Daily Inspiration 6-14-11

"The wise man. . . If he would live at peace

with others, he will bear and forbear."

-- Samuel Smiles

"Let us ever remember that our interest is in concord,

not in conflict; and that our real eminence rests in

the victories of peace, not those of war."

-- William McKinley

My joy and amazement increases in ways I didn't expect. After all, it is so very common to defend our position, even when we are the ones who have failed. We do this by seeking blame and inventing vain excuses meant to sound legitimate and provoke sympathetic understanding at the least, and forgiveness and consolation at best. In many ways we have grown into expecting the worst of people we may have to deal with, especially in unpleasant circumstances. This creates an ongoing feeling of fear and dread and it multiplies creating adversaries.

Such is the way it was with me a good deal of the time and as it is with many that I know and have known, yet it need not be this way, and the "I'm ready for the battle" mentality is not productive or encouraging.

Today, I had a situation where I needed to handle something that I have ignored too long and it would have been easy to handle some time back, and now has escalated to something more. So, finally, I decided to handle it. And guess what? It was a piece of cake. It was even pleasant!

I wasn't surprised, but I was very pleased. As I practice my own calm confidence and loving attitude, I find more and more that the people I talk with are the kindest, most helpful, even encouraging souls. Of course, part of the difference (maybe a big part) is the way I approach it. I don't go it looking for a problem, but a solution. I may even enter apologetic for causing them grief and sincerely want to take care of the issue and redeem myself. Then, they seem to always want to help. Isn't that cool?

So, now I am noticing today how many times this is happening in my life now. It was a interesting revelation. All of a sudden, I realized that this is now happening all the time. Even people who have righteousness on their side turn out to be kind and helpful because I don't make silly excuses. I freely admit my error and my willingness and interest in resolving the issue. I accept responsibility for my actions and for trying to resolve it.

Avoiding resistance, allows me to be relaxed and calm and loving and interestingly, the person in front of me is mirroring that too. I even help put smiles on their faces. It's a far better outcome and a much more pleasurable journey.

It's Ever True: What Goes Around, Comes Around.

Spread Some Joy Today--Take someone out for lunch or coffee. Do some catch up.

Daily Inspiration 6-13-11

"All you need in this life is ignorance and

confidence, and then success is sure."

-- Mark Twain

A formidable combination, don't you think? You don't know that it can't be done, and yet have confidence that you can do it. It's magical.

Yesterday, I talked about secrets of success and how many there are and shared one of my top ten. This is also in my top ten, and I can assure you that may not believe it to be true, but the sentiment and advice in this quote by Mark Twain is spot on. I've used it numerous times to achieve results.

Sometimes, the best and most productive thing you can do is to tune out the rest of the world in pursuit of what you believe in or what you want. There are plenty who will gladly give advice in the form of warnings and what if's and a list of the logical reasons why something won't work or cannot succeed, and how much better it will be for you to wait until. . .and of course, there is a list there as well.

Friends and relatives and other well-meaning people have helped discourage a serious number of potential entrepreneurs. It is generally the ones who don't listen to that advice that are able to be successful by making great use of their ignorance and confidence together. It's the one, two punch!

I'm Happily Ignorant and Blissfully Confident!

Spread Some Joy Today--Tell someone you love them today. Here's a cool way that works for me: I say, "have I told you I love you lately?" It's magical.

Daily Inspiration 6-12-11

"Success is waking up in the morning, whoever you are,

wherever you are, however old or young, and bounding

out of bed because there's something out there you love

to do, that you believe in, that you're good at--

something that's bigger than you are, and you can

hardly wait to get at it again today."

-- Whit Hobbs

The definitions and "secrets" of success are so many and varied that one truly has to find at least one or more that we can adopt for ourselves. It will not do to just be confused by the volume of them.

For so many years I looked to adopt a definition, and though I've chosen multiple definitions, the one above is one of my top favorites. When I read this one, I am a success! That feels good. Do you ever say that to yourselves? Say it with me now: "I am a success!" Yes! It feels great.

I'm not much of a striver. Striving is not all it's made up to be. It's all that "working at it, working hard, and stiff upper lip stuff." How dull. But, success. . . well, that has a whole different ring to it. It indicates accomplishment and arrival, yet it is definitely not the end. Heck, you can get up every morning a be a success all over again. That's pretty cool, don't you think? Say it with me now: "Today, I am another righteous success story! I feel great!" There you go!

There's so many ways to look at it, so you just gotta make your own! Go for it! And, don't let any other person, or institution tell you otherwise. You alone are in charge of your own success. One more time with gusto: "I AM Successful!"

Somebody's Gotta Do It. That's Why I Chose Me!

Spread Some Joy Today--Help someone else feel successful. It's catchy.

Daily Inspiration 6-11-11

"Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your

own powers you cannot be successful or happy."

-- Norman Vincent Peale

"Just as much as we see in others

we have in ourselves."

-- William Hazlitt

Tonight I had one of the best compliments I think I've every received. . .

I was at a special event this evening and I saw a lot of people I love, yet I don't see often. To one gentleman who I recall always has a smile and exudes confidence, I said to him that "every time I see you, you always have a smile on your face!" He said to me, "you know, you always look like you've got everything figured out." And, I said, "Thank you! That's just how I feel."

Of course, my last response is not all true, but yet, at the same time it is--at least from a confidence standpoint, which is relatively new in my life. No, I don't have it all figured out, but what I have figured out works just fine.

To get that kind of statement which I received as a high compliment, I am very pleased. As I look at other people and I see that confidence and calmness in their eyes and their demeanor, I respect it and appreciate it and want to have it, and based on his comment, I am showing what I am feeling and wanting. It is so interesting.

What is also very interesting to me is that now that I have a certain level of calm confidence, I see more of it in others than I ever saw before!

This afternoon, I turned on the TV and for a few minutes watched part of an OverHauling episode. If you've seen the show, you know they take a guy's unfinished dream car and make it a dream car in 7 days and while they do that, they play tricks on the victim for TV interest. This victim wasn't acting like a typical victim. Instead, he was calm and relatively collected. They tried riling him up--even going so far as to insult him repeatedly because he wouldn't get upset, and it was to no avail. He was not plugging into their stuff, yet he remained communicative and under control the whole time. I've seen that show many times, and most of the victim's get quite upset, so this one was very interesting. I say, YES! Nice going! Bravo!

I like how Dr. Phil states it from his book, Life Strategies: "You do not HAVE to be angry just because you have the right to be angry."

If You Only Allow Yourself To Push Your Buttons, It Is Amazing How Calm You Can Be.

Spread Some Joy Today--Pay several people around you today a sincere compliment. Compliment their hair, clothes, whatever. Even if you don't know them. That will spread plenty of joy!

Daily Inspiration 6-10-11

"Worry affects the circulation, the heart, the glands, the

whole nervous system, and profoundly affects the heart."

-- Dr Charles H Mayo, M.D.

"What worries you, masters you."

-- Haddon W Robinson

Worry. It is an interesting thing. The act of worrying is using our imagination to predict events and scenarios and speculate various outcomes that are what we do not want. It is a very productive use of the imagination as Dr. Charles H Mayo of the Mayo Clinic states. It's not the sort of production that is beneficial, yet we have trained ourselves in the exercise of worry.

What's even far more interesting about worry and the imagining of events and scenarios, is that very few actually come to fruition. So, you could say accurately that we use our imagination to worry about things and events that we do not want, and watch them turn out to be false. Sort of reminds me of a dog chasing its tail in a circle.

What's also interesting about worry is that it is just a thought. It is thoughts of fear. String a few of those worrisome thoughts together and you can get your body riled up nicely and end up having that potential problem mastering your time and energy.

It seems logical and reasonable to me that worry is a total waste of time and energy. It promotes ill health and gives us unnecessary stress. I like how Steve Allen puts it into perspective: "One of the nice things about problems is that a good many of them do not exist except in our imaginations."

Cool. Calm. Collected. There Is Power In This. Focus On What Is Right. Make A Long List And Give Much Thought To That.

Spread Some Joy Today--To spread joy, you must have joy to spread. Worry and joy do not share space. Let go of the one and accept the other.

Daily Inspiration 6-9-11

"Anxiety is love's greatest killer. It makes others feel

as you might when a drowning man holds on to you.

You want to save him, but you know he will

strangle you with his panic."

-- Anais Nin

When people give me argument, I do my best to answer it with sense, and if they persist, I may swim upstream with them a stroke or two, then I will suddenly let go and float away downstream relaxing in my peace and calm.

I was talking with a prospect the other day who is the owner of a small business. He expressed some fear of the Internet, in particular, social media and specifically, Facebook. He told me a short story, then another. I tried sense. He told another. Finally, I turned to him and said matter-of-factly, "if you are afraid of the Internet, then I suggest that you avoid the Internet and keep doing what you are doing now." Then he started another fearful story, and I said, "whatever is on the Internet is not private, so if you are fearful of what goes on in the Internet world, stay out of it; however, I suggest the alternative of getting over it so you can use the medium to grow your business effectively."

I could see he had some more stories ready for me, but I wasn't having any of it. I said goodbye politely and left. If people don't want to swim or don't know how, they should stay out of the water. The alternative is getting in or taking lessons and getting on with life.

I absolutely love the Internet. I think it is tantamount to the greatest invention of all time--certainly it is in terms of information being widely and freely available to all. So, to me it is extremely beneficial and valuable. To some it is something to fear and tell stories about, but then again, I feel they have a propensity to do that without the influence of the Internet. How we think about things affects and creates our own world.

Live In Fear, Or Live In Love. It's A Choice--Yours.

Spread Some Joy Today--Listen to the stories you tell others. If it's not uplifting, tell a new story. If you don't know one, make one up.

Daily Inspiration 6-8-11

"Peace is not the absence of war; it is a virtue; a state of mind;

a disposition for benevolence; confidence; and justice."

-- Baruch Spinoza

"The most important thing in life is to learn

how to give out love, and to let it come in."

-- Morrie Schwartz, quoted by Mitch Albom

It's funny how you hear one word and that takes you to a place in your mind where some other memory pops up and then kind of sticks with you part of the day--and even sometimes much longer.

Today, I was at a meeting and I heard the word "evangelize." It was used not in the typical religious reference but as in "enthusiastically promoting." I got the meaning, but that word just jumped out because it didn't seem like it would have been there, and then again, it wasn't that it was a wrong choice, just an interesting choice.

It took me back a few years. I was a worship leader in church for about 9 years and I wrote a lot of songs and played them in church, but I was a black sheep I suppose in that I didn't fit the typical mold for that position. I wrote over 100 songs during that time and played probably about 75 of them in church, some only once maybe, others more, and there is one song that stands out so far from the rest that it stands alone. It was also the most popular one I did--or at least that is my take based on how loud the singing was. But, to me it is the most important song I wrote and to me it says what I think is the most important.

When I wrote it, which took just a few minutes, I was thinking, what does God need of our praise? What does God need of our gifts? What does God need of our devotion? So, I thought about that and then thought, what could we give God that would have any significance, or meaning? He has everything already, so what in the world could we give Him? Here's what came out:

GIVE THE LORD AWAY

WHAT CAN WE GIVE TO THE LORD TODAY?

WE CAN GIVE THE LORD, GIVE THE LORD AWAY.

WHAT CAN WE GIVE TO THE LORD TODAY?

WE CAN GIVE THE LORD, GIVE THE LORD AWAY.

WRITING OUT A CHECK IS ONE WAY WE CAN BLESS;

EVEN THOUGH IT'S WONDERFUL, WE NEED TO DO THE REST.

THERE'S SO MUCH MORE TO DO TO HELP HIS LIGHT SHINE TRUE.

BY GIVING LOVE, WE GIVE THE LORD AWAY.

WHAT CAN WE GIVE TO THE LORD TODAY?

WE CAN GIVE THE LORD, GIVE THE LORD AWAY.

WHAT CAN WE GIVE TO THE LORD TODAY?

WE CAN GIVE THE LORD, GIVE THE LORD AWAY.

BY GIVING LOVE, WE GIVE THE LORD AWAY.

BY GIVING LOVE, WE GIVE THE LORD AWAY.

It seemed to me that the only thing that we can give God that would be meaningful would be to give Him away, but not by evangelizing in the typical way, but by doing the simplest and most profound thing possible, by giving love, because it seemed to me that by giving love, we are giving the Lord away.

I like how Mother Teresa is quoted: "Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier," and "We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do."

It's Not What We Keep But What We Give Away. . .

Spread Some Joy Today--Many of us are not used to giving love openly--especially in business situations, but practice will change that, and it is the easiest practice too!

Daily Inspiration 6-7-11

"Adversity is like a strong wind.

It tears away from us

all the things that cannot be torn,

so that we see ourselves as we really are."

-- Arthur Golden

Ever bite off more than you can chew? I've done that a few times in my life, and never more so than where I am now. And, from time to time in all my great and wonderful positiveness, my mind-sight gets a bit muddy. Maybe you know what I'm talking about. I don't get really down or depressed anymore, but I notice that I'm not firing on all 8 cylinders. The cares and uncared for cares or ignored cares of the past have a way of dragging anyone down a notch or two.

In those cases it is so easy to think about turning and walking out, moving to Australia, or some other greener pasture. I know enough now that I cannot allow myself to linger in la-la land very long, and the best way out is always, as they so wonderfully sang in Bye Bye Birdie, to Put On A Happy Face. Of course, in la-la land, nobody wants a happy face. They laugh at happy faces there, and it sometimes seems so forced and fake--yet, it is still true that it is the choosing to be happy that makes the leap out.

The practical way is to just think of a better feeling thought. Just a little better feeling. Then, another slightly better one, and another and another until in baby steps we have got ourselves feeling pretty darn good and now that happy face is not so fake after all.

Sometimes I watch an inspiring movie that jerks a few tears here and there (joyful ones!) that does the trick. I found one tonight and I highly recommend it. It is from HBO and I got it from Netflix, but it is called "Warm Springs," and it is the early story of Franklin Roosevelt before he went headlong into politics. It is a delightful and very interesting story of adversity, challenge, strength-finding, and heart-opening.

It is also fascinating in how it shows how friends and people who see something special in you can be so helpful to guide you to the best of yourself. It was very inspiring to me personally tonight and may touch others in a similar way. It helped to put my trivial problems into a better perspective, much like this quote from Robert Fulghum: "If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience."

"Some of God's Greatest Gifts Are Unanswered Prayers." -- Garth Brooks

Spread Some Joy Today--Blessings are always there. They are just hidden from time to time. Finding them again and counting them again is joy all over again.

Daily Inspiration 6-6-11

"People are always asking about the good old days.

I say, why don't you say the good now days?"

-- Robert M Young

"The other day a man asked me what I thought was the best time of life.

"Why," I answered without a thought, "now."

-- David Grayson

It seems strange to think of it because it is moving constantly, and that is that there is nothing but now. Each nanosecond is now. The future is what may be and the past is what was. Our view of both of those has a definite influence on our now.

I wrote a song many years ago called "The Best Is Yet To Come." I used to believe that as if we are working toward something and it will get better and better as we move into the future. Of course, that still can be true, but only if we are the best we can be right now, or that we are living fully right now, or loving fully right now. Yet, the idea of the song was that there is more to come, more life to live, more love to make and share and that it only stops when we do.

I am now enjoying my now more than at any other time in my life and I am loving it very much. I am looking at the past (when I do) as those stepping stones that led me here and it is perfect. I see a bright future and also realize it is created by what I choose to think and do in my now today.

My Now, My Past and My Future Are All Beginning To Blend Together As If They Are One. . .

Spread Some Joy Today--What are your joy rules? Some people have a lot of rules. Throw them away. Just appreciate something or someone and joy is a natural result.

Daily Inspiration 6-5-11

Choice Week

"There is so much about my fate that I cannot control,

but other things do fall under the jurisdiction.

I can decide:

How I spend my time,

whom I interact with,

whom I share my body

and life

and money

and energy with,

I can select what I can read

and eat

and study.

I can choose how I'm going to regard

unfortunate circumstances in my life;

whether I will see them as curses

or opportunities.

I can choose my words

and tone of voice

in which I speak to others.

And most of all,

I can choose my thoughts."

-- Elizabeth Gilbert

We choose so often each and every day that we don't even realizing we are choosing. Life is in our choices and we have multiple ways of seeing anything and anyone. It is not anyone outside of ourselves or circumstances or events outside of ourselves that does the choosing for us, but ourselves alone. We may respond or react. We may choose to be angry or happy. We may choose to justify and judge or allow. We may love with condition or without. It is all in our choices and our choices then become us.

Though we all may realize that we are indeed the choosers, what we may be missing is the deliberate choices that we can make to create a deliberate reality in our lives. What that only means is accepting the responsibility that our power lies in our thinking and therefore all of our choices. In this light, I blame no one and nothing and only realize that I have chosen and each choice creates results. There is infinite freedom in that realization and much joy in the practice of it.

Rather Than Choose And Then See How I Feel, It Is Much Better To Feel Good And Then Make A Choice. It Always Seems To Turn Out Well That Way.

Spread Some Joy Today--Joy begins with appreciation. Find many things and people to appreciate today. What a wonderful day it will be!

Daily Inspiration 6-4-11

Choice Week

"Both abundance and lack exist simultaneously in our lives,

as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which

secret garden we will tend. . . when we choose not to focus

on what is missing from our lives but are grateful for the

abundance that's present--love, health, family, friends,

work, the joys of nature and personal pursuits that bring

us pleasure--the wasteland of illusion falls away

and we experience Heaven on earth."

-- Sarah Ban Breathnach

One of the other very powerful things that I have learned in just the last few years is gently working toward realizing and being grateful for the abundance that I have.

Everything is relative. If we in America compare ourselves to some of the poorest people in the world, there is no doubt that we have abundance. Yet, that is not what we in America normally do. We normally compare ourselves to those that are rich in comparison to ourselves, then we focus on the lack that exists between those two current realities.

Sometimes that motivates us to get going and get more abundance in our lives, and other times it just bums us out--not in a down-trodden depressed kind of way, but in a resigned sort of way. Not giving up, just not feeling much real hope. We begin seeing this reality--and we notice that we aren't there yet again and again. That's where those phrases come from such as, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and so on.

Yet the thing that I find motivating me is focusing on the abundance I have--whatever it is. I am rich in things, talent, energy, focus, friends, learning, expertise. To use an old phrase as I heard as a child, I am counting my blessings one by one. As a side note, it is also interesting how little "things" mean to me anymore and most of my life I couldn't wait to get more things.

In my observation of people, it is the choosing between focusing on their abundance or their lack that I see affecting people's lives. Most that I see are focusing on what they don't have, what they're lacking, who's done what to whom, and so on. I think changing that focus toward abundance would change a great many things in their lives.

We always have the choice of how we want to view a situation; our lives; the world. Abundance and lack are not so much realities as they are attitudes. You don't have to be rich to feel an abundance. In fact, realities don't create attitudes--no, attitudes create reality.

Heck, You Can Just Make It Up In Your Head. Works For Me!

Spread Some Joy Today--See if you can list ten things that you're grateful for. Count those blessings and enjoy your abundance.

Daily Inspiration 6-3-11

Choice Week

"I've made mistakes, and I know why I made them,

but I made that choice. Nobody's ever made a choice for me."

-- Sandra Bullock

I used to call it PMA (Positive Mental Attitude), and positive thinking. It's what I was learning in my mid-twenties from motivational speakers and books I was reading, but I wasn't getting it really. Oh, I could repeat it, but I wasn't living it. Know what I mean? It has taken so many more years to come back to it and then to live it and even understand it more.

Part of what is so cool about getting to this point is accepting responsibility for my choices. I did my share of blaming the economy, the current administration, the boss, and that list could go on for days. Now that I have accepted this responsibility, I need only look in the mirror if I was seeking excuses or people to blame.

It was a hard idea to really grasp for a while because when I was thinking about positive thinking, I was thinking about the inside out and when things would happen that weren't really so much fun, I would think from the outside in--as if something outside was attacking me, wreaking havoc with my life. Then, I would muster all the positive thinking I could to think my way through it.

It is a different and so much more effective thing to accept everything that I get and be fully responsible for it with no excuses, and no circumstantial evidence to try to convince others or myself that I am an innocent victim.

So, in the end, it isn't about positive thinking at all. It is about realizing that I create my own world. Realizing this fully and accepting the role of creator allows me to do more than positive thinking ever could.

I Am A Victim No More! And, It's A Sweet Victory!

Spread Some Joy Today--There is so much joy in the realization that you have more control than you thought you did. Accept the responsibility that you are in charge.

Daily Inspiration 6-2-11

Choice Week

"If someone throws you the ball,

you don't have to catch it."

-- Richard Carlson

Great advice and it puts things in an interesting perspective. If someone throws you the ball, you don't have to catch it; if the phone rings, you don't have to answer it; if the doorbell rings, you don't have to answer it; if someone wants you to argue with them, you can choose to ignore them. We make so many choices throughout our day that we don't even think of them as choices.

Sometimes we play against ourselves in procrastination, or our selective attention, but more often than not it is the prompting of others that has us running around feeling as if we have to do something for whatever the reason may be in order to be polite, respectful, efficient, or responsive.

It's interesting to watch what people do when the phone rings. It's as if there is some high authority causing them to respond into fast action. Want to try something different? Put it on buzzer and make a conscious decision to not answer it. Better yet, put it in airplane mode, and better yet, leave it at home for a time. See what it's like to not catch the ball and feel how empowering it is.

I wonder how many things we can do that with?

I Choose Not. . . Or Not. . .

Spread Some Joy Today--Who's in charge? YOU! Isn't that some serious joy?

Daily Inspiration 6-1-11

Choice Week

"Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice.

It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."

-- William Jennings Bryan

"Our lives are the sum total of the choices we have made."

-- Wayne Dyer

As I consider where I am right now today, with the awareness that my thoughts create my life, I find myself curiously accepting responsibility for everything about my life. It is an act that would at any other time in my life been rejected as folly, yet now I find that to attempt to reject it is folly.

So, I look at myself in the mirror when I get out of the shower and I was thinking this morning of what a magnificent creator I have become. Just look at that body in all its glory! I created that image, along with the way it looks. If I don't like the look very much, I have only one to blame. It isn't the food, or anything else exterior. It is purely my own thinking that brought me here.

It is so empowering and also shocking and it makes me laugh and I celebrate my success as a creator. Maybe I was was intending to create something a bit more athletic and lean, and honorable intentions they may have been; however, I have created successfully nonetheless whatever vision I see before me. Indeed, I am always successful at creation, though ofttimes I may be a bit confused as to the clarity of it.

The Good News Is That I Can Just Create A Better Image Anytime I Choose. . .

Spread Some Joy Today--In any situation, I have a choice on how I will view it, react or respond to it, feel about it. I find more joy in always--always choosing the better feeling thought regardless of what others choose or what they think about my choices.