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

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.  

 

The best way to do yoga—3x a week.

treepose1.jpg

   It’s a commitment thing really.

   If you’ve done yoga, you’re probably nodding your head, but if you never have, you just don’t know…

   There is real growth in all that stretching; not just your body, but your mind. It’s like the brain cells elongate with the stretching of the body cells. I reach over my head in Vrksasana (Tree Pose) and I feel every part of my brain expand. I’m able to think farther.

 

   Goodbye stinkin’ thinkin’ and hello brighter tomorrow. A better tomorrow. And that’s just from one class!

 

   Imagine what good I could do with that kind of positive vibe 3 times a week! Why wouldn’t I want to do it 7 times a week?!!

 

   (Yes, I know, a body needs rest. And so does a brain.)

 

   3 times a week…it’s like compound interest on good vibes, where the principle keeps increasing and so does your well-being.

 

   The best way to do yoga? 3 times a week, this week, next week, and every week after.

 

   Who knows where a good stretch could lead me?  😉

Leave a Buck Behind

I left a dollar last night, on the sink, in the bathroom of the Fort Lauderdale airport.

It’s an experiment of sorts. Although my Sweetheart would argue that it’s not scientific enough. He says the hypothesis itself is extreme and unprovable. There will be no connection and therefore a waste of time.

His theory is that I “just want to spend money.” (How funny; money has nothing to do with it…other than, I’m leaving a buck.)

It’s about karma and luck and paying it forward on a whim. It’s knowing and trusting that when I give without expectation of receiving, just KNOWing that my karma is in good standing, good things will come to me.

Sooooo, that’s the premise. And the task?  Leave a buck behind at the airport and see if good airport karma comes back to me.

But more importantly, my friend Tami West, inspired me to put it into question form. She’s completing her PHd with the study of “how women talk to each other about stress.” So, inspired by that question, and the hypothesis, once again, that a dollar left behind will bring multiple blessing back to me, the question is:

How will I benefit from leaving a dollar behind?

In the category of “being explored”? What financial benefits will I received? Will someone buy me a drink? Will I find a $20 bill lying on the ground? Will I win the airport lottery—the 3 brazillionith (a private joke with crazy co-trainer, Tami West) traveler to pass through the gates?

Will I get a first-class upgrade? A chance to co-pilot the plane? Ok, even I admit that one’s pretty extreme.  But aren’t the possibilities endless? I’m sure they are.

The test lies in relating one thing back to another. How can landing a speaking gig in Paris be triggered by a buck, left behind? I have no idea.

I hope I’m about to find out. 

2012 Major Funkin’ Ragin’ B’Niz Plan

Here’s my 2012 Business Plan written earlier this year. I got a chuckle from reading it and have no recall of writing it.

If you need help with a Mission Statement or Action Plan, model this. It’ll get you thinking. Feel free to customize, homogenize, harmonize your thoughts with mine. Declare a fresh start for 2013.

But remember, there’s PLENTY of 2012 left. Enjoy every last sunrise, snowflake, and note.

A Major Funkin’ Ragin’ B’niz Plan

By Lindee Brauer And Company 

I am the courageous, outrageous, sagacious, and loquacious Lindee Brauer.

I think like a writer and write like a thinker. 

I observe, I shape, I question, I dig deeper, I search, I listen for, I recognize, and I celebrate both the diversity and commonality of people. 

I share what I’ve learned in a quirky, casual style honoring and giving tribute to the people and obstacles that have made me strong and wise.

I know love, good and wonderful surprises exist in all things and for all people and I tap into the unlimited supply the Universe has to offer me.

I am relaxed, peaceful, and trusting. All things happen for me and to me in Divine Time.

I give praise and thanks daily for my Angel Entourage and embrace their help always and all ways.

When I get stuck or scared I reach out to help others and calm and release myself from all fears in the process.

I write daily with purpose and direction.

My current venues include:

Douche Bag Wisdom

Lindee Brauer blog

Zelda Zingari novel

Doggie Bag Wisdom: What’s Left Over

            Training Facebook Marketing is a divine calling and gift. National Seminars is my best client and I do my best to represent them how they would like to be represented. I follow their rules and guidelines and get involved in their discussions.

            I do my best to stay current on the latest teachings of Facebook. I embrace their changes and gladly relay them to the seminar participants. I work daily to deliver an educational, entertaining training that meets the needs of all. I make myself available for additional help when they need it.

            Facebook training is an ideal part-time job which finances my writing efforts and career. Within the next 3 years, the majority of my income will come from writing projects. I continue to travel and train because I enjoy it and the people.

            I have love in my life. And until that lover shows up, I am the love in my life. So there.