Daily Inspiration 1-28-12

"A journey of a thousand miles

must begin with a single step."

-- Lao Tzu

I've talked with a lot of people who were going to do something but put it off because they thought it was too big, too hard, or cost too much money, etc. The only way it moves past this roadblock is by making a decision to move. Procrastination and excessive fact-finding is not a decision. It can only be preparation for a potential decision.

That reminds me of a story Jim Rohn told once where he said there was a builder who was going to build a skyscraper, and he began bringing materials to the building site, and then he kept bringing materials, and kept bringing them, but never built anything.

We get hung up on the things we have to do--the list of excuses--and that is just procrastination or avoiding a decision when there is something that we want but are giving "socially acceptable reasons" why we cannot possibly. Denis Waitley says, "everything is something you decide to do, and there is nothing you have to do."

I love how Anthony Robbins says it: "Using the power of decision gives you the capacity to get past any excuse to change any and every part of your life in an instant."

Whatever it is that you might have been wanting to do, have faith that it is but a decision away from the first step of moving toward it.

There Will Be Plenty Of Time To Look Back. . .

Spread Some Joy Today--Pretend that you just took a joy pill that produces a chemical balance in your body and brain that causes you to feel really, really good and to be in awe of all around you, loving everything you see. Since its just a decision, you don't really need the pill, but props are fun sometimes. . .

Daily Inspiration 1-27-12

"Sometimes, in a summer morning,

having taken my accustomed bath,

I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise

till noon, rapt in reverie."

-- Henry David Thoreau

When I read this quote, I read joy, and especially joy in the moment; drinking in the moments and enjoying oneself caught in a spirit of awe and wonder.

I think that the majority of my life I had almost none of these, and now I have them all the time; albeit, not necessarily from sunrise to noon. They last how ever long they last and I roll around in them with an effortless and joyful smile filling up my entire face. I feel full and overflowing, at peace with everything, loving every thing and every one. Maybe it lasts a minute, 5 minutes, or longer. It doesn't matter.

It has nothing whatsoever to do with weather, for it works at any time, in any condition. The amount of money or possessions I possess doesn't matter either.

What does matter, is that I pay attention!

 

And. . . Just ENJOY IT FULLY!

Spread Some Joy Today--What brings you to feeling joy? Make a list! Check it twice!

Daily Inspiration 1-26-12

"You cannot overestimate

the unimportance

of practically everything."

-- John C Maxwell

What I love about this quote is how true it is. This and yet we disbelieve its truth by considering so many unimportant things important.

One thing really good to learn is that importance is a flexible and relative term. A great question to ask is how important is it really? How about compared to life or death? How about having 24 hours to live?

Now, if we have six months to live, that would change the importance of things as when we are 16 and immortal. As well, having six months would be different than having 24 hours and I wonder what is left that is really important having 24 hours to live? A hug? A kiss? Kind words of love? Anger?

Something to consider. . .

I Have. . . I Choose Love AND Joy. . . And Laughter.

Spread Some Joy Today--Do you know people that commonly make you laugh? Frequent their care!

Daily Inspiration 1-25-12

"Your chances of success in any undertaking

can always be measured by your belief in yourself."

"You can do anything you think you can. This knowledge

is literally the gift of the gods, for through it you can solve

every human problem. It should make you an

incurable optimist. It is the open door."

-- Robert Collier

It has been said so many wonderful ways that to believe in ourselves is one of life's greatest answers. Besides these great ones from Robert Collier, there is a famous one from Henry Ford, "if you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right."

Of course there were so many from the last century, often coined as the century of new thought, but this idea of believing in oneself is pretty much as old as time. It's just that we haven't seen those quotes as much maybe. So, I thought that since this idea is so important to everything we do, I would share a few more with you.

"Everything is possible for him who believes." - Mark 9:23, the Bible

There are many quotes on this subject in the Bible. My personal favorite is from Matthew 17:19-20: "Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not cast it out?" And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it shall move; and nothing shall be impossible to you.""

"They can. . .because they think they can." - Virgil

"A person under the firm persuasion that he can command resources virtually has them." -- Livy

"What this power is, I cannot say. All I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when you are in that state of mind in which you know exactly what you want and are fully determined not to quit until you get it." -- Alexander Graham Bell

 

"What The Mind Of Man Can Conceive And Believe, The Mind Of A Man Can Achieve." -- Napoleon Hill

Spread Some Joy Today--Give something away that you've been holding on to that you don't really need. There is joy is letting go.

Daily Inspiration 1-24-12

"In order to eliminate the negative influences,

simply ignore them."

-- Lao-tzu

It's funny to me, but I read this quote for the first time today and it is so perfect because that is exactly what I started doing and still do today to keep focused on the positive things I want to focus on and avoid getting tangled in the negative, needy things that are always clamoring for attention. I do it by not paying any attention to what the negativity or what is going on that I don't care to see. And, it is absolutely amazing how well this works right from day one.

Now, other people will try to persuade you to pay attention to the news and the problems, but it is not really that hard to say no, thanks. It also gets easier with practice to the point that I don't pay much attention to the distractions anymore.

Empowering Myself Is So Cool. . .

Spread Some Joy Today--Stop the 'fine, how are you' routine to the common, 'how are you?' question. Practice some creative and joyful answers! How about, 'off the chart!' 'I don't think I've ever felt this good!' 'I think today is the best day of my life!' or 'I can't imagine the hottest rock star feeling quite this good.' What a difference, don't you think?

Daily Inspiration 1-23-12

"Deficiency motivation doesn't work. It will lead to a

life-long pursuit of try to fix me. Learn to appreciate

what you have and where and who you are."

-- Wayne Dyer

It took me a long time to understand this idea of appreciating where I was when I wanted something more. In addition, as a young manager, I was taught to teach deficiency thinking in order to supply sales candidates with "motivation." Wayne's so right, it doesn't work.

Part of the reason that it doesn't work and this is the something that it took me until lately to understand this is that it causes one to see themselves as lacking; as not complete; broken in need of repair. Even if a goal is hit then, it is so much less satisfying that we think and we may even begin thinking that we don't deserve it or we didn't earn it and so on. But the biggest reason to me is we are beginning from a position of imperfection or brokenness trying to move to a position of wholeness. It's not really a fun place to be.

On the other hand, when we appreciate who we are, where we are now and what we have now in pursuit of what we want, we are going from a position of wholeness, not needing, but wanting more in our lives, our work, to have more fun, and more enjoyment--to become more.

These are two very different places of beginning. I have learned to appreciate what I have and it is so much better. I now love my life now just the way it is rather than being unhappy with my life hoping to be happy someday. Nothing can compare.

We Were Perfect When We Were Born, But Slowly And Surely Lost Track Of That. It Is Never Too Late To Relearn Our Perfection.

Spread Some Joy Today--Practice loving yourself and appreciating what you have and where you are regardless of your circumstances in comparison with the rest of the world. The more you practice, the more joy you will have to share.

Daily Inspiration 1-22-12

"Because our entire universe is made up of consciousness,

we never really experience the universe directly we just

experience our consciousness of the universe, our perception

of it, so right, our only universe is perception."

-- Alan Moore

The world is flat is one perception of old. People held to it with all their strength. A few ventured to consider and experiment and develop a different perspective. So, now, in today's world, we think, how could they have believed the world is flat? It is because we now can see pictures of the earth from space that clearly show that the earth is not flat. We think it is crazy and uneducated to think it is flat when it is clearly not. Yet, this fact many not have changed a lot of people's perceptions in the flat world days.

It is easy to put those flat-worlders in the category of being wrong, whereas, we with all our knowledge and insight are truly in the right category. We're right, they're wrong. A classic argument. But, are they really?

Giving this somewhat more thought, I think they are neither right or wrong because each is viewing the world from their own perspective, and perspective isn't something that is right or wrong, but something that is fashioned out of the knowledge and prejudices we have--more like each looking through our own eyes seeing what we see and to each what we see is real to us.

Next time we try to move someone from their solid-grounded perspective to try to have them adopt our own, we might consider other alternatives. We could allow them to continue to own their perspective and appreciate their unique view as okay and even perfect for them at this moment in time. There are all sorts of people who do not have ears to hear or eyes to see except this that they know now. We can choose to respect that perspective. Rather than try to change them, we just honor them and allow them to be who they are and where they are as we can do also with ourselves.

 

Doesn't This Apply In So Many Ways In So Many Situations With Communications With Others?

Spread Some Joy Today--by relaxing in criticism today. Allow others to be what they are, especially those who do or say things you may not have previously liked. Allow them to be them and you to be you and everyone is okay today. If need be, you can pick up your prickly stick tomorrow. It is always available.

Daily Inspiration 1-21-12

"Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep

down below the surface of the average conscience a still,

small voice says to us, something is out of tune."

-- Carl Jung

"Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are

often used synonymously. A person may be proud without

being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves;

vanity, to what we would have others think of us."

-- Jane Austen

I ran across a wonderful quote by Jane Austen above. The quote above it is more typical of how I've heard about pride--as if it is always a negative; such as being boastful, etc. But when I read Jane's quote, I instantly loved it because it explained it so well and it just felt good. Yes, it just felt right.

One of the things that I never used to pay much attention to is how I feel inside about something, and now I have learned to go with that feeling as if it is the ultimate guidance about everything in my life. So, when I read the Jane Austen quote, I instantly felt good about it and when I read Carl Jung's quote, I instantly felt bad about it, so I will choose to ignore Carl and embrace Jane.

I'm learning that life is much easier than I thought it was by paying attention to how I feel about things. Not from a conscience point of view, but just how I feel when I think about it. It is proving to be the most perfect guidance.

I Knew That Feeling Good Had Value, But So Does Feeling Bad. . . Move Toward. . . Move Away. . .

Spread Some Joy Today--I'll tell you something I find joyful: whatever the weather is at any given time, enjoy it! Never complain about it. Leave that to others. Instead, enjoy it, appreciate it, marvel in it.

Daily Inspiration 1-20-12

"In a controversy, the instant we feel anger

we have already ceased striving for the truth,

and have begun striving for ourselves."

-- Buddha

This is a great way to tell when I'm going down the wrong path. I think we naturally via our ego want to protect our position rather than consider an alternative, no matter how good it may be. Feeling anger is a result and I think that should be looked at as a reason to immediately stop and let go of our position if we can encourage ourselves to do that and allow a different thought to enter.

This applies as equally to any argument of a personal or business nature. The moment we feel anger, we need to be aware and change direction, or release the argument. To continue will not be beneficial.

There Is Much Value In Considering Anothers Perspective Along With Our Own.

Spread Some Joy Today--Enjoy the scenery today, even if it is from your office window.

Daily Inspiration 1-19-12

"I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one

advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,

and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined,

he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.

He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary;

new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish

themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded,

and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will

live with the license of a higher order of beings. In proportion

as he simplifies his life, the laws of the universe will appear less

complex, and solitude will not be solitude, nor poverty poverty,

nor weakness weakness. If you have built castles in the air,

your work need not be lost; that is where they should be.

Now put the foundations under them."

-- Henry David Thoreau

Today I was thinking about encouraging words. I love that old song, Home On The Range and my favorite line, "where never is heard, a discouraging word." As I was thinking about it, I thought I would share with you three quotes that are in my top ten of encouraging quotes.

I've heard the Thoreau quote hundreds of times, but rarely in the fullness of the way it was written in Walden, so I thought I would share it the way it was written.

Here is number two about living fully. I remember recording this quote in a booklet over 30 years ago that contained a number of quotes and I called it my inspirational book. Here it is from one of my favorite authors, Jack London:

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time."

And the third quote below is at the top of quotes that have moved me in my life, and it is just as powerful now as it was when I first read it. Here it is:

"There Is A Tide In The Affairs Of Men, When Taken At The Flood, Leads On To Fortune." -- William Shakespeare

Spread Some Joy Today--Enjoy your day as if you only had a handful left. . .

Daily Inspiration 1-18-12

"Happiness is not a thing.

It is not something to be pursued.

It is not even something we attract.

It is always an attitude;

a perspective that we choose."

-- Albert Strong

 

Many people choose an unhappiness response to some event. They choose to grieve. The key word is choose. Many do so because that's what they were trained to do under certain conditions, or it is what is expected of them--the right thing to do. Some even assign specific periods of time where this is expected and falling short of the full expected time frame wouldn't look good to others in the community.

There are all sorts of spoken and unspoken cultural expectations of behavior. Of course, to go along means you're part of the culture and in the group, and to choose another way is what we call the outsider.

It's not even going against the crowd. Although, I've found that the crowd isn't all that insightful. It is merely choosing one's own way and if in so doing, it requires walking away from the crowd, so be it.

I've often chosen the crowd in years past. I've chosen unhappiness, depression, outrage, anger and more. Now as I look back, I find it interesting how people will choose those things over happiness, joy, well being. I know that I did, and yet I cannot exactly explain why except that it was expected or that I got some egotistical value from it, such as, sympathy, seeming support, and more. Whatever the benefit that came never seemed to be worth the effort that it took to endure the symptoms.

So, finally, as I found mentors that convinced me it was a choice and deep inside, I also knew it to be true, I now choose happiness and joy even as others choose opposites. I no longer care much about being in the group because it isn't any fun and once you get that you have the power, you just can't go back, and there isn't any reason to do so.

Take Courage: Choose Happiness.

Spread Some Joy Today--choose to be joyful. Just for the heck of it.

Daily Inspiration 1-17-12

"We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing,

while others judge us by what we have already done."

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

Isn't it the truth, Henry. All the more reason that we are the best judges of ourselves and not to listen except with a mild interest what others have to say about us and what we have done, are doing, or intend to do.

Heck, if we really listened to others opinions, we would be bound to their expectations, limitations and prejudices. I reckon that the better we get at not paying much of any attention to outside opinions, the smarter we will be.

It's okay to ask for opinions, or advice (opinions), or counsel (opinions), and it is perfectly okay to reject all of them! I believe that the real value of asking opinions is to clarify our own thinking.

Here's the best thing I've ever learned: pay attention to how you feel when deciding to do or not to do something, or when listening to sage advice. If it feels good, it is, and if it feels bad, it is. This is why you and I can be the only real judge, because it is only we who experience the feeling and thereby the perfect solution.

 

Be Bold. Believe In Your Own Power Of Thought.

Spread Some Joy Today--When you see someone and they have that look of confidence, peace and joy, pay attention to their expressions and body language. Now duplicate it. That's the backdoor version of joy.

Daily Inspiration 1-16-12

"We have all a better guide in ourselves,

if we would attend to it,

than any other person can be."

-- Jane Austen

Believing in ourselves, and in our own wisdom to guide our own lives, even ignoring or discounting what others tell us makes all the difference in how we flow through life and in our work. As a sales manager for over 40 years, it is personal confidence that has always set the good sales person from the mediocre regardless of other factors in my own experience. As a result, it is the quality that I tried my best to instill in others for their own benefit and ultimately everyone else's.

I love how Jane says it so well. Swami Vivekananda takes it a step or two further in saying, "If faith in ourselves had been more extensively taught and practiced, I am sure a very large portion of the evils and miseries that we have would have vanished." Another author, e. e. cummings fills in some color by saying, "Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit."

I've seen firsthand what that calm, confidence looks and acts like, and it is rather like even forgetting oneself because the confidence level is such that there is no need to focus there; almost as if it is a given. Joseph Campbell captured that thought this way: "When we quit thinking primarily about ourselves and our own self-preservation, we undergo a truly heroic transformation of consciousness."

This is where I've been heading all my life and I am beginning to feel that as an experience. I have found that it is not a destination, but a journey and the journey IS the destination.

I'll leave this post with one of my favorite quotes on this subject:

"If We Did All The Things We Are Capable Of, We Would Literally Astound Ourselves." -- Thomas A Edison

Spread Some Joy Today--by being YOU!

Daily Inspiration 1-15-12

"If there is anything that we wish to change in the child,

we should first examine it and see whether it is not

something that could better be changed in ourselves."

-- Carl Jung

I love this quote, and I especially love it when you change the word child, like this: "If there is anything that we wish to change in another, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves."

As I contemplate this, it speaks such power of control in our own lives; of how we can choose how we will look at a situation, and thereby how we will respond, react, and feel about it, and the other person who we at first think needs changing.

If there is something that we don't like about another person that we think they should change, by immediately changing from looking at them to looking at ourselves and what we can do is telling and helpful. Though we continue to challenge ourselves to think there is someway that we can change others, we cannot. We only have that power toward ourselves in how we look at people and situations.

It is so easy to see the faults in others and to like people that are more like we are. It is when people are different that we have a grand opportunity to grow and love. Maybe we need more patience, a more open mind, a change in the way we view right and wrong, whether we even live the ideals that we claim to uphold so fiercely.

This is an acquired skill. I know it is worth the practice and determination of acquisition, and that it will benefit us like nothing else. We can even learn to appreciate those differences and celebrate them.

What We See In Others Is In Ourselves. What Do You WANT To See?

Spread Some Joy Today--Relax all your prejudices today. The easy way to do that is to look at each person around you today and find things to appreciate. Focus on those things and prejudice melts away.