A Moment of Gratitude..

By: Rachel Matrejek

During this busy time of year, it’s easy to get caught up in the hustle bustle of meal planning, gift buying, and travel plans. ‘Black Friday’ sales begin earlier than ever before, and aggressive consumerism always makes headline news. Amongst the stress of holiday planning, many of us forget that the true meaning of Thanksgiving is gratitude. The pilgrims and Indians came together to celebrate and be thankful for the rich and abundant gifts from the earth. They celebrated friendship, camaraderie, and potential. The very first Thanksgiving feast was one of gratefulness. Gratitude is an idea that I present to my clients and yoga students often. Gratitude creates space for abundance, and when we let go of the ‘I wants’ we suddenly realize how much we already have. Cultivating a deep sense of gratitude takes practice. Just as we practice yoga postures, we must also make time to practice the feeling of gratitude, tending to it like a gardener tends the soil. Just as a flower wilts without water, gratitude wanes without appropriate time and attention. During this holiday season, I challenge you to cultivate your own garden of gratitude. Begin a gratitude journal, writing down 2-3 things that you are grateful for each day. Use this simple meditation each morning or evening: Sitting up tall in a quiet space, place both hands, one on top of the other over your heart center. Take a few deep, slow breaths and begin to think about a thing or a person that you are grateful for. As you continue to breath into the thought, begin to feel gentle warmth emanating from your heart. Let this feeling expand throughout every cell. Spend at least 3 minutes, present in this sensation of gratitude in the heart center. Anytime that you feel the mind begin to wander to another thought, simply bring the mind back to the breath, and back to the warm feeling of gratitude. Finally, my own moment of gratitude: Today, I am grateful for all of my clients and yoga students. You have all taught me so much about myself over this past year. Each new day, I am challenged to move beyond my comfort zone, and have grown exponentially as a clinician, a teacher, and a person- more than I ever thought possible. A sincere Thank You to each of you. Rachel Matrejek works at The Lighthouse Emotional Wellness Center, she is a licensed counselor and a certified yoga instructor. Located in Arlington Heights, The Lighthouse Emotional Wellness Center, provides the guiding light of emotional wellness for couples and families,and provides services such as: couples and family counseling, individual counseling, psychiatry and personal development workshops. For more information about their services, visit www.lighthouseemotionalwellness.com

Rachel Matrejek works at The Lighthouse Emotional Wellness Center, she is a licensed counselor and a certified yoga instructor. Located in Arlington Heights, The Lighthouse Emotional Wellness Center, provides the guiding light of emotional wellness for couples and families,and provides services such as: couples and family counseling, individual counseling, psychiatry and personal development workshops. For more information about their services, visit www.lighthouseemotionalwellness.com Article Source: http://www.articlebiz.com/article/1051601823-1-a-moment-of-gratitude/

Financial Plan is Important So Why Many of us Don't Have One?

By: Daniel Hanzelka

We all love to dream about the future we want, but many of us do not like the idea of organizing our finances and preparing a financial plan. It seems that our dream of our future is the fun part, but planning sounds like tedious and boring work. This is evident by the fact that 65% of individuals do not have afinancial plan. A study found that the benefit of having a financial plan is very significant. On average, individuals who had a plan for retirement had two and half times more assets in their retirement than those who did not have a plan. Having a plan is only part of the success equation because working with an advisor and having a financial plan shows that there is a nine to ten times increase in assets than with those who do not work with an advisor and have a financial plan. This may explain why one third of individuals consider winning the lottery as one of their financial strategiesto achieving their financial goals. So why do most of us not have a plan? It can’t be because of a lack of awareness since there are many financial institutions that are advertising the importance of planning. There is also a lot of information and material on the subject with millions of results on Google. So when it comes to Financial Planning why is it that we are not prepared? Well here is a list of the three myths that I have experienced people saying. Myth of Time: In today’s fast paced life we are all starved for time. We are so busy in our everyday activities that we feel that taking time for planning is not available. When it comes to planning there is an upfront commitment of time in identifying your life goals and putting together an action to achieve them, but once you complete these steps then it is just a matter of monitoring your progress as time goes on. The time commitment is minimal compared to the return you get by working with an advisor and having a plan done as noted above. Myth of Knowledge: The financial world, especially today, may seem too complicated with all the information out there. We are exposed to a lot of information and financial lingo. If you start by telling yourself that it is not too complicated and too hard, then you have no excuse not to do it. You may consider participating in a seminar or a workshop. You can start reading books that talk about financialmatters. Soon you will learn that the financial world is not complicated once you learn some of the basics. The Myth of Wealth: I don’t have enough savings to worry about a financial plan. If you have savings then you have enough. Having a plan will help you decide not only where you should put your money, it will also help to define the why. I have learned that the why is more important than the how and where. When it comes to planning you need to start somewhere. Don’t think that just because you think you don’t have enough you should not have a plan. A Financial Plan will help you define the goals and dreams you want to accomplish.

There are many ways to increase your assets one strategy is to hire a Financial Planner and prepare a Financial Plan. Financial Planning is important strategy to ensure you financial success now and in the future. Article Source: http://www.ArticleBiz.com