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Picture Your Future: Creating a Vision Board Makes Dreams Real

Apr 29, 2016 11:01AM ● By Jayne Morris

Vision boards, a powerful tool for transformation, comprise a collage of pictures, phrases, poems and quotes that visually represent what we would like to experience more of in life. Building one works to uncover hidden desires and inner guidance that help clarify the details of a roadmap to our future. Anyone can create one in a few hours.

The layout may be intuitive, placing pieces where feelings direct; circles within circles like a mandala; or in titled, pie-shaped segments arranged in the form of a wheel.

Board basics: Choose a large piece of poster board, corkboard or canvas the size of an unfolded newspaper. Gather pens, scissors, glue or pins, sticky tape and a current selfie.

Gather 10 to 20 magazines ranging from women’s and men’s fashion, health and fitness to hobbies, house and garden and travel, including animals representing specific character traits. Pick topics that resonate, uplift and inspire, energize or bring relaxation. Beauty salons, libraries and community centers like to clear out old issues; an alternative is to assemble images by using a computer.

Prepare a space: Find a quiet, relaxing spot, free of disturbances and distractions.

Mindset magic: Let go of ought-tos, shoulds and musts. Rest assured that feeling the desire to be good, to do good or have something good in our life means we can make it happen, even if we do not yet know how.

Flick, snip and stick: Have fun seeing what jumps out and catches your attention while riffling through the magazine pages. Clip and place these images in a pile, and then sort out those that feel really right.

A vision board clarifies our deepest desires.

Arrange: Experiment with the positioning and relationships of words and images until it feels good. Take a photograph as a reference. Affix pieces either so they can be repositioned or permanent, leaving spaces to symbolize an openness to receiving more ideas.

Purpose Statement: Play with words that describe desired values and qualities to eventually shape an inspiring affirmation representing cherished personal aspirations for the year ahead. Place this next to the selfie and other key personal photos in the center of the board and reinforce its verity by daily repeating it.

Pride of place: Prominently display the board where it will be visible throughout the day. The more time we spend with our board, the more movement we’ll make toward our goals and the faster they’ll become our reality.

Activate: Sit with the board and connect with its opportunities. Visualize being, doing, having and experiencing everything shown, as if they are already an intimate part of daily life. This living, breathing idea grows with us, and a companion gratitude journal can support us in acknowledging our progress.


Jayne Morris is the author of Burnout to Brilliance: Strategies for Sustainable Success, from which this was adapted. Learn more at JayneMorris.com.

Inspiration Health and Fitness National Content Feature 2016 May
Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

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