Hopes and Dreams

Suspend Your Disbelief

I love poetry, and recently, I re-read the simple and yet profound poem by William Wordsworth ~ With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things. Do you see into the life of things? Or do you allow your mind to stop any exploration into things you know little to nothing about? The reason I ask is that I am curious to know if you are stuck in the pluff mud of life or if you are open to simply suspend your disbelief about the way […]

Almost every successful person…

Almost every successful person begins with two beliefs: The future can be better than the present, and I have the power to make it so. For the last few weeks, I have been speaking about the idea of Excellence, Commitment, and Action. In fact, I decided to forgo having a guest on this particular show because, as I progressed through the message, I needed more time to talk about how you can choose to make the changes that will change your life. The idea of excellence is rarely talked about because it is hard. It’s easy to be good enough, […]

If you can’t do great things, do small things in a great way.

I often hear people say to me, “Well, I am not in a position to do (fill in the blank) …,” and I always find it interesting that many people place limits on themselves when, really, no one else on the outside does. It’s all in your mind. You’re choosing not to be your big, bold, beautiful, handsome self, you’re choosing not to live to your full potential, and you’re choosing not to be who you were born to be. Because YOU are choosing to do little to nothing, when in reality, if you’ve convinced yourself that you can’t do […]

I Quit! Thanks for the Memories

Now, before you get too excited, I am not quitting my blog or podcast, but I am going to quit hanging onto memories that cause me regret. I love the quote by Mason Cooley, “Regret For Wasted Time Is More Wasted Time,” and, frankly, my time is limited, and I don’t need any more time-consuming sad memories, so this year I have quit hanging on to what I thought would happen in my life, and I’m moving forward…on to what else I can make happen for the rest of my amazing life. I saw a video put out by Strayer […]

May you respond to the call of your gift

May you respond to the call of your gift and find the courage to follow its path. (From the poem: The Blessing by John O’Donohue) Recently, I was introduced to the words from the poem that prompted my title today. May you respond to the call of your gift and find the courage to follow its path. I will give the full poem in a bit, but for now, I want to stop your world and ask you to focus on the idea that you have a calling. You have a gift, and you need, with all you have in you, […]

Give it a try whispered the heart

It’s impossible, said Pride. It’s risky said experience. It’s pointless, said reason. Give it a try, whispered the heart. Give it a try, whispered the heart. I love the heart – the one muscle that you must use to keep strong when everything seems to be falling apart. At the center of your body is the heart that beats and keeps the whole body in motion. Call me crazy, but I believe your body hears everything you say about it. That’s why it is so important to learn to love yourself and be comfortable with who you are and how […]

Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude

A while back, I was flying to a speaking job, and as I left for the airport that morning, it was raining. I looked out the window while we were waiting to take off, and I could tell it was going to be a cold, wet, and rainy ride, in fact, that was the outlook for the entire week where I was heading to speak. Sitting on the plane determining what I was not going to be doing on this trip (since I don’t like to be out in rainy, cold weather), within a few minutes after we took off […]

The one thing that you have

“The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live only as you can.” –Neil Gaiman I meet a lot of people in my work and travels, and as I have grown in my own life through so many life experiences, I have over time developed a 6th sense (as it were) to see past the façade of who many people want you to think they are, to the underneath of that person and their inside. Not the […]

You’ll never be the same again

You’ll Never Be the Same Again Steve Jobs said, “When you grow up, you tend to get told the world is the way it is, and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family, have fun, and save a little money. That’s a very limited life. Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact: Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you, and you can change it, you can […]