Daily Inspiration 9-30-15

"It may be hard to fathom, 

but in order to move ahead, 

we must let go 

of what we're holding on to." 

-- Albert K. Strong 

You're in a situation that you like. You have a good degree of control over things that affect your results, and that is to your benefit and that of your employer. You've been given a high degree of autonomy. You've earned it. You perform. Month in. Month out. You're doing all you can with what you've got to work with. That is pretty much you. You've expanded, even excelled and you feel that you are at the top of your game. And, your game is on top of you. Generally speaking, you're there. You're at the peak. It is increasingly hard to outdo yourself. Yet, you relish the opportunity. You're a player. You're in the game to win. You're a winner, and you're winning.

Now you've demonstrated that kind of performance and profitability; now that they have a habitual taste of it, they want more. Because there is so much more to have. The truth is that no matter your stardom, there is double, triple, quadruple, quintuple that and more available. Once that vision is seen with clear eyes, the natural desire is to seek to experience it. It's time to expand, to become more. 

How is that done? It's done with a team. Adding another person isn't going to get it done. You haven't got time or energy to keep up what you do and try and train or help them get up to speed. They're on their own. They're probably destined for failure in time, or at best mediocrity. It's just the way it so often works. You've been at it for so many years, you got it down. They're new, and maybe even hungry for a time, but the newness wears off. Since you're not managing them, they're managing themselves. Good luck you say. Give it your best shot.

They want you to focus on growing the department, but here's the kicker: they don't want to lose any of your production or gross profits. No, no, no. That will not do. But, how are you going to do that? You already have a full-time job. It's not going to work. You're getting stressed and unhappy about the whole thing. Before you were a happy camper and a happy producer and now, well. . . not so much.

So what's the answer? I know the answer from many, many, many years of experience and observation. You need a team. You need to keep doing what you do and enjoy your life. You're valuable. No one wants to lose you and what you bring to the table. A manager is required. A good one. Plus a couple team members. But, here's another rub: You have to let go of some things that you control. You're going to have to let go of ordering all the inventory in the methods you've been accustomed to. You're going to have to change along with the change in the department. If it is to grow, you have to let go. If it is to grow, you have to let go. If it is to grow, you have to let go. If it is to grow, you have to let go. One more time: If it is to grow, you have to let go.

Being a star producer and an all-around wonderful person is your niche. You're so good at it, they should write a song about it. Being a manager is not your thing. You've done it, but your heart is not there. But if it is to grow, we must have a team. I repeat: We must have a team. A team can produce so much more than just adding people will do. There is no comparison. Now that you've let go, you've also freed yourself to do even better. You have no worries anymore. Someone else is managing the worries. That's what managers are good at--managing. At least good ones are.

Now you can just give advice from your many, many years of star performances. The manager listens. He's not an idiot. He would be devastated if you stopped performing. He needs you. And, you need him. Or her. Now it will grow and it will grow beyond current expectations. Now there is a team and the team will achieve the task at hand. If we want to grow it further, we add another sales team member, the manager guides them, nurtures them, trains them, and manages them. It grows.

If it is to grow, you have to let go. You have to let go of what you're holding on to. The owner has to let go of the resources needed to get this team up to speed. The owner will be amply rewarded. I can pretty much guarantee it. If you let go, it will grow.


That's How It Works. That's The Best Answer. This Is How It Is Done. Professionally. Smart. Poised For Growth. Rocking The World In Your Area. 

Spread Some Joy Today--Get ready. Joy is welling up within you and will come spilling out any second. It's okay to enjoy that alone, but infinitely better to share.

Daily Inspiration 9-29-15

"In this life, there are many value illusions." 

-- Albert K. Strong 

It has come to my attention that there are a lot of things that are misconceptions. I'm here to say that we need to see things the way they really are instead of the way we've always thought they were. 

Teaching. Teachers are considered valuable, but teachers really can't teach anything. They can't impart it to someone. No. They can share, but not really teach, at least the way we thought they did. The real value is the learner. When the learner is actively seeking knowledge, it cannot be hidden. It will be found. The real value is learning, not teaching.

There's a lot of books. Books are valuable they say. Really popular books are more valuable because they are popular. Really good books by really smart authors are really valuable. At least that's the way it seems. But, no, that's not where the value is. The value is in the reader. If not for the reader then the book would not be needed. It is reading that is really valuable. When we want to know something, we will stumble across the books that we can add value to. Yes, we add value to the book, not the other way around.

Alan Cohen says, "Success is less about getting good, and more about letting good." In sales, a salesperson can have skills, but mostly they just need a pleasant personality and a desire to aid a buyer in finding what they want. Everyone is looking for a top salesperson, but the real value is in the buyer. No buyer and the best salesperson on the planet is useless. But a real buyer will find a way to buy regardless of the skills of a salesperson. It's the buyer that is valuable.

The speaker is cool, but it is the audience that makes the difference. In a relationship, it is not the talker but the listener. In lovemaking, it isn't the lover as much as the unbridled receptiveness. In performance it is not the performer as much as it is the responsive crowd.

Both sides have value, but we may often forget which is the most important, where without the one the outcome would be so different. Remember also that when we go to an event, performance and such that we bring so much value in that participation.


Go Add Some Value To A Book, Lecture, Movie, Song, Show, Event. Thank You For The Value You Bring Here. 

Spread Some Joy Today--because it is Tuesday. Tuesday's need some extra joy.

Daily Inspiration 9-28-15

"Numbers are valuable storytellers. 

They will tell you whatever story 

that suits your desire and agenda; however, 

the importance of those numbers and stories 

may be subject to wide debate." 

-- Albert K. Strong 

This is the 2,190th Daily Inspiration since I began publishing them to the public. It also completes 6 full years because they began on September 29th, 2009. What does that mean? I don't know exactly except that it is quite a few, and probably accounts for about 6,000 or more hours of time spent doing them.

Let's see. . . that would be 250 24-hour days. I earned 0 dollars doing this, but I wasn't doing it for money anyway. However, the benefits to me were enormous and far reaching. I've grown. I am more as a result of expressing my thoughts. I've become a better writer, and I've expanded my thinking. 

Have others benefited too? Yes. How many? I haven't got a clue. I know that it has been opened all around the world and that it has grown in traffic, but it is out there in numerous formats from this email newsletter style, to the blog, to facebook, Tumblr, and more. It's out there for those who want to stumble across it.

What numbers matter? I don't know.

Facebook. I have 801 friends. I know some of them, but not so many. It's nice to have friends. How many friends does it take to be popular on facebook? I'm not sure that it has that much to do with numbers.

Twitter. I have done 4,365 tweets, have 1,148 followers on my personal account. Are any following me because of my tweets? Probably not. I think they are just looking for people to follow them. I follow 1,958 of them, and since I don't pay any attention at all to their tweets, why should they pay any attention to mine?

Then there's LinkedIn, and I'm a member of several other social media accounts like Pinterest, InstaGram, and many more.

Here's an interesting number: I have a Google Plus account. On my Google Plus account, I have 47 followers. Frankly, I don't know how I got that many because I have pretty much done nothing to expand this social media account. However, and here's the interesting part: My Google Plus profile has 8,612,667 views as of the moment I am writing this. Wow! What made my profile so popular? I think I've done only 8 posts, and not all of them on purpose, so it can't be anything I've said. No. It has nothing to do with me being popular or witty. It's photos. Because we do so much blogging for a lot of clients and we use photographs, there are now a few thousand photos in my Google Plus account. So, it's the photos that make me popular. Wow! Over 8.5 million views. . . What does it mean? Not much, but I guess I could make up a great story.

The most popular blog we have done to date is the Commercial Truck Success Blog. It has 3,006 posts since April of 2008, and has 782,732 page views at this moment. Wow. Over 3/4 of a million page views about commercial trucks. The next closest blog in page views has 143,899 and it's also about commercial trucks. Go figure. But, they both have more views than this because that metric wasn't measured until 2010. What do these numbers mean? I don't know. A lot of people from all over the world are looking at one of them anyway. What are they seeing? One of those 3,006 posts I expect. I try to offer value and encourage interest, but who knows?

I've got another 42 days to enjoy being 65 years old. How did I ever get this old? Sometimes I think it just snuck up on me unaware, but that's not really true. I don't feel old. I'm much younger in my head. I do know that there isn't so much value in looking backward because much of it is a blur. Not that it went by quickly, which it seems like now, but I'm not certain that my memory is all that trustworthy. If it weren't for some photographs, I might have just made it up.

It has been said that everything that can be measured is not necessarily worth measuring. Of course that would be a personal decision. But, I know that there are a variety of stories that can be told about pretty much any numbers. Yours might be much more interesting than this dribble, so I'll leave you to your number stories.


I Hope You Enjoy The Stories Of Your Numbers. Might As Well Have Some Fun With Them! 

Spread Some Joy Today--by treating yourself today. You deserve it, so what the heck!

Daily Inspiration 9-27-15

"Resentment is personal: 

 Personal mental punishment." 

-- Albert K. Strong 

Resentment is an interesting emotion. It is an attempt to punish someone else for something that they did or did not do that was not in alignment with what we wanted. In other words, we didn't get our way. In other words, it's my way or the resentment highway--the highway of shame, disgust, disappointment.

But, who does it punish? Resentment punishes us. Nelson Mandela said it so well when he said, "Resentment is like drinking poison and hoping it will kill your enemies." Malachy McCourt phrased it a bit differently, and I think in a way that expresses it about most of us very well: "Resentment is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die." I love that line, "waiting for the other person to die." One might think that will help create patience, but because resentment feeds on resentment, it maintains its own momentum.

I saw this quote from Bell Hooks yesterday: "The moment we choose to love we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love we begin to move towards freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others." I know that the answer to resentment is love. In fact, love is the answer to all things because that is what we essentially are. Yet in this quote, though it made its point with me that we need to choose love, I dislike the word 'against' in there. Love is never against anything. Love is not against oppression or domination. Love is not against anything. It allows. There is a world of difference.

So, resentment is blaming others, it is disappointment with an attitude, but resentment doesn't attack. It doesn't close others off but closes us off to others. It is a self-defeating response to our own misalignment. Resentment is a tug-o-war against ourselves. The way to move away from this poisonous emotion is to first let go of the rope. Once the rope is on the ground, we have released most of the tension in our body, and now we can find relief in choosing a thought that feels just a little bit better. Then another that feels just a little bit better, and as we move in these little steps, we can eventually get back to our true selves--love.

What we all want is unconditional love. All of us. Even the meanest looking, meanest acting, meanest spirited of us wants unconditional love. That is the love of God, The Universe, All-That-Is. And yet, love is a gift we give to ourselves. Once we do this; once we experience the unconditional love of ourselves, we then attract it to ourselves. When we fail to love ourselves, even the all-powerful love of God is blocked by us. It is there and ready to flow over us as soon as we allow it in ourselves.

The answer is always, always, always, always love. Getting there from a dark place is done by letting go of the resistance within by ceasing to pull on the rope and instead, just lay it down, then turning toward relief bit by bit until we return to love from which we came.


Allowing Is The Art Of Finding Our True Selves, Which Is Love. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by allowing yourself to move toward expressing more joy in your life.

Daily Inspiration 9-26-15

"When you let it be the way it is, 

that is when it has the greatest opportunity 

to change into something else." 

-- Bashar 

Let me share the context from which this quote came which came from a question, "What phrases could I use that would be more beneficial to me?":

"How does this serve me--exactly the way it is? Exactly the way it is: how does it serve me? What can I learn? How can I positively learn something from this?" When you let it be the way it is, that is when it has the greatest opportunity to change into something else. If you deny the form in which it comes, then you are not allowing yourself to see what is inherent within it. You are not allowing it to present itself in the way you have created it to present itself. You are denying your own creation. 

Everything is just fine. In what you used to consider the most dire circumstances, let yourself realize everything is just fine. "I'm in control of this; look at how much control I have, to have created such an absolutely exciting scenario. Everything seems to be wild and hither and thither and all over the place, and seemingly wild and unconnected and out of control. But since I know I'm controlling that, look how much power I have." 

Get used to knowing and believing there is a positive manifestation that can occur from every scenario. With no exceptions!.... None. Trust that when [seemingly negative] things occur in your life--if you know you are doing the best you can do at that moment, and those things still occur, then assume it's for a good reason, and let yourself see how it is for a good reason. 

[When you're focused on the negative side], you can't see the positive side of the coin. You can't see it until you choose to look at it. You have to decide consciously that you will look at the positive side of the coin in every single circumstance, or you will not be able to see positive manifestation. If that's the way you choose to look at it, that's the way you'll experience your reality." 

That was shortened from two full pages of text, and yet now that you've read that, let me shorten it further. It comes down to two things:

1. Learn to accept that we all create our own reality, even when it doesn't appear to be the reality we think we want. Awareness and acceptance is critical to our functional well-being.

2. Learn to flow with the go. Yes, I said that backward from the way it is normally said. When we learn to relax and flow with what is happening, we can then learn from it and change it as we will. 

Last Monday, my hard drive on my main computer crashed and burned. The mirror hard drive was useless. For someone who runs an Internet business, this could easily be considered a disaster. That scenario is still unfolding, and won't even be resolved for many more days. You don't want to hear all the details. Trust me. Yet, because I have learned to flow with the go, and that I am in control of my own reality, I am finding the positives that are in this whole affair. I have found some, and I am certain because of the extent of the issue, there are more nuggets to find.

I am not even upset, whereas in the past I would have been ranting, raving, flailing about, blaming everyone and everything I could, demanding things be done, and generally being an unhappy camper. In the meantime, I'm making do with what I have to work with. You don't know the peace this brings me to flow with this go. I am actually appreciative that it happened to demonstrate how I've learned to do this. That's just one of the nuggets, and I look forward to the others as they arrive.


Sometimes Shit Happens, And I Accept Responsibility For That As I Adjust Myself To Flow With The Go. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by simply being. You are joy. Though you may not always see it or spread it, you are joy. Let it be.

Daily Inspiration 9-25-15

"That's why you have to

let your creativity out

because it has you as a project. 

It's building you, 

creating you." 

-- Elizabeth Gilbert 

Yesterday, I watched a 47-minute interview by Marie Forleo with Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love, and many other books. They were discussing her latest release, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear. While watching this, I immediately bought the book.

This interview is absolutely delightful. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed an interview as much, and it was full of creative wisdom and Marie's questions seemed so perfect to get the most out of discussing the book and the values therein. To say I highly recommend watching it is saying it conservatively.

What always fascinates me in learning is that I will see or hear many things that are of value to me, or that help to enlighten me, and yet there may be just a sentence or two in all that time that resonates so much that I just have to write it down. This is the case with the quote at the top.

What fascinates me about that quote is the idea that by exercising our own creativity, it is creativity itself that is having its way with us, or as she says, "it has you as a project." We think of creative projects and that we are exercising creativity on those projects, but to turn that around and have creativity having us as a project is very interesting.

The fact that what we do, what we act on, how we think molds us every day is not a new idea, but how this one was expressed by Elizabeth Gilbert gave me a way to have all of that make more sense somehow. The idea that these things have me as a project is a fascinating twist and it is also interesting how that excites me even more than simply exercising creativity. It opens up vistas in inspiration for me, and my desire is ignited by it.

Isn't it amazing when a spark ignites something within you? Isn't it interesting how something in an interview--just two sentences in fact--can make a huge difference in your life? This is what I love about learning. Taking the time to watch an interview, a TED talk, and a thousand other things keep me wanting more. Some are interesting and I could just as easily have missed it, and others simply rock my world. Yet, they are all valuable. Why? Because I am their project. . .


As I Am A Creative Project, I Expand And Become More. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by just letting loose. Blow the cobwebs out. Dance around the room. Have some fun. Share some joy.

Daily Inspiration 9-24-15

"Emotions will either serve or master, 

depending on who is in charge." 

-- Jim Rohn 

Who's really in charge of our emotions? It is an inside job. So often; however, we may find them controlling us from the outside via circumstances, events, and so on. That's just a mirage. Emotions are always from inside us, and always demonstrate our alignment or misalignment with our inner being. Alignment would be feeling good, and misalignment would be feeling bad, with various grades of emotion based on the intensity of those feelings.

Let me share an interesting bit from The Astonishing Power of Emotions by Esther and Jerry Hicks and Abraham's teachings (By the way, I highly recommend this book!):

"The Law of Attraction says, "The essence of that which is like unto itself, is drawn." And what that means is: If I feel unappreciated because of circumstances that have recently occurred in my experience, the Law of Attraction cannot now surround me with people who appreciate me. That would defy the Law of Attraction. 

If I feel fat and unhappy about the way my body looks and feels, I cannot discover the process or state of mind that is necessary to achieve a good-feeling, good-looking body. That would defy the Law of Attraction. 

If I feel discouraged about my financial situation, it cannot improve. Improvement in the face of discouragement would defy the Law of Attraction. 

If I am angry because people have been taking advantage of me, lying to me, dishonoring me, and even defacing my property, no action that I can take can stop those unpleasant things from happening, for that would defy the Law of Attraction. 

The Law of Attraction simply and accurately reflects back to you in a myriad of ways an accurate response to your vibrational output. In short, whatever is happening to you is a perfect Vibrational Match to the current vibration of your Being--and the emotions that are present within you indicate that vibrational state of being." 

As we learn this, and then pay attention to how we feel, this leads us to what we are thinking which is the root cause. This is how it is when we are in control: We become aware of the cause and effect of our thinking and how things come into our lives. When we are not in control, it only means that we are not paying attention and we are simply allowing whatever is going on around us to control how we feel.

The inevitable result of that is to blame. These things are happening to me. I did not ask for them. They are just coming out of the blue. I did not create them. I am innocent. Being caught unaware is a really good way to express that, but not a very satisfying place to be.

By recognizing that we must be a vibrational match to what we want, just as we have been for what we don't want, we have our control back where it belongs. This is the awareness that we actually do control circumstances instead of the other way around.


Once I Am Aware, I See A Different World. It's One That I LOVE! 

Spread Some Joy Today--by being aware of what joy is. It is a vibrational match with your inner being. That is so worth sharing!

Daily Inspiration 9-23-15

"You wouldn't choose to dress 

for yesterday's rain 

if it's sunny skies today." 

-- Karen Salmansohn 

Early this month I received my The Happy, dammit Daily from Karen Salmonsohn and the quote above leaped off the page at me. Here was her whole short message:

"Don't allow yesterday's bad times or bad feelings to influence the thoughts and mood you choose today. You wouldn't choose to dress for yesterday's rain if it's sunny skies today. Well, yesterday's passed. Today is a brand new sunshiny day. Enjoy!"

Why would we prepare for yesterday's pain today? Today is a brand new day. It has never been experienced before. It knows nothing of yesterday or tomorrow. Let's at least see what comes without us giving it a foreign agenda.


Enjoy Your Brand New Day Today! 

Spread Some Joy Today--by letting today evolve on its own.

Daily Inspiration 9-22-15

"People will try to tell you

that all the great opportunities

have been snapped up. 

In reality, 

the world changes every second, 

blowing new opportunities in all directions, 

including yours." 

-- Ken Hakuta 

A few days ago, I watched a great TEDx video by Scott Dinsmore titled, How To Find and Do Work You Love. It is well worth watching in my opinion because he did and now he runs a business teaching the world how to do the same.

The main reason I mention it is because a lot of people don't think that it is possible. Even well-meaning parents and friends will sometimes say, "you can't make a living at that! Just take the job that's available and stop dreaming." However well-meaning they may be, and I'm sure they think they are, they are also blinded by their own prejudices and beliefs.

It is possible. People are doing it every second of every day. The only thing stopping any of us from doing the same would be our own prejudices, beliefs and taking the advice of people who are not doing it themselves.

Consider this wonderful statement from Bashar: "For everyone who wishes to be on a particular stage, there is always an audience to appreciate what you have to say." I'll come back to him in a moment. . .

Last night I re-watched an old movie, EDtv. It wasn't just to see and delight in Jenna Elfman again (okay, maybe it was), but it's just goofy fun and also a nice love story. In one scene, Woody Harrelson is talking about his sister and her live-in boyfriend and that he is a lounge singer and he is really bad at it. In fact, he went on about it until no one was laughing anymore. It was pure cruelty. He was trying to be funny and trying to be a taller building by tearing the other down. Now, reread the previous paragraph. There is an audience for everyone. Woody was not one of them, but there are people who would love to listen.

Let me share a bit more from Bashar about following your excitement:

"Follow your excitement! Get out into the world, doing what you most love doing, and know that the world will shape itself to what you need. It will do so for everyone, and there is no conflict in it. No one loses because you are winning! You all win because there is enough for everyone. 

Be bold, for no one will turn you away. There is always an appropriate audience for everything you truly need to say, and you will find that audience. For everyone who wishes to be on a particular stage, there is always an audience to appreciate what you have to say--once again because everything fits. Everything belongs; and there is never!!--never-never-never-never!!--an actor who is born without an audience being born at the same time for that actor. 

NEVER!! It all works perfectly!! Flawlessly!! Believe it; act like you believe it, and you'll see the results--guaranteed. 

Do!.... Think is wonderful. Believe is wonderful. Feel is wonderful. However, doing is what creates the reality you wish to experience." 


All The Possibilities Exist For Whatever You Would Love To Do.

Spread Some Joy Today--by simply considering the possibility that you are a magnificent person and that you have an abundance of joy to share with others.

Daily Inspiration 9-21-15

"The beginning is the most important part of the work." 

-- Plato 

"I have never started a poem yet whose end I knew. 

Writing a poem is discovering. 

-- Robert Frost 

Why is the beginning the most important part of the work? I think Robert Frost said it so well: Discovery. Without a beginning, there is no discovery.

Some people fear beginnings because they cannot see the end. Some fear the end. They seek exit strategies ahead of time just in case once they are in, they may not like it as much as they think and want to protect themselves as much as possible when they decide to quit. But, they don't get to experience as much as they could with that frame of mind at the beginning.

What's going to happen when I marry? It will be the beginning. Along the way, will be discovery. But, when we project the end as a prenuptial does, we're saying that we only want to see what we already know. Predictability is safe but boring. Allowing the discovery to excite you is the path to a great and wonderful relationship.

What's going to happen when I start this business? It will be the beginning. Along the way, will be discovery. Lots and lots of discoveries. In my opinion, getting excited about that discovery is what success is all about. As long as the end is not predicted by an exit strategy, creativity can thrive. 

Whatever it is that we are beginning, that is a great thing. It is great because nothing happens until we begin. Once begun, we must allow ourselves to experience the unknown, and as we do that with enthusiasm, and wonder, our journey is a delight. It is not necessarily all fun and games, as there will always be the contrast of what some call obstacles or problems, but how we choose to view that contrast will always determine how much further down the path we will travel.

I was talking on the phone with my stepdaughter on Saturday, and I said to her that she sounded cheery, enthusiastic, happy, excited, positive, and engaged. She said that she was, but she wasn't positive all the time. I said, who is? I don't think anyone is positive 100% of the time. There is sufficient contrast on planet Earth to divert us often enough. It is more about resilience I said, and she agreed.

Resilience is about getting back on the path, coming back to your joy, after visiting with contrast for a brief time. How we view that contrast lifts us or defeats us. That causes it to be brief or long-term. Resilience is measured by how soon we come back to the path, our joy, our goal, our delight, our enthusiasm. 

Now, look at all that we are learning because we decided to begin!


Living Is Discovery. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by following it wherever it takes you.

Daily Inspiration 9-20-15

"The resistance

to the unpleasant situation 

is the root of suffering." 

-- Ram Dass 

This quote by Ram Dass is so helpful to me. It is profound and incredibly simple at the same time. And, it nails it on the head. When something is happening that I am not happy about or is as he says, unpleasant, it is my own resistance to that event, or rather, my fighting within myself about it, that it shouldn't be there, that I am not to blame, that other people did this, and so much more, that is the resistance. I am wanting something that is to not be. Then I find lots of reasons why it should not be. But it is.

The more enlightened and productive response would be to acknowledge it as being there, and since it is there, the reason is not as important as is finding a way to make good use of it, learn from it, grow from it, use it as a jumping-off point toward what I do want, or what would have me feel better. 

Ram Dass suggests help: "There's much more in any given moment than we usually perceive, and that we ourselves are much more than we usually perceive. When you know that, part of you can stand outside the drama of your life."

James Allen says, "The mind is the master." But, we think so physically. We might think that the brain and the mind are one and the same, but they are not. The brain is physical, and the mind is not. So, by using our mind, which is multi-dimensional, we can actually step outside of ourselves as an observer of our ourselves. As we allow ourselves to do this, we gain a perspective that will help us to understand more and to see situations for their value rather than their faults. It allows us to make changes if we so desire. It helps us to see the path ahead instead of the current obstacle.


There's Nothing Quite Like A Better Perspective To Improve Our Sight. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by trading in our suffering. It's a fair exchange.

Daily Inspiration 9-19-15

"One of the secrets to success 

is ideas mixed with inspiration." 

-- Jim Rohn 

In sharing some of my mentors, one of the very first I ever called a mentor is Jim Rohn. He's another mentor that I never had the pleasure of meeting, but with whom I studied at length. I first 'met' him on a cassette tape of a talk to a group of multilevel marketers in Dallas, Texas in 1980. He inspired me like no other had and I started collecting his tape sets through Nightingale-Conant and his books and I listened over and over again.

His style was so inspiring and simple. He never complicated things but made things so easy to understand that a child could learn as much as any adult. It was like a sage grandfather talking to you with great little stories or parables borrowed here and there and refashioned just enough to have them come alive as never before.

Darren Hardy, publisher of Success Magazine has also been mentored directly and indirectly by Jim Rohn. He has done so much to see to it that Jim's messages continue to inspire for years to come. In a blog piece earlier this week, he was celebrating what would have been Jim's 85th birthday last Thursday, and he shared some brief thoughts about Jim and what Jim meant to him. He suggested we leave a comment about how Jim had touched his readers. Here is what I wrote:

"Three things come directly to my mind. Three, the parable of the talents story and not sitting on our laurels in safety, but getting out there with confidence. Two, the parable of the sower. One of the most important things in life is being. Sowing. Sharing. Put our seeds out there and whatever happens happens, and be good with that; however, no seeds, nothing happens. And my top number one lesson from my mentor Jim Rohn is the tale of the tallest building. I use this metaphor all the time. There are two ways to have the tallest building. One is to become known as a destroyer, and the other, a builder. Sometimes it is easy to take shots, to tear someone or something down thinking it will automatically make us more. What that makes us is a destroyer. I consciously choose to be a builder by focusing on what I can do to serve, what I can do to have things be better, and 3.5 as Jeffrey Gitomer might say is to have more, you need to be more. Work on yourself, not others. Work on, or rather play with, our own personal development.

Thank you, Darren, for all you have done to share Jim Rohn with the world. I stumbled across him on a cassette tape back in 1980. His shared thoughts are with me even today."

Jim always stated that he was an amateur when it came to the Bible, but he was being humble. He brought many of the parables in the New Testament and the stories in the Old Testament to life with renewed meaning applied to today. It was not lost on me. They are more solidly planted in my mind as a result of his sharing of them in such a special way.

I have learned so much from Jim Rohn that it would take a book to fill just a portion of it, and at the very top of that pile is the tale of the tallest building. Those who have read these Daily Inspirations for any length of time, know that I have used that analogy and philosophy many times. It has helped me to change from being a critical person to being a kind and gentler person, and to focus on me first and others after. I've spent most of my life in the business world and I've seen scores of destroyers at work, and Jim helped me learn to look at that in a more enlightened way.

The other part of the tale of the tallest building is that if I am to be a builder, which I have chosen to be, then I must actually build something. To keep bringing material to the work site day after day after day and never get going on the building is pure lunacy. I must begin with what I have and get going. Another mentor, Seth Godin calls that 'shipping.'

Jim is with me today more than he was in 1980 when I first heard his voice. He is part of who I am today. He is part of my philosophy. In fact, he taught me to even have a philosophy. And, it wasn't just business that he taught. It was as much about living as anything else. I am so grateful to Jim for all that he has taught, and all that he continues to teach by the blessings that he has left behind, and through the others, like Darren Hardy whom he touched deeply.


"When Somebody Shares, Everybody Wins." -- Jim Rohn 

Spread Some Joy Today--To paraphrase Wayne Dyer, Don't die with your joy still in you.

Daily Inspiration 9-18-15

"To be yourself 

in a world that is constantly trying 

to make you something else 

is the greatest accomplishment." 

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson 

It is all too easy to lose ourselves, our unique selves, in a world that seems to so clearly delight in conformity. Some are small groups requiring conformity and others might be national or even multi-national.

It's funny to me to think of lawmakers sitting around making laws about this and that. Can you guess how many laws are on the books today? It's a stupid number, I'm sure, and most people don't even know about but a tiny fraction of them. Conform! Or pay the price!

Conforming just fifty years or so ago, was so different than today, but rest assured, there is plenty going on today. Each age has some adjustments, changes, new beliefs, new rituals, and the conformity goes on as it has throughout history.

It's also interesting that the people who seem to really stand out in life and in history are those who have expressed more of their individual spirit in spite of, and often in conflict with mainstream conformity.

I love these lines from Anita Moorjani's book, Dying To Be Me:

"Our purpose is to be our magnificent selves, and the external world is only a reflection of what's inside us. The breakdown in my life came from my focus outward, the comparisons I made, and the competition this creates."

Conformity is all about control--controlling behavior, and controlling outcomes.

Here's a little more from Anita:

"The external world mirrors what we feel about ourselves. By letting go of any negative self-judgment, we allow our world to transform; and as it does so, we'll be able to feel greater and greater trust. The more we're able to trust, the more we're able to let go of trying to control the outcome. When we try to move with this flow rather than adhere dogmatically to the doctrines of others or the beliefs we once had that no longer serve us, we more accurately reflect who and what we truly are.

I believe this is the most powerful idea for each of us: realizing that we're here to discover and honor our own individual path."

The past few days have been interesting in thinking about my life and having things that I watched, or listened to that mirrored what I was thinking. I guess for some reason I was feeling less than--less successful than some role models, less of a skilled musician than the musician's that I respect, financially less astute than the Wealthy Barber and dot com startups.

I don't know why, but even my dreams were reflecting my conflict and my conflict with conformity. And, yesterday, I allowed myself to re-experience some things from 30 years ago that caused me to see them in a more appreciative light.

Conflicted feelings can be a negative, but I have learned that any negative can be seen in a positive light. In my case, the conflicted feelings were leading me back to my own uniqueness and celebrating that rather than finding fault with it. As I was listening to some songs that I had written and recorded over 30 years ago, I found joy and gratitude for those that were instrumental in helping to have that come to be. As I thought of 15 years ago growing into leading worship at church, I found my uniqueness a benefit to myself and to others.

In each case, along with several others over that last few days, including jobs that I have had, how I handled things with other people, and more, I found that it was my uniqueness to be the perfect thing at the perfect time. Those weren't my thoughts before, so this internal conflict I was experiencing was also the perfect thing at the perfect time. 

It's amazing--truly amazing--how a changed perspective of loving and accepting myself, and appreciating my uniqueness along with all others changes the outcome, past, present, and future.


"What Lies Behind Us And What Lies Before Us Are Tiny Matters Compared To What Lies Within Us." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Spread Some Joy Today--by loving that joy within you so much that you cannot help but share it with the world.

Daily Inspiration 9-17-15

"All honor's wounds are self-inflicted." 

-- Andrew Carnegie 

Good day to you! Having recently written about Dr. Wayne W. Dyer and how he was one of my mentors and a mentor to the world, the idea came to share some of my other mentors and express, at least in this small space, a bit of what they taught me and meant to me. Today, I will share some thoughts on Andrew Carnegie.

Other than some bits in high school history, I knew very little about Andrew Carnegie until 1989 when I learned of and bought a subscription series of business audiobooks. I was commuting a little over an hour each way to work and in four years of commuting, read 120 books on cassette tape. One was the abridged version of The Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie. Sometime later, I bought and read the book, but the tape did a fine job in 90 minutes of capturing the book.

You've probably heard of the book, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. You may not remember, though it is stated in the preface, that this work was commissioned by Andrew Carnegie. Napoleon Hill met Andrew as a boy and they had a long mentoring relationship, and the grand outcome was one of the most read books in the entire world: Think and Grow Rich. Indeed, it is Andrew Carnegie's methods throughout the book.

Andrew started life in the United States after leaving his home in Scotland. He was a young boy and his parents were seeking a better life. Arriving here, he was what you would call poor in finances, but rich in parental love and support. As a lad, he wanted to help, so he found work and continually improved his opportunities. He became a telegraph operator and excelled at it. He was put in positions in higher places and even had a conversation with President Abraham Lincoln in a telegraph office during the Civil War.

He eventually got into the business of making steel. The national railroad system was just beginning and making steel rails for the railroad was big business. As his business grew, he always took profits and invested them and saved money for future growth. Back in the late 19th century and very early 20th century, the country's finances were a constant ebb and flow and recessions were frequent. During those down times, Carnegie would invest in new equipment, new steel furnaces, new mines for ore and coke, so that when the recession was over, his business was healthier than ever and more prepared than ever to expand and excel. In addition, he kept his workers busy doing these things where other companies laid theirs off. He was a very forward-thinking man.

He made more than a score of men millionaires during his rise in business. He became known as the world's richest man. Charles M. Schwab was his right-hand man and helped convince Carnegie to sell his empire. A deal was brokered through J. P. Morgan and associates to buy Carnegie Steel for the sum of $400 million in 1901. That would be well over $10 billion today.

Carnegie had the idea that the first part of his life was creating a fortune and the second part was giving it all away. He set out on that path, and among the beneficiaries were 1,609 cities in the United States where he built a Carnegie Library. He was very big on education. In fact, he created 2,509 libraries around the world, and 1,609 were in the U.S. Can you imagine building and stocking so many libraries? This was only a small part of his philanthropy.

Andrew Carnegie was an amazing man and a giant legacy. I learned so much from him and that audiotape and from the first listen in 1989, I've listened several more times, and yet it is still with me. Indeed, it is part of me, he is part of me, and I am so grateful to have had and still have Andrew as a mentor.

[If you would like to learn more, get his autobiography, also Think and Grow Rich (1937 original edition), and another great one is Steel Titan, The Life of Charles M. Schwab by Robert Hessen.]


"Do Not Look For Approval Except For The Consciousness Of Doing Your Best." -- Andrew Carnegie 

Spread Some Joy Today--by sharing your joy with others.

Daily Inspiration 9-16-15

"Enjoying life is far superior 

to being graded on 

your performance in life." 

-- Wayne Dyer 

As I read this quote above, I was pondering the idea of quitting. We start things and then at some point we quit them, or a softer way to say it--stop doing that thing. It seems like a natural progression much like being born and then dying. And sometimes, people make a big deal about stopping something, and may even experience a whole bunch of stress or anxiety over it.

I think the answer is in the quote above. I have come to a place in my life as I have mentioned many times where my only goal is simply and exquisitely to enjoy myself. As we are focusing on enjoying ourselves, enjoying our lives, that is what we seek and often, ceasing something would enhance that feeling.

We've been graded, judged, encouraged, caged by the idea of performance as a measure of well-being since we were born. Right, wrong, good, bad, A or F and pluses and minuses, just a very few grades and judgments we've been dealt with. We may have even accepted all of that because when we did good, got A's, we were probably rewarded in some way to encourage us to continue on that path.

Then, maybe we've lived a bit of life, a family of our own, careers, 401k's, planning for retirement, and much more, and all of those things come with grades and judgment too. Maybe we accepted all of that too using Ward and June Cleaver as a shining example of success.

Then, there may have been things that you started. A business, a club, a career, and it is full of problems and it wears on you. You wish it would be better, but it is showing no signs. You're tired. You want out. But it was all your idea. There are other people involved. The list goes on. You feel bad that it is not going well, you feel bad that you have not found a way to make it work better, you feel bad because other people may suffer in some way, you feel bad because your legacy would be tarnished. You just feel bad everywhere you look.

So, you quit. There is a bit of relief, but you feel guilty and sad and down. You wish it went faster and you can't wait until you get to the place where you can feel good again. You've found some really good reasons to quit and it seems that everyone understands. It's life, you know. Stuff happens. We have to deal with it, and life isn't always a bed of roses.

I know how this feels because I've experienced it much this way. I've started things and quit things. I've started businesses and quit them. I started a marriage and quit it. I've started hundreds of little things and quit them. I'm familiar with quitting and the associated negative emotions that seemed to come along with that.

That has changed. If we are to truly enjoy our lives, we need to understand that choice is our real power in life. If our focus is on feeling good, enjoying ourselves and enjoying our lives, then whatever we choose simply needs to be in alignment with our joy. Following your bliss is perfectly stated. When the bliss has turned into pain, it is time for a change. We need to love ourselves enough to make whatever changes will cause us to enjoy our lives more. If quitting will do that, then quitting is in order. No need for a long list of reasons. One reason is sufficient. We want to follow our bliss and our bliss has moved on. Thank you for the opportunity, I am moving on.


Enjoy Your Travels. Follow Your Own Bliss. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by following your joy.

Daily Inspiration 9-15-15

"Change the way you look at things 

and the things you look at change." 

-- Wayne Dyer 

We're learning every day of our lives, and I have found an interesting tidbit about that. Sometimes when I am talking with someone about a situation, out of my mouth comes something that I didn't know I knew--or at least didn't know I knew so clearly.

Then I stand amazed at what just came out of my mouth. Where did that come from? It sounded like the perfect thing at the perfect time. And here's another tidbit that is interesting: It might be the perfect thing at the perfect time for me to see it more than for the other to hear it. As the other may argue for their previous position, and I may be clarifying further my thoughts on it, they may continue to stay where they are, but I have moved. It's sort of like being the teacher and the student at exactly the same time.

There is something special about verbal expression and that may even be enhanced by argument, disagreement, or resistance. One thing that I have clearly learned about disagreement and resistance is that I don't face it for very long. I call it 'swimming upstream.' In younger days, I might swim for a long time to my peril, but I have learned from past experience that a few strokes is fine, but there is no need or benefit in creating negative emotion within myself.

So the other day I had a conversation. A scenario was described and I answered it in a couple different ways. The first was to explain what I knew from my own experience about improvements within that entity. That was brief. The second was to explain how to change it. As I was stating that, this is where I found that I understood what I knew more than I might have imagined. It's like taking it from theory to actual practice. That message expressed very simplistically was that when we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.

Now you might be thinking that this is a well-worded phrase and it sounds good and all that, but I live in the real world and I see what I see and it is real. The problem is real. It is happening to me. I can't change it. They have to change it. I wish someone would get them to change it. I feel powerless to change it. And so on. Well, you're right. It is that way. However, it is as much the other way of seeing it differently and having it change as it is to see it the same and have it not change. We have so much more power than we think we do inside of us.

It comes down to another simplified way of looking at things: we can't get a positive result from thinking negatively. We cannot be complaining about something and have it become as we would like it to be. Complaining will bring more of what we are complaining about. If we are talking about how someone failed us, there will be more failures to talk about on the horizon. The Law of Attraction is always in operation and it doesn't care what we are thinking. It simply and perfectly finds other similar or like thoughts and situations and brings them to our experience. Fighting that powerful force is not an option.

How does it change? It changes for the better when we do. It changes for the better when we see it for the better. I think that the best that we can do, whether it is a situation, a company, a child, a friend, an associate, is to see it or them the way that we want them to be--to see them as their best selves. If we had a child that has gone down a dark path of drugs and poor choices, the more we focus on that or on fighting that, the more of that comes. When we focus on seeing them as whole, well, inspired, enthusiastic, living the life they deserve, that is how we can be of service. The same holds true with the world, our government, our politicians, and virtually everything in life. We, at the same time, must live in the same way. All change begins with us.

One last note. Some might think that by doing this I am denying reality, or that I am in denial, so to speak. I have learned that facing reality is not really the virtue that so many think it is. If all we look at is what is, all we will have is more of the same. For the world, companies we deal with, people we have relationships with, to change, we must change. And, when we change, they all change. When we see something not to our liking, as we choose to look at it differently, that thing changes. I see it all the time now and I'm accepting responsibility to have the world I would love to have.


We Become What We Think About. How We See The World Is The Way It Is. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by choosing to see joy wherever you go today.

Daily Inspiration 9-14-15

"Love is my gift to the world. 

I fill myself with love, 

and I sent that love 

out into the world." 

-- Wayne Dyer 

Just two weeks ago, as I'm sure you know, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer passed from this physical life at the age of 75. To say that he had lived a full life is a severe understatement. To say that he has touched and shared his love with millions around the globe is his ongoing legacy.

Wayne was my mentor. He was a mentor to millions. I never had the pleasure of meeting him or seeing him in person, but I have seen a lot of video from his PBS Specials, his movie, The Shift, and many others. I began reading Wayne's books from the very first mass publication of Your Erroneous Zones and followed him through much of his career. In the last couple of years, I have read several of his books, and especially delighted in his autobiographical recent book, I Can See Clearly Now. In that book, I learned so much more about his life and it is a fascinating read, and I listened to the unabridged audio with him telling his own story. Fantastic.

I think what I liked best about Wayne was his willingness to be himself, including his human issues much of which we all have dealt with over time. To me he was real, and the real deal. He taught me so much, was passionate about other authors and helping them too, many that I read as a result of his encouragement and belief in them. He has helped mold much of my thinking, and in so many ways has improved my life by helping me be more of who I really am.

What more could you ask of a mentor? He will continue to be a mentor to me for as long as I am here. And, his messages will live a long life on their own for millions more to learn and grow from. I am a better person as a result of his desire to share his thoughts and his knowledge and his humanity.


I Am So Grateful To All My Mentors. The List Is Long. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by letting your gratitude flow for your teachers.

Daily Inspiration 9-13-15

"The difference between trying and doing 

is measured by the word 'effort.' 

But the measurement scale is backward." 

-- Albert K. Strong 

It seems that the harder we try, the more effort we expend, and so also then, the more effort we expend, the harder we are trying. However, doing is without great effort. Bruce Lee put it this way: "The less effort, the faster and more powerful you will be."

What's that old saying by William Edward Hickson? (Who?) "'Tis a lesson you should heed: try, try again. If at first, you don't succeed, try, try again." This might be the same as saying, "more effort, more effort, more effort." After all, isn't expending effort what trying is? I'm going to make an effort. I'm going to try. It seems to me they are saying the same thing.

I like how Ralph Waldo Emerson changed effort into ease: "Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it, nothing great was ever achieved." Of course, I think a better way to say that is that 'Enthusiasm is the mother of ease. . . because it makes doing a breeze!'

Next time you're thinking about something to do, skip trying, skip the effort, just go straight to doing it. You'll see what I mean. Want to do it faster and even easier? Allow enthusiasm to en-light-en your path.


Doing Is Effort-Less. 

Spread Some Joy Today--because it is your natural state. It requires zero effort.

Daily Inspiration 9-12-15

"What happens to you 

happens from you." 

-- Alan Cohen 

If we have come to believe that we create our own reality, at least in part, then what happens to us happens from us. Yet, initially, this is hard to swallow. It took me a while and I've been studying it like a scholar. It flies in the face of the way the world seems to be, especially in the news of negative events around the world. It is hard to believe when we're feeling victimized and that things just happen to us seemingly at random and without regard for our goodness. So, naturally, from our learning, we would reject the statement that what happens to us happens from us out of disbelief.

Yet, once this idea is allowed to mingle in my mind, and I play around with it, considering, testing it and allowing it to grow in influence, I see the perfection of it. As a result of my desire to know it and to allow it in, I now know without a doubt that every single thing that has occurred in my life has been of my own creation.

I also know that most of my life I was creating my own reality by default, or maybe a better way to say that is creating unconsciously. It's like the Law of Attraction. Some people believe in it and some don't, but it doesn't matter because belief or disbelief doesn't change the law or its function. It is. It is always on.

We can't stop it if we wanted to. It just is. We can either pay attention and help it to bring us what we want or take it as it comes, Either way, it comes. I think creating our own reality is exactly the same, and the Law of Attraction is doing it for us anyway, so I would rather create the reality I would prefer. Or, at the very least, accept responsibility for the reality that I have created that is not to my liking.

What changes when this concept is allowed and accepted? Everything. There is no such thing as an innocent victim. There is no such thing as an evil perpetrator. There is no such thing as random things happening to me. What I see in my life is what I have created and allowed. I am responsible. No one else is responsible. We can choose to co-create with others and share in creation. I am no longer the pinball, but the player. I control the game.

That's a big responsibility. It is also complete freedom, joy, and love. It frees me to affect whatever change I want or to accept wherever I am as my own doing. I can no longer look at the news and see what they are trying to tell me as true. I don't see heroes or villains or saviors. I see other people choosing how to live their lives. I love them as they are where they are. They don't affect me unless I allow them into my life.

It reminds me of how Abraham, Esther Hicks used to describe the contrast by giving the picture of us being in a glorious kitchen: "Imagine yourself as a chef in an extremely well-stocked kitchen that contains every imaginable ingredient. Let us say that you have a clear idea of the culinary creation you desire, and you understand how to combine these easily accessible ingredients in order to fulfill your desire. And as you proceed, there are many ingredients that are not appropriate for your creation, so you do not utilize them, but you also feel no discomfort about their existence. You simply utilize the ingredients that will enhance your creation--and you leave the ingredients that are not appropriate for your creation out of your pie. 

Some of the ingredients in the well-stocked kitchen are harmonious with your creation, and some of them are not. But even though adding some of these ingredients to your creation would absolutely ruin your pie, you do not feel the need to push against those ingredients, or to ban them from the kitchen, because you understand that there is no reason for them to end up in your pie unless you put them in it. And since you are clear about which ones enhance your creation and which ones do not enhance it, you feel no concern about the great variety of ingredients that exist." 

I love that analogy because I have come to believe that I create my own reality and through an understanding of that, I accept responsibility for my thoughts and my resultant emotions and my actions or lack of action too. What I think, say, feel and do is of my own design. And, even though sometimes I have been designing with my eyes closed, I now fully realize what joy and delight come when I design with my eyes open.

It is pretty much impossible to change when we are victims of life. After all, the whole idea of a victim is that we have no control or very limited control. However, once I have grasped the concept and accepted the responsibility for my own creations, change is a given. I can change at will and enjoy the change. I can change on purpose and with purpose rather than adapt to the circumstance. I am in charge of what I think and no one else could ever be. I am in charge of what I do and say. No one else ever could. There is no one to blame because I choose. There is nothing to complain about because I created it and I allowed it in. This is the most powerful place that we can be in our lives. It is living fully and delightfully on purpose with eyes wide open.


What Happens To Me Happens From Me. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by enjoying your personal freedom.

Daily Inspiration 9-11-15

"I am prepared for the worst, 

but hope for the best." 

-- Benjamin Disraeli 

It is a common phrase that I used to hear a lot when I was young: Prepare for the worst and hope for the best, or hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, or trust in God, but tie up your camels, or Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief and many more.

What a great way to build a house, right? Prepare for it to collapse, but hope for it to keep standing. I assume from a positive point of view that we would not only make sure we do our work properly, but that we are paying attention to the whole work, including design, stresses, and so on, while at the same time thinking what a grand home this will be for some family soon.

Here's an interesting statement from Abraham, Esther Hicks on this subject:

""I must be aware of bad things, and guarded about bad things, and I must watch out for bad things by trying to guide myself toward good things." You can't do both at the same time. You can't watch out for bad things, and allow good things at the same time. It is vibrationally not possible." 

Another way to see this is as being in a race on the track and you're focused on not tripping and falling, not losing, not running out of breath or energy, not getting a cramp, and then at the same time trying to focus on winning the race.


Which Do You Suppose Prevails? 

Spread Some Joy Today--by letting go of your need to be right.

Daily Inspiration 9-10-15

"Meditation is a state of allowing." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

I'm a relative beginner to the whole idea of meditating, but I am really starting to get into it. I used to think it was weird, strange, that I had to have this "Ohmmm" thing going on, sitting in that guru meditation position that my body refuses to allow, and much more. In other words, I didn't know much of anything about it, yet I had all kinds of preconceived notions from all sorts of movies, religious teachings and more. I guess a better way to say it is that I was confused. I didn't know what to do and every other source had a different way to do it. No wonder it was hard.

Abraham, Esther Hicks made it easy. Here are some of their thoughts on meditation and the value of it:

"For 10 or 15 minutes every day, we would quiet our mind in meditation; we would close our eyes; we would be aware of breathing air into our lungs, and our intention would be nothing more than being in this moment and being consciously aware of our breathing. . . nothing to do other than breathe--not fixing breakfast, not combing hair, not wondering how someone is doing, not thinking about yesterday, not worrying about tomorrow, not focusing on anything in this moment except air in and air out. 

Meditation is a state of allowing where, for just a few moments, you stop trying to make anything happen. It is a time when you are saying to your Source Energy, to your Inner Being, to your God (or whatever you want to call it): Here I am, in a state of allowing Source Energy to flow purely through me. Fifteen minutes of effort will change your life. It will allow the Energy that is natural to you to flow; you will feel better in the moment, and you will feel more energized when you come out of it. 

A big benefit from meditation that you will notice right away is that things you have been wanting will begin showing up. Now, why is this? Why does 15-minutes of just being, set those kinds of things in motion? Because you have already been asking, and now, during your time of meditation, you have stopped the resistance that has been holding it at bay. Because of your practiced meditation, you are now allowing your desires to flow into your experience." 

It's not about making things happen. It's about allowing. It's about letting go of all thoughts and their corresponding emotions. It's about the release. It's about letting go of the rope. It's about surrender to the higher power within us. And, it is also a way to better things, better health, and a better life.


It Is Amazing The Power In Letting Go Of The Power. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by simply being willing to chill. Take a break. Relax.

Daily Inspiration 9-9-15

"Don't judge each day 

by the harvest you reap 

but by the seeds that you plant." 

-- Robert Louis Stevenson 

It's been a long time since I've seen this wonderful quote, and in our physical life, we are so action-oriented that it is so easy to interpret this quote as being about what you do, or how you do it. I used to think it was all about action--making things happen.

In Napoleon Hill's international classic from 1937, the first words in the first chapter are, as I was reminded by Jeffrey Gitomer in his newsletter today: "Truly, "thoughts are things," and powerful things at that." Then, when I saw this quote by Robert Louis Stevenson, I had an "ah-ha" moment: Seeds of thought.

So often, we might be thinking, what do I need to do, or what did I do today toward my objectives? When, it would be more fruitful to ask, what do I need to think or what have been my thoughts today? Or, even better to indicate my thinking, how have I been feeling today? How am I feeling when I think about these things?

Action is a derivative of thought. It reminds me of my favorite pastime--movies. There is no action until there is a thought. There is no action until there is a story. There is no action without a script. There is no action without the writer.

The glamorous movie star is a beggar without a writer writing the story, creating the images of activity and the dialogue that the actors will imitate and speak. It very well may be the actors who bring the story to life on the screen, but it is the writer who brings to life the story so that actors can apply their skills and take the credit for the success or failure of the film.

Whatever we want, how are we starting out? It is the thought that attracts more of the same, expanding and growing into more. The only question--and the real question is--what are those thoughts? How do they feel? Are we feeling good? The good will come. Are we not feeling good? Then no good can come. We can't plant corn and get potatoes, just like we can't plant negative thoughts and get a positive outcome.


What Seeds Of Thought Are We Sowing? 

Spread Some Joy Today--It's easy. Just be you. Smile. And just be you.

Daily Inspiration 9-8-15

"You can perfect stuff 

and it destroys all the interesting 

bumps and imperfections." 

-- Chris Clark, 

from the I Dream of Wires documentary

I watched an interesting (well, at least to me. . .) documentary the other day called, I Dream of Wires. It is a 90-minute history of the music synthesizer. I knew just a tidbit of the history of electronic music but learned so much more watching this great movie. As a musician, I used to own two synthesizers, but they were two of the very common, yet not "real" synthesizers. The original real ones would take up a wall in a good-sized room. 

Regardless of whether the documentary or synthesized music means anything to you, I thought you could relate to one of the quotes I gleaned from it. The idea of the synthesizer was to not only create strangely different music but more perfectly controlled sounds. I thought about how that relates to people and our lives, careers and our personal goals and such. Indeed, even--or maybe even especially--about our children or young people in general.

When we are striving for and expecting perfection, we leave behind imperfection which is exactly where our character, our uniqueness, our individual spirit resides. Part of culture and character both is celebrating the differences. What blandness would prevail in a perfect world? In fact, I could make a case that there would be no point whatsoever to the achievement of that. It would be endedness. 

Several days ago I shared a phrase that came into my head unexpectedly. It was three words: Preference vs. Prejudice. When we are seeking or thinking perfection, anything that doesn't fit in that space is prejudged as inferior. It is prejudicial to our goal. We think it is a preference, but it is not because preference honors all other forms not chosen.

I could write about a hundred and one examples. When I was in high school, I loved baseball and was actually fairly good at it, yet I was almost always chosen last by the team captains. This was purely prejudiced without any sort of real appreciation of the differences that come to make a real team function well. It was all silly stuff, but a good example of common prejudice.

We see magazines, billboards, and other media showing off very thin women with so-called perfect clothing, makeup, hair, and nails. These are shown as the goal of perfection or what every man and woman wants. This is total prejudice. It is not preference either because it is not honoring the things or people or images of other shapes and sizes and dress of other women. It might be something some men want, and some women want, but a smaller group than we might think.

It is our imperfections that entice. It is that crooked smile of Holly Hunter in the movie, The Firm, along with the so un-Tom Cruise-like character played by David Strathairn who so loved that crooked smile. And, as she said, "Well, It's not my best feature!" David's character was amazed. "Well. . . what is, sweetheart? (I love the movie, but that is my favorite scene in the whole movie)

The kid getting straight A's in school was the holy grail. I did it one quarter in one school year in third grade. Never to be repeated again. My uniqueness remained intact! I made it through with all my imperfections. And, I think we all are far better off with our idiosyncrasies and imperfections. Screw the perfect world. Oops. That was prejudicial, wasn't it!?


I Exercise My Preference And Gladly Choose The Imperfect And Delightfully Flawed. 

Spread Some Joy Today--Why the heck not? Got something better to do?

Daily Inspiration 9-7-15

"Worry is not a form of love." 

-- Alan Cohen 

I want to share some words of wisdom I gleaned from an Abraham, Esther Hicks DVD that I wrote down some time back because it seemed like it reached out and grabbed me and said, "Hey, Terry. You might want to write this down! Just saying." So, how could I refuse such a request, and I wrote it down. It was called Tools for Teaching:

"Do not allow yourself to be a sounding board for discontent. Don't let people practice a vibration that doesn't serve them with you." 

I thought that part was very telling. How many times in my past had I listened to friends, relatives, lovers, complaining about whatever, with me listening and even adding fuel here and there knowing full well that it wasn't serving either of us in the continued attention? I love that line: Do not allow yourself to be a sounding board for discontent. I don't anymore, mostly because I no longer attract it. 

"Don't try to convince people that they are wrong in their discord." 

As I was learning a better way for me, I thought that everyone should know it too, and I would try to 'turn people around' so to speak in their unhappiness. I wanted to see them happy, of course, but I finally learned to let people have their unhappiness or discord. I cannot change them, but I can love them where they are and allow them to be where they are. If they want to change it, they will attract that change. They have the power within. The best I can do is simply be an example of well-being.

"It's right when you feel bad that you are not getting what you want." 

It sounds strange to say that it is right when you feel bad, but it is true. Our emotions are our internal guidance system. When we are feeling bad, our internal guidance system is telling us that our current thoughts are in discord with our inner being, our God within, our soul, or whatever terms you might rather use. An easy way to say it is that we are out of alignment with our greater knowing. Indeed, then when we are feeling good, we are in alignment. So it is right when we are feeling bad. It is also right when we are feeling good. It is right to pay attention to how we are feeling for it is our own internal guidance system functioning perfectly.

"I just want you to know that you can never get what you want when you're feeling bad." 

Feeling bad is a clear indication of being out of alignment, of rowing upstream against the current of well-being. Feeling bad is being focused on what we do not want. Worry is focusing on what we do not want. As we are in this place, we cannot focus on what we do want. However, as we become aware of our internal guidance system and we recognize that we are feeling bad, knowing that we are now out of alignment, we can then be able to step aside enough to say, "I see because of this negative emotion what I do not want, so what is it that I do want?" The negative emotion is the contrast for us to know what we don't want and can at the same time help us to know what we do want and then we can choose to focus there, changing the emotion along the way.

I think these teaching thoughts for teachers is just as perfect for all students.


To Be A Good Teacher, One Naturally Becomes A Better Student. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by allowing your joy to flow freely.