Saturday, February 28, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-28-15

"Try not to react merely in the moment. 
Pull back from the situation. 
Take a wider view. 
Compose yourself." 

-- Epictetus 

Yesterday, I received an email from a new client. He had a complaint about some blog posts that went to his facebook pages. He said there were grammar errors and he wanted us to be better than this.

I responded right away that I would look into it immediately and discuss it with his assigned blogger who has a lot of experience in the field this customer serves.

There were some minor errors in grammar and in spelling, mostly from an article that we got from somewhere else. In the past I would react in my mind, and maybe even verbally with my business partner or something. Not now. Something has changed.

I used to justify things, explain reasons and such to try to seemingly make it less our fault, take it personally, and now I accept full and complete responsibility. After all, it was our company who made the posts. But, it isn't about blame, whether the client is blaming us or we are blaming ourselves. It is more an accepting of our role and focusing on our desire to be as good as we can be and no less.

I talked with the blogger, softened the initial communication from the client, discussed some strategies, and decided on the solutions. The changes were made within a very short time.

I then responded to the client that the corrections had been made, and at the end of the note, I said this: "I appreciate you bringing this to my attention. You have made us a better company by doing so." And, it is true.

I used to see complaints as blame. I used to see problems as problems. I used to get upset from either, and now I almost get excited instead. I certainly treat them differently than before. I see them as positive things to help me see more clearly, be better at what I and my company does, serve our clients better and more effectively.

At the same time, there are a few people that just want to spread their own version of their unhappy state, and who have learned that complaining is a good way to do this. Well, they don't bother me at all because I can see what is behind the complaint. These I handle individually and sometimes by just ignoring them.

If a complaint speaks to an issue that requires attention, I love it because we grow. If it comes from an unhappy point of view, I try to sooth them if I can, or I flip it to my younger, calmer, wiser, more politically correct business partner. He's a master at it. I learn from him every day.

I tell him that I do that because he is really good at dealing with people who are upset. It has been said that I am sometimes, to say it kindly, blunt and to the point. My partner calls that, "doing a Minion on them, or Minionizing them." Then we laugh. He's right, of course, and I am getting better. . .

"When Something Happens, The Only Thing In Your Power Is Your Attitude Toward It; You Can Either Accept It Or Resent It." -- Epictetus 

Spread Some Joy Today--by finding good-feeling thoughts throughout the day.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-27-15

"Tension, in the long run, 
is a more dangerous force 
than any feud known to man." 

-- Criss Jami 

Steven Pressfield said, "Resistance is not a peripheral opponent. Resistance arises from within. It is self-generated and self-perpetuated. Resistance is the enemy within." He takes it just a step further by saying, "Resistance by definition is self-sabotage."

When I read these three quotes again, I think they are downers. Yet, when I look around me in the world, I see it is the norm, except for one very huge difference. In the world, things and situations are randomly happening to people and it is the world against them, or at least they see that in others, that it is the world, fate, evil, deranged people, unnatural disasters going on all around us. Now that's a downer to me!

What is more real for most everyone on the planet is tension. Tension is another word for resistance, or it can also be a way of describing the feeling of resistance. It feels like tension. And, tension is another way of describing how it feels playing tug-o-war, and there are so many levels of tension from just holding on to the rope to pulling with all your might. Generally, regardless of the level of tension, you are feeling negative emotion, and that emotion grows stronger with the degree of tension, from mild irritation to depression and powerlessness.

I've had varying degrees of tension throughout my life, as have you. What matters most is how long we hold on to it and how hard we are pulling or resisting. Often they are short encounters and then we're on to the next sometime later. It's simply contrast which is part of every life in one way or another. I've watched up close and personal how tension can cause all manner of illness, let alone unhappiness. I've also felt that within myself.

Today, I still feel tension. I think it is unavoidable. It is all caught up in our thinking. However, the saving grace for me today is that I am aware. I am aware that this tension, resistance, and resulting negative emotion is created inside me and does not come from the outside. It doesn't attack. I create it--100% of it. That was such a huge step when I got to that place of accepting responsibility for my own pain.

Then, I learned how to deal with it. Since it is inevitable, by my awareness of it and acceptance that I created it, I can learn from it. It is guidance. Talk about taking a lemon and making lemonade--this tension is guiding me to know what I don't want, what is not serving me, and I have learned that where I focus, the Law of Attraction will bring me more of, so unless I want more of that, the only real solution is to release the tension. Let go of the rope. Let go of the resistance. Relax. Refresh myself. Take a breather. Unwind. Stop taking everything so seriously. Even as I type these lines, I find relief in my chest, a relaxing of my muscles, because typing these thoughts caused tension within me.

So yesterday, I was out walking little Charlie. It was 74 degrees with a very light breeze. It is as perfect a day as I have ever enjoyed. I look at the big blue sky and I feel relief. I look at all the trees and I feel relief. I smell the air and I feel relief. I watch Charlie sniffing and finding a great smell to linger on and I feel relief. It is a four lane city street with a 35 mph speed limit and some people seem in such a hurry that they race by at much higher speeds and I feel tension.

Here I am in the midst of tension and relief at the same time in the same place! I'm fascinated by that. I hear the motors roar through those loud exhaust systems, and I smell the exhaust and it is not the most pleasant smell around. I feel tension. I think about the speed limit and see many driving way past it and I feel tension. Why do I feel tension? Because of what I am thinking about. I know this is the cause. I've learned it; although, I pretty much always knew it. So, I change my thought. I think that it is not my issue how fast they want to go. I cannot create in them. They can only create in their own lives. Since I cannot do anything about it physically, I will just let them do as they wish (allow) and continue to enjoy my walk.

I look back at the big sky, the blossoms on the vine, the cement of the sidewalk, the wood of the fence, Charlie sniffing at another great spot, the air flowing over my body, the smell of the air, the chirping of birds, a plane overhead, the sound of tennis balls being whacked and sharp sound of tennis shoes stopping quickly at the health club. I think of these things, taking notice, focusing, and I am back in paradise. With the world of people doing whatever they do without me messing it up for them, or trying to be the right of their wrong, I choose to focus on releasing my tension. I choose. I choose to release my tension. I choose to release my tension. I choose to let go of being the judge. I choose to let go of what I do not want to see. I choose to let go of any and all resistance. I choose relief. I choose letting go of the rope. I choose relief. I choose joy. I choose.

I Choose. . . . Always, Every Time, Without Exception. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by seeking relief from your own tension moment by moment every day. Other people will call you happy. You know how it's done.

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-26-15

"Acceptance means events 
 can make it through you
without resistance." 

-- Michael Singer 

Yesterday I talked about letting go as I was describing emotional health in a sales person. Of course, it is true for every person on the planet. But, when it comes to things that we deem important, like money, many people hang on tighter. To them, the struggle, the resistance is worth it. I want my money! They tricked me. They stole from me. They overcharged me. It's not right! I loaned them money and they stiffed me. On and on it will go with that resistance. Some might think that this is not resistance, and they would be incorrect. It certainly is resistance.

When I was growing up, I experienced a lot of financial trauma from my parents and step parents, and others. I wanted a different path and I did that for the most part, like when I was in my twenties and I co-signed a loan for my sister and brother in-law. When they defaulted, I took it over. I wasn't thrilled with it, but I knew what I was getting myself into. For most of my life I've accepted responsibility that way.

Later in life, I had financial troubles of my own in different spots in my travels. I ended up defaulting on others. So, I understand how these things can happen. I can relate, we might say.

With all my studying, and then going into my own business, I decided that I would not have a collection department, nor would I turn anything over to a collection company, nor would I spend very much time trying to collect money owed us. That is all a whole bunch of resistance. It isn't worth hanging on to.

We have had a number of clients leave our services leaving a balance, and sometimes a significant one based on what we charge for our monthly service. Yet, since we charge for the month up front, if we allow it to go further into the future, that is our own decision. Certainly, they owe the money. That's not even up as a question. We let them know where they stand, and we always try to work it out so that it is as easy as it can be to get caught up. We've gone way out of our way to work with people because we care about our clients.

Still, some just ignore us. When I feel that I am swimming upstream so to speak, I tell the bookkeeper to write it off, and I send the client a kind note thanking them for their business and that their debt has been erased. We even have some clients where I believe so much in what they are trying to do that I have been known to donate our services for an extended period hoping that it might make a difference for them to get back on their feet. Once I release the money, I have my joy back. If I decide to continue without payment, I have my joy back. I love my clients. Every one of them. I don't want this issue of money to change my feeling.

I can relate where they may be at, and it is all my own doing to continue services without payment over whatever period of time. We could use the money, but more important than this is that we cannot afford the resistance that comes from extended collections. I just let it go and move on to something I can build on. Moving forward is what keeps us growing, so I avoid the rear view mirror. 

Some might say, well, that is small numbers probably, but what I sell is large numbers and I couldn't let that go. Not true. It's a choice. And, it really doesn't matter the numbers big or small, not really. It's all resistance. We know what we are getting into in business when we do what we do, so we are in the mix, but like a post a few days ago about being in the car and being angry at some driver doing something crazy, it doesn't matter what they think of us, what matters is what we think about them. If we are upset, that is on us, not them. As I said, I love my clients even after they leave, so the only way for me to keep my feeling there, I have to let go of the rest. It matters more what I think of them in that way than what they think of me or my company.

Now this "no resistance" theory that I practice now doesn't just apply to business. It covers a wide area of life. Consider what you're holding on to hoping for a change, wishing for it to be different, focused on the pain of it, the unfairness of it, and that story just gets worse the more it is told. All of it is resistance, and all of that resistance keeps us from moving forward, so we get stuck in the past. What's worse is that we're focused on what we don't want in lieu of the beneficial focus of keeping our thoughts on where we are going, why we want things, and much more.

I wouldn't sue anyone for anything. Abraham said it well at a Buffalo, NY workshop on September 27th, 2000: "In most lawsuits, most people just use each other as their excuse to disconnect from the Stream. And then they just suffer until the one who is the least disconnected wins the lawsuit. But it is still an exercise in disconnecting from Source Energy that we think is never worth the price of the reward, no matter how great the reward of a lawsuit is." 

They said something similar in 1998 at a workshop in San Diego: "If you decide to make someone the enemy and you're pushing very hard against them, you don't affect them at all, but you disconnect yourself from the Stream. If someone cheats you, they cannot diminish your experience. They only diminish their experience. You cannot be diminished by someone cheating you unless you get all upset about being cheated and push against them and use that as your excuse to disconnect from the Stream [of Well-Being; our connection to Source Energy, or God]."

Here's To Your Own Letting Go Of Resistance, And To Your Emotional Well-Being. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by recognizing when you are tense, frustrated, not feeling good, and finding the way back to your joy by letting go. Release it all. Now, go spread that joy!

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-25-15

"Persistence wears down resistance." 

-- William J. Federer 

Really? Persistence to me is more like dedication, as in, I'm dedicating myself to getting this thing done. Trying to wear down resistance simply indicates a very long and arduous journey toward what you do not want. Resistance is focusing on what you do not want and then trying to use nothing but action to turn it into something you do want. What a waste of time and energy this would be.

Since I've dealt with salespeople most of my life, including the fact that I started on that path in 1972, I have experienced it myself and have seen plenty of others try to overcome resistance, power through, make it happen. You can tell that they are doing something they do not want to do and then trying through action and determination to succeed at the strange and interesting task of making a sale.

After so many years of watching, even teaching this idea, I've come to realize that I wasn't really helping anyone with that approach. I used to use this famous quote from President Calvin Coolidge: "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." That quote always reminds me of the quote from Yoda in Star Wars: "Try not. Do or do not. There is no try."

What I've learned in the most recent years more fully is that success is less about action and more about focus. It is less about activity and more about attitude. It is less about doing and more about preparation. It is less about holding on, and more about letting go. In other words, if it is a struggle, persistence may move the needle a bit, but it won't get the job done, nor will there be much of any satisfaction in it. The best way to say it is that we need to love what we do and do it with joy; that is, without resistance, for when we are trying hard to do that which is full of resistance, we are focused on overcoming what we do not want. What a hard row to hoe that is. It's like trying to hoe through stone instead of dirt.

What Calvin Coolidge could have said would be this: "Let us focus our thoughts and energy on what we want to achieve. Let us find all the positive aspects of it and talk about that, think about that, and build momentum. As we use our thoughts and energies in this manner, we cannot lose. It is our focus and good feeling thoughts about what we are doing that will always come through."

Now I try to teach salespeople to get happy and to focus on what they want. I want them to find ways to make it fun and to simply enjoy themselves. Sales is all about relationships: building them and nurturing them and maintaining them. It is about liking and loving people. It is about seeing how you can solve some of their problems with your product and/or services. It is about the sheer joy of learning about other people, their interests, their issues, their joys, and their wants or needs. It is about finding new friends, and we can always use more friends. It is about sharing. It is about caring. And if it isn't done because you want to do this, it won't last very long.

I want them to focus on what they want, why they want it and not so much about how they will get it, and for sure and for certain, I want them to stay focused there and not give any attention at all to what has not yet happened. When they focus on the fact that they only have 4 units out and their minimum expected is 8, focusing there will pretty much guarantee that 8 will not happen, because they are focusing on what they do not want, or rather, the lack of what they want. They are focused then on not being there yet and that only leads to more of not being there.

So, you might think this is all about salespeople today. It is about everything we do in life. It is about our relationships with our family, friends, co-workers, the world. It is about our dreams and how they can become a reality. It is about allowing things to come about rather than making them move. It is about letting go rather than holding on.

Resistance always comes with negative emotion. When you pay attention and notice that feeling and feel that tightness, tenseness, and the struggle as if you're having a tug-o-war with something or someone, this is time to let go. Just drop the rope and let go. When it is a struggle, that is resistance, and this makes life hard. It creates illness. It creates all manner of negative things in our lives. When we let go and focus on what we want and why we want it without any attention to how we are going to get it, and then allow it into our lives, it flows and it feels good. Then the actions we take will come with far better results.

Struggle Or Joy? Hmmmm. . . .

Spread Some Joy Today--by focusing on what you want and enjoying yourself in the process.

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-24-15

"The path of least resistance 
is the path of the loser." 

-- H. G. Wells 

Now here's a guy who loves to struggle. Struggle with this, struggle with that; in fact, the greater the struggle, the greater the reward? Hmmm. Sounds fishy to me. Although this whole idea of overcoming through struggling seems like it was invented by a macho man. Resistance makes me stronger. The more I fight, the stronger I get. Well, everyone has an opinion and a belief, and I will have to let that one be his or theirs.

I think that there isn't anything wrong with the easy way in every endeavor. Easy money. Easy love. Easy peasy. The life of ease. The opposite of dis-ease. I rather like skipping through rather than cutting my way through.

There is so much resistance going on in most lives, including my own, so I'm going to spend the next several days talking about the various ways we resist without even realizing it.

Abraham, Esther Hicks describes what I've come to know this way: "Your natural state is one of wellness, one of absolute health, one of the perfect bodily conditions--and if you are experiencing anything other than that, it is only because the balance of thought within you is toward the lack of what you want instead of what you do want."

They continue, "Resistance is caused by focusing upon the lack of what is wanted. . . . Allowing is caused by focusing up what is wanted. . . . Resistance is caused by the thought that doesn't match the perspective of your Source. . . . Allowing is experienced when your current thoughts do match the perspective of your Source."

Resistance can be big and affect life or death, or it can just be something that irritates you. The most interesting part is that if we focus on the resistance which is an accepted norm, we will create more resistance and more of what we do not want. Once we get to a point where we realize what is going on there, we get to choose how we will respond, how we will feel, and that determines how everything works out or doesn't work out.

On the very simple end of this stick is something like I was noticing this afternoon driving home from an appointment. There seemed to be a number of very anxious people to get through four lanes of traffic by zigging and zagging, creating a bit of danger here and there at 70 miles per hour, concerned only about their own desire to get there. Usually, the far left lane is called the fast lane, but these people make their own choices. It seems so silly to me like the rabbit in Alice In Wonderland, so I am laughing.

Then, exiting the freeway and now on a two-lane city street with a 35 mph speed limit, a pickup truck speeds around me at a much higher speed and then slips in front of me seemingly to scream at me that I'm going way too slow by going close to the speed limit. But they get behind the guy that was in front of me and so now it becomes a race of who will get to the stoplight the fastest. So, that made me start laughing. Who can get to the red light the fastest? Is that success? Interesting. . . . and that seems like such a silly zero-sum game, so I laugh some more.

There were a number of other situations in my rearview mirror. I see people seeing how close to my rear bumper they can get without actually hitting me. Of course, they are clueless about my own intentions. I might jam on the brakes for a chipmunk or something and get whiplash and, well. . . I don't want to go there. That is just more resistance. So, I start laughing again.

Now, in the recent past, I would internally, if not externally, want to give them the finger, or at the very least be talking about how close they are and what idiots they are and I wish they would get off my ass, or I would ask them if they can smell it yet, and well. . . you may have had similar thoughts, or maybe you're more evolved. All of that is resistance. I know it because I am feeling negative emotion.

Today, I take the path of least resistance (sound familiar?) and just laugh and have fun and enjoy the choices they make. I see them upset and allow them to feel any way they choose. I might even become enlightened and wish them well and that their evening will be so much better than their day has obviously gone. Or, sometimes, I just immediately pull over to the other lane and let them go by.

We All Have Our Way. Sometimes, We All Need A Little More Love. By The Way, Love Is THE Path Of Least Resistance. In Fact, It Is The Place Where Resistance Cannot Exist.

Spread Some Joy Today--by not caring who gets to the stoplight first. Heck, you don't even have to play the game. . .

Monday, February 23, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-23-15

"The current opinion 
 that others hold regarding you 
 has far more to with 
how they are feeling." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

Abraham continues, "There is perhaps no greater waste of time and effort than that of trying to influence the way other people see you because what they see has very little to do with their object of attention and everything to do with the vantage point from which they are looking." 

I thought it was sort of natural based on the way I grew up that when people were angry at me, that means that I did something that caused them to be angry and their response was appropriate and it was all my fault. Even when it didn't seem like I should have been at fault, I accepted their opinion of my actions or lack of action that caused them unhappiness. They blamed me, and I accepted it and took the punishment. Sometimes angry yelling was the punishment, sometimes it was more. 

Consequently, I grew up learning to try so hard to please my parents and teachers and authority figures so that I didn't have the pain of the punishment, whether verbal or physical. I tried hard to please and went way out of my way to do extra things to bring positive attention to myself, rather than negative attention.

I carried much of that way into adulthood, but thankfully, I began to learn how to hear without accepting, and let it bounce off as if I had a secret shield.

Abraham advises, "If you will release all concern about how others feel about you, and focus only upon how you feel about them, you will unearth your core understanding of who-you-really-are, and you will discover what true freedom really is. . . True freedom is found in the absence of resistance. . . True freedom is the discovery of maintaining unconditional love."

For the majority of my life, when someone would find fault with me or lash out in anger toward me, I would cower and then I would fight back. This caused as much or more pain than taking the abuse. As I began to pay attention to what I was getting out of it, I could see so clearly that fighting back was pointless. Most often, it served to extend the conflict. I began to learn to respect myself a little bit more and to see if I could take it without losing it on my end. As I worked on this, I made progress. 

In very recent years, I mostly overcame it by not taking it personally, realizing that it was not me, it was the other and how they were feeling, then I could look at them with love and hear a different message than the one I was hearing before. I began to practice loving them without any condition, just accepting them as they were with understanding and desire for them to feel better. I have Abraham to thank for the majority of the guidance there to help me see a more loving way.

Love Is Always The Answer. Funny How That Works. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by simply enjoying yourself today. No worries, mate.

Sunday, February 22, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-22-15

"We don't need to change who we are. 
We just need to awaken to who we are." 

-- Alan Cohen 

Real world examples of how the Law of Attraction works always fascinate me. Some people don't believe in the Law of Attraction and all that mumbo-jumbo new age stuff, but it simply doesn't care or mind. It doesn't require us to believe. Believing only helps us make use of it rather than having it work in our lives unknowingly.

I got my every-two weeks haircut today, and I've been going to this lady for many, many years. We were chatting briefly today and she said that, "those people don't come around anymore." I said, "you no longer attract them because you have changed."

Sometime back, (who remembers dates?) she used to tell me about rude clients to see what I thought of it. These people would wait until the last minute and then expect her to fit them into her schedule. She has plenty of clients and she was booked that day and this lady was very upset about her not squeezing her in. This wasn't the first episode with her, and so she asked me what I thought. I said, "her lack of planning doesn't create an emergency for you. Fair treatment is expected on both sides." I said that she needed to respect herself enough to not allow a client to push her around like that, and at the same time, stop feeling guilty about it, that it is not your problem. It's hers.

So today's realization that, "Oh, those people don't come around anymore," was powerful. She was attracting them before, partly because of how she felt about herself, but the bigger part was her pushing against those people in not wanting them to be rude. But the Law of Attraction doesn't recognize no. Whatever you give thought to and give focus to by talking about it, complaining and so on attracts that or the equivalent of it. The way to change it is to let go of it, don't think about it, and focus on better feeling thoughts.

When she was feeling guilty, she is creating what she does not want, and when she is feeling good, she is creating what she does want. By respecting herself enough to realize that that lady's anger is not her problem and that she doesn't have any need to respond, nor accept her rudeness, she is moving up the emotional scale. On Abraham-Hick's emotional scale, guilt is the second to the lowest, and that's how powerful that negative emotion is. As she moved up the scale feeling better and better about the situation and herself, she created a new set point of attraction.

This is how we take a lemon and make lemonade. It is how we rid ourselves of complainers and attract uplifters. It is how we attract better clients. It is how we enjoy our lives more.

By taking charge, giving ourselves the love we deserve, and not plugging into other people's emotions, we create more of the life that we want. We cannot create in another person's life. We can only create in ours. Abraham adds this: "You can't rid the world of things that bother you. You've got to rid your Vibration of things that bother you. And when you rid your Vibration of things that bother you--no things that bother you can come." 

R-E-S-P-E-C-T Yourself! Love Yourself! Those People Won't Come Around Anymore. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by allowing your own love and joy into yourself first.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-21-15

"Experiment to discover 
how little you need." 

-- Alan Cohen 

Good day to you! I expect that most people would look at the quote above and think about money or things, or possessions. I know for sure that looking at it with those eyes, it is as accurate as it can be. We can all do fine with less money, and less things. Sometimes we may paint ourselves into a corner so to speak with debt or setting a level of our needs where going below that is unthinkable to us, but they are not really needs. In reality, we need very little.

I could talk about discovering how little I have come to need from the perspective of money and things; however, this quote struck a different chord in me. To me it is giving everyone permission to do, to become, to rise.

Let's say that you want to own your own business. How much do you really need to get started? How much do you really need to stay in business and grow? I can answer this in one word: desire. If you want to do it, you can do it. Desire has the capacity to get you started, and it also has the capacity to keep you going providing you keep your focus on the desire, or wanting, and avoid entirely any doubts, negative input from others or within yourself. How do I know this? I have lived it, experienced it, and am still at it having the time of my life.

How about a sales person? How much do they need? Not so much. Although, just as going into business, they must have desire. Strong desire helps. In sales, we might talk to a number of people and the majority that day, or even all of them that day, may say no. They don't want or need your products or services. If that sales person will focus on the desire, rather than the reality of today's results and feeling poorly about them, tomorrow can be an even brighter day, because in the process of experimenting and discovering, we learn and grow if we will only look upon the days activities in that way. This makes us better, smarter, more sensitive for tomorrow.

How about a young person starting out in the working world. We come again to the one word: desire. Do I want to do this? Do I really want to do this? Or, do I feel that I should do this, or someone else thinks I should do this, or need to do this? Experiment and discover how little you need. You don't need much to get started, but you need desire. Without it, you are poor and helpless at the moment. You can change anytime you want, then go again.

I think that a great way to look at all of these scenarios and many more is to think like you're going into business; to think like an entrepreneur; like a manager of yourself in charge of all of your own creations. You don't need much to create. Even a lack of desire creates. The question is not even what is created, but whether that is okay with you or not. In other words, how you feel about it. Do you feel good? Then you're spot on and ready for more growth and discovery. Feel not so good, or maybe even angry? Then, you are creating more of what you already have.

There is no standing still. Change is happening all the time. We are either changing into something different, or we are changing into more of the same. We are changing for the better or for the status quo. We can tell by how we feel if we are paying attention to our own internal guidance system.

How much do you need to reach out? How much do you need to stay in love? How much do you need to have a happy life? How much do you need to fully enjoy today? How much do you need to dream? How much do you really need? Not so much.

Desire Is A Little Thing That Rules The Entire World, Or Rather, Each Of Our Entire Worlds. We Each Create Our Own. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by sending someone some love and joyful thoughts. By text, email, card, billboard. The method matters little. It is the message and even more important, it is the thought. You could even just have the thought and not let them know in any other way, and even with that, you will make a difference to them.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-20-15

"Freedom is not given to us by anyone; 
we have to cultivate it ourselves. 
It is a daily practice." 

-- Thich Nhat Hanh 

I think it is often true that we just do whatever we do day after day with little or no intention about our doing, and at the same time, there may be little thought if any as to why we do what we do.

Oh sure, it's easy enough to say I go to work to earn the money to live a comfortable life. But is that the whole of it? Is that the whole reason? Or, is there more? Or, are we sometimes trading our freedom for the sake of that.

When was the last time you stopped working for a few hours and went to see a movie, or went window shopping, or went to a park and chilled? The refreshment from something like this can boost your morale, creativity, and outlook. There is freedom in this. Freedom comes from our choosing and it also comes from our choices.

Wayne Dyer is famous for saying, "our intention creates our reality." It's just five words, and I think that phrase is very accurate. Are we doing what we intend? A better way to say it may be, are we doing what we do on purpose? With purpose?

Do you absolutely love what you do? Do you get up every morning and can't wait to enjoy another day on planet Earth? If not, then knowing why you do what you do can be a very powerful tool toward that, or toward something more to your liking. And, I mean a better answer than to 'make a living.' You could use your Book of Positive Aspects and write out all the reasons that you do what you do--all the benefits, all the ways it helps you enjoy your life, how it benefits your family, contributes to the economy, all the things you like or love about what you do, and more.

Freedom is our choice. It comes from our intentions, and by intending, we are creating our lives deliberately. In other words, the more often we are taking the short time that it might take to intend what we want to see, experience, be, do or have, the more that will not only become true and be in our reality, the more we will enjoy ourselves, our minutes, hours, and years. There are so many ways to choose our freedom every single day. Another way to say it is in every day and every segment of every day to decide what we want and to focus our attention there rather than follow our habitual patterns.

Abraham & Esther Hicks has a great way to do this and I have it up on my wall in my office: "Today, no matter where I'm going, no matter what I'm doing, no matter who I'm doing it with, it is my dominant intent to look for and find things that feel good when I see them, when I hear them, when I smell them, when I taste them, when I touch them. It is my dominant intent to solicit, experience, and exaggerate and talk about and revel in, the best of what I see around me here and now." 

This is not really like work. It isn't hard to do. It simply requires giving thought to what you want today, for the next few hours, during this meeting, when you walk in the door after work, and more. The only way to get better at it and more consistent at it is to practice it, which is the same thing as doing it on purpose. Make that an intention. When I do this, I feel more freedom. I feel more alive. I feel more in the present. I feel more joy, and I get better results while enjoying myself more. I've become excited about what Abraham calls Segment Intending, and what Wayne Dyer calls the Power of Intention. 

Happy Choosing Your Freedom Day! 

Spread Some Joy Today--by intending it.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-19-15

"You never help others
when you allow yourself 
to be a sounding board 
for their complaints." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks

Commiseration with another or their commiseration with you will only draw more of the subject to the party. I used to do this a lot. I would listen to people's complaints, agree with their emotional conclusions about things; the inappropriateness, and acknowledge the random emotional pain inflicted by another for an unknowable reason.

Then, for some reason, I began to feel uncomfortable when others were complaining of their lives, while I still complained about my own. People didn't listen so much to mine either, so I would just go over and over it in my mind. And, finally, at some point, I realized that my own complaining had no value, so I chose to stop for the most part, by not totally.

Now, I avoid it at all costs because I know the detrimental value of focusing there. I also know the detrimental value of being a sounding board for others. I am now in alignment with Abraham's partial quote above. Here is the full quote:

"You never help others when you allow yourself to be a sounding board for their complaints. Seeing them as you know they want to be is the most valuable thing you can do for them. Sometimes that means removing yourself from their vicinity because when you are near them, it is difficult not to notice their complaints. You might say to them, "I've learned the power of my attention and thought, and so as I hear you speaking of what I know you don't want, I must tell you that I must remove myself, for I don't want to contribute to your miscreating." Try to distract them from their complaints; try to help them focus upon some positive aspects. . . do you best to imagine their recovery.

You will know when you are of value to anyone when you are able to think about the person and feel good at the same time. When you love others without worry, you are an advantage to them. When you enjoy them, you help them. When you expect them to succeed, you help them. In other words, when you see them as your own Inner Being sees them, then and only then is your association with them to their advantage." 

Quite often though, we may instead be feeling sorry for them, thinking we are softening their pain by discussing the problems with them. If our focus is on something other than their own upliftment, by seeing them as they really want to be, we only add to their problems while we think we are giving them love. It is not only not helpful, but it also isn't really loving.

Next time you see someone, or hear someone telling you or others what is going wrong in their lives, mentally, if not verbally, lift them up, help get them to focus on what is right in their lives, what is going well, finding better feeling thoughts for themselves, and then you can really be of value.

I try to do this all the time now, and although I may not be successful all the time, I am so far beyond the place I once was, and I find that I have been helpful to many. I am grateful for learning these insights. I'm certain it has changed my life for the better more than anyone else's.

Being Of Real Service Means Uplifting Others. 

Spread Some Joy Today--because joy always feels good in the giving as well as in the receiving.

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-18-15

"Cultivate the habit of being grateful
for every good thing that comes to you, 
and to give thanks continuously. 
And because all things have contributed
to your advancement, you should 
include all things in your gratitude." 

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Many people, if not most people may take issue with Ralph Waldo Emerson on this statement. They're easy to please of the first part, but in disagreement with being grateful for the negative things or the things that don't feel good that have happened to them. Of course, it is so easy to be grateful when things feel good. Being grateful for things going wrong or feeling bad is a whole other thing. 

How can I be grateful for things going wrong, not working out, missteps along my path? I can when I realize that this negative or bad feeling is coming from my inner knowing, the God within and I am thinking or doing something that my inner knowing is not interested in, or is focusing elsewhere. It is always my choice to do it anyway, or think it anyway, or to pay attention to the reminder for me to realize that what I am thinking or doing is working against me.

Contrast is very, very valuable. If we are paying attention and aware, it is guiding us to realize that we want something different than this, so it causes us to know more what we do want rather than what we don't want. In other words, since we are knowing now what we don't want, seeking what we really do want is our guidance. Our choice is then to move in that direction with our thoughts and actions, or to not do so and feel more pain, frustration, confusion, and more.

When someone or a band of people is doing something we don't like, are abhorred with, not understanding how they could do such a thing, this immediately causes us to not want that. If we focused then at that place, we would move away to a different reality, but often we are influenced by the chatter, opinions of others, the media frenzy of pointing out all the bad things, and we choose to focus on seeing more of that. As we do that, the Law of Attraction helps us find even more to get ourselves into a frenzy about until we are calling for revenge, annihilation, war.

Although we cannot change things positively by pushing against others whatever their negative influence on us. We can only really affect the change that we want by focusing on what we want, and that will always feel good, not bad.

There is also perhaps a missing perspective, in that what others think and do, we are either capable of or have done ourselves. Yet we deny it seeking right from wrong, but there is none of that. It is choosing to go with or to go away from our inner knowing, our own God within, our inner being. As we align with that, we feel positive, as we choose not to, we are not aligned, or out of alignment. That personal guidance can help us thrive or to continue to have this and that pull us along in its own negativity.

Mother Teresa is to have said to someone asking that she attend an against the war rally. She declined, and added, if you want me to attend a peace rally, I will be happy to attend. It's a matter of where we put our focus. Our inner guidance can help guide us or we can very easily ignore that, just as we can focus on peace and maybe be in the minority, or we can focus on hate, revenge, justice, and whatever other labels we want to use. We get to choose where we focus at any given time.

There is a lot going on in the world. There are a lot of things that we may disagree with, even be upset at, and this has been the case since the dawn of time. Now though with communication being almost instantly from anywhere in the world, and the plethora of news agencies and news media sites, people can be stirred much more quickly. Asking what we want rather than the obvious thing that is what we don't want is key in every case. Then, when we focus on what we want rather than following the feeling of the crowd, we find our own reality, often a different reality than that of many others, if not much of the world.

There is natural well-being and the lack of well-being, and the lack of well-being can and will help us to focus on the well-being we desire. Or not. It is always and only our own choice whether we are looking at events of the world, or events at our workplace or home.

Dr. Wayne Dyer said a long time ago that, "anxiety doesn't attack." Yet many hold to the idea that it does, and that many things come into our life indiscriminately. Anxiety is simply a response to our choice of thought which is out of alignment with our own inner knowing, or our God within. It causes us to know what we do want, but then the choice is our own to focus on the illness or the health, the joy or the pain, the love or the justice, what feels good or the lack of that.

The Choice Is Always Your Own. Anxiety Doesn't Attack. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by choosing your well-being rather than the lack of it.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-17-15

"Seek joy first, 
and all of the growth 
that you could ever imagine 
will come joyously 
and abundantly unto you." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

(Taken at the NTEA Work Truck Show in 2012) 

My business partner, Ryan, is an equal partner in all of my endeavors. I love him so much. And it is a joy just to be around him.

Today we had an appointment with a client and I know full well to let him do most of the talking. There was a time when we first started that I had to coach him and give him some pointers, but no more. The guy is better than I am at explaining what we do, and I am so proud of him and it is a sincere pleasure to be in the background.

At lunch today, I suggested something and he turned it into the most brilliant idea. I just love it and it is a fun thing and I can't wait to get started.

Ryan and I are 30 years apart. He just turned 35 this month and I turned 65 last November. There is great contrast in those two ages, and yet in my mind I am 35 still, but the physical part of me is not at this time, though 35-36 was my favorite time if I look back, yet if I am in the present, it is right now this day and a very bright future is in front of me.

In March, 2008, when I invited him to jump off a cliff with me, and I was 58 and he, 28, I had no idea that how things are today would be as they are. Yet, in some ways they are dramatically better for me, and as we talked today for him as well. That is fascinating. I can see how he has grown, expanded, and become even more confident in what he is doing.

In the early days, we used to get together for lunch regularly, and in recent years not very often, yet I so love to sit and chat with him in that way. It's been 7 years now and I think we are perfect partners. He told me today that sometimes a potential client or a client might say, "he's your partner? You guys are so different," and he replies, "that's why it works." I've always thought the same thing in that what I bring to the table and what he brings are different and yet so compatible.

Years ago now, we both used to chase money so to speak. Now having started with pretty much nothing and growing this thing, now with six people plus ourselves, we continue to grow and thrive, although we want so much more while we are becoming more inside first, if that makes any sense.

I have learned from Abraham that seeking joy is our real purpose in life. Everyone experiences joy from different avenues. To some it is money, to others it is the perfect partner, a family, and millions of other ways. Abraham says it this way: "You only have to say, Here I am, on the first day of the rest of my physical life experience. And it is my dominant intent, from this moment forward, to look for reasons to feel good. I want to feel good. Nothing is more important to me than that I feel good."

This has become my dominant intent and it has changed my outlook of life so much. Now I find joy in some way, if not in hundreds of ways every single day. I find joy in my business partner, our team, our clients, the wonderful schedule that all of us enjoy, freedom I've never known as I do now, and at the same time feeling more prosperous than I have ever felt. That doesn't mean that I have more money than I have ever had, but I feel more prosperous. It's strange but true. The actual money must be on its way to me as we speak.

What's really important is that I have learned to have the feeling of having without the need to see it manifested, and it occurred to me today that this is the real meaning of faith. I used to think it was just trying to believe it, but I now see it as a reality that has no need of a physical manifestation. In other words, it is absolutely true regardless. That is so empowering, I can hardly stand it. It is yet another experience of joy.

There Is Nothing More Important Than Feeling Good. Nothing. 

Spread Some Joy Today--You have to have it to spread it. It's available in every moment. Only you can choose them.

Monday, February 16, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-16-15

"If you seek 
financial well-being 
for yourself-- 
you must praise it 
 wherever you see it." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

It is a popular thing on facebook and on hundreds of Internet sites to bash rich people. I don't spend much time on facebook, but an old article and photo showed up the my news feed today about John Schnatter of Papa John's Pizza and the house the he bought with some of the money he accumulated from that business. They were making a big deal out of the place which is quite elaborate and very expensive because John said that he would have to raise the price of each pizza by .14 cents to cover the additional costs involved in the passage of Obamacare.

I could write all day about the issues with a piece like this, but my focus here is just to point out that, as Abraham says, "if we seek financial well-being (and who doesn't?), we must praise it wherever we see it." Abraham continues, "If you would like more abundance for yourself, personally, or for others you care about--you must not criticize those who are experiencing abundance. When you criticize or condemn or push against anything, you activate an opposing Vibration to what you seek. Every time. No exceptions."

It is often a popular theme to bash rich people, and particularly when those people who have abundance lavish luxury upon themselves. Some think that it is excessive, but of course, it is all a matter of perspective. If you owned the average tract home in the U.S., valued about between $150k and $300k depending on location, driving an average $30k car, it might seem excessive to see someone paying cash for a $1 million dollar home, in the hills, driving a top of the line Mercedes, along with several other cars, children in private schools, vacations all over the world with the kids, and such.

Then to find someone like Tom Cruise owning a $69 million dollar ranch, and all the luxuries that his status and success can afford, or people who own private jets, and more, is beyond excessive. It is ludicrous! It is insane! It is wasteful! It is unthinkable.

Or, like John Schnatter who started his business in 1983, in a closet in his father's tavern, and then turned it into a huge business employing over 20,000 people, who wanted to have a very special place with the money he has reaped from the hard work he has put out and his successful business helped him get. We should look down on such an excessive person.

Well then, we should look down on anyone who is not homeless and hopeless?

We cannot push against anything and then at the same time want it for ourselves and expect to get it.. Even if we would make different choices with our money, pushing against someone who has it will only block it from coming to us. We must praise those who have succeeded. The word excessive is simply a judgment on our part of the lack of abundance in our lives. It doesn't matter if we are more giving and we would have given a lot of it away and the other is using it for his or her own joy. Morality isn't an issue here. We simply cannot put others down, push against their choices and then draw abundance to ourselves.

Abraham: "It is natural that you thrive, and the resources are there for all to thrive. But chronic thoughts of shortage, or chronic thoughts of pushing against those who are thriving, hold you in contradiction to your own desires and, more important, to what you have put into your Vortex of Creation for yourself."

Next time you see people bashing the rich, criticizing anything or anyone, allow them their opinion without any input from you, and if you want well-being for yourself, focus not there. Instead focus on joy for those who have achieved and done well because you want well-being and abundance for yourself.

I have found this to be one of the most beneficial things I've ever learned. I now practice it all the time, mainly because I want abundance, and who knows, when I achieve abundance financially, I might want to buy that $69 million dollar ranch for myself.

Praise What You Want. Focus There. Let Everyone Else Do As They Choose. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by lifting yourself and others up to the abundance that they would choose. There is no shortage.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-15-15

"Anytime what you are doing 
feels like a struggle, 
you must understand that your 
contradictory thought is introducing 
resistance into the equation. 
Resistance is caused by 
thinking about what you do not want, 
and that is what makes you tired." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

I said before that I have never found anything that resonates with me 100% of the time, except for The Teachings of Abraham from Esther and Jerry Hicks. It all not only makes sense, but I can feel my own alignment with it deep inside. When I was first introduced to it, I was resistant for a short time, then I decided to allow myself to learn what I could, and once I began allowing it, I've never looked back.

I decided in the first many days that I wanted to share and teach this to whomever wanted to know more, and so I immersed myself in it so that I could know it deeply and have it become me so to speak. The best part of it for me, and as well for others, is that it isn't just philosophy. It is very practical, and there are many methods to put these ideas to work (or rather, play, since it is not work), in our lives. And the more we make use of them, the better our lives feel and become.

I've done enough since first being introduced to this in the summer of 2007 to know that these teachings and the methods called processes work like none other I have ever experienced. The longer I am with it, the better everything in my life gets. It helps me in my business, my consulting and training, and in my personal life the same. It applies in every facet of our experience, and I absolutely love that. I don't have to trust it, because I now know it.

The only thing that is not perfect yet, and this applies with everyone I know, is taking the time out of our busy lives to learn more and to use the wonderful processes more consistently. I certainly use them, and I certainly know that I could use them more, and I don't want to beat myself up about any of that because that is just more resistance. So, I allow myself to be what we all are truly: a work in progress. Except it isn't work, it is more like a joyful journey.

Another thing that I love is as Abraham says, "You cannot be less than you are now." In other words, once your eyes are open, you can see. Once the awareness is there, the old things no longer made sense. However, I have to state here, at least in my case, the old things didn't make much sense to me anyway, so finding something that did changed my life. Yet it isn't just about making sense. There's a lot of that out there, but deep inside, my inner knowing, my vibration, was in total harmony and resonance with this, and is even more as I move forward.

Some people aren't yet asking, so they are not ready to hear. That's okay. This stuff has been out there since 1985, and in some ways even at the dawn of time, yet I was not ready until 2007. I was looking for something. I was looking for a better way to live. I was not pleased with my life in too many ways and wanted to change. As I found it, or attracted it, I could feel how important it was to me.

So, this year beginning on January 1st, I made a decision to focus on sharing these teachings with my own words mixed with those of Abraham. I hope you enjoy the journey along with me, and I believe that as we move forward, you may have some of the same joyful resonance and alignment as I have. 

If you enjoy what I'm sharing and want to get ahead of me, feel free to check out these source material books and audiobooks from Esther and Jerry Hicks that I have repeatedly enjoyed and learned from:

The Law of Attraction - The Basics of the Teachings of Abraham (this book came from a recording made in 1988, and was published in book form in 2006)

Ask and It Is Given - Learning to Manifest Your Desires. This was the first published book in 2004. I gave each of my team members a copy of this book this last December, and have given others away in my travels. It is a wonderful place to begin.

The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent - Living the Art of Allowing. (2006) A perfect follow up to Ask and It Is Given.

The Astonishing Power of Emotions - Let Your Feelings Be Your Guide. (2007) A very practical guide to changing how you feel about very common things in the world.

Money, and the Law of Attraction - Learning to Attract Wealth, Health, and Happiness. (2008) This is my most highlighted and marked up book. Not because of the money subject which is only part of the book (the title just makes it stand out), but because of the absolute wealth of such valuable teachings (for me, at least) in this volume.

The Vortex - Where the Law of Attraction Assembles All Cooperative Relationships. (2009). Wonderful book on relationships of all kinds, including but not limited to lovers and marriages. 

Getting into the Vortex - Guided Meditations CD and User Guide (2010). A powerful read, plus four easy guided meditations. I have enjoyed this since they came out.

All Journeys Can Be Joyous. 

Spread Some Joy Today--travelling from wherever we are to where we want to be, all the while enjoying the whole of the experience.

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-14-15

"Appreciation is the absence 
of everything that feels bad
and the presence 
of everything that feels good." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

I never thought Valentine's Day meant anything when I was a kid. We were encouraged to hand out these silly little "Be My Valentine" cards, and I didn't even know what that was all about. All I knew is that it was 'expected' every February 14th, and if you didn't participate, ridicule may be in my future. So, I played the game and gave them out, but there really wasn't any emotion or meaning behind that effort.

After reviewing the history of Valentine's Day, and the various ways that is celebrated around the world, it reminds me of how something starts out a certain way and then people change it, rearrange it, and it morphs into something else.

I'm generally a romantic kind of guy as I grew up in the '50s watching all those romantic movies made in the '30s and '40s, so as I became more involved with attractive partners, I paid much more attention to Valentine's Day. It wasn't just to comply with what was expected, and would be glaring in my absence of fulfilling a duty, but was to me an excuse, as if I needed one, to be romantic, or much more effectively expressed, as a great reason to shower appreciation on one I loved.

Although I do think that any excuse is a grand excuse to shower appreciation, I have learned to expand on that to the point that I am in a state of appreciation every single day of my life now--not all day long, but every single day, I find things and people to appreciate, and I have Abraham and Esther Hicks to thank for that delightful, and empowering change:

"Appreciation is the vibration of alignment with who-you-are. It is the absence of resistance. It is the absence of doubt and fear. It is the absence of self-denial or hatred toward others. Appreciation is the absence of everything that feels bad and the presence of everything that feels good. 

Being in a state of appreciation is seeing whatever you are looking at through the eyes of Source. And when you are in that state of appreciation, you could walk down a crowded street with all kinds of things that a lot of other people would find reason to criticize or worry about, and you would not have access to them because your vibration of appreciation is picking out for you things of a different vibrational nature. 

A state of appreciation is a state of Godliness. A state of appreciation is being who-you-really-are. 

The vibration of true love, that feeling of being in love, that feeling that you have sometimes when you see someone and you feel like you are moving through one another. The feeling that you have when you are looking at the innocence of a child and feeling the beauty and power of that child. Love and appreciation are identical vibrations." 

Don't forget in your appreciation of another to remember to appreciate yourself.

Happy Valentine's Day. Happy Appreciation Day. Happy Love Day. Happy Day. Happy. 

Spread Some Joy Today--because joy, appreciation, love is all the same vibration.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-13-15

"The first point of wisdom 
is to discern that which is false; 
the second, to know that which is true." 

-- Lactantius 

"Follow the light of your intuition, 
and keep away from the darkness of convention." 

-- Michael Bassey Johnson 

I have come to believe that if we are to live our lives in abundance, love, feeling good, joy, empowerment, that we are first willing and second to learn to discern.

I would change the top quote by Lactantius to "The first point of empowerment in your life is to discern how you are feeling at any given time, seeing clearly what you do not want, and second to have that contrast to help you discern what it is that you want in this moment, and then move toward that."

In the second quote, "the darkness of convention" is that contrast, and it is all around us all the time as we move through the day. By paying attention to how we are feeling, we will notice how that darkness feels, then "the light of our intuition", or our own inner knowing, which is creating that feeling helps us guide us toward better feeling thoughts, as we discern by paying attention, then by allowing it.

Today, I had a discussion of the idea of 'facing our fears,' as an attempt to overcome them, wrestle them to the ground, erase them from our psyche, or at the very least to disempower them, or control them. To me that is fighting it. It is like facing a bully, facing the enemy, or even facing the facts. 

None of this really accomplishes the objective because whatever we focus on grows or expands. The way through is to change the thought to a better feeling thought, and the more we do this, the more those thoughts become dominate in our lives, causing the fears and other negative emotions to lose their power naturally. We cannot go back and fix the past because it is gone. What we can do is to choose different thoughts today.

This applies in every area of our lives, in business, in relationships, in families, and within our own minds. Wherever we choose to place our focus, will attract more of that which we are paying attention to. So, logically, if we pay attention to better feeling things, we will feel better. Yet so often, we are not paying attention or willing to pay attention because of the "darkness of convention" and all the "wisdom" of all those around us.

I recently saw it written that people are very particular about the car they drive, the clothes they wear, the food they eat, and yet so many are not even paying attention to nor discerning what they are thinking. They have a negative thought and feel those negative feelings and blame external things for that, including circumstances, events, other people and more.

Let's take an example of a sales person who is feeling poorly because they are unsure, do not have confidence, knowledge, or don't have the tools they perceive they need. Or maybe they are focusing on their lack of success or production. They are far less likely to succeed in this endeavor until they can learn to pay attention to their feelings, then begin the process of choosing better feeling thoughts. Yesterday, I mentioned to a sales person that he needed to focus on what is good, what is right, what the dealership is doing well, and to focus on himself doing the best that he can do with whatever he has at his disposal.

The single most important thing he (or any of us in every facet of life) has at his or her disposal is paying attention to how we feel, and finding ways to feel better and better until he or she is feeling confident, empowered, joyful, loving, excited, anticipating positive responses and more.

What drives us then, is one, to discern how we are feeling, then to notice that whenever we are not feeling good, this will cause us to know what we want. Often though, people will even do this but then focus on the lack of what they want instead of what they really want. In other words, they carry pessimism with them cancelling out what they want.

All we need do is perceive through discernment what we are feeling, realize that is not what we want, which causes us to notice what we do want, then turning toward that and finding better feeling thoughts until we arrive at a better feeling place. It's not rocket science. Instead, it is easy enough if we make a couple of decisions: One, that we want to feel good, do good, be successful, enjoy our lives. And, two, to pay attention to how we are feeling at any given time and if it is not to our liking, then turn and choose better feeling thoughts until we arrive.

No More Victims Of Circumstance. Choose To Be A Deliberate Creator Of The Life You Want. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by choosing thoughts that cause that feeling.

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-12-15

"People often move 
 from job to job, 
profession to profession, 
employer to employer, 
only to find the next place 
no better than the last-- 
and the reason for that is, 
they take themselves 
everywhere they go." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

Abraham & Esther Hicks continues, "When you go to a new place and you continue to complain about what was wrong with your last position in order to explain why you came to the new position, the same vibrational mix of resistance goes with you and continues to prevent the thing you want from coming to you.

The best way to accomplish an improved work environment is to focus upon the best things about where you currently are until you flood your own vibrational patterns of thought with appreciation, and in that changed vibration, you can then allow the new-and-improved conditions and circumstances to come into your experience.

Some worry that if they follow our encouragement to look for good things about where they are, it will only hold them longer in the unwanted place, but the opposite is really true: In your state of appreciation, you lift all self-imposed limitations (and all limitations are self-imposed) and you free yourself for the receiving of wonderful things."

Today I was talking with a salesman who was complaining to me about what the dealership is not doing that he thinks will make a dramatic difference and he is amazed that they have not done it. He was new to this dealership and I asked if I could give him a bit of advice. I told him to "stop complaining, especially since you're new and to focus only on the positive things about the dealership, what they are doing well, and to focus on what you can do with what you have to work with." He said, "I'm not complaining, it's just that. . ." I stopped him abruptly and said that he was indeed complaining and it won't help in the least.

It's interesting how people complain and yet deny they are complaining. Somehow they think they are pointing out the facts and that should be accepted that way, but it has nothing to do with facts because they are slippery things. It was complaining.

The best thing to do here is to begin appreciating, create a book of positive aspects and write the many appreciations down on paper and keep adding to it regularly. That is the solution to the issue. Focus on what is right and good and ignore the rest.

In the mid-1970s, I hired an experienced salesman, then within a few days, I overheard him complaining about the dealership to several of the other sales people. I called him into my office and fired him on the spot. He was a cancer in the organization, and I wanted him to take his crap somewhere else.

Whatever we complain about, we create more of. Whatever we appreciate, we create more of. Whatever we focus on, we create more of.

"The Secret To All Success Is Keeping Yourself Happy." -- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

Spread Some Joy Today--by appreciating anything and everything that you can.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-11-15

"The problem is not 
that there are problems. 
The problem is expecting otherwise 
and thinking that having problems 
is a problem." 

-- Theodore Rubin 

I used such a wonderful and truthful quote the other day by John Muir: "When we tug at a single thing in nature, we find it attached to the rest of the world." It's interesting to look at things that way, including our lives, and in business, interactions with others and more.

As an example, I was talking with someone the other day and he said that a body shop was not doing well at the moment and they've been in business for a very long time. Then it came to me that it has been such a mild and warm winter with very little rain, and it then reminded me that body shops probably generally thrive in the average winter because of slick roads, lots of rain, poor visibility, being in a hurry and all manner of causes to give body shops a lot of business.

This year has had very little rain, very infrequently, and all of it warm. In fact in California there has been a long, multi-year drought and there's no indication that that is changing as of today. The drought, or lack of rain is more than just rain, it is the snow pack in the Sierra's that means more than just rain. And rain has benefits and then it also has what many will call problems. But, are they really?

When it rains several days and there is a significant amount of rain, it is of benefit to the landscaping, plants, trees, flowers, shrubs, and more. At the same time, it can cause the ground to soften, then trees to fall with even small amounts of wind, knock down power lines, crash into roofs, and more. And yet there are more benefits to the tree service companies taking care of the removal of the tree, the landscaping companies to replace the tree, the power people to repair the line, the construction people to fix the house, the roofing people to replace the section of roof, and maybe even get a job to replace the entire roof because it was getting old anyway, the painting company to redo the paint and trim, the telephone people to fix the wiring, the electrician to redo that wiring, or even upgrade service, the insurance company who helps with all of that, the new choices the homeowner gets to make since they have this new opportunity, and on and on it goes with the benefits.

Everything is perception. Calling it a problem is generally thought as a negative, yet it can also be shown to be a huge positive as I demonstrated in the last paragraph. It all depends on your point of view, and every single thing that occurs on this planet has its pluses and minuses similar to what I have shown here.

What I find interesting in how I've changed since 2007 is that I see all of these things and prior to that, a problem was a problem and a benefit was a benefit. Now I see them both in everything that happens. I might have a reaction for a very short time, and then I will remember that there is no problem without a benefit, if not many benefits. At the same time the opposite is true. However, the perspective that I have now is such a blessing to be able to not be upset about things because I know full well that there is always a silver lining. I even get excited about events to see what the benefits are going to be.

Seek And Ye Shall Find. Open Your Eyes And Your Mind To New Possibilities, New Ways Of Looking At Things. 

Spread Some Joy Today--by focusing on the benefits, seeking your own joyful perspective, and sharing it by just being yourself.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Daily Inspiration 2-10-15

"Writing something down onto paper 
is your strongest point of focus." 

-- Abraham, Esther Hicks 

I don't know about you, but when I am writing something down, it is far more beneficial to me than just thinking the thought. I've known this for many years, and I've written several thousand pages of things down through my life. The act has a way of clarifying things, and it helps things that are just pieces of thoughts to be assembled into a larger picture. It helps me to grow and learn and expand.

Based on this, you might say that these Daily Inspirations are purely selfish in nature because they help me to collect and expand my thinking, and at the same time, offers a way of sending that out as a message for any who are wanting to receive it. And in turn, it seems that many find some benefit in that, perhaps even helping them clarify, grow and expand, which helps them to share, thereby benefiting others, and so it has now all around the world. And, it is all because it was written down. 

Have you ever sat down with pen and paper, or on your electronic paper, and write out what you want? Have you ever tried to write it as storytelling it with you as the leading character, and telling it the way you want things to be in your life? There is great value in this.

Have you ever sat down and written out your goals? Short term, mid and long term goals? A bucket list? Just a list of things you want to do someday? All of those are desires or wants. The more you want them, the more you will focus on them and the faster they will come about. The main thing about anything on any of these lists is to pay attention to how you feel when you think about them, focus on them, write them down. Because they are wants, you should have a good feeling when you write them out. In some cases, there are things you want more, so you will feel an even stronger positive emotion about them.

At the same time, if you are writing down something you want, and you are not sure you deserve it, or you have no idea how it will come, or you're sick and tired of it not coming yet, or you think you will never have the money to do it, and any number of negative thoughts, you are working against your own desires and canceling them out before they even have a chance to come into manifestation.

One easy word that gives you a strong clue is the word 'but.' When you state something and then say, but. . . and fill in that blank, whatever you wanted is effectively canceled. More important than the canceling would be the fact that now you have set in motion the act of bringing more of that 'but' thinking and 'but' manifestations. "I want that, but I cannot afford it." This is a common statement. What you wanted is immediately canceled, and you get more of the 'but I cannot afford it' in your life. Now there will be more things that you cannot afford, maybe even less money than you had before. You have to get your but out.

Also when you are writing these wants down, if there is a but in your thinking, you will be feeling negative emotion if you are paying attention. It might only start as discomfort, and it will often grow into disappointment, frustration, anger, powerlessness. The negative emotion is your Emotional Guidance System working on your behalf to let you know that you are helping grow more of what you do not want.

It's time to change this. It's time to change this NOW.

Start by writing what you want and if you feel but negatives going on, stop immediately and pivot by saying, 'Well, I am seeing an issue here. What is causing this negative thought? That was how I used to think, and now I think differently. Today, I focus my energy and thoughts on what I WANT. I refuse to give any more energy to what I DO NOT WANT.

If you still have any issue, cross it off, erase it for now and move on, all the while realizing that you have just made massive progress by paying attention to how you feel, pivoting and focusing on what you DO WANT and what DOES cause you to feel good, and as you focus there, these things are on their way to you.

One Easy Way To Get The 'But' Out Is To Put The 'And' In. Using That One Word Automatically Causes You To Expand On The Want Rather Than Canceling It. 

Spread Some Joy Today--and feel how that feels to you. There is nothing like it.