This morning, wading through my email, I opened my e>v newsletter that came this week, e>veryday. If you aren't getting the newsletter, click here. (Ok, I opened it earlier this week, but it was so chock full of awesome, I knew I'd have to come back to it again and again.) In it, this month at e>v we are all about the practice and power of gratitude. With the American holiday Thanksgiving right around the corner, we thought we'd get a head start on digging into this thing of beauty.

One idea from e>veryday is to create a gratitude top ten list every morning – even if all you can muster at first is that you're grateful to be actually making a list. It may sound weird, but it honestly changes the whole tone of the day into a space of newness and possibility.

Now stop.
Right here, now.
Back away from the glowing screen, grab your favorite pen that writes so beautifully, and a notebook, napkin or the last thank you card in the box of 12, and write your list.

You'll be so grateful you did.

It ain't work, it's play!

Join us for the fully expanded Evolution Through Vacation day-long workshop -- a fun, interactive adventure on how to live each day like a vacation day!

What it is: Centered on the e>v Life Map experiment -- and following the e>v rhythm of Preparation, The Trip and Re-Entry -- Evolution Through Vacation Live takes you on a deep dive into your current journey through relationships, career, creative expression and more. Then, through other inspirational + insightful e>v activities, you'll decide what you truly want to create and leave with an action plan to make it all happen.

What you'll do: Hang out with other cool peeps -- adventurers, thinkers, action-takers -- in a safe, fun environment while you dream up all sorts of possibilities for yourself and your life ... and then, you'll make them a reality.

Why you should come: No need to travel afar ... every day can be a vacation day if we let it be! It's time to discard the limits! Shake things up! Join the adventure! Right here and now.

When + where: Saturday, October 18, 2008 / 9:30 - 4:30 / Minneapolis, MN

Cost: $99 / bring a bag lunch or enjoy one of the yummy nearby restaurants / snacks + beverages will be provided.

RSVP: Please email e>v for more details and directions! And let's go!

Lost luggage? Crappy traffic?

These simple experiences can bring out a myriad of responses in many different peeps. These instances bring out  "The Reaction."

Many people say, it's "human nature" or it's my "natural" response.

And I say: Ptttthhhhhhttt.

Outside of running from lions or fighting off an attacking grizzly, we've learned the majority of our "natural" responses at a young age. Parents, society, TV -- all sorts of sources have influenced our behavior and communication style. This, of course, is not ground-breaking news. How to dismantle these patterns, however, is a bit more chat-worthy.

A big challenge I'm often confronted with is my love affair with reactionary living and my addiction to auto-responses.

Sheesh, when someone else is crabby how I love to take it personally and pout.When I'm running late how I love to blame the idiot driver in front of me... And now? When I stop to look around? I realize: I'm tired of living this way. I'm bored with my huffy reactions and want to slip into something a bit more comfortable. But how? We all make choices on how we communicate and engage with the world ... and it's hard to see a higher road when we're deep in the rut we've been walking through our whole lives ... so, one idea I'm going to try?

Stop and look at that very rut  -- the one I might be knee-deep in at the very moment I react. Is my reaction a way of protecting myself? Something based in fear? In insecurity? How has it served me in the past and what newer, lighter, more beneficial option could serve me from now on?

These questions are easy to ask ... not always easy to answer. But I'm going to try.

An easy idea to talk about. But, to put it in action?

We talk to lots of people how Evolution Through Vacation opens up ideas and attitudes in a new way. Options that may have been stuck behind stories, outdated habits or an iron door of judgment. These folks tell us that e>v offers new perspectives to outdated habits -- new ways of being that replace rigid patterns that no longer serve. I love to hear these stories and am inspired to look at my own life through the same lens.

We're all learning as we move through this life and it's exciting when we embark on new journeys. Perhaps today's journey is about going through the day in an open and fluid manner ... allowing faith to enter in and magic to occur. ... releasing the need to be "right" and welcoming an easier, lighter answer to appear ... ditching the need for control and inviting in possibility ... truly evolving in each and every moment.

Of course, you can download the e-Guide for more experiments to help you do this :) ... or, you could just take today a little slower, a little more relaxed, a little more deliberate in the motive of openness and possibility. Today, you could just go with the flow if only to see where it leads you.

Where does the time go? I have made a commitment to write this blog and I thought it was just yesterday that I posted. Turns out it was more like 10 yesterdays ago ... What the??? It reminds me of a discussion Gretchen and I have been having lately about showing up in this world. And the gorgeous responsibility inherent within.

When we talk about "showing up" we talk about being present, engaged, enlivened and excited with the current events around us. Diving into relationships, commitments and activities wholeheartedly. Living in the moment, for the moment.

Sometimes it's quite easy to be this engaged -- even lost in the moment. Other times, however, we find ourselves slinking away, hiding, ignoring -- moving away from life instead of lunging toward it. One idea I ponder when this happens is where fear is showing up ... If I'm backing away from life, dodging things, it helps me to stop and think what I'm possibly fearful of in the situation. This  helps me focus on the deeper challenge and then puts me in a place to choose a course of action.

For example, I've recently been thinking about networking and my place in that realm. In the past, I have not really engaged in networking/meeting people/following up/creating new relationships -- finding "helpers" as Gretchen and I now call it. It was simply easier to blend in with the crowd, or have a brief encounter of small talk with new people, and then go back with my current tribe. This, however, hasn't been helping me expand my horizons or make new pals. So, I asked myself what I was fearful of ... Answers quickly showed up: What if they don't like me; making a commitment if they do; now being 'responsible' to uphold these relationships; I don't really have the time to do this ... (Wait, is that true? What am I fearful of when I use 'time' as an excuse? Why am I fearful of upholding new relationships? And on and on...) As I dig deeper, I find more answers and am able to see new perspectives and -- most importantly -- take action on this as opposed to allowing it to clutter up my consciousness any longer.

So, what do you think? Where in your life do you show up? What events, people, things make you excited to do so? And what events, people, things make you cringe? What do you do to step back into the flow?

Do you ever read the "DailyOm"? It's cool, meditative and often gets us thinking in new, unfettered ways as we begin our days .... Today's idea was a concept of "Tearing Down to Build Up" -- or how complaining is a way of removing what's bad from our lives and allowing space for the good to  enter. Many of us, however, get stuck in the 'tearing down' part a bit too long -- which never allows for the solution to enter. Or, as DailyOm says:

"Complaining is a person’s way of acknowledging that they are not happy with the way things are. In a metaphorical way, when we complain or criticize, we are tearing down an undesirable structure in order to make room for something new. But if all we do is tear down, never bothering to summon the creative energy required to create something new, we are not fulfilling the process. In fact, we are at risk for becoming a stagnant and destructive force in our own lives and in the lives of the people we love. ... Another issue with complaining is that we sometimes tend to focus on other people, whom we can’t change, as a way of deflecting attention from the one person we can change—ourselves. So transforming complaining into something useful is a twofold process that begins with turning our critical eye to look at things we can actually do something about, and then taking positive action."

This reminds me of everything from harping at the airline workers when our luggage is lost to blaming our mothers for not living up to our expectations (quite a range, but I think you get where I'm coming from) ... Whether on actual vacation or living the vacation called our lives, we have the chance right now to, yes, tear down ... and then, we have the beautiful choice to build something new. Every. Single. Moment.

I'm going to get out the Legos right now ..... and build something purty ......

-elissa

Have you seen this?

Scientists are claiming by not eating for 14-16 hours, you can squash jet leg like a mofo. Cool!

Gotta try it, dontcha think?