“Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it” – Oprah
In order to stand out, one must be different. I have always loved the saying “why fit in when you were born to stand out?” by Dr. Seuss. For me it was really hard to make this change, as I had spent most of my life being invisible.
I love using the analogy of a rainbow. It isn’t just made up of red, yellow, blue, green, pink, and purple. It is made up of 100 of shades of every color, and every mix of color imaginable. Take just the 1,000’s of shade combinations of purple in the rainbow. While you might think that no one will notice if one shade is not shining brightly, the rainbow is diminished in its beauty when that happens. It requires every single shade to be there, in order to be the beautiful promise of God. We require every one of you to shine brightly to deliver the promise of God, which he made when he sent you to this earth.
“Let excellence be your brand . . . When you are excellent, you become unforgettable. Doing the right thing, even when nobody knows you’re doing the right thing, will always bring the right thing to you” – Oprah
At work the panel of lights over about 10 desks in a row for some reason turns itself off and on by itself. Since we are surrounded by windows you don’t really notice as it slowly fades to the off position. It does a gradual shut down. But when it turns back on 20 minutes or so later, you really notice the brightness of the light. I missed it subconsciously. It is funny how while I always notice when the lights have turned back on, I don’t notice the gradual turning off. I think that leadership is like this. You may be busy doing your work and not notice right away when leadership is missing – but when it shows up, fully turned on, you notice right away.
Being a leader is an interesting subject for women. In Sheryl Sandberg’s Ted Talk she shared how when she was in school, she was told to not raise her hand so much. I remember the same thing happening to me. The feeling that I was given and even told, was that because I raised my hand all of the time, I was bossy, a know-it-all, too smart for myself. I was making the entire class feel bad. No one else would raise their hand, because I did, and so on. So I shut down and started being even more invisible.
“What’s the greatest lesson a woman should learn? That since day one, she’s already had everything she needs within herself. It’s the world that convinced her she did not” – Rupi Kaur
I started waiting for someone to pick me instead of volunteering, and this carried over into my adult life. I turned down promotions saying that I didn’t want the responsibility, when what I really wanted to say was I didn’t want to risk being told to once again become invisible. I continually pushed down the answers I had for senior management and let others steal the ideas and promote themselves.
I finally had enough and became what I called an agent of change for my own self. I started listening and following my intuition. I stepped out of my comfort zone, stood up and voiced my opinions. And I have kept expanding my comfort zone.
“We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions. That we’ll screw up royally sometimes, understanding that failure is not the opposite of success. It’s part of success” – Arianna Huffington
Every mistake I have made is like compost in the garden. It may feel and smell like manure when it happens, but if I compost those failures into my life, I can learn and grow from them. I learned that I can fail and my life isn’t over. I learned that the person who judges me the most has been me, and so I gave the judge permission to cheer me on instead.
“If you look close enough at the world around you, you might find someone like you. Someone trying to find their way. Someone trying to find themselves. Sometimes, it seems like you are the only one in the world who’s struggling, who’s frustrated, unsatisfied, barely getting by. That feelings a lie. And if you just hold on, just find the courage to face it all for another day, someone or something will find you and make it all okay. Because we all need a little help sometimes. We need someone to remind us that it won’t always be this way. That someone is out there. And that someone will find you” – Unknown
I heard a story that Oprah bit her tongue a lot when she first started her talk show. Then one day she had a guest who was a cheating husband. The wife came on the show and she did not know what was going to happen. Oprah watched this woman who was exposed before all of the world, to see her reactions as her world came crashing down on her. Something inside Oprah shifted. She had a meeting after the show and told the producers they would never do anything like that again. That was the moment when her show changed, and truly became her show. I don’t know if it was a true story, but I can certainly believe that something like that happened.
You sometimes do what you think you need to do to pay your dues. You bite your tongue and skate the boundaries of your ethics. Then comes that defining moment when you stand up. Just like Oprah, you say that “this will not happen again”. I will not allow it or tolerate it any longer. You win because you have the talent, the skills, the reputation to back you up. You become the storm that no one can stop.
I love this quote I found, “when you dance to your own rhythm, people may not understand you; they may even hate you. But mostly they’ll wish they had the courage to do the same.” I am going to hang it over my desk. I have spent too much of my life wishing I had the courage to do what I see others doing. Instead I am going to “dance to my own rhythm” and inspire others to do the same.
“Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do” – Oprah
The Lion is released from the cage, and ready for the grand adventure!
“Love is the bridge between you and everything that you desire” – Rumi
You came into this world to learn, to experience what life is about, and to leave a legacy. Moral integrity is a huge part of the story of your legacy.
“Your story is the greatest legacy that you will leave to your friends. It’s the longest lasting legacy you will leave to your heirs” – Steve Saint
Have you seen the Tom Hanks movie, “Bridge of Spies”? It is based on a true story, taking place after WWII. I found it very interesting how he was able to stick to what he knew to be right, even when it endangered his life and that of his family. He didn’t just accept the self justification that most would of, “you do what you can, cut your losses and accept what is left”.
“You have been assigned this mountain to show others it can be moved” – Unknown
Because he was a man of high integrity and morals, he was able to do what no one else could do. He literally was able to move mountains, because of his moral integrity. While he couldn’t prevent the guilty verdict for his client (he was guilty), he was able to maneuver the judge into a prison sentence instead of the death penalty. Then when his prediction came true about needing him for a future hostage negotiation, he was able to negotiate the return of an American pilot. And when destiny threw in a twist, he negotiated a second hostage return – a two for one, thereby freeing the innocent college student who got caught behind the Berlin Wall.
“Immortality is to live your life doing good things, and leaving your mark behind” – Brandon Lee
Because he was so driven to make the negotiations work, and stuck with it to force what he felt was the right thing to do, he ended up becoming a hostage negotiator with President Kennedy. He was able to free over 1,900 hostages from Cuba, during the Cuban missile crisis and Bay of Pigs. He obviously made a positive difference in the world. If he had walked away, the story about his legacy would not have come to pass. The differences he made would not have happened. Sometimes life looks like we will lose everything if we keep pushing for what we believe in our hearts is the right thing to do. When that happens, remember stories like this and keep pushing.
When you are truly unstoppable there are some things that are true for you:
“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do something worth writing” – Benjamin Franklin
You are here for a purpose. It might be some small purposes or world changing. His, was a world changing purpose. He was able to impact hundreds of lives. Our purpose may or may not impact so many lives. I do believe that each one of us has that possibility. The possibility to ask the divine why you are here. To listen to the whispers of your heart, and the calling of your soul. To hear in your dreams the secrets that tell you why you are here.
That is what the light in your heart is. It is the seed that is waiting for you to plant it. To water and nurture it as it grows into your reason for being here. To dig down into the roots of what you are growing and see the unfolding truth of your own myth.
“Legacy is not leaving something for people, it’s leaving something in people” – Peter Strople
Each morning is an opportunity, for you to become that thing which you have been looking for. Stop looking and start becoming. Allow your legacy to shine out, no matter the cost. Shine the light of your heart, on the pathway of love. That is the true bridge to help both yourself and those around you to find your way home.
“Carve your name on hearts, not tombstones. A legacy is etched into the minds of others and the stories they share about you” – Shannon L. Alder
I invite you to join us on June 6th for a purposeful gathering. Our intention is to create moments of life-changing conversation on how to make 2020 the year of achievement.
Chances are that what you’re struggling with, others are too. What life questions you have been asking yourself, others are asking themselves too. Get clear on what you want and how to obtain it. If your 2020 dreams and goals are already stalling, get recharged and refocused. Learn how to pivot to success. Join us for a gathering that no one will forget.
“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware” – Martin Buber
When going on a mystical journey, sometimes you feel like you are lost. You pull out your compass and try to determine where the path is taking you. You get this timeline in your head with a “to do” list. You check off boxes. You get frustrated when things are not on schedule and going to plan. And God laughs at you. This is not how you are supposed to take a mystical journey. There are no “to do” lists or timelines. There are lots of experiences. There are side roads. There are accidents. There are detours. And they are all part of the plan.
“Your journey has molded you for your greater good, and it was exactly what it needed to be. Don’t think you’ve lost time. There is no short-cutting to life. It took each and every situation you have encountered to bring you to the now. And now is right on time” – Asha Tyson
Your experience of life so far may not have required that you don the clothes of a hero. So you didn’t know that you have the “super” cape in your closet. Your “super” cape is just waiting for the opportunity to spring into action. There are definitely dark places within the journey. Places of being lost, in despair. The constant negative voice telling you to give it up. Telling you that you have done all you can. That what you are trying to do is impossible. That is when it is time to call for help. To reach out to have your spirit filled with joy, light, and courage to face down the darkness and continue the journey.
“Today, I call upon my Higher Power to deliver me from the impossible to the possible: from darkness to light, and from fear to courage” – Byrant McGill
Mystical journeys don’t have any short cuts. If you try to short cut the journey, you will end up lost in the forest. You will be chased by your wolves of fear until you’re exhausted. Mystical journeys can sometimes bring you to your knees. With heads bowed and hands open to receive divine help and guidance.
“Let your heart be your compass, your mind your map, your soul your guide, and you will never get lost” – Ritu Ghatourey
Open your heart to receive the gift of moving from fear to courage. From impossible to possible. Open up to receive exactly what you need, even though it might be different than what you wanted. Draw in the mentors, allies and challengers, because you will need all of them to continue the journey. The journey is really all about discovering who you really are.
“The mystical journey drives us into ourselves, to a sacred flame at our center” – Marianne Williamson
You are not the stories handed down to you from your childhood. Not the “your just like your mom, dad, etc . . . relative” stuff you heard as you grew up. Not who your friends and relatives want you to be. You know, the one you pretend to be so that “everyone” will love you. Who are you really deep down inside?
I invite you to join us on April 4th for a purposeful gathering. Our intention is to create moments of life-changing conversation on how to make 2020 the year of achievement.
Chances are that what you’re struggling with, others are too. What life questions you have been asking yourself, others are asking themselves too. Get clear on what you want and how to obtain it. If your 2020 dreams and goals are already stalling, get recharged and refocused. Learn how to pivot to success. Join us for a gathering that no one will forget.
“Your life is a journey. Turn each new road into an adventure of humility; each rocky path into an exploration of self, and each soul you meet into a teacher of compassion” – Millie Mestril
When you were a baby and toddler up to the age when you started getting told no. When you were taught about inappropriate behavior. When you learned that trying to get your way through crying or throwing a fit got the opposite reaction to feeling like you were loved. There was a time when you behaved and acted like who you were, the wild child. And then you started learning a million rules that squashed you into who your parents and loved ones wanted you to be.
A large part of the mystical journey is digging up that person you started out as in the beginning. It is peeling off the all of the habits, attitudes, and appearances that are not truly who you are. It is not how you dress yourself up to fit in or to impress outsiders. It is not the house, the car, the title at the job. It is all about “Who You Really Are” down deep at the soul level. That person needs to be unveiled, unlocked and allowed to come out and play in the real world.
“By being yourself, you put something beautiful into the world that was not there before” – Edwin Elliot
When you dig deep within yourself, you literally can feel what is right and wrong for you on a cellular level. It is learning to trust how your body instinctively reacts to things. There is a story in Love, Medicine and Miracles about a man who is an attorney. He finds out he has terminal cancer. So he quits his job and goes around playing his Violin or Cello because playing music is what he always wanted to do, but his parents made him get a degree in law. Guess what happens? His cancer goes away. The storyline of the book is about the miracles that happen when we are listening to our heart and soul.
Follow the directions of your heart and soul. Follow your passion. Trust the journey. Then you will be right on time and in the exact right place that you need to be. It is not easy. The easy thing to do is to keep lying to yourself. To tell yourself that this is not part of your journey. To find the easy way back down the mountain. To leave behind the heroes journeys to someone else.
Each day you have a new blank page to write your life story or journey on. Each day has a new beginning. Each day has a measure of courage to shift the ending of yesterdays story into something positive and up-building. It can take a lifetime to find your own truth. You can shorten the time if you are willing to roll up your sleeves, do the work and stay the course. Personal transformation is both the journey and the destination. Enjoy the journey!
“In the end, she became more than what she expected. She became the journey, and like all journeys, she did not end, she just simply changed directions and kept going” – R.M. Drake
I invite you to join us on April 4th for a purposeful gathering. Our intention is to create moments of life-changing conversation on how to make 2020 the year of achievement.
Chances are that what you’re struggling with, others are too. What life questions you have been asking yourself, others are asking themselves too. Get clear on what you want and how to obtain it. If your 2020 dreams and goals are already stalling, get recharged and refocused. Learn how to pivot to success. Join us for a gathering that no one will forget.
Difficult things take a long time, impossible things a little longer.
– Unknown
The mind and the eye are an interesting thing to think about in regards to our dreams. The eye sees so much more than the mind can allow in. We all have what is known as a reticular activator which acts as a filter for our brains. What the eyes sees gets filtered into things that form a picture in our mind or what we are seeing.
Think about certain things that happen in your life. Two examples might be getting pregnant (you or your significant other) or buying a new car. When we aren’t getting a new car or pregnant, we are not interested in those things. Our reticular activator screens that information away from us – because it isn’t something we are paying attention to.
But the minute we are pregnant we start seeing pregnant women everywhere we go. We didn’t see any yesterday and now today already we have seen five pregnant women. Same thing with buying that new car. Driving down the freeway in our new car, we are passing or being passed by people driving a car just like ours. We go shopping and see two cars just like ours parked in the lot. Where were they yesterday? They were there, they were just being filtered out.
Someday everything will all make perfect sense. So for now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, and keep reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason.
– Unknown
I bring this up because we tend to make judgments about how things are working out by what we see with our physical eyes and mind. But they can’t be 100% reliable because of our filtering system. So sometimes this is why the heart and mind are in disagreement. The heart isn’t being filtered by what the eyes see. It sees from a totally different perspective. It knows the blueprint of our dreams. It looks only for ways to bring those dreams into reality. So it makes plans, not on filtered information, but on information imprinted on our heart by God.
The minute you think of giving up, think of the reason why you held on for so long.
– Unknown
I think that a lot of what becomes that one dream that drives us is because of our own life experience. If we were lonely children, we tend to want to make sure that other children are never lonely. That could mean that we are teachers, or in some way child advocates. Maybe we entered the field of being a therapist. Maybe we adopted children or work as a foster parent. In some way, our career, our bent in how we live life would grow in such a way that we could help children not be lonely. Whatever “damage” we feel in our lives, comes out in a compassionate way of helping others never having to suffer the way that we have.
I’m a damaged person, but I have hope and a will to not give up.
– Juliana Hatfield
Hope is what keeps us going. Our hope keeps us strong. There are hills and valleys on every journey. We have to travel through swamps and deserts. Hope helps us motivate towards our goal. When the rains come, the winds blow and the lightning strikes, we may have to take cover and rest until the storm passes, but that doesn’t mean that we are quitting. We never give up our hope no matter how hard the situation is right now.
A strong person is not the one who doesn’t cry. A strong person is the one who cries and sheds tears for a moment, then gets up and fights again.
– Unknown
Sometimes that hope is just a thread, but as long as we act like it is a strong rope we can keep hope alive. In watching a series called “Home Fires” there is a scene where the parents get that telegram stating that their son has been lost at sea during a battle in WWII. The wife gets it and because she can’t bear to read it, she hides it in the kitchen. If she doesn’t see the words, they won’t be true. The husband finds it and is devastated, and confronts her. He opens it and reads it and she looks at him with hope in her eyes. It didn’t say he was dead – it said lost at sea.
Never give up until you’ve given out all your very best. It’s better to fail trying than wondering what could have happened if you tried . . .
– Unknown
There is a part of us that says, there is no way her son is still alive. There is another part of us that clings to hope. That clings to all of the miracle stories we have heard when someone survives something they shouldn’t have survived. What you have to determine in your heart, is what kind of person do you want to be? The person that hopes and prays for a miracle, or the person who has no hope.
Keep the faith. The most amazing things in life tend to happen right at the moment you’re about to give up hope.
– Unknown
In the past few months we have seen a lot of turmoil in our world. There may be days when the news stories make you sad, disappointed, heartbroken or even scarred with what seems to be so much hatred being played out in the papers, TV and online. Remember our reticular activator when everything seems so depressing. What do we have our filters programed to see?
Blessed are they who see beautiful things in humble places where other people see nothing.
– Camille Pissarro
The kindness that is happening in front of us; that we can find it we look for it online, and in the news. Or do we have it programmed to find signs of racial hatred, unrest, violence. The saying is that our life is directed by what we pay attention to. So we need to make sure that those filters are showing us mankind’s wonderful qualities – they are there. They just aren’t what sells papers or gets the ratings. I think that one of the greatest things we could shift in our world is that – the ratings came from stories that reflects the wonderful things that happen around the world on a daily basis. That we didn’t sensationalize the less than 1% and ignore the 99%.
[lp-logic ids=”3473″ limit=1] [lp-logic ids=”3473″ limit=1 use_content=1] Content to use [/lp-logic]
“There is something very wonderful about music. Words are wonderful enough; but music is even more wonderful. It speaks not to our thoughts as words do; it speaks through our hearts and spirits, to the very core and root of our souls. Music soothes us, stirs us up, it puts noble feelings in us, it can make us cringe; and it can melt us to tears; and yet we have no idea how. It is a language by itself, just as perfect in its ways as speech, as words, just as blessed” – Charles Kingsley
When I write poetry, I hear music in my head. It can be a current song, or just snippets of songs that kind of meld together, but I hear music. It’s like the words in each line have to conform in some way to the music in my head. One of my “someday I’m going to do” things is to learn to play the piano. I really want to understand the music from the heart and soul level. I think I could be a song writer as poems seem to be a step away from lyrics. But it is one of those dreams that always plays second fiddle to whatever is currently creating the passion in my life.
“Music touches us emotionally, where words alone can’t” – Johnny Depp
I love movie soundtracks from my favorite movies. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek – epic movies that you can watch over and over again. The soundtracks for each of the series have some of the same themes within them from movie to movie, and they have some new music. Lord of the Rings for example has a specific melody for when the hobbits are involved. When I listen to the soundtracks I remember the scenes they are attached to. Battle scenes, scenes when a beloved character is killed, scenes with love, joy, sorrow, and death. Without even knowing a movie you can listen to the soundtrack and you know what emotion is happening on the movie.
“I love music. For me, music is morning coffee. It’s mood medicine. It’s pure magic. A good song is like a good meal – I just want to inhale it and then a share bite with someone else” – Hoda Kotb
One of my nephews got married in Bullhead City, AZ on New Years Eve. We stayed in Laughlin, NV and then went to St George to see my Aunt. We came home Saturday the 2nd, leaving around 1:00 PM and driving back to LA was a nightmare. I foolishly thought that leaving on Saturday we would be able to escape the crawling traffic on Sunday. The six hour drive took nine hours and would have probably been more if I hadn’t cut off at Highway 58 and cut across to I-5 that way and then down to 118 and home.
“Sometimes music is the only thing that takes your mind off everything else” – Unknown
I share this because when you are in solid bumper to bumper traffic people seem to lose any manners that they might have had. People were driving on the shoulders, driving alongside the road on the desert, they were cutting people off, honking horns and of course the hand gestures. Every once in awhile I would have to take a deep centering breath because I could feel the frustration, anger, anxiety coming into my car from the people surrounding us. Music has a way of soothing the soul when you are in these types of tense feeling situations.
“Dear Music, thanks for always clearing my head, healing my heart, and lifting my spirits” – Lori Deschene
The other quote I loved and considered for this post was from an unknown author, “music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it a rest, heals the heart and makes it whole, flows from heaven to the soul.” I went with Plato because of “wings to the mind” and “flight to the imagination”. I love the visuals I get with the words, wings and flight.
The beats in a song are like the heart beating. A steady comforting sound. You hear the beating of your moms heart at conception. If you put your ears against your lovers chest you will hear the beating of their heart. It is life pumping through your body and soul until the last heartbeat echo’s off in the distance, and you return to your heavenly father.
There is also a rhythm to music and to beating of the heart. There is even a genre of music called “soul music”. It is a mixture of gospel and rhythm and blues music. It draws your body to move with the music. You might start dancing or clapping your hands, you just have to participate with your body.
“Music unwraps the heart, sings out the prayer. dances the spirit, and opens the soul” – Mary Davis
When words fail you, music can still transport you up the vibrational scale from the depths of despair back into the nirvana of the soul, where beauty, joy and happiness live. It fills in the emptiness that you feel in your soul and like a string draws the soul up towards the light.
Martin Luther called music, “the art of the prophets” and said “it is one of the most magnificent and delightful presents God has given us.” Music transcends generations of men. It lives on long after the composer has left the earthly realm. It doesn’t require to be translated like words into one’s own language but exists in all languages.
“Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life” – Berthold Auerbach
It has even been said that “music is the prayer that the heart sings.” I know that there have been many times in my life that music was my only escape from the problems I was experiencing. It allowed me to regroup, put myself back together emotionally and go back into life feeling like things would be ok.
“Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness” – Maya Angelou
Years ago when my children were young, I would put on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and clean my house. It made the housework go so much faster and not seem like such a chore. So whatever is going on with your life, just know that there is some music to go along with it, or to transport you away from it. You can go into deep meditation or get your party started and rock out your soul!
“Today I close the door to my past, open the door to my future, take a deep breath and step through to a new life” – Unknown
You actually do this every single morning. You may not realize it most mornings. It is only special mornings that you truly see what is happening. The first day to a new job. Your wedding day. The day a divorce is final. The day you bury someone you loved. They are all days when you truly see the door to the past shutting behind you. And although you may only have a glimpse through this door to the future, you know that everything will be forever changed.
“Your teacher can open the door, but you must enter by yourself” – Chinese Proverb
If you are lucky you have teachers, mentors or coaches throughout your life. You have them as children, and if you continue to all of secondary education you have them as adults. But there comes a time when you leave school behind you. I am mostly self taught. I dropped out of high school to get married. My parents never encouraged us to go to college. They felt that it would take us away from God. What I did have in my favor was I was smart and I loved learning. Since I started reading I have read several books a week. I would alternate between books that took me to a fantasy world where I could solve the murder; or have an adventure in space; or fight the barbarians in medieval times. And then I would read a book that would teach me something I didn’t know. I’ve been that way my whole life.
I knew my lack of an education was perceived as a liability (even to my subconscious), so I had to kick open doors to get them to let me show them what I could do. I also equipped myself by taking a lot of classes online and job related adult education courses, that taught me what I needed to advance in my career. I started out as a bookkeepers assistant. I move up to accounting. I switched over to mortgage financing. My career has always a series of doors opening to advance up the ladder. My original goal in school was to be an administrative assistant to someone important. I went much further than that, I became someone important who had the administrative assistant.
I discovered I had a knack for knowing what to look for in loan applications. I could see the missing pieces in the story it told. I could see the incongruencies. It was almost like a spot light shined on the issue. I got to where I could almost tell when I picked up a file that there was fraud involved or not. My gift in seeing where the patterns were broken, has served me well.
“Your life is a result of the choices you make . . . If you don’t like your life it is time to start making better choices” – Michelle Pennel
When my mother died my whole world fell apart. All of her lies came spilling out of the closet containing her skeletons. I found myself in a broken world where I didn’t trust anyone, not even God. It took me years to close all of those doors to the past. Years to see that the doors to the future still contained wonderful things for my life. Years of reading books to explore the possibilities. Years of getting certified in Herbal Medicine, as a Reiki Practitioner, and then as a Aroma therapist. I was looking at a second career in these fields when my nephew was murdered. Another couple of years went by. This time I wasn’t mad at the whole world, and I wasn’t even mad at the killer. I was saddened by our loss, saddened that this world had lost such a special young man, who only wanted to help others have a better life.
I invite you to join us on June 6th for a purposeful gathering. Our intention is to create moments of life-changing conversation on how to make 2020 the year of achievement.
Chances are that what you’re struggling with, others are too. What life questions you have been asking yourself, others are asking themselves too. Get clear on what you want and how to obtain it. If your 2020 dreams and goals are already stalling, get recharged and refocused. Learn how to pivot to success. Join us for a gathering that no one will forget.
“Deep within your soul is a door that opens into a world of wonder. Open the door and let the magic in” – Unknown
This time I was trying to figure out what was beyond the door that my nephew had opened to me. I knew from experience that it would require facing fears of the unknown, because every door requires something new and different from you. Expanding your comfort zone. Learning that you have so much more potential than you have ever given yourself credit for. I knew that I would self create obstacles that I would find along the way. That is how fears work. But this door was different. It wasn’t a small round hobbit sized door. No this door was like the door to the giants house in Jack and the Beanstalk. When I looked through this door I could barely figure out the table and chairs let alone what else it might contain. This door was truly scary.
“Follow your bliss . . . , and the universe will open doors where there were only walls” – Connie Hanks
I knew that creating LemonadeMakers was part of going through this door. I knew that everything in my life that I had learned, experienced, literally everything I have acquired would be necessary if I walked through this door. I had a ragged life as a child, I have had some horrible experiences as an adult. I knew that courage would be required to use and share all of it without exception. So I wanted to make sure before I walked through, that I wasn’t going to turn tail and run away from this opportunity. I know from the depths of my soul, that Carl’s death opened this door. I wanted to make sure that I had the courage and conviction that would be necessary to give to LemonadeMakers. That I wasn’t going to try, fail, and quit LemonadeMakers. It felt like I would be dishonoring Carl’s memory in some way if I wasn’t able to be “all in”.
“Most people will go their whole lives and never understand this feeling” – Unknown
So I started writing. Something that my inner saboteur had kept me from doing all of my life. I was convinced I didn’t know enough. That I would only embarrass myself. I was a high school drop out – that is one of my saboteurs favorite weapons. I would like to introduce my saboteur Kami to all of you. She knows all of my weaknesses and pokes holes in the road I travel on. She has blown up train tracks and bridges. She has created massive road blocks. Sometimes it seems like it takes forever to figure out that once again, I have my foot on the gas and brakes at the same time.
When I look back on the very first things I did, it was no more than sharing a quote and a couple of sentences. But I kept expanding what I was doing. Then I learned how to work a couple of software programs to create the quotes with the photos. I created a Facebook page. My writing kept improving. I discovered a new gift in finding the perfect photos and quotes to go together. People started liking things. They started commenting, then sharing. Some people told me that my grammar and punctuation wasn’t all that great. But I kept preserving. I proofread over and over, but some mistakes still come through. I learned to believe that it was ok if everything wouldn’t pass an English teachers red pen. It was my thoughts I was trying to share, and I think that is what is most important.
“Don’t just dream of success; create a plan and act upon it! Your momentum creates the door upon which opportunity knocks” – Dr. Steve Maraboli
Join some of your fellow LemonadeMakers as we go through the door of new opportunities. We have been meeting up once a month with a live Zoom call. It is a huge door of possibility. The kind of doorway that just keeps growing wider and wider so that all of you can step inside. When you open doors, you will find all of your fears waiting for you – but you will also find the keys to the treasures of your heart and soul. I can promise that it will lead you to somewhere you didn’t even know existed. The real you!
It is a free call where we open doors to discuss whatever is top of mind. If you have been encouraged by any of my posts – If you have been moved to make a change or transform something in your life, I hope that you will attend. Everyone is contributing with some great groundbreaking thoughts and ideas. When we have created a good foundation, we will look at new and deeper ways that you will be able to work with us directly in your own growth.
This will be a door that no one can shut on you – only you can shut this door. I hope you will walk through this door with us, because we have some transformations to get done!
I invite you to join us on June 6th for a purposeful gathering. Our intention is to create moments of life-changing conversation on how to make 2020 the year of achievement.
Chances are that what you’re struggling with, others are too. What life questions you have been asking yourself, others are asking themselves too. Get clear on what you want and how to obtain it. If your 2020 dreams and goals are already stalling, get recharged and refocused. Learn how to pivot to success. Join us for a gathering that no one will forget.
Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps. The sleeper must awaken.
– Frank Herbert
It is kind of funny that when we at a certain stage of our journey on life’s path, we have a pat answer for what the life of your dreams is. We would have the house in that certain neighborhood. The beach house. Or maybe we are a big dreamer and we wanted to own an island. We would have that certain kind of convertible sports car. The decked out pickup truck. Maybe we would want a farm with race horses. What ever the list has on it, it would all be summed up with material possessions.
Sometimes the dreams that come true are the dreams you never even knew you had.
– Unknown
Then something happens. It could be the loss of everything from a flood. It could be that our soul partner in life dies from cancer. It could be our son or daughter is killed by a drunk driver. Something dreadful happens and we realize that all of those “things” are not us living the life of our dreams.
Be that strong girl that everyone knew would make it through the worst, be that fearless girl, the one who would dare to do anything, be that independent girl who didn’t need a man; be that girl who never backed down.
– Taylor Swift
My own story comes from the murder of my nephew. What the wake up call did for me was to realize that the life of my dreams was to contribute in some way. I thought I would make a small change with creating LemonadeMakers. That might contribute towards helping society shift away from the hatred and violence. To shift away from living in fear. To transform their lives in helping them to wake up to the truth of their own lives.
The magic recipe for living out your boldest dreams: A pinch of delusion, a dash of audacity and a shot of courage.
– Kirsty Spraggon
My own recipe would be to say that there really is no big secret on how to live the life of your dreams. You just need to breathe. Let go. And know that this one single moment in time, is the only thing promised. So I thought up my own magical dream bold recipe::
Dream Ingredients are like the eggs, oil and milk in a recipe that help to bind the ingredients together. Put Imagination; Inspiration; faith In a bowl and mix well.
Active Action Ingredients are like the yeast, or baking powder that cause the mixture to rise and grow outside the comfort zone. Put Self confidence; Implementation; Determination; Action; Perseverance; Patience into another bowl and mix well.
Magical ingredients are what create the taste and flavor that is special only to you. Put all of your time, talents, gifts, your personal genius and your inspired passion into a bowl and mix well.
Now mix all of the ingredients together whipping with clarity where needed. Taste and add additional seasoning as needed – shots of courage – a dash of daring – a pinch of adventure – a spoonful of risk – several spoonful’s of laughter – if it doesn’t add zest to the recipe it doesn’t belong in the recipe.
Put the mixture into the “never stop believing” pan.
Bake until the impossible has become the reality. Share your “Never Stop Believing Dreams” with everyone you meet. Taste their dreams. Share your best secret ingredients. Experiment with theirs.
The two hardest tests on the spiritual road are the patience to wait for the right moment and the courage not to be disappointed with what we encounter.
– Paulo Coelho
If you are a baker you know that timing is critical. Solid even heating is important. And sometimes even with the best ingredients, a soufflé falls flat. Sometimes you realize halfway through the baking cycle, that you forgot some important ingredient. Sometimes life just happens. Just because the recipe didn’t work out as planned doesn’t mean that your dreams have forever fallen apart. You can always bake a new cake or soufflé. Your dream doesn’t need rescuing. You just need to try again. You can always bake a new reality.
Between your dreams and your reality, there is no distance. There is no time. Wake up to your dreams. Live them as the reality that they are.
– Unknown
What that meant for me personally was to wake up myself and realize that I wasn’t really living the life of my dreams. I was just working to pay for stuff. I realized that I could help others to wake up too. To imagine a new story for all of us. While the story is different for each of us, it begins the same. Discover and uncover who you really are at the soul level. It is a journey to remember who I was, before the world told me who I had to be. To let that person come out and create your new story. For me it has meant stepping out of my comfort zone again and again. Following the vision, I am as surprised at who I have become. I am amazed at who I am still becoming.
So – follow your instincts. Be curious. Dream Big! Love what you do. Love learning. Keep an OPEN HEART and a STRONG SPIRIT. And Most of All – HAVE FUN!
[lp-logic ids=”3473″ limit=1][lp-logic ids=”3473″ limit=1 use_content=1] Content to use [/lp-logic]
“Make your life a masterpiece; imagine no limitations on what you can be, have or do” – Brian Tracy
As you go through life, you are given glimpses through open doors of opportunities. Most of the time you pass them by. But once in awhile there is a door that grabs you. It stirs your curiosity. What would it be like to accomplish this dream, you wonder? Like a blank canvas, with a range of colors on the palette it calls to use to use this color. Try this one next. What is critical at this point is to not overthink it. That will ruin the painting. You will get stuck with writers block if you question what the soul is whispering to you. Instead you just need to challenge yourself to step into the room. One step at a time you slowly step over to the easel. You pick up the paint brush and start painting with the one color that grabs your attention.
“Make your life a masterpiece: Step beyond the demands of the moment and begin right now to design and live the life you deserve” – Tony Robbins
As you look at the canvas you might decide that you want a color that has a pinkish purple flavor to it. When you look at your palette, you find two colors that sort of call out to you. Two competing dreams as it were. Which one do you pick? Pick the one that is bolder in color. The one that scares you a little to use it. What will people think when they look at your painting? Will they say it is too wild? Too garish looking? Pick the one that scares you. It is the one that is going to grow you. Always go for the scary colors.
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream” – C.S. Lewis
Now how are you approaching this canvas? I always think of the eccentric Frenchman artist type. All wild colors, nothing matching. All flair and panache. When you step into a dream which is going to challenge you, you will need that flair of enthusiasm. Think of the Martin Short character in “Father of the Bride”. He was so enthusiastic that he could talk you into saying yes to something that you would have never tried. And the amazing part of it, is that his taste was perfect. You might have thought it was too much, but in fact it is just right.
“Some people will always throw stones in your path. It depends on you what you make with them. Wall or Bridge? Remember you are the architect of your life . . . ” – Unknown
“Live life fully while you’re here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don’t try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human” – Anthony Robbins
“I believe life is constantly testing us for our level of commitment, and life’s greatest rewards are reserved for those who demonstrate a never-ending commitment to act until they achieve. This level of resolve can move mountains, but it must be constant and consistent. As simplistic as this may sound, it is still the common denominator separating those who live their dreams from those who live in regret” – Anthony Robbins
“Don’t force yourself to fit in where you don’t belong” – Unknown
When I see this puppy, my imagination pictures the puppy looking longing at a little boy.
It is the little boys first day of school and he is getting on the bus. The puppy doesn’t understand why he can’t go too. Usually when the little boy leaves out the gate, the puppy has on his leash, and they are going to the park. The puppy wants nothing more than to be able to get on the bus with “his” boy.
He doesn’t care if he belongs on the bus or not. His boy is on the bus; therefore, he should also be on the bus.
Have you ever felt like that? Like stop the world and let me get off? When you are so unhappy that you can’t function any longer? Today around the world there are a lot of people who are working from home or simply out of work as they shelter in place. You may be binging on Netflix or Amazon Prime. You may be sitting there wishing you could escape the 50th time your child is watching Frozen II. Ellen DeGeneres had a great 4 or 5 videos where she is talking about her 4,000-piece puzzle.
For me getting lost in a good book is a great escape. I love it because it is usually a mystery of some sort and I’m busy being a detective. There is actually a mystery book called “Why Shoot a Butler?” as a play on “the butler did it”. So, I’m busy figuring out “who done it”.
Or it could be a science fiction and I’m wondering how long it will be before we have teleports to send us everywhere we want to go. What I love about whatever the story I’m reading, is the fact that as problems come up, the characters are busy solving them. The End.
It helps me embrace the feeling that whatever is making me feel so bad will soon be resolved – if I can just hang in there a little longer.
“Whatever the new beginning is for you right now, allow yourself to be swept away by the sweet freedom that comes with it. Growth is around the corner” – Amanda Christian
What if instead of viewing yourself as being stuck, you realize that you are in reality looking at a secret passageway? A door or threshold where you begin to see that you are capable of so much more than you are currently doing.
The universe sends you new opportunities, new doors to walk through all the time. You just need to open your eyes to see them. If you just look backward, you will miss them. The good news is that by turning around you can see what new ones just popped into your purview.
Sometimes in order to gather the courage to walk towards your destiny, you need to look backwards. Not in longing, but in amazement. Amazement that after all of the broken hearts, wasted dreams, failed relationships something happened. After all of the battle scars you wear upon your physical and spiritual bodies, you made it through.
You survived and now life is asking you to go to the next step. To thrive. So, pick up your courage and wear your badge of accomplishment proudly. Put a crown on your head. Walk tall. This is a new chapter in your life, and it is going to be amazing. And remember, you can still see the sunset, even on the darkest days.
“Anxiety happens when you think you have to figure out everything all at once. Breathe. You’re strong. You got this. Take it day by day” – Karen Salmansohn
I don’t know where or how yours or my story will end. What I do know is that you can never give up becoming the person you are meant to be. That it is important to continue to grow everyday into your potential.
I will never give up growing and expanding what LemonadeMakers is, and what it will grow into.
I am excited just thinking about the possibilities of who we both can be! What will you learn next? What new doors of opportunity are just waiting for you to see them? Always remember, there’s so much more to the book than the page you are currently stuck on.
“And one day she discovered that she was fierce, and strong, and full of fire, and that not even she could hold herself back because her passion burned brighter than her fears” – Mark Anthony
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new” – Socrates
“Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation” – Elizabeth Gilbert
“Experience isn’t what happens to you; it is what you do with what happens to you” – Aldous Huxley
“We are so afraid to change careers, to end relationships, to outgrown people or places – and that’s just growth. To me, choosing to go toward the cracking in order to keep expanding is the only way. The only way to get out of pain is to go through it. Pain is information” – Sophia Bush
“This very moment, if you are living totally, all concern for the future disappears” – Osho
“There is no other greater ecstasy, than to know who you are” – Osho
“The only limits you have are the limits you believe” – Wayne Dyer
“Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light” – Brene Brown
Jordan Smith won “The Voice” and this was his first release with his first album, “Stand In The Light”. If this song is any indication of what he can do, he is going to have an amazing career. I can so identify with being tired of hiding who you are.
I spent most of my life afraid of being seen, afraid of the judgments of others. This song is so liberating. I think that most of us hide who we are. The reasons are legion, but most of them come from fears of being judged and found wanting.
“I, for one, am actually still incredibly idealistic, and I still can credibly or very strongly believe that you have to keep fighting for what you believe in, because it’s only when you stop that you’ve truly lost” – Vanessa Kerry
I decided a few years ago to stop fighting against myself. To stop being invisible. To instead gather up all of my tattered scraps of courage and stand up on stage. The lure of invisibility still tries to creep back into my life, disguising what it is doing. But I am becoming better at recognizing it.
Someone gave me a gift of recognizing that I used a cloak of invisibility and removed it. My choice was to never put it on again. It is part of the reason I write these blogs. It is my hope that I can say something that starts you being curious of how you are hiding and playing small. That you will have the courage to step out into the light and be seen. To reveal to the world the magnificent being that you are.
Instead I decided that the world is a nice place, full of wonderful people, and that is how I want to approach my life. The majority of people will help me, believe in me, and support me. There may be a few who throw stones, but I am being braver than they can ever be, by standing in the light and being me.
When Jordan was on “The Voice” he talked about the mean things that people had said about him, including a music teacher who told him his voice wasn’t any good and he should give up his dreams of being a singer.
This song is based on how you have to decide that you are not going to let others make you hide. That you can be brave enough, to not only stand up and be who you are, but to take center stage, under the lights and shout to the heavens. That is how you can be seen as who you are – no holding back any part of yourself.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” – Martin Luther King Jr
Sometimes when you look out at what is happening in the world, you see people with widely different beliefs clashing against each other. People who have taken on beliefs that allow them to perpetrate crimes against their fellow man believing that this is the right thing to do.
They don’t treat others with different skin colors, cultures, beliefs, religions, sexual orientations as a child of God. Instead, they condemn them and run-down innocent people down with a vehicle, or shoot them, or blow them up with bombs. When will man become what God intended us all to be?
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness” – Desmond Tutu
This is why you can’t be a silent witness. You can’t just continue to look the other way. You can’t be secretly glad that what happened, didn’t happen to you or your loved ones. You need to remember that every single person on this earth is your brother or sister.
You have been given these wonderful, amazing gifts to help change the world. Martin Luther King Jr.’s gift was to speak out against racial prejudice and injustice. To light a fire inside all of our hearts with his “I Have A Dream” speech, that is still burning.
Your gifts were given to you, just like his speeches were given to him. He had the courage to stand up and be seen. Your gifts will mean nothing unless you also have the same courage, to stand up and be seen…,
As Jordan says in his song, you need to stand in the light. You need to stand up for what you believe in. To be yourself, loving, trusting and respecting yourself. If you can’t do that for yourself, you will never be able to do that for others.
He says to never apologize for being who you are. Instead of regretting the past, learn from it and be a better person. He reminded us that God can use a small spark to light a firestorm.
What are your dreams, visions, your life purpose? Are you on track to bring them into reality and complete them? Have you allowed distractions to sidetrack you? Are you unclear on what your life purpose is or how to bring it into reality?
“Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back everything is different . . . , ” – C.S. Lewis
“If your view of reality is not supportive, is not positive, is not charging you with energy and joy and zest each day, it is time to change what you are paying attention to. It is time to change your focus. It is time to change your very definition of what reality is, what your life is, what your future will be” – Brendon Burchard
“Change and growth take place when a person has risked himself and dares to become involved with experimenting with his own life” – Herbert Otto Gille
I invite you to join us on April 4th for a purposeful gathering. Our intention is to create moments of life-changing conversation on how to make 2020 the year of achievement.
Chances are that what you’re struggling with, others are too. What life questions you have been asking yourself, others are asking themselves too. Get clear on what you want and how to obtain it. If your 2020 dreams and goals are already stalling, get recharged and refocused. Learn how to pivot to success. Join us for a gathering that no one will forget.
“We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are” – Max DePree
“Take the example of the growth of any plants seed. In order for the plant to grow, the seed has to be broken open. The same is true for us. Make no mistake about it – enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It’s seeing through the facade of pretense. It’s the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true” – Adyashanti
“She understood that the hardest times in life to go through were when you were transitioning from one version of yourself to another” – Sarah Addison Allen
“If you want to have more, you have to become more. For things to change, you have to change. For things to get better, you have to get better. For things to improve, you have to improve. If you grow, everything grows for you” – Jim Rohn
The two basic motivating forces in your life are fear and love. You will have fear when you have an attitude of lack. The old beliefs around money were from the fear of lack, of not enough to go around. Coming from a space of love, you “know” that there is plenty of money for everyone. It flows freely in and back out. Instead of hyperventilating out of fear, you inhale slowly feeling the love and exhale slowly savoring the gratitude for the abundance that flows freely to you.
Seems like a pretty cool place to live life from!
I invite you to join us on April 4th for a purposeful gathering. Our intention is to create moments of life-changing conversation on how to make 2020 the year of achievement.
Chances are that what you’re struggling with, others are too. What life questions you have been asking yourself, others are asking themselves too. Get clear on what you want and how to obtain it. If your 2020 dreams and goals are already stalling, get recharged and refocused. Learn how to pivot to success. Join us for a gathering that no one will forget.