Live Your Best Life

My friends, this past weekend, I had the most amazing experience! I attended the O You! Oprah Magazine Live Your Best Life Event in San Francisco. It was INCREDIBLE! And the best surprise was that Oprah made a surprise appearance! I learned so much from so many people that I admire...I was in heaven! And because it was so amazing, I thought I would share some what I learned here with you. Also, hopefully that will help me remember some of what I saw!


Suze Orman was filled with emotion, you can imagine. She reminded us that, "Nobody's going to care about your money more than you do. If you aren't powerful with your money then you are not powerful. There is nobody to save us in these economic times except ourselves." She is predicting that our current economic woes will last until theyear 2015. So PAY DOWN YOUR DEBT, PAY YOUR BILLS ON TIME, and NEVER borrow from your 401K plan to pay your bills now. If you are under the age of 50 this stock market crisis is the most amazing thing that could happen to us! Invest in the market because our money will be going further. However, if you're 10 years out until retirement, take all your money out of the stock market.
The other plan that Suze really wants us all to know about is about a deal called "Save Yourself Plan" with Ameritrade. If you go online and open an account with Ameritrade and save at least $50 per month for 12 months, in the 13th month Ameritrade will deposit $100 to your account. It's a return rate you can't afford to miss out on. You can find more information about this great deal at: http://www.saveyourself.com/

Peter Walsh is the amazing guy who goes into homes that have so much stuff there is no place to sit down and helps the families who live in those environments to clean the clutter in their hearts and homes. He is hands down a miracle worker. His key was this: What is the vision you have for the life you want? What do you want FROM the space you are working on?
This is especially a helpful way to talk about areas that you may share with other household members. He asked this profound question:
If you don't create the life you want, who is going to do it?
Whenever you want to buy something, ask yourself this, "Does this item move me closer to the Best Life I want for myself?" he suggests that we all take the time to examine what we ahve and make sure all we have are the things that make our heart sing. I don't know how many of you have been to my house, but let me tell you this: It's approximately 900 square feet. There are 3 of us plus a gigantic black lab. My house is tight on space. But you know what he told me when I wanted to complain that there just wasn't enough space for everything? He said, "You only have the space you have. As tough as it sounds, if you're struggling with clutter you either have to move to a larger home or learn to make choices and live within the limits of your space." His other tips were these:
* Understand taht it's not always about 'The Stuff'. Don't be too hard on yourself. Recognize that the clutter is often a reflection of something deeper that might be troubling you. Dealing with the clutter can open up not only the physical space in your life, but also your emotional, psychological and spiritual spaces as well! You don't just declutter your home. You declutter your head, your heart and sometimes even your hips.
*All clutter is not created equal. There are 2 main types of clutter- memory clutter (the stuff that reminds you of some important event, person or achievement from the past) and the "I might need it one day" clutter (T he stuff we hold onto iin the hope of using it sometime. Like my fondue pots. Or my silver chafing dish...). He reminded us that when ALL the stuff is important, none of it is. Honor and respect your strongest memories.
His helpful hints:
Stop Buying. Be gentle on yourself. Never let junk mail enter your house. You may have 3 magazine subscriptions and 3 back issues of each of them. Only 9 magazines in the house at a time. Mail needs to have a home. Receipts should be dropped into an expandable file and then switched out annually. If you don't know what to save for tax purposes, go to IRS.gov and look at document 552. It'll tell you what you need.

I could tell you more about the wonderful things I learned from Marianne Williamson, the inspiring Story Corps speaker, and all the great sponsers, but remember when I promised that I wasn't going to get too wordy? (I know, I know, It's too late!)
My next post however will be all about the amazing Stacy London from _What Not To Wear_ on TLC. She was THE BEST!
My only sad moment was not getting to meet Martha Beck. I have admired her for so long and have read most of her books and I only got a picture of her. Actually, and not getting to be with Nate Berkus. But I'll enclose some more pictures of them just for you now. Enjoy and Go Live Your Best Life!