Greetings!

A while back I brought a mini-Oasis to our local library. The intent was to acknowledge the stresses that many people feel during holidays, and to try to find something that – even in the midst of the stresses – they can be truly thankful for.
 
I began by asking What are your current stressors – personal and “cosmic”?

The list varied from health, family members, money troubles, bad drivers, electronics to politics, racism, rise of anti-Semitism, world poverty, pace of life, police brutality, fear of future for us and our children.
 
Then we talked about our power to make personal choices each moment.
I invited them to use these words: When you feel burdened, touch a blessing.

Without denying the reality of the stressors, make a choice to “change your channel.” Right now, find one thing you are thankful for about each of the following
– even though there may be “crummy” things about each - your health / neighborhood / family / “heritage” / your core self.
 
They wrote, then chose a colored paper to put one “blessing” on the common board. 
Many of them surprised me by putting long lists. Some answers:
my family - my kids - I have a place to live - my faith - a job that I love -
my neighbors - I am able to exercise as an outlet - ability to hear and listen -
enough food to eat - my daughter’s good health report today: a benign tumor -
books and the education I have received that enables me to enjoy them -
I don’t have to work 40 hours a week at a tedious job -
friends in a writing group - living where I can walk to stores.

What would you put? Try the OASIS Sanity Tip to identify your own.
 
With thanks for our lives,
OASIS Sanity Tip

Take five minutes today to jot down your responses to these questions:
  1. What are my current stressors – personal and “cosmic”?
  2. What is one thing I am thankful for -- about:
  • my health
  • my neighborhood
  • my family / kinfolk / friends
  • my “heritage”
  • my “me”-ness
Millie Grenough discovered her own Oasis after a near-death accident shook her out of her fast and furious lifestyle. During her months of recuperation Millie developed the 60-second Oasis Strategies that have helped thousands of people around the world. Millie's Oasis Training Program has graduates throughout the USA and in the Netherlands, Panama, Puerto Rico and New Zealand.. Her books, trainings, international presentations, and coaching have helped people ranging from Casino VPs, US Army Officers and University Deans, to overworked health personnel, prison inmates, and harried parents. 

Millie is an International Coach Federation Professional Coach, a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine, Licensed Clinical Social Worker and is certified in EMDR-Level II with a specialty in Performance Enhancement. Her trainings are authorized for CCEs by the National Association of Social Workers and the International Coach Federation.
  
These occasional Oasis e-notes are for you: to offer little sanity tips, stories from life, and simple invitations to make your life healthier and happier. Please let us know if there is a special topic you would like addressed.
  
©2021 Millie Grenough. All Rights Reserved. Oasis in the Overwhelm™ is a registered trademark.
Written and produced by Millie Grenough.
I invite you to forward this e-note to others. Reprintable when full credit is given.
If you have any questions or comments, or for reprint permission of this newsletter,
please email: millie@milliegrenough.com
www.milliegrenough.com  &  www.oasisintheoverwhelm.com
203.789.2191