“By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in motion the process of becoming the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands — your own.”

~Mark Victor Hansen

I was inspired this weekend by a woman who wrote her vision of her pregnancy and the birth of her baby girl.  She had written it as though it was happening right now and it was complete with the feelings and emotions that she shared with her husband and family.  It touched my heart deeply and brought me to tears. I was so happy for her, just in hearing it, and I was excited for her journey.

AND it made me realize a disconnection I had in my own heart. I have some dreams too — but lately, I have been so tasky, so in my head about them, that I have kind of disconnected from the magic of them.  That made me sad…

So I commit to write my vision of a special dream this weekend… and reconnect with something so special to me.  Now THAT makes me excited, just thinking about it!

How about YOU?

Is there a dream or goal you have disconnected with?

When will YOU write it out and put your future in YOUR hands?

Commit with me to writing about it TODAY!

My dear friend, Kellie Poulson-Grill is the QUEEN of happiness in my books. She is also a Happiness Expert and Motivational Speaker/Author!

In honor of International Happiness Day this Sunday, she is hosting a FREE HAPPINESS TELESEMINAR.  Do join her!

Here are the details:  Sunday, July 10th… 3-3:30pm PST.

Join the call at 559-546-1700 and then 879290#

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojkvKFjtB5E

I am so happy you are here!

Please peruse this site, take a look at what is here,

and then let me know what you think of it.

AND sign up below to receive my 4-step Guide to Passionate Living BELOW!

Here’s to YOUR passionate life!

~Ratika

I can almost taste it!!!  Hours and hours of work… now My Marketplace is nearly complete and my 4-step mini-course is done.  I added more goodness to it today and I really think it will make a difference for anyone looking to bring more passion to his or her life.  Now planning to launch my site by the end of the week!  It is almost ready for prime-time!!  GRAND OPENING ANNOUNCEMENT coming soon!!!

Well, today is June 3 and while I have not had that ‘official’ Grand Opening yet, I am soooo excited about what is new on this site and what will be added soon.

So far, most pages are done and my Special Offer – 7 Ways of Positively Passionate People is done.  It is an excellent resource guide — and pretty too!

Oh yeah — and To Your Passionate Life! has a Facebook page!  Come LIKE IT! today!

I hope to make my big announcement soon…

Stay tuned!

I am in the process of rearranging my sites.

My goal is to have this site with To Your Passionate Life content by June 1.

Pray for me as I make it happen!

Add a comment below if you would like to be added

to my site Grand Opening list.

Thanks for your patience!!

~Ratika

The premise is that we all have a primary love language — the way in which we both understand love AND express love.   If your love language is different than a loved one’s, then you may be doing everything you can to show your love, but he or she isn’t getting it.  AND he or she may also be thinking that you are getting how much they love you, but it isn’t phasing you.  It is a fascinating concept and even better — I have found that IT WORKS! 

The 5 love languages are:

• Physical Touch
• Words of Affirmation
• Gifts
• Acts of Service
• Quality Time

What do you think yours is?  What do you think your loved ones’ are?

There is a quiz in the book to help you discover yours PLUS examples of how to express your love in all 5, just in case you are not multi-love-language-lingual.  And it applies to single folks, children, and teens too!

So what’s yours and how do you express it?

Yeah, it is one of mine too!  Just found this on the MarketingProfs website… and added some of my own below… what are YOUR tips?

8-Point Survival Guide For Too Much Business Travel
by Ann Hadley (Complete article here.)

I’m fresh off a 10-city book tour that sent me flying across 27,143 miles since January. (Aren’t you glad I resisted the urge to toss in “And boy are my arms tired!”? You’re welcome.)

Here are a few tricks I learned in the past few months about how to make travel a little less stressful:

1. Leave a little extra room in the suitcase.

Pack sparingly—resist the urge to over-pack. For me, this means I consciously have to curb my tendency to bring too many pairs of shoes. I get by with two: one dress and one casual.  Not over-packing cuts down on the amount of stuff you’re lugging, of course. But it also affords some room to bring back that special something you saw in Philly, to accommodate the outfit you had to unexpectedly buy in Atlanta when jeans at dinner suddenly didn’t cut it, or to accept the bottle of Puerto Rican rum that someone—in this case, Raúl J. Colón—schlepped all the way from Santa Isabel. (Thanks, Raúl!)

2. Take on-location photos.

I’m not talking about site-seeing photos here. I’m talking about practical photos that help orient you. Between the book tour and other events and travel, I stayed in 26 different hotels in the past few months. After about the fifth or sixth, I started forgetting my room number. One time, in fact, I tried my room key on Room 1035 with repeated aggression (Stupid! Magnetic! Strip!) only to realize that Room 1035 was in New York, and here I was in Chicago. Duh. It was then that I started snapping a photo of my room number with my phone and keeping it handy so I could refer to it and navigate my way back to my room without pounding on a stranger’s door.  It’s also a good strategy for remembering where you parked, including in the airport parking garage. 

3. Check luggage.

I’m not really sure why checking luggage is anathema to so many people. What’s the big deal of what generally amounts to an extra 10 minutes hanging around baggage claim?
For me, it’s a whole lot less stressful to check luggage than it is to (a) worry about banned liquid contraband in the carry-on (because my favorite products never come in trial-size), and (b) compete for overhead bin space with every other traveler on the plane (and fret about boarding early enough to secure said space).
Plus, one time I tried to make a connection in O’Hare that was in a different terminal. The sprint was fruitless—I didn’t make it—and to this day, I blame the fact that I was lugging a 17-inch laptop strapped to my back and dragging a roller-bag that felt within minutes like I was the ball carrier on some PBA tour.
So go ahead and hate, but from now on … I check. I know plenty of people have had horrific experiences with lost or damaged luggage; feel free to dissuade me of this practice in the comments. (All that said, I suggest you carry your house and car keys in a carry-on. Just in case.)

4. Never fly through O’Hare.

That airport is insane; it should be renamed Ringling Brothers and Barnum O’Hare. See above.

5. Spring for TripIt.

TripIt is an extremely useful trip planner that keeps all of your travel plans in one spot. The mobile app seriously rocks. It’s like having a super-organized travel elf take care of all those annoying little details and reminding you to check in for a impending flight, notifying you when flights are delayed, when gates change (and to where!) and so on. In other words, it thinks about that stuff—so I don’t have to. It’s a no-brainer to upgrade to TripIt Pro. It’s $49 a year, but I’d exchange my right arm for it. (Hat tip to C.C. Chapman for this one.)

6. Get a travel wallet.

My friend Beccy gave me a special billfold before we flew to London this past February. It’s meant to hold a passport, but even when I fly domestically, I now use it as a “travel wallet” to keep myself organized, without carrying all the other stuff in my usual wallet. It’s big enough to hold boarding passes, luggage slips, receipts, and the rest; it’s also where I store airline and hotel loyalty cards so I have them handy. The receipt thing is key, at least for me. It saves me a lot of aggravation after the trip because I don’t have to cull receipts from various pockets, bags, and other nooks and crannies that I otherwise tend to haphazardly tuck receipts in.

7. Don’t unpack.

After forever “losing” stuff in the hotel room, I devised this rule: Resist the urge to make your hotel room feel like “home” by spreading your stuff and other comfort objects around. It’s not home—you both know that.
Hang the stuff that wrinkles in the closet, but otherwise keep everything contained as much as possible in an open suitcase. It makes for a quick exit, too, when the taxi is waiting and Alexa is tapping her foot because she’s the one who has to drop off the rental car, missy.

8. Use the Skype app for iPhone.

This is my most important iPhone travel app, more so than my beloved Starbucks and TripIt apps. I like this one so I can say goodnight to my kids in person. Kinda.
Anyway, it’s free, and it’s got video. And what I save on long-distance calls I can put toward their therapy down the line when they tap into their pain at having had an absentee mother!

And to this I add….
- Pack an extension cord. Doesn’t take up much space but beats searching behind the bed for a plug to charge my phone/alarm clock or having to cram an ironing board between the desk and the wall to iron.  Also allows me to sit on my bed and work, laptop plugged in.

- I have a bag for all my toiletries in travel size. If one runs out, I just refill.  I no longer have to go through my morning or night time ritual in my head to remember everything I need — it is all already there.

- I bought one of those small circular clocks, about the size of a half-dollar, and some of that putty stuff that allows you to stick things on walls and remove it easily.  I keep it in my toiletry bag and stick the clock on the mirror in the bathroom.  Helps me stay on time in the morning.

And YOU????  What would you add????

Hehehhe… I thought that might get your attention   Well, what we have in common is we love being in shape and we LOVE Skechers Shape Ups!  (They are super cool.. check out those and Fit Flops, another favorite of mine for walking)…  Vibrant health is one of my passions.  And walking is a great way to live that one.  If it is one of yours too, then grab a pair and try them out.  When you do, here are some new walking tips I found.  Take a look and let me know what you think…

Get great shoes.
Ok, that one is not exactly a secret, but the shoes I wear to walk are so very awesome, I had to put them in my list.  Check them out — Skechers Shape Upsand Fit Flops.

Walk after each meal.
Walking after meals will help your body digest your meal, especially if it is a high fat meal. Even if you only walk 5 to 10 minutes, it is still better than sitting on your rear.  Walking after each meal will help you to burn more calories and fat so that you can lose weight easily. Walking after meals jump starts your metabolism so that it can easily burn off the fat and calories that you just consumed.  

Be flexible about where and when you walk.
The great thing about a walking fitness program is you can do it almost anywhere. All you need are a good pair of walking shoes and a little motivation. Fit twenty or thirty minutes of walking into your day by walking during your lunch hour at work. When you go shopping at the shopping mall, spend thirty minutes walking the mall at a fast pace before you begin shopping. It’ll give you time to organize your thoughts before you start to shop. Look for opportunities to “sneak in” a walking session.

Accomplish something else while you’re walking.
If you normally read at the end of the day, get your reading material in the form of an audiobook and listen to it while you’re walking. You can also listen to instructional tapes and learn new skills while you’re getting your walking accomplished.
Bring a recording device along on your walk and use it to plan your day or brainstorm new ideas for projects. You’ll save time by knowing exactly what you’re going to do that day.
Learn the art of meditation and practice it while you’re walking. As you become less stressed, you may find you can get more done in a shorter period of time. Walking for thirty minutes a day can actually help you save time in the long run.

Breathe deeply as you walk.
If you breathe deeply as you walk, you will burn even more calories and expand your lungs.  Try counting to 5 while you inhale, and then counting to 5 while you exhale.  You will find yourself more relaxed when you have completed your walk.

Do a shorter, more intense walking fitness program.
On days you have limited time to exercise, do a short, high intensity walking program. Instead of walking at a slower pace for thirty minutes, power walk for fifteen or twenty. Studies have shown this may be even more effective than longer, less intense routines. You can also add some hills to add to the intensity.

Ok, those are my ideas… what are YOURS??

The teachings Byron Katie have been so very instrumental in my passionate life.  She is most certainly on the list of my Most Favorite Famous People.  Her books have taught me how to ‘love what is‘ — and how powerful is that, given that IT always IS what it is???   Time Magazine calls her ‘a spiritual innovator for the new millenium.‘ She is a peaceful teacher and lover of the truth.  That’s her quote in the title there.  Her process, The Work, is simply amazing.  I have been doing The Work for a few years now and oh, the peace it delivers.  It is so true, as she says, inquiring into our thoughts leads us to freedom and truth.  She is an angel for anyone seeking peace and love.   I have several of her books listed in My Marketplace.  Check out her video at the link below and tell me what you think…

Click here to view Byron Katie’s The Work!

What did you think of it?