Hidden treasures

Imagine a small island. Half of the island is covered with a forest, and the other half is covered with rich, fertile farmland. There are two families living on the island. One family owns the forest and the other family owns the farmland. The family that owns the farmland raises abundant crops of fruits and [Read More...]

Five ways to allow abundance in your life

1. Be continually and sincerely thankful. Think of the things that make you smile, and be thankful for them. Think of the things that bring joy to your life, and be thankful for them. Get in the habit of being thankful for the smallest little details of life. There are so many of those small [Read More...]

Difficult times

When jobs are hard to come by, those who do have a job are motivated to do a better job. Before long, that leads to more jobs. When money is tight, people focus on getting more value when spending their money. Almost immediately, that drives innovation. When there is no money to spend on empty [Read More...]

Inspire yourself into action

How do you inspire yourself to do what must be done? First, think of all the good things that will happen, and think of the specific ways in which your life will be better, when you achieve your goals and reach your dreams. Next, consider the bad things that will happen if you do nothing. [Read More...]

The power of letting go

A good portion of our backyard is a natural wooded area with native yaupon and juniper trees. One autumn day a few years ago I was delightfully surprised to discover a young oak tree, about five feet tall at the time, growing in some thick brush. Its red, orange and golden leaves gave it away. [Read More...]


Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.   – Thich Nhat Hanh The best time to smile is when there’s no reason to smile. Because that’s when a smile can make the biggest positive difference. As soon as you put a smile on [Read More...]

Allowing authenticity

In authenticity, you will find great value. So how do you allow your authentic self to come forward? Examine what you fear about letting yourself be yourself. Are you afraid that you’ll appear foolish, or that you won’t be accepted, or that you’ll be humiliated? Those are all fears that revolve around what other people [Read More...]

Joyful effort

Effort often gets a bad reputation. Too many people assume that effort is something to be avoided. Self-help programs promise to reveal the secrets of “effortless success” as if that’s something to be desired. There’s a whole get-rich-quick industry built on selling the concept of making loads of money without doing much work. Millions of [Read More...]

The blue button

Imagine sitting at a console with two buttons in front of you. One of the buttons is blue and one is yellow. Every time you push the blue button, it moves your life positively forward. Every time you push the yellow button, nothing happens. If you were faced with such a situation, which button would [Read More...]

I don’t know

Half of being smart is knowing what you are dumb about. – Solomon Short I called my bank the other day with an obscure and complicated, but very important question. After I carefully and patiently explained my concern, the customer service agent gave me an answer. It was not the answer I was looking for, [Read More...]