Tag: Philadelphia

Put Your Excuses in a Pile of Sh*t

Jennifer Pastiloff writes:

One of the things I do in my Manifestation Workshops and Retreats is have people write down all their excuses on a piece of paper and then rip it up and put it in a pile at the front of the room. The little pieces of paper mix in with other little pieces of paper and look like a pile of trash. Which is, essentially, what they are.

So what do the papers say? What excuses am I talking about?

Any and all excuses.

Any excuses that we have collected over the years that stop us from going after what we want or saying Yes.

Mine have ranged from:

  • I don’t have enough money,
  • It will be hard,
  • I don’t have enough experience,
  • People won’t like me,
  • I am too old,
  • I am too fat
  • I am too tired
  • I am not good enough,

… and on and on depending on the year, the day, the mood.

So, I have them put the excuses into this pile at the front of the room, and then I ask them what the pile is. We all agree it is a pile of trash, of garbage, of sh*t. I then take a picture of it and tell anyone that if they ever forget that they have put their excuse into this pile, they can email me or call me and I will send them the photo as a sweet reminder.

Some people struggle when I ask them to rip up the excuses. You can see a slight subtle pull of resistance. Like they are afraid of who they might be, of what they might do, without their beloved excuse that they have clung to for so long.

At my last retreat in Italy, just a week ago, a girl from Philadelphia shared something really profound with me.

She had attended my workshop in Philadelphia at Dhyana Yoga in March. After the workshop, she emailed me to inquire about my Tuscany retreat. We exchanged a few emails, and then she decided she couldn’t make it happen.

A few days later she emailed me back and said she had changed her mind and was going to join me.

In Tuscany, she told me that she had been standing in her kitchen making tea after our initial emails where she told me she couldn’t make the retreat happen when it hit her like a pot of boiling water!

She had realized that all the excuses she had given me as to why she could not attend the retreat in Italy where no longer usable because she had ripped them up and put them into a pile of sh*t on the floor of Dhyana Yoga back in March. The excuses ran the gamut from she didn’t have enough money, she didn’t have anyone to go with, she wasn’t “good” at yoga, etc. She told me all of this with tears in her eyes in Italy, where she made lifelong friends and had a life-changing experience.

Yes, it was just words on a paper and a metaphor of throwing excuses into a pile of garbage. But, did it matter? She remembered that metaphor, and that action of ripping up her excuses, and chose to no longer use them.

We always have the choice.

Read the rest of the article here: Put Your Excuses in a Pile of Sh*t

Related articles
3

Continental Congress chooses national flag; This Day in History

On this day in 1777, during the American Revolution, the Continental Congress adopts a resolution stating that “the flag of the United States be thirteen alternate stripes red and white” and that “the Union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.”

The national flag, which became known as the “stars and stripes,” was based on the “Grand Union” flag, a banner carried by the Continental Army in 1776 that also consisted of 13 red and white stripes. According to legend, Philadelphia seamstress Betsy Ross designed the new canton for the flag, which consisted of a circle of 13 stars and a blue background, at the request of General George Washington. Historians have been unable to conclusively prove or disprove this legend.

With the entrance of new states into the United States after independence, new stripes and stars were added to represent new additions to the Union. In 1818, however, Congress enacted a law stipulating that the 13 original stripes be restored and that only stars be added to represent new states.

On June 14, 1877, the first Flag Day observance was held on the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the American flag. As instructed by Congress, the U.S. flag was flown from all public buildings across the country. In the years after the first Flag Day, several states continued to observe the anniversary, and in 1949 Congress officially designated June 14 as Flag Day, a national day of observance.” via Continental Congress chooses national flag — History.com This Day in History — 6/14/1777.

2

Why July 4th is NOT exactly the day of US Independence

The belltower atop Independence Hall in Philad...
Image via Wikipedia

Historically, the legal liberation of 13 original colonies took place on July 2, 1776, in a closed session of Congress. However, the Second Continental Congress took two more days to modify the famous of American documents, delaying the final approval of Declaration of Independence by two more days.

Although the Declaration of Independence managed to get the Congressional approval on July 4, 1776, it was not made public until July 8. Thus the first Independence Day was celebrated on July 8, 1776.

The Declaration of Independence was read on July 8th, 1776 by Col. John Nixon. He, less than a year later, would be made a brigadier general of the Continental Army.

The day saw summoning of citizens to Independence Hall for the very first public reading of the US Independence Declaration, by ringing the bells of Philadelphia, including the Liberty Bell. This breaks yet another American myth regarding the ringing of Liberty Bell.

Contrary to the popular misconception, Liberty Bell did not ring on July 4th, 1776 to mark the US Independence day. Americans had to wait four more days, till July 8th, to listen to the Liberty Bell as well as the public reading of Declaration of Independence.

via ibtimes.com

My birthday falls on July 8th which would appear is the best of all American holidays according to historical fact…

0

Start a Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑