NEW YEAR

As the new year begins and we ponder the next step we will take, thoughts of possibility and opportunities fill our minds.

It is important to remember to not live too far into the future, and to be kind when reviewing the past.

The moment we are in right now is the most powerful.
The choices we are making today will create the path we will find ourselves on tomorrow.

Our purpose today is to make the choices that will create the tomorrow we want.

Dean N Nixon
Seminar Director, Life Coach
TurningLeaf Wellness Center

NEVER TEAR DOWN A MAN'S HOUSE...

My father said to me as I left home to serve my mission, "Son never tear down a mans house until you have built him a new one." The understanding of this statement has changed through the years. At first I understood it on a level that pertained to what I was doing in the mission field. As the years have passed my work has shown me how to apply this statement and to listen to what others understand and know before I speak to what I feel they need. I have learned to value each person as a source of truth and information, I don't have to be "right," just listen and fill in gaps as needed. It started as a quote from my Grandfather to my Father and has become a guide on my path in life.


Dean N Nixon
Seminar Director, Life Coach
TurningLeaf Wellness Center

WHAT IS HOLDING US BACK???

The image that we show the world is in response to how we see the world. Have you ever noticed how insecure we feel as we interact with the world around us? Wondering what others think, guessing and assuming. Or perhaps so closed off that we don't even want to see the world and become bound up in our thoughts. Why do we fear those who are so much like us? Why do we shut out the ones that feel similar to the way we do? We are becoming less connected to the people around us and more connected to the stuff and images that feel safer. It is amazing to me to see what happens when a group of people walk into a room of strangers and walk out in three days feeling like family. The difference is dramatic, eyes brighter, smiles genuine, and a feeling of well being. Why the change? It comes from the abandonment of the image and a regaining of trust in self. When we can see and feel the value of who we are without the external cues and definitions, the world seems safer and we find true acceptance. Image is a reaction to the way we see the world, and the inability to see our true selves.

Dean N Nixon
Seminar Director, Life Coach
TurningLeaf Wellness Center

LIVING A CAREFREE LIFE

This morning as I was hurrying my youngest along for school, I was intrigued with her sense of the carefree. Carefree, what a statement. Free from the cares of the world. This can be a blessing or a curse. The ability to disconnect from the worries and stresses of life can bless us. However this same blessing can cause us to struggle with the challenges of life as well as in relationships in which we need to connect. I love the carefree energy of my daughter it serves as a reminder to me, I can let go of my stresses and also stay balanced.

Dean N Nixon
Seminar Director, Life Coach
TurningLeaf Wellness Center

GRATITUDE BRINGS JOY

There is one energy that will always bring great results, gratitude. It is sometimes hard to see here, in the hot southern part of Utah, but fall has begun. As the end of the year grows closer and the crisp air of fall moves in, it becomes a time of reflection and gratitude. The one emotion that brings constant results of peace and happiness is gratitude. Even if the year has been rough and full of pitfalls and loss, when we focus on what we have accomplished and received, we can plan for next year. Gratitude is an energy of openness and will always produce good fruit. So as the leafs turn to there deep reds, golden yellows let gratitude and reflection become a tradition of fall.

Dean N Nixon
Seminar Director, Life Coach
TurningLeaf Wellness Center

MY THOUGHTS TURN TO MY MOTHER

During my morning meditation, my thoughts turned to my Mother. I do not profess to have been a good son, but quite the opposite. As a young man I was very difficult and struggled with dyslexia and significant learning disabilities. As I moved into high school I found drugs, alcohol, and girls to fill the void and mask the feelings I did not know how to or want to deal with. Later in my early adulthood my mother contracted Alzheimer's and slowly began to slip away. By the time I had learned how to express how I was feeling and started to deal with the feelings of hopelessness I had felt for the first thirty years of my desperate life, my sweet mother had slipped into the depths of her illness. My ability to tell her all the things I wanted to say for all those years was gone. I had smothered all my feelings and covered them with anger and hate. I pushed her away with words and shut her out of my painful life. The night before we took her off life support I stayed with her at the hospital, I pulled the reclining chair next to her bed and held her hand through the night. As I cried to myself I whispered to her, "Please forgive me, please forgive me." I miss my mother, the sweet sound of her voice, the soft hand that would caress my face, the time she took to listen to my day. As I had my morning Meditation my thoughts turned to my mother, they often do.

Dean N Nixon
Seminar Director, Life Coach
TurningLeaf Wellness Center

TIME OUR FRIEND OR FOE

Last night as we sat by the fire pit, I saw a coal pop and shoot a burning ember towards our feet. It glowed in the night air, and slowly disappeared into the darkness. I was impressed how time can change our perception. This hot burning ember that could have possibly created a smaller fire soon lost its heat and became inert. We can be provided with opportunities and yet not act, allowing time to sweep the moment by. This can come as a moment to say I love you, or a moment to speak your truth, or it may be in business. Time is either our ally or our adversary depending on our response.

Dean N Nixon
Seminar Director, Life Coach
TurningLeaf Wellness Center

ACCEPTING WHAT WE DON'T UNDERSTAND

I heard of a man wanting to burn the Koran on the Anniversary of the September 11th attacks. I was confused. Is the burning of a book going to change the minds of the fanatic sect of a religion? Does the persecution of a belief system change the hearts and minds of its followers? I have never seen or heard of any aggression changing the freedom of choice that is free and untouchable. I have heard of fear and hate spreading like mold in the darkness of ignorance and intolerance. It seems like it is always done under the guise of righteousness and serving a higher purpose, like a parasite living off its host and yet not sharing the values. The only answer I have ever found is the pursuit of knowledge and truth. To risk understanding and accepting what we don't understand and learn from it what we can. I pray that we can rise above the impulsiveness of our humanity, let the day of our mourning be given to respecting those who have passed through the tragic lack of respect to human life.

Dean N Nixon
Seminar Director, Life Coach
TurningLeaf Wellness Center

PARENTING IS A TOUGH SPORT

When I think of raising my kids I can't help but putting it in terms I can understand. First - Taking a snap shot as my first child was placed in my arms, I looked down at her beautiful new eyes and realized it was time to get in the game. Second - The binkie dilemma. Now, How do you get that thing out of there?! I was certain my son was going to ask his best man for the ring and then say, "Here, hold my binkie." Then, There's learning to work as a team. Sometimes I was the coach calling in the plays from the sidelines. Thinking, "Ya, this one will work," Just to find become a broken play, "Ok, now go to bed." "What do you need? Some water?" "What? You want to tell me something?" "GO TO BED!!" "What? You forgot to kiss Mom goodnight?" "AGAHH!!!! Punt! punt! punt!" Sometimes the quarterback is looking to move the team down field only to be blindsided by unexpected bills and broken air conditioners and sometimes the unemployment blitz. Always the equipment manager, fixing broken bikes and broken dreams. Some seasons I felt we ended as champions, others we finished so far back we deserved a first round draft pick. Fourth - The crazed fan or "fanatic" because everyone knows MY kids are the best. Like I said, Parenting is a tough sport. Dad always said, "Son life is hard, get a helmet."

Dean N Nixon
Seminar Director, Life Coach
TurningLeaf Wellness Center

OUR MIND IS LIKE A CHILD

I find that most people crave peace and serenity, yet we are always pushing for adventure and romance. Both peace and serenity seem to be a wonderful place to reside, a utopian home free from the touch of the world. The challenge is the mind, it grows bored with the lack of stimulation, even with peace in hand. Our thoughts soon become as an unsettled pool of water with ripples, then waves, and soon storms that challenge the utopia we have found. The mind is a child that needs boundaries and discipline, we can spend time teaching it to avoid the boredom and ground it in truth.

Dean N Nixon
Seminar Director, Life Coach
TurningLeaf Wellness Center