeling good your main priority! Join me for a daily check in on facebook.

Here’s the theme tune for this month’s practice:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmwRQqJsegw

Love

Donna.x

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What happens to your forward momentum and enjoyment of life when you feel down? Does your low feeling suck the life out of your dreams, desires and love of life? If your answer to that is yes, you’re not unusual. Most of us have a chain reaction to feeling low – feel down, start being negative, wonder if we’ll ever get to wherever it is you want to get, have a very glum face and no energy to move forward at all. We kind of wallow in that mud of misery for a while. After some time of idling and not moving forward, we start to get some forward momentum again and slowly our mood, energy and desire reawaken.

What if you were to use disappointments, doubts and fears to fuel your forward momentum? See them as like reaching the bottom of the swimming pool, if you use the bottom to propel you upwards, you will reach the surface faster and you may even (if you get it right) appear to leap out of the water, like a fish. How? As soon as you notice that you’re feeling a bit ‘meh’, use that as a reminder to take care of yourself, or a reminder to do something that energises you, or a reminder to go have some fun, or a reminder to focus on what you want.

Rather than being ruled by your feelings, use them as cues. It’s like when you see your fuel guage on the car is low, it reminds you to go to the petrol station. As soon as you notice you are feeling empty or low or fearful or discouraged, let it remind you to refuel in whatever way feels right to you. You know yourself best, and you will intuitively know what it is right for you to do. If you’re not that in touch with your intuition, this is a cue to work on sharpening your intuitive skills (which we all have by the way – and the more you use it, the more you will hear it and the more you will understand it).

And if you’re really unsure about what to do – laughter is always the best medicine!

Love

Donna.x

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