Happiness attitude

“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”
– Guillaume Apollinaire

Be Inspired

Need to be inspired

– need a reason to reach a bit further – need a reason to change.

Take a look at this clip. Let your dreams live

Isn’t it about time.

The hearT of Trust

“In the end trust is about the heart, and someone making an investment in you from his or her heart.” Dr. Henry Cloud from his book Integrity

Is that what trust is all about? Is it about our sincere desire, effort and willingness to be open, genuine and authentic with another person with the goal of compassionately understanding their life, issues, struggles, and times of joy?

If we can truly take on the posture with intention of granting another human true compassion about all circumstances they are willing to share in their life without judgment we can begin to build some trust momentum. What holds us back from sharing our fears? In some respects we are exposing vulnerability in our character that we don’t necessarily want to share with others. In a relationship based on trust that sharing can take place if the person knows that what was shared is truly going to be held in confidence.

We live in a society that doesn’t do well in keeping things that shouldn’t be shared confidential. Those stories illuminate headlines, grow in gossip circles and begin a life all their own. If we are unfortunate enough to be the subject of a trail of gossip our ability to trust is not going to be very high.

When we can cross over into the world of another person and truly understand their problems, issues or concerns we begin to build a bridge of trust. When we are honest and authentic while demonstrating a character of integrity we build a bridge of trust.

The Tao te Ching number 33 presents a model that would be useful for becoming a trustworthy person.

“Knowing others is intelligence;

Knowing yourself is true wisdom.

Mastering others is strength;

Mastering yourself is true power.”

We first have to become as master to self, we have to become a genuine and authentic person that is filled with integrity. When we can do that we have the tools to build bridges. Bridges link people together in relationship.

Are you able to trust others? Can others trust you? What can you do to become more trustworthy?

Don’t become frozen in time.

“For the passing minute is every man’s equal possession, but what has once gone by is not ours.” Marcus Aurelius

Faces frozen in time, a couple of them, do you see them? Perhaps you feel as if your life is frozen in time. Perhaps you feel as if life has become routine and each day has a familiar pattern that repeats itself over and over again. Would you like life to be more than a pattern an all too familiar pattern?

We don’t have to be like the rocks frozen in time and space. Our lives should be dynamic, filled with movement, filled with wonder and filled with joy. We should be able to find moments in our day that cry out “WOW”. If we don’t experience that moment of awe and wonder perhaps we should evaluate what it would take to have those sensations.

The time we have is limited and what we use that time for is unlimited. Using our time to improve our lives is a good use of time. How would you like to see your time being used?

Find those things that excite and motivate you. Weave those things into the patterns of your life. Change the routine, change the patterns and begin to live life more fully.

An age of hunger

We live in an age of hunger. Perhaps not here in the US but in other part of the world the Silent Tsunami is taking lives as the price of food climbs higher and higher. The silent Tsunami

For many people there is no Silent Tsunami because it hasn’t hit the mainstream media with any authority. It won’t be until the crisis is so bad that whatever can be done will be too late.

What is the solution?

There are no quick and easy answers. It might take more than a few calls to Congress to wake them from their slumber.

What would you do? What can you do? Do enough people really care?

Change is required

Change is required.

Somewhere between 170 and 180 AD Marcus Aurelius wrote the classic “Meditations”.

He wrote about change in book seven. In this paragraph he writes about change, “We shrink from change; yet is there anything that can come into being without it? What does Nature hold dearer, or more proper to herself without it? Could you have a hot bath unless the firewood underwent some change? Could you be nourished if the food suffered no change? It is possible for any useful thing to be achieved without change? Do you not see, then, that change in yourself is of the same order, and no less necessary to Nature?”

We must recognize that growth comes with change. The catalyst to change is desire and desire is trapped in a cloud of uncertainty. The fear of change subdues the catalyst and holds us to the position we are in today. A guide or assistant is often necessary to break through the cloud of uncertainty. Achieve more, live more, and become more. Yes it will require change. Forge in your mind what you must do to make positive change happen.

What would make today scream WOW?

What gets you out of bed?

Will today be a WOW day?

What would make it a WOW day?

What areas of your life don’t say WOW?

What excites you? What revs up your engine? What makes you want to say – “This is what I am going to do.”

Have you thought of celebrating something, anything without a special reason to do so?

What stops us in our tracks?

Dennis Waitley writes from his book “Safari to the Soul”, that there are three core ingredients that stop us from making a change in our lives.

1. Fear of rejection, which is being made a fool or failure in the sight or presence of others.

2. Fear of change, which is charting unknown waters being a pioneer, breaking tradition and sacrificing external security.

3. Fear of success, which is an expression of inadequacy in feeling we perhaps don’t deserve to achieve, combined with emotions of guilt when we do better than expected.

What is stopping you? Is it one of those three things?

The great explorers Lewis and Clark traveled together for a reason and that was to overcome those three things, fear of rejection, fear of change and fear of success. Having someone share the burden lightens the personal load and makes the journey easier.

In our personal journeys who do we take along to help us lighten the burden or who do we confide in to find our true north? Who holds us accountable? Who is there to help us celebrate the risk that we just took?

“The acorn transcends its shell to become an oak.” Robert E. Quinn

Marathon or one-hundred yard dash – your life?

Do you find yourself out of breath and energy at the end of the day? Does it feel like end-to-end sprints with no breaks in between?

How do you equate your standard of living? Is it by the amount of money you make or is it by the amount of time you have to make a quality life? We can have a high standard of living but a low quality of life. What is your preference?

What would you be willing to give up to improve your quality of life?

When we stop sprinting from thing to thing we begin to see things in life that we were missing before. We have the time to stop and say “Hello” to a friend. We have time to read a story to a child. We have time to sit back and contemplate the day. With enough time our life will stop being a series of mad dashes and will become a marathon – something we can sustain, something that will give us life and peace.

Frenetic pace or a peaceful pace, what would improve your quality of life?

“The most important question to ask yourself on the job isn’t “what am i getting?” but “what am i becoming?”

John Maxwell

Taking the first step

“I am here taking a stand for what is right. But now I am afraid.” Martin Luther King Jr.

What if we changed “I am here taking a stand for what is right” to “I am here taking a stand to improve my life.”? Martin Luther King Jr. recognized that taking a stand involved risk. Making a personal change in your life requires taking a risk as well.

When we write down our goals or even better than that make a commitment to someone else to reach our goals we are taking a stand for the better. To increase the likelihood of that change taking root we often need someone who will be our accountability partner.

You can change the world when you change. It is a twist on the words spoken by Gandhi, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” When we start to make changes that are aligned with our purpose and strengths we can accomplish what we once thought impossible.

Humility is the first step towards transformational change. One form that humility takes is admitting that we can rarely change without some help. When we admit that we don’t know all that we need to know to make personal change happen we open the door for true transformational change. When we start telling the truth to ourselves about ourselves we open the floodgates for real and lasting change.

Are you ready to change?

Human – Being – what does it take in today’s world?

“Your gift lies in the place where your values, passions, and strengths meet.”

What does it mean to be human? What is the essence of human being? The human is a creator. A human has the ability to build and create something new and no other animal can do that. Humans live in a place that is touched by spiritual elements as well as physical elements. Being is important to us, as in being human, but what does that mean?

Perhaps the ultimate goal is balancing our physical needs and wants perfectly with our spiritual needs and wants. For many people there is an intense focus on either spiritual or physical needs and at the end of the day there is this sense that there should be something more. Too much physical needs and wants and life feels empty and void. Too much spiritual focus and the basic needs may not be met. The goal is harmony with the physical and spiritual components of our lives.

Don Aslett writes, “That which restricts our living, loving, thinking, and feeling is junk, be it a thing, habit, person, place or position. Anything that builds, edifies, enriches our spirit – that makes us truly happy regardless of how worthless it may be in cash terms – isn’t junk.”

What changes do you need to make to be more human?