Let me interrupt this normally scheduled writing session to pass along this message of hope. H-O-P-E.

Hold On Pain Ends.

I’ve never heard this acronym before. I’m seeing it tonight for the first time. Hold On Pain Ends. It stopped me in my tracks. I stumbled on this quote tonight in a random google search. No, I wasn’t searching for hope. And I’m not in a depression or funk. I’m busy as crazy, doing what I love, and loving doing it, crazy as that sounds.

I actually clicked my way to it with a “quotes about Pinterest” search. Mixed in with quotes about the social media platform, Pinterest, were quotes that were also being posted on Pinterest.

There have been times in my life that hope has eluded me. And without hope, I wasn’t able to move forward in love and joy, or at all. I was stuck. Without hope, I was sad and depressed. And in pain.

“The sun will come out tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar there’ll be sun.” We all know that song quote. It’s so popular and relevant that the song is being heard by a whole new generation with the remake of the comic strip, book, broadway musical, and now movie, Annie. It’s such a beautiful message—of hope. Things will get better.

I wrote once that H-O-P-E stands for Hold On People Everywhere. That’s still valid. Hope is a waiting game. A game of patience, where sometimes you think the pain will never end. HOPE knows there are better days ahead. Pain-free days.  Little Orphan Annie says it could be as early as tomorrow!

Let’s HOPE (hold on pain ends) it will be soon; because HOPE (hold on people everywhere) is good for us all. 
 
#LoquaciousLindee
Help Open People’s Eyes. Be part of the State of the Union movement. 

Another perspective…You’re trying too hard.

With Christmas 2015 around the corner, I can’t wait to see what the folks at Westjet have in store. It’ll be hard to beat last year’s heart-moving, hope-igniting story, but can’t wait to see them try. Click this link for five minutes of cheer: Westjet Christmas Miracle.

Oh, and if Santa asks me what I want for Christmas? College tuition for the kids. And world peace. 🙂

I want this to be a joke. An impractical joke on us. But it’s not. …

Or…maybe it is?

What if Robin Williams knew more than us?

He was certainly more talented than most of us. And those who knew him can’t speak highly enough of his compassionate heart. Maybe he really did come from another planet, and his mission here is up? He’s like Truman who just walked out of one world and into the next. In sports vernacular, he got called-up by the Majors.

Just maybe, then, the joke would be on us.

“Comedy is acting out optimism,” he said. And quite often tragedy proceeds comedy. It’s one harsh reality of this world.

But, maybe Robin Williams is waiting on the other side; waiting for the day we arrive. Robin Williams, now an angel, welcoming each of us at the pearly gates in a character and voice improvised on the spot, with a punchline we never saw coming.

That’s how I prefer to see it. The joke’s on us. And the punchline is yet to come.

Oh Captain, my Captain. Your spirit lives on. Thank you for your brilliance.

#RIPRobbinWilliams

I’ve been writing a book. For almost two years now. Entangled in the Eiffel. It’s a romance novel—and a psychological thriller.

I think about it, I talk about it, I write little snippets of dialogue on scrap paper everywhere. I have word doc after word doc full of story ideas and conversations.

I even took a trip to Paris, to the Eiffel Tower, the scene of 80% of the book. But there is no deadline in site, no timeline, and therefore, it never seems like I’m getting closer to those magic words, “the end.”

But what I fail to give myself credit for is: I’m writing the book!!

Some days I do research; other days I storyboard, or work on character development. Then other days the main character forces me to my keyboard so I can let the story out. The story writes itself, and there’s no peace in my head until I’m writing.

And that’s the key. Find the motivation from within–like this simple sentence! Don’t quit now. Do it now.

When you do, it’s amazing how the right words pour out and stand out.

Give It Your All

Give up, give in, or give it your all. There is power in all three. The challenge is knowing when to do what.

Giving up doesn’t have to be a bad thing. We’ve all been taught: Winners never quit and quitters never win. Well, sometimes winners make the decision to stop. Stop pursing a course of action that’s getting them no where. There is nothing wrong with re-evaluating a situation and deciding it’s time to try a different tactic, angle, or path. Give up. See what happens when you stop pushing so hard.

Giving in can also be a good thing. “Pick your battles” is a popular phrase used when imparting wisdom to people in relationships. Sure, there will be times to stand your ground, but giving in, letting someone else have their way, is one way you can honor, respect, and accept their wishes. If that helps strengthen the relationship, why not give in? Perhaps your partner will be more willing to compromise next time, when you show them how.

Giving it your all…. Now, that’s a good thing. No matter what the outcome, win or lose, when you give a task, or a person, 100% of your focus–your undivided attention–you win. On some level, you both win. (Even though some win-win scenarios don’t make themselves known for years down the road. And they might appear as win-lose in the present.) Some projects and people are worth striving for and fighting for. For giving your all.

As for knowing when to do what? That’s a bit trickier. After all, onlyyou can say “enough is enough.””

Let your heart, mind, body, and spirit be your guide. When all four parts of you are in agreement–give up, give in, or give it your all–that’s the time to take action.

They all begin with “giving.”

 

 

A Woman of Words and Action            

               I’m not a woman of very few words; my personal hashtag is #loquaciouslindee. Loquacious, meaning, very talkative. I make my living talking; I’m a trainer and motivational speaker. I’m not EF Hutton, but when I talk, people listen. (Except for my kids. And my sweetheart on occasion.)

 

            Most people say there is a time for talk and a time for action. Is the trick knowing when to stop talking and start taking action? Or is talking part of the taking action?

 

                I like to think so.

 

           Words have power; they carry energy. They are the starting point to any good plan. Although they can be the starting point for bad plans as well. Whether clever and well-executed or lame and hair-brained, don’t all plans start with words?

 

            Eleanor Roosevelt said, “It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.” The difference between a wish and a plan is the talk used to define that plan. But when it’s truly time to get something done, take a page from a Mae West script; be a woman of few words but lots of action.

 

            Take that talk and channel it in to tasks; specific, step-by-step items you can check off a list. Take the time to plan it. Talk it out.Keep talking until it becomes a reality, one action at a time.

 

             Eleanor and Mae both had it right. 

 

 

Another Year; Another ResolutionIt’s January 13th and I’m just now posting my New Year’s Resolutions—but no hounding or judging allowed! I’m been out practicing.

This year? No more looking for the magic—we are it!

I’m it; you’re it. We are all it. We’re magic and comical and well-intentioned and ever-hopeful, or maybe that’s just me.

It seems I’ve spent a lot of my life living in the bad. And now that I’ve got more years behind me than ahead of me, it’s time to embrace each day. That means finding the good that’s all around. It’s not that I’m a Pollyanna; I know bad is around me, too. But when it comes to what I can focus on, I choose good. I choose to see the magic. In me; in you. In all we say and do.

That’s this year’s resolution.

Well, one of them. J

 

  A Thanksgivukkah Mash-Up

   Thanksgiving and Hanukkah have collided.

 

   I’m paraphrasing an article in USA Today siting the rare convergence of the traditional “festival of eating” with the “festival of lights.” The newspaper called it Thanksgivukkah. The article highlighted the relevance of the new holiday to retail sales, but I’m interested from a cultural perspective.

 

   This combining of words is a telling trend in today’s mash-it-all-together, create-a-new-word-for-it generation. The dictionary calls that linguistic maneuver a portmanteau:  a word formed by blending sounds from two or more distinct words and combining their meanings. Lewis Carroll was the first to write about it in Through the Looking-Glass, in 1871. Since then it’s been done thousands of times and frequents our everyday language; take “brunch” for instance, the combination of “breakfast” and “lunch.”

 

    It’s more than simply combining words, however. The new word usually represents the best parts of the original two words and, when combined, is exponentially better—expanding and capitalizing off two ideas as opposed to one. Who would argue that lazy weekend morning aren’t better thanks to brunch? 

 

   In the case of Thanksgivukkah, it’s the blending of people, cultures and traditions that creates true meaning behind the new word. It’s a respectful mixing of behaviors and beliefs that honors both distinct holidays. Thanksgivukkah represents two sides coming together to form a synergistic approach to celebration–and life! A distinctual (portmanteau intended: “distinct” mashed into “instinctual”) meme to this generation and time.

 

   Let Thanksgivukkah 2013 be just the beginning! It’s time to combine tried-and-true ideas with new-to-the-market technologies. It’s time to bring opposing forces together and create something even better than the two wholes. It’s time to mash-up all areas and avenues of our lives to move the world forward.

 

   This Thanksgivukkah week we move it forward in peace, celebration, and appreciation.

Commit to a Crappy First Draft

Commit to a crappy first draft.

Those words sparked my spirit, paused my brain, and pushed-in a new understanding of “process.” The process of writing a book. No end in sight; just characters running melodramas, Young and the Restless style, in my psyche, lassoed and defined through my fingers and on to the page not often enough. I wasn’t committed to a deadline–or a timeline for that matter–except for the voice that kept pressing me from inside…”write the book, write the book.”  The problem was, I was editing the book before writing it. Concern for what others would think had stopped me from writing. I’d lost site of the story in my head for the worry of what others would think. “Not the problem, write the book,” the voice said. Hemingway made it possible. It didn’t need to be good.

Not only can I commit to a crappy first draft and the process of writing, I can commit to Gandolf’s philosophy, “All good stories deserve embellishment,” and just tell my story, in any order, in any way, in any fashion; it is fiction after all. I am a product of all I’ve experienced. It’s not an autobiography. It’s a story; a romance. The characters will appear when it’s their time to speak. In the meantime, the word is “intent.” What do I intend to do?  

Get to the end? Yes, eventually. Enjoy the process? Yes, it’s cathartic. Serve a purpose? Oh yes, for those that love has turned upside down, held under water, and made gasp ravenously for a freeing thought, this love story is for you. My intent is to write it, and to write it every day with that intent—to get to the end. The timeline will take care of itself. I’m committed to taking action.

Action is a crappy first draft.  

Chase Your Dreams: Lead Your Dreams

Why follow your dreams when you can chase them? Why chase your dreams when you can lead them?

 

I like that you can “chase” a dream, as opposed to “follow.” Sometimes followers lag behind; can be thought of as slow. Chasers, on the other hand, move at a faster pace…and when chasing a dream, the faster the better. Most people want to catch a dream quickly.  

 

But why do either, follow or chase, when you can take charge of the dream and “lead”? Notice I didn’t say “take control,” I said “take charge.” Control is an illusion. We think we have it, but what we really have are “outcomes.” And outcomes happen whether you’re in control or not.

 

“Leading” is a category and mind-set of its own. Set a direction on a dream, set an intent, and a desired outcome; help propel yourself towards it. Imagine the outcome, see yourself doing the work; let life work with you to help you succeed.

 

 

The quicker, the better.