Wow,  life has been crazy busy and in a good way! I have been doing tons of presentations to workers in child welfare, health care, education and helping professionals in general. I have had the opportunity to meet wonderful people who are committed to their work and to helping others feel safe and well in this world. People who continue to go the extra mile for those that they serve. I speak to them about staying well and healthy and centered. I get to share my story of how my work has impacted me and the choices I have made to stay well and balanced. I get to witness their courage in doing their work and watch them put plans in place to look after themselves so that they last at the work that they love and they continue to love the work that they do.

I am now officially a self-care and wellness counsellor for the medical residents at McMaster University (although I have been working with them for many years) and have the opportunity to assist them to be able to continue in their careers in ways that are life-sustaining and soul supporting. It is my privilege to help take care of and support these phenomenal men and women who look after you and me.

I recently had the privilege of speaking about mindfulness as a personal and professional wellness practice at The Second Annual Compassion Fatigue conference put on by Francoise Mathieu of Compassion Fatigue Solutions Inc. The speakers were fabulous, the participants were eager and many people shared about different initiatives that are happening to help spread the word about the impact of caring on helping professionals and strategies to mitigate the impact.

Francoise Mathieu and her associates!

I also had the opportunity to speak about compassion fatigue at the annual Five Days in Palliative Care Conference in Hamilton to health care providers from the area and abroad.

When I started to do this work and moved into my private practice full time – I would never have imagined all of this…

I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am.

I have begun a gratitude practice many times in my life and recently started to do so in a much more concentrated and deliberate fashion. Each day I have been writing down 10 things that I am grateful for and then I read them over and ‘feel’ gratitude for them beginning in my heart and feeling it spread through every cell of my body. I end with saying thank you..thank you..thank you…
I end my day with recalling and being thankful for the things that have transpired in my day.

and you know what… the more grateful I have been..the more opportunities and blessings I receive.
and the more gifts I receive.. the more things I have for which to be grateful.

Gratitude practice has been part of many spiritual traditions and also in more mainstream circles. Oprah and her “spiritual squad”  in her recent Life Class in Toronto and many other contemporary teachers have spoken about how this simple practice is life changing. You will find it written about in numerous books and magazines. For me, all I know is that it feels soulful and when I practice gratitude in a deep and meaningful way – it allows me to remember and honour all those wonderful things in my life.

Finally, on another note – I’m thinking of joining the ‘tweeting’ revolution!
As I have been doing this gratitude practice, I have started to notice more the wonderful things all around me and sometimes I feel that I just want to share it with someone – kinda like when you are reading an outrageously funny card in the card shop when you’re alone, laughing your head off and just need to tell someone – you know what I mean…I’m just saying…
So I am going to figure it out and if you are so inclined… join me  (see below) … maybe you will start to notice more too..

namaste

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