WORK IN PROGRESS
THE Personal Effectiveness E-zine January 2005

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Welcome! (And Top Ten lists)

Welcome to the many new subscribers who came to Work in Progress via one of my "Top Ten" lists that was re-issued by Self-Improvement newsletter, to which I give my appreciation. Some readers may not know that I have written around eighty Top Ten lists on many different topics. At my web site you can find a page that offers links to most of them. It is at http://choicecoach.com/4Writer/TopTens.htm

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"Just a moment..." Just a second..."

We may not have much time, but we all have "a moment," "a second." Do we ever stop to consider just how important that second can be?

It takes only a second to make eye contact and smile - that smile may be only one that the other person gets that day. When you receive an unexpected and radiant smile - doesn't it lift your heart, and sometimes turn around a negative mood? Remember that, however you feel today, you have the power to give that gift, the gift of a smile, to someone else - possibly someone who really, really needs it.

It takes only a second to glance away, to tune the radio, or check on something in the car. When you are driving at 60 miles (less than 100 kilometers) an hour, in one second you travel approximately 88 feet (almost 27 meters). That's a lot of ground to cover with your eyes shut. You say that your eyes were open? Yes, but they might as well be shut if you are not looking at the road. In one second who knows how many lives could be affected if an accident occurs. Perhaps you are thinking that you do it often, and that it could never happen to you because you have never had a problem. Perhaps in that one second you are playing "Russian roulette."

In one second one can say "I love you." In one second one can say "You mean nothing to me." In one second one can say "Yes" or "No" and change one's life, and perhaps some else's, for ever.

In one second we can react without thinking, and spend a lifetime wishing we had thought first.

In one second we can see a sunrise, the sun on a frost-covered tree, the sparkle of water or snow, and have our hearts lifted.

In one second we can say "Thank you, God" (or whatever our term for our Higher Power may be) and feel a connection to the universe.

In one second we can realize that we have options, and that we can life our lives purposefully and choicefully.

(In one second we can be told that "choicefully" is not a word and choose to use it anyway.)

Supposing that you sleep for eight hours in 24 - well, just suppose it anyway - then you have 16 hours of being awake, being capable of making decisions. That is 57,600 of those seconds, every one of which might be a turning point in your life, even in someone else's life.

We can read a lot about being self-aware (not the same thing as self-conscious), about awakening, about, to use a sixties phrase, being here right now. How often are we?

When we are here right now, staying conscious and alert not only to our environment, but to what is going on inside of ourselves, seeing how we feel, how we react to what is happening in and around us, then we are truly awake, and we are truly able to experience and value every one of those precious seconds.

Time CAN be on your side. It does not have to be an enemy to be battled day after day. Value it by experiencing it.

Most of the time, when we reach a goal we discover that what made the goal important was not the goal itself, but the journey we made to get there. Value the journey by being aware of every second. It will change your life.

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TELL A FRIEND

I hope that you enjoy Work in Progress, and that it is useful to you. To pass its benefits on to a friend or colleague, please forward this issue, perhaps with the suggestion that they might like to subscribe.

Equally, if you or someone you know might benefit from a free sample coaching call (actually you pay the cost of the phone call but the coaching session is free) then please contact me either by e-mail or through the Guestbook page of my web site at http://ChoiceCoach.com.

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PLEASE! Any re-use of this material should include the words "Copyright Diana Robinson 2005. For more information visit Diana's web site http://ChoiceCoach.com or contact her at Diana@ChoiceCoach.com."

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Copyright 2005 Diana Robinson, PhD., PCC. Work in
Progress may be reproduced in its entirety only,
including this copyright line. Disclaimer -The contents herein are solely the opinions of Work in Progress owner, and should not be considered as a form of therapy nor advice. There is no guarantee of validity or accuracy. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

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