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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Alfalfa farmers reach settlement over Jackson County's GMO ban ... Review: Camelot's "Oklahoma!" is a warm, joyful romp ... Aging Happens: Planning now can prevent holiday travel problems later ... Alfalfa farmers reach settlement over Jackson County's GMO ban ... Review: Camelot's "Oklahoma!" is a warm, joyful romp ... Aging Happens: Planning now can prevent holiday travel problems later ... INNER PEACE Inner Peace: A different take on pesky holiday newsletters Comment By Victoria Leo DailyTidings.com By Victoria Leo Posted Dec. 4, 2015 at 4:18 PM Updated Dec 4, 2015 at 4:20 PM By Victoria Leo Posted Dec. 4, 2015 at 4:18 PM Updated Dec 4, 2015 at 4:20 PM » Social News I admit it. I love to write yearly newsletters. I even enjoy — for a totally different reason — receiving them. Yet so many don’t — and I completely understand. I agree that many are holiday non-stop brag-fests that can leave you feeling less-than. But only if you believe them. And that’s the key to enjoying them! If you choose to read newsletters with the expectation of being amused at people’s attempts to convince you (and themselves) that their life is so totally, mesmerizingly perfect, they will succeed in entertaining you, minus the comparison-induced depression. Think about it: you know the reality of your own life and it’s never perfect. If you compare that reality with the glorious, victorious image projected by others, of COURSE you will think that they are doing so much better in life than you are. Take a deep breath. Take another. Take a third, nice and slow and deep. Ready for a revelation? Here it is: you can read, laugh and throw it in the dustbin. Laughing is good for your cardiovascular system. You can also; if you are patient, help guide these misguided souls into more authentic communication with you. You start by getting off the "From Success to Glorious Success" treadmill yourself. When my husband was facing a devastating layoff, I was matter-of-fact about our worries for the future, and a request for prayers. I share all the things I’m trying in my business, not just the stuff that worked. The big key to why good people (not the jerks of the family) really enjoy our yearly newsletter is that I make it funny. Sometimes I poke fun at us, like the year I was so frustrated with my boss at the university where I was teaching that I took out my frustrations on the back hedge. You can understand the depths of my anger when I tell you that I saved us $1,000 in hedge trimming services. You can laugh when I asked for power tools for my birthday and hubby said absolutely not, that he likes having a hedge, not a low shrub! Or The Astronomy Widow tells a funny story about hubby’s obsession. The crazy antics that pet parents get into when one of the darlings is sick and needs a pill, or the Abbott and Costello-esque Victoria-does-home-repair. Every issue has a deep point or two. One of us details a profoundly moving experience at a funeral. We share how we honored the 10th anniversary of earning a new graduate degree that put no money in our pocket but enriches our life every day. A brave mama deer is killed by the local cougar, and her two orphaned fawns are adopted by another mama deer that successfully raises all four to adulthood. If you create a document that shares from the heart, instead of showing off, you might encourage a wiser approach to life among others. The Grand Canyon grew over millions of year through the constant action of insubstantial water on seemingly solid rock. You never know what influence you might be having, and you are 100 times more likely to be influential if you stop trying to be! As Shakespeare has Hotspur tell Glendower, “Tell the truth and shame the devil!” If you start creating yearly newsletters that are fun, that are real — though edited for privacy and need-to-know — and that are from the heart, you next task is to not give a damn what any recipient thinks of you, your life and your newsletter. When you are in that blessed place, you can mail your yearly snippet-of-life out with a joyous heart. A gift that is given with absolutely no strings attached leaves you joyous and free. A creation that does not rely on being praised floats high in the sky, free of anyone’s ability to trample it in the dust. Don’t give up yearly newsletters, grasshopper. Enjoy the creation. Set them free to float on the breeze, to whatever new world they may land in. Victoria Leo will be teaching an OLLI class “How your body really works: Psychoneuroimmunology in January. www.soaringdragon.biz , and www.linkedin.com/in/victoriacleo . Send 600 to 700 word articles on all aspects of inner peace to Sally McKirgan [email protected]. By Victoria Leo DailyTidings.com By Victoria Leo Posted Dec. 4, 2015 at 4:18 PM Updated Dec 4, 2015 at 4:20 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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