Daily Inspiration 7-31-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. I will include this message for about one month so that all can see it. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"Accept--then act.

Whatever the present moment contains,

accept it as if you had chosen it.

Always work with it,

not against it."

 

-- Eckhart Tolle

When I was around 12 years old, my stepdad and I took some Judo lessons in southern California. Some of what I learned there even though a short-lived experience are with me today. This quote by Eckhart Tolle brought back much of that memory, especially with the last line in the quote, where he says to "always work with it and not against it." That is my recollection of the basic idea of Judo.

Yesterday I wrote about resistance. In Judo, as I recall, the idea is to never resist your opponent, but to go with their flow while managing the opponent by utilizing their own movement and balance. If they are coming at you, it is easy to use their energy by directing our position to send them flying over the top of us to the ground. In moving them gently off balance, we can use that lack of control to our advantage and trip them and control the outcome.

As events and situations come into our experience, rather than resisting them, we are far better off to go with that energy and allow it to help us go beyond the experience to a better place. Yet when we resist the energy, we remain helpless in the 'battle' of the experience and the ill feelings that come along for the ride.

When we accept a situation as if we actually created it on purpose, that alone gives us an energy that dominates. It is easier and more fruitful to see the situation, realize that we created it however unwanted we think it should be, and by acknowledging it as being present, we can make a better choice anytime we want. This allows us to use that energy to move beyond.

A better question then rather than 'why is this here?' is 'what is right about this?' or 'how can I benefit from this?' and so on. That is accepting the reality of the experience in front of us while at the same time looking beyond it and using the energy of it to move beyond.


Going With The Flow Has More Meaning Now.

Spread Some Joy Today--Send someone a nice card today. Just for the heck of it.

Daily Inspiration 7-30-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. I will include this message for about one month so that all can see it. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"Most of us have two lives.

The life we live,

and the unlived life within us.

Between the two

stands resistance."

 

-- Steven Pressfield

I think resistance is something that we think differently about than what it really is. Steven Pressfield has a lot to say about resistance, and it isn't kind. He says that "resistance is the most toxic force on the planet." He talks about how it keeps us from our more creative self by putting up all kinds of roadblocks, warning signs, fearful self-talk. He thinks we need to push through it, confront it, conquer it.

About writing, he says, "it's not the writing part that's hard. What's hard is sitting down to write. What keeps us from sitting down is resistance." I can sure relate to that.

Resistance is like the ego and the ego is all about fear, and confronting it is one way to go, but it often may require extra courage and we may choose to consider that (procrastination) by looking at more options.

To me, the more I try to fight resistance, the more resistance there is. The harder I try (courage), the harder it fights. It's like war and who has the biggest bomb and the most persistence wins. Yet, there is a better way I think. It is release.

It's good to recognize, or become aware that this struggle is going on. Often we may not be paying attention and struggle out of habit or because we think that's the way it is. Awareness is good. It tells us that we are struggling, fighting, using up our energies to stay in place. But, that's the only attention to it that need be paid.

Getting past it is 1) the awareness of it's existence, 2) allowing it to be (not resisting the resistance), and 3) relaxing into a different place by what I call 'letting go of the rope.' Sometimes when the resistance is strong, a good way to let go of the rope is to do something that doesn't require much thought. It can be a physical activity like working out, working in the yard, or it can be something like going to a movie, or listening to music. In other words, a distraction. Once returned from the distraction, the resistance is often gone completely or so small as to not be a threat anymore.

It will be back. That's its job. It's all about 'what if.' Never fear. You create your own reality and you can choose one with far less resistance if you want.


"To Yield To Resistance Deforms Out Spirit. It Stunts Us And Makes Us Less Than We Are And Were Born To Be." -- Steven Pressfield

Spread Some Joy Today--Let go and allow your joy to express itself.

Daily Inspiration 7-29-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. I will include this message for about one month so that all can see it. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"Do not judge lest you be judged.

For in the way you judge,

you will be judged;

and by your standard of measure,

it will be measured to you."

 

-- Matthew 7:1-2, The Bible, NAS

You will and you will. We can't help it. We see something and we make a judgment about it--whether we like it, how we feel about it, and often there are many judgments about a thing, event, or person. And, when we judged, we are then judged in the same kind of way. We attract it to ourselves by our own thoughts and actions.

Yesterday, I was on a trip and stopped at a Starbucks to get a coffee. It was busy. I saw two females behind the counter and the one on my left had a strikingly beautiful face. It was the kind that would be on the cover of a magazine. The girl on the right was not. As a male, I would have in times past thought, 'I like this one, and not that one,' or some sort of similar line. But, today I think differently.

As a salesman and sales manager, I was involved every day many times in negotiations and other kinds of communications with customers, potential customers, sales people, and others. One scenario that came to mind this morning was the idea of what we called the third baseman. In this, a couple would bring along an authority figure who supposedly knows the ins and outs of car dealing. We always looked at them with disdain because generally all they did was muck things up and give bad information and bad advice. If we could get rid of the third baseman, we could easily close this sale, or so we thought. But, today I think differently.

The difference in my thinking now is that I changed my approach to judging. Instead of seeing what I liked and what I didn't like, now I only see what I like. Whatever I see that I like, I praise. As an example, in the Starbucks, I see the beautiful face on the left and I like it and I praise it by saying to myself, 'you are very beautiful and deserve to be on the cover of the best magazine.' I might even go into more detail about how that beauty can be described. For the other girl, I loved her hair. She had dark hair with a blond portion and it was quite engaging. I loved the way it attracted attention and I praised her hair and her choice. I loved them both instantly.

As a salesman or sales manager now, I will look at the third baseman with a whole different attitude. I might be praising him for his knowledge of the business and his or her willingness to help this couple to make a better decision. I will find things to praise and I will praise them mentally and verbally. The same will hold true of the couple that brought him. I will love all of them.

I've now been practicing this for some years and I get better at it all the time, and what is best about it is how I feel inside and how that person in front of me responds to me. I create my own reality this way and it works like nothing else. I often will say the praise verbally depending on the situation. I try to do this as often as I can, but sometimes the situation doesn't allow that, or it doesn't feel right, but it always feels right in my mind.

Try this on everyone, even those who aren't so easy to like. You'll be changed for the better, as I have been.


"There Are Really Only Two Types Of People. Those You Now Love. And, Those You Will Love. That's What Life's For." -- The Universe (Mike Dooley)

Spread Some Joy Today--Praise = Joy. Want to manufacture some joy? Start praising.

Daily Inspiration 7-28-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. I will include this message for about one month so that all can see it. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"Don't seek happiness.

If you seek it, you won't find it,

because seeking is the

antithesis of happiness."

 

-- Eckhart Tolle

The pursuit of happiness. It's in the Declaration of Independence, and we've heard it many times. Many of us probably have been pursuing it most of our lives. We do things to be happier. We buy things to be happier. We live a certain way to be happier, and as we chase that feeling of happiness, or what we think it is, we may find that the destination is not all it was cracked up to be.

I love how Eckhart says not to seek happiness. It is truly not something we find, but something we choose to be, and that choice can be made in a moment--in fact, any moment we make that choice.

I was thinking about things, looking around my office and home at the thousands of things I have collected over the years. It seems more like a burden now than a pleasure, but there they are in all their glory. Then I thought, if I had 5 minutes to get out because of some impending disaster, or some other radical excuse, what might I want to take with me. Let's say that I have a truck and I can take anything I want to take in 5 minutes, what would I take? It's an interesting question.

The truth is that I have no idea what I would take. The next thought was, how important is this stuff really? It cannot be very important if I have no idea what I would take. If this is true, why do I still have them?

I've carried them with me from place to place, adding as I have gone, and letting go of very little in the process. The vast majority of the stuff has not been touched in years. Now, I am beginning to think about all this differently. It is sort of like dragging all your past into the present. Does it define me?


"You Can Only Lose Something That You Have, But You Cannot Lose Something That You Are." -- Eckhart Tolle

Spread Some Joy Today--What is really important to you?

Daily Inspiration 7-27-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. I will include this message for about one month so that all can see it. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"The first step in exceeding

your customer's expectations

is to know those expectations."

 

-- Roy H Williams

Many of us in the game of sales understand the quote above--at least on the surface. Sure, we know, how can we meet or even exceed a customer's expectations if we don't know what they are. So we think we do, but often, we are far more focused on our own needs, desires, plans, accomplishments.

We may be so enamored with our plan, our value and our magic services, that we gently pass by without much notice of what our customer's really want or could expect. In other words, sometimes we're so sure it's broken that we focus on the fixation rather than determining what the real need or desire is in the other.

Then again, how will we know if we are meeting, missing, or exceeding the customer's expectations? Do we have a plan to know this ever so valuable information?

If you're in sales (we're all in sales!), consider these statements and questions. It is valuable to consider and even more valuable to implement.


I Might Think I'm Doing Great Just Before The Firing.

Spread Some Joy Today--Focus on finding better feeling thoughts as you travel through your day. The state of appreciation is among the best of destinations.

Daily Inspiration 7-26-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. I will include this message for about one month so that all can see it. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"A rose is not its thorns,

a peach is not its fuzz,

and a human being is not

his or her crankiness."

 

-- Lisa Kogan

There are many rose bushes at my place, mostly in the backyard along a fence. I did not plant them. I would not have planted them. I like roses, but I don't much like working with them. I have tried many types of gloves and those thorns have found their way into my fingers regardless. Roses are beautiful and delicate and sensitive, and yes, they are rather thorny too.

I love peaches. I can't stand the peach fuzz on my hands or on my lips. It gives me the creeps. That's why I prefer nectarines as raw fruit, though they do not taste the same. So I buy peaches in the jar in the refrigerated section and I love them. No problems, just good fruit, along with a bit of sweetness.

I love people, but I cannot stand crankiness, even though I've done my share of being cranky. I like people when they are laughing, smiling, feeling good, acting good. In all other attitudes and demeanors, I am less liking, while I give my best shot at being loving regardless.

This quote above by Lisa Kogan was interesting to me. It was cute about the crankiness, yet also instructive. In everything we have pluses and minuses, pros and cons, things we like and things we don't like so much, yet in everything there is both. We can focus on one or the other, even recognize ourselves in them.

Hating fuzz doesn't stop me from loving peaches. Hating thorns doesn't have any real effect on my love of roses. Hating is too strong a word, I think. Disliking is far better and far more accurate. And, disliking crankiness whether it is coming from me or another human being doesn't really stop me from loving people or myself.

We are complicated, and that is a good thing. I have learned to look for something I like in everything and everyone, and when I focus on that, I always find it. Maybe that's the lesson if there is one.


To Some We Are Parts Of The Sum; To Others, The Sum Of Our Parts.

Spread Some Joy Today--Pay attention to what you are focusing on today.

Daily Inspiration 7-25-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. I will include this message for about one month so that all can see it. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"Who can you let love you more today?"

 

-- Alan Cohen

We are often encouraged and even cajoled to love others. We are almost never told to let others love us. So, I thought this was a fascinating question to share today. Notice that it is specific when it says, "WHO can you let love you more today?" Go ahead. Ask yourself: Who can you let love you more today? The idea is then to let them.

This goes to something I wrote a few days ago in that we are easier to give than to receive. We are that way for the same reason as we are easier to love than to allow others to love us. But, I said without the willingness to receive, giving is not real. The same might be said about loving and being loved.

So, I'll leave you with the idea of considering this question today: Who can you let love you more today?


"Love And Be Loved Is To Feel The Sun From Both Sides" -- David Viscott

Spread Some Joy Today--Allow your joy to spring forth naturally.

Daily Inspiration 7-24-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. I will include this message for about one month so that all can see it. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"But though I am an old man,

I am but a young gardener."

 

-- Thomas Jefferson

This is as good a secret to life and living as I have ever read . . .


Don't Ya Think?

Spread Some Joy Today--Look at your personal garden as a young gardener.

Daily Inspiration 7-23-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. I will include this message for about one month so that all can see it. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"Our limitations and success

will be based, most often,

on your own expectations for ourselves.

What the mind dwells upon,

the body acts upon."

 

-- Denis Waitley

Expectations of others; what they will do, when, how, and in what way is something most of us probably do a good part of the time. It's probably not the best path. It reminds me of the financial reports on the news where they say that the company announced its earnings, but it missed the expectations of the financial analysts, so the stock took a dive. In fact, I heard it on the news a day or so ago that Netflix quadrupled their profits in the last quarter, but it missed the expectations of the analysts, so the stock dropped 6%. It made me laugh aloud. It was hilarious.

Our own expectations of ourselves is much more a mine field than our expectations of others will ever be. What we think about ourselves determines us. We create ourselves each and every moment and much of that is created I think through our expectations.

Many of those expectations, if not most, are based on looking at what was, or our past. The more we look backward, the less we can ever move forward. It doesn't matter what the subject is. It could be our weight, our fitness level, our financial prowess, our relationship quotient. What we expect is most often what we will get in one form or another.

This is a really good place to get some Eckhart Tolle going and do whatever we can to focus in the present and let go of our hold on our past. Whether we are trying to sell something in our career field, create a business, build a relationship, save a relationship, our focus on the present is of benefit. As we do so, the expectations on ourselves can change dramatically. It could even be that we let go of expectations completely.


Every Day Can Be And, In Fact Is, A New Day.

Spread Some Joy Today--As we focus on our joy, we create our environment.

Daily Inspiration 7-22-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. I will include this message for about one month so that all can see it. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"Courtesies of a small and trivial character

are the ones which strike deepest

in the grateful and appreciating heart."

 

-- R.H. Blyth

I am so thankful that I have become a grateful person. It is something that creates unbridled joy for me, and now I experience that joy daily. I don't know yet what it would be like to live in that space constantly; however, I have learned to practice being thankful, expressing thankfulness, and experiencing the joy that comes from doing so more often to the point that it is part of me many times during each day.

Yesterday, I was watching a TV Miniseries from HBO on DVD that I only now became aware of. I found myself in some tears of joy in my gratitude for the fact that I could watch it and it was so good, so well acted, perfectly chosen actors, great storyline, and more. I found myself being grateful for the author and creator of the show, the producers, the company that invested in the show. It is flat amazing to me how many people, hours, testing is done to bring just one hour of this, or any other show, concert, athletic event to fruition--and I get the benefit for so little money and just a bit of time. What value is created for so many, and I am grateful to be one of them, and when I find a show or movie that resonates with me, I think they made it just for me.

I went to a wedding on Saturday, and I found myself in such gratitude and joy to just be in the magnificent church building. I was in awe of the design and all the people, the artists that sang and played piano, the joy of the families, the perfection of the day. I rejoiced in the generosity of the parents who fed so many, offering drink and dance to help their daughter to have that special day in her life, while at the same time sharing it with all who attended, along with all of the benefactors in the service of the guests.

It doesn't matter how big or small a thing or gesture is to me. I rejoice in them all. And, I rejoice most of all in two things. One is my awareness and willingness to be a grateful person, and two is the opportunity I have to live this life God gave me to be able to experience this joy.


Yes. I Have Become Such A Softie. I Think It Is Actually A Return To My Real Self.

Spread Some Joy Today--See the joyful expression all around you today. You can only see that with a heart of gratitude.

Daily Inspiration 7-21-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. I will include this message for about one month so that all can see it. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"The value of consistent prayer

is not that He will hear us,

but that we will hear Him."

 

-- William McGill

Prayer is many things to many people and is one of those words that has so many meanings that it can be confusing sometimes. A prayer can be an offering, praise, thankfulness, a request, a cry, a certain set of words in a certain sequence. It can be tightly held within selected boundaries, or as free as a wisp of mountain air. It can be aloud or internally in thought. It is something that each of us chooses to do or not do or how to do.

The idea that appeals to me the most and that resonates with me is that of communication. Some years back I wouldn't have understood the quote above by William McGill, but I think I do now--or at least, it is what resonates. The more I communicate with God, the Universe or whatever label you may use, the more opportunity there is for a dialog. Perhaps a better way to say it is that the more I am connected to my Source, the more I am.

Of course, I am a work in progress with a willingness to practice and a strong desire to connect. As I succeed however short-lived, I have a perpetual smile on my face of knowing.


Relax Into Prayer. Relax Into Life. Gratitude Is The Best Place To Begin.

Spread Some Joy Today--As you connect, the feeling of love is inescapable. What a place to begin your day of joy.

Daily Inspiration 7-20-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. I will include this message for about one month so that all can see it. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"I have seen what a laugh can do.

It can transform almost unbearable tears

into something bearable, even hopeful."

 

-- Bob Hope

Laughter is the best medicine used to be a section in the Readers Digest magazine, and it is perfectly correct and appropriate. Laughter can and often has healed terminal illnesses. The real power of laughter I think is in letting go of resistance. When we are not thinking of the weight and depth of our problems, circumstances or events, we are temporarily free. The more we do that, the less burdens there are.

In my company, when I talk with my partners, we almost always laugh together on the phone. We rarely see each other anymore, but laughter is a big ingredient in the glue that keeps us together. In fact, I deem laughter to be critically important in all relationships--especially in business. They help me laugh, I help them, we laugh things off and that puts them in perspective. In fact, all of my favorite people on the planet laugh a lot.

So, today and every single day, as often as possible, laughter is not only appropriate, but life-giving.


"Always Laugh When You Can. It's Cheap Medicine." -- Lord Byron

Spread Some Joy Today--Laugh. It is contagious.

Daily Inspiration 7-19-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. I will include this message for about one month so that all can see it. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"Nothing that has ever happened

has anything to do with now,

unless, in my now, I continue

to think and speak about it.

 

Fresh new thoughts today will always

give me a fresh new experience."

 

-- Abraham with Jerry & Esther Hicks

Does the sale we didn't make yesterday, or the deal we blew off, or the so-called mistake or decision we made in the past need to affect us at all right now? I've read a lot about how the past has passed and Eckhart Tolle has said a lot about that. One I read today is like the quote above when he says, "Nothing has ever happened in the past that can prevent you from being present now; and if the past cannot prevent you from being present now, what power does it have?"

Often I have thought that we are but an accumulation of our experiences (our past) and that determines in good part how we make decisions, think in today's environment. You know, it hasn't been going well financially, and so that is continuing today. I had a 'bad' month last month and this one is off to a similar start. We have a tendency to judge the present by comparing it to the past, which is the same thing as living it now.

Or . . .

Or, we can memorize and deeply understand the quote above from Abraham that "nothing that has ever happened has anything to do with now, unless, in my now, I continue to think and speak about it." When I read this today, it was one of those 'ah-ha' moments. I've read a lot about this idea, but until I read about it clothed in these words it was more a concept than a reality. But, "fresh new thoughts today will always give me a fresh new experience."

When I talk about the past, think about what went on, how it went down, how I felt about it and any number of other thoughts about it, I am reliving it again and it is continuing to effect me today, even though I want something different today. Every moment now is a new starting point unless I drag baggage from what was before.


Today Really Is A New Day And A New Opportunity.

Spread Some Joy Today--Tell it the way you want it now.

Daily Inspiration 7-18-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. I will include this message for about one month so that all can see it. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"Whenever you become anxious or stressed,

outer purpose has taken over, and you lost sight

of your inner purpose. You have forgotten that

your state of consciousness is primary,

all else secondary."

 

-- Eckhart Tolle

Frustration and anger are like bar-buddies. They love to hang out together and share stories that come to no avail, nor resolution. Much of my life was cluttered with frustration and anger and I used to talk about it a lot to whomever would listen and it never helped at all. Expressing the anger didn't help and sharing it didn't help.

In my later, more enlightened life, I have learned to stand back, so to speak, and look at the fact that I am experiencing anger or frustration and react less, while moving to a better feeling thought. After all, anger, frustration and such are just thoughts. That's all they are. They can turn into physical expressions, but in the end, they are just thoughts. Seeking a better feeling thought, even in tiny steps, is the only resolution that has good results.

I know this now, and yet, from time to time, I am challenged to have it be more a part of my life. I want to automatically choose better feeling thoughts all the time, and most of the time I do just that. However, I will react physically once in a while and I don't want that, so I have to keep paying attention and bless the experience so to speak, while moving toward better, more productive thoughts.

It is all about practice for me now. I am beginning to find that when something upsets me now, it is an indication that I have not fully adapted my desire of peace, so I am challenged to practice some more. And, as a result, I am finding that each of these instances of challenge have become blessings as a result. Isn't that interesting? I find it fascinating.

I had one of these episodes yesterday and it caused me to renew my desire to 'love my way through' using better feeling thoughts until I was relieved. Relief is a magical place I only recently found, and it was worth the journey.


"One Thing We Do Know: Life Will Give You Whatever Experience Is Most Helpful For The Evolution Of Your Consciousness. How Do You Know This Is The Experience You Need? Because This Is The Experience You Are Having At This Moment." -- Eckhart Tolle

Spread Some Joy Today--Realize that you have total control always when you are aware that you have it. Once realized, you can never go back. That is some serious joy!

Daily Inspiration 7-17-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"The next time life tosses you a multiples choice test, remember:

 

1) The more time you give it, the more choices you'll have.

2) There'll always be more than one right answer.

3) Waiting for divine intervention is almost never a good idea."

 

-- Mike Dooley,

A Note From the Universe

I loved this message from my friend and mentor, Mike Dooley, a.k.a., The Universe. I really keyed in on #2 because it seems that many of us probably think there is only one right answer. Often we may be choosing between, instead of selecting from, if you get my drift. But, to know that there is always more than one right answer is a wonderfully open-minded thing to consider, don't you think?

I think of the 'multiples choice test' as being time for a decision. We've gathered some data and now is time to make a choice from the opportunities that exist. I also see that the more time I wait to make a choice, the more choices seem to come around. Often, I think they are just out to confuse me, but the longer I procrastinate, the more opportunities, or choices there will be and that can certainly be confusing--even confounding.

To consider inside this opportunity to choose that there are more than one good choice, or more than one answer is exciting when I think about that. It may also cause me to consider more options, and it may also have me continue to procrastinate.

Waiting for divine intervention or any other kind of epiphany is to linger in procrastination, which gets us nowhere at all. In other words, when its time to make a choice, it's time to make a choice and procrastination is electing to not make a choice.

Since, out of the choices, there is more than one 'right' answer, making the decision or the choice then is more about getting on with it and then lining up with the choice than it is the choice being right or wrong, good or bad, correct or incorrect.


Consider The Experience The Choice Will Help Create. It Could Very Well Be Delightful (Love That Word!).

Spread Some Joy Today--Get on with it!

Daily Inspiration 7-16-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"When you pray or intend for something to happen,

do not dictate the form or timing of the result.

Instead, pray for the quality of your experience.

Pay more attention to how you want to feel

than how the outcome looks."

 

-- Alan Cohen

This is one of the best ideas I've ever learned and I am still trying to adopt it fully into my life. My long experience with goals, setting and achieving them, teaching them has generally had more disappointment than success. Some would say that all goals must be realistic. Others said to shoot for the stars. The information about goals and goal setting is quite varied in the world and much of it is conflicting to say the least. So, it just came down to trying things and seeing what might work, and then perhaps finding that it didn't work consistently and more.

Part of the issue is that there is so much going on around us all the time that our attention is fractured. I believe that if we could focus on the goal with intensity and consistency, it is more readily achieved, but we all know that is difficult to do with all we have going on. And, as we travel toward a goal, it is all to easy to see that we are not there yet, which sometimes has us lowering our expectations, and perhaps even giving up on the goal. Did I really want this?

It is very difficult to focus on something that you do not have, or do not yet have. It is sort of like a road of disappointment to some. We often may talk ourselves out of it as if we don't deserve it and so on. But, there is a better way.

If we can just decide to feel as we would feel as if we had what we wanted and not be concerned about how it may come or not be able to come, better results can be achieved and even better than this is that the road is not then paved with disappointment but fun, joy, loving the journey, enjoying the moments and more. It's the same thing about happiness. It's an inside job. We don't pursue it, chase it, win it, receive it from others or from things, but we just decide to feel it. I am happy. That's all it takes, and this idea of feeling the way you think you would feel if you had what you want is as easy as deciding to be happy.

Who knew it was this simple. Not necessarily easy after a lifetime of training, yet simple, enjoyable and very effective.


It's All About Feeling Good.

Spread Some Joy Today--Decide right now how you are going to want to feel and then begin immediately feeling that way. If you need to, take baby steps.

Daily Inspiration 7-15-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"Never judge an experience on face value alone.

Behind every tragedy awaits a gift.

Sometimes what seems to be the worst thing

that could happen turns out to be the best.

A setback is really a setup.

Be open to the gift and it will be revealed."

 

-- Alan Cohen

Behind every tragedy is a gift. What a powerful thought to consider. In the face of tragedy, we often focus on the tragedy and nothing else. We seek justice, whatever that may be, in the hopes that it will take away the thoughts of the tragedy somehow, but it doesn't. It doesn't work and it doesn't change anything because all of that is on the outside, when the only change that will make a difference is on the inside.

I think that we give events and circumstances far more power than they deserve. Consider the experience as an experience without needing to label them as tragedies at all. If we want good feeling things in our lives, it is so helpful to look from that perspective that there is something in the experience of value to us.

It has been my own experience that when I am looking for the value, I find value. I have also found that when I look only at the event or situation, I do not. The last thing I learned that is the most valuable is that it is always my own choice.


Learn To Expect The Blessing And Find The Value.

Spread Some Joy Today--Do you have ill feelings about anyone? Now would be a great time to make amends. Take joy in that moment and change.

Daily Inspiration 7-14-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"Sometimes the helper needs help,

and for being helped

they become better helpers."

 

-- Mike Dooley, A Note From The Universe

Yesterday, I mentioned my wife and me becoming a full-time caretaker (part time businessman). After sending the Daily Inspiration, I got my daily dose from Mike Dooley, a.k.a., The Universe with his A Note From the Universe daily messages. That quote is above.

I haven't accepted much of any help, though I sure could use it, being the tough guy I am, able to leap small buildings with a very tall ladder and all. You know the type: Generous to a fault, where I love giving or am willing to give, but so much less willing to ask for or accept help. Must be an ego thing. . .

Anyway, I saw this message and thought this would be a great thing to briefly discuss today. But, helping, asking for help and being helped is only a small part of a much larger story.

Perhaps you know someone, or maybe yourself, who is really good at giving but very bad at receiving. Many people have a problem with money that way too. They have no problem giving it away, but are not much into receiving it. Really, they are blocking it I think (as I relate to myself perhaps).

After I read the Mike Dooley message, I started thinking about how important receiving is. It is so much a part of giving really. In fact, I think being willing and even eager to give and yet not to receive makes the giving more of a show and of the ego and less from the heart. It is less like love and more like getting attention by hoping that people may think of us better.

Think of it this way: the water on our planet evaporates, becomes gas and mixes with the atmosphere, the sun and becomes clouds, then becomes rain drops falling to the earth again. In other words, it is a natural cycle. To give and to not want to or a better way to say it--to not be open to receiving is to block the natural cycle of giving and receiving, evaporation and rain, and so on.

I have to ask myself, how am I blocking receiving as being a natural part of my willingness to give? How can I let go of that need to block it and allow myself to freely receive with gratitude? Am I allowing others to be 'worthy' and not allowing myself to be worthy?

Isn't receiving as much an aspect of love as giving? I need to release my old training that it is good to give and not to receive. I need to allow others to be generous to me by their giving and my receiving is a sharing of that love back to them.

I also need to receive without the need to do anything about it, except perhaps accepting it with joy and love as the intent was given. For me to think that I have to return the favor so to speak is to be in the ego and keeping score. It is all love. Giving and receiving.


I Want To Become A Better Giver AND A Better Receiver.

Spread Some Joy Today--Thank you is a great place to start. There are lots of ways to say that.

Daily Inspiration 7-13-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

 "Love is a state of Being.

Your love is not outside;

it is deep within you.

You can never lose it,

and it cannot leave you."

 

-- Eckhart Tolle

I've talked ever so briefly about my wife's terminal illness. Most may not find it interesting to discuss. Nancy has ALS and was diagnosed 19 months ago. She can no longer speak. And, I bring this up because I am learning so much by having become her full-time caretaker. I've learned much about patience and how much I thought I had and didn't, as well as love and how we express or don't express that. There are many lessons and I am sure there are more to come.

Today, I wanted to talk about love. Many people who know Nancy love her. She's certainly easy to love, but since she became ill and progressively became speechless, so many that love her don't know what to do. They don't know how to communicate. Nancy has a facebook page but she doesn't even go on her computer anymore, so email is useless too. Her hands won't allow normal use so her options are so limited.

I take her for a ride almost every day because she wants to go. It is quiet in the car except when I'm talking to her or pointing something out, making a comment, etc. Once in a while we might stop somewhere where someone knows Nancy and I suggest they come say hi to her. They have trouble with that because they don't know what to say, have a hard time seeing her in her current condition and such.

She doesn't like visitors much because she doesn't like people seeing her the way she is and she can't communicate either. However, there is something that people can do for Nancy and for anyone in that kind of position to demonstrate their love. It's called mail. Every supermarket has greeting cards. There are Hallmark stores, Papyrus and more. Little messages of love and that you are thinking of them. People can send me emails for Nancy and I can give them to her to read. She can read, and if she couldn't, I would read them to her.

My point isn't about Nancy so much as it is about what I have learned about how we can show that we care and show our love to others when we may otherwise find it difficult to be around them. In today's electronic world, we forget about simple ways to communicate and share our love. Flowers are great and sometimes pricey, but cards are inexpensive and very touching.

You may know someone or several people right now that could use this kind of loving uplift. It's the little things that mean so much.


Now Is A Great Time.

Spread Some Joy Today--There isn't anything more important than sharing love with another, except loving yourself first.

Daily Inspiration 7-12-13

Special Note To CTS Daily Inspiration Readers:

First of all, THANK YOU for being a reader and thank you for all the wonderful comments that I've received over the last four years.

It has been suggested by many people that I create a book out of the CTS Daily Inspirations. I had mixed feelings about this. As people have continued to make the suggestion of the book, I had an idea that I think would make this an interesting and unique book. If many of you who are readers, have been touched by one or more of the inspirational messages, wrote about what inspirations inspired you, encouraged change and growth and generally how they affected you in a positive uplifting way, I would gather these into what I think would be an interesting and powerful book. If you are interested, please send them to me in an email to tminion@commercialtrucksuccess.com. Feel free to send as many as you like and I will keep you posted on the progress of this idea.

"Devastation is temporary."

 

-- Albert K Strong

I've lived in the Northern California area for 50 years now and I've seen a lot of change all around me, as well as in myself. And, the prognosis is for more of the same. Forever.

I've mentioned that my wife and I go on a favorite drive we call 'over the hill' from Fairfield into the Napa Valley, this trip winds down through Atlas Peak Canyon just before entering the Napa Valley. Some years ago, there was a devastating fire through that area and to drive through there after the fire was to drive through a surreal landscape blackened and bare exposing only the rocky under-landscape. I would have to use the word bizarre in how it appeared. Prior to this it appeared to be non-stop bushes, brush, trees and such where you could hardly see the rocky landscape at all. That was 1981.

Today (and for many years already), you would never know there was that kind of devastating fire through that area. There are some remnants if you know what to look for, but it now appears as healthy as it could possibly be.

A similar fire happened near Lake Berryessa and all that was left was some blackened burned trees that were for sure dead by looking at them. Yet today, those trees still with blackened trunks are vibrant and alive with new limbs and leaves and the brush is back to normal.

A few doors away from my house, the neighbor got out his chain saw one day and cut his big, glorious tree down to the trunk. I thought for sure that the tree would not survive. Yet, years later, it not only survived, but appears so much more healthy than it did before the drastic surgery.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said this about severe pruning: "As the gardener, by severe pruning, forces the sap of the tree into one or two vigorous limbs, so should you stop off your miscellaneous activity and concentrate your force on one or a few points." I like the line, 'forces the sap of the tree into one or two vigorous limbs.'

Devastation is temporary. Certainly in the time of the planet it is temporary. Things often survive devastation and come back healthier, more prosperous, and better than they may have been before. The only thing as powerful, or perhaps even more powerful than growth, is regrowth.


It Is Always Best To Focus On The Opportunities; The Renewal; What Is Good About This; How This Can Be Of Benefit.

Spread Some Joy Today--There can be joy in every experience as you choose to allow it to be.

Daily Inspiration 7-11-13

"Unwanted moments are really

the only way to discover the truth

about our present unseen limitations."

 

-- Guy Finley

Icarus is known to have said, "all limitations are self-imposed." The more I am willing to consider this, the more it makes sense in my life. Guy Finley's quote above is enlightening in how we can see when we are limiting ourselves, because I think for the most part, we don't usually realize that we are doing that.

One of the ways that we might relate to this is the idea of money and how so many of us want more of it, have need of it and so on. As I consider that idea and how I might limit myself, it takes me back to my earliest training about there never being enough when I was so young and the struggle that my parents went through trying to provide. It also takes me to the training that they and others gave about how money is 'made.' In fact, the whole idea that I have to 'make money' or 'earn money' is in itself a limitation.

A good way to help change our thinking on that is to imagine all the different ways that money could come to us and through us. It might also be helpful to think of how there is an abundance of money and that it flows in such a way as there not really being a need to store it up for those 'tough times' or 'rainy days' as they said when I was a kid.

Now it probably makes more sense how we limit ourselves about money. We might think we need to do a certain thing, use a certain skill set, climb the corporate ladder, get the promotion, and such. We may even have limitations as to the amount of money that is possible to earn in what we do and that the only hope for much more is from the state lottery.

It seems clear that as long as we limit ourselves about money in these ways that we cannot find the abundance that could be received. In fact, a good way to think about money probably is to think of receiving rather than earning or making it.

Of course, money is only one subject on how we limit ourselves. Maybe we are looking for the right mate and have lots of self-imposed limitations about how that can be done. Or anything else we would like to have in our lives. In fact the word 'how' or the idea of the way whatever we may want coming to us is severely limiting, wouldn't you agree?


Another Way We Create Our Own Personal Realities.

Spread Some Joy Today--Let go and let God.

Daily Inspiration 7-10-13

"Loving people live in a loving world.

Hostile people live in a hostile world.

Same world."

 

-- Dr. Wayne Dyer

In 1960 I was about 11 years old and it was all over the front page of the newspaper that the world was to end in that year. It was a big deal and lots of people were very upset, anxious, and afraid. In 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis brought a boon to the underground personal shelter business, and 3 doors down, they had one installed. It was weird, to say the least. Also in 1962, we moved from southern California to northern California, and a age 13, that was a torture of the worst kind.

Skipping a myriad of crises and tribulations due to space here, in 2012 the world was slated to end due to the Mayan calendar. They made movies about it so we could see it before it happened. Then there were the Presidents, some polished to perfection and beyond, others too ugly to sweep under the carpet. The Berlin wall, race riots, Martin Luther King, 911, schools in terror, and the list is not only not even slowing down, it is endless.

It would be so easy for me, having lived through the Korean War, Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq, and the Middle Eastern conflicts, terrorism, TSA, seat belts in autos, smog pumps, electronic surveillance, Watergate, recessions, deep recessions, Enron, grapes taking over Napa Valley and every valley near it, more and more severe weather with larger and larger and more destructive storms, to focus on the hostile and dark future of the world in general and my world in particular.

Or, not.

Instead, I might see blue sky more often than not--and in fact, find joy in all weather instead of only the blue sky. I might see people loving one another, babies coming into the world to loving arms and nurturing parents, politicians with a heart and healthy mind, cars and trucks vastly improved from the past, less and less air pollution moving toward zero, such a wonderful variety of supermarkets, delicious food readily available at a low cost whether fast or slow. I might see people going out of their way to help others thrive, succeed, do better, be better.

I might see some of the wealthiest people on the planet giving away their accumulated wealth to worthy causes worldwide. I might see these and a myriad of other uplifting, loving, hopeful, enthusiastic, building things all around me every single day of my life. I might see living and dying as all a wonderful adventure with no end.

Same world.


We Really Do Create Our Own Reality--Or At The Very Least, Pay Attention To One More Than Another.

Spread Some Joy Today--Choose, and if you like your choice, keep it, if not, release it and choose again.

Daily Inspiration 7-9-13

"You know you've made it

when you suddenly realize

that there's nothing in the world

anyone might ever give you,

no matter how grand or fabulous,

that you can't give to yourself."

 

-- Mike Dooley as The Universe

I subscribe to several daily inspirations myself and once in a while I need to pass one on. This one is from www.tut.com and Mike Dooley pretending very nicely to be The Universe. Always uplifting and often so insightful and thought provoking. The quote above came yesterday and to me, this is the kind of quote to print out in larger letters and stick on the wall or in your daily planner. It is also one of the best definitions of success I can think of. Enjoy!


We Are So Much More Than We Think We Are.

Spread Some Joy Today--What can you give yourself today that will help you find more joy?

Daily Inspiration 7-8-13

"You cannot fail,

you can only produce results."

 

-- Dr. Wayne Dyer

I absolutely love this quote and it could just as easily say, you cannot succeed, you can only produce results. What I love about this is how it puts things into a perspective that is focused on the present and creates an attitude of the love of doing a thing. Whatever I do, I produce results. It would only be my judgment of those results that would indicate success or failure, good or bad, etc. In thinking of just the results, it allows me so much more freedom and childlike interest in whatever I may choose to do.

Of course, if the results, which are guaranteed, happen to be not to my liking, I may choose a different action that will produce results that are more to my liking. This way, I am guiding myself with love and empowerment.


Everything Is More How We Choose To See Things, Or Experience Things, Than What They May Be To Others.

Spread Some Joy Today--Since joy only comes from within, you are always 100% in control of your joy. As you release it in whatever quantity, it is shared.

Daily Inspiration 7-7-13

"The people heard it,

and approved the doctrine,

and immediately practiced the contrary."

 

-- Benjamin Franklin

It seems strange, yet is so often true that we know how to be loving; to have patience; to have empathy, and the knowing is not enough based on our actions. Today there are a number of great quotes, and here's another to consider on this theme by C.S. Lewis: "Do not waste time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him." In other words knowing is not enough, we need to practice it.

I find all manner of opportunities to practice patience, love, empathy and more. Often it is in my car while driving. People can be a real pain on the road if I let them. Some of them get pretty uptight and it shows in the way they are driving their vehicle.

My wife and I go on a drive we love that we call 'over the hill' which includes a lot of winding roads and slower speeds. It's only about 30 miles each way, but it takes almost an hour. There are a lot of people who like to drive that as fast as they can regardless of speed limit signs and they will come up on my tail and follow very closely awaiting an opportunity to go around. If I focus on them and their anxiety, I get upset, but if I focus on my enjoyment and find a convenient place to pull over and let them on their way, it is a much more pleasant journey.

As I would realize myself getting uptight and angry about the person behind me, I would begin to practice choosing different thoughts. I know I need the practice so I practice as often as I can. I might say aloud or to myself about the impatient person behind me, 'so, you want to go fast! You shall go fast!' then I pull over as soon as possible and celebrate their getting to go fast again. Who am I to be a stumbling block? Then I get to go the speed I want freely as well.

It seems that we might think that we should adapt loving thoughts, empathy, and patience because we know it is a good thing, but knowing is not enough, I need to practice it, and in my practice, I get better, it becomes more automatic, and I am a kinder, gentler person.


"An Ounce Of Practice Is Generally Worth More Than A Ton Of Theory." -- E.F. Schumacher

Spread Some Joy Today--"Love and magic have a great deal in common. They enrich the soul, delight the heart. And they both take practice." -- Nora Roberts

Daily Inspiration 7-6-13

"Your reputation is in the hands of others.

That's what reputation is.

You can't control that.

The only thing you can control

is your character."

 

-- Dr. Wayne Dyer

I find the quote above to be a marvelous quote. Some people try to protect or enhance their reputation. Companies do it, people do it. But, to realize that there is absolutely nothing you can do about your reputation in and of itself; that it is out of your control and out of your hands is interesting. Yet, what indirectly speaks to our reputation is our character which we as people and us as a company have 100% control of. We decide. Companies decide. We decide by what we say and more than this, by what we do or choose not to do.


I Am That Which I Choose To Be.

Spread Some Joy Today--Focus on what you can control rather than relying on others. You control your joy. In fact, joy comes from within, not without, yet once it come out from within, it is shared. Bring forth a bit of joy for your own enjoyment today, and others will benefit from that gift to yourself.

Daily Inspiration 7-5-13

"All blame is a waste of time."

 

-- Dr. Wayne Dyer

My ego loves to blame others for anything and everything that is not to my moment-to-moment liking. It took me a lot of years to realize that was the case and that I am not my ego. I also found out by finally becoming aware enough to pay attention to my constant blaming of others, that blaming them didn't make me feel any better, nor did it solve any problems I might be having. Somehow I thought I would at least feel better if I could find someone else to blame for my circumstances. It didn't work. And, though I persisted for a long time after the initial awareness, I slowly began paying more attention and as I would catch myself blaming, or giving responsibility to others, to stop, let it go, choose a different thought. I still do that today, though I blame less and less all the time.

Dr. Wayne Dyer's quote above is just the first line of a larger quote, so I will leave you with the entire quote to consider:

"All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you. The only thing blame does is to keep the focus off you when you are looking for external reasons to explain your unhappiness or frustration. You may succeed in making another feel guilty about something by blaming him, but you won't succeed in changing whatever it is about you that is making you unhappy."


A Better Choice Is Always Accepting Full Responsibility Myself. It's Easier To Figure Out That Way.

Spread Some Joy Today--Give yourself some extra special love today. You deserve it.

Daily Inspiration 7-4-13

"Freedom means you are unobstructed

in living your life as you choose.

Anything less is a form of slavery."

 

-- Wayne Dyer "

 

 

A people free to choose will always choose peace."

 

-- Ronald Reagan

 

 

Happy Independence Day!

Choose Peace Within AND Without.

 

Spread Some Joy Today--Love the one you're with.

Daily Inspiration 7-3-13

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true,

whatever is honorable, whatever is just,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,

whatever is commendable,

if there is any excellence,

if there is anything worthy of praise,

think about these things."

 

-- Philippians 4:8, The Bible, ESV

I was thinking about the phrase 'worthy to be praised' this morning, and it struck me that you are worthy to be praised. Yes, YOU! And, so am I. We are all worthy of praise. We may, more often than not, receive very little of it, but worthy we are and worthy we will be.

In my favorite verse in The Bible above, it ends with the suggestion that we think on these things. I totally get how valuable that is. What it could also have said and wasn't is that to express that praise is even more powerful, yet we often don't.

With influences all around us looking not for what is right, good, lovely, but instead seek what is wrong, must be improved, who's to blame and much more, it can be difficult to live in a world of praise. However, I will tell you that this single idea of praising, being outwardly thankful, is the most important lesson I have ever learned. It has served and continues to serve me very, very well.

Having been on a worship team at church, it is a common theme that only God is worthy to be praised. In my opinion, that is just not true. You are worthy to be praised. We are all worthy to be praised. And, to take that just a notch further, we are worthy to praise.

So, I recommend trying it out. Don't take my word for it. Test me. Take a day. Any day. Now find people to praise and think about that, but the most important thing is to DO something by praising them aloud, in writing, to them directly. In other words, for this one day, demonstrate that they are worthy to be praised by praising them. Notice how it causes you to feel. Notice how good you feel inside. Notice how it causes them to feel.

Praise God as well. Truly, when you are praising your fellow human being, you ARE praising God. It's called LOVE. Praise everything around you. Be thankful for the sky, the air, the trees, your car, air conditioning, heaters, super markets, your pet, your children, your neighbors, your boss, and never, ever, forget yourself. In fact, you might start right there: praise yourself because you are worthy to be praised.


"Praise From The Praise-Worthy Is Beyond All Rewards." -- J.R.R. Tolkien

Spread Some Joy Today--Yes. Today.

Daily Inspiration 7-2-13

"Some things in life are important.

Others are not.

Every experience is a lesson

in which is which."

 

-- Alan Cohen

If we are enough in the present that we are paying attention, this quote is so right on. I might not have used the word 'lesson,' because it often implies that it is something we are 'supposed to' learn. I do believe that we are constantly learning from our experiences, and then from our awareness, are then able to consider them and perhaps learn from those experiences. Maybe that means making better or different choices next time, maybe not. The opportunity is always there that we may exercise or ignore.


On A Scale Of 1 To 10, How Important Is It?

Spread Some Joy Today--Sometimes experiencing a really funny movie can be the most important thing you can do for yourself.

Daily Inspiration 7-1-13

"As a doctor, I delivered the best clinical care

I could. But, as a human being, I let you down.

You didn't need my judgment and my contempt.

You needed my empathy and compassion."

 

-- Dr. Peter Attia from TedMed Talk, April 2013

I'm a huge fan of TED, TED.com, and the several TED YouTube Channels. In one way or another we share TED via our clients blogs and our own and through social media. The video below was just released by TED and I found it fascinating. I was especially moved near the end of the video.

The message is something we all probably need to return to: love. We have such a tendency to judge others in so many ways, and why should highly trained doctors be any different?  



Rush To Lovement . . .

Spread Some Joy Today--by sharing the love that is you.