Newsletter:Right Now! Coach

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LifeRhyme Notes
April 2005
By Rochelle Melander, Coach
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IN THIS ISSUE...
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1. Spring Fever
2. Reader Call
3. News!

Spring Fever
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I'm a self-avowed practicing workaholic!
I get more pleasure from getting things
crossed off on my to-do list than should be
legal. Want to make me happy? Let me
finish something, anything--folding towels,
making beds, writing a book. It all feels so
decadent!

Even with all that work ethic flowing through
my veins, I am suffering from a whopping case
of spring fever. Beating my head against the
desk, I mutter the mantra: "Write, write. write!"
Instead, my head keeps popping up, gazing
out the window at the students wandering by.
I write a few words and then run outside to check the progress of my flowers, hoping to find a neighbor to chat with. I want to put aside my work and run free! Hang out with friends and talk for hours. Take the kids to the park. Wander by Lake Michigan, inhaling the fresh spring air.

If you're having the same problem, reader--
heed my call: go for it! Yes, there's a time
to work like a maniac. But the dance of life
requires both work and play. Life also
opens up spaces for wandering idle through
your days, embracing the joy of each moment.

As a writer and coach, I know the necessity
of playing, of idle hands. Without daydreams
and meandering walks, how would we birth
new stories? Without lazy mornings and
afternoon naps, how could we imagine new
technology? Without the time to listen to music
and shoot hoops, how could anyone vision a
different way of being in the world? In these
unscheduled moments, free from work, we
create new friendships, birth new ideas,
and connect with God. In the playful, idle
times, we listen to the music of our souls.
In the breaths between the tasks, we are free
to dream.

Okay--you ask--whose got that kind of time?
None of us and all of us. We all have too
many tasks to squeeze into the hours given us
each day. Even so, we need to indulge in a
little spring fever mischief! This is as necessary
to our lives as air and water.

Here's my spring prescription: set your work
aside and play. Jump in a puddle, go fishing,
sit on your porch. Hang out with a friend, get
cozy with your beloved, hug your children.
Tomorrow, when you get back to work--you'll
thank me. Your play will enrich your work in
ways you cannot imagine. And even if it
doesn't--who cares? You needed it. I close
with a quote from a favorite poem of mine
by Mary Oliver:

When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it's over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.
-Mary Oliver, When Death Comes

Now, go out and play!
(That's an order from the coach.)
Rochelle

Reader Call
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Hey, readers! Have you read any good
books lately? I'm in the process of putting
together my annual summer books issue and
would welcome your input. Send your suggestions
to me, with summer books in the subject line,
at rochelle@LifeRhymeCoaching.com. Be sure
to include your name so that I can let readers
know who recommended the book!

News
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My new book is out! Welcome Forward:
A Field Guide for Global Travelers by
Sue Lang and Rochelle Melander with
a companion CD by Tim Hansen is now
available online:
https://www.augsburgfortress.org/store/item.asp?
ISBN=6000201869&CLSID=16
3192&PRODUCTGROUPID=-1

Inspired?
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Are you inspired by what you read here?
Then pass it on!

Interested in connecting around the
important issues of life?
Give me a call at 414-963-1222 or
send me an e-mail
(rochelle@liferhymecoaching.com)
to set up a free coaching consultation!

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LIFERHYME NOTES 2005 is a free
monthly e-mail newsletter designed to
consider how we can integrate spirituality
into our daily lives. It is written and
produced by Rochelle Melander, personal and
professional coach. If you have any questions
or comments, please send them to:
rochelle@liferhymecoaching.com.
I would love to hear from you.

Feel free to forward your copy of
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