As part of the program, we learned to release our resistance to things by paying attention to the energy that we bring with us as we live our lives. When you have resistance and pull the cord of energy that is attached to that resistance, it creates a totally new way of dealing with the “drama of everyday” as things that pop into our lives.

I think that this level of awareness is what Guy Finley was referring to with this quote. I also believe that living life with this level of awareness is illuminating, as you begin to see how the little irritants that we are used to living our life with, can simply be let go. It isn’t necessary to be attached to the story that we tell ourselves about what someone said or didn’t say; what someone did or failed to do; and how it really isn’t all about us at all. Pulling the cord releases the drama and then we can look objectively at the issue at hand and determine how much of the drama was simply created by our own illusions about what something means.

Living with this level of awareness isn’t an easy thing to do, but it is something that we can remind ourselves of everyday. At first we realize what we have done afterwards. Then we pull the energetic cord and forgive ourselves for falling into the illusion again. And if we pay attention, we start catching ourselves right in the middle of the illusion; and then one day we stop ourselves from spinning the illusion right at the beginning. Of course since we aren’t yet perfect we still spin some interesting stories that we will find ourselves pulling cords over, but as time progresses the stories become few and far between.

I think that a good catch phrase is “what does love want this to be?” If we can just remember to ask this before the drama starts, we have the “perfect” level of awareness for every relationship that we enter into everyday of our life.

So someone with a strong faith will do things that they never thought possible, even risking their life to save others. The hero is actually birthed by the strong faith. This isn’t necessarily a faith in oneself or a higher spiritual being, although both of those play into it. It is a strong faith in the idea itself that is being defended. It is the passionate belief of the individual along with those other things that are always talked about.

The woman who lifts an automobile off her child doesn’t have strong faith in that moment that she can lift the car, and probably doesn’t even have a thought about how heavy the car is. What she has strong faith in, is that she will do anything to protect that child and at the moment that means, lifting hundreds of pounds like it is a sack of potatoes. If asked she will say that it was a miracle of God, or that she doesn’t know how it happened.

In Viktor Frankl’s time it was what motivated people to save people of a different religion that they didn’t know, at the risk of their lives and of their families lives. That strong faith could have come from a religious belief; from saving the children who were at risk; from the value of a human life – no matter whose life it was; from a combination of these things and others that they were personally passionate about. But the strong storm of the Nazi regime was the motivating wind of destruction that struck a cord within them that said, “no more” can I stand by and do nothing.

Today in your life, what are you willing to give thought to and apply that strong faith to, and change in your life or the lives of others from that same place?

The only thing they forgot was the Snoopy Happy Dance!
The universe is amazing in how it reminds you to never let one day pass without making progress with your goals!

If we look around our world we see so many problems, with people struggling to put food on the table, make the rent/mortgage payment, worried about losing their job and their families, and the stress seems unbearable. The problems are so large, and they are so intertwined that we can’t even see where we could start to help, or we feel that the help is too small and wouldn’t make any difference. We worry that we might start something that has unintended consequences, and so we “cross the street” so as not to see it, and continue with our lives doing nothing.

But look that what Amelia says – a single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions and those roots spring up to make new trees. You may not know what to do, but any act of kindness can be life saving. That person who received the smile may have went back home to a spouse and children, who would have been left without the bread winner. That smile could have caused him to try one more time to get hired on at the local store, and this time they said yes. That smile could have caused him to get counseling and save his marriage. That smile could have made it possible for his daughter to go to college, and become the scientist that created the cure for a disease that kills thousands.

Her quote is like the butterfly that flaps his wings in Brazil and changes the climate in America. You just don’t see the roots that spring out from one act of kindness and the tress that grow from that. What I do know is that most of the wonderful inventions, creations and programs that help all of us, come from someone who experienced hardship in their life and stood up and said “no more”. No one should have to experience this, and so they stand up and make the difference.

Your “smile” whatever that is, could be the one thing that shifts the balance and it can make a difference. So instead of “crossing the street” today, see if there is one thing that you can do, because that one thing will spread roots across the world and shift the balance.

So like Johnny Appleseed, plant some trees and don’t worry about how small the seed is. There are still apple trees across America that were planted by Johnny, and he didn’t need to look back to see the fruits of his labor, because he believed that God would make each and every seed sprout and spread roots and grow strong.

That is exactly what fear does to us. It takes a small insignificant thing and our mind exaggerates it to such an extent that we are paralyzed with what might happen. We might die; no one will ever talk to us again; everyone will laugh at us; we won’t be able to show our face anywhere again; everyone will hates us; and so on. Such drama and carrying on, our mind will create a multitude of illusions that will carry us off in a tizzy if we let it. Yet in reality, it is just like the scrape on that little boys leg – a drop of blood and then everyone laughs and forgets about it. Even if you are really embarrassed, it becomes one of your favorite stories to tell among good friends – the remember when you did this thing …., and then that happened? We all laugh together as each person dredges up an old story about themselves.

I am still listening to the voices in my head telling more that I need to do one more thing before I make my list. Each day is passing and I am finding a new excuse. Tuesday I fractured my tooth, and was in major toothache pain yesterday, and today I went to the dentist. So now the list has moved to tomorrow. The list is the mountain, because once it is done, I will be one step closer to asking for the scholarships. I know I am making a mountain out of a molehill (the LIST) – it is the mountain behind the molehill that really has me procrastinating. Once the list is done, the coaching starts and I will be accountable. Someone please talk me off, or better yet kick me off the ledge. How do you make friends with your fears? What are you procrastinating about?

The wolf does not depend on luck. Everyone does not strive to be the leader in the wolf pack. Some are consummate hunters or caregivers or jokesters, but each seems to gravitate to the role he does best. The wolf’s attitude is always based upon the question, “What is best for the pack?”. The cohesion, teamwork and training of the pack determines whether the pack lives or dies.

Because of training, preparation, planning, communication and a preference for action, the wolf’s expectation is always to be victorious. While in actuality this is true only 10 percent of the time or less, the wolf’s attitude is always that success will come—and it does. (excerpts from Simple Truths)

When adversity strikes, it’s not what happens that determines our destiny; it’s how we react. The thing to do is to create a wolf pack around you now, before adversity strikes. This applies both to our employment situation and our personal lives. Do you have friends, family or work associates who form together a cohesive union, each fulfilling a role, and each looking out for each other? Do you know all of the dreams and aspirations and goals of each member of the pack, so that you can help them achieve their dreams as they help you to achieve yours?

The answers to these questions will determine not only how successful you can be, but also how much you are really there to help others be the same. It helps you to formulate that winning expectation of success for both yourself and the members of your pack. It helps you to finish strong because you were prepared for adversity and made the most of each day to make it a success.

Winning at all cost is not the right answer. Even if you succeeded, at all costs indicates that you are alone. But winning in tandem with your pack, having fun along the way with the jokesters, taking care of those who need extra care from life’s adversities, whatever our role – this winning brings everyone along and that makes all of the difference.

“Here are the top 10 ways people give away their power:

1. Asking others what they should do.
2. Thinking God decides who gets what.
3. Worrying about how their dream will come true.
4. Thinking they have dues to pay.
5. Attaching to unimportant details and outcomes.
6. Believing in soul mates.
7. Thinking karma or spiritual contracts are absolute.
8. Fear of anything, especially falling in love.
9. Waiting for their ducks to line up before acting.
10. Choosing to be unhappy.

Understand the truth, little bird, and you will soar.
Caw-caw, The Universe”

It has really made me think about how I react when someone tells me of a new dream. In the past it wasn’t so much that I downplayed their dreams as unachievable or not valid, but rather in the back of my mind was the thought that here is one more thing that they won’t finish or accomplish. I would think of them as niche switchers. These are people who every month are changing their business model to something new. Now that for the first time I have a passionate vision, (which really means that the vision has me!) what I realize is that one of two things is happening – either they are allowing those close to them to cause them to stop, or they haven’t yet found that one thing that they would leave everyone behind in order to accomplish.

So what I now think about is helping them to either fully embrace their visio, not letting anyone tell them not to risk it. Or to seek it more powerfully – what I notice is that each new version of themselves falls around the same general principal. So I think that they just haven’t expanded their vision big enough. They are still playing it safe around what they think that they can do, and they need to blow that vision up into it’s impossible, and then accept that it is possible. That is when the vision gets them, and they can get behind it, and go out and learn how to make it happen. That is when the magic happens. Enthusiasm will fire up the engines and there won’t be any stopping or switching, just full steam ahead! We can do it!

When you live a life of permanent purpose, you realize that everything you do is important, and that you do in fact effect everything that you come in contact with. Like a butterfly flapping his wings, each action affects the next one. Have you seen the television commercial for Liberty Mutual insurance were a person sees an act of random kindness, and then that person does an act of kindness, which is repeated by another person and so on? This is what happens when you live a life of permanent purpose. The commercial calls it living responsibly.

It means that you realize that no one that you come into contact with during your day, no matter how random, is unaffected by the fact that you became part of their day. Therefore there is no act that doesn’t matter. The commercial started with a woman leaving a coffee shop and moving the cup at the edge of the table in, so it would drop off. A simple act that through being repeated in the commercial ended with a woman saving a man from injury when a stack of heavy boxes almost topples on top of him.

If you begin today living your life of “permanent purpose”, it will make you a better friend, a better spouse, and a better parent. It will make you more successful in any endeavor in your life, because all decisions that you make will come not from the place of what’s in it for me, but from what’s in it for we?

The hero in the story had to pick one, and there wasn’t enough information to know what you were picking. Was there food to be found? Were they occupied by other humans or some alien creatures? How large was the world he would be entering? If he refused he would have been forced through one of the doors (procrastinating until the choice is forced upon you is never a smart choice).

Sometimes the choices we have in life are like that, in which you really don’t think that you know enough to make an intelligent choice. Would you pick a door that corresponded to the place you grew up in, and were familiar with? For me that would be either the beach scene or the scene with all of the trees. Or would you pick one that would present a challenge, like the blizzard or the desert scene?

Do your choices reflect that you are choosing to live a life of transformation and expansion; or do you choose a life that is comfortable, what you already know how to live?

We have a pond in our back yard that has some koi and goldfish as well as two turtles. The koi tend to grow to the size of their environment and then they stop growing. Most people are like that, because they are afraid to step outside of their comfort level. It is not the circumstances in which you find yourself, it’s the choices you make that define the person you become.

If life is really lived from the inside out, then what you are experiencing today is a result of all of the choices that you have made. Choices determine the kind of person that you have become. The great thing about life, is that every day we get to make new choices.

If you want to grow inside and outside, then choose transformation. Choose the door that goes somewhere you have never been. Choices are scary things, but try every day to make at least one choice from longing instead of flight. That one choice of choosing longing will make all the difference from a life half lived, to a life fully lived.

As we were leaving the event I asked if they had signed up for Marcia Weider’s dream workshop on 6/23. They had and we were talking about having dinner afterwards or the night before, she wasn’t sure when they would arrive. Then in response to a comment I made about looking for referrals to help with the business, she said that I needed to write out an outline and get really clear about what I was doing, because after 3 days of talking to me she still didn’t understand what I wanted to do. After all she said, they had just made a presentation and the one person on the panel that they most wanted to impress, had just told them that she didn’t understand exactly what they did.

I thanked her for the advice, but was crushed inside. On the 2 hr drive home I thought about what she had said, and while I am sure that I have a lot of work to do in getting clear on my message in the matter of conciseness, I don’t really think that anyone who has heard me speak about my vision, would say they don’t understand it at all. It was her own internalized pain speaking out, and I just happened to be handy.

I share this because on the road to bringing a vision to reality, we will all have things said and/or done to us that crush us momentarily. Not everything will be true, but I do believe that everything that is said or done can be used to make us a better vehicle for our vision. It all comes down to believing in yourself and your vision so strongly that even if no one else can see it, we can. And that belief coupled with action can bring that vision into reality.

A second important point is in looking at the how Charlie Chaplin saw the world and then interpreted it into his acting. Everything has a gift in it. So bonus quote is the quote from “The Universe” that came today – “For every setback, disappointment and heartbreak, sheryl, ask yourself, “What does this create the opportunity for?” And therein you will find its gift. Everything has a reason”, The Universe

Would Charlie Chaplin have been the great actor he was if he hadn’t experienced the orphanage and trying to find enough to eat? Maybe, maybe not, but he certainly saw the gift and used it. So what do you do when someone consciously or unconsciously steps on your dream in some way? Do you give up, walk away, and call it a day? Or do you look for the gift and the opportunity?