The "Hypomanic" Edge and the Fertility of your Brainpower

September 21, 2010 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

Waking up around 4.30 in the crack of dawn is never fun. No, my insomniac very early rising in the last several weeks cannot be attributed to jet lag. No transcontinental travel, no apparent major stress source (if you look hard enough, you’ll always find something), healthy as a horse – I have simply been waking up in the dark, doing some major heavy duty thinking.

With the energy level and brain activity at their highest, I stopped paying attention and just got used to conversing with the red digital dial smirking at me at almost exactly 4.32 am almost every day. How on earth does my internal alarm know to wake me up exactly the same time every morning? What does it know that I don’t?

But, then last Sunday I read the New York Times Just Manic Enough article and my a-ha moment blasted out: Slightly manic, having taken a huge – to me – risk, working extraordinarily hard to reap the rewards of my herculean efforts.

Whatever time I go to bed, I always wake up at 4.30! I write, I read, until 2-3 weeks ago hit the books on executive leadership and coaching for a few hours every day and all that has been on my head is my international coaching practice. And then, in the middle of everything – after 18 years, a new home and moving. And when this is done, I am getting ready to jump on a plane and fly to Greece after a one-year absence. Change, transition, more change and then even a bigger shift in the big Leda puzzle.

“Monomaniacal” in my pursuit a la Henry Ford, I have been following my gut for over a year. Not only have I wanted to branch out and leave my executive life, I also wanted to help people be even better in leading, managing, executing, getting clomid online to the fertile part of their brain – hence coaching.

As I am ready to go back to Europe, all I can think about is how I will contribute to the necessary change needed in Greece at the moment. Sacrifice is a big part of the game. Risk is also huge – but success is no longer about money. Meaning, significance, depth and the quality of the relationships I am having – these are the kinds of things I mostly care about.

And I am getting ready and eager and the energizer little bunny is off and ready to blast out – so, what if it’s 4.30 in the morning? After all, the day begins just then in Brasilia!..

The Laugh that Made the Woman Sad

September 16, 2010 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

So… you walk into a restaurant and 2 guys are sitting at a table and they are laughing their hearts out. You wonder – why they are laughing, what’s so funny…And then, one of them turns around,  points at you and they are both rolling on the floor – and all you can do is feel hurt and puzzled and worried that something’s terribly wrong with you, your hair, your face, your clothes or something totally ridiculous that you have done and you don’t even know it.

This is the opposite point of view, the anti-blog – the woman’s perspective on my Ollie and Stan post.

Every action creates some sort of a reaction – while our two beloved buffoons are the most sympathetic, seemingly benign characters, if you watch the short video carefully, you can see why the woman gets annoyed. She lashes out – isn’t an attack the fast antidote to being hurt and one alternative to self-defending?

And the chain reaction unfolds. And then Stan gets sad, and the woman… well… we don’t really know about the woman. But, the point is there are always multiple points of view and perspectives. The truth is never simple.

Like in Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon in which a crime witnessed by four individuals is described in four mutually contradictory ways, facts, and perceptions, and feelings get in the way of our behaviors. And the least desirable outcome is mis-communication, hurt and misunderstanding.

So, it’s possible…just possible that Stan (or any Stan out there) was not out to get you in the first place. And it’s also quite probable that the woman (any woman in our life fable) did not intend to hurt you either.

Maybe – just maybe…

The Word that Made Stan Sad

September 12, 2010 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

I don’t know why I remembered them this morning.

J.D. Salinger called them “two Heaven-sent artists and men.” Compliments don’t get much better than that.

I am of course talking about Stan and Ollie. And it’s all about life and laughter and happiness and your point of view. Just watch this Laurel and Hardy clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl7C2xh9-c8

At first, it looks like it’s all about infectious laughter. But watch till the end. See how the woman who is getting annoyed with their uncontrollable laughter responds and what she says. And then, watch Stan’s face. His SAD face. While seemingly the clip is about uncontrollable, infectious laughter, in the end it is about attitude and how one word, one look can spoil the moment.

You must have had moments like these. You know what I am talking about. And perhaps, if you have been reading my posts on a regular basis, you may already know what I am about to say: That in the end, it is all about you – how you perceive the nasty, cold and possibly seemingly derogatory comment. Up to you to let you spoil your moment, your good mood, your happiness. It’s not about other people, what they think or how they react. If you are feeling good about yourself, your hard work, your soul – then you have nothing to feel bad about – even, if someone doesn’t share your view.

Up to you – so let others be as nasty as they can be. Let them live their melancholy and sour state – it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with you…

Isn’t the end always the beginning?

September 6, 2010 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

…The End…

Oh wait! Now what?…

What exactly does this mean – the end? Unless we are talking about death, there is no end.

I just finished two huge projects. The first took me a year to complete – a lot of effort, dedication, determination, perseverance and stubbornness. The second was completed in about a week and it required physical stamina, steely willpower and multi-tasking. I went straight from one project into the next and last night I realized that pretty much I am done. And with that thought, came the next one – about the next big project. Whatever that is – wherever this may take me. That’s me – I am on the move constantly spinning into my head. I like it like that. I can’t stand still, can’t rest, need the action, the involvement, the interaction, the sense of purpose and the desired finish line as only one rung in the ladder of life.

Now, does this mean I don’t take time out? And basically, this is what I caught myself thinking: I am very proud of what I accomplish – success is defining the terms of your life. Choosing to do the things you want to do and leaving the things that don’t mean much really.

I know some people will jump and consider me arrogant and “privileged” (and I mean the word in its negative sense here) but it’s hard work and my attitude that have brought me where I am.

The hard work refers to discovering what it is that you really want. The attitude is getting up and simply doing it. Sometimes, things get in the way and it’s hard to figure out what’s stopping you or blocking your way. But, when it comes down to the bottom of it – you always have the choice.

How To Start Your Day (With Jazz, Banjo & Economics)

August 28, 2010 by Leda Karabela - Leave your comment

7.00 am and I’ve been up for a couple of hours already. Drinking coffee, canvassing the morning news and major headlines, trying to ease into a major project I’ll be working on for the weekend and the next 48 hours.

Nothing terribly exciting or thrilling to inspire and spark my creative vein and the “rush” that can jump start my creativity. And then here comes Paul – Paul Krugman of the New York Times that is – who publishes the video below. Instead of yet another commentary on the economy and the recession.

I smiled. You will smile, too. Sometimes a smile is more important to start the day – even if it is about politics and economics. So, enjoy your rainbow banjo music clip. And let me know if this doesn’t make you smile.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...