Are you fortunate enough to have good food and enjoyable gatherings with loved ones as central ingredients in your holiday season? If so, I hope that you’ll take some special moments to celebration a deeper expression of Thanksgiving… expressing gratitude for the abundance in your life.

Research findings reported in Born To Be Good by Dacher Keltner, indicate that for those who have few financial resources, money does create happiness. “Material gain allows individuals …. to avoid the innumerable problems associated with economic deprivation, including depression, anxiety, compromised resistance to disease, and higher mortality rates.”  However, if your basic material needs are being met, it is the “quality of our romantic bonds, the health of our families, the time we spend with good friends, the connections we feel to communities that create meaning and happiness in our lives.”

The holiday season is a perfect time to remember what does give you meaning and happiness. Here are some ideas you might incorporate into your thanksgiving during this season and throughout the year.

• Make a toast at your holiday table, acknowledging the people there for what each of them adds to your life. You might also include a remembrance for those who are no longer with you that have made a mark on your life.
• Make a phone call or write a letter to someone who has touched you and share a memory that has stayed with you, that changed your life in some meaningful or important way.
• Start a new ritual to reflect daily on the positive experiences that have come into your life. Acknowledge the joyful moments. Express thanks for the people who have helped you. Recognize when you have been able to contribute your unique skills or gifts to others. And yes, acknowledge yourself for the ability to navigate difficult situations that have taught you endurance and courage.

My husband and I have found daily expressions of gratitude to be a deeply enriching practice. We each light a candle each night before we begin our dinner meal and share our gratitudes with each other. Some days we reflect on the birds humorously bathing in the bird bath or the incredible weather or sunset out our back door. Other days we recall the people we’ve worked with who have enriched our lives. We give thanks that at 58 and 66 we have healthy bodies and can enjoy a good run every few days. We often give thanks for the incredibly dedicated caregivers who allow my 98 year-old mother-in-law to experience quality in her life. This practice also gives us a way to regularly acknowledge the love and support that we receive from one another.

Make a choice to create meaningful, happy moments to your life with your own thanksgiving!

Finally, I thank each of you for enriching my life. I give thanks for having the opportunity to work and collaborate with so many of you who are committed to living meaningful lives that make a difference in the world!

Want more inspiration for meaningful living? Click here to sign up for our Pathmaker ezine and receive periodic articles with helpful tips and inspiration.

Read past articles for effectively navigating your midlife career, philanthropy and lifestyle. Go to http://www.pathmakercoaching.com/resources/articles.html.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete statement with it: Certified Life Coach and Philanthropy Consultant, Mary Radu, guides midlife individuals and couples to discover how to share their unique gifts and be positive change makers. Let Mary and Pathmaker Coaching help you design and execute your unique path, aligning your life with your passions and values. If you’re ready to get moving, get resources at http://www.pathmakercoaching.com/resources, or contact Mary mary@pathmakercoaching.com to discuss how you can get supported to make a bigger impact 707.824.8836. See Mary’s Positive Change Makers Blog at http://www.positivechangemakers.com

Hello!

Can you believe it’s October? This month is often associated with a transitional period. Summer has ended, kids are in school. Unlike the change of seasons, I deal with transitions all the time. Sometimes we choose change and sometimes it is forced upon us. I take great pride in helping people embrace change as a positive, life-altering period which will launch my clients into the best phase of their life.

As a certified Personal Coach with a great deal of transitional experience, I want to reach out and gently offer my assistance to anyone who is challenged by change. If you or someone you know faces that challenge, please contact me. If you want assistance in a different form, please check out a DVD program I have created called the Roadmap to Meaningful Midlife™.

Do you need a personal coach? Only you can answer that question. I will say this, Tiger Woods has a coach, Peyton Manning has a coach, Maria Sharapova has a coach, and Annika Sorenstam has a coach. Even Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have advisers. It would be my pleasure to assist you in finding your way to the happiness and success you deserve.

So when that question arises, “ What’s next?” Contact me. My method is tried and true. It works.

I look forward to hearing from you.
—-MARY

Hello!

Welcome to my blog! My name is Mary Radu and I’m a certified Personal Coach based in the San Francisco Bay area. Although I have a web site and have conducted many, many lectures and seminars, I want to reach out to people in a casual fashion to introduce a program I’m very proud of, called the Roadmap to Meaningful Midlife™. I’d also like to use this space to answer some basic questions you might have about personal coaching.

I plan to update this blog at least twice a month so please check back often. In it I’ll be offering some useful thoughts on topics that have been useful to my clients that I hope will give you some new insights and perspectives to consider for situations you find in facing challenges your own midlife challenges. This is well-worth the price of reading and checking in right?! I’ll also be answering your questions and steering you towards products, books and studies (not just my own!) that can help you get what more meaning and focus in your life.

Lots of people enter the phase of Midlife thinking: What’s next? They know there’s more, they want more and yet they don’t know how to get there. I can help them because I’ve got the map! More specifically, the Roadmap to Meaningful Midlife.

Do you or does someone you know pose these questions?

• How do I successfully transition into the next phase of my life based on what’s most important to me?
• How can I enter retirement with a clear action plan for how to make the most out of this next phase of my life?
• How can I move forward confidently on my life journey with clear direction and purpose?

I’ll be answering these questions in future Blogs. Please keep returning to visit my blog for tips on how to navigate through these questions and many others!

This is the start of a meaningful friendship. I look forward to hearing from you!
—-MARY