{"id":4794,"date":"2013-10-10T12:01:16","date_gmt":"2013-10-10T16:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/?p=4794"},"modified":"2013-09-05T23:18:34","modified_gmt":"2013-09-06T03:18:34","slug":"make-a-date-with-your-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/2013\/10\/make-a-date-with-your-soul.html","title":{"rendered":"Make a Date with Your Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"images-2\"<\/a>In you fast-paced world it can be hard to slow on and tune ino you. Today my guest is Noelle M. Meade-Izzi<\/strong><\/a> is the author of \u201cThe Hummingbird That Answered My Heart\u2019s Calling<\/a>,<\/strong>\u201d a full-color photo-book that tells the story of Artemis. The experience was also featured in the U.S. Humane Society publication, \u201cAll Animals.\u201d Meade-Izzi is a nature photographer by hobby and a professional graphic designer for the marketing and advertising industries. Her work has been recognized by the American Advertising Federation\u2019s (AAF) prestigious Addy Creative Awards for design excellence, including a Best in Show. Here\u2019s her avie for you:<\/p>\n

How to Make a Date with Your Soul<\/strong>
\n3 Tips for Getting Out of the Grind and Into Well-Being<\/em>
\nBy <\/strong>Noelle M. Meade-Izzi<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

By a large margin, Americans hate their jobs, according to a recent Gallup poll, which found 70 percent of the work force is either completely disengaged from or thoroughly despises their work.<\/p>\n

Since the 2008 economic crisis, millions of Americans have been hit hard in most aspects of their lives \u2013 their homes, their jobs, their personal lives. I was one of them. A fast-paced lifestyle in the corporate world combined with the market crash and other negative forces were crushing my sense of well-being.<\/p>\n

That was all changed by the tiniest bird known to man \u2013 a hummingbird I eventually named Artemis. She was building a little nest right next to my balcony. Witnessing her small yet heroic efforts to complete the nest for her chick and then raise it to maturity, all on her own, helped nurse me through a healthy and spiritual transformation.<\/p>\n

Nature offers an abundance of such everyday miracles. Seeing the extraordinary within the ordinary helps put the stressors and strife of our lives into perspective. Here\u2019s how I got in touch with my inner hummingbird:\"images-1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Find your Artemis<\/strong>: I was at a low point in my life when I saw the little hummingbird \u2013 a species so tiny, many people never notice it. At one point, I heard the fluttering of wings outside my bedroom screen slider early in the morning. It was the hummingbird and it seemed to be summoning me. After following her to the nest, I discovered Artemis\u2019 chick had hatched. Did she really intend to show me what happened? I think so; we\u2019d developed a palpable bond throughout the entire nesting process. Nature is everywhere and abounds with beauty and inspiration \u2013 you just have to look for it.
\n\u2022
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Don\u2019t fear the quie<\/strong>t: Waking up before you\u2019re ready, making the coffee, rushing to work and getting inundated with complaints, getting stuck in traffic on the way home and, oh yeah, you have to stop at the grocery store \u2026 Rinse and repeat on Tuesday. Sound familiar? Workdays don\u2019t have to be a grind! Many of us have gotten so accustomed to incessant chatter in our lives \u2013 from our mobile smartphones to what\u2019s inside our own heads \u2013 that we don\u2019t know how to respond to and appreciate silence. There are many ways to silence the chatter, which offers surprising renewal and fresh perspectives. From meditation to yoga to simply enjoying the sound of rain on your roof, make time for quiet.<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Focus on empathy:<\/strong> It was the focus on something extraordinarily small and completely other than me \u2013 Artemis \u2013 that helped me find my deeper self. Obsessing over what I didn\u2019t like in my life did not help me affect positive change \u2013 in fact, it made things worse. Empathy helps us hurdle the very tall walls of our ego and puts us in the shoes of someone else and what their experience must be like. In turn, we gain perspective on our own unique lives and find them more manageable.
\n**************
\nJoin the Self-Love Movement\u2122<\/strong><\/a>! Take the 31 Days of Self-Love Commitment<\/strong><\/a> and get my book, How Do I Love Me? Let Me Count the Ways<\/a><\/strong> for free at http:\/\/howdoiloveme.com<\/a><\/strong>. Read my 2013 31 Days of Self-Love Posts HERE<\/strong><\/a>. Join the Self-Love Movement\u2122<\/strong><\/a>! on Facebook<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Please leave comments under my posts so we can stay connected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In you fast-paced world it can be hard to slow on and tune ino you. Today my guest is Noelle M. Meade-Izzi is the author of \u201cThe Hummingbird That Answered My Heart\u2019s Calling,\u201d a full-color photo-book that tells the story of Artemis. The experience was also featured in the U.S. Humane Society publication, \u201cAll Animals.\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,15],"tags":[777,776,778],"class_list":["post-4794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-self-empowerment-confidence","category-self-love-acceptance","tag-nature","tag-noelle-m-meade-izzi","tag-silence"],"yoast_head":"\nMake a Date with Your Soul - Lessons from a Recovering Doormat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/2013\/10\/make-a-date-with-your-soul.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Make a Date with Your Soul - Lessons from a Recovering Doormat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In you fast-paced world it can be hard to slow on and tune ino you. Today my guest is Noelle M. Meade-Izzi is the author of \u201cThe Hummingbird That Answered My Heart\u2019s Calling,\u201d a full-color photo-book that tells the story of Artemis. 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Let Me Count the Ways, a She's appeared on hundreds of TV and radio shows, including Oprah, Howard Stern, and Good Morning America and has been quoted in dozens of publications, including the New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Marie Claire, and Men\u00b9s Health. After being a consummate People Pleaser who felt unworthy of getting her own needs met for many years, Daylle found a path of self-love that enabled her to build her self-esteem and reinvent herself into a dual career. She learned to get taken seriously without being overtly assertive when she became one of the first women to start an independent record label (on a dare!) and learned to play ball nicely and successfully in an industry dominated by men. To help independent musicians empower themselves, Daylle writes music business books for Billboard\/Random House, including the very popular Start & Run Your Own Record Labe and I Don't Need a Record Deal! Daylle's books have been translated into over 10 languages and are popular around the world. She speaks for colleges, organizations and corporations. Through her company, Project Self-Empowerment, Daylle creates programs and materials to help people empower themselves. One goal is to raise the money to self-publish her book, How Do I Love Me? Let Me Count the Ways and give it away for free in colleges and through organizations, to give thanks for all her blessings. 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