Melissa Schlies – Page 10 – Melissa Schlies

When You Feel Stuck & Change Feels Impossible

As we've all been in a time of great change this season, this month all the posts here will be about change in some form. Today, I am re-sharing a post from a few years ago about when there was a change I needed to make that felt impossible. I hope it gives you hope for any changes you are longing to make. Six years ago, on a hot, sunny Saturday over Labor Day weekend, I stood at the top of a waterfall. I stared at the cool pool of water collecting just before spilling over the edge, and debated [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-29T15:40:02+00:00July 6th, 2020|Categories: Anxiety, Change, Courage, Fear, Freedom, Hope|Comments Off

Five Reasons Not To Ignore Self Care During Times of Change

There are two kinds of change in this world: The change we long for and the change that finds us. Before 2020, the timing of these changes were typically different for each of us. For me, I got married after a lot of my friends but before all of my sisters. And when my first career was ending, some of my friends’ jobs were just taking off. But then COVID hit, and change found us all. Our world came to a stand still, and our lives changed in ways we are still discovering. Collectively we’ve all experienced trauma, while individually [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-30T15:30:26+00:00July 2nd, 2020|Categories: Balance, Change, Habit Making, Health, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Mental Health, Practice, Self Care|Comments Off

Change Isn’t Pretty: Why We Don’t (Always) Have to Despair When We Watch The News

More times than I can count, someone close to me has said the following: “Melissa, you hate change.” In some situations, it’s been said like an accusation that stung. In others, there was a tone of compassion. And always, it was in response to me lamenting about a situation in my life I had no control over. A situation in my life that meant: Change was happening whether I liked it or not. Over the past month or so, there have been anti-racism marches in countless cities and towns across the US. And though they mostly consisted of peaceful protesters, [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-28T11:43:02+00:00June 29th, 2020|Categories: Change, Conflict, Courage, Depression, Fear, Hope, Racism|Comments Off

This Week, We Turn Ten

Ten years ago, this week, we said, “We do.” In other words, “We’re in.” For the adventure, the joy, and the highs of accomplishments earned. For the experiences we never thought we’d have, made better by enjoying them together. Only, that is not all. We also said, “We’re in” for the mundane. The days that string together as boring as iceberg lettuce lined up at the grocery store. “We’re in” for the dark days of struggle and loss. And “we’re in” for traversing the breathtaking lows we didn’t see coming. We’re in this thing called life, together. Ten years ago, [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-24T19:40:57+00:00June 25th, 2020|Categories: Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Marriage, Relationships|Comments Off

When Pandemic Grief Hits You All Over Again

A few weeks ago, my sister texted me reminding me that as a family, that day, we were supposed to all be together, on vacation. Only, a few weeks before that, I had to cancel our reservations because the shelter in place orders for where we were to stay would still be in effect for our trip. Sure, we could stay in our hotel, but there would be no pool, no restaurant, and many of the attractions we were planning to visit would still be closed. You can’t tell four kiddos under five that the pool is closed. You can’t [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-24T19:44:22+00:00June 22nd, 2020|Categories: Acceptance, grief, Hope, Self Care, Social Distancing, Staycation, Travel|Comments Off

5 Tips to Planning The Perfect Day Trip

“Every person needs to take one day away. A day in which one consciously separates the past from the future. Jobs, family, employers, and friends can exist one day without any one of us, and if our egos permit us to confess, they could exist eternally in our absence. Each person deserves a day away in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each of us needs to withdraw from the cares which will not withdraw from us.” ― Maya Angelou, Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now As with so many things Maya Angelou said, her words about [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-15T19:38:51+00:00June 18th, 2020|Categories: FOMO, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Social Distancing, Staycation, Travel|Comments Off

Staycationing This Year? Here’s Five Ideas to Make it Feel Like a Vacation

For us, this past spring brought cancellation after cancellation. Small trips Tony and I were looking forward to fell quickly in succession up against shelter in place orders. And all the unknown factors surrounding COVID, has definitely kept us from planning any faraway trips for this summer. So other than trying to squeeze in a possible trip to see family, it looks like we may be staycationing this year. Anyone else? Only, we also don’t want to spend the entire time doing things around the house or catching up on our to-do lists. The point of a vacation is to [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-15T18:50:31+00:00June 15th, 2020|Categories: Balance, Creativity, Health, Staycation, Travel|Comments Off

Summer Reading Week 2020, Part 2: Five Fantastic Fiction Books

Reading some books is like eating chips and salsa. In the same way you can’t stop taking another chip and another chip, you can’t stop flipping the pages. But when you’re through you don’t always feel completely satisfied. Sure it was fun, delicious even. Only something inside you, still feels a little hollow. Reading some books is like eating chips and salsa. In the same way you can’t stop taking another chip and another chip, you can’t stop flipping the pages. This is how I feel about a lot of beach reads. They are fantastic escapes for a few hours [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-08T13:32:42+00:00June 11th, 2020|Categories: Good Books, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead|Comments Off

Summer Reading Week 2020, Part 1: 9 Great Nonfiction Books!

One of the most surprising side-effects of social distancing, for me, was not feeling compelled—or at times even able—to read. As someone who can, in some seasons, put away more than one book a week, you’d think I’d have been excited for all this extra time to bury my nose in some printed pages. Only often, I couldn’t read. My brain felt overwhelmed by all the information we were getting on a daily basis. My heart was heavy for all those who were suffering, from all we were collectively losing, and—I was missing time with my dad. For all these [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-07T23:09:31+00:00June 8th, 2020|Categories: Good Books, Mental Health, Routines, Self Care|Comments Off

To Fight Racism, We Need to Better Understand Racism (A Few Resources to Help)

If your friend called you in the middle of the night, upset, what would you do? Before getting up and driving over to their home, before making a plan on how best to help them— You’d listen, right? You’d ask them to take a deep breath, then to tell you what was wrong. You wouldn’t come over and fix the problem—because you don’t even know what the problem is yet. You wouldn’t tell them to call you in the morning; you care too much about them. You would listen. On Monday, I shared where I am at on my journey [...]

By Melissa Schlies|2020-06-03T22:46:38+00:00June 4th, 2020|Categories: Change, Conflict, Courage, Good Books, Hope, Lead, Learn, Love, Love Learn Lead, Racism|Comments Off

About Melissa Schlies

When You Feel Stuck & Change Feels Impossible

Five Reasons Not To Ignore Self Care During Times of Change

Change Isn’t Pretty: Why We Don’t (Always) Have to Despair When We Watch The News

This Week, We Turn Ten

Staycationing This Year? Here’s Five Ideas to Make it Feel Like a Vacation

Summer Reading Week 2020, Part 2: Five Fantastic Fiction Books

Summer Reading Week 2020, Part 1: 9 Great Nonfiction Books!

To Fight Racism, We Need to Better Understand Racism (A Few Resources to Help)

ABOUT ME

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