Tag: United States

Don’t Make Yourself Small – Contemplate Your Success!!

This morning, I curated Mastin Kipp’s entire post because it was all so good…

How do you make yourself small?

Do you always come up with reasons why things can’t happen? Do you always seem to be arguing for your limitations rather than you strengths?

Well, me too. And so did my friend the other night. We had dinner and they were talking to me about all these things they wanted to do, but they couldn’t make it happen. And since I’m always in coach/mentor mode, I couldn’t help but chime in and help. I was shocked to see how every idea I had to help this person was shot down by an excuse.

I’ve heard all of the excuses out there, and given myself plenty, too. You know the normal ones like:

I’m too old. I don’t have enough money. I don’t have enough time. Success doesn’t happen to people like me. It’s too hard. I’m not smart enough. No one will like it anyway. It’s too complicated. I don’t have the proper qualifications, etc, etc, etc.

What I’m suggesting is this… Be aware of these limiting thoughts, but don’t let them stop you. Be aware of the challenges in your life (cuz we ALL have them), but don’t let them stop you.

Wayne Dyer tells a story about how they used to make ships out of wood, because wood floated and metal sank. It wasn’t until they figured out that it wasn’t the material that you used that mattered, it is how much water is dispersed that matters that they started building ships out of metal.

What was before impossible is now possible just by looking at things a little differently. Instead of contemplating how things sink, it was the contemplation of how things float that lead to that breakthrough.

So I’m curious… in your life, are you contemplating and justifying how your life can sink? And… as a result, is it? Or, are you contemplating what’s possible? Are you aware of what’s going on, but not making it worse than it is. Are you dwelling in possibility or impossibility?

Today, I want to suggest that you start contemplating how your life can float or rise to the top, instead of sinking. I want you to be aware of your limitations and the challenges of your life, but not let them stop you.

Are you up for it?!

via thedailylove.com

Me? I’ve been making excuses but I have a company to run and a book to write and people to serve. How about you?

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Surround Yourself With Optimistic People!!

“Life is too short to spend your precious time trying to convince a person who wants to live in gloom and doom otherwise. Give lifting that person your best shot, but don’t hang around long enough for his or her bad attitude to pull you down. Instead, surround yourself with optimistic people.”

– Zig Ziglar, Ziglar is an American author and motivational speaker.

via thedailylove.com
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Your Doctor Is Upselling You (And She Knows It)

If you’ve ever felt strong-armed by your doctor into getting tests done or prescriptions filled that felt excessive (and expensive), you’re not imagining it, and you may not need them. Her insistence on additional procedures and exams aren’t just for assured good health–most of the time, it’s to protect her from malpractice suits. And it’s definitely one of the contributing factors to rising health care costs, the L.A. Times reports.

Medical malpractice suits account for less than 1% of America’s trillion-dollar health care bill each year. Yet, according to a study published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine,  76% of doctors admitted to treating patients “more aggressively” for fear of being sued. About half reported that another motivating factor was “clinic performance measures”–meaning their performance review from their bosses. And 40% reported that, because they couldn’t spend enough time with their patients, they ordered additional diagnostic tests to make up for that fact.

Also interesting in this study: 62% of physicians reported that if additional testing and procedures didn’t generate revenue for specialists and subspecialists, diagnostic testing would be reduced.

But probably the most telling statistic from this particular study is the percentage of doctors who admit that their patients are receiving too much health care. It’s 42%. 42% of doctors admit to administering additional, unnecessary, financially-burdensome care, because they want to look like they’re doing their job, or because they don’t want to get sued.

Government agents, civilians, watchdog groups, and activists are constantly wringing their hands over what can be done about America’s staggeringly high health care costs. Unfortunately, when individuals’ health is what’s at stake, few outsiders want to recommend cutting back on medical care for fear that something may get missed or misdiagnosed. But when medical care is run like a business, costs and inflation behave like those in a business.

via blisstree.com

Follow the ‘via’ link for the rest of the article…

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Letting Go of Denial

Cabooki Boo!
Image by elycefeliz via Flickr

Melody Beattie shares…

We are slow to believe that which if believed would hurt our feelings.
Ovid

Most of us in recovery have engaged in denial from time to time. Some of us relied on this tool.

We may have denied events or feelings from our past. We may have denied other people’s problems; we may have deemed our own problems, feelings, thoughts, wants, or needs. We denied the truth.

Denial means we didn’t let ourselves face reality, usually because facing that particular reality would hurt. It would be a loss of something: trust, love, family, perhaps a marriage, a friendship, or a dream. And it hurts to lose something, or someone.

Denial is a protective device, a shock absorber for the soul. It prevents us from acknowledging reality until we feel prepared to cope with that particular reality. People can shout and scream the truth at us, but we wifi not see or hear it until we are ready.

We are sturdy yet fragile beings. Sometimes, we need time to get prepared, time to ready ourselves to cope. We do not let go of our need to deny by beating ourselves into acceptance; we let go of our need to deny by allowing ourselves to become safe and strong enough to cope ‘with the truth. We wifi do this, when the time is right.

We do not need to punish ourselves for having denied reality; we need only love ourselves into safety and strength so that each day we are better equipped to face and deal with the truth. We will face and deal with reality on our own time schedule, when we are ready, and in our Higher Power’s timing. We do not have to accept chastisement from anyone, including ourselves, for this schedule.
We will know what we need to know, when it’s time to know it.

Today, I will concentrate on making myself feel safe and confident. I will let myself have my awareness on my own time schedule.

via melodybeattie.com
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Give Away What You Want To Get!

“There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life — happiness, freedom, and peace of mind — are always attained by giving them to someone else.”

-Peyton Conway March, was an American soldier and Army Chief of Staff.

via thedailylove.com
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Be Worthy Of Your Own Respect

“Don’t listen to those who say, ‘You’re taking too big a chance.’ Michelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor, and it would surely be rubbed out by today. Most important, don’t listen when the little voice of fear inside you rears its ugly head and says. ‘They’re all smarter than you out there. They’re more talented, they’re taller, blonder, prettier, luckier, and they have connections. I firmly believe that if you follow a path that interests you, not to the exclusion of love, sensitivity, and cooperation with others, but with the strength of conviction that you can move others by your own efforts, and do not make success or failure the criteria by which you live, the chances are you’ll be a person worthy of your own respects.”

– Neil Simon, is an American playwright and screenwriter.

via thedailylove.com
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10 Things to Consider Before You Let Your Children Quit

Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the Unite...
Image via Wikipedia

Life is difficult. It’s a given! We’re born, we open our eyes, dad misinterprets our cry, mom puts the diaper on too tight, someone else drops our pacifier – and it begins.

But this is how life works. Challenge is built into the equation; learning requires patience; problem solving is a key element to fulfillment; obstacles come our way every day.  World leader Winston Churchill gave a speech at his old school in the darkest days of WW2; he’d had a miserable time there and was considered a failure. He walked to the podium and surveyed the crowd of awe-struck students. “This is the lesson,” he said. “Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small – never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense….”

But we also live in this world of entitlement: “’I deserve this.” “I want mine now!” “Children should have everything they want.” “It’s my responsibility to make my kids happy.” “Satisfy me now!”

But, and experience proves this every time, pretty much everything worthwhile comes at the price of investment. It’s not just that the reward is sweeter after the long haul.  It turns out that the process of getting from A to B is intrinsically worthwhile – regardless of the payoff at the end.  The key to success is perseverance.

However, there are times we and our children should quit something.  We do the math and realize the best option is to do something else.  But what are the guidelines?

via allprodad.com

Follow the ‘via’ link if you’re interested in the 10 things to consider…

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Nothing is as it seems…

This is a good reminder for me from Elena Brower…

Nothing is as it seems.

We humans have a tendency to make assumptions without verifying, then wondering why it feels like we cannot move forward. So even if something really seems to be a certain way – whether it’s horrific or perfect – make no assumptions. Make no assumptions about other people. Have no opinion until you make sure it’s true. Ask, verify, find out before you speculate or assume anyone or anything to be a certain way.

In this way, you can ride right down the middle of the situation and be the source of elegance, grace and peace.

Nothing is as it seems.

via vimeo.com
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Re-Label Yourself & Be Self Approved!

fruits labels
Image by masaaki miyara via Flickr

Opinions and labels from others are just that, THEIR opinion and labels. We have been taught that to be happy we must be independent of the other opinion of others. It’s SO liberating to know that our reality and how we see ourselves doesn’t have to be defined by others, but we get to define ourselves. We can re-label ourselves to match who we see ourselves to be, not how others see us. And within that is great freedom! It’s awesome! It’s exciting and it’s LIBERATING!

via thedailylove.com
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5 Traits of a Good Marriage

Hindu marriage ceremony from a Rajput wedding.
Image via Wikipedia

Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott, say in their book, When Bad Things Happen to Good Marriages, that there are 5 traits of a healthy, life-long marriage: ownership, hope, empathy, forgiveness, and commitment. Here is a summary of each of those characteristics.

1. Ownership: Taking Responsibility

Often, couples believe their problems are the result of the other person’s actions.  It’s easy to avoid responsibility for our problems by blaming someone else.  But in the long-haul, admitting mistakes and owning up to our part of the problem is the single most powerful predictor of turning something bad into something good. Couples need to realize that it’s not who’s wrong, but what’s wrong that counts.

2. Hope:  Believing that Good Ultimately Triumphs

The foundation of hope is belief.  We must believe that the kind of marriage we want is possible.  Hope keeps love alive.  Stop hoping and marriage dies.

3. Empathy:  Walking in your Spouse’s Shoes

A spouse must be aware of what their spouse is feeling and what’s behind that feeling.  Empathy involves both the head and the heart. Many of us do one or the other pretty well; we either feel our partner’s pain with our heart, or we try to solve their problem with our head.  To do both can be a challenge.  But that is what empathy is all about.

4. Forgiveness:  Healing the Wounds

In a good marriage, both husbands and wives are quick to ask for forgiveness and to grant forgiveness. The simple words, “I was wrong. Will you please forgive me?” are magical in marriage. Forgiveness was designed to heal the deepest wounds of a human heart.

5. Commitment: Loving for Life

No matter how long a couple has been married, commitment may be the most effective tool good marriages use in battling bad things. Without commitment and the trust it engenders, marriages would have little hope of lasting.

In the face of difficulty, the key is to stay committed to your spouse and work together. Sit down with your spouse tonight and discuss how you are doing in each of these categories.

via markmerrill.com

As the Apostle Paul said “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” I’m struggling with many of these issues right now, trying to do the right thing with my wife despite manipulation from her family. Don’t they realize we have enough drama in our lives without more from their Karpman Drama Triangle?! Apparently not — the problem is that other people are unmanageable and the only thing I can manage is me…

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GW Bush at Flight 93 Memorial: “Evil Is Real, So Is Courage”

George-W-Bush edit2
Image via Wikipedia

On 9-11, “The most lives lost on American soil on a single day since the Battle of Antietam.”

“One of the lessons of 9-11 is that evil is real and so is courage.”

“At the moment American democracy was under attack our citizens defied their captors by holding a vote. The choice they made would cost them their lives. And they knew it. Many passengers called their loved ones to say good-bye. Then hung up to perform their final act.”

“The Flight 93 heroes led the first counter attack in the WAR ON TERROR.”

“The temptation of isolation is deadly wrong.”

via humanevents.com

See his remarks in their entirety here…

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Never Forget, Choose To Live!

The north tower (1 WTC) of the World Trade Cen...
Image via Wikipedia
Mastin Kipp of The Daily Love shares a healthy perspective on 9/11…

Today is September 11th, 2011. 11 years ago this date had no significance, but on this 10th anniversary of the Twin Towers falling, 9/11 is a date that will live with us for the rest of our lives as a day that changed us, forever.

The events of that day are a reminder to us of what happens when fear, separation, anger and hate manifest in the real world by actions of human beings.

We beings are capable of such greatness, such inspiration and beauty and yet we are also capable of great acts of terror, genocide and worse.

I went back and watched a lot of the footage from that fateful day in September and, now, 10 years later I still cannot fathom the shock, horror and terror that went down that day. All kinds of acts of darkness are perpetrated on a daily basis and have been since the beginning of man, but what happened on 9/11/01 was big, loud and in all our faces. My heart still yearns, still weeps, and still cries out in rage watching the images of those burning towers.

The numbers 9/11 has been associated with human darkness and evil manifest. And while it is beyond appropriate to be wide awake to what happened on that day that we will never forget, I would like to suggest a new meaning.

Many people died on 9/11. People from all walks of life, financial backgrounds, faith systems, race, gender, and sexual orientation died that day. That day, there were no countries; there were no borders; that day we all wept as citizens of the world as we witnessed the events of the day.

I’ll be the first to admit that I have lived in fear ever since. It’s been a subtle fear. I have felt vulnerable and a subtle uneasiness whenever I fly. To know that things like that can happen in real life and not just movies changed my life forever.

But this year I am deciding to step out of fear. Life is for the living. Those who participated in the acts of that day will have won if we continue to live in fear.

Fear is what they wanted from us and fear is what they got. But no more. Not from me. And if you have been living in fear, then I hope not from you either.

Instead of 9/11 being numbers that remind of how so many died, let us honor those that died and let’s make 9/11 remind us of how we are going to live.

Life is short and we don’t know how long we have; 9-1-1 is an emergency number; let us make it an emergency to live our dreams out loud. I would venture to make a bold claim that it is UNPATROTIC to live in fear. Our Founding Fathers are cheering us on as we step back into creating the American Dream and as we peel back the layers of fear that have been placed there for 10 years and reinforced every year since.

We have been given the right to the pursuit of happiness.

We cannot pursue what makes us happy from a place of fear. If we really want to pay back those that brought down the Towers, then let’s get busy living our dreams and shining our Light. Those dark acts cannot hold us back. We must remember the terror of that day, but not dwell on it. We must always remember and honor those that died that fateful Fall day, but not stop our lives in the process.

Life is for the living.

I say that from now on we declare September 11th as a day we will all live free from fear and honor those that died by living FULLY in pursuit of what makes us happy.

This has been the hardest and most emotional blog I have ever written. I am overwhelmed with the weight of the events of that fateful day in September and at the same time I am inspired by the American Spirit to overcome, to persist and to shine when all seems dark. All of the world wept for us that day and they are weeping for us again, today.

Let us never forget what happened. And let us never let those that seek to instill fear into our lives win. Let us LIVE OUTLOUD, let us DECLARE OUR LOVE and let us love one another.

Today, there is no male or female, there are no religious differences, no gay or straight, no race division; today we are all citizens of the world collectively as one honoring those that died by choosing to live.

I am honored to be with you on this day. Let’s make our lives GREAT!

via thedailylove.com

His perspective is much better than mine. Me? I think we’ve forgotten the lessons of 9/11 and that we have the attention span of gnats when it comes to something important like this. What are your thoughts today?

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Life is about creating yourself

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”

-George Bernard Shaw

via thedailylove.com
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Give Your Wishes Horses To Ride

“One of the saddest lines in the world is, ‘Oh come now – be realistic.’ The best parts of this world were not fashioned by those who were realistic. They were fashioned by those who dared to look hard at their wishes and gave them horses to ride.”

– Richard Nelson Bolles, is a former Episcopal clergyman and best-selling author.

via thedailylove.com
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10 Ways to Help Kids Deal with the Loss of a Loved One

Mental Health Awareness Ribbon
Image via Wikipedia

Experiencing loss is a part of life that everyone has.  Losing someone is a challenge no matter what age you are.  Imagine how much harder it is for a child who has never experienced what it is like to be separated from loved ones.  Now that’s a challenge, but here is a list of things to keep in mind when talking with your children about the loss of a loved one.

via allprodad.com

Follow the ‘via’ link if you’d like to get the 10 ways…

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How To Take Your Power Back From The World!

Love is Fragrant
Image by Fe 108Aums via Flickr

You know, every day we get up and try to “make things happen” – especially with the Western mindset. There is nothing wrong with this per se, but many times we can push ourselves so hard that we are just tired, worn out and feeling empty.

This is not a thriving life.

As we step out further onto The Path, we Seekers are asking for more than just the rat race. We are sick and tired of letting “the economy”, the “stock market”, the “Government”, the “Media” and all other kinds of things “out there” determine how we feel. None of these things are bad. But the way they are going has a lot of us asking, “There HAS to be a another way, right?”

Yes, the reality is, our global economy is in a certain state right now that doesn’t promote the perception of widespread abundance. Yes, the stock market is up and down and all over the place. Yes, it feels like many folks in the Government are fighting just to fight instead of having our best interest in mind. Yes, the Media seems to be full of all kinds of negative things to say about the world.

But what of it?

Everything that is happening in the world today is a reflection of our collective inner state of being. We are not victims to these things or anything “out there”. And problems “out there” cannot be initially solved “out there”, but “in here”. Which means that rules, laws, regulations and more policies cannot change the world. The only thing that can change the world is each and every one of us waking up and changing ourselves.

It’s so easy to get caught in the outward drama of the world, because it helps us stay distracted from ourselves. But, it is ourselves, far more than the world, which we must change.

via thedailylove.com

Follow the ‘via’ link above if you’d like the rest of Mastin Kipp’s perspective…

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Hold to the vision…

“Every great work, every great accomplishment, has been brought into manifestation through holding to the vision, and often just before the big achievement comes apparent failure and discouragement”

“The game of life is a game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy.”

– Florence Scovel Shinn, Shinn was an American artist and book illustrator

via thedailylove.com
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Nothing can bring you peace…

““Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson from his “Self Reliance” Essay, Emerson was an American essayist, philosopher, poet” Source: Today’s Quotes: Don’t Die With Your Music Still In You

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Press On!

“Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

– Calvin Coolidge, was the thirtieth President of the United States (1923-1929).

via thedailylove.com
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Surprising secrets to school success

PEARL HARBOR (April 23, 2010) Mara MacDonald, ...
Image via Wikipedia

After a busy day, dinner, and getting the kids to bed, heaven forbid if sifting through a stack of parenting studies isn’t the first way you choose to unwind!

Still it’s a shame to miss out on what science can tell us about raising happy learners. In the interest of your sanity, we’ve gathered eight extraordinary, somewhat counterintuitive findings about fostering children’s success. Try them and report back to us — we’d love to know how they worked for you!

via greatschools.org

Follow the ‘via’ link above for 6 great ideas. Subscribe to their site if this topic interests you the way it does me…

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Have Faith…

Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894), American ph...
Image via Wikipedia

“If I were dying my last words would be: Have faith and pursue the unknown end.”

– Oliver Wendell Holmes, was an American physician and professor who also achieved fame as a writer.

via thedailylove.com
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