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1/17/2010

The Ability to Respectfully Disagree

By Michael Angier

A critical key to success in your career and in your life overall is developing and maintaining good relationships. Here is a great article by Michael Angier who has a support network helping people and businesses grow and prosper.

Our relationships with friends, coworkers, suppliers, spouses, clients, bosses, siblings, teachers, employees, competitors and parents affect everything we do. Our success is highly dependent upon these relationships.

And it's not enough to be likable. Being agreeable and good natured are admirable traits. But in order to effect real change—in order to be a leader—one must often go against the norm. To make a difference, we often have to disagree with people and take different positions. Just going along with everyone will not work.

People are often surprised at how diverse my friends and business associates are. I have good relationships with people who are liberal and conservative, religious and secular. I seem to be able to get along with people from different cultures, with dissimilar philosophies and even divergent values.

I credit this to usually being tolerant and respectful. I like people and I learn something from almost everyone. I don't need to be right—even though I like to be. I also don't believe there is only one way, one path, one right answer.

The trick is to be able to disagree without being disagreeable. We want to respect others and have others respect us.

I think it starts with respecting others enough to listen to their points of view —and to do this regardless of whether or not we agree with them. The more you understand, the more you validate their viewpoint, the more likely it is they'll respond in kind, and you'll have a better relationship.

There's real truth in the old adage, "people don't care how much you know until they know how much we care." And I love Stephen Covey's profound maxim, "seek first to understand."

We all know that a response to someone's viewpoint like, "That's stupid!" is near the worst end of the spectrum. Here are a few on the other side. Be aware: they require you to be sincere and won't work unless you are.

"That's an interesting viewpoint. You must have a good reason for thinking that way. Do you mind telling me what it is?"

"I think I understand what you're saying, and could you tell me more about how you arrived at your opinion?"

"That's interesting. And I see it somewhat differently. May I explain?"

"I see what you're saying. I have another way of looking at it . . ."

There are many more. The point is to respond with respect, courtesy and honesty.

Action Point

Commit to improving your ability to talk about controversial things in a responsible, respectful and tolerant fashion. You'll get better with practice, but you won't practice and experiment unless you're committed to doing it well.

Then do it. Respond, don't react. Be considerate without being abrasive. Speak your truth with compassion.

After discussions, think about how you might have responded better—how you could have listened better, demonstrated more respect and been more tolerant. Don't make yourself wrong for it; just notice what you do, then resolve to do it better next time.

1/10/2010

What surprises me most about humankind?

That they get bored with childhood, they rush to grow up, and then long to be children again.

That they lose their health to make money... and then lose their money to restore their health.

That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live in neither the present nor the future.

That they live as if they will never die, and die as though they had never lived.

1/3/2010

New Year

A new year lies ahead. We all possess the capacity to feel and to touch, to be happy, to have friends, to receive love, to realize the demands of a world that needs our encouragement, our participation, our beliefs. All of us are one -- the rich, the poor, the educated, the illiterate, the student, businessperson, the professional, the person with spouse and children, the person who is alone. So much is new in our world -- new people, new directions, new opportunities, and new purpose. Every day is a new day bringing into our lives friendship, promise, and love.

Let us ask ourselves hard questions…

How much time did we waste in the year that is now gone?

Did we fill our days with life, or were they dull and empty?

Was there love inside our home, or was the affectionate word left unsaid?

Was there a real companionship with our children, our parents or was there a living together and a growing apart?

Were we a help to our mates, or did we take them for granted?

With our friends - Were we there when they needed us?

The kind deed: Did we perform it or postpone it? The unnecessary gibe: did we say it or hold it back?

Did we live by false values? Did we deceive others? Did we deceive ourselves?

Were we sensitive to the rights and feelings of those who worked with us?

Did we acquire only possessions, or did we acquire new insights as well?

Did we fear what the crowd would say and keep quiet when we should have spoken out?

Did we mind only our own business, or did we feel the heartbreak of others?

And…

Did we live right, and if not, then have we learned and will we change?

12/27/2009

Carrot, Egg and Coffee

A carrot, an egg and a cup of coffee... You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again…

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft.

The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as he tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity...boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however.

After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. "Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?

Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?"

Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.

When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can't go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so at the end, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying. You might want to send this message to those people who mean something to you (I JUST DID); to those who have touched your life in one way or another; to those who make you smile when you really need it; to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down; to those whose friendships you appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in your life.

If you don't send it, you will just miss out on the opportunity to brighten someone's day with this message!

It's easier to build a child than repair an adult. This is so true - may we all be COFFEE.

12/20/2009

Our Deepest Fear

by Marianne Williamson

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.

It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

12/13/2009

Spiritual Empowerment

As you look around yourself, what do you see? Did you know that every person and circumstance that appears in your life was brought into being by a natural process that is always operating within your subconscious mind? For most people, this process operates automatically, beneath the surface of their conscious awareness.

You have a Limitless Source of four distinct powers inside you. These powers are will, imagination, intellect and matter.

In the process of Spiritual Empowerment, the sacred powers of will, imagination, intellect and body are accessed, purified and activated. This focused exploration into the depths of oneself can greatly expand consciousness, and bring one into full command of the natural creation process. As steps are taken to focus these powers on perfecting one's life; old, limiting circumstances disappear.

Some may find the idea of such a life-changing awakening a bit overwhelming. If I am creating everything in my world, why I am struggling so hard? Why did I not create a perfect and beautiful life? What about the other people in my life who bring their own agendas into my domain? The answers to these questions point to power and consciousness, two mechanisms that can present many challenges to the will, imagination, intellect and body of the human.

Did you know that most people are afraid of their own power? This is due to potent conditioning that begins at birth, and is deeply reinforced throughout one's life. Feelings of nervousness, fear or anxiety in any circumstance are a signal that you are not fully aligned with your own power. One of the first issues we address in Spiritual Empowerment is the transmutation of all fear back into your essential power.

If you have tried any methods to manifest your desires, such as those described as the "Law of Attraction", but have not gotten the results you wanted, it is quite possibly due to imbalances and obstructions in one or more of the four basic powers. Through the process of Spiritual Empowerment, the will, imagination, intellect and body are freed from conditioned limitations. Resistances to change are easily overcome as empowerment energy merges into all levels of the being. The true self is awakened and the identity shifts from the lower to the higher.

From this point forward, one becomes more fully alive and power inside you flows abundantly and freely in the body-mind and out into the world. Where before there was uncertainty, limitation, and less than perfect outcomes, now there is confidence in the inexhaustible source of perfection from where one may draw all things needful for a healthy, happy, harmonious life.

You may now surround yourself with whatever you desire - a beautiful home, better health, a great body, more money, people who support your goals and want to help you, connections to resources to quickly advance your own aspirations, and most importantly, greater awareness of your true spirit and its mission in life.

Live in Joy!

12/6/2009

39 Key Questions You Must Answer to Discover Your Life Purpose

By Ruben Gonzalez

Benjamin Franklin said, "Most men die at age 25 but are not buried until they are 70." What he meant was, most people give up on their dreams before they are 30 years old, and spend the rest of their lives in "survival mode", living day to day, just trying to get through the day rather than living a life filled with passion, in the pursuit of their dreams.

I'm going to share a sad fact with you. When I speak at an Elementary School and ask my audience, "Do you have dreams?" almost every hand goes up. When I ask the same question at a Middle School, only half of the hands go up. When I ask High School and College students if they have dreams, only a few hands go up. And when I speak to adults at conventions, or corporate events, I'm surprised if anybody raises their hand. In fact, I don't even ask the adults anymore because it just embarrasses them.

Life is tough. There's no doubt about it. And unless you are crystal-clear about where you want to go, crystal-clear about your life purpose, mission, calling, or destiny, and unless you believe it is possible for you to make your dream a reality, you will not act on it and you will revert to "survival mode". Believe me, "survival mode" is not a good place to be.

The whole secret to a successful life is to find out what it is your destiny to do, and then do it.

I know. I've been there. Ever since the third grade, I dreamed of being an Olympic athlete. But I didn't believe in myself so I never committed to acting on my dream. Eventually I put my Olympic dream up on the shelf. For years, I felt lost. I felt like a nobody. I felt I was not making a difference. I did not like myself. Many years later, while in College, something happened that inspired me to go for it.

When I saw tiny Scott Hamilton win the Gold Medal at the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, I said to myself, "If that little guy can do it, I can do it too! I WILL be in the next Olympics!" And I made a commitment to do whatever it took to make my dream a reality. All of a sudden, my life had purpose, meaning, and passion! Four years later I was marching in the Opening Ceremonies of the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

We all have a dream in our hearts, and we have all the gifts, talents, and resources we need to make our dreams a reality. But it's up to us to believe in ourselves and it is up to us to do the work. Many times, you will not discover your true gifts until you put yourself through the struggle of chasing your dream. The person you become through the struggle is your gift back to you.

You were created to make your dream come true. It is your life purpose. It is you calling. It's your mission. Your dream will draw on your talents, it will appeal to your highest ideals, and will give you unlimited energy. Having a vision of where you want to be satisfies several universal drives within each of us. Having a dream connects with the spirit that dwells in our heart; it gives us an outlet for our unique gifts and talents, and makes us feel that our lives matter. It makes us feel that we are making a difference.

A dream does several things. It gives you a future focus. Instead of being worried about the frustrations of the present, a dream gets you thinking about the possibilities of the future. A dream gives you energy. Have you ever been so engrossed in a book or in a project that hours seemed like minutes? That's what it feels like when you are passionately chasing your dream. Finally, a dream keeps you from wasting your life. Dreams keep you from wasting your talents, your abilities, and your creativity. They keep you from living a life filled with regret. That terrible "What might have been?" feeling.

You will experience success in life to the extent that you are clear about and commit to achieving your life purpose.

How do you find your purpose? It all comes down to spending some quality time getting to know yourself through some very specific questions. I would suggest going out by yourself for a couple of days to a quiet place, maybe a cabin in the woods, out by a lake, a place where you will not be interrupted and really thinking about it. It might be a good idea to take a notebook to write your thoughts.

Before I give you the questions, I'd like you to think about some people you deeply admire. What is it about them that you admire? Specifically what qualities do you admire in them? I'd be willing to bet that anyone you admire, is someone who is dedicating their life to their unique calling. If you are having trouble thinking of people, just think about people like Michael Jordan, Mother Theresa, Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Sam Walton, Norman Schwarzkopf, and the NASA Astronauts.

What do they have in common? They love what they do. They would do it for free. They are good at what they do. Doing what they do is extremely important to them. They have a sense of destiny, a sense that they are doing what they were born to do.

Well you know what? The experiences you have had up to this point in your life have prepared you for your life purpose. You have unique talents, abilities, interests, and values that only you can bring to greatness. There is a destiny that only you can fulfill. But first you need to find out what you would love to do. What you would be willing to do for free. What you are good at doing. What is extremely important to you. What you were born to do.

So here are the questions. Don't just glance at them. Invest some time in them. Remember, what you learn from them could change your life - and the world! You might want to write each of these questions on a separate index card and spend at least 15 minutes on each one. Fifteen minutes writing your unique answer in your life mission notebook.

Note: Some of these questions are very similar. They are just worded differently. This is done intentionally. I want to stimulate different parts of your brain in order to get closer to your true answer.

What are my greatest talents?

What do others say I am good at? (You want to weigh this heavily because many times our gifts come so naturally to us, that we underestimate them. Your true gifts will be more apparent to others.)

What have my unique life experiences prepared me to do?

What do I love to do so much that I would do it for free? Why? (The why is very important. It will give you clues to your driving force.)

What activities give me satisfaction? Why?

What excites me about life? Why?

What is my secret ambition? Why?

What are my hobbies?

What is my greatest character strength?

What is my greatest passion?

What would I be willing to die for? Why?

What will I feel like when I make it happen?

What will the regret feel like if I don't make it happen?

What am I good at?

What do I get complimented on?

Where have I excelled in the past?

Where have I been successful?

What is important to me?

What do you naturally do well?

What things do you view as your greatest successes? Why?

Is there a cause about which you feel passionate?

What is it about that cause that attracts you to it?

What are the most important lessons you have learned through your experiences about life?

What do you daydream about doing? Why?

What things do you want to be remembered for at the end of your life? Why?

What things will your life be incomplete without? Why?

If you had a year left to live, what would you do differently? Why?

What would you do if you knew you could not fail? Why?

What would you do with your time if you were wealthy? Why?

What do you stand for?

What were you born to do?

What is your unique mission in life?

What do you want you to do?

What are your unique opportunities?

Where can you make a difference?

How do you want to be remembered? Why?

What will outlast you?

What will continue after you are gone?

What legacy do you want to leave behind? Why?

You might want to go through this exercise on an ongoing basis (maybe a couple of questions every day) until you become crystal-clear about your purpose in life.

Remember, you can't make your dream come true if you don't even know what it is. If you can't see it, you can't get it. Once you see it, dedicate your life to making it a reality. Give yourself to your vision. You are worthy of it. It's why you're here. It's how you will make a difference in the world. It's how you'll be remembered. It's your legacy.

So? Are you going to do this or not?

If you do, you are making a BIG mistake!

DO THIS EXERCISE! If you don't, you have no one but yourself to blame for not realizing your dreams!

I don't care who you are. I don't care if you are a CEO or the President of the United States ! I don't care if last week you climbed Mt. Everest . You need to do this. You need to find out what your next dream will be!

Otherwise you are sentencing yourself to a life of mediocrity.

11/29/2009

Recharge Your Battery
By Steve Dimeck

How many times have you felt that you needed to recharge your battery? How many times have you lost your inspiration and motivation? How many times have you faced problems and obstacles that discouraged you from persisting with your goal?

It was 4:15PM on a Thursday when I arrived at the hair salon to get my haircut. My hair appointment was at 5PM but I arrived there quite early.

As I set down in the comfortable leather chair in the little "waiting corner," I looked down to my left with an intention to pick a magazine from the big basket that was filled with maybe over 50 magazines.

I sorted through the magazines but nothing would catch my eye. There were so many different magazines; I couldn't decide which one to pick and read while waiting.

Then, as I lifted a big batch of magazines to choose from, one of them fell down on the floor. I immediately dropped all the other magazines back into the basket and took the one that fell on the floor.

The beautiful view of a tropical island in the background, surrounded by crisp clear water covering the entire cover of the magazine, got my attention.

The magazine contained a large number of photos from tropical islands, vacation resorts and everything tropical you can imagine. I submerged myself into the pictures so much that 40 minutes went by like 4 seconds.

When I was all done with the haircut, I asked Isabella (the hair stylist) if I could take the magazine. She said that it wouldn't be a problem because anyway they recycle the magazines at the end of each month when they bring new ones in.

The magazine is called Islands . When I went home I put it next to my computer and until today's day, it's still sitting there.

I look through it periodically. All my life I've lived in the northern hemisphere of the planet, and winter is definitely not my favorite season. Not to even mention the driving headaches when we get dumped with a few feet of snow.

The tropical theme has always been a dream place of mine.

So, every time I feel down, discouraged, marketing plan isn't working well, a goal doesn't get accomplished, problems and obstacles appearing out of nowhere, motivation is down, no inspiration, the world is coming down on me ... and so on ...

I take few peaceful minutes - no children, no computer. I pick up the magazine and literally isolate myself from this world. I transfer my soul to the tropical beauty shown in the pictures and I visualize myself living there and not just vacationing.

My battery gets recharged; I get the smile back on my face and I say to myself: "One day ...."

How many times have you felt down and depressed because of one reason or another?

What brought you up and what pulled you down during these crucial times?

I remember back in 1994 when I was starting college, a friend of mine gave me a study to read. The study came from a major corporate research. It was on "why executives rise to the height of their company and why other people don't."

The executives told in their words what they did to achieve such a success. I don't have that study anymore but I remember it very well because I'm still practicing what they said.

One of the steps was to have material goals. Something that you can see.

The material goals represent something far beyond material form. When you visually see the material goals that you're striving for, you receive the feeling of the kind of person you need to become in order to have them.

That feeling will recharge your fuel cells and bring your enthusiasm to the front line.

We live in a material world and we have to operate in a material world. We want material things because they're a representation of who we are.

What you want is good, because what you want is an extension of you becoming better.

And sometimes, you just need a basic material something to spark you into a higher level of achievement.

© Steve Dimeck

11/22/2009

What you can learn a lot from a dog...

When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.

Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy.

When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.

Let others know when they've invaded your territory.

Take naps and stretch before rising.

Run, romp, and play daily.

Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

Avoid biting, when a simple growl will do.

On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass.

On hot days, drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree.

When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout ... run right back and make friends.

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you have had enough.

Be loyal.

Never pretend to be something you're not.

If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.

When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently.

11/15/2009

"I'm proud of you!"

By Bob Perks

What did you really think when you saw the subject line in this email? Did it grab your attention? Did it make you want to read it? Did it make you feel good for a moment?

"Who's proud of me?" you might have thought.

That's how powerful those words are.

Tell someone today.

"I'm proud of you!"

Does anyone say it any more? When I heard it the other day, it caught my attention. It was like hearing something oddly familiar but distant and faint in my memory.

You know, like things your grandmother used to say.

I needed to understand why. I mean, it just doesn't seem right that a phrase so powerful would not be heard and used regularly.

"I'm proud of you!"

When was the last time you said that to someone? Not just someone you love, but a neighbor, friend, or co-worker.

To a neighbor...

"You make a difference in the world in everything you do. I watch the people around you, how they react whenever you're there. They smile, laugh often and feel better for having had you in their day, even if ever so briefly. I'm proud of you!"

To a Friend...

"You take on the challenges of life and never give in. You might not always win, but you don't lose for lack of trying. I'm proud of you!"

To a co-worker...

"You care. It shows in the way you do your work. You not only do your job, you care about the details, the goals and the outcome.

I'm proud of you!"

To a child...

"You didn't hit a home run, but you played with your heart in every game. You never missed a practice, you tried your very best. That's a home run in my book. I'm proud of you!"

To your spouse or partner...

"We'll get through this together. Yes, you lost your job, but so did many others. I see great determination in your eyes. I love you even more in the difficult times because that's when you shine and the world sees your best. I'm proud of you!"

"I'm proud of you!"

11/8/2009

What kind of a person am I?

What kind of a person are you? The same is true of a seamstress, carpenter, accountant, teacher, homemaker, lawyer, mechanic, or an engineer or a manager... The question is, Who and what am I? What must I do to be at peace with myself? What can I be, for that is what I must be? A lucky few of us find the answers to these questions fairly early in life, and we work to develop into the people we can be and must be. We do that by looking at our deepest desires, and ask what would bring fulfillment for us. We ask what we would enjoy doing most, what we believe we have the ability to be really good at. What is it that sometimes burns within us to be expressed or done? The answers to what we can be, what we must be, come from within, through asking ourselves these questions.

What kind of a person am I capable of being?

11/1/2009

The place where you are

By Ralph Marston

The place where life happens is the place where you are. The place where you build success and achievement is the place where you are.

You cannot change the places where you came from, and you've not yet arrived at the places you'll be. The place where you are is the only place where you can think and act and make life happen in the way you intend.

If you spend your time wishing you were someplace else, then you lose the opportunity to get there. Instead, see the power and the possibilities of the place where you are, and tap into the real value of what you now have.

If you fill the place where you are with worry, frustration, anxiety or anger, you put needless limitations on what you can do. Instead, fill this moment, this set of circumstances with joy, love, gratitude and enthusiasm for the positive possibilities.

Give the best that you can to the place where you are. For your world is determined not by what you hope to do on some distant someday, but by how you live right here and now.

This is the place where you are. Live it for all that it is.

10/18/2009

The Price of Success

By Ruben Gonzalez

Average people expect their dreams and goals to fall on their lap. They are not willing to inconvenience themselves for their dreams. They refuse to do anything outside their comfort zone to reach their dreams. They don't stand for anything, they don't commit to anything and they just drift through life. That's why they are average. Because they are not willing to do what successful people are willing to do. Consequently, they don't live life, they merely exist. They just take up space.

In order to succeed in life, you have to be willing to inconvenience yourself in a big way. You have to be willing to commit to yourself and to your dream. You have to be willing to face your fears and do some things that are very uncomfortable. You have to be willing to do the things average people are not willing to do. You see, success is not about aptitude. It's about attitude. It's about having the attitude that you are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

General William Westmoreland was once reviewing a platoon of paratroopers in Vietnam . As he went down the line, he asked each of them a question: "How do you like jumping, son?" "Love it, sir!" was the first answer. "How do you like jumping?" he asked the next. "The greatest experience in my life, sir!" exclaimed the paratrooper. "How do you like jumping?" he asked the third. "I hate it, sir," he replied. "Then why do you do it?" asked Westmoreland. "Because I want to be around guys who love to jump."

Yeah! That guy had the right attitude!

One day, I was talking with Rudy Ruettiger, the inspiration behind the movie, "Rudy," and I mentioned that I didn't like the luge. I told Rudy that I competed in the luge because it was my vehicle to the Olympics. Rudy got a kick out of that. Then, he told me; "I never liked football. My dream was to be part of the Notre Dame Tradition and I saw football as a way to do that!"

Sometimes you have to do things you don't like to do in order to get where you want to go. The paratrooper was willing to jump out of airplanes so he could hang around people who loved to jump. I was willing to hurl myself down the ice in order to compete in the Olympics. Rudy was willing to get beat up in the football field in order to get to be a part of the Notre Dame tradition.

How about you? Is there something that's been holding you back from your dream? Something that's been keeping you from taking action? Don't let anything keep you from your dream. I guarantee you that the feeling you experience once you realize your dreams and aspirations will make the price you paid feel worthwhile.

The price of success is big but the price of regret that comes from not pursuing your dream is a hundred times bigger.

Make a decision that you will do whatever it takes to realize your goals and dreams and make your life an adventure.

10/11/2009

Rise to meet the sun

By Bob Perks

If you want to be the first to see what the day has to offer, stand on the hill and be the first to see the sun.

Keep in mind that there is a possibility that someone else is standing on a taller mountain. It really shouldn't matter. Eventually, even those down in the valley will see the light.

If you want no part of the day, try staying in bed.

Chances are the sun will find you, still.

The sun waits for no one.

At the back of my property, we placed a converted shed we call "Hope House." Long before I am ready, the house up on the hill begins to glow ever so brightly. First the peak and then washing slowly over the top of the door, it reflects back toward where I am standing.

Imagine a spotlight on one single object on a darkened stage. There, now fully exposed, the house on the hill beckons me and I run up the pathway in a hurry to claim my spot in the sun before it even kisses the petunias in the window boxes.

For me "Hope" glows in the early morning sun but I need not see it to know it's always there. I have seen the sun rise for more years than I care to count. It is only lately that I appreciate it more.

Get up before the dawn and with the rising of the sun you will not waste a moment. For it is not just another day...it is another chance.

So, what does it bring?

That is best answered by asking "What will you bring into it?"

The sun does not bring sadness, nor joy. You do.

The sun does not create success or failure. You do.

The sun does not make opportunities. You do.

The sun does not sound an alarm nor call your name in the early morning hours begging you to participate.

You must "Rise to meet the sun."

Source URL: http://www.IWishYouEnough.com

10/4/2009

One Miracle
by Bob Perks

I had a dream last night that you've been given a miracle to do whatever you want with it. What will you do?

"Boy, I could really use a miracle right now!" he said.

I was having breakfast at a local restaurant when I overheard two men talking.

I thought about how many times I've said that. It then lead me to this question:

"What if I was given one miracle?"

Not one that I asked for, but one that was given to me to do what I wanted.

One miracle that could change the world. One miracle that could save lives. One miracle that could bring joy into the lives of people all around me.

One miracle that could comfort the sick, heal a broken heart, empower others to rise above their own challenges.

One miracle that could... go ahead name it.

What if you woke up one day and this revelation came to you that you held the power of using one miracle to impact the world in such a unique way as to leave a lasting and forever impression?

Think about the weight of that idea. Think about what it would be like to know that you held that power and you had to decide what you were going to do with it.

Think about what it would be like if others knew you had that miracle at hand. Would you feel a sense of urgency to do something with it or would you just sit by and wait until the opportunities faded or your time ran out?

What about your obligation to your life and humanity?

Above all else, beyond what others might expect, don't you think that if your birth gave you that miracle that you would make it a priority in your life to use it in such a way as to make your life worthy of living?

Well, my friend, this isn't some foolish idea. This isn't some ethical question in a college course. It is indeed reality.

YOU are that miracle born with great expectations and given unto the world as the miracle of life. You are capable of all those things and obligated to use this miracle.

Wake up to this reality. Step up to the challenge.

Live up to expectations.

Be the miracle!

Source URL: http://www.IWishYouEnough.com

9/20/2009

Choices

A moment ago belongs to the past.

Now belongs to us.

We live in the present.

Each moment lived in suspension

is a moment lost, never to return.

Each moment is full of choices.

There is no quota to be used up.

Shall we choose to merely listen or to really hear,

to look upon or truly see,

to remain safely insulated

or touch our inner core?

The choice of participation or

withdrawal, creation or destruction is ours.

In choosing and doing our choice

we affirm life.

We have the capacity for continual

renewal of our lives.

Will we free ourselves from the

conflicts and fears which estrange?

We reach within ourselves, we reach out

affirming choice, seeking unity, asserting

a plea for wholeness.

9/6/2009

Bigger than life

You think that everything hinges on everything else. You perceive a chain of events, yet you perceive amiss. Sequence is a result of language. The, cause and effect that you see are not as they seem. Time after time is not true. It is perceived but not true. You say 1, 2, 3. You say, "This happened, and then that happened, and now this is happening." You see that Cupid shoots an arrow, and then you are in love. You see that someone shoots a gun, and now there is a bull's eye, for example. There are examples every day, every minute.

Of course, it appears that a flower blooms in a certain sequence. This first, then that. Of course, it appears that a puppy dog grows a little at the tail and a little at the nose.

You may say to yourself a million times: "Oh, if only I had not done that. Oh, if only I had done this, how different my world would be."

Yes, you do affect everyone and everything in the world. You have an affect. Your thoughts have an effect, and yet, strange as it may seem, there is no cause and effect. Your love stimulates someone you have never seen, and yet that unseen person can rise above the stimulus of your thoughts. He can rise above his own. You can rise above your own.

The concept, and it is only a concept, of cause and effect is too simplistic. From that concept comes the illusion of blame. From the concept of blame comes repercussion and punishment of one kind or another. Contribution and blame are not exactly the same.

Everything contributes.

It is like this: Life is an orchestra. All the instruments play. They come into play. One is at the forefront, and others join in, and from the varied instruments, music is made. All instruments have a tone, and each tone contributes to the whole. All contributes to the whole. And there are the instrumentalists who play the instruments. How and when they take a breath contributes, and yet who can say which instrument is responsible for this music and its beauty that play this moment?

Life is bigger than life!

You are indeed part of an orchestra of life, and you play a big part in it. You infuse it. You diffuse it. You are instrumental in every aspect. And yet you are innocent. Yet you are responsible for the note you play, and the note you play contributes to the music as a whole. No matter how well you play, or how well the world views your playing, you merely play the instrument you play. No matter how poorly you may play in the eyes of the world, you merely play the instrument of yourself that you play. Let no man say that you are to blame for the whole composition. Yet, everyone is responsible, and everyone is blameless.

Source URL: http://www.heavenletters.org/bigger-than-life.html

8/30/2009

When you wake up in the morning...

Don’t jump out of the bed when you wake up in the morning

Set your alarm for half an hour earlier, give yourself a moment in time

Stretch like a cat; be happy to be awakening again…

Open your windows regardless of rain, storm or sunshine, breath in deep and long

Don’t just splash water on your face, wash it from top to bottom with cool water

Make your clothes ready from the evening to wear for the day

Use your new found time to toast a slice of bread instead,

Breathe in deep its aroma

Enjoy breakfast immensely...

Have your shoes shined, your smell pleasant, and first of all love your silhouette in the mirror…

Leave your house with joy in your heart, smile at the first person you see, wish a delightful day

Hurry to your work, finish all that is left from yesterday, the day before, and lighten your load

Get yourself a cup of coffee, make a call to hear a voice that makes you happy

Get out lunch time even no errands to run

Get wet if it is raining; get warm if sun is shining, feel the chill if it is winter

Walk, look around, but not just to look, but to see all

Smell if you see a flower, pet if you see a dog, smile and touch her cheek if you see a child…

Then, think a minute, who helped you to find your way when you were lost, who helped you when you were in a pinch, who knocked on your door when no one else did?

It’s been a while you called them hasn’t been?

Stop by if you can right now, if not just give them a call

Ask how they’ve been, not just as a matter of fact, but from the heart, with a virtual hug…

It will not only warm their hearts but yours too with roses blooming on your face...

Did you have a nice day? Wish you a wonderful evening…

Whatever you have to eat, have cloth covers and napkins on your table…

Don’t save your good china for your guests

Is there a better guest than yourself in this world?

Gather your family around the table, eat your dinner not as a duty, but slowly, savoring every bite, sharing experiences of the day, appreciating the serenity of the evening…

Have your friends there with you later in the evening…

Good conversation your appetizer, laughter your drink…

This is life my friend, what else is there?

But first and foremost is your health!

8/23/2009

Challenges Make You Unstoppable

By Ruben Gonzalez

This week you will learn about how challenges will make you unstoppable as told by our advisor three-time Olympian Ruben Gonzalez. He is on CSF's Advisory Board and such an inspiration to all.

When I was in the third grade, I had a teacher I will never forget. Whenever we started whining about an assignment being too tough, she would always say, "It builds character." Back then, I didn't know what character was and if I had to do more homework to get it, I didn't want any of it. I didn't want life to be challenging. I wanted life to be easy.

As I got older, I started to admire people who did challenging things. I wanted to be like them. And today, believe it or not, I actually get bored when life starts getting too easy.

I've been a professional speaker for 8 years. When you're in the speaking business, you start running into people who have done some pretty amazing things, climbed mountains, sailed around the world, explored jungles or even gone to the North or South Poles.

Talking to these people got me thinking about how much fun and challenging it would be to do some of those things. Especially since my athletic career is coming to an end. So a couple of years ago I started doing things that challenged me to dig deep.

Two years ago, I hired some guides and climbed Mt. Rainier . Wow! That was an adventure. Last year I flew to Spain with my good friend Greg Reid and we ran with the bulls in Pamplona . Later that year, I was speaking in South Africa and decided to go skydiving. What a blast that was! And now we're planning a trip to Africa where we're going to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro and go on a four day safari.

I thoroughly research each trip and take experienced guides with me to reduce the risk. But even so, all of these adventures push me to face fears and to challenge myself to go beyond my comfort zone.

Why is that important? Because just like my teacher said, challenges build character. Every time you challenge yourself, you become stronger. Your self-belief skyrockets, and you are transformed into a better you. Now, when life hits you with a challenge that would discourage anyone else, you're not even fazed because you know that if you could do all those other things and succeed, you have what it takes to get over this challenge too.

It's all about knowing in your heart that you know, that you know, that you have what it takes to overcome anything life throws at you. It's becoming unstoppable...

8/16/2009

The Most Successful People in the World do This...

By Ruben Gonzalez

The most successful people in the world are extremely goal oriented. They know exactly what they want and they are always focused on achieving it.

Goals keep you focused. They keep you from drifting through life with no purpose. It does not matter where you came from. What matters is where you're going. And you determine where you're going by what you think about all the time.

The main difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is how they think. Successful people think about what they want and how to get it. Unsuccessful people think and talk about what they don't want. Setting goals helps you keep thinking about where you want to go.

When you have clear goals you are pursuing every day, you'll be more confident and more motivated.

Your goals need to be clear, written, and very specific. They also need to be measurable. You have to know when you have achieved them.

A famous Harvard study highlights the impact goal setting will has on people's lives:

The 1979 MBA Harvard graduating class was asked whether they had clear goals for their future and whether they had written their goals down.

84% had no goals at all. 13% had unwritten goals. And only 3% had clear, written goals.

Ten years later, in 1989, the Harvard MBA graduates were interviewed again. The 13% who had goals but had not written them were making twice as much as the 84% who had no goals at all. The 3% of graduates who had clear, written goals were earning TEN TIMES as much as the other 97% of graduates combined!

It's not voodoo or magic. It's really very simple.

If you set goals and write them down every day, you're focused on your objective, and are much more likely to do things that will help you reach your goal. If you don't write down your goals - or worse, if you don't even have goals, you get sidetracked and waste precious time. You only live once, you might as well go for the gold.

People who set goals live more meaningful and purposeful lives. They are more in control of their destiny and therefore happier. People are happier when they are doing something that is moving them towards something they want. Goal setting is so powerful that I'll bet you get happy just thinking about achieving your goals.

What do you want to achieve?
What do you have a burning desire for?

Once you know exactly what you want and are willing to pay the price to achieve it, success will only be a matter of time.

Start making a habit of writing your goals down every day. It only takes a couple of minutes. Make it a rule that you can't check you morning emails before you've written your goals down. I double-dog dare you to do this! And I guarantee you that if you do it for a year, your life will change dramatically!

Start talking about your goals to other people. See if you can get THEM writing their goals. It's a great way to impact other people's lives. And remember to focus on WHY you have those goals. The WHY is the driving force.

Once you start writing your goals, talking about your goals, and thinking about your goals, you will start turning into a success seeking guided missile that won't miss.

What do you want to be?
What do you want to do?
What do you want to have?

What is something you can do in the next 15 minutes that will help you get closer to your goals? DO IT...NOW!

8/9/2009

The love that you radiate

By Nina Farrell

The eclipse, a full solar eclipse and the obliteration, or seeming obliteration, of the sun by the moon brings to mind, for me, how often we seem to forget the effect of our love, or lack of love, on the whole of the Universe.

We as humans see ourselves as "individuals" – insular, segregated, aside, away from others, and we experience loneliness in the midst of thousands in our massive cities. And there is surely nothing as difficult as feeling alone when one is surrounded by others, is there?

Yet, - we need to start understanding that there is no such thing as alone, no such thing as individuality – yes, there are our different viewpoints, our different perspectives on everything, but through it all, we are linked, merged, flowing in and out of each other, Source morphing, constant connection, our only sense of "separateness" in our minds.

As we become more and more aware that we do not "lose ourselves" by our comprehension of our Oneness, we feel ourselves augmented, refined, enlarged, lifted up, more and brighter and supported by the love that we radiate outwards, and inwards.

The love we feel for each other, from the smile to a stranger to our deep heart bonds, shines outwards to the furthest reaches of the cosmos and makes up the totality that is Source. From a non physical perspective the light can be seen, brighter than bright, soul light, heart light, the colors of the rainbow, pure blissful heart rending love. We are the creators of the great awakening while we are at the same time the ones who are awakening, in great waves across time and space. There is joy that rings out towards the stars, the song of Source that we can hear when we still the voice of our mind.

The love that you feel is never lost, even though it may not be reciprocated. No love is ever lost – it is the great driving force behind all growth and joy.

And so, may this day make you ever more aware of the love that you are, the pure liquid love that you are, ever expanding through your love for each other. Never hold back, never repress your love – it is Who We Are.

8/2/2009

Going for it

By Michael Angier

Most people look to avoid risk … the greater risk is not going for it.

I've always been fascinated by stories of spectacular achievement. My library is filled with books about people of great accomplishment. It's easy to admire those who have overcome difficult circumstances … people who have taken great risks and won.

What's really important, though, is what we can learn from these people we so revere. If we can't benefit from their success, then we've missed some of the purpose of their having lived, struggled and triumphed.

We can use these success stories to increase the belief that we, too, can accomplish great things … and we surely can.

If my studies of great men and women have taught me anything, it's that they weren't really all that different from the rest of us. It's just that what they wanted to accomplish was more important to them than their own doubts and fears. Their circumstances weren't all that much different.

Their talents weren't always superior. They were just willing to give their all … to go for it … full on, 100 percent, no matter what.

If there is so much veneration for those who go for the brass ring, why are there so few people willing to take the risk? One of the reasons is that we care too much about what others think.

The “I-told-you-so” and “I knew-it-wouldn't work” people are always going to be around. I call them “dream killers”. Perhaps they're placed here to test whether or not we're really serious about our goals.

Where do you stand on the "go-for-it scale?" What dream lies hidden away that you long to fulfill? Will you keep it buried inside and end up like those poor souls who Oliver Wendell Holmes was talking about when he wrote, "Alas for those who never sing, but die with all their music in them?" Or will you be one of the few who stake everything on the accomplishment of your purpose?

There's often great risk and pain involved in going for your dreams.

But if it were easy, then everyone would do it. It wouldn't be exceptional. There's risk either way.

And I think there's even greater risk and suffering in not going for it.

No doubt about it, putting yourself out there and telling the world what you're going to do is scary! What if you don't succeed and everyone sees you fail? What then? The truth is, most people don't think about you anywhere near as much as you might think.

Most people think of themselves. And, oftentimes, the people who are the most critical are usually secretly wishing they had the guts to do what you're doing.

I know what it's like to fail. I've fallen out of the sky several times, but I'd rather crash and burn than wear myself out sitting on the runway trying to get up enough courage to take off.

It's more fun, too! Sure it hurts to fail, but it hurts more to live with the feelings of knowing you were not willing to try.

Helen Keller said, "Security is mostly superstition. It does not exist in nature nor do the children of man as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."

Life's a risk. In fact, it's so risky we're not going to get out alive. If we knew the outcome of everything, if everything turned out just the way we wanted, it would be boring. There would be no fun and no adventure.

In the words of Goethe, "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, magic and power in it."

Don't wait for the perfect time. It won't ever come.

Go for it now!

Source URL: http://ezinearticles.com/?Going-For-It&id=2406081

7/6/2009

If you're ever...

If you're ever going to do the things you wish to do, now is the time to start.

If you're ever going to become the person you know you can become, now is the time to do it.

If you're ever going to fulfill the great and wonderful possibilities that are surely yours, now is the moment to begin in earnest.

A full and rich life is yours for the making, but it won't just be handed to you, no matter who you are. Your life, your fulfillment, requires your active and committed participation. And now is the time for that to happen. The past is long gone and the future is yet unavailable to you. Now is when you can make a difference.

What are your dreams, your hopes, your ambitions? Now is the time to follow them with the passion that you know you have. Now is the time for action, for commitment, for purpose. Putting it off until later will only cheat you out of what you could have become.

Do it, be it, live it now. It's the grandest opportunity you could ever imagine.

7/19/2009

You Were Designed For Greatness

By Ruben Gonzalez

Great people were not born great. They became great by making a decision to pursue their dream in life and by refusing to give up. The struggle we must all face on the road to our dreams is what makes us great. Ordinary people can become extraordinary if they consistently and persistently follow the principles of success.

You could say I'm the poster child for "Ordinary to Extraordinary". I was not a gifted athlete. I became a three time Olympian through perseverance. I just refused to give up.

Step one to success is realizing that even though we might be programmed for mediocrity, we were designed and created for extraordinary achievement.

You can learn to unlock your special powers to attract whatever you want in your life. It's just a skill.

Reprogramming our minds for extraordinary achievement is simple but not easy. The road to huge successes in all areas of your life can be broken down to five steps:

1) What you say to yourself
2) Your beliefs and thoughts
3) What your do
4) Your habits
5) Your results

What you tell yourself influences what your beliefs and thoughts are. Your thoughts determine what you do. What you do repeatedly becomes your habits. Your habits determine your results. If you are not happy with your results, change what you say to yourself and surround yourself with people who support and encourage the quest for your dream. If you do that, before long you'll be getting different results.

Successful people constantly talk about and think about what they want. Unsuccessful people constantly talk about and think about what they don't want.

How about you?
What do you constantly think about?
What do you always talk about?
Is it what you want or what you don't want?
How about the people you spend most of your time with?
Are they focusing on the dreams or on the nightmares?

Did you know your income is the average income of the people you spend most of your time with? Want to double your income? Start hanging around people who make twice what you're making. Seriously!

7/12/2009

Probabilities and Possibilities

By Ruben Gonzalez

I finish my speeches by saying, "What are the chances that someone like me was going to make it to the Olympics? I wasn't a great athlete, I didn't get started until I was 21 years old, and to top it off I live in hot and humid Houston and I chose to compete in the luge for Pete's sake! What are the chances? One in a million? One in ten million? I probably had a better chance to win the lottery!"

"I was just an ordinary kid with an extraordinary dream. I wasn't a big shot. I was just a little shot that kept on shooting. And that's something you can do too. If you make a decision to become a little shot who keeps on shooting, the world is yours."

Believe it or not, the secret to creating an extraordinary life is right in those words.

Most people look at their dreams and start calculating the odds of them ever happening. They can tell you the probabilities and that number keeps them from even getting started.

They don't understand that the probability at any one time has nothing to do with success. Because if you don't even get started, the probability of success is zero, zilch, nada.

They don't realize that they can change the probabilities.

Every time you take action in the pursuit of your dream, you're increasing the probabilities of reaching it. It's all up to you. You have control over the probabilities.

Once you buy into that, it's easier to make a decision to take massive action. Understanding that makes it easier to commit to your dream. Once you commit to your dream, burn the bridges, and make a decision to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes, the probability of success increases dramatically. Why? Because 99% of the people will NEVER do whatever it takes!

When I called the people in Lake Placid to ask for help in getting started in the luge, the guy on the phone laughed at me. He said I was way too old to get started. He said, "If you want to do it at your age and in only four years it will be brutal. Nine out of ten people quit!" When I heard that, I got excited. I got excited because I could see the opportunity. And I simply decided that quitting would not be an option for me.

Once I made that decision, all I had to do was to outlast everyone else! The guy on the phone saw my probability as one out of ten. But I saw it as 100% (as long as I was willing to outlast everyone else). Four years and a few broken bones later, I was competing in the Olympics (it wasn't quite that simple, but focusing on the possibility got me to do what I needed to do to become an Olympian).

Stop focusing on the probabilities. Focus on the possibility. Ask yourself, "What is my dream? Is it a dream that takes my breath away? Is it something that excites me and gives meaning to my life?" And if it is, ask yourself, "If it is possible, then why not me?"

Don't focus on the probabilities. Focusing on the probabilities will kill your confidence. Once you lose your confidence, it's easy to quit. And stop hanging around people that talk about being realistic. Realistic people are mediocre. They live lukewarm lives and NEVER do ANYTHING with their lives.

Start hanging around winners. Hang around achievers. I have NEVER heard a real winner talk about being realistic. Realistic stinks! Think about three people you truly admire. I guarantee you that they did not get where they are by being realistic!

Focus on your dream, listen to your gut feeling, and follow your heart wholeheartedly. Ask yourself, "Why not me? Why not now?" and, "What can I do right now to get me closer to my dream?"

When you ask yourself the right questions, focus on the possibilities, and hang around like-minded people, your confidence will soar and you'll be on the road to realizing your dream.

Do that, and at the end of your life you will be able to look back and say, "I lived a magnificent life!"

7/5/2009

Seven Steps for Overcoming Ego’s Hold on You

Here are seven suggestions to help you transcend ingrained ideas of self-importance. All of these are designed to help prevent you from falsely identifying with the self-important ego, as elegantly by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer.

1. Stop being offended.

The behavior of others isn’t a reason to be immobilized. That which offends you only weakens you. If you’re looking for occasions to be offended, you’ll find them at every turn. This is your ego at work convincing you that the world shouldn't be the way it is. But you can become an appreciator of life and match up with the universal Spirit of Creation. You can’t reach the power of intention by being offended. By all means, act to eradicate the horrors of the world, which emanate from massive ego identification, but stay in peace. Being offended creates the same destructive energy that offended you in the first place and leads to attack, counterattack, and war.

2. Let go of your need to win.

Ego loves to divide us up into winners and losers. The pursuit of winning is a surefire means to avoid conscious contact with intention. Why? Because ultimately, winning is impossible all of the time. Someone out there will be faster, luckier, younger, stronger, and smarter-and back you’ll go to feeling worthless and insignificant.

You’re not your winnings or your victories. You may enjoy competing, and have fun in a world where winning is everything, but you don’t have to be there in your thoughts. There are no losers in a world where we all share the same energy source. All you can say on a given day is that you performed at a certain level in comparison to the levels of others on that day. But today is another day, with other competitors and new circumstances to consider. You’re still the infinite presence in a body that’s another day (or decade) older. Let go of needing to win by not agreeing that the opposite of winning is losing. That’s ego’s fear. If your body isn’t performing in a winning fashion on this day, it simply doesn’t matter when you aren’t identifying exclusively with your ego. Be the observer, noticing and enjoying it all without needing to win a trophy. Be at peace, and match up with the energy of intention. And ironically, although you’ll hardly notice it, more of those victories will show up in your life as you pursue them less.

3. Let go of your need to be right.

Ego is the source of a lot of conflict and dissension because it pushes you in the direction of making other people wrong. When you’re hostile, you’ve disconnected from the power of intention. The creative Spirit is kind, loving, and receptive; and free of anger, resentment, or bitterness. Letting go of your need to be right in your discussions and relationships is like saying to ego, I’m not a slave to you. I want to embrace kindness, and I reject your need to be right. In fact, I’m going to offer this person a chance to feel better by saying that she’s right, and thank her for pointing me in the direction of truth.

When you let go of the need to be right, you’re able to strengthen your connection to the power of intention. But keep in mind that ego is a determined combatant. I’ve seen people end otherwise beautiful relationships by sticking to their need to be right. I urge you to let go of this ego-driven need to be right by stopping yourself in the middle of an argument and asking yourself, Do I want to be right or be happy? When you choose the happy, loving, spiritual mood, your connection to intention is strengthened. These moments ultimately expand your new connection to the power of intention. The universal Source will begin to collaborate with you in creating the life you were intended to live.

4. Let go of your need to be superior.

True nobility isn’t about being better than someone else. It’s about being better than you used to be. Stay focused on your growth, with a constant awareness that no one on this planet is any better than anyone else. We all emanate from the same creative life force. We all have a mission to realize our intended essence; all that we need to fulfill our destiny is available to us. None of this is possible when you see yourself as superior to others. It’s an old saw, but nonetheless true: we are all equal in the eyes of God. Let go of your need to feel superior by seeing the unfolding of God in everyone. Don’t assess others on the basis of their appearance, achievements, possessions, and other indices of ego. When you project feelings of superiority that’s what you get back, leading to resentments and ultimately hostile feelings. These feelings become the vehicle that takes you farther away from intention. A Course in Miracles addresses this need to be special and superior: Specialness always makes comparisons. It is established by a lack seen in another, and maintained by searching for, and keeping clear in sight, all lacks it can perceive.

5. Let go of your need to have more.

The mantra of ego is more. It’s never satisfied. No matter how much you achieve or acquire, your ego will insist that it isn’t enough. You’ll find yourself in a perpetual state of striving, and eliminate the possibility of ever arriving. Yet in reality you’ve already arrived, and how you choose to use this present moment of your life is your choice. Ironically, when you stop needing more, more of what you desire seems to arrive in your life. Since you’re detached from the need for it, you find it easier to pass it along to others, because you realize how little you need in order to be satisfied and at peace.

The universal Source is content with itself, constantly expanding and creating new life, never trying to hold on to its creations for its own selfish means. It creates and lets go. As you let go of ego’s need to have more, you unify with that Source. You create, attract to yourself, and let it go, never demanding that more come your way. As an appreciator of all that shows up, you learn the powerful lesson St. Francis of Assisi taught:”…it is in giving that we receive.” By allowing abundance to flow to and through you, you match up with your Source and guarantee that this energy will continue to flow.

6. Let go of identifying yourself on the basis of your achievements.

This may be a difficult concept if you think you are your achievements. God writes all the music, God sings all the songs, God builds all the buildings, God is the source of all your achievements. I can hear your ego loudly protesting. Nevertheless, stay tuned to this idea. All emanates from Source! You and that Source are one! You’re not this body and its accomplishments. You are the observer. Notice it all; and be grateful for the abilities you’ve accumulated. But give all the credit to the power of intention, which brought you into existence and which you’re a materialized part of. The less you need to take credit for your achievements and the more connected you stay to the seven faces of intention, the more you’re free to achieve, and the more will show up for you. It’s when you attach yourself to those achievements and believe that you alone are doing all of those things that you leave the peace and the gratitude of your Source.

7. Let go of your reputation.

Your reputation is not located in you. It resides in the minds of others. Therefore, you have no control over it at all. If you speak to 30 people, you will have 30 reputations. Connecting to intention means listening to your heart and conducting yourself based on what your inner voice tells you is your purpose here. If you’re overly concerned with how you’re going to be perceived by everyone, then you’ve disconnected yourself from intention and allowed the opinions of others to guide you. This is your ego at work. It’s an illusion that stands between you and the power of intention. There’s nothing you can’t do, unless you disconnect from the power source and become convinced that your purpose is to prove to others how masterful and superior you are and spend your energy attempting to win a giant reputation among other egos. Do what you do because your inner voice always connected to and grateful to your Source-so directs you. Stay on purpose, detach from outcome, and take responsibility for what does reside in you: your character. Leave your reputation for others to debate; it has nothing to do with you. Or as a book title says: What You Think of Me Is None of My Business!

6/28/2009

Celebrate your days

What makes one day different from another? What makes Thanksgiving a special day for many? What makes the 4th of July a holiday in the U.S.? What makes the first day of school special? What makes Sundays like Sundays? What makes your birthday a special day? What makes any day special?

The day is the day it is. Days themselves do not call themselves the days of the week. They don’t even know the names of the days of the week. Days don’t say: “Today I am Monday. Tomorrow I am Tuesday.” Days themselves don’t even conceive of yesterday or today. Days themselves offer themselves to you the same every day. “Here, take me,” the day says, “and make of me what you will.”

And yet every day is not lived the same. What makes the difference between a great day and a so-so one? If it isn’t the day itself, it must be you then. A day is like an ace dealt to you. You can use an ace as a ten or one.

You set the dial of your day.

There are certain days you anticipate. Your very anticipation sets the tone of your day. Anticipate golden days, beloveds. By your anticipation, you set up your day to a certain frequency. When you don’t look forward to a day, you also set it to a certain frequency. Will you turn that dial and set your days to happiness?

You are the prime ingredient of your day. You make your day. No one else does. You set up the perimeters of your day. You are the one who gives a name to it. If Thanksgiving Day is your favorite day, then let every day be a celebration of thanksgiving. If you like birthdays, consider every day your birthday. That is the truth, of course. Every day is your birthday. You are born anew every day. Leave your old self behind, and recreate yourself today.

Celebrate life. What matters the number of the day or whether it is weekday or weekend? It’s a day. It’s welcome day. It’s a universal day. It is today.

Leap out of that bed and go to the greet the day that delivers itself to you so generously. Be generous with all your days.

Consider the day an express elevator you ride on. This elevator goes up. It reaches one floor at a time. The elevator keeps going up. Your days are a stream of life. The stream of your days doesn’t start and stop. There is no separation between the stream today and the stream tomorrow. The elevator of days you ride on is a continuum. There really is no pause, no break between one day or another.

You believe in days. Now believe in good days, and better and better days, and make them so. Celebrate your days ahead of time. You are riding in an elevator that goes up and up. How far will you reach today? How far do you want to reach?

You may roll over in bed, yet days just keep going on. They go straight up. Go with your day. Fly with them.

And, yet, live this day as it was delivered to you. Fill in the lines. Make this day magnificent. Make this day superlative. Make this a marvelous day. Grow the kind of day you want. Nourish it well. Give it action, and give it rest. Treat today like the royal guest it is. Lay out the welcome mat for today. Carry today over the threshold. Have a great day.

6/21/2009

Dream new dreams

Dreams beyond your imaginings are coming true. I have told you this before, and I am telling you again.

You may still be thinking the world is unchanged, and that your hopes and dreams will be dashed as they may have been in the past.

No longer use the past as your reference point. It is not reliable, and, frankly, the past is not relevant.

The world is not the same. Nor are you the same. You know you are not what you once were. What makes you think you have changed and the world hasn’t? The world has kept up with you. The world may well be ahead of you now. In any case, the world you once knew is not the same world in front of you today.

If I told you that you are standing at the edge of an abyss and you are in great danger, you would believe me, is that not so? How easily you believe in doom and danger. And now I tell you that you are standing at the edge of a new world. This world has washed its face, and you will hardly recognize it. Come, believe in the joy that is on its way to you. Dare to believe, and dare to make new dreams so that they may come true.

This is the world dreamed of, and now it is yours. Now it is the world you live in. Oh, some of the pictures of the former world you lived in remain, yet those held-over pictures are fading fast.

In case you have grown beyond your old dreams, dream new dreams now. Dream of what you want now. Go beyond even your finest material dreams. What do you really want? What dreams do you really want to come true? Dream them. Keep dreaming them. Keep having dream after dream, one on top of the other. Let your dreams spill over into the world. The world is thirsty for your dreams. It will lap them up. From your dreams, the world will grow. Your dreams are sprouting now.

You make it possible for you to receive your dreams. Dreams are thoughts. Thoughts radiate. Dreams radiate. Dreams come true because you radiate them.

Your dreams are like gifts you give. One dream nests within another, the way boxes fit inside another. When you open one box, you find a host more of boxes inside. So with dreams, you find one following after another. Dreams are something like cut-out paper dolls, each attached to the other, each dream holding hands with another. There is dream after dream, each one pulling the next one along.

Start your dreams. Let them rise like balloons up into the sky. Let them rise. Your dreams will gather their fruit and then return themselves to you. You will see your dreams come true. They will dance before you. Dreams dreamt become dreams realized. You will have dreams to the right of you, dreams to the left of you. Dreams beget dreams. You will gradually see that life is all made of dreams come true. Let your dreams precede and follow you.

Dream your dreams. Dreaming manifests. Have good dreams. Watch for them to multiply.

Source URL: http://www.heavenletters.org/dream-new-dreams.html

6/14/2009

Peace now!

I wish you peace. Where does peace lie? It lies in your heart. It is within your heart that peace is found. It is from within your heart that peace is issued. Yes, peace emanates from your heart. World peace emanates from your heart. Everyone is responsible for peace. You are the maker of peace or the withdrawer of it. Engage peace. You will like it.

You are intended to be an instrument of peace.

There is no need for war AND peace. Peace will do very well. It can stand on its own. Welcome peace. Peace has no opposite. And peace has no equal.

Peace would not be your mission except the world has wandered from peace. Peace is the natural state. War is not. Friction is not. Two sticks rubbed together can make a fire. When there is Oneness, there are not two sticks. In Oneness, no fire can be made. Be in Oneness. Be in peace. Peace be with you.

I suppose your two hands could fight with each other, and one hand would be victorious. What would be gained by such a fight? And what would be lost? Where you had two good hands, now you would have one wounded.

That is what strife is, be it personal or worldwide. Two hands fight each other. Brother fights brother. Country fights itself under the name of another country. Oh, the folly committed. Oh, the folly committed often in the name of peace. Can this really be? Can it really be?

With the world at peace there would no longer be fighting. What would there be to fight about? Hearts would be free to travel as they wished, and they would travel in peace. At home or away, peace would reign. Hearts of peace would reign. How the flowers would grow and trees bear fruit. Deserts would become oases, and mountains would be easy to climb. Peace would cover the land, and there would be war no more in the heart of any man or woman. The time for this is now. Now, I say.

Source URL: http://www.heavenletters.org/peace-now-god-says.html

6/7/2009

To Be Yourself

I say that you are your own culprit. You are the source of any complaints you have. This is nothing new, but have you recognized it yet?

Here are some things you can do to avoid opening yourself up to anyone's displeasure and your seeking another's approval. It begins with you, beloveds.

No longer feel a need to explain yourself. Explain no more. Why do you need to be explained? Explaining yourself is justifying or even apologizing, and too often you explain ahead of time. It is as if you are asking for permission to be who you are. For this you need no permission..

You may need permission to walk on someone's property, true. But you are not someone's property. You belong to yourself.

There is no need for you to explain every decision you make. You own your decisions. If you decide to move to Timbuktu, who has to approve your decision? Do you need your decision to be voted on? Who is it who decides whether you go somewhere or not?

And if you do not want to move to Timbuktu, that decision is also yours to make.

Get away from the idea that you owe people explanations. Talk something over with your wife or husband when your decision impacts them. Talk it over with your mother or father when you want to, yet know in your heart that you are free to make your own decisions. You are the one who buys the ticket. You are the one who travels there. You are the one who reaps the experience.

Away with the feeling that you must justify or prove anything! There is nothing to prove. You are a grown person who has decisions to make, and you make them. They are your decisions. Do not make decisions for others, and do not invite others to make yours. Is this not plain common sense?

As you grow more firmly planted in your own selfdom, others will look at you more confidently. They will not look for explanations from you. They will know that you are sovereign over your own life. It will not occur to them to ask you to justify yourself. They will see you as your own free being.

There is an added bonus to this. You will also be strengthening all those to whom you previously may have felt you had to offer explanations. Their shoulders will go back. They will have more confidence in themselves too. Confidence spreads like wildfire.

It is confidence that is the underlining of knowing you do not need to explain yourself. The confidence you used to put on others' opinions, you can now put on your own. What a savings of time and energy!

Confidence comes from knowing your worth. It's that simple. Know your own worth, and you will have confidence.

Think of how you will walk when you have confidence! Think of the energy and light you will radiate! Think of how exuberantly happy you will be.

You will not swagger. You will have no more need for swaggering than you do explaining. Swaggering and explaining are just two sides of the same coin. You are way above both.

Source URL: http://www.heavenletters.org/to-be-yourself.html

5/31/2009

Creating Our Own Happiness

by Wayne Coyne

“Happiness is not a situation to be longed for, or a convergence of lucky happenstance. Through the power of our own minds, we can help ourselves.”

I believe we have the power to create our own happiness. I believe the real magic in the world is done by humans. I believe normal life is extraordinary.

I was sitting in my car at a stoplight intersection listening to the radio. I was, I guess, lost in the moment, thinking how happy I was to be inside my nice warm car. It was cold and windy outside, and I thought, "Life is good."

Now, this was a long light. As I waited, I noticed two people huddled together at the bus stop. To my eyes, they looked uncomfortable; they looked cold and they looked poor. Their coats looked like they came from a thrift store. They weren't wearing stuff from The Gap. I knew it because I'd been there.

The couple seemed to be doing their best to keep warm. They were huddled together, and I thought to myself, "Oh, those poor people in that punishing wind."

But then I saw their faces. Yes, they were huddling, but they were also laughing. They looked to be sharing a good joke, and suddenly, instead of pitying them, I envied them. I thought, "Huh, what's so funny?" They didn't notice the wind. They weren't worried about their clothes. They weren't looking at my car thinking, "I wish I had that."

You know when a single moment feels like an hour? Well, in that moment, I realized I had assumed this couple needed my pity, but they didn't. I assumed things were all bad for them, but they weren't. And I understood we all have the power to make moments of happiness happen.

Now, maybe that's easy for me to say. I feel lucky to have fans around the world, a house with a roof and a wife who puts up with me. But I felt this way even when I was working at Long John Silver's. I worked there for 11 years as a fry cook. When you work at a place that long, you see teenagers coming in on their first dates; then they're married; then they're bringing in their kids. You witness whole sections of people's lives.

In the beginning, it seemed like a dead end job. But at least I had a job. And frankly, it was easy. After two weeks, I knew all I needed to know, and it freed my mind. The job allowed me to dream about what my life could become.

The first year I worked there, we got robbed. I lay on the floor. I thought I was going to die. I didn't think I stood a chance. But everything turned out all right. A lot of people look at life as a series of miserable tasks, but after that, I didn't.

I believe this is something all of us can do: Try to be happy within the context of the life we are actually living. Happiness is not a situation to be longed for or a convergence of lucky happenstance. Through the power of our own minds, we can help ourselves. This I believe.

5/17/2009

You are a wonderful person

It's hard to accept, but you can't change the past. You can't go back and manipulate things to the way you wanted them to happen. Because life'd be meaningless and boring and just not worth living. But you can change the future and that's a beautiful thing about life. Yes, you will make mistakes. And yes, you will have bad days - but as long as you let the past go, you'll have such a gorgeous and bright future ahead of you. Knowing that things were meant to happen. Knowing that each day you will learn something so that you keep growing to be a better person. Life is like a rope, twined in all its complexities and yet weaved into one marvelous stream that you have the chance you use something amazing from. So grab hold of it.

I never regret anything that has happened to me in my life, whether it is making a bad choice, deciding to do something I shouldn’t have, saying the wrong thing or not doing something I should have done... because all of these things have given me the knowledge I have today and helped make me who I am today... and that is one thing I will never regret.

In a world of comparison and conformity, make your own statement. Honor your own truth. Have the courage to be yourself; risk speaking your own thoughts and claiming your emotions. Share your vulnerabilities, tears, doubts, and insecurities; let others experience the real you. Have the courage to be yourself and realize that you are a wonderful person.

5/10/2009

The Divine Contract

There is no other in this world given the right or the power to define who you are.

No one shall rob you of your value, nor shall any other determine your worth.

None shall steal your integrity, decide your character, or destroy your authenticity.

No other shall discredit your success, seize your potential or dismantle your honor; and no one shall discourage your dreams, erase your spirit, or dissuade you from your truth.

None are given the power to diminish your love, shatter your confidence, efface your trust, or extinguish your passion.

No one shall lead you where you do not choose to go, nor shall anyone interrupt your unique relationship with your Self or your Faith.

Your free will is your right of empowerment. You, and only you, have the intrinsic design and the divine authority to walk beyond anything or anyone who does not enhance, encourage, or inspire your greatness.

No other is permitted to confiscate your happiness and replace it with guilt or fear… You have not traveled this great distance to be anything less than your own magnificence; and you are entitled to extraordinary joy. Your entitlement is your most powerful virtue.

Be this virtue.

There is no need to buy a ticket when you are the train.

Source URL: http://www.quantum-grace.com/Contract.htm

5/3/2009

Life isn't about keeping score

Life isn't about keeping score. It's not about how many people call you and it's not about who you've dated, are dating, or haven't dated at all. It isn't about who you've kissed, what sport you play, or which guy or girl likes you. It's not about your shoes or your hair or the color of your skin or where you live or go to school. In fact, it's not about grades, money, clothes, or colleges that accept you or not. Life isn't about if you have lots of friends, or if you are alone, and it's not about how accepted or unaccepted you are. Life just isn't about that. But life is about who you love and who you hurt. It's about how you feel about yourself. It's about trust, happiness, and compassion. Life is about avoiding jealousy, overcoming ignorance, and building confidence. It's about what you say and what you mean. It’s about seeing people for who they are and not what they have. Most of all, it is about choosing to use your life to touch someone else's in a way that could never have been achieved otherwise. These choices are what life's about.

4/26/2009

Letting go of the old

So many of the people I talk and channel to are in the process of letting go of huge chunks of themselves, and I often think of the analogy of one foot on the dock and another in the boat – and the boat is moving away! Fragile equilibrium, sense of unbalance, as we move from who we were to who we are becoming.

And at this point of enormous change, for it is big, we can perhaps remember that we are the ones who instigated it, we who now find ourselves so surprised by it. Very much like someone who digs a hole in a forest beneath the trees… over time it fills up with leaves, branches – and on his way back that way one day, he falls in to the hole he dug himself, and is shattered to think "Who did this to me? What did I do to deserve this?"

If we can remove blame, regrets and shoulds and musts from our agenda, and incorporate the knowledge that even if we do not feel that way now, we surely knew what we were creating, surely knew that we would all be moving forwards into expansion into Oneness at this momentous time – and in the knowing, we also realized that we would need assistance – and so manifested many who would support us with their love, there in our lives at exactly the right moment, the angels we send to ourselves.

It is uncomfortable – so many of us are experiencing large shifts in our personal lives, in our professional lives, moving across continents to be where we feel we need to be now.. and perhaps the most important for us to remember is that all is well. Nothing is broken, nothing needs to be fixed. We can trust ourselves to do exactly the right thing at the right time, be at the right place at the right time, trust ourselves to know what we want for ourselves by following our inner voice, by allowing it a place in our lives, directing us day by day, moment by moment.

So perhaps – let go of that cliff, there is no real drop, no real scary distance to the sea below – let go and unfurl those wings that you created for this moment, now.

Let go – and fly.

4/19/2009

The Earth is your garden

The Earth is your garden. I look to you to take care of it. Take care of it well.

Just as with people, you do not use them without also giving to them, the Earth is not to be taken for granted. True, you tread on the Earth every day, and the Earth doesn't complain.

By the same token, you read about the world, and you think about it, and experience it and observe it, and often you grumble about it, yet the world is your garden. Sometimes it is overgrown and filled with brambles, and yet it is your world. It is the house you live in. It is your garden.

How would you feel if all your resources were used without a thank you, without a backward glance? The world does not grumble, and yet with acknowledgment from you, it would flourish. It would swell in your recognition of it, and so is it with the people who inhabit the world. Give a nod of recognition and appreciation.

What blade of grass is there that should not be thanked? What tit-willow or oriole should not be appreciated? What is there about the Earth that should not be appreciated, and what is there in the world that would not blossom with kind regard from you? What country right now needs a little appreciation from you? Surely you can find that which to appreciate. You can appreciate a country's zeal. There is something you can honestly appreciate. You don't always have to protest.

What part of the world would not blush with joy at a kind thought of yours?

The snows of Alaska do not have to please you to a T nor do desert lands, yet there is nothing, beloveds, that you cannot find in your heart to appreciate.

The same goes for people, and the same goes for you. The more down-in-the-mouth you are, the more you will benefit from uplifting words from yourself. Give yourself some sweet talk. You will feel better. You can say an uplifting word to others, and you and they will feel better. What better way for you to uplift yourself than to uplift another?

Even when you do not feel like smiling, you can smile. Even when you do not feel like anything, you can also rise to the occasion. Rise to the occasion of the world. Rise to the occasion of yourself. Fill your heart with what you would like it to carry. Fill the world with your expressions of what you would like the world to be.

The world is innocent. Don't knock it. Don't kick it. The less attractive you find the world, the more it is incumbent upon you to uplift it. No more complaining.

If complaints were clay, and appreciation were clay, which clay would you choose to shape the world with? Choose now.

No one needs to point out the errors of the world any more than your errors or anyone else's need pointing out. If errors are so obvious as they seem to be to you, what need is there for you to underline them? Take out their goodness which may need to be highlighted. Highlight your appreciation. Speak up for what you like. Enough dalliance with what you don't like.

I am giving you a great formula for success. Will you kindly heed my suggestion? Will you?

Source URL: http://www.heavenletters.org/the-earth-is-your-garden.html

4/5/2009

How to Condition Your Mind To Succeed

By Ruben Gonzalez

Top achievers in every field understand that words have the power to condition the mind to succeed or fail.

Whenever you say something, your mind tries to build a case for it. If you call yourself "stupid" the mind does a subconscious "Google search" on the word stupid and pulls up a list of every stupid thing you've ever done in your life. Armed with that list, you have the proof that you are stupid and you start acting that way. If you call yourself a winner, your mind pulls up all your winning moments. And you start acting like a winner.

In fact, if you are not getting the results you want out of life, it can probably be traced to your self talk. What you say to yourself will influence what you think. What you think influences what you do. What you do all the time becomes your habits and your habits determine your results and ultimately, your destiny.

That's why you have to be very careful with whom you associate. You don't want to get any "second hand" negative talk from the people you hang around with.

At the Olympic Training Center, they will not tolerate anyone bad-mouthing themselves. They want to create an environment conducive to achieving peak performance; an atmosphere where success is in the air. If they catch you bad-mouthing yourself, it's pushups time. Why do you think Olympic athletes are in such great shape?

Sometimes, even Olympic athletes forget to watch their self-talk. My worst luge crash ever was a result of negative self-talk.

One year before the Salt Lake City Olympics, we were in St. Moritz , Switzerland training for a world cup race. We were training in the morning and the Italians were training in the afternoon. At the time, the Italians were the best. So that afternoon, I went to the track to watch the Italians train. I wanted to see what lines they took down the track. I wanted to learn from the best.

I went to the fastest point of the track, curve thirteen. Watching the Italians rocket down the track at over eighty-five miles per hour was unbelievable. Every time an Italian luger went by I would mutter to myself, "I can't believe I do that." Another sled would barrel down the track and I'd say to myself, "I can't believe I do that." For two hours, I said it over and over.

Up to that day, I had not had any major problems at that track. I was just looking for a way to take my abilities to the next level.

The next day, on my first run, as I reached Curve thirteen, my mind reminded me, "That's right, Ruben, you CAN'T DO THAT!" And I froze; forgot to steer and had a horrible crash. I broke my foot, broke my hand, and totaled my sled. End of season.

That was the lowest point of my luge career. At that point I didn't know if I would be able to go to the Olympics. I was hurt, I could not afford another sled, and it was all because a couple of hours of negative self-talk.

I had a pity party for a couple of days but eventually, flying back home from Europe, halfway over the Atlantic , I got my head straight. I took a piece of paper and wrote, "This has been the worst year of my life; the most stressful and frustrating. I am being tested. I will pass the test. I have an opportunity to make an incredible comeback and show what I'm made up of." Then, I started saying to myself, "There is always a way. There is always a way. There is always a way. I will find a way, because there is always a way."

Repeating the phrase, "There is always a way," over and over, when you are facing obstacles, puts your mind in a solution-finding state. It helps you shift your focus away from the problem and into finding a solution.

And I did find a solution. I could not afford to buy another sled, but maybe I could borrow a sled. I started calling some of my best luge buddies and my good friend Adam Cook of the New Zealand Luge Team, loaned me his sled to qualify and race in the Salt Lake Olympics.

Watch what you say to yourself, and remember, there is always a way.

3/29/2009

Where do you want to be in a year
By Clyde Dennis

Where do you want to be in a year? In five years? In ten years? Is what you’re doing now -- the way you’re living, your friends, your habits, your focus -- Are all of these things moving you in the direction of your goals? How does it look?

Are your habits the kinds of habits that the person you’re going to be in two years would have? Are your friends or associates, or whatever you call the people you hang out with the types of people you’re going to be in five years you will want to know and be with?

What about the things your mind gets hung up on? Your focus. Do you even know what your focus is?

If you and I were sitting together right now (and pretend we are), what would your answer be if I asked you where you’re going? What are you focused on accomplishing or achieving? You are certainly focused on something. Either consciously or your subconscious has chose something for you. Which is it in your case? Did you choose or has the world chosen for you? Have you taken 10 minutes and made a conscious decision about what the definition of your life is going to be? That’s really all it would take. In reality, even less than that.

Think about it. Have you ever been so fed up with something that at one point you just decide—that’s it, no more. I’ve had it! How long did it take you to come to that decision? The real truth is you did it in an instant. It may have taken you years to get to the point where you decided to decide but, the decision itself was made in an instant. A second. You have that same force, power and ability to get yourself moving in the direction of your choosing at any given moment if you would but decide to do so.

Don’t be one who gets ten years further down the road and be left thinking, wondering, wishing you had decided to do something. Do it now. Decide.

Live some. Love some. Learn some. Everyday.

3/22/2009

How to Rebound from Setbacks

By Ruben Gonzalez

When I was 21 years old, I made a decision to take up the sport of luge and pursue my lifelong dream of competing in the Olympic Games.

Many people tried to discourage me. I was told that I was too old, that I would break bones, and that nine out of ten people who took up the luge quit along the way.

Instead of getting discouraged, I got excited. You see, nine out of ten people quit everything. Nine out of ten people quit sales, they quit medical school, they quit on themselves, and worst of all, they quit on their dreams. I knew from the start that it would be a challenge, but as long as I didn't quit, I would have a chance.

Four years and a few broken bones later I was competing in the Calgary Olympics. I went on to compete in the Albertville Olympics and in the Salt Lake City Olympics - at the age of 39!

You will experience challenges and setbacks on the way to your dream as well. That's just part of the game. But if you want something badly enough, and you are willing to persevere, success is there for the taking. Success is a choice.

Go All The Way

When you make a decision that quitting is not an option, before long you will be in the top 10% in your field because 90% of your competition will quit. Your motto needs to be, "Every day in every way I'm getting better and better, stronger and stronger, closer and closer to my dream!"

Create a "Dream Team"

Ninety percent of success in determined by whom you associate with. Create a "Dream Team" of people who believe in you and will encourage you through tough times.

Give Yourself a Pep Talk

It's easy to get down when things are not going your way. After a bad luge run, sometimes I have to walk up and down the track for 20 minutes giving myself a pep talk. "I can do it, I'm going all the way, I will make it cause there's always a way!"

When you get down, pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and give yourself a pep talk.

Believe in Yourself and Learn from Your Mistakes

High achievers believe that they are destined to accomplish great things. They believe that the challenges they experience are there to teach them the lessons they need to learn in order to complete their "mission" in life. They believe there is no such thing as failure. They either get the desired outcome or else they learn something that will help them win in the future. By thinking this way, discouragement can't get a foothold in their mind.

Most successful people fail their way to the top. You could say I crashed my way to the top!

Recover Quickly

When winners experience challenges, they don't waste time whining. They keep their eyes on the dream, and then do whatever it takes to recover quickly so they will not lose their momentum. When a boxer gets knocked down, he has only 10 seconds to get back up. If he gets up in eleven seconds, he loses the fight. Remember that the next time you get knocked down.

Next time you get knocked down, decide you will act like a winner. Get up, take action, and make your dream a reality.

3/15/2009

Where do you want to be in a year
By Clyde Dennis

What abo ut the things your mind gets hung up on? Your focus. Do you even know what your focus is?

Don’t be one who gets ten years further down the road and be left thinking, wondering, wishing you had decided to do something. Do it now. Decide.

Live some. Love some. Learn some. Everyday.

3/8/2009

What's Holding You Back?

By Ruben Gonzalez

Whether your dream is to lose weight, or to buy your dream home, or to double your income, or to learn the ins and outs of soccer so you can coach your daughter's soccer team, you will find that there are things that hold you back.

Ninety five percent of people look at their obstacles and all they see is a reason why they can't make their dream a reality. They look at the obstacle, get discouraged (they lose heart), and they quit. Winners look at the obstacles, get mad and then become determined to overcome them.

When I decided to take up the sport of luge and train for the Olympics four years away, I knew I had two major obstacles to overcome. Two things that HAD to happen or else I would be watching the Olympics on TV: first, I had to be ranked in the top 50 lugers in the world to qualify. In order for THAT to happen, I would only have only two luge seasons to learn how to slide, because the last two seasons I needed to race internationally to work on my world ranking.

Here's the rub... since I was pioneering the sport of luge for my native Argentina , in order to race internationally, I had to get the Argentines to create an Argentine Luge Federation, and have that federation be recognized by both International Luge Federation and by the Argentine Olympic Committee.

How do you do that when: one, you live in Houston, TX (10,000 miles away from Argentina), two, you have not lived in Argentina since you were 6 years old, three, you have absolutely no credibility since you are just now taking up the sport, and four, they could not care less about the luge because Argentina is a soccer-crazy nation?

If you really want to know, the rest of that story is in "The Courage to Succeed." What's more important than the rest of the story is how YOU can develop the mental toughness to look at an obstacle and become fired up and excited about the challenge ahead.

Many times all you have to do to overcome your roadblocks is to simply learn some new skills. Other times, you might have to refine some skills. You might have to enlist the help of other people. I did! Big time! You might have to create a team. Most of the time the roadblock is internal - lack of belief and doubt that you can pull it off.

The roadblocks are not a bad thing. They are simply road signs that tell you what you need to work on next. Where your focus needs to be. Your roadblocks help define what your goals need to be.

What's keeping you from realizing your dreams? What's the one thing that's slowing down all your progress? Your job is to identify the roadblocks and focus all your energy on doing whatever it takes to remove them. Once you do that, your dreams will be there for the taking.

3/1/ 2009

My Kind Of Friendship

When I say to you that I'm your friend, that's exactly what I am... No mere acquaintance, or unknown passer by, but a friend for life - forever friend…

We have much living ahead. We'll share the thoughts within our heads. We'll share our stories - share our past, build a special friendship - sure to last.

Through the tough days, count on me, I'll be the best friend there could be. I'll hold your hand, I'll dry your tears, soothe your anger, calm your fears.

We'll share the bad, and share the good, and make our lives the best we could. We'll search for joys with each new day, share miracles we met along the way.

Living, loving, laughing, playing. And hopes, and dreams. Learning who we really are, by listening to our souls, encouraging one another, making sure we reach our goals.

Unexpected phone calls - for no reason at all, just to hear a friendly voice, and know we're not alone. Talking at the speed of light, so many things to say, all the funny happenings that met us every day.

Sharing all our problems, sharing all our dreams, discovering what our purpose is in the bigger scheme of things. Learning what fulfills us, what passions live inside, what we truly have to do to fully feel alive.

Opening our secrets, ones we didn't know we owned, a journey, an adventure walked together - not alone. Opening doors we never knew were even closed before, doing it together, because - that's what best friends are for...

2/22/2009

In Good Time

By Ralph Marston

Life always comes to you in good time. There's no need to rush it, and nothing to be gained by attempting to hold it back.

Some things will take longer than you thought they would. Go ahead and get them completed anyway.

Some things will arrive sooner than you anticipated. Go ahead and deal with them when they do.

Make good and thoughtful use of every moment that comes your way. Peacefully let go of any anxiety or resentment about how little time you have or how much time it takes, and simply give your best as time continues to flow.

In good time, you'll get it done. In good time, you'll look back and know without a doubt that you have indeed been moving forward.

The day ahead is filled with opportunities for joy and fulfillment. Give yourself completely to each moment as it comes, and in good time you'll fill your world with richness.

2/15/2009

Walking on the Beach

Imagine you are walking on a beach, and the sand squeezes between your toes. To the right is the ocean blue. To the left are people and hot dog stands, and further beyond to the left are condos, and a whole world out there that extends to another ocean and beyond. The world is vast. Vaster yet are the skies above.

Where do you cast your eyes? On what is your focus?

You can love it all. Okay, the sun may get too hot on your back, yet here is an ocean right there for you to cool off in.

Maybe a piece of a seashell hurts your foot for a moment, and yet you are privileged to walk at the beach.

Maybe there is noise from all the people who lie on the beach or run in and out of the water. There is always an inconvenience or two. But what if the strand you are on is perfect even with its noise and inconveniences? What if it's okay for the beach to be noisy? Would you really want the beach silent? Would you really want it all to yourself? Then you would be on a desert island, and then you would value the noise and the people.

You can enjoy the beach or not enjoy it as you will. Someone who is landlocked would envy you even five minutes at the beach.

And yet, by the same token, the person inland can enjoy where he is.

Each aspect of the world I have given you has its attractions and distractions, and you can like the lay of the land where you happen to abide. You can continue inland, or you can move to the Oceanside.

There may be many reasons why you can or cannot, and yet you can stay or you can move regardless. Maybe it is simply too much trouble for you to move, and not really because of all the reasons you have.

The same could be said about anything. You want to start a business venture. You decide to, or you decide not to, or you postpone. You are the decider. It just may be too much trouble for you to start a business. You do not have to listen to the reasons that dissuade you. You can object to them. You can overthrow them.

Who would do much of anything when he counts all the trouble of doing it? It's better to look at what you want and why you want it. Better to aim at what you would like to do and not all the obstacles to it.

Who would have invented the light bulb if he focused on all the trials it would take? Who would do anything when he thinks of what it may cost him in time and trouble? How many people would move from one house to another if they thought only of the packing and de-cluttering and the energy that moving entails? They would be tired before they began.

Who would enjoy even life at the beach when considering all the difficulties? The water is cold. The sun is too hot. Clothes get sandy. It costs money and so on.

I do not say you must move from one house to another or to the beach, nor do I tell you that you must stay where you are. I say you are not always to make your decisions on the basis of ease. This is not to say you never must. You are free to let anything stop you, and you are free to let nothing stop you. Even when something doesn't work out for you the way you wanted, will you still be glad you gave it a good try?

Source URL: http://www.heavenletters.org/walking-on-the-beach.html

2/8/2009

Let Go of List of Errors

Where did that anxiety you feel in your stomach come from?

You were going along just fine, and then suddenly you began to feel fraught with anxiety about what you said or what you wrote or what you did, about how you could have done it differently, better, how you could have spoken up or not spoken at all, how you may have over-asserted yourself or not asserted yourself enough. The list could go on. There is no lack of recommendations for despair. You find an old list of errors you have made or might have made. You reread and reread this list, as if somehow despite its appearance, it might be helpful to you.

Helpful to you? Of course your anxiety-provoking list is not helpful to you. Quite the opposite. It is to the detriment of you.

You thought you were free of all your anxiety, yet somehow, little by little, it has crept its way back in again. Insidious is this little snake anxiety. How camouflaged it is as it slinks its way in, and you, you are not aware until suddenly it's right in front of you, and it has eaten away at your very foundation. Because of this anxiety, you feel undermined. You have gone back to that old and frayed shopping list. There is nothing worth buying on it.

I shall write you a new shopping list. Throw out the old one once and for all. Replace it with this one that I give to you now. This is your new shopping list I give to you. Understand it well:

"I am a fine person just as I am.

"I mean to do good, and I do.

"I no longer second-guess myself. I leave myself alone. If I don't like now what I said or wrote or did, I cross it out from all lists now, once and for all. What I did or didn't do doesn't matter. It is in the past. I know that the sun comes out, and that rain dries up. I am probably the only person thinking at all about this that I regret. There simply is no percentage in thinking of it, not even once. No matter how recent, no matter how big or how small, when I allow nagging thoughts from the past, I subtract from the strength of loving myself.

"It is important that I love myself. It is important for my sake and for the sake of all around me. I must not regret nor must I find fault with myself, for I am the leader of a parade, and it is for me to lead a calm content parade. My parade goes through all the side streets and the main ones too, and it goes according to the tenor of my thoughts. I want to lead the kind of parade I want to lead. I refuse to lead a dismal one.

"When my thoughts cause me anxiety, I drop those thoughts. I do not keep them for even one minute, for they are destructive thoughts. These thoughts worm their way in and don't want to let go. They have to be evicted, and I am the one who must evict them.

"This is easy to do now. I shake them off. I hardly give them a backward glance, and I say to them clearly:

"Regretful anxiety-provoking thoughts, you have no business being here. You don't belong here. You don't belong anywhere. You are like black-out shades, and you have pulled yourself down, and you have blocked my view.

"You want to keep me small and anxiety-ridden. But I see you now for what you are. You are a malcontent, and you like to step on my sense of well-being and sneak yourself and your other buddy thoughts in.

"You are invasive and erosive.

"You can't stay here any longer. You have to leave, and you have to leave now.

"So now, without further ado, leave. I throw you out, and you cannot come back."

2/1/2009

Something Wonderful Comes Into View

Sometimes you have a sinking feeling in your heart, a let-down bewildered feeling in your heart, and you don't even know where it comes from. You have nothing to tie it to. It is as if the feeling arose from itself, like a weed that suddenly appears on the landscape.

The feeling that you may call anxiety is the opposite of what you think. Perhaps you have moved into a new room, and you are not yet comfortable in this new room. Or perhaps you are in your old room, yet a chair was removed. At first, you're not quite sure where to sit down.

Perhaps this vague bewildered feeling is not a sinking of your heart but a lifting of your heart. Perhaps your heart is in transit to a higher place, and there is not yet anything for your fingers to touch or your feet to land on. Perhaps it is a very good thing what you are feeling. Your feet's touching may just be like an old comfortable chair that you are used to but don't really require. It's just that you were used to it.

It is like you are an accomplished piano player. You have been taking advanced lessons and doing very well. Now your teacher moves you forward, perhaps a leap forward, and now you have a new song to learn, and your fingers have not yet quite found their way on the keys, yet this new song is still a step of progress. Soon enough, your new song will follow all the music you have played, and you will feel accomplished once again.

Or perhaps you are walking along, and you trip over a stone in the road. You stumble. Yes, you stumble. At first you notice only your stumbling and how awkward you feel, until you see that it is a huge diamond you have stumbled over. Now the diamond is yours.

Consider that this vague streak of restlessness or lostness that you may on occasion feel is really a fine thing for it heralds great joy for you. You don't need discomfort before something wonderful happens, yet sometimes this is the case, and you do feel discomfort before something wonderful comes into view. When you do have this discomfort, you can at least know that not all is lost. You can even know that you are doing well. You may have been startled or dismayed, and, yet, even so, you are on the cusp of a great plain of discovery.

You are always getting closer to where you want to be. This is inevitable. Even when you backtrack, you are getting closer to your destination. Even if it seems you are going the long way around, you are getting closer. Remember this, beloveds. It is not a possibility I speak of. It is a certainty, yet you may be late in knowing. This would not be the first time you were behind in knowing what is really going on.

So, the next time you feel unsteady on your feet or a seeming emptiness in your heart, remind yourself that you are growing. You are rising higher and higher, and even a stumble takes you higher. Remember all the flowers that have been strewn on your path, and know there are more to come. You may not have seen them all yet, but they are a-blooming. Another step or two, and you will see them. The horizon may look far away from you. That's how horizons look, and yet you are getting closer. You are gaining on the horizon. The horizon doesn't mean to elude you. It is beckoning you forward.

Source URL: http://www.heavenletters.org/something-wonderful-comes-into-view.html

1/25/2009

Our Choices

We get so mixed up, trying to sort out our lives – our interminable tangles, conundrums, uncertainties, all in our minds all the time, chatter, chatter, choose, choose… and this detracts us from our purpose here. Which is – live life to the fullest and be happy and create the best you can.

We find ourselves focused on and living mediocre lives, our dreams stashed away in places we do not even remember, covered in dust since our childhood. And then we encounter the Law of Attraction, by "accident", start reading about it, attract people who support our vision of our new lives, and hope creeps into our lives, sometimes overnight. Hope that we can have more, hope that we can change things, and most of all, hope that we can be happy.

We have our bad days, our ups and down, but once an awakening starts, once we realize that we are in control, even if only for a moment, we start an unfolding of a whole process, planned and expected for lifetimes.. the unfolding of you into You – the expanded You, the creative You, the You who knows, the You who shines – and most of all the You who can move mountains by simply intending them.

Which of course you can. You are limited by your own limiting thoughts, and nothing else. What you intend you attract, and when you focus on the meadow beyond the padlock in the gate, the meadow becomes all there is – a new life, happiness, expansion. This is no sales jargon – it is who We are, who We can all be. And we change – let go of old constructs, gently move beyond them, shimmering shapes that we are, expanding into the bigger Us. Touching each other in the process, holding each other up, loving unconditionally and understanding each other's processes, the paths we all take to become Us.

There is hope. You are the hope. Live your life fully – live it out loud. It is all within your grasp.

1/18/2009

In this special moment in life ...

Think freely. Practice patience.

Smile often. Savor special moments.

Make new friends. Rediscover old ones.

Tell those you love that you do. Feel deeply.

Forget trouble. Forgive an enemy.

Hope. Grow. Be crazy. Observe miracles.

Make them happen. Discard worry.

Give. Give in. Trust enough to take.

Pick some flowers. Share them. Keep a promise.

Look for rainbows. Gaze at stars.

See beauty everywhere. Work hard. Be wise.

Try to understand. Take time for people.

Make time for yourself. Laugh heartily.

Spread joy. Take a chance. Reach out.

Let someone in. Try something new.

Slow down. Be soft sometimes. Believe in yourself.

Trust others. See a sunrise. Listen to rain. Reminisce.

Cry when you need to. Trust life. Have faith.

Enjoy wonder. Comfort a friend. Have good ideas.

Make some mistakes. Learn from them. Celebrate life.

1/11/2009

Happiness is a Choice

By Jason Osborn

Did you know that happiness is a choice? I know it doesn’t always seem like it but it is. Just think about it. How can someone who has everything in life be miserable and yet someone that hardly has anything can be amazingly happy? It comes down to what they choose. Happiness is a choice that you must make. Here are 3 keys to help you choose happiness.

1. Don’t be led by emotions.
Emotions are very powerful but can be dangerous if you don’t control them. If you are led by your emotions it will be difficult to continually be happy. You see, emotions change with every little thing that happens if you let them. Happiness is a choice you have to make regardless of what outside circumstances are. The better control you have of your emotions the more you will be able to choose to be happy.

2. Set yourself up to be happy.
Most people actually set themselves up to be unhappy. They set the rules to be happy so high that it’s practically impossible to be happy. Are the rules that you have set to be happy to hard? For instance, are one of your rules for happiness that you feel happy when you successful? If so, being successful all the time is hard to do. The odds are that you will be unhappy more then you will be happy if this is your rule. Make you rules easier and you will be happier.

3. Choose your thoughts wisely.
Happiness is a choice and therefore starts in your mind. If you think on things that are unhappy you will be unhappy. Begin the process of being happy by changing what you think on. You have a choice of what you are going to dwell on so make the choice to think about happy things.

Motivational Messages - 2008

Motivational Messages - 2007

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