I had a client tell me about a family situation that happened while she was in high school, in which, due to unforeseen circumstances and due to the economy, her family had to declare bankruptcy, and, in the blink of an eye, their lives had changed. Although that would be traumatic for any young person, this young lady’s parents held the family together, vowing to rebuild and continuing to provide to the best of their ability for their kids. Instead of allowing that experience to define this amazing young woman’s future, she simply used it as a place of reference […]
Radio Show
The Emotion of Fear
I am continuing with my series on emotions. I started the series with the emotion of anger because anger is a cancer to your soul. So, to have any chance for a successful and happy life, friend, you have to let it go. Then I talked about the pain of personal shame. Shame is a Failure to Meet Your Own Standard of Behavior, and this emotion will wreck your life if you’re not careful. And I added in the thought that you should stop thinking that others have to accept your forgiveness for you to be forgiven. They don’t. Once […]
Be a weed
So by now, you know that little things in life make me wonder. Big things make me wonder too, like how many stars are in the universe and what are we going to do about the trash in our oceans and overfishing by some countries. But sometimes my mind seeks to know how little things work, like how is it that a dandelion–you know, the little yellow flowering weed with a thick stem and hairy little leaves that I can crush with my hand and have it wither away quickly–can push its way up through asphalt, the road that my […]
The Kindness of Strangers
I am sure at some time or another when you least expected it, a “stranger” helped you. The kindness of strangers–completely unexpected, gratefully accepted and long remembered. It sometimes happens when a thought flashes in your mind, I could use some help here. And suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, someone comes to your aid answering your silent prayer or your out-loud-request to any and all visiting angels to hurry and help. I can remember many times when I uttered a prayer or word or even a thought that flickered through my mind requesting help when, lo and behold, someone in […]
The Emotion of Frustration
I am continuing with my series on emotions. I started the series with the emotion of anger because anger is a cancer to your soul. So, to have any chance for a successful and happy life, friend, you have to let it go. Then I talked about the pain of personal shame. Shame is a Failure to Meet Your Own Standard of Behavior, and this emotion will wreck your life if you’re not careful. And I added in the thought that you should stop thinking that others have to accept your forgiveness for you to be forgiven. They don’t. Once […]
Live in such a way that if anyone should speak badly of you no one would believe it
My friends send me email jokes and cartoons all the time; in fact I had a few friends I had to ask to put me on the weekly list and not the daily emails. I have no idea what they do all day that allows them to surf the web and send their network 20-30 jokes and stories all day-but good for them. A while back I get this one and I liked it…it said, Live in such a way that if anyone should speak badly of you no one would believe it. Wouldn’t that be great? What if you […]
Curiosity
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu, Yes, that is my headline for today, but stay with me and learn why. I don’t know about you, but when I see something new, I file it away for a rainy day to pull out and review when I have some free time. I’ve been on the road for a few weeks now speaking at conferences, and when I was unpacking this week, I pulled out a crumpled piece of paper that was stuffed in my suitcase and it had this word (above) written at the top with the notation that it has 85 letters in the name. […]
You don’t need more time, you just need to decide
“You don’t need more time, you just need to decide” – Seth Godin I don’t know about you, but I always need more time – a few more hours in my day. I know we all have the same 24 hours, but, for some reason, I lose a few and end up running late or behind schedule much more than I like. And that’s a problem, since I have no patience for those who are chronically late. It’s my pet peeve, and yet I do it also. I saw this statement online the other day from Seth Godin, and, in […]
Set Your Life on Fire
Because of my being a speaker, I have the opportunity to travel around the world teaching public speaking, presentation and media skills to elected officials or those who would like to be. When I was speaking in the Middle East a while back, I was training some dynamic up-and-coming young women who were seeking a seat on their local council and one day at lunch I noticed that one of the ladies was reading a book of poetry by Rumi, a Persian poet and philosopher. It struck me as unusual that someone would be carrying around a book of ancient […]