The Habit of Feeling Alive and Well

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Learn Flute Podcast SHOW NOTES:

  • Today we’re learning how to feel alive and well this New Year
  • Build anticipation by planning out your weeks and months
  • How to make things happen
  • What flute Rebecca started learning on.
  • Reward yourself for achievements
  • Add balance to your life by remembering what we love to do
  • Serve others

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Podcast Transcript

It’s time to fill our cup and our calendar with good vibes and great music. The habit of feeling alive and well is on tap for today. Hhhhappy New Year everybody! Let’s get it goin’! 

Wow. It’s a new year. How did that happen so fast? I’m convinced the earth is somehow spinning faster and faster every year. Do you feel this way too?

And, the past two or three years were doozies, weren’t they? I’m glad you’re here and ready to go deeper into music and education especially on the flute because we have a nice schedule on tap. 

In fact, in case you hadn’t noticed, these episodes are released twice a month for your enjoyment and of course, your musical literacy. 

We focus not only on what it takes to become a good musician and flute player, but we also work on our mind set so that we can continue on our quest with the right direction, focus, and keeping it fun. 

I like to say that we’re becoming much better humans by keeping the ‘other side’ of music study in the forefront as well.

Learn Flute Online is an education program designed for flutists just like you who come to learn and enjoy from the comfort of their own homes and on their own schedule. Learn in your jammies if you’d like – it’s a great situation.. And we have so much depth to our program here.  

This year, you’ll be able to move through my specially designed modules where all of the tools for your learning are set and ready for you including video lessons by me- pinpointing skills you need at the exact development you’re at, the pdf sheet music to go along with, audio files, and of course a great Q&A comment section on each module as well. 

It is the perfect learning center, and all of the modules are set in learning order. It’s easy to follow along because everything is extremely organized, numbered, and waiting for you.

 

Now, about our new year and what we can do to make it the greatest ever. I know we hear this saying often, but it’s true! I do believe that I, myself at least, am striving to become an even better person all the time, and part of this includes how I teach and present information that helps all of you become your best selves as well. And riding the journey together really makes for a fun time. 

It’s wild how quickly our lives can become a little on the boring side if we don’t have special things to look forward to often enough.

We tend to put something really cool on our calendar for the year, and then spend far too long waiting for that special event. Well, in my opinion, one big event for the year just isn’t enough. 

This year we are going to be focusing on creating a mindset of thriving and joy. We need a pile of good things to look forward to.

Are you wondering what this has to do with playing the flute? 

Well, overlooking the simple things in life is a good way to get ourselves in a rut… which no one wants, for sure! 

This year we’re going to strive for a bare minimum of at least one thing to look forward to every single day. At least!

We’re going to build a rapport with ourselves this year that creates confidence and some of the greatest joys in life.

You ready for this? Great, get a notebook and pen and let’s get to it!

Since the lovely global events over the past couple of years, we are hearing more and more about mental health, and I thought it would be a great time to put us all in the right mental space to start off our year.

You or someone you love may be carrying around a heavy load in their head or heart right now. Let’s gain some tools today that will put a sparkle on the horizon and remind us how to look forward and thrive.

This type of mindset is a great space for our bodies and our intellect to grow and become more.. flexible.

This flexibility or pliability is what allows us to ride the waves as we learn new skills and grow in life.

Let me explain with a quick little story: 

When my youngest son was about three years old, I was really feeling the effects of staying home all the time taking care of the kids. I was kind of tired all the time and I really couldn’t pinpoint what was going on with me. I knew I wanted to get out more, but was pretty bound to keeping the family going. And having small children at home was the main reason. 

I could tell I was having some serious winter blues. 

I talked with my husband about this and he reminded me that since we live where winter is a reality for basically half a year, that I ought to get out and enjoy it more like I used to, before having kids. 

I worried how I could do this with such a little one still hanging on my leg when I had an epiphany, he could continue clinging to me and we could ride the slopes together. This means we would strap on skis and slide down the hills at the local ski resort. 

Well, I honestly remember the scary feeling I had when I hoisted him up next to me on the ski lift and we began ascending up the mountain. It was so steep and so high, and he was so little. 

Whoa.. what am I doing. He’s like a baby – barely three years old, and I hadn’t skied for a few years due to my husband’s work schedule, paying for a new home, and always having either a toddler or a new baby in tow. I was kind of scared and wondered if we’d ever make it down the mountain. 

But, I put my brave pants on (as I actually had to because we were now at the top) and squeezed him between my legs and eventually made it down. You know what happened next? I looked at him when we arrived at the bottom and he said his teeth were frozen… I asked him why in the world his teeth were frozen, he said “because I can’t stop smiling mom!” Well this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship with the winter mountains here in Utah. 

This same son has gone on to great heights in the sport of downhill skiing and even has given himself quite a name as a high level athlete nation-wide as well.

Prior to taking up skiing as a regular family sport, I was feeling very blah. My mind had been very focused on having and raising babies for so long that my vocabulary was shrinking, and I just didn’t have any pizzazz in my life. 

I’m so grateful that I decided to do something about it – even though I wasn’t sure what I was doing at first. I really just went for it. And moving my body outside in the beautiful blue and white world here really did the trick. 

At the same time I started playing and performing as a musician a lot more. 

I have many professional musician friends, and it was amazing to reconnect with them and begin putting on shows together again. We quickly gained in popularity and began touring as well. 

Basically, all I had to do was step outside of my little box and there was a whole wonderful world waiting for me.

These types of physical and musical activities have kept my mind expanding and.. Well, I like to say that my neurons are firing on all cylindars most of the time. You know what I mean. It’s so easy for our brains to get a bit fuzzy and slow when not exercised in new ways. 

I love it! What a great way to keep feeling positive and alive! 

On the other side, I have a family friend who said something that struck a dissonant chord with me. I was telling her how I had been pretty busy lately and that I was not quite to the point in my schedule where I could see the light at the end of the tunnel,.. To which she replied emphatically, “in my experience you need to be careful because that light is a train”.

And I thought, “Well, that’s just a way to suck the fun out of my day”. And it stayed with me.. For a long time. Every time I heard someone talk about ‘the light at the end of the tunnel’ they were looking for, I immediately thought about the silly train that was coming to just wreck everything. 

Well, you know that we humans can wire ourselves one way or another by working on our mental game, right?

Yah, well guess what? I resolved right then and there to stop waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel and decided to light that thing up myself.  

Let’s let this sink in for just a second. I find this mindset much more empowering and something I can really grab onto and use in my life. Don’t you? 

Great! Let’s take a look today at a nice little list of specific actions that you can incorporate in your life today that will help you create the habit of feeling alive and well by looking forward in your own life:

Number one:

  1. Build anticipation by deliberately making time at the first of each month and week to put upcoming dates on your calendar.
    1. Get a physical calendar – in fact hang it in your bathroom where you naturally have a few minutes to actually look and ponder each day. You know, my Uncle always gives us a free calendar for the upcoming year from his Insurance agency at the end of each previous year. That’s the one I’ve used in my bathroom for decades. 

Keep your eyes open – you’ll find an inspiring calendar you can hang, I’m sure of it. Or you can create one yourself.

  1. Strive to find one big thing per month, and another slightly smaller thing for each week. Then start looking forward to finding something each day to count on. 
    1. If you’re not sure what to put on the calendar at first, add upcoming favorite TV episodes or something… I look forward to the beginning of a new season of the Amazing Race every time! That’s something that’s worth putting on my calendar if you ask me.. It reminds me of adventure and world-wide wonder. What’s something simple like this that you look forward to? Think of something. Great! Put it on the calendar so you can look at it and anticipate the fun even more.
  1. Make these things happen. I tell you, Light that tunnel up!
    1. Create opportunities for yourself to learn the art of accountability again. Has it been awhile since you’ve done what you said you were going to? Disappointing yourself is one way to slide into a slump in life. I like to call this practicing self-integrity.  Teaching ourselves to create an event, even of the smallest type, and then actually making sure we do and finish it… is one of the best ways to build our own self-esteem.
      1. In music this is as simple as filling out our practice sheet and then using it most days of the week. If you’re having trouble staying focused on what to practice, be sure to get yourself into the modules in the member’s area here at Learn Flute Online. We have the Gold Level, the Intermediate and Advanced Levels as well as a whole host of genre-based mini-courses that you can learn and enjoy from as well. I have an Ultimate Practice Guide here at Learn Flute Online that you can really keep yourself humming along with as well.
      2. You know, speaking of creating self-integrity.. It’s one of the best ways to build confidence in your life. Who can’t use more confidence? You don’t need to run marathons or jump out of airplanes to build confidence daily… although these types of big life milestones and achievements can really put a spring in your step, for sure.
        In fact, I have done this myself. About 20 years ago I was yearning to do something BIGger than myself at that point.  I decided one day I was going to run a marathon. I had never been a distance runner before. My body is built more like a sprinter, so this was way out of my wheelhouse. And I wondered if I could really put one foot one in front of another like forty thousand times in a row?
        Well, I could do it once, in fact, I could do it like hundreds of times without even practicing. So I went for it. My determined pants were on! You know, less than one percent of the population of the earth has ever achieved this goal.. Running a marathon. I wondered if I had it in me. I followed a plan the best I could for a few months, and I never waivered in my decision to do it. And guess what? I did do it!
        And then after the first one, I did another.. And another. I surprised myself as I noticed that even though it sounded quite impossible for me, all I truly had to do was decide to do it, get a tried and true plan, and then keep at it until I had done it. Voilá!
      3. We need to notice, learn, and set small achievements for ourselves each week. You got this!
      4. Is this really what life is like? Hmm I challenge you to think about this for a while today.

Back to our list now of specific actions that you can incorporate in your life today that will help you create the habit of feeling alive and well by looking forward in your own life:

  1. I want to encourage us all to save rewarding ourselves for times when we’ve really earned the reward. We call these “special occasions”. These occasions help us with the feelings and awareness that we have really “achieved”. Achievements as we just talked about are a major way to create confidence and well-being in our life. 
    1. Not to brag about the 80’s, but it really was kind of a great time for certain thing, and for me it was a BIG deal to bring home a trophy from the softball season or certain competition. Not like nowadays where everyone seems to receive the trophy or award for just participating. Do not rob yourself of the positive feelings of being rewarded by making those rewards so commonplace.
      I know we live in a world of more abundance now, but think about the story of the little kid who just loved his special red hotwheels (that’s a little toy car if you’ve never heard of it). He carried it around all day long.. It was definitely his prize-possession. His parents noticed that he loved that one hotwheel so much that they purchased him an entire set of 88 hotwheels for Christmas. And while he did like playing with them.. Lining them up and moving them down the track. The specialness of the one just wasn’t there anymore, and he eventually lost as much interest.
  2. So number four is for us to put a little more balance and pep in our Universe by reminding ourselves how to savor the pleasure we get from our favorite things, and save our rewards for true achievements. 
  1. Number 5 on our list is to separate your weeks into sections. 
    1. Make sure you spend the first part of your week kept for organization and really getting things done especially, now this doesn’t mean that you can’t get things done on the other days, but just make sure to get your big things completed and off your plate at the beginning of the week. 
    2. Then we can really Look forward to your weekends or rest days – keep them sacred and different from the other days.
    3. Have a time each week to look and work towards our BIG thing that’s down the line – remember when we placed something awesome on your calendar during the year? Just like a recital, performance, or a marathon.. Our Big thing is just that. It’s a big confidence boost when we actually make it to completion and achievement. Keep on the path and find those small milestones in between.
  2. And lastly, number six is to intentionally do something for someone else. This means focusing outward instead of inward.
    You’ll be surprised to knwo that this is one of the best ways to lighten our mood.
    1. As musicians we have a unique opportunity to spread light and beauty around the earth. I like being part of this movement, and I bet you do too.
      Play good music, learn new skills so you can improve it, and then spread the vibes around your home and community. I’m pre-proud of you for your efforts.

Well, this episode today has been all about what it takes to look ahead and move forward with our goals in life so that we can move about our days with a happy spring in our step. 

You know, I’ll still never forget the day I stopped waiting for the light at the end of the tunnel and decided to light that thing up myself!

I encourage you to take some time by yourself today to get your calendar and start filling it with the small adventures and events that create the feelings of achievement and life. 

You have the perfect opportunity by being here at Learn Flute Online – and if you’re not a member yet, what are you waiting for? Let’s get going.
There’s too much amazing life in music and fullfillment to be had. Let me and our amazing community help get you going and keep you on the path. Creating the habit of feeling alive and well is just the start of what we’ll be doing this year. 

I’ll play you out now, see you on the next episode!

Thank you for Tuning In!

Please consider subscribing and taking a minute to leave a review and rating for the podcast on iTunes.

I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about the habit of feeling alive and well. Join us for the next episode! 

Have any questions? Comment below and I will help you out.

Rebecca FullerRebecca Fuller
Get Flutie with us! Learn and enjoy every musical minute.

6 thoughts on “The Habit of Feeling Alive and Well”

  1. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and knowledge in your podcast Rebecca. Things you talk about pertain to not only playing flute but to life in general.

    1. I’m so glad that you enjoyed this Emily and could apply it to your life! Thanks so much for listening. – Rebecca

  2. Rebecca, this is such a worthwhile podcast. I am reminded of a couple of friends, artists, who had a house and studio in the hills. In the wildfires we had a couple of years ago their house was burned to the ground and they lost everything. They have recovered remarkably and very positively, but made a rather telling comment ‘You know, the reason we thought we lost everything was because we thought we had everything.’ They are deliberately travelling lighter through life now.

    1. Hi David,
      I’m so glad that you took the time to listen to this new podcast, and that you had the opportunity to reflect. I am sorry about your friends house, but what a story! Thank you for sharing.
      Rebecca

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