Check out my new blog!

Check out my new Blog www.authenticinsight.com

I’ve taken the plunge and antied-up for private hosting! You will want to bookmark my new sight for the ongoing adventures and insights of … me!

Paula Kirsch is a Life Coach & Reiki Master. An ardent student of Qigong and meditation, Paula is passionate about utilizing both energy work and coaching to serve  her clients.  As a result they find physical and emotional healing, relieve stress and move towards spiritual enlightenment. Visit her blog/site at www.authenticinsight.com or call her at 248-767-8411 for a free consultation and to explore how Reiki and Coaching can change your life.

Serenity

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

–Reinhold Niebuhr

Accepting that “what is” just “is“… and that it is neither good nor bad but just “is” is often the hardest thing to do. There are things beyond our control, so it does us no good to fret and worry over those things. Right action involves knowing what can be changed and doing it, while leaving what can not be changed alone.

Onward to the New Year!

Well we’re finally through the holiday. Joined friends for Chinese for dinner last night. It’s a tradition in the Jewish community. Chinese/ Japanese food (and a movie – if you’re up for it). That’s usually about all that’s open on Christmas. As a refugee from other traditions, that did not serve me well, from a childhood holiday that delivered more pain for me than holiday cheer; I like this tradition.

I get a sense of bonding with the entire Jewish community… well at least everyone that can fit into the restaurant that I’m in!

I get relief from old unhealthy patterns and have been able to establish new happy traditions of my own. Sometimes different is good. Now I am looking forward to a new year and making plans to go visit David in NYC with my daughter who hasn’t been able to visit him yet and on the business front, expanding my Reiki/Counseling practice. Onward!

Paula Kirsch is a Life Coach & Reiki Master. An ardent student of Qigong and meditation, Paula is passionate about utilizing both energy work and coaching to serve  her clients.  As a result they find physical and emotional healing, relieve stress and move towards spiritual enlightenment. Visit her blog/site at www.authenticinsight.com or call her at 248-767-8411 for a free consultation and to explore how Reiki and Coaching can change your life.

A Pleasant Surprise!

Did I say I wasn’t going out today? Did I say I wouldn’t go near a mall today — that was yesterday, right?

So much for that! I visited my son at Radio Shack earlier today. Then I went to Best Buy with my hubby and to Trader Joe’s. There was less traffic today than yesterday! I didn’t get out until after 1:30 in the afternoon or so… that might have helped.

My son told us a funny story about the activity at a store in the complex his Radio Shack is in. He said when he got in to work at 10am traffic was backed up around the Jared Jewelry store. All men, all last minute shoppers = one unbelievable traffic jam!

Overall I saw less traffic than I have over the last few days. Many people must have already been home enjoying their families! Good for them! We went to Trader Joe’s to get some last minute food and snacks, lest we starve to death in a day! Even though we traditionally go out for Chinese on Christmas day. (it’s a Jewish thing!)

We are now back home and set to enjoy a quiet evening with dinner, wine, a movie, and maybe even a fire… although I still want to replace this wood fireplace with a gas insert! A fire is nice on a long night, isn’t it?!

Happy Holidays to all (and to all a good night!)

What I like about being Jewish on Christmas Eve

I was raised Catholic but I converted to Judaism when I was dating my husband more than 30 years ago. People always ask me if I miss celebrating Christmas. Sometimes I want to laugh at that question.

Like yesterday, for example. I went out shopping with my daughter and grandson. On a good day shopping with her is a challenge. Yesterday was not a good day for shopping. Today won’t be any better — but today I won’t be anywhere near a mall!! I honestly don’t know how this happened but I see our roles have reversed. I am now the one who whines constantly and asks if we are done shopping yet. (Now that I’m thinking about it… she never whined about shopping, that was my son!)

I guess one of the things I associate with Christmas the most is Christmas shopping and that, I certainly don’t miss! Yesterday, the day before Christmas Eve, every store we went into was a madhouse. Just driving on the streets by the stores was nerve wracking. Two days ago I was shopping at Borders Bookstore and the line went to the back of the store at 10:00 at night. What’s that all about?

Where are these people coming from? Have they just awakened from a zombie state to realize that Christmas is only a couple of days away and they haven’t started shopping yet? Or do the retailers have everyone hypnotized into buying right up to the last minute, amassing more and more stuff before the doors are closed for the holiday? Hanukkah was at the beginning of December this year — so it’s not the combined shopping for the two Holidays, which sometimes does happen. No, we Jews are done… this is all Christmas, and Kwanzaa… unless of course there are others out there, like me, spending their gift cards.

For the most part the shoppers I have observed seem to be grabbing gifts in a panic. Last minute shopping with a sense that they need to get more things fast or it will be to late! If the retailers reports don’t announce a banner year, I’m not sure I’ll believe them! It’s been years since I’ve seen so much traffic on the streets and parking lots over flowing like this.

So in the morning I will sit quietly with my cup of tea and bask in the knowledge that I don’t have to run around and get that one last gift. I can enjoy my day and never enter a store, I can read and blog and play with my grandson while his mom is at work — I’m off work today so I get to watch him! I can contemplate my year with a gratitude and peacefulness that is supposed to be part of the Christmas tradition but appears, at least to me, to have gotten lost in the shuffle of materialism of this “retail holiday.” For me it is so much better to be on the “outside” of this Christmas experience looking in!

Happy Holidays to you, my dear readers, whatever holiday you are celebrating! May it be rich, meaningful, and filled with happy memories! While all this retail activity should be good for the economy, I’m not sure it’s good for our souls. So may you find peace on earth and meaning that transcends the stuff under your tree (or beside your menorah for that matter.)

Paula Kirsch is a Life Coach & Reiki Master. An ardent student of Qigong and meditation, Paula is passionate about utilizing both energy work and coaching to serve her clients. As a result they find physical and emotional healing, relieve stress and move towards spiritual enlightenment. Visit her blog/site at www.authenticinsight.com or call her at 248-767-8411 for a free consultation and to explore how Reiki and Coaching can change your life.

Latest Going Gray Update

Who knew that I was making a political statement several months ago when I decided to go natural with my hair color? Personally the response I’ve gotten so far has been good. I’ve only had one or two friends question me about if I was going to do anything to spice up the color.

That is an option I’ve kept open, but so far I am just so anxious to get the whole thing grown out that I can’t imagine “tainting” the natural color with low-lights at this point. I keep running across articles from others who are going the no dye route…the latest article on the whole controversy of dying or not dying was recently highlighted (no pun intended) in Time Magazine.

At this point I am almost totally “grown out” and the article linked to the above picture of Condi Rice inspires me to be a courageous role model for other women, indeed for my own daughter as well. I will be the master of my own ship… er uh, hair… in this case… and I will decide to be gray or not. I will not be pressured by society to try to look 30 the rest of my life!

That being said… if I decide that I want to dye my hair that’s okay too! The point is it is our decision as women… not something that is forced upon us by society’s norms.

Just “sit” with it

I am a recovering “doer.”  I have had trouble just “being.”  At least now I am aware of that and when something comes up for me that I feel I need to “fix” I can say to myself:  There I go again, wanting to “do” something or “fix” something about myself.  But in truth I don’t need “fixing” and neither do you.  We are okay.  Sometimes it is just good to be aware, observe, and “sit” with feelings, rather than trying to “fix” them.

I often struggle with change.  Many people do.  The change that throws me into a “struggle” is usually something very simple, but for some reason it pushes emotional buttons for me.  So something as simple as changing the way I think about something or seeing myself in a new role or writing a sentence describing something  from a different point of view then my norm can send me into a struggle.

Change can cause me to be out of my comfort zone,  have a fear of failure,  or stir up scarcity thinking for me.  The only way around it is just to sit with it and it will pass.  I used to send myself into a frenzy of activity – so this “sitting” with feelings is new for me… and very powerful.

On Giving Thanks

There are many people in my life I want to thank, actually everyone I’ve ever been in contact with… because my encounter with you, whether positive or negative, has brought me to where I am today… and that’s a good place! I will reflect more on this past year in a coming post, but for now I just want to say “Thank you!”

I am totally in awe of the changes that are taking place in my life right now! Sometimes life seems to throw us a curve ball… but I can see that I am exactly where I am supposed to be, and with out some curve balls I would have never gotten here!

AT&T U-verse: The rest of the story

I am delighted to report that I am currently watching ABC News Now, a channel that is not offered on BrightHouse Cable network in my area. I am watching it on my new AT&T U-verse, which was successfully installed last week.

There were some minor glitches (getting Vonage to work) but they have all been worked out and now we pay less for our services and get more channels. After several frustrating phone conversations with Customer service reps. AT&T sent a technician out to my house last Saturday to trouble shoot the issue with the internet connection and go over the system with my tech oriented husband. He has always had our house “networked” and likes to know how it’s all put together… the AT&T tech addressed all the issues and now we are all happy!

Some of these channels would have been premium channels with BrightHouse and some were not available. Overall we now have a better service for a smaller investment each month… and we can utilize the Spanish channels to improve our Spanish skills!

Paula Kirsch is a Life Coach & Reiki Master. An ardent student of Qigong and meditation, Paula is passionate about utilizing both energy work and coaching to help her clients find physical and emotional healing, relieve stress and move towards spiritual enlightenment. Visit her blog/site at www.authenticinsight.com or call her at 248-767-8411 for a free consultation and to explore how Reiki and Coaching can change your life.

Reign Over Me

If you haven’t seen Reign Over Me, starring Adam Sandler and Don Cheadle yet, it’s worth renting (or buying). The movie is powerful and poignant. It’s a heart-rending story about Charlie Fineman’s(Sandler) sudden loss of his family on 9/11… but it is so much more. The acting is over the top. There is so much pain, and not just Charlie’s pain, exquisitely portrayed by all. Alan Johnson (Cheadle) finds himself in a midlife crisis, he has lost his way. He is living in a satin lined casket with a job he hates and a family that’s suffocating him. Everyone has a story; everyone has their own pain. At times I think Charlie may be the only sane one in the room. Reign Over Me definitely deserves four stars!