Master the Genie Within You to Live the Life You Want

Are you looking for more peace, fun and joy and less stress and disappointment?

Welcome to the Club.

We are all  looking for ways to live happier lives, but too often are looking in the wrong places.

There is no argument that activities like eating delicious food, shopping and spending time with friends
all bring pleasure. Such external pleasures however, will be short-lived if we haven’t taken one important action.

Travelling to distant places is exciting, entertaining and enriching. The longest and deepest trip,
however, that will transform our lives is the trip we take within.

Researchers have discovered that the happiest people in the world are not the wealthiest, but rather
the people who do fulfilling work, express gratitude, choose positive thoughts and emotions, and
have developed ways to reduce stress and find joy from within.

A just-released book, Master the Genie Within: Uncover, Embrace and Celebrate the Real You, will help you take
that journey within.

In the book, therapist Gladys Anderson helps you recognize and access the power of your personal genie within to rid yourself
of limiting beliefs and the masks you wear that hide who you really are. By claiming your own power, Anderson shows how you
can handle the adversities that come your way and by engaging in activities that call upon your strengths can live the life you want.

It is now available on Amazon in paperback or you can read it on your Kindle,
smartphones, PC’s and Mac’s!  You can download a free Kindle reader from Amazon.

Enjoy the following excerpt from Master the Genie Within: Uncover, Embrace and Celebrate the Real You

Give Up the Superwoman Role

Give up trying to be the perfect partner, the perfect employee, the perfect hostess, the perfect parent, the perfect daughter, or the
perfect friend. It is not possible.

But so what if you never throw a party like Martha Stewart, the home decorating guru, organize your workspace like a professional
organizer, or empty your inbox?

What you can do is accept the situation as it is. There is such a thing as “good enough,” and when you’ve done your best, it’s good
enough. Relinquish the notion that you can do all, and be all things to everyone in your life.

You are NOT  Superwoman. Remember, Superwoman has superhuman strength and can fly and she is not real.

Real women need to set boundaries on their time, their “chores,” their lives. If you let others control your time and resources, you
open the floodgates to stress, anxiety, and frustration. Instead of being nice and accommodating, you’re really teaching other
people that they have the power to determine how, when, and what you spend your time doing. The role of Superwoman is a clever way
of wearing the mask of perfection.

If you’ve been feeling that there is more to your life than you are currently living, then listen to that inner yearning.

 

Do you feel yourself being blocked from living the life you want? Do you sense that you are hiding the real you or suffering from the
burden of trying to be perfect? Share with us in the Comments.

How Will You Celebrate 'Happiness Happens' Month

boyslaughing-canstockphoto5609036August is Happiness Happens Month, started by the Secret Society of Happy People in 1999. The group is no longer a secret since they boast over 14, 000 “Likes” on Facebook. You can learn more about them on their website, http://www.sohp.com

The Society has three purposes for this month:

  • Recognize and express happiness
  • Listen to others talk about their happiness
  • Don’t rain on other people’s parades

These sound like some good ideas for any time of the year, but it won’t hurt to be extra mindful of creating your happiness this month.

Some of the ways you can celebrate

  • don a pair of silver shades (because happy people always see the silver lining)
  • laugh (laughter is still the best medicine)
  • smile (and the world smiles with you)
  • post on Twitter about what makes you happy, using the hashtag #HappinessHappens

What are some ways you will celebrate this month?

Make It an Extraordinary Day

randybroad

When one man, for whatever reason, has the
opportunity to lead an extraordinary life, he has
no right to keep it to himself.

– Jacques Cousteau

In March 2008, my eyes were opened to a new perspective
and life took on a whole new meaning. In that month, I was
diagnosed with Stage 3 Lung Cancer. Once the reality of this
news settled in, my first emotion was to cry. Then I woke up
from my first reaction to begin an entirely new and uncharted
journey.

This is how Randy Broad, author, speaker and cancer survivor begins his book “It’s an Extraordinary Life.”

Like so many cancer survivors Randy found that plunging himself into penning the life lessons he wanted to share with his children gave him a fresh perspective on life that made each day truly a gift. The one thing he feared more than death was the prospect of “missing” another precious moment enjoying his children and the wonders of everyday life. His focused shifted from thinking always in the future to focusing on moment to moment.

When I interviewed Randy recently on my radio show, Color Your Life Happy, he shared what living an extraordinary life means to him and gave tips we can all use. Enjoy the interview here Make Each Day Extraordinary–Randy Broad then share your thoughts about how you can make each of your remaining days extraordinary.

International Women's Day: Lessons I Learned from my Mother

momToday’s celebration of International Women’s Day is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.

This year represents 100 years of campaigns from getting the right to vote to increasing opportunity for working women to have equal access to the training, technology and pay for competing in the global marketplace. Much has improved since 1911, of course, but women still do not enjoy equal pay for the same work as men, and globally are still the victims of violence, abuse and discrimination.

As I reflect on this day I think about my mother, who, in spite of discrimination and unequal treatment, still had a profound effect on me and others around her.

As an African American born and raised in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, my mother had plenty of reasons to keep her sights set low and settle for the status quo. Some things weren’t safe to do since you couldn’t even count on the white law enforcement to protect you. The murder of Black males and rape of Black women were often not even investigated.

The average Black woman around her counted herself lucky to get a job doing “day work” meaning they travelled for miles to work in the homes of white families all day and drag themselves back home in the evening to devote what energy they had left to their own families.

My mother saw a different future for herself

Thanks to segregation, the Black community was full of Black-owned businesses and entrepreneurs since that’s the only place they could set up shop, counting on patronage from their own people. Because she quickly learned to type, one of my mother’s first jobs was as a secretary at the Black-owned mortuary, Miller’s Funeral Home and Insurance Company in Pine Bluff. She was always so proud of that job because it not only gave her a prestigious position where she could wear business attire rather than a maid’s uniform, but also put her in daily contact a demanding and shrewd business man from whom she learned many lessons about running a successful business in spite of the racial discrimination and unfair treatment that surrounded them.

Multi-talented and eager to learn, my mother also learned to play the piano at an early age, and by adolescence was playing in a juke joint (crude building for dancing, music, gambling and drinking usually in Black rural areas) on Saturday nights and for the local church on Sundays. Because she could read music and “play by ear”, she was a sought-after pianist and organist all of her life until in her 90’s when dementia began to slowly delete the 1000’s of songs she had memorized in her lifetime.

My mother created a different future for herself

Always practical, my mother didn’t settle for the weekend money she picked up for her music, so she decided to also go to cosmetology school as a young adult, even though it meant a trek to Little Rock, AR, a formidable trip in 1930’s. With her cosmetology license in hand and a new husband who moved her to St. Louis, MO, she opened her first beauty shop in the front room of our small dwelling. (She told me it had been a chicken shack that she and my father got for cheap rent because they were willing to clean it up, put up a wall to turn one room into two, and create a crude toilet.)

My sisters and I grew up watching my mother run a successful beauty shop during the week, and slide into her position as pianist for the Children’s Choir at our church on the weekends. In addition to this busy schedule, she managed to turn out beautiful outfits for us to wear to school, cook great meals and participate in PTA.

By the end of my first year of college, we moved to California, enjoying the many opportunities that were flying open during the 60’s.

Like many young people I didn’t fully realize and appreciate the many lessons I learned from my mother until much later. She was amazing not only for her many talents and aspirations, but mostly for her unwillingness to be defined by the unfair conditions that were a reality around us. Mostly I remember her

1. Money wisdom–she was a thrifty and a smart shopper, but she always stressed that it was wiser to spend more and buy a few quality outfits than a bunch of cheap outfits that would soon wear out. Because she was a great seamstress, she could create classy dresses from Vogue patterns and spend the money she saved on top-of-the-line shoes.

2. Courage–she once said that she took us to any events where they would let Black people attend. I can remember travelling by bus (we didn’t have a car) for a long ride to attend the circus at the Arena. Although Blacks could attend, the concession stands wouldn’t sell refreshments to us so I remember her hauling a bag full of snacks so we could enjoy munching during the circus.

3. Resourcefulness
–From her customers, church members, the newspapers and radio, she always found enrichment and educational activities and events that my sisters and I could attend. Summers were filled with YWCA camp and then Vacation Bible School, and of course the school year was loaded with plenty to do after school and at church on weekends.

4. Willingness to let us make some decisions for ourselves
–By the time I was in high school the St. Louis schools decided to desegregate schools by swooping some of the gifted students from our Black high school to a white school miles away. When I was offered this “opportunity” I am so grateful that my mother let me decide.

In spite of all the technology and superior instruction this white school was going to offer me, I could not see the sense of leaving my Black high school where I had friends, was active in many activities and excelling academically, to catch a bus in the early dawn to go across town to an unwelcoming environment where I would have to face untold treatment from fellow students and teachers alike. I clearly didn’t have a pioneer spirit, nor the same courage my mother had. I saw no benefit for me in being the tool of the school district to try to correct the wrongs of the past.

As I reflect on International Women’s Day, I think fondly of my mother who did her part to enhance the lives of her daughters and all the other young women whose lives she touched. Her favorite saying and song was “If I can help somebody as I pass along, then my living will not be in vain.” (You can hear Patti LaBelle singing the song here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edBGuudFeu8)

I encourage you to do your part through a church, charity, school, community or personal effort to ensure that the girls and women in your local area have safe, enriching and inspired lives. In this way, your living will not be in vain, and our global goals will be met, one neighborhood at a time.

Happiness Tip: Focus on What You Want