Saturday, December 31, 2011

Lucky Penny Walk

Lucky Penny Walk

Want to add some positivity to your walk? Take a Lucky Penny Walk. Each day at lunch time I walk along the water front at Shoreline Village in Long Beach and once a week, I take a Lucky Penny walk. I walk with 10 pennies in my pocket and I drop them along way with a Lucky Penny Prayer: “I love you, Please Forgive Me, I’m Sorry, and Thank You...here’s to making someone very lucky today.” And I throw the penny on the side of the walkway where someone will find it. This combines Ho’noopono and the karma of good luck in one. I imagine that anyone who happens by my lucky penny will pick it up and say to themselves, “I’m having a lucky day.” “My luck has just changed” “Good luck is about to come my way.” Or “Oh, look, I found a lucky penny.”
This encounter with my lucky penny will put a smile on their face, a bounce in their step, and the chain reaction will be far-reaching.
It is like the Felix Felices from Harry Potter. You just have to believe that it is your lucky day, and it will be.
If  you decide to take a lucky penny walk and make someone’s day today, come back here and let me know...and you know what, the added bonus is that it is your secret that puts a bounce in your step and a smile on your face as well.

SonrĂ­ete,
Con un pan y cafecito,
Seguimos ADELANTE!!!

Zulmara

Friday, December 30, 2011

Life Choices and Created Options


Happy New Year… What Options are you creating this year? 

Life is not about the choices you make, but the options you create.
If you have lousy options, you will make lousy choices…
If you have good options, you will make good choices…
Are you creating options?
For example, if you have cultivated 3 or 4 business proposals, then you can choose the best one. If you have only cultivated one and it is not very good, then you are stuck.
The same holds true for all of your relationships. The more relationships you cultivate the less you will feel like you have to choose between a rock and a hard place. You will be able to choose the ones that work for you and you will be saying…”Wow, I can’t go wrong with choices like these.” Abundance comes when we are present, in the moment, and taking action.
Buena suerte with all your options,
Con un pan y cafecito,
Seguimos ADELANTE!!
Zulmara

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Children Learn What They Live


As I reflect on the New Year and plan my goals and whimsical resolutions, I have decided to share some of my inspirations. Here is another one.
con un pan y cafecito, seguimos adelante,
Zulmara

Children Learn What They Live
By Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.

If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

Copyright © 1972 by Dorothy Law Nolte

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

The Paradoxical Commandments

If you have not seen or are not aware of the Paradoxical commandments, these are awesome for reflecting and reminding us of what is important as we choose our actions and responses.


The Paradoxical Commandments
by Dr. Kent M. Keith


People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001



con un pan y cafecito, seguimos adelante,
Zulmara

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Erma Bombeck...If I Had...



This is one of my all time favorites and I make sure to read it regularly...just as a reminder that I need to count my blessings and live in the moment. Love Erma Bombeck, may she rest in peace.



If I Had My Life To Live Over

by Erma Bombeck

The following was written by the late Erma Bombeck
after she found out she had a fatal disease.
If I had my life to live over, I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I
would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television - and more while watching life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."

There would have been more "I love you's".. More "I'm sorrys" ...

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute... look at it and really see it ... live it...and never give it back.

© Erma Bombeck
Con un pan y cafecito,
seguimos adelante
Zulmara

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Win a Copy of Chicken Soup for the Latino Soul

WIN!!! Celebrando la vida Latina!!!



The first 3 people who respond to the Proust Questionnaire will win a copy of Chicken Soup for the Latino Soul. All you have to do is answer the Proust questionnaire and follow my blog, and I will send you a signed copy of this wonderfully inspiring book, for Latinos, by Latinos.
Con un pan y cafecito, seguimos adelante.
Disfrute!!!
Zulmara
(PS You can see my responses in a previous post).


This is a questionnaire that allows us to look deep into ourselves and see what resonates with us and what makes us tick. Take a minute to answer some of most of the questions.

The Proust Questionnaire


  • What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
  • Where would you like to live?
  • What is your idea of earthly happiness?
  • To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
  • Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?
  • Who are your favorite characters in history?
  • Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
  • Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?
  • Your favorite painter?
  • Your favorite musician?
  • The quality you most admire in a man?
  • The quality you most admire in a woman?
  • Your favorite virtue?
  • Your favorite occupation?
  • Who would you have liked to be?

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Ann and Abby

For years, these were my most favorite New Year's column and I would read them to my kids on each New Year's day. What traditions do you have in your family around the New Year?



Ann Landers New Year’s Resolutions
Let this coming year be better than all the others.  Vow to do some of the things you've always wanted to do but couldn't find the time.

Call up a forgotten friend.  Drop an old grudge, and replace it with some pleasant memories.  Share a funny story with someone whose sprits are dragging.  A good laugh can be very good medicine.

Vow not to make a promise you don't think you can keep.  Pay a debt.  Give a soft answer.  Free yourself of envy and malice.  Encourage some youth to do this or her best.  Share your experience, and offer support. Young people need role models.

Make a genuine effort to stay in closer touch with family and good friends. 

Resolve to stop magnifying small problems and shooting from the lip.  Words that you have to eat can be hard to digest.

Find the time to be kind and thoughtful.  All of us have the same allotment:

24 hours a day. Give a compliment.  It might give someone a badly needed lift.

Thing things though.  Forgive an injustice. Listen more. Be kind.

Apologize when you realize you are wrong. An apology never diminishes a person.  It elevates him. Don't blow your own horn.  If you've done something praiseworthy, someone will notice eventually.
Try to understand a point of view that is different from your own.  Few things are 100 percent one way or another.  Examine the demands you make on others.

Lighten up. When you feel like blowing your top, ask yourself, "Will it matter in a week from today?".  Laugh the loudest when the joke is on you.

The sure way to have a friend is to be one. We are all connected by our humanity, and we need each other.  Avoid malcontents and pessimists. They drag you down and contribute nothing.

Don't discourage a beginner from trying something risky.  Nothing ventured means nothing gained.  Be optimistic.  The can-do spirit is the fuel that makes things go.

Read something uplifting.  Deep-six the trash.  You won't eat garbage - why put it in your head? Don't abandon your old-fashioned principles.  They never go out of style.  When courage is needed, ask yourself, "If not me, who? If not now, when?"

Walk tall, and smile more.  You'll look 10 years younger. Don't be afraid to say, "I love you". Say it again. They are the sweetest words in the world.

© Ann Landers


Dear Abby's
New Year's Resolutions

Just for today, I will live through this day only, and not set
far-reaching goals to try to overcome all my problems at once.
I know I can do something for 24 hours that would overwhelm me
if I thought I had to keep it up for a lifetime.

Just for today, I will be happy. Abraham Lincoln
said, "Most folks are about as happy as they make
up their minds to be". He was right. I will not
dwell on thoughts that depress me. I will chase
them out of my mind and replace them with happy thoughts.

Just for today, I will adjust myself to what is.
I will face reality. I will correct those things
that I can correct and accept those I cannot.
Just for today, I will improve my mind. I will not
be a mental loafer. I will force myself to read
something that requires effort, thought, and concentration.

Just for today, I will do something positive to
improve my health. If I'm a smoker, I'll make
an honest effort to quit. If I'm overweight,
I'll eat nothing I know to be fattening and
I'll force myself to exercise ~ even if it's
only walking around the block or using the
stairs instead of the elevator.

Just for today, I will make a conscious effort
to be agreeable. I will look as good as I can,
dress becomingly, speak softly, act courteously,
and not interrupt when someone else is talking.

Just for today, I'll try not to improve anybody
except myself. We know so much more about nutrition
and how much exercise and sensible living can extend
life and make it more enjoyable; so just for today,
I'll take good care of my body so I can celebrate
many more happy new years.

Just for today, I will have a program. I may not
follow it exactly, but I will have it, thereby
saving myself from two pests: hurry and indecision.

Just for today, I will gather the courage to do what
is right and take the responsibility for my own actions.


© Abby

Monday, December 19, 2011

Celebrating 100 Fans


Celebrating 100 Fans on My Facebook site
Guided Journals
Buenos dias, mis amigas y amigos,

I just hit 100 fans on my Facebook Fan Page and I want to celebrate by posting my guided journal. Many of us understand the importance of journaling and writing to help us focus our vision, hone in our passion, and harness our creative energy, however, many of us have trouble getting started with what to write, especially when it is not clear to us why we are writing every day.  I have posted 15 prompts from my Guided Journals, My Life is My Message  on my blog. Each posting is designed to inspire a response from you. You can answer with a picture, a few words, a quote, a gratitude, or a long answer, whatever comes to mind, whatever was inspired in you when you read the prompt.

As you work on responding to these poetry prompts, feel free to use them in your own blogs or posts. All I ask is that credit be given for the poem and the prompt and a link back to my page as the source. Remember, it only takes 30 days to build a new habit. If one of your goals for 2012 is to SOAR…start now…by getting in touch with your inner voice.
Any one who answers all 15 prompts...here, on FB, or on your own blog, will be entered into a drawing for a signed copy of the My Life is My Message Guided Journal or a copy of Chicken Soup for the Latino Soul.

Graicas, mis amigas y amigos…y disfrutan.
Con un pan y cafecito,
Seguimos ADELANTE!!

My Answers to Proust Questionnaire...


My responses to the Proust Questionnaire (See Previous Post)



  • What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
To lose a child
  • Where would you like to live?
    • In Los Angeles, where I am living
  • What is your idea of earthly happiness?
    • Living in such a way that I do what I love and love what I do—living the writerly life
  • To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
    • Chocolate
  • Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?
    • Santiago from The Alchemist
  • Who are your favorite characters in history?
    • Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Antohony
  • Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
    • My mother—a beautiful soul who graced this earth for a short period of time
    • My Aunt—a deep soul who graces this earth still
  • Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?
    • Scarlet O’Hara from Gone with the Wind
  • Your favorite painter?
    • Frida and Deigo
  • Your favorite musician?
    • Gloria Estefan
  • The quality you most admire in a man?
    • Creativity, ambition, motivation
  • The quality you most admire in a woman?
    • Intelligence, creativity, motivation
  • Your favorite virtue?
    • Justice
  • Your favorite occupation?
    • Writing, Inspiring, Motivating others
  • Who would you have liked to be?
    • Me, Myself, and I






Sunday, December 18, 2011

Proust Questionnaire



In her book, "Stepping Out of Line"  Nell answers the Proust questionnaire with her own answers as a way of discovering insights into her personality. I am reprinted here the Proust questionnaire with Proust’s answers. (To see Nell’s answer you will have to look into her book.)

This is a questionnaire that allows us to look deep into ourselves and see what resonates with us and what makes us tick. Take a minute to answer the Proust questions, your answers may surprise you and offer some insights into your nest steps, overcoming obstacles, understaning what makes you tick, or just be a reflective exercise helping you get in touch with the inner you.

The Proust Questionnaire


  • What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
To be separated from Mama

  • Where would you like to live?
In the country of the Ideal, or, rather, of my ideal

  • What is your idea of earthly happiness?
To live in contact with those I love, with the beauties of nature, with a quantity of books and music, and to have, within easy distance, a French theater

  • To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
To a life deprived of the works of genius

  • Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?
Those of romance and poetry, those who are the expression of an ideal rather than an imitation of the real

  • Who are your favorite characters in history?
A mixture of Socrates, Pericles, Mahomet, Pliny the Younger and Augustin Thierry

  • Who are your favorite heroines in real life?
A woman of genius leading an ordinary life

  • Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?
Those who are more than women without ceasing to be womanly; everything that is tender, poetic, pure and in every way beautiful

  • Your favorite painter?
Meissonier

  • Your favorite musician?
Mozart

  • The quality you most admire in a man?
Intelligence, moral sense

  • The quality you most admire in a woman?
Gentleness, naturalness, intelligence

  • Your favorite virtue?
All virtues that are not limited to a sect: the universal virtues

  • Your favorite occupation?
Reading, dreaming, and writing verse

  • Who would you have liked to be?
Since the question does not arise, I prefer not to answer it. All the same, I should very much have liked to be Pliny the Younger


http://www.amazon.com/Stepping-Out-Line-Lessons-Women/dp/0767924843/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324008477&sr=1-1

Friday, December 16, 2011

How to Grow a Business


Starting a business can be exciting and fun and full of creative energy. Growing a business takes time, dedication and perserverance...here are some gems from Nell Merlino shared with us at the Coca-Cola Tour: ADELANTE Conference...

Here is Nell...according to Zee...

How to grow a business...

·         Tell people what you want and what you need

·         Mobilize who you know...One person can only do so much...Rely on your friends and networks

·         Grow your own networks...

·         Work with a partner...work with a buddy

·         Think about solving a problem...

·         You don’t have to do it all yourself

·         Expand your product line

·         How is your product different? What is it that you and only you can do? What else can I turn over and who can I turn it over to?

·         Think about expanding your capacity for growth

·         You are the Boss

·         Add to your resume

·         So many examples of things you can make

·         How do you expand? Is it still yours?

·         How do you broker the opportunities?

·         Give voice to the voice you have found
  • Start with the end in mind...let your imagination run wild
Expect resistance...Listen for the spark of truth...Listen for the valuable message...Listen to the naysayers...what are they saying that you need to be aware of...

What would work? Use the info...Mobilize people, You have to be ready...let them know you are launching...go find customers...they need to know what you are...they need to know what you do, they need to know why you and not your competitor?


Write it down...make it happen...

Create a tornado of activity...

What are you going to do right now...today to move forward...

The sooner you do it, the sooner it can happen...

Are you being trained to be small??

Selling or creating or expanding...strategic partnerships

A little talking...a little writing

Who can you work with...

Tell people what you need

An extraordinary journey...just decide that this is where you want to be...




Thursday, December 15, 2011

What is your 10x10?

10x10

What is your 10x10? at the Coca-Cola Tour ADELANTE

https://www.facebook.com/CocaColaTourAdelante?ref=pb

Sandra asked us to list 10 different ways we were different in 10 different groups. Our 10x10, so to speak and how do we stand out, stand up, and stand together to be counted. What is your 10x10? What are 10 ways you are different form the following (Feel free to change and adapt the groups to meet your needs):


1.       From your FB friends
2.       From your family
3.       From other Latinas
4.       From other educators
5.       From other women
6.       From other artists
7.       From other entrepreneurs
8.       From your colleagues
9.       From other mothers/aunts/grandmothers/cousins
10.   From other...

Pearls from Nely


Pearls from Nely Galan

Split Personality...how do we merge our 2 sides...how do I find a better me, the real me, the hidden me, the hyphenated me...the and/both me...how do I craft the identity of the me and who I want to be?
Fear and failure are your best friends
Grow everyday by any means necessary
We all need mentors...connect...
Honor your little girl. What are the unresolved issues? How can I be the best mom to that little girl?
Life is about stages...you do not have to prove yourself...over and over again...
Be kind to yourself...you are enough as you are!!!

Top 10 Gems for Dealing with Obstacles
1.       Make fear and failure your best friends...reframe failure , if you are not failing, you will never succeed
2.       It is never too late the right the wrongs of your life...honor your pain
3.       There is no Prince Charming...no one is on the earth to save you...
4.       Sometimes, when you win, you lose and sometimes when you lose you win...
5.       In your deepest pain is the answer to your purpose and who you are meant to be...take your pain and turn it into work and the work is transcendent...use your shadow material to create your life’s work
6.       Follow your bliss...but have a back-up plan to keep making money
7.       There is darkness before there is light...you will always be tested
8.       Maintenance...put yourself first...
9.       Being Latina is the Best of both worlds...Know how to give...and how to receive
10.   Happiness is...being self-actualized...having the tools to do it...take small actions...-little things will make you successful

If you have not seen Nely's book, check it out here:

http://www.amazon.com/Swan-Curriculum-Spectacular-Life-Changing-Amazing/dp/B0007MTTGM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1324007449&sr=8-1

Wednesday, December 14, 2011


How to be a Chingona in 10 Easy Steps
by Sandra Cisneros as interpreted by
Zulmara
Here is my list from the wonderful talk that Sandra gave us at the Coca-Cola ADELANTE Tour. Sandra had the ideas, but this is my own interpretation of her inspiration, I am sure many of us took many different things from that day, depending on where we are at!!!
·         Live for your own approval
·         Time is your most valuable gift
·         Cover your own Power...
·         Find true humility
·         Keep your word
·         Address your pain
·         Be one with your actions—your only true possessions are your actions
·         Seek forgiveness
·         Live in the present moment
·         Go back to a scene of trauma—Depression has a purpose—use it to go to the light
·         Listen to your body...when you are sick, your body is telling you something
·         Get out of the way of the light
·         Research your history...create your 10x10
·         Create rituals
·         Discover the sacred
·         Wear something that empowers you

Call your ancestors...
·