Making Lives Simpler Newsletter

Practical News and Tips
For Living the Life
You Truly Desire

March 2004 Volume 8 Issue 1

IN THIS ISSUE:

I. Party Like A 15 Year Old
II. Five Quick Tips
III. References
IV. Self-Help Tools - My Gift To You
V. The Falling Awake Cruise

I. Party Like A 15 Year Old

My husband was born on February 29, which means he's a Leap Year baby. It also means he has a “real” birthday only once every four years! And this year, 2004, his true birthday came around again so it was a cause to celebrate!

Now he’s only had 15 official birthdays in his entire life, so I decided for fun to plan a celebration for him with the theme “Party Like a 15-year Old!” The guest list included friends and family from both in town and out of town. The events were scheduled over that special last weekend in February.

Friday night was an "out-of-towners" dinner and play night at Dave & Busters. If you’re not familiar with their place, it’s a huge family style restaurant over flowing with state-of-the-art video games, simulators, prize machines and more. It is also complete with the obligatory sensory assault of colorful bright lights, pulsating music, electronic sound effects and people of all ages truly enjoying themselves!

The age of our group ranged from 29 to 88! Upon arrival, everyone got a special "power card" so they could roam the room, swipe the card through the slot of whatever attraction interested them and play away! And everyone did! From games of pool and air hockey, to riding a Harley, piloting a jet airliner, racing cars, jeeps, boats, using the force in a "Star Wars Pod Racer," defending oneself from dinosaurs in “Jurassic Park,” navigating a giant crane in a glass case filled with prizes to classic video games like Ms. Pacman and Centipede, and skill games including Skee Ball (a game I used to love to play as a kid myself! ). Everyone let their inner child come out and play and tried their hand at something!

Following this initial playtime, it was time to eat and do what adults do best when they get together, talk! Many hadn’t seen one another for a long time while many were meeting others for the first time.

One of the most profound comments that evening was from 2 out of town people when they turned to each other and said, "It nice to see you someplace besides at another funeral." Wow. That's exactly one of the reasons I wanted this party with my husband’s special friends and family. I wanted to create a time where we all could enjoy each other's company and play together. I wanted us to share time now, not just during funerals.

The next day, the out-of-town guests joined the in-town guests for the next big event. We all met at a huge Indoor Kart Racing Speed Track! Most in the group had never raced a go-kart before, but just like kids, the anticipation, eagerness and even a little anxiety was in the air.

The first race I scheduled was for those between the ages of 70 and 90! Getting racing helmets and protective eyewear on them and assisting them in getting down into their cars behind the wheel proved interesting! But soon they were given the green flag, and they were off! It was so inspiring watching them driving around the course with such a sense of unusual fun! With each lap, the cheers from the rest of us along the sidelines grew stronger. You should have seen my dad, who's 84, go!!

Next came the endurance races for the rest of us and it wasn’t long before you could see the childhood personalities emerge. There were the aggressors, the determinators, the calculators, and the Indy 500 wannabes! Each race was fifteen minutes of non-stop, high adrenalin action with drivers pacing then passing one another, gentle or in-your-face bumping on the turns, and straight away pedal to the metal through the front stretch! Then a break for Group One while the second group drove for their fifteen minutes. Then the first group went back out on the track for Heat Number Two! Believe me, after it was over, there was much talk about individual drivers, the outright competition and the overall exhilarating good time, not to mention comparisons of sore arms and legs from tensing up during the races! The event was over too soon and now it was time for lunch followed by a little afternoon rest for everybody!

That evening, everyone came to our house for the official birthday party portion of the program! There were tables set in the back yard, which were colorfully decorated with balloons, ribbons and inflatable jukebox centerpieces. On the tables were toy airplanes, paddleballs, Lincoln logs, crayons, maze games, cars, boats, and more. And there was a specially filled piñata in the form of a race tire! My husband was blindfolded, spun around, given a golf club and was told to swing away! (Interesting. He swung just like he does on the golf course! ) Finally with a dead-on smack, the goodies fell to the ground and the adults pounced on them just like kids! Well, among my husband’s favorite bite-size Snicker Bars and such were some scratch off lottery tickets, so who could blame them!

We dined on a special buckboard barbeque of chicken, ribs, beans, corn and more and spent the evening in lively conversation out under the stars or inside playing video games! One of the best parts of the night was later on when the doorbell rang and my husband was greeted at the door by a shiny, silver freezer cart on big wheels with the name "Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream" on the side! For the next hour, they personally scooped into cups and cones a choice of everyone’s favorite frozen treat!

The next day was Sunday and my husband’s official and rare February 29th Birthday. It was actually a quieter day than the others that weekend but just as enjoyable. We spent some time walking on the beach (we do live in San Diego), having time with family and friends and saying goodbye to others who had to head back home.

Was this a "simple" weekend to plan? No, it wasn’t. Was it an important weekend? Yes, very. It was important because I don't want to wait to be with people I care about. I want to schedule time with them now, stay in contact with them now and play with them now. I don’t want us all to get together only because “it’s another funeral.”

We need to remember to take time to be with people we care about and experience happy times together. We need to play together and know that it’s okay to play at any age.

Our “Party Like a 15-year Old” weekend was a blast! And we’re not going to wait another four years either. Besides, we still have some left over Dave & Buster's power cards . . .

Warmly,

Linda

II. FIVE QUICK TIPS

1. Most people are "overscheduled." If you are, this might be a good time to start looking at what you want to eliminate. What activities are you doing that are "draining" your energy versus "filling" your energy?

2. Schedule some "play" time into your week like an appointment. And then be sure to keep the appointment with yourself.

3. Think of how you use to "play" as a child and try some of those activities again now. Do you still ride bikes? How about a game of ball in the street? Or making a mess of the kitchen baking cookies?

4. Create a toy box and fill it with favorite toys of your past. It doesn't matter if you don't have them anymore. Many of them are still in toy stores today! Remember how much fun it was to buy a shiny, brand new toy you really wanted?

5. Laugh. Make a commitment to find some humor each day in a situation that you might have taken too seriously. Humor sometimes shows up in the most unlikely places.

"We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing."
- Unknown

"Let the wind blow through you hair while you still have some."
- Dave Weinbaum

" If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles."
- Doug Larson

III. REFERENCES

"Simplify Your Life: A Journey of Personal Discovery" by Linda Manassee Buell.
http://www.simplifylife.com/b-workbk.html

By using this Journey of Personal Discovery workbook, you'll learn to uncover, define, simplify, and create the life you really want. It's your own unique path, one on which you'll travel at your own unique pace. This book will give you valuable skills that you'll use in your own way for the rest of your life, allow you to explore your feelings about many aspects of your life, and show you how to make conscious choices to change those things that you want to change.

To find more resources, go to
http://www.simplifylife.com/reference.html

IV. Self-Help Tools - My Gift To You

Making Lives Simpler and Simplify Life is about creating the live you'll love. It's about learning how to say “Yes” to the things you want in your life and “No” to the things you don't. It's about creating great energy everyday and eliminating the things that are draining your energy.

I use multiple supportive tools to help me along this path, and I'm sure you do as well. Over the past few years, I've been gathering together some of these resources under one roof and these tools are now available to you at http://www.vrselfhelp.com.

This new work, http://www.vrselfhelp.com, is my way of providing additional resources, support, and community on this path of personal growth and wellness. As a member, I know you'll enjoy the Self-Help Tip-of-The Week (which definitely comes out weekly and is way more consistent than these newsletters have been!) or even our VRSupport Group, which is an amazing value to receive small group coaching.

We are still offering Charter Memberships for $19.90 for a full year. However, as a very special gift to you for being such loyal readers of Making Lives Simpler for the last 8 years, I am offering you the chance to become a new member for one-year for only $1.** (A nominal fee to cover a small administrative cost.) This offer is in anticipation of our upcoming official Grand Opening and must be activated before Thursday, April 1st.

To take advantage of this Pre-Grand Opening Offer, simply go to http://www.vrselfhelp.com and click on "Become A Member." Once your entire enrollment process is complete, insert the promotional code "Simply" at the final checkout page and your discount will be applied. Complete all information, including a form of payment to activate the discount. This information will be stored on our secure server for future purchases of our many products and programs.

You can also sample some of our programs for FREE. Just go to http://www.vrselfhelp.com/non_member_spec_offer.asp or go to the home page of the website at http://www.vrselfhelp.com and click on the special Try Us For Free box in the center of the page.

Get additional support today to make the changes you desire in your life tomorrow!

**This offer is good for "new" memberships only.
If you are already a member just send me an email at Linda@vrselfhelp.com and I'll extend your existing membership an extra 3 months!!

V. The Falling Awake Cruise

Every now and then a very special and unique resource comes my way and this is something that I thought you might find of interest.

Dr. Pat Williams, Master Certified Coach, speaker, author, and psychologist is presenting a special seminar at sea called: The Falling Awake Cruise, Creating the Life of Your Dreams. Departing Fort Lauderdale December 4th and returning December 11th, you'll soak up the tropical sun on some of the most beautiful spots on earth while you also learn to create the life you really want to be living.

This seminar will leave you motivated, on course and with scheduled “Wake up calls” to make your goals sustainable over time. For complete details go to: http://www.lifecoachtraining.com/fallingawake/index.shtml

MORE ABOUT "MAKING LIVES SIMPLER"

Linda Manassee Buell is a full-time Personal and Business Coach, and author of the tips eBooklet, "Simplify Your Life, 101 Ways to Create the Life You Love," the audiotape, "Simplify Your Life, 7 Simple Strategies for Doing What You Love to Do," the revised edition of the workbook, "Simplify Your Life: A Journey of Personal Discovery," and her latest book, "Panic and Anxiety Disorder, 121 Tips, Real-life Advice, Resources & More." She is also the President and Executive Director of The Virtual Reality Self-Help Center, vrselfhelp.com, an Internet- based resource center for mental well-being.

To order your personal copy of any of the above by check or credit card, just go to http://simplifylife.com and click on "Shop the Store."

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The contents herein are solely the opinions of Simplify Life and Linda Manassee Buell.

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