What do Oprah and Bo Bice have in common?

Bo who? For those of you who have not succumbed to the American Idol frenzy, Bo Bice is one of the last two contestants standing, waiting for the final showdown this coming week. But, Bo is an unlikely American Idol pop icon. Usually America goes for the safe, the smooth, the familiar - and Bo is not any of these. He's a long haired rocker, wearing $6 Lenny Kravitz shades and having a great 'ol time in this competition that can make contestants cry. Bo is his own man - he doesn't need Simon, or Paula or Randy to tell him who he is and he's not afraid to get up there in front of America and let it all out. America loves Bo because we all want to feel as confident and free and fearless about letting our True Selves shine.

And that's exactly what Oprah does in her own girlfriend way. Don't ya'll just want to have coffee with Oprah, or have her join your book club, or go shopping now and again. It's because we see this incredibly wealthy and famous woman as a real person, not just simply as an unattainable image. We know Oprah would be just the same without $500 shoes. She just lets it out - as a viewer of her show, you always know what Oprah's thinking and she's not afraid to put it out there. She's also not afraid to show us the woman behind the image.

So, who's your True Self? If you were going to eliminate anything that stood in the way of being exactly who you are, who would you be?

Get out your journal and write down your answers to that question. This is your roadmap. Now, figure out what your roadblocks are and take steps to eliminate them one by one. Get help if you need.

Bo and Oprah are having a great 'ol time. Let's join them!

For more thoughts on Bo and American Idol, visit my Coach pal Nancy's blog - The Loca Diaries.

The Wine, Food and oh yeah, Book Club

In 1999 a few friends and I started a book club. Who would have known that it would be going strong 6 years later and have morphed into a fantastic aspect of my social life.

I love going to book club, not only for the great conversation we have about our reads, but also because we have so dang much fun! Lychee martinis or champagne anyone?!

Over the years our gathering has seen many beloved members come and go, and has incorporated several traditions - most of which include lots of good food and wine! Hence, the illustrious name of our club.

I was at book club last night and, even though slightly blurry today, I am filled up by the camraderie, the titilatting conversation, the laughter, the awesome food (thanks Dale and Nikolai) and the tangents of outrageous subjects that we ended up on (some is past PG-13, so I won't mention here!)

Everyone should have a 'book club', a regular gathering of folks that fill your bucket brimming to the top.

So, I thought that I'd share some of the latest reads of our book club. You should know that our one rule is: if you don't like it, don't read it. Life is too short to be in a group of book Nazi's. And, we also love it when we disagree!

• Ka'aawa - OA Busnell. Lot's of conversation about this last night. For those of you mainlanders who may be wondering how the heck to pronounce this - say all the 'a's and the w sounds like a v. Got it? It's a valley town on the windward side of Oahu. This book, written by a white man in the 70's tells a fictional tale of two men in Hawaii in the 1850's. I think you have to live here or have some familiarity with the area to enjoy this. Even with our group of 'locals' we had a wide range of feelings about this book - on our scale of 1-10, it got from 5 to 8.5.
• The Summer Guest - Justin Cronin. A family saga type story set in the wooded eastern lake region. A fun read, but the book club agreed that it ended poorly and was somehwat too predictable. Received 5-7 on the book club scale, I think.
• The Piano Tuner - Daniel Mason. Set in Burma in the late 1800's during the British occupation. A British officer has an elegant piano sent to the jungle so he can woo the local chiefs, but of course it arrives out of tune. The piano tuner is sent from England to tune the piano, but has the journey of a lifetime. Lot's of intrigue and our book club all disagreed about what really happened in the end. Some really liked this books and others (like me) didn't.

Those were our lastest 3 reads, but here's some of the book club faves and recommendations over the years:

• The Time Traveller's Wife - Audrey Nifenneger
• The Cultural Creatives - Paul Ray & Sherry Ruth Anderson
• Solar Storms - Linda Hogan
• Out of Africa - Isak Dinesen
• Peace Like a River - Leif Enger
• To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
• Carter Beats the Devil - Glen David Gold
• Empire Falls - Richard Russo
• A Winter's Tale - Mark Helprin
• Ahab's Wife - Sena Jeter Naslund
• Sister of My Heart - Chitra Divakaruni
• The Red Tent - Anita Diamant
• A Soldier of the Great War - Mark Helprin
• Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

Read away - get your own group together to talk, laugh, and add depth to your life. And, post a comment about any book recommendations you have.

Spring Cleaning for the Soul

We live in a very beautiful, but damp tropical valley. While the humidity and daily showers create a gorgeous green landscape, lush with plants of all shapes and sizes, it also brings mold. Yuck!

I was thoroughly sick and tired of looking at the dirty, moldy concrete slab in our backyard and decided on Sunday to do a little spring cleaning and get rid of that ugly 'ol energy drain.

So, out came the power washer and I spent few hours in the sunshine peeling off the layers of dirt and grime that the winter rains had left at my house.

Such a satisfying task! And as I was doing this, I was thinking about what winter grime in me needed be be cleaned away for the season of spring to bloom.

Money issues perhaps? Moving some fear out of it's hidey hole? Or maybe just giving up my care for what other people think. All good ones for me.

Spring is the perfect time for you to polish your own self up a bit. Time to get out your own powerwasher and peel away a few of your grimier layers. Ask yourself:

• What do I need to get rid of in order to bloom?
• What is it that is holding me back?
• What are my 3 biggest energy drainers and how can I eliminate them?
• If my fairy godmother could wave the magic wand and make one thing different about me, what would it be?
• If I wasn't afraid, what one thing would I do or be?

Now, take what you've learned from your answers and act! Flowers don't grow without water, fertilizer, and the clearing of the weeds, and neither do you.

Go for it! And, if you need a little coaching help, then give me a holler at www.coachbalance.com. I'll have the powerwasher ready!

Win a Spa Day - valued at $390!

Coach Catherine Bruns, Hawaii's premiere Life Coach for women has 8 openings for private one on one coaching clients and is looking for referrals from you!

How many women do you know who are busy and overwhelmed and looking for change in their life? A few I bet. With Coach Catherine these women can eliminate overwhelm, effortlessly achieve success and find greater satisfaction by embracing the natural strengths of their True Selves.

Encourage your women friends to enhance their lives by referring them to Coach Catherine. You will be thanked endlessly and could find yourself basking in a glorious day at a spa near you.

Here's how it works:

• The greatest number of qualified referrals wil win a Queen (or King) For A Day spa package (valued at up to $390) at the Honolulu Aveda spa (or spa of your choice if you do not reside on Oahu Hawaii)
• Each person who refers at least 5 qualified referrals will receive a massage from the practitioner of your choice, valued at $60
• Each qualified referral puts $25 cash in your pocket

You come out a winner for every single referral - and so do the women you refer!

A qualified referral is: a woman who purchases at least one month of individual coaching from Coach Catherine and the referrer is a subscriber of Living in Balance

Referrals must be received by June 30, 2005 and the coaching purchase must be confirmed by July 31, 2005 to qualify

For more information about who would making a good referral and how to make a referrral, go to www.coachbalance.com or just call Coach Catherine at (808)263-1244.

You deserve a little pampering! And your women friends deserve to live a rich juicy life. Make a referral now!

PYL #5 - The Quicksand of Worry

Our last little energy drainer is the quicksand of worry. Worry is an incredible drain on the energy in your bucket. It's really amazing how tired and cranky we can get simply by allowing our thoughts to go into worry. So, there's good news and bad news about this. The good news is (in most cases) worry is under your control. The bad news is, worry is under your control - which means that if you want it to change you've got to do something about it.

Worry takes us into the past or the future. Perhaps you're worrying about something you said or did that you feel embarrassed or guilty about. How does this help you? Your power is right here and now, in the present. Here is where you have the choice and the ability to take action to change what needs to be changed - not in some future or past place in your head!

Worry is completely unproductive for us as humans. For most of us worry is a choice. It may feel like you have no control over it, but unless you have a clinically diagnosed anxiety disorder, then you can choose to do something other than worry.

You've read the Plugging Your Leaks article, right? And rated yourself on the worry scale, right? If not, go do that really quick, right now so you know what I'm talking about.

If you're above a 3 on the worry scale, then you need to make some changes. Here's how you go about it.

Ask yourself:

1. Is this real or am I making it up? Give yourself a reality check.
2. What do I need to do to alleviate the worry? Taking action eliminates worry.

For those of you who for which worry has become part of life, a bad habit perhaps, then you may need to incorporate some regular activities into your life to help you from falling into the worry quicksand. Some ideas are:

• Meditation
• Exercise
• Journaling
• Therapy

If you found yourself closer to the 10 side of the worry scale, then I want you to seriously consider getting some help. You may have an anxiety issue, which is easily treatable by many methods.

Don't leap into the quicksand! Share with us those methods that help you stay our of the mire of worry.