LIMI MONTOYA

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EPHEMERAL & EVERGREEN

Fleeting short posts are ephemeral. Thoughtful long posts are evergreen.

  • THE MIST ABOVE THE WATER

    Just above the surface of life is joy, love, and magic.

    Most of the time we glide over the surface of the river of life. We go about our day immersed in “the thick of thin things.”

    But if you just raise your awareness a little bit, you’ll see that joy, love, and magic are around rise all around you, like mist above the water.

    The way to raise your awareness is to slow down and become present to the scene before you. You can also raise your awareness by actively observing rather than passively experiencing life.

    Notice small glimpses of light and energy, and soon your awareness will sharpen to the mist above the water. You’ll connect longer and more deeply to the exquisite experiences in ordinary life. You will become more discerning and appreciate the little things more.

    The result is that you will be more grateful and fulfilled in life.

    Featured Photo by Ian Cumming on Unsplash.

    Check out the video below to see the scene that inspired today’s post.

    https://youtu.be/BERubqe_4JU

  • BAKE UNTIL IT’S READY

    It’s ready when you decide.

    Most banana bread recipes indicate an approximate baking time. For example, this Bon Appetite recipe calls for 60-65 minutes in the oven.

    Notice the instructions also say: “Bake bread until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean…”.

    There is no set time and there is no 100% way of knowing beforehand when the bread is ready to be pulled out of the oven. You must test it and then decide if it’s done. It’s your call.

    The same is true for any product, service, project, or talent you’re developing. You can set a timeline, and you can test all you want, but there’s just no definite time, and there’s no 100% way of knowing beforehand when it’s time to launch.

    You must test and then make the call.

    Featured Photo by Whitney Wright on Unsplash.

  • IT’S A BRIGHT NEW DAY!

    No matter what is happening in your life, you set the tone for the day.

    This morning as I was cooking breakfast for my four year old niece, she was skipping around the kitchen and singing: “It’s a bright new day. It’s a bright new day.”

    Her energy and enthusiasm were contagious. And if you didn’t know any better, you would think that my niece has a perfect life. She doesn’t. Presently she’s experiencing some challenging things. And even though my niece has some challenges that are difficult to deal with, she’s choosing to have “a bright new day.”

    You too can choose to have a bright new day.

    Your circumstances don’t have to determine your outlook on the day. Monday doesn’t have to be a day you dread. Challenges don’t have to rob you of joy and positive energy. Negative interactions don’t have to ruin your day.

    Like the dimmer on a lamp, you can make your day dim or bright. It all depends on you.

    How bright do you want your day to be?

     

  • THE HOPE OF A NEW YEAR

    New year’s resolutions are fueled by hope. With the turning of the calendar comes a renewed sense of purpose and focus. A new year brings hope for a better tomorrow. Goals reached and goals unmet equally become a thing of the past as a new cycle stirs the inner desire for continued progress.

    Hope is essential for new, renewed, and continued growth. You wouldn’t set goals without hope. When there is no hope, things seem futile, and no effort is made. The smallest attempt seems worthless and meaningless. So why try?

    On the other hand, when you’re hopeful, you willingly make any attempt, face any failure, and disregard seemingly insurmountable odds. Your hope carries you through setbacks, over and around obstacles, beyond despair and disbelief, and into the zone of miraculous creation. When hope is alive and well, patience is easy and sacrifice is sweet.

    Fresh Hope

    Hope is the oil in the engine of creation. When you don’t renew your hope it becomes heavy, sluggish, and stale. And your engine of creation may start to misfire. Or worse, it may seize up entirely.

    Hope deferred maketh the heart sick…

    Proverbs 13:12

    So how do you maintain fresh hope? Regular renewals are required. Just as you regularly check and change your engine oil, so too you must regularly check and renew your hope.

    A regular oil change on a car is recommended every 3,000 miles or about every three months. Newer cars can last longer before needing a regular oil change.

    The same principle applies to hope. It must be refreshed at least every three months. Sometimes more frequently. The more you refresh your hope, the better your engine of creation will function.

    Methods of Renewal

    One of the characteristics of hope is that it is light. The more hope you have, the more light you can sense all around. When you can sense light all around, you experience clarity in your life.

    Clarity brings determination, enthusiasm, and excitement. So if you want to renew your hope, you must do what will fill you with light, clarity, determination, enthusiasm, and excitement.

    Ask yourself:

    • What lights me up?
    • What fills me with joy, peace, and love?
    • What gives me a sense of clarity?
    • What sparks my determination, enthusiasm and excitement?

    When you can answer those questions, you will know what methods you can use to renew your hope. You may find a song that really inspires you, or you may realize that some form of physical activity brings clarity. Hope can spring from many different sources and at different times.

    Renew your hope regularly, and you will fulfill your intentions for this new year.

    Featured Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash

  • WHO IS MORE POWERFUL THAN HOW

    If you focus on who, the how will take care of itself.
    When clients express a desire for a certain outcome or goal, they inevitably ask: “how do I do this?”
    We ask how when we can see the gap between where we are and where we want to be. Our brain tries to figure out how to close that gap. It’s important to see even just the next step forward. That gives us hope. It shows us that we can move rather than be stuck.
    What’s more important though is: who must you be to move forward?
    Who you are right now got you to where you are. But to close the gap and get result you want, you must become a version of yourself that knows how to close the gap and will do it.
    The you who is resilient, imaginative, curious, bold, daring, and courageous; that’s who will know how to close the gap and move forward.
    Also, there is a good chance that someone can point out the path, suggest a strategy, or even lend a hand. And when you allow those people to help, you make greater and quicker progress than you would on your own.
    I feel that I have thrived here, not because of who I am, but because of who I’ve come to know.
    If you identify who you must be to meet this new challenge, who you’d like to work with, who you need to talk with, who will you ask for help, and who will believe in you; then the how will reveal itself.
    And if you’re still wondering: how can I do this? How can I close the gap and get the result I want? Then answer this question: Who would make this challenge more fun? If you find that person who would make it fun, you’ll find your how.

    Photo by Jared Sluyter on Unsplash

  • THE NEED FOR OTHERS AND THE NEED OF OTHERS

    If you want success, you need others. If you want to make an impact, focus on the needs of others.

    Champions and olympians in individual sports (such as golf, tennis, gymnastics, etc.) need others to achieve success. They need a team of people who will coach them, help them, believe in them, and reassure them when they fail. Victory comes from individual effort. Success is a team effort.

    Beyond success is impact. Lasting impact, the kind that changes lives and the world, only comes when you focus on the needs of others. When you focus on the needs of others, you begin to see them and their world as they do. You begin to understand the unique challenges they face. Empathy and compassion begin to grow within your heart.

    Once you are filled with empathy and compassion, you begin to see the needs of others. Once you see those needs, you know what you can do to help.

  • THE HEART OF THE MATTER

    What you really want is already resonating in your heart. You just have to listen.

    You also require the courage to follow the sound, and to reach for the desire in your heart. Too often, the heart’s call goes unanswered because we doubt or we are too afraid.

    Often, our gremlin thoughts wreak havoc and short circuit our desires with thoughts of failure, rejection, or seemingly impossibilities. Our gremlin thoughts can create a fog so dense, we lose our bearings and sense of direction. They can also shriek loudly enough so as to drown out the song of the heart.

    How can you quiet the gremlin thoughts? How can you ignore their distracting shrieks of confusion, doubt, fear, and limitation?

    Go to the heart. Remain in the heart of the matter. Deep, relaxed breathing helps to refocus on the heart. Ice baths and cold showers help to refocus the mind and clear the gremlin thoughts. Music that feels good to your body will help you realign with your heart’s song. Physical activity (walking, playing sports, exercising, physical touch of a loved one) helps to re-center on the heart. Spending time in nature helps us to ground ourselves, and come back to the heart of the matter.

    Over the last few months I’ve been blessed to receive the ultimate coaching experience from Joseph Anderson. He’s a world class personal, business, and relationship coach. Joseph’s clients include actors, musicians, and entrepreneurs. Each client achieves phenomenal results thanks to Joseph’s ability to get to the heart of the matter.

    Recently he pointed out to me that when I get to the heart of the matter, I’m quick and decisive. And when I don’t, I get all “lawyerly” and come up with all sorts of reasons and explanations for things.

    Joseph’s insight helped me understand myself better. It also shed light on the fact that I keep myself from my desires when I’m too much in my head. If I want the outcomes I desire, I must follow my heart.

    The heart of the matter is to stay in your heart. That’s where you’ll find all the things that matter.

    Featured image by Fadi Xd at Unsplash.

  • THE LITTLE THINGS…

    Those are the things that have the greatest impact.

    The things that stick with us are the little things. Little moments that slip past in an instant. Glances. Comments. Hugs. Kisses. Smiles.

    Also in the negative. It’s the little things that irritate us the most. The quirks and idiosyncrasies of others. When a person misspells or misuses a word. How someone breaths.

    If we would value and savor the beautiful little moments, and if we would let the irritating little flaws in life flow by us, then life would be the greatest gift we will ever receive.

    The challenge is to not get lost in the seemingly big things of every day life. Because the truth is, those seemingly big things really aren’t that big at all.

    Focus on the small thing. Appreciate and be grateful for the positive. Learn from and let go of the negative.

    Image by Toni Cuenca at Unsplash.

  • THE LAST TIME YOU DANCED

    How long has it been?

    Dance is joy in motion. It is expression and release. If you haven’t danced in a while, get up and do a little dance right now.

    Maybe you don’t like to dance. That’s ok. What do you love to do? What makes you feel joy? Whatever your answer, go and do that thing today.

    Too often we are consumed by the day to day routines that we forget to be joyful. We forget to play. Or worse, we choose not to.

    Choose each day to have at least one moment of fun. A moment where you play and feel joy because of what you’re doing. Share the moment with those you love, and you will multiply the joy. You’ll also increase your likelihood of doing it again and establishing a pattern of joy in your life.

    You are meant to be joy-full. But it’s up to you to fill up the tank.

    Featured photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash.

  • WHEN YOU’RE NOT MOVING FORWARD

    You’re still making progress.

    So much of your life is focused on future events. When you were a kid, you focused on the next time you could play. When you were in school, you focused on the next test or the next grade.

    As an adult you focus on the weekend, the next raise, the next vacation, the next remodel or big purchase.

    This future focus conditions you to live in a perpetual state of anticipation. And when you’re not moving toward that future, you feel like you’re not making progress.

    The truth is, even when you’re not moving toward an unrealized future, you’re still making progress. If you focus on the present, you will notice that there is so much room for growth, for being, and for doing.

    There are people, actions, and issues right now that require your attention. Trade your anticipation of an unpromised future for the actuality of the now.

    If you feel like you’re not moving forward, or if you feel like you’re stuck, ask yourself:

    “What is the smallest action I can take right now that will help me grow and progress?”

    Then sit in silence. Take deep breaths. Close your eyes if you have to. And listen. Listen to your heart. Listen to what feeling come up. Listen until you settle on stillness. In the stillness you’ll hear the answer.

    Once you have the answer, go and do it. It may surprise you how a simple action can move you forward in a big way. Then repeat the process. Always focusing on the immediate now.

    Featured photo by Alex Iby on Unsplash.