This week on the Creating Your Masterpiece Show, Jen and Leah continue their four part series and discuss Reinventing Yourself after a Major Life change. Many of us have *planned* how we think our lives will unfold. Sometimes, these plans change and we end up having to live the life we are given as opposed to the one we thought we would have. Major life changes can occur that leave us feeling lost or unsure of about the next step to take in our lives. When these situations occurs, we are often required to reinvent who we are and develop a new path to take.

Some of these major life changes include:

1. Being laid off from a job we’ve had for many years
2. Not being able to retire when we thought we could due to financial restraints
3. Loosing a spouse
4. Getting divorced
5. Going through a health issue

When things happen, and we are forced to reinvent who we are and how our lives are to play out, we must first remember that change is a good thing. We have to learn to embrace change in order to move forward in our lives.

Leah and Jen offer 6 tips to help you reinvent yourself.

1. Trust your instincts
2. Have a support system in place
3. Look at this as a new adventure and surrender yourself to the experience
4. Don’t expect the worst outcome, start with the assumption that everything will be OK
5. Say YES to new opportunities that are presented to you
6. Keep an open mind during the transition

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Are you tired of picking up the paper and reading about how *horrible* everything is in the world? Do you get sad when you turn on the tv and hear about even more doom & gloom? Have you ever just wished for some happy news?? Well, this week Jennifer and Leah are going to give you some!

They interview feature writer Amy Tobik of the Seminole Chronicle. The Seminole Chronicle is a community newspaper serving Oviedo, Winter Springs and surrounding communities in the Orlando metropolitan area of Central Florida. But, here’s the cool part……….they only write about positive, upbeat and motivating topics!

Amy, who has been a features writer with the Chronicle for over 6 years, shares with Leah and Jen some of the motivating stories she has written in the past. She also discusses the latest trends she is seeing today. She tells of how so many people have banded together to help and support each other during this difficult economic times.

Amy says her favorite part of the job is meeting so many different people who all have one thing in common. They all have a story to tell…even more importantly, a GOOD story to tell. One of the things Amy has noticed lately is that people are really getting involved with their communities by volunteering their time and services to help out, instead of just writing a check for a good cause.

“People are getting back to their core values,” explains Amy, “and they are helping each other out where they can.”

So, start spreading the GOOD news….there is a place you can go and read about the wonderful things people are doing to help out their fellow neighbors. Extra, Extra…Read all about it!

To learn more about the paper or to contact Amy visit the website www.seminolechronicle.com

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On this week’s podcast Jen and Leah continue their four part series about Life Changing events! This week’s focus is on realigning after a major life change. Whether you are going through a divorce, or watching your children graduate from school, or have been laid off from a job….when these types of major life changes happen in your life it is usually a good time to realign your priorities and focus. Look at these events as an opportuntiy instead of a set back.

Jen and Leah interview a woman who has personally had to realign her life recently, yet is still able to keep her life in balance. Rosemary Messina, a busy senior executive in the home building industry, recently became an empty nester. Her son has joined the Army and her daughter has gone off to college. She has always been successful at balancing her life, career, and family but now that her children are gone, she found herself having to write a new chapter in her life.

Part of her realignment strategy includes doing more things for herself. She’s focusing on traveling more with her husband, attaining additional training in her industry, and practicing more self care! While she misses her children being around, she has learned to embrace this new change in her life and recreate herself!

“I am very proud of my children’s accomplishments, and I don’t regret any of the time and energy I invested in raising them,” comments Rosemary. “But, at the same time, I am not going to feel sad that they are no longer living under my roof. I look at this time in my life as an opportunity to really realign, refocus and reinvent who I am and how I spend my time. It’s an exciting new chapter in my life!”

Rosemary offers some practical advice and tips for other parents out there that are juggling the many responsibilities that come with being a parent.

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On this week’s podcast show, Jennifer and Leah begin their four part series: Responding to Life Changing Events. This week they focus on Repurpose. Sometimes life has a away of creating changes, and the best way to respond is to Repurpose…which means giving an old item and new purpose. Our physical environment is so important to us. It is an essential part of creating a balanced palette. So, the things we surround ourselves with (furniture, accessories, lighting, etc) have an enormous impact on our lives!

Special guest on the show this week is Sharyn Hutchinson, President of ReDesign Concepts in Orlando, FL. ReDesign Concepts offers clients an affordable alternative to traditional interior decorating, ReDesign’s services create inviting, functional living spaces without the expense.  Simply by shopping within your home, she can help you achieve a more balanced, harmonious look.  Whatever your Interior ReDesign needs are ReDesign Concepts, LLC helps you rediscover the beauty of what you already own!

Sharyn talks to Leah and Jen about how the new trend today is that more people are staying home and not spending a lot of money on vacations and going out. They are finding new purpose in their homes and creating personal sanctuaries! Sharyn suggests making a space in your home that is just you own cozy corner of the world! A place you can retreat to and read, journal, or just think! Many people turn to repurposing after going through a life change, such as a divorce, or children moving out of the home, and they recreate those spaces in their homes. For example, if your children have gone away to college, it might be a good time to turn that bedroom into your private office or yoga studio!

To learn more about ReDesign Concepts, contact Sharyn Hutchinson, call 407.971.8153  or email  info@redesign-concepts.com

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In this week’s podcast, Leah and Jen talk about the keys to a harmonious Relationship. Our relationships with other people are often the most rewarding part of our lives, and yet can also be the most trying part of our lives. Discovering the keys to having harmonious relationships with others is very important to having healthy relationships. The three things that we must learn to do in our relationships in order for them to be harmonious are:

Talk: We need to be able to express ourselves freely in our relationships and be able to discuss what is on our minds openly and honestly.

Listen: Learning to REALLY listen to others is a skill. In many relationships, we don’t truly listen to what the other person is saying. in many cases we use that time when we should be listening to thinking about what we are going to say next!

Respect: Understand that you may not always agree with the other person, but you need to respect what they are saying. Try to put yourself in that person’s shoes. Respect their opinion and have an open mind to what that person is saying.

Jen and Leah also discuss Gary Chapman’s New York Times Bestselling book - The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate. In his book, he identifies five different love languages and how to determine what your love language is. Not surprisingly, most people’s love languages differ from their spouse’s, therefore making it that much more important to understand how to speak in your spouse’s love language. What speaks volumes to you may be meaningless to your spouse! Chapman teaches you how to determine your love language (and your spouse’s) and the learn how to speak that language, which results in the profound satisfaction and joy of being able to express your love – and feel truly loved in return! To learn more visit www.garychapman.org or www.fivelovelanguages.com

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