A few weeks ago, I blogged about the joy of living life like never before. One of these new adventures has been a journey of wellness that has certainly expanded my vision to a healthier way of showing up in my life.

I have enjoyed stepping into a new sense of myself by learning new recipes that are to me the best of a vegetarian/raw food diet. The gym and I took a little while longer to reacquaint ourselves with each other but once I arrived I had to smile and ask myself what all of the resistance was about.

So here I am, filled with energy, nine pounds lighter and ready for a wardrobe that fits. Reconnecting my inner vision with my outer self has been all about how I view wellness and my willingness to move beyond the resistance, take action and have fun.

In celebration of Spiritual Wellness Month, this week’s article speaks about the benefits of reconnecting and integrating our beliefs and values with our actions so that we can fully embrace ourselves with love.

In practicing wellness this month whether it’s physical or spiritual, I wish you wholeness and joy!

Happy Friday! Are you winding down from the week and want to catch up on some easy reading? In this week’s edition of the Weekend Reading Mix, I share four of my favorites from this week. Enjoy!

Confucius says: The Top 10 Quotes by Confucius
This blog inspires me and reminds me of the movies of my youth where a character would quote the great philosopher. Today, his teachings are life lessons that are prompts for inward journeys. Enjoy!

Numbers An Author Should Know
This amazing video taps into the heartbeat of technology, how much it has evolved and shows us through numbers that the possibilities are endless!

What Happens to Your Website If You Die?
Discovering this very informative article is perfect timing for our family. We are currently updating our family informational manual. This article expanded the scope of what must be added to inform your loved ones of your virtual identity and their possible virtual inheritance. Great article.

How to Prepare Yourself for Success
What a great article about creating a perfect vision for your life, acting as if and moving beyond your fears. The celebrity stories about preparation and perseverance are an added bonus.

To read more of my favorite from this week, visit my Stumble Upon page at Stumble Upon Marie Kirkland

Happy Reading!

Spiritual wellness can mean different things to different people however the most basic definition is a search for meaning and purpose; the values, ethics and morals that guide an individual and gives meaning and direction to their life.

For most of us spiritual wellness is an evolutionary journey that grows and deepens as we do. As you think about or focus on Spiritual wellness this month define what it means to you.

Use the 5 steps to help you celebrate spiritual wellness and create inner alignment

1. Nurture your inner self with an everyday retreat. Take some time away from your busy schedule and create a retreat at a place where you feel peace-filled and connected to your source. This could be at the beach, the mountains or your favorite spa.
   2. Create or redefine your life vision and purpose statement. A retreat is the perfect place for journaling and looking within. This may be the perfect place to create or redefine your life vision and purpose statements. We are very familiar with the importance of a vision and purpose statement for business, however, creating these statements for your life will help you bring clarity, meaning and direction to every area of your life especially your career or business.
   3. Connect your vision with your heart by defining your guiding principles. Your guiding principles are the philosophy of how you live your life regardless of changes in  your goals, career or relationships. It is a barometer in which to gauge if you are on target with your actions and decision.  
4. Live in harmony. Decide to live each day in harmony by aligning your vision, purpose and guiding principles with every area of your life to include your career or business.
   5. Have fun. Do something that you absolutely love doing and that allows you to feel connected to your source and your life purpose.

The ocean is my all-time favorite place. It feels like home to me.  I will be celebrating Spiritual Wellness month by taking a few days for a retreat by the ocean for inner reflection, writing and long walks on the beach! How will you celebrate?

One of the greatest joys of being a coach is celebrating and honoring people as they live their life’s aligned and reach their dreams whether it’s enjoying a morning sunrise, one amazing step in their journey or reaching a milestone.

It is my great pleasure to feature Kim Gray this week! Kim is an amazing visionary who is enjoying life while launching her new association, the National Association of Virtual Assistants for coaches (NAVAC).

While Marie and I were having lunch last week, she asked me to share how I was living my vision and fulfilling my dream. Living my life as intended has finally resulted in an amazing opportunity. I am working with a small team of talented virtual assistants and coaches to launch my new association: National Association of Virtual Assistants for Coaches (NAVAC).

In June, NAVAC will officially launch as an association dedicated to virtual assistants who support coaches. We will be transforming how our virtual assistants build their businesses using a product funnel model in 2010. In 2011, we will move towards our second phase of their business transformation — collaborative partnerships. I know how much work I’ve had to invest in this part of my journey, but I am more proud of those who have helped me along the way. You know, you can’t truly achieve your life’s dream without the help of others and God’s spirit blessing your efforts. NAVAC is a combination of my passion for serving others and my passion for sharing my experiences.

My experience as an administrative professional proved valuable as I built my virtual assistance business. But my experience as a theocratic student has helped me develop the important fruitage of the spirit. As a virtual assistant turned association founder, my life dream is coming true. My hope is that NAVAC will allow me to allow others to pursue and reach their life dreams. I give thanks to God and all those who have supported me along the way and into tomorrow!

Kim Gray is the Founder and CEO of the National Association of Virtual Assistants for Coaches and can be found at www.navacoaches.com or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Have a great week and remember to live life like never before!

Would you like to be featured in this blog series? Simply send your submission of 250 words or less to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Happy Friday! Enjoy this week’s selections and have a great weekend!

Gaiam Life Meditation Rooms
If you are ready for a mid-day break here are some meditation rooms that you may find very relaxing, I know that I have. I enjoy each of them, this week my favorites are  the Water and Forest Rooms. I’d love to here which ones speak to you. Enjoy!

Can StumbleUpon & Digg Drive Insane Amounts of Traffic to Your Website?
Learning more and more about social media and the growing amount of new sites and tools available, I am not quite prepared to share all of the benefits of Stumble Upon or Digg. What I can say is that as a new user, I am enjoying the experience and I have discovered many new and relevant blogs in a short amount of time. This article shares the 5 Best Practices to put into play.

42 Happiness Tips and Snidbits
What a better what to begin the weekend than to explore more ways we can experience happiness! Wishing you all a weekend filled with joy and uncontrollable laughter!

The Top 10 Plants for Removing Indoor Toxins
Going plant shopping this weekend. This interesting article may be helpful for choosing beautiful indoor plants that reduce toxins.

To read more of my favorite blog post from this week, visit my Stumble Upon page at Stumble Upon Marie Kirkland.

Happy Reading!

Until next week…

Last year, I had the wonderful opportunity of connecting with a lot of entrepreneurs who had questions about living an authentic balanced life and while building their business. At the end of the year we generated a survey and the response from our readers are still coming in. I will be answering those burning questions here and invite you to send your questions and to comment to the posts

This week’s question came from a reader who asks the following question,  “I would love for the picture to be painted… what does a day, week, month and year of balance look like?”

A balanced day, week or year could look like…

• Time for yourself just before day breaks to enjoy an early morning meditation, walk or maybe a cup of tea before you begin your day.

• Scheduling your day, week or year with a gaps between each event creating a space to inhale and exhale the breath of life before you begin the next right thing – simply ‘be’.

• A healthy mixture of spiritual practice, a lifestyle filled with freedom and choice and a business or career guided by your life purpose.

• A delicious mixture of ‘being’ your best self and ‘doing’ the things that you enjoy.

Your portrait may be painted with different hues and shades of harmony, peace, joy and opportunities to grow. It may even be sprinkled with music, laughter, family or  simply an inward journey but most of all it is unique to you.

Living in balance means different things to different people. Mostly it’s about how you show up in your life.  I offer the following keys to begin painting your very own individual portrait of peace and balance:

1. Take the time to listen - Sit in quiet contemplation and ask your self the question, “What brings me peace and joy?” And complete the following sentence; I am the most happiest, when I am…
2. Courageously and gradually do more of what you enjoy to create the life that’s right for you, one that fuels your desire to step into your life and purpose without reservation.
3. Set boundaries around your time and choose mindfulness over multi-tasking when doing your everyday task – be present.
4. And most of all, enjoy the journey.

Until next week…..

For the past several years I have consciously declared a theme for each year. Making a declaration for the year felt good and somehow gave me direction. Even if I changed course or outgrew where I was headed it still felt good to claim the year as mine.

This year, however, I simply stepped into the year confidently and courageously knowing that it is already magnificent!!!! Stepping into this year with confidence has allowed it to unfold with me doing things I’ve never done before or doing familiar things in a new way. The theme of the year found me. The excitement of living life like never before is so exhilarating that I invite you to journey with me!

So what would it be like if you could live your life like never before? Would you share it with others, the celebrations and possibilities? Well I’m going to do just that and would love for you to journey with me.

Each week this blog series will feature stories of people living their life aligned, reaching their dreams and being of service.  And there is a space just for you! Whether it’s planting a garden, bungee jumping, experiencing a sunrise at the beach or your biggest business month ever, we want to celebrate with you. Simply send your entries of 200 words or less to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and we will feature them in the Live Life Like Never Before blog series. Twice a month, in addition to the print version we will feature a special audio blog interview as well.

Have a great week and remember to live life like never before!

If you are like me you are pretty busy during the week yet you still want to stay up-to-date on a mixture of topics that excite and nurture you. This week we are premiering the new series, The Weekend Reading Mix.

How to use Your Subconscious Mind to Change Your Life
If you are looking for new ideas on how to use your subconscious mind to change your life this article on The Change Blog shares the 3-step request process with you. Great article!

Top 10 Social Networks for Entrepreneurs
Most of us use or are at least familiar the top 3 social network sites; Facebook, Linked In and Twitter but how many of us have heard of Partner Up or Start-up Nation. This is an excellent article to expand your social media horizon.

Two Hundred Sit-ups
I am living healthier than ever before. In the past 6 weeks I have lost 8 of the 45 pounds, I will release this year so this blog immediately caught my eye.  If you are looking for a way to tone your abs as well this blog is a great place to start.

What Apple Can Teach You About Marketing
In 2007, I purchased an iPhone and the following year a MacBook. Like most people who have converted from Windows to Apple there is no comparison or going back! Beyond the amazing technology we can all learn from observing the Apple marketing process from packaging to savvy television commercials, Apple is top of the line.

To read more of my favorites from this week, visit my Stumble Upon page at Stumble Upon Marie Kirkland

Happy Reading!

In the month of February the focus was love.  It feels so right to begin March – Spiritual Wellness Month by sharing how taking time out for self-care allows you share the best of yourself with your family and through your business.

When you love yourself so much that you like yourself, you are better able to share the best of you with other people. Loving yourself often requires that you evolve even when you don’t feel like it. Your heart knows exactly what you require. It doesn’t matter if you are attentive to your needs or you ignore them altogether, your heart will not be denied.

Sometimes the biggest lessons about self-care come from safety instructions. What we’ve learned in these lessons are so memorable that we can recite them in our sleep. So I share one of them with you so that the next time there is a need for balance or clarity it will easily come to mind.

Moving through life’s transitions is one area where a few directions would come in handy. As a child, I clearly remember receiving the instructions, “Stop and look both ways before you cross the street”. I think of those instructions now in terms of transitioning from one experience to the next. To stop for at least a moment before quickly jumping into the next experience is a way for you to:

    * Listen to your heart
    * Ask what have I learned?
    * How have I grown?
    * What do I now wish to experience?

As I was watching The Curious Case of Benjamin Button recently, the following quote struck me as an example of the importance of stopping at life’s transitions and taking inventory. Even if we do not feel like evolving at the moment it is always beneficial to evaluate if you are being who you want to be.

"For what it’s worth, it’s never too late, or in my case, never too early to be whoever you want to be. There is no time limit, stop whenever you want, you can change or stay the same. There are no rules to this thing, we can make the best or the worst of it, I hope you make the best of it. I hope you see things that startle you, I hope you feel things you’ve never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again."

Please take some time this week to take inventory of your transitions and decide if you are being who you want to be or if you need to start over.

This has been the perfect week for me. It has been filled with uncertainty, doubt and plenty of love. Plus, I got a chance to be mommy’s little girl for a few days… just when I needed it. My mom visits from Virginia two to three times a year and equally shares her time between my sister, Dawn and I and both of our families. She showers us with love and we enjoy her in our own special way!

This visit we has been so much fun as we made veggie pizzas on oat and stone ground pita bread and laughed at movies. Most of all we listened to each other’s heart and that felt SO good!

Those special moments we share with loved ones are priceless. What memories have you created this week?

This Week’s Affirmation:
With every ending there is a brighter beginning! I step into each adventure filled with Wonder and Joy!