Tag: #lessonslearned

Giving Me Practice

I went shopping yesterday and left my phone at home. It was intentional, just to check myself and make sure it didn’t bother me, and it didn’t.

I spent years addicted to my phone.

The day I deactivated my Facebook accounts was the day they congratulated me for spending six years with them. They sent a notification, and I was mortified. Six years, and what did I have to show for it?

Thank you for all of your kind comments on my Blog posts recently. They absolutely terrify me.

It takes time for me to respond, because I still overthink the response. I don’t have the WordPress app on my phone, so I don’t receive immediate notification. I let notifications run my life for years.

The past couple of weeks, I’ve been sharing things with you that took a long time to admit. It may look like Blogging tips, but for me it was painful lessons.

It’s not even about me, it’s about the lessons, and being used by God to prevent someone else from going through the same heartache. It’s by God’s grace that I’m able to sit here and share. Palms sweaty and hands shaking along the keyboard.

I don’t realize all the activity on my Blog without the app. Two or three times a day, I open my laptop, logon to this site, and see that you have visited.

I read the Blogs in my Reader, and love on others. It’s natural to give love, and leave comments on what you write, but I stare at the screen in awe when that same love and kindness is returned.

Sometimes I don’t know what to say, so I just ‘like’ the comment, and come back later to respond. I don’t know how people do it that have 100’s of comments a day. I would be so overwhelmed.

I enjoy living a calm, quiet life, but to live that way, I turn off all notifications, and my phone is usually in another room of the house. I’m not quite ready to tell you exactly how bad it got with 6 social media accounts giving me a feeling of importance.

Wow. That slipped out.

I don’t run my Blog in the normal way, because if I did, it would begin to run me. Thank you for your love and kindness, and taking time to comment.

It’s becoming less terrifying with every response, and you are giving me practice.

The Dirt Roads

Just to clarify, I’m not starting a cleaning business.

My last post was an intro to some things I learned.

I believe every path of our past brings us to where we stand today. Some are paved, and some are dirt.

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I received the strangest looks from clients upon entering their homes. Some would actually say, “You don’t look like a maid.” I would reply, “Oh, I’m not. I’m a writer helping a friend.” On those days I wasn’t writing, I was getting up at 5:00 am to go help my friend clean two, 2,000 sq. foot houses.

I enjoyed cleaning the houses that were well kept.

You could tell that the people who lived there cared about their things. There was no clutter, but I could find dirt and dust. They were at work, but I wanted them to come home and feel a difference. For me, it was the tiniest of details, and the homeowners noticed.

One lady had a wall of family photos displayed, and I could tell they were framed with care. As I was dusting one, I noticed a speck of dirt on the inside of the glass. It was right in the center, and looking at the order of which the house was in, my guess would be it drove the homeowner to distraction.

One of my favorite jobs was working in a Custom Frame Shoppe, so I knew how to take the picture apart, get the speck out, and reassemble it properly.

When the homeowner returned and saw her house had been loved on all day, she called my friend that I was helping clean and said, “I don’t know who you sent to my home today, but I want her every time.”

It made me feel good that she felt the difference.

The home I cleaned yesterday is a well maintained home. He works all the time, and doesn’t enjoy cleaning in the little time he has off. The extra things I did were, watered all the plants and took the price tags off, cleaned the fridge inside and out, trimmed all the wicks of the candles so they were ready to be lit, and made the bed look like a dream.

We need to be willing to gain experience for the next part of the journey. I had cleaning ladies for 15 years, and had to put things back the way they were when they left. When I cleaned I didn’t rearrange.

My past homes have looked similar to a museum.

I’ve stayed at Marriott Resorts while vacationing, so I knew what the bed should look and feel like.

When people pay me for my time, it’s an exchange of energy. They used their energy to make the money, and give it to me for my energy spent on their home.

It’s nice to know at my age that I can still be passionate about work, and do things out of the box.

Today, I’m grateful to have lived on the dirt roads.

Learning with WordPress

I woke up at 4:30 am, and already had a Chemex.

I knew nothing about Blogging when I began, but here are some things I learned with WordPress.

What should be the name of your Blog?

When I opened a Medium account in August, it automatically connected to my gmail account, so it used my real name. Use your real name if you can.

When starting this Blog, I used Letitgocoach, because I thought it would reflect that stage of my life. Six years of Social Media later, I’m known as Letitgocoach, so will probably use that pen name in writing a book. We will see if Google can let it go.

Don’t delete pictures from your media library.

This one still causes me to sigh. Whatever you delete in your media library, disappears from the Blog you used it in. I have a years worth of Blogs with this weird little broken link icon instead of a picture.

When inserting a photo, or meme, leave off any alignment. Click the + button on your toolbar, choose ‘media’, and then ‘add new’, to upload your photo. Once inserted, you can click on the photo to see options. This is where you choose, ‘no alignment’, and type in a caption, or photo credit.

Mr. Smith reads my Blog from his phone, and told me he could only see half of my Meme. That is because I used to ‘justify’ the photo to the center of the page. By choosing ‘no alignment’, it floats around nicely on every device. Here’s one for Smith.

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Make your Blog easy to read.

I love reading, and following new Bloggers. While in my Reader, I click on the ‘Search’ option, and it pulls up a lot of newbies. There is no easy way to say this but, break up the page. It’s easier on the eyes, and more enjoyable if it’s not a 1,000 word paragraph.

Before clicking publish, I click ‘Preview’. This allows me to see what the post will look like on a Desktop, Tablet, or Phone to ensure it’s easy to read.

The Pingback. How to tag another Blogger, or insert a link in your post.

While reading a Blog post, and you see an underlined, or highlight word, it may contain a link. I will say ‘hello’ to my friend Kat. If you click on her name Kat, it will take you to her Blog.

You can place a link under any word in your post.

Highlight the word, and click the piece of chain link looking thing on your toolbar. In a new browser window, go find the Blogger’s site you want to tag. Copy their link, or any web address you want to use, and go back to your post. Paste the link in the URL window.

You should see your highlighted word in the box below. If not, you can type in your ‘link text.’ If you are referring to a previous post, you can choose it from the list. I click the box ‘”Open link in new window’, so it does. Click ‘add link’ and you’re done.

If you’ve been nominated for an award, and noticed all of the nominees highlighted, or underlined, this is how they did it. You will want to reciprocate.

This is some of what I’ve learned Inbarbsworld. If you want to learn everything there is to know about Blogging, I recommend Renard, in Renard’s World.

 

Lesson One of Letting Go

I didn’t have plans of becoming a coach. In my mind, there are plenty of coaches already, but when I began Blogging, Letitgocoach was the domain name available, and it fit.

At the time, I was going through a series of Letting Go lessons, and was approached about becoming certified. Once the lessons were complete, and I had let go of all excess baggage, it seemed like the next right thing to do.

With the help of a friend, I made it through the certification, but I’ve had those lessons sitting on this laptop for years. They’re not helping anyone just sitting, so let’s change that! I’m reformatting them, and adding some personal touches.

Lesson One is an Intro to Letting Go, and Letting Go of Negativity. I’m offering this lesson to you for free!

The lessons were written by a brilliant mind, Sheldon Ginsberg, of the Institute of Energy-Based Health. Even if you don’t believe to be a negative person, just reading his take on the mindset is a fascinating read. He has given me permission to reformat the lessons, and there will be ten, once complete. I will post here when more are ready.

If you are interested leave a comment, or send an email to Letitgocoach@gmail.com.

There came a day she grew into the name, Letitgocoach.

Be the Love

My daughter left Saturday for Boston, and will not be home until Wednesday. Her father took her to see Harry Styles in concert. If you don’t know who Harry Styles is, he was the member of One Direction with the massive head of hair. If you don’t know who One D is, I don’t know what to say.

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Harry!

Here are some things I learned while she’s been gone.

*Kick up the self-care a notch. Take the Yoga class already!

*Buy the t-shirt you fell in love with the minute you saw it.

*Go to the coffee shop that re-opened, and encourage the owner.

*Start a Google search, and follow the trail. It leads to a book you wish to read during this quiet time. Call the local bookstore to see if they have it. They have ONE. Drive.

*On the way to the bookstore, stop at places you haven’t stopped in forever. Encourage the owners of the business, and the people working there. Tell them, “I appreciate you.”

*Smile at people. Be kind, and leave them with a smile.

*Hug someone when they least expect it.

*If you invite chaos into your life, take it back, and leave it.

*Use your voice if your heart is not happy. It may begin an avalanche, and your world may fall apart for a bit, but it will fall back together even better than before. Trust me.

*Clear off the giant coffee table, and use it to work a puzzle.

*Just be what you want to see. If it’s love, then be the love.

Me…Not Worried

I love the way God prepares me for what is next.

Everything you step out and do in life is practice.

It may not be a part of your plan, but by being willing to go forth, and just do, it will lead you onto the next thing.

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I was reminded this week, I cannot help people unless they are ready for change. It’s healthy for me today to set that boundary, and step away. I cannot save souls by posting on Social Media. It may make them feel better for a moment, but that is just a band-aid for something that runs deeper.

God gave me an idea on Monday, so this is day 3 of praying, pondering, and asking questions. I’m gonna move forward with it and see what happens. It is something I’ve done before, and it’s normally successful, but even if it’s not hugely successful, it helps others, and causes me to become better.

The biggest thing God has prepared me for recently is, not having Internet since Saturday. A short time ago, I would have come unglued. Slowly becoming disenchanted with technology, and letting go of all that a phone can do, has brought me to this peaceful space. The Internet will be back, but it’s nice to know, I’ve been able to enjoy life without it.

The Oldtimers

I just finished reading a Blog written by a young lady. Younger than me anyway, and she truly learned just by living her life. I was amazed at the wisdom in such a young mind.

On the other end of the spectrum, I thought of the oldtimers. These were the souls sitting in my AA meetings well over retirement age. I would sit and listen to them share their life lessons, and soak up every word. They would share the good times, and the bad, and I could learn what to do, and what not to do in sobriety. Similar to listening to a parent.

Have you ever thought, “I wish I had listened to my mother/father?”

I know I have. One of my brother’s never listened to anyone, so he learned life the hard way. He told me over Christmas that thanks to his wife, he was still alive. Now, he could tell us some stories, because I’m pretty sure he did everything ‘the rule book’ of life said not to. He is pushing 60 years old now, but he is full of wisdom, and blessed to be alive.

The longer you are on this earth, the more you learn. Adding years to my age doesn’t scare me. I believe what would scare me is if I kept it all to myself, and didn’t share my life with others. That they may read something they needed to hear to help determine their path. I don’t look back and see mistakes or have regret. They were all a part of life, and I learned.

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