Mutt Meditation #17: QUIZ: Do You Need a Mother-Mutt …mentor, spiritual advisor, or life coach?

Read the full article here, on Huffington Post.

It’s all the rage now to reach out and touch, to find someone who can help you make sense out of life: a mentor, spiritual advisor, or life coach. Call it what you will, pretty much anyone you trust and has insights that you don’t have can fit into this category that I call Mother-Mutts. (These can be male or female.)

If you’re lucky like me, you’ll be surrounded by Mother-Mutts: those who like to step in and, well, get a little bossy. Let’s just name it. Never mind disguising their wisdom as advice, suggestions, or guidance. It’s bossy!

Here’s the weird part, especially for me. When they say jump, I jump. Usually.

That’s because I trust my instincts when someone knows A LOT more than I do. Even a little bit more. I wouldn’t be alive, out of prison, and happy-healthy-free if it weren’t for all the people who pitched in with their insights and said, “Hey, Deborah, have you considered…” or “You might want to think twice about that.” This last, I’ve heard a million times. Makes me want to smack ‘em upside the head, but they’re right. (Besides, I’d never do that.)

I highly recommend finding mentors, and don’t be afraid to listen. How are you going to learn anything if you don’t listen? You do want to learn, don’t you?

Take the Quiz on Huffington Post and find out if you need a Mother-Mutt …mentor, spiritual advisor, or life coach.

Who Says Cheese Causes Nightmares?

Excerpt from Huffington Post blog

Who knew we’d snooze better after a snack on a slice of Cheddar or Stilton? That’s what the British Cheese Board says in study about the effect of cheese on sleep. (The Brits are getting close to being Mutts, on this one.)

The study explored how cheese influences sleep and dreaming, and found that the impact of cheese on sleep was positive with regard to dreaming, rather than negative, which some believe happens when we sleep right after eating a meal.

Just in case you’ve never had one, a nightmare is also known as a “bad dream.” You know, the dreams that rattle you out of your sleep with fear or horror and you can’t get back to the zzz’s for some time. Maybe it’s stress or post-traumatic experiences that hurl your sleep into hell. Can it be there’s anything going in the world right now that might induce stress?

Maybe the scenes inside your nighttime head are ones of danger, or psychological and physical distress. In my dream scenes though, Danger equals (usually) Adventure, so that could be a good dream for me. Chased by cops or

Eureka! Where Are Your AHA Moments?

(Clink link below for full article in Huffington Post)

Where do your AHA moments come from? Do you plod, or do flashes of inspiration hit you out of nowhere?

I’ve been curious about these instincts and I explore that core in all of us in my new article on Huffington Post.

Here’s an excerpt from my article about what I call Brain Buzz:

FIVE TIPS FOR BRAIN BUZZ

From experience, I’ve come up with five tips for everyday living that can help inspire our flashes of imagination that can lead to creativity – Aha moments:

• Find quiet moments to shut everything down.
• Save time in the morning for a stream of consciousness to take notes on whatever comes to mind. No judgment. You never know where this stream can lead you. Jot notes rather than think.
• Keep a way to record your ideas in the moment, whether in the car, by your bed, in your briefcase or bag. Notebook, scratch paper, recording device, anything to make sure you don’t lose a word or phrase that you want to develop later.
• Have someone to spring your ideas off. Other people will surely offer a new perspective.
• Keep an eye and ear open for quotes, images, headlines that can buzz your brain with new ideas.

All in all, pay attention to life and stay open to new possibilities of being in the moment. It’s not about forcing our Eureka moments. It’s about making room for flashes of inspiration.

You’ll be surprised what can happen!

The Attitude Factor

I take issue with the happiness movement as an end goal and I wrote about this on Huffington Post. I instead believe that a life well lived is one of contentment, fulfilled with deeper meaning and purpose. When we infuse our lives with meaning then our attitudes boost with a positive outlook.

Who says everything turns out exactly as you plan? When it feels like nothing’s getting any better, we can always lower our expectations.  I’m just kidding about that! In truth, I say keep a positive muttitude, no matter what. Is your glass half full or half empty?

It’s a fact.  How you think, and what you believe, can impact everything you do.  I’m a witness to that. You can read about my prison-to-poetry mutt credits here.

If you want to boost your Attitude Factor, it’s simple to start. All you have to do is practice at least one of the following once a day:

• Pay attention to the littlest mutts of all, and remember that one good deed leads to another, also known as karma, in Buddhism, mitzvah in Judaism.
• Rejoice in your mutt-ificient self, and use your gifts to go good things.

We all know it’s true that the better you can make other people feel about themselves, the more they want to be around you. Who wouldn’t?

If a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, then what if we acted in less mutt-serving ways and committed to help everybody reach their ultimate potential? Even if it means empowering others to become better than us.

Bring Out the Best in Others

Pay attention to even your smallest thoughts.  They will either promote or prevent the growth of those around you. Choose to be the type of mutt who inspires others to become better and brighter.

Instead of looking for what’s missing, or what’s wrong, look for what’s positive.  And when you make a conscious choice to expect the best from others, you’ll probably get it back.  Notice it everywhere, from mutt friends and family members, the doorman, officemates, service people.

Thought for the day: Families, companies, communities, and worlds are only as strong as their weakest mutts. Encourage other mutts (and those unrelated, also) and become an instrument of inspiration.

Expect the best in everything, but don’t be surprised if the outcome is otherwise.  There are muttfuls of possibilities in the world, so be prepared for whatever comes your way.

I always take action with my Attitude Factor, and you can boost yours, too. We each do this in our own way, but no matter what, life is only as good as we believe it to be.

I’ll provide more tools for your Attitude Factor in future posts.

Mutts … we’re on Huffington Post!

More Mutt News (my latest phrase now accepted by Urban Dictionary.)

I’m now on Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/deborah-jiang-stein

3 ways to find me there:

1) Follow the link above

2) Key in my name in the search field at http://www.huffingtonpost.com

3) Key in “chief mutt correspondent” in the search field at http://www.huffingtonpost.com

Make your voice heard; comment and share the link. Thanks to all!