Agile Living Blog Carnival: November Roundup

Once again, there were some excellent submissions, so thanks to everyone who submitted your posts to the Agile Living Blog Carnival this month. Here are my favorite submissions:

Adam Baker’s post, I’m a Big, Fat Hypocrite: Our Updated War on Debt posted at Man Vs. Debt is a great (and honest!) example of the sorts of values conflicts and decisions we all have to make in an abundant world, where we have so many choices. Adam says, “For Courtney and I, finding a balance in our life is at the very heart of agile living. Sure, paying off all our debt would help, but at what cost? Wouldn’t staying home, working 2.5 jobs, and paying off debt… well, be the opposite of agile living? It’s a tough call!” Is he a hypocrite or the ultimate in Agile Living? Let Adam know what you think…

A major obstacle to being Agile and moving and changing easily is when we’re carrying a lot of stuff – physical and emotional stuff. Dani shares about how to let go of what you don’t need posted at positively present. And she’s right when she says, “Just like happiness, getting rid of things you don’t need in your life is a choice. You don’t usually get forced into it and usually no one is going to do it for you…”

Brooke Ferguson wrote this excellent post on How To Make Life Decisions in Uncertain Times posted at BusinessBackpacker.com. In a fast-paced, ever-changing world, sometimes you can’t wait till you’ve got more information before you make a decision, and it’s useful to know how to make decisions (and sleep well at night!) in times of uncertainty.

In Cody McKibben’s post, Live a Remarkable Life, posted at Thrilling Heroics, Cody says there always have been and always will be a small subset of the population who lead remarkable lives. For them, there is no luck but that which they make for themselves. Learn to cast your net wide and take a proactive role in opening your life up to opportunity. And for me, that’s really what Agile Living is about – constantly actively opening up and expanding and making your contribution, in spite of the risks and the parts that are hard.

In a fast-paced, high-change, high-information world, it’s easy to get into stressing yourself out by always pushing yourself to have, do and be more. Fellow Martha Beck Coach, Abigail Steidley’s post, Decoding Pain Series, True Self Nurturing posted at The Vagina Dialogues, is a must-read if for perfectionists and type-A’s who are fighting themselves to get more done. And don’t be dissuaded by the name of Abigail’s blog – this post is just as relevant for men!

In a busy, abundant world full of choices, it can be hard to know what you want and stay focused on that and focus is so important in creating the life you want. Donald has a great post, How to Improve Focus With the Power of Intention, written by Douglas Cartwright and posted at Life Optimizer. Look out for the excellent questions towards the end of the post, to help you access your personal values and choose meaningful goals to focus on.

A big part of Agile Living is about embracing uncertainty and being more present. In Cherie Ve Ard’s post, Living on NST – Nomadic Standard Time posted at Tales from Technomadia, she says, “I’ve found that I’d much rather live in a constant state of delight with the things that serendipity brings me, than the frequent frustration of missed plans disappointing me.” When you allow the adventure to unfold in front of you, instead of trying to stick to a plan no matter what, wonderful things can happen. This is something that technomads, Cherie and Chris have come to call Nomadic Serendipity.

Carl Nelson’s post, The Two Things You Need For Change, posted at Drop of Change does a great job of highlighting my 2 favorite tools for Agile Living. Carl sums it up as: “Acceptance inhabits a world of past and present realities. Curiosity inhabits a world of future possibilities. ” Carl’s spot-on with this one!

Once again, big thanks for your submissions. The deadline for the next Agile Living Blog Carnival is 1 December and I’ll post the roundup here on 8 December.

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