Daily Inspiration 1-6-15

"The mind has exactly 

the same power as the hands; 

not merely to grasp the world, 

but to change it." 

-- Colin Wilson 

Continuing on my path of sharing how the Teachings of Abraham from Esther Hicks has and is changing my life for the better, they say that every subject is two subjects: that which is desired and the absence of that which is desired. Some examples are "Abundance/Poverty (lack of abundance), Health/Illness (absence of health), I can do that/I can't do that, I want to buy that/I can't afford that, I want to be slender/I am fat, I want to feel good/I don't feel good."

Often we get hung up on facing reality, this is the way things are and such to the point that we're stuck where we are or things may get worse. The biggest part of the problem is that if we were really listening to ourselves, we would find that we are saying what we want and then admitting that it is not here. When we state what we want and then state that we don't have it, we cancel the movement toward that which we want.

Saying we want to be slender and then looking at the scale and criticizing ourselves in the mirror cancels the goal before it ever gets going. We have to tell a different story if we want different results. We have to state what we want and focus solely on that and ignore what is. If we give attention to what is or the absence of what we want, we will stay right in this one spot. It is like taking one step forward and one back, one step forward and one back. There is movement, but the destination is where we are rather than where we want to be.

Facing reality is not a thing worth studying. Reality is just what is at the moment. It is our current reality that was created from our past thinking. We cannot look at that and expect something different without telling it as we want it to be instead of how it is. We also have to jettison our past by saying and focusing on what we want right now. If that means pretending, so be it. Then pretending is exactly the thing to do. If that means putting up pictures on the wall of how you want it to be, so be it. We also have to pay close attention to the words coming out of our mouths when we are talking with people, and most important of all, how we are talking to ourselves.

The other thing that holds us back is trying to figure out how. We say we want something, let's say a new car, and then we start messing with the "curs-ed how's" as Mike Dooley loves to put it. I still have the big sign on my office wall that says, "What is MY Job! How is God's Job!!" I look at it often because as my mind starts off on it's "how" adventure, I pull it back and give it to God. It isn't my job. My job is to focus on the way I want things and tell my new story, the rest will come from I know not where and I frankly don't care. I just know it will.

Let us stop cancelling out what we want by trying so hard to figure out how, from where it will come, and all those things that we cannot control. Let us focus on what we can control. We can control our own choices and our own thoughts. If we want to call that work, then that is our real work. Action will come of its own accord.


Focusing On Our Own Control And The Story We Tell. 

Spread Some Joy Today--If you're walking through the valley of lemons, wear your sugar shoes.

Daily Inspiration 1-5-15

"How you interpret 

the current event 

determines how 

the next event 

will turn out." 

-- Alan Cohen 

Negative emotion is a wonderful indicator or tool for change, or it can be a debilitating detriment and can even paralyze one. The difference is how long we allow the thought to stay with us. The longer it stays, the more the Law of Attraction will bring another and another and another. So, recognizing how we are feeling can give us the opportunity to interpret the event or what is going on causing this feeling, and by how we then interpret that we will determine how the next event will turn out.

It is so easy to see this in others. You may know someone who complains all the time. Never or rarely do they speak of positive things. You can see in them the Law of Attraction at work and it leading them on to the next event that will have them upset and then reacting to the event, they will offer more complaint, then more and more come rather quickly.

You may also know someone who has the exact opposite going on. They are loving life, always upbeat, take things in stride, rarely if ever complain. You can see in them the Law of Attraction at work and it is leading them on to the next event which will turn out well and they will have more to be grateful for and find more joy.

Most of us are probably in between these extremes. Sometimes things get us down and we may wallow in it for a bit, complain to our spouse and have them give us sympathy, share it with a friend and have them offer up justification and so on. Then, other times, we are joyful, enjoying things, feeling good. Though we may want to feel good more often, we're not sure why these spikes of emotion are happening.

The main reason is that we are responding to what is. We are looking at "reality," or that which is going on in front of us, or in today's paper or on the news or an event that just occurred and so on. If what is in front of us is good, we feel good, and if it is not, we feel bad. That used to be me and I felt just like a pinball in a pinball machine bouncing from thing to thing with no control and no understanding of how to change it.

So here's another tool I learned from Abraham-Hicks. It is called the Pivot Process, and it is a way to deliberately change to good feeling thoughts, or better feeling thoughts which in and of themselves leads to better feeling and more positive events.

As I pay attention to feeling a negative emotion. Maybe something struck a nerve in my memory bank and I find myself angry about something, or fearful of something and so on. As I realize that I am feeling this emotion, I know that it will draw more unto it as I ponder more of it. It is telling me that I have found something that I do not like and do not want. And because I have realized that I want to feel good as much as I can, I need to pivot from the negative emotion toward a more positive one.

The way to do this is to say aloud or to yourself: "I know what I do not want. . . what is it that I do want?" This alone automatically begins the change. Now focus on what you do want and think of that, speak of that, feel for that. They give a money example that is very common where someone says, "I never have enough money." So, the opportunity for me is to say something different like, "I'm looking forward to having more money." Can you feel the dramatic difference between these two statements. With the second statement, I am moving toward feeling better and that is exactly the goal.

Rather than focus on what is wrong or what is missing, realize the negative emotion, pivot, and move toward what you do want, how it will be when it is actually there, what you like or enjoy about it and so on. We can do this in an instant and I use it all the time now. It is a very powerful and incredibly simple tool for positive change.


Feeling Good Is Coming Into My Control. I Love How That Feels. 

Spread Some Joy Today--with your smile and your own good feelings.

Daily Inspiration 1-4-15

"Everything that you observe 

feels personal to you. 

And everything, in truth, 

is personal to you 

because you are offering 

a vibration about it 

that is affecting what now 

is being attracted to you 

by your choice of thoughts." 

-- Abraham & Ester Hicks 

As things seemed to happen to me, and as I observed things around me, I took many things personally. It was all real. There it was in my experience. I couldn't deny it was there, and often when things happened that I didn't like, it felt bad. Sometimes it felt awful. I might even feel powerless for a time, or at the very least much discouragement.

Often I would really get into those emotions and really get down. I remembered times when I got fired or criticized, times when my wife and I were struggling to feel good again, times when . . . and the list went on and on and on.

This was before I was even introduced to the Law of Attraction, yet once I was, I could now see all those scenarios for what they really were. I now see what was going on. As I learned more, I found that I could be empowered instead of powerless by learning to use the Law of Attraction for my benefit rather than watching it work against my benefit.

My thoughts are vibration. My emotions are vibration. My body is vibrating. My desk is vibrating. Everything in the Universe is vibrating. It is all energy in various forms. At first that word seemed strange to me, and now I get it.

Just as in music there are higher and lower vibrations, some very slow like the bottom end of the bass and some very fast or high like the chimes on a drum set. Negative thoughts vibrate at a lower level than positive thoughts, so I can even feel that in my mind and body as it is happening. If, that is, I am paying attention to how I am feeling.

I have fully embraced the Teachings of Abraham in that my emotions are my ultimate guidance system. As I pay attention to how I am feeling and I feel something bad, I won't add any more energy to that, but make a decision that I want to feel better and move to a better feeling thought, then to another and another until very soon I am feeling good. The way they put it is this: "Once you decide that you care about feeling good, you will find it easier to more consistently choose a better-feeling direction in your thoughts."

I want to feel good!

It is often more challenging when you are talking with friends, business associates, or customers. Someone will bring up a recent negative issue in the news and speak about how awful it was and talk of the things that are wrong about it, and then I feel the need to express something like it that happened in my life, or I might offer some more things that I think are wrong with that scenario, and as that gathers momentum, no one is feeling good. This used to happen all the time.

But, because I have decided that I want to feel good, I will bow out of those conversations quickly, or I will try to turn the conversation to what is good or right rather than what is wrong, and so on. If I can't turn it or change it quickly, I will excuse myself and leave or go back to work or in some other way move away from the conversation.

I want to feel good!

It's a simple decision and a most beneficial one. I get to choose. If I do not make a choice, I am still choosing by default and the results will be the way they have always been. The most powerful thing I have learned is that I can have a conscious decision to feel good and control my environment so that this is true as often as possible.


The New Foundation Of My Life Is Simply And Powerfully To Feel Good. 

Spread Some Joy Today--From that good feeling place, it's all you can do.

Daily Inspiration 1-3-15

"There is a big difference 

between seriously looking for a solution 

and justifying the need for a solution 

by emphasizing the problem." 

-- Abraham & Esther Hicks 

I first learned about the concept of the Law of Attraction in April of 2007. Once I heard it and began to understand how it worked, I could see how it had been at work so many times in my life, and would have helped me so much to know so that I could make positive changes. Yet, life is a journey, and when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. I wasn't ready until April of 2007, but once I was, I opened the floodgates and found joy in my being.

I brought myself with me on that journey, so I had baggage so to speak. Old habits of thinking, doing, acting and reacting. Feeling sorry for myself wasn't something I did all the time, but when I did, I could have gotten an Oscar. I was also an artist at blame. I grew up with it in my home, and I brought it with me into my own home. I became skilled at rationalizing, and I was a serious contender for the title in justification and defensive positioning.

It wasn't all bad of course. It never is. I had love to share and I shared more of it as time went on. I had a lot of great qualities and yet, just like the news media, I had a propensity for negativity. It wasn't just focused on others, as I had plenty for myself.

That's over with. I still bring me with me, but I now have a propensity for joy and love and appreciation and I only minor in negativity and even then, I effectively deal with it from what I have learned and studied and used for the last several years.

For example, from Abraham & Esther Hicks: "Whenever you are defending or justifying or rationalizing or blaming anything or anyone, you remain in a place of negative attraction. You cannot be focused upon negative aspects and positive aspects at the same time."

As I think about a negative thought, another is drawn to me by the Law of Attraction, then another, and another and so on. Yet, the opposite is equally true. As I think about a positive thought, another is drawn to me and another and another and so on. I know the difference by how I feel. If I am feeling tense, or angry or uncomfortable, I am thinking or speaking of something negative. If I am feeling love, joy, appreciation, enthusiasm, I am thinking of something positive that benefits me. The Law of Attraction doesn't care which, it does an equally grand job with any thought. It doesn't choose, but we can.

The value of knowing how I am feeling is to help me guide myself to where I want to go rather than where I don't want to go. The value of this knowledge is that I can now actually use that as a tool to change what I am attracting to myself. I need to change my thoughts and when I feel better, I know it is working. When I am feeling good, I know I am back on track where I belong.

One method I learned which works very well is called the Book of Positive Aspects. Find a notebook that you like to write in. One of those spiral notebooks is perfect. Write on it, My Book of Positive Aspects. Then pick a subject you want to improve your feelings about. Write at the top of the page, Positive Aspects of __________. I used to write these about my wife and about my company, and people I might feel that I was not connecting well with. It could also be something going well that you want to rock instead.

Then simply start writing positive thoughts about that subject. Don't force it, let it flow. As one thought is written, another comes more easily, then another is drawn by the Law of Attraction and pretty soon, you may have a whole page. When it isn't flowing any more, stop for now.

I guarantee that if you were to try this one tool, it will benefit you in hundreds of ways. I love knowing that I have tools like this one to help me stay on the track of where I want to go and who I want to be. I'll share more of these tools in the days and weeks ahead. Enjoy.


January Is Learning To Have More Control Month. 

Spread Some Joy Today--because you're not the news media. You are love.

Daily Inspiration 1-2-15

"You cannot control what happens to you, 

but you can control your attitude 

toward what happens to you, 

and in that, you will be mastering change 

rather than allowing it to master you." 

-- Brian Tracy 

The quote above is what I believed for most of my life: that things happen to me that I cannot control, and that if I become a wise and learned soul, I will develop an attitude about those things that helps me to adapt to the change and to make the best of it.

I have all manner of books and audio programs from Brian Tracy, Jim Rohn, and a host of business mentors who have taught the same sort of thing. I bought it and even promoted and repeated it in training and such. And, though I am very grateful for what they have taught me, I have become a selective sifter, now taking what really resonates with me and leaving the rest. If it resonates with me, it feels good. If it feels good, it resonates. If it doesn't feel good, it doesn't resonate, and so I let it go. 

I've come to believe that I control what happens to me. It's just that more often than not I've been drawing things to myself without knowing this was true or paying attention. Then, seemingly all of a sudden, this thing that I don't want happening in my life is there and I have to deal with it somehow after the fact. It's easy to believe that things happen to us without our participation, especially things that are not wanted or not pleasant.

Then, once I see it in my life and I cannot escape the reality of it, my taught option was to change my attitude about it and then it would be okay. I do realize that how I look at something or perceive it is important, and it can soften the surprise of things happening to me without my control I suppose. Trouble is, though I tried that for many years, it never really worked for me. I would still feel like a victim, but maybe a less angry victim, or less distraught victim.

I have freed myself from this victim to victor philosophy by completely changing the first line in the quote at the top and thereby changing the entire meaning of the quote.

Since I have come to believe that I create my own environment and I can either do it deliberately or unconsciously, but I surely create it, I have now become a practicing deliberate creator. I want to be in control of and deliberately choose what happens in my life. And so by choice and being in control, I am such, and it feels good.

So, here's the new quote for today: "I control what happens to me because I am the creator of my environment. I cannot control others because I cannot create for them. They must do that for themselves. With my choice of thought and matching vibrational resonance, I am the joyful master of my own life."


Taking Control Of What I Create Is A Perfect And Powerful Choice. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by loving more and fretting less.

Daily Inspiration 1-1-15

"Thank you!" 

-- Terry Minion 

I thought about something that will kick off 2015 with the perfect frame of mind:

I Love You! 

Whomever you are, wherever this finds you. This is the perfect place to begin this new year. Let's all share more love with each other this year.


This Year Is Off To A Grand Beginning! 

Spread Some Joy Today--Tell them.

Daily Inspiration 12-31-14

"It's Wednesday. 

I'm alive. 

I am breathing. 

God has given me another today. 

I am thankful. 

I am blessed. 

God is Good. 

 Just for today. . . 

I will look for joy in all things. 

I will enjoy what is beautiful. 

I will listen. 

I will learn. 

I will believe." 

-- Lori Homeyer 

Hmmmm. Coincidentally, it IS Wednesday and it happens to be the last day of December of the year 2014.

I hope that you find a few moments to celebrate the year that has just come to an end. I have a good sized list so I am very grateful for all of the wonderful things, the increased knowledge and awareness, and my own personal growth and expansion. My business grew, my life took on new meaning, and my love grew exponentially. And, even as I celebrate this year into the accumulation of years, I see a bright and exciting future ahead for 2015. I am eager to experience all that will be and become more of the deliberate creator I've come to be. It is pure joy in action.

I share Lori's sentiments above. I will look for joy in all things. I am thankful. I am celebrating my life more than I ever have in my entire history. I sincerely hope that you join with me in celebrating yours.


Happy Old Year! Happy New Year!

Spread Some Joy Today--by releasing any resistance that you have today. As resistance is released, your natural state of joy is exposed for all to see, including you!

Daily Inspiration 12-30-14

"Creativeness often consists of merely

turning up what is already there. 

Did you know 

that right and left shoes 

were thought up only 

a little more than a century ago?" 

-- Bernice Fitz-Gibbon 

As appalling as this sounds to me, after some basic searching, it seems to be true about producing right and left shoes. There is also a shoe museum called the Bata Shoe Museum in West Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In addition, the first sneakers were made in America in 1916 and were not called sneakers until much later. They were called Keds. I can remember as a kid going to the shoe store to get some Keds. I had no idea.

The first lady's boot was designed for Queen Victoria in 1840, and in Europe, it wasn't until the eighteenth century that women's shoes were different from men's. There's a lot about shoes that I had made assumptions about.

What's interesting to me is how much time went by with so little improvements in common things. Transportation is another subject that boggles the mind in how long it took to move faster than walking or running or riding on horseback.

Some years ago I read an absolutely fascinating book by Stephen Ambrose titled, Nothing Like It In The World about the building of the first Transcontinental Railroad in America. I am revisiting this in the audio version as we speak and it reminds me of all this and how things were so slow to change.

Yet, here is the other interesting part: Once they began to change, they morphed quickly into better and better versions and then into other things. Considering the long past, it was a very short time from the invention of, and introduction to, America of the idea of the train and locomotives. Once here, they began a steady improvement and expansion that was nothing short of amazing.

The world moves faster all the time. If you've studied any history before 1900, you found that the world changed so radically after 1900, and even more as time went on. The airplane, then air transportation is a perfect example along with the electric light, appliances, computers, and so much more.

The Internet is not old, it is a youngster. Yet it has changed all of our lives quite dramatically. I remember using the first computers at work in the car business and they didn't even have hard drives. Then when hard drives came out they were 1 MB, 5 MB, and such. As programs became better, they needed more space and more speed and the expansion race was on. Now I have more than 1 GB just for my email. I also remember modems and how new they were, but so slow. Transferring 1 MB would have taken more than a day. Now it takes a second or less. Crazy differences in speed.

As the world gets faster and faster, we take more and more for granted. We even get upset with the slowness of things because we've sped up faster than the technology, or at least the operator sense of the technology. In other words, we become impatient so quickly, whereas in the past we didn't have those issues or the stress from that impatience.

I watched a movie last night where the female dance coach said to the male dancer about to go into a contest: Breathe! It is wonderful advice for us all. Let us pause now and then, breathe, feel for some peace as we absorb and celebrate ever more and faster changes in our future days.


The Pause That Refreshes. Breathe! 

Spread Some Joy Today--by practicing your patience and enjoying the journey wherever you are moving to and from.

Daily Inspiration 12-29-14

"Everything you are against weakens you. 

Everything you are for empowers you." 

-- Wayne Dyer 

It's easy to make a decision that the world needs fixing, but it doesn't. It's easy to see things that are going on somewhere in the world that you don't like or hate or disgust you, but that doesn't mean the world is broken. In fact, if you look for just a little while, you will find plenty to push against; things that you are opposed to, that you may judge as being wrong or bad. But, that is simply a choice of focus.

I went to the grocery store today for some fresh produce and a number of other things. There is a plethora of food in the grocery store. But they also sell poison. In fact, they have plenty of poison for sale. Today I ignored the poison and bought the food, but I felt no need to push against the poison or to tell the store manager to remove it so I could shop in peace. I just had no interest in it.

There were thousands of things in the store that I did not want. There are thousands of things in the store that I probably will never, ever want, and yet I go to the store in comfort knowing that I can choose what I want and freely leave the rest for others to choose if they desire. Next time, I may choose other things, but I have no need to push against anything that I'm not interested in having or using or eating.

If there is something that we feel a strong desire to try to change for whatever reason, we have the option of focusing on that change to take care of it. In other words, by focusing on the solution and not the problem. If I see a problem and I want to solve it, I will never solve it by focusing on the problem. I must focus on a solution.

The contrast of differences is all around us all the time. Pushing against anything unwanted will never change the thing. But, focusing on what we are for and doing what we are inspired to do in that vein, empowers us to make a difference.


Here's To Your Own Empowerment. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by deciding that at least for today, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Today is Free From Worry Day.

Daily Inspiration 12-28-14

"Your task is not to seek for love, 

but merely to seek and find 

all the barriers within yourself 

that you have built against it." 

-- Rumi 

With my increased awareness, I am finding that my joy and love is far more in letting go, or the releasing of my own resistance, than in trying to make it happen. I now believe that joy and love, or well being is our true natural state and that we have built all sorts of barriers that keep it under control and under wrap, almost as if we are trying to protect it.

Most of it comes from growing up and learning from those around us, and even within our families for so many of us. We see how people respond to us and when they are nice and when they are not and when they like us and when they do not and so on. We learn as we go, and in the absence of being taught how to let go of resistance, to accept that others may choose and that we may choose ourselves, we build walls and dig trenches and otherwise learn to fit in or be left out.

All of that learning then becomes habitual, and it is ongoing throughout our lives. This is true in our own brain and the self-talk that we are constantly listening to.

As I have become more aware of that self-talk, I find myself wanting so much to shut it off and the only way I can find is to focus on this moment, because the self-talk is about the past mainly, and predicting the future based on the past. Also, many of those thoughts, scenarios, and ramblings are so odd how they just pop in from many years ago.

I was walking the dog yesterday, and into my head pops a scenario from 2009 when I was doing a full-time consulting project with a truck dealer. As this played for only a few moments, I began defending myself on some decisions that I made as if the owner was calling me on them. He wasn't, but my ego was directing this and planning for the worst and desperately trying to overcome that in advance. As I said, it was only a few moments, and as I realized what was happening in my mind, I immediately focused on the trees around me, the blue sky, and came back to the present.

I now find myself doing this all the time. I cannot shut off the ego, and trying to change the thought from negative to positive is a lot of work, so releasing the resistance--and it is resistance because you can feel the tenseness in your body--is my goal and the path of least resistance or the easiest way is changing my focus to something around me in the now that is pleasant to look at.

This is also why my desk that I spend a lot of time at is facing a large window. I can look up at any moment and see the sky, trees, and other pleasant views and come back to the now at will. It doesn't take effort. It is much more a sense of letting go which is the opposite of effort.


I Am So Empowered Knowing All I Really Need Is To Put Down The Rope. Just Let Go. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by looking around for things that please you and focus on them for a few moments. Then, find some more, and more. What a wonderful day it will be for you.

Daily Inspiration 12-27-14

"Criticism begins as a choice, 

and some make it a career." 

-- Albert K Strong 

Criticism is simply a choice, to begin with. I don't like this. Then it can often turn into a fault finding mission. Of course, when you're looking for faults, they appear. The more you look, the more you find. It's the Law of Attraction at work.

As we find these faults, we categorize and label them so that we can keep score and keep track. This is bad, this is really bad, this is disgusting, this is unfathomable, this is horrific, this is . . . and it goes on.

This can become such a habit that we don't even realize it is happening, or how we sound when we write it out or speak our criticisms out loud. Just listen to people talking, open facebook, twitter, YouTube, go to work, in your kitchen. It sort of becomes natural to do this, but it is anything but natural.

Some of this criticism or finding of fault, blaming, labeling, is relatively benign, and sometimes it becomes a career, a mission, a self-righteous purpose, a crusade. It is the length of time doing it and the depth of the feeling that makes the difference.

Yet, let me bring this back to the basics again. It is simply an observation and a choice. You see something you do not like and that is perfect. This world could not work without the contrast with which to make choices. However, rather than focusing on the things you don't like about that, you may choose the real reason the contrast is there: to help you make a decision to choose what you do like and focus your attention there.

We all know it's true that the more you focus on the fault, the more you will find. We often do not pay attention to the fact that the opposite is true as well: the more you focus on what you want, what is good, what is desirable, what is pleasing to you, the more you will find. The real question then is this simple: do you want to feel bad, or do you want to feel good.

We know that when we focus on the faults, we can become enraged, angry, upset, disappointed, discouraged, frustrated, and more, and none of those feel good. So why do we persist in doing it? Habit. We see others around us doing it, we see it in the newspaper, on the radio, on TV, on YouTube, and Facebook and, well, it is hard to avoid.

At the same time, when we turn and focus on what is pleasing to us, what we want, what we like, we feel good. We may feel love, appreciation, joy, enthusiasm, optimism, passion, and all of those feel very good. When we decide that it is important that we feel good, we can then allow all our emotions to guide us to better choices of focus, and enjoy our lives far more while the rest of the world may choose as it will.


We Have The Ultimate Power: It Is Purely Our Own Choosing That Directs Our Lives. 

Spread Some Joy Today--How are you feeling? Joy feels good.

Daily Inspiration 12-26-14

"My dog is worried about the economy

because Alpo is up to 99 cents a can. 

That's almost $7.00 in dog money." 

-- Joe Weinstein 

Not really. . . but the reason I went with this funny quote is that I never, ever see my dog worry about the economy. He doesn't worry about getting fed. He doesn't worry about getting love. He doesn't worry about calories or getting fat, or losing weight. He doesn't worry about the news. In fact, he doesn't read the paper or watch the news, or use the Internet. He just doesn't worry at all.

He is eager. He's eager to play. He's eager to go for a walk. He's eager to go for a ride. He's excited and eager to get his food when he decides he's hungry.

He doesn't stress over things or circumstance. If I'm taking too long to get ready for a walk, he simply lays on the floor and looks at me curiously, or if he tires of that, he takes a quick nap. After he eats, he takes a nap. When he's bored, he takes a nap. His solution for any kind of potential stress is taking a nap. Works for me too when I do it.

He's content to walk down the same path every day, yet eager to see a new one. He seems to find lingering scents to spend many moments regardless of the terrain, although he is infinitely more interested in other dogs have been down this path in the recent past.

Dogs bark at him from behind fences and he doesn't seem to give a rip about that. Some sound big and mean and certainly loud, and he goes on as if it was nothing at all. He shivers when it's 67 degrees, but it can be 40 degrees and if he is on a walk, he's not paying any attention to shivers (Charlie is a little toy Chihuahua).

He never gets tired or bored with love touching, caressing, petting, pampering. I think he could fall asleep with soft caresses and wake up wanting more. Hmmm. Sounds good to me. . .

He gives me love by just looking at me working from across the room. He's always encouraging me to exercise, with him of course, and he dotes on my presence.

Maybe some of these things would be good for we humans to emulate and incorporate. No stress? Seems like a wonderful idea! No worries? Seems unheard of yet potentially life-changing. Always eager? There's nothing like fresh enthusiasm! Patient? I don't know any humans who couldn't benefit from more of that! Always open to being loved? Why the heck not? Always present and always exuding love? Eckhart Tolle would be proud (well, no, he wouldn't ever be proud, would he?).


It's Amazing What We Can Learn When We Pay Attention. Even From Our Friendly Animals. 

Spread Some Joy Today--It's the second largest shopping day of the year. I hope you find some joy there too.

Daily Inspiration 12-25-14

"Our world has many superheros. 

But they have the worst 

 of all superpowers: invisibility." 

-- Mundano 

I was compelled to share this TED video with you today. It spoke to me in a number of ways. It is about seeing a larger picture and at the same time seeing much detail. It is about expanding ourselves in an unexpected and yet very grand way. It is about giving others a voice. It is about helping others to build self-esteem. It is about fun and joy and color and humor. It is about how a need gets taken care of without us even noticing it. It is about entrepreneurship, being of value, being creative and resourceful. It is about a bit of life magic in the normally mundane. It is about passion and love.

It is about one person who has an idea that is different from what he normally does and this idea expands and expands and becomes even more. Then the idea is shared and expanded more until it becomes something that is spread around the world and is shared so that others can join and participate. It all began with a simple idea. . .


In Brazil, "catadores" collect junk and recyclables. But while they provide a vital service that benefits all, they are nearly invisible as they roam the streets. Enter graffiti artist Mundano, a TED Fellow. In a spirited talk, he describes his project "Pimp My Carroça," which has transformed these heroic workers' carts into things of beauty and infused them with a sense of humor. It's a movement that is going global.

(See video transcript here.)  Check out the website at http://www.pimpmycarroca.com/en/

Looking At The Common With An Uncommon Eye. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by thinking of some ways you can share your value.

Daily Inspiration 12-24-14

"As we grow older, 

our Christmas lists get shorter, 

because the things we want 

can't be bought." 

-- GrowingBolder.com 

I must be really old because my list is nonexistent. In things, that is. In those things that can't be bought, I am a picture of wide open arms.

For the last few days, you may have noticed that I gave some focus on the idea of abundance. Although there is an abundance of things at the mall and on the Internet, it is those non-things that hold more meaning to each of us and that includes people of every age.

W. Clement Stone was an early mentor of mine. He founded the Success Magazine at the beginning of the last century, was a self-starter and huge business success, and shared his positive beliefs with the world through books and in other ways. Here is a wonderful quote from him that is worthy of sharing:

"Your most precious, valued possessions and your greatest powers are invisible and intangible. No one can take them. You and you alone can give them. You will receive abundance for your giving."


May The Gifts That Only You Can Give Bring You The Abundance You Rightly Deserve. 

Spread Some Joy Today--because you can and as you do so, you will be swept along in all its glory.