Paradise ....

What's your idea of paradise? Perhaps it's the beach, the mountains, a day of pampering, or sitting in your back yard ... all these and more could be your idea of heaven! My idea of peaceful tranquility is being by the ocean, with the white sand and crystal clear ocean sparkling in the sunlight, and a nice cool glass of Diet Coke by my side!!

Of course, traveling or going to these places can be a challenge on a regular basis and so instead, we rely on our memories or photographs to transport us back to those moments we remember and enable us to forget about the stresses of the day for just a few minutes or so.

Paradise takes on a different form for each of us - as unique as we each are. The one thing we have in common, however, is the ability to close our eyes and imagine being in that place that we call paradise. It takes work for sure, and the art of visualizing is not an easy practice. It takes time to learn these skills and to allow our minds to block out all distractions and focus solely on 'paradise'. The benefits, however, make all the practice in the world worth it as we find we can escape for moments of time when we most need it.

So today I DARE you to create that image in your mind of what 'paradise' means to you. Then, practice traveling there for short periods of time and allow yourself to escape in the beauty of that image. Sure, it's not something that you will master straight away and you may even feel a little silly being so quiet with your eyes closed, but I promise that the more you do it, the more natural it will feel and you'll learn to love those moments of time you have to yourself in paradise.

Here's to visualizing paradise until you can get there again .... be that at home in your armchair or for real!