Inspiration Archives - Page 2 of 3

It’ll All Be Okay in the End

Apply this to every unresolved situation or relationship in your life:

It’ll ALL be Okay in the End.

If it’s NOT Okay, it’s NOT the End.

Time to rest easy and let the Universe work its magic.

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T.H.I.N.K. Before You Speak

Truth. Truth is in the eye (or brain) of the beholder. One person’s truth is not another’s truth. And, just because it’s true for you does not make it true for me. Can you really know truth for yourself, let alone another?

Helpful. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” How many times has friendly, “helpful” advice been misinterpreted and twisted into tangled, hurt feelings? Even suggestions given with an open, loving heart can be misconstrued. “Helpful” is also in the mind of the beholder. Just because it’s helpful to YOU, does not mean it’s helpful to ME.

Inspiring. If you want to inspire me, keep your words to yourself and SHOW me. Lead by example and I’ll naturally be inspired. Who are you and where are you going?

Necessary. Who determines that? Who are you to question my path, my purpose, my motives or my actions? Sure, if I’m walking too closely to the ledge and I’m in eminent danger, I might need a course correction. But who’s to say a fall (or a leap) from that ledge is not the best action for me?

Kind. “If you can’t say anything nice then don’t say anything at all.” Words of wisdom by parents, teachers, educators, and philosophers alike, all extolling the virtues of saying nice things to each other. THIS one I believe in and this one I practice. And practice is truly the word, because this is hard to do. Unkind words, mean-spirited and abusive, don’t just hurt the person they’re directed toward, but the person saying them as well. We’re all familiar with the “I’m rubber and you’re glue” defense when someone says something that hurts.

When someone says something unkind to you, however, it’s because they think they’re speaking the TRUTH. They think they’re being HELPFUL—and INSPIRING. And, they probably think the words are NECESSARY—for your own good.

But what you really have—when you THINK before you speak—is a whole lot of judgment being wrapped up in a KIND words burrito. It doesn’t matter what kind of flavorful, colorful wrapper you’re serving up or what kind of watered-down words you’re using, judgment still comes through—and that’s what truly hurts.

Perhaps we should go one step further: If you can’t THINK of anything nice, then don’t think anything at all.

Divine Madness: Your Creative Spark

“You’re only given a little spark of madness. You mustn’t lose it.”

These words, uttered by the Master of Madness, Robin Williams, who’s channeled his spark into a brilliant acting career and charitable life. Remember when he burst on the scene in ‘Mork and Mindy’? Doctors today would label him ADHD, drug him, and ultimately mug him of his Divine Inspiration—the brilliance of the madness of the voices in his head.

I’ve been going a bit “mad” these days. Say it with an English accent and the phrase is fodder for a sit-com. (Ooooo, a sit-com…) See, there goes that voice again! I’m getting ideas most people, including me, would call crazy! My astrologer, Phyllis Firak-Mitz, might attribute it to the SuperMoon and Mercury coming out of retrograde.

I can only attribute it to one thing: there is a character inside me just needing to bust loose. I hope it’s less like a scene from Aliens and more like when Counselor Deanna Troi gave birth to a splendid baby boy with no pain. I’m referring to an episode of Star Trek, The Next Gen, of course…and of my mad idea to write a romance novel that turns into a movie, and a sit-com!

Your Divine Spark is itching to bust through, too!! Don’t deny it. There’s something you’ve thought about, something you’ve wanted to do, some place you’ve wanted to explore—even if you’re spelunking into your computer to unlock the secrets of the internet. Something is calling out to you now. What is it?

If you succumb to your own “spark of madness,” that voice in your head, who would you be? What would you do? Na-noo, Na-noo. (Sorry, couldn’t help myself, Mork and Mindy fans.)

A Beautiful Girl and Colorful World

The World Is Grey

A poem by Justin Brauer

The words that spilled out of her mouth were colorful, beautiful, inspiring. As they spill from her soft lips they pass through the microphone, out of the speakers and splash out upon the crowd as these colorful words hit the ears of eager listeners. The words pass in one ear as colorful as the next, but as they pass through they come out dull and just words, like the world.

Inside the heads of the eager listeners are seas of color, individuality, creation, creativity. The sea of colors become so large and abrupt that every color leaks out from their eyes, seeping in every combination of colors possible showing the crowds’ true colors. Showing how words can change a person, a crowd, a nation.

The nation explodes of color from one girl’s soft, beautiful, colorful words. Igniting a revolution of color, an eruption of every color possible from every one spilling color back to the dull colorless world.

Why Worry When You Can Panic

I’m a sucker for the word “panic,” and with good reason. I’m in love with 6 men from Georgia, collectively known as Widespread Panic. Many call them Widespread; many more call them Panic. They’re a rockin’, slammin’ southern rock jam band from Athens; I’ve been to 115+ shows, and their bluesy, rock riffs just keep getting better! When most think “panic” is a bad thing, I experience it as just the opposite. Thousands of fans groovin’ and movin’ riding half notes and full notes to a rapturous high. Just 4-5000 of my closest friends, dancing our problems away, letting the anxiety and fear fade, trusting all our questions will be answered. Yes, why worry when you can Panic?

I’ve only had one panic attack in my life. I couldn’t breath, I almost passed out. It was so scary that just the thought of having a panic attack makes me–PANIC! Who likes feeling so out of control?! I thank Michael Houser, original guitarist for WP known for his panic attacks, for my new perspective. Rumor has it (according to TEWSY, The Earth Will Swallow You) Mikey said, “If we’re going to be known as Panic, I’d rather be known as Widespread Panic.” Together, he and the band put his/their fears behind them and today there are hundreds of thousands of fans who are lifted by their music.

Panic at the thought of doing a thing is a challenge to do it. ~Henry S. Haskins

Michael Houser lived Haskin’s quote. And because he did, I can too. With any thought of fear, anxiety, or emotional discomfort, I just put on the Widespread Panic and dance!

Hope in the Night Sky

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~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life’s gotten a little dark for a lot of folks lately. Many have lost hope, lost in their own troubles. It took a poet to help me get a new perspective, and when I realized that trouble is here to help me see the stars, there was only one thing left to do. Repeat after me:

Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight…

And don’t just wish on one, wish on them all!

Brainwashed by Steven Covey’s #2 Habit

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is an audio series by Stephen Covey I first heard when I was 24—some 20 (eh-hum) years ago. I bought it (literally, spending $70 on the cassette-tape series)—hook, line, and sinker!

I had a quick refresher course this week as I visited my girlfriends from National Seminars, Lisa Ann Landry and Jan Harrison, as they entertained and educated 50-some participants at a Leadership Conference in Denver.

It was early in the morning session when Lisa Ann brought up The Seven Habits and I had a blinding flash of the obvious. I had been duped! It explained SO much.

I can still recite my favorite Habits:

Habit #7 Sharpen the Saw

It makes sense it’s the last habit. True to Covey’s prediction, I’ve found people who continue learning—sharpening the saw—are the ones that are better adjusted and better able to cope with change. I know it’s how I cope with change. When what I know to be true is not working, I’ll turn to any source, any person, any perspective that helps me define, clarify, and control my thoughts.

Habit #1 Be Proactive

“If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.” “You go, Girl.” And my personal favorite from my Tennessee friend, Rob, “Go get yourself some.” In short, you have to get off your tush and push. Real go-getters make something happen, they manipulate, and connive, and force life to bend to their definition of success.

And the Habit that brainwashed me into thinking that I needed to know “the end” before I could even get started?

Habit #2 Begin with the End in Mind

As I posted in my last blog, No End in Sight, I have no idea what “endings” are in store for me now. I’m dealing with all new beginnings—new work direction, new home, new relationship parameters. There’s been emotional anguish in those transitions—partly because Stephen Covey taught me to Begin with the End in Mind. Thinking back, I wonder how many times I put off starting a project, a story, a sentence because I had no idea how it was going to end? How many times did I fail to begin because I didn’t know where I’d end up?

Stephen Covey clarifies his second habit by suggesting each of us develop a Personal Mission Statement that focuses on what we want to be and do. It’s a success plan that reaffirms who you are and your ability to lead and create your own life and destiny. But what happens when you don’t know what you want?

My only mission right now is to: relax, breath, and consider. Today I’m adding: enjoy, believe, and create, but I have no idea what I’m creating. For now, just knowing I don’t have to begin with the end in mind, that I can begin in the middle, that I can write nothing but beginnings is liberating and inspiring.

My revised version of Covey’s #2 Habit?

Just Begin!

No End In Sight

I’m having a hard time getting to the end–the end of a sentence, a thought, the situation, the reality. I guess it’s because there really are no “ends” in my life right now. I’m working with beginnings.

I was discharged from my job in August—an ending for sure. But it opened up an opportunity to do something else; exactly what is being determined. I’m checking Monster, Craigs List, Linked-in, and Facebook daily. Can’t say what I’ll be doing a year from now, but writing feels good in the interim.

I lost my house the end of October—another big ending. I said goodbye to my home of 10 years, made arrangements for my teen boys to stay part-time with me and part-time with their dad, sent my boyfriend out to find a full-time job and moved in with a girlfriend.

I’d love to finish the story, but I can’t even get to the end of the paragraph. I don’t know what’s coming next. It’s that simple. I can start a sentence but I’m not sure how to finish it. And I’m not forcing myself to! I’ve given myself permission to start chapters, paragraphs, sentences without the pressure of finishing. How freeing! There’s no pressure to draw any conclusions, determine any next big steps, or finish anything. Not even this darned blog if I don’t feel like it!

Today is for starting. No ends in sight. Just beginnings.

Bounce-back Ability

I’ve been on a free-fall. Just read the last few posts. Nothing cheery to write home about, no silver linings. The harder I fought it, the more stressed I became. I kept searching for a way to MAKE it end, and finally it has.

I’m moving. Letting go of my home of the last 10 years to move in with a girl friend so I can financially make ends meet. I can no longer do it alone. That decision for me, was hitting bottom. I love my space, a small condo near a mountain lake. This is where I’ve raised my family. There’s sadness is leaving.

But, and it’s BIG! Letting go of $1200 in rent and utilities will allow me to live again. Yes, it’s on unemployment, but it is a little help until I find a better paying job or one of my business endeavors pays-off. It’s breathing room and a sigh of relief. I’ve been carrying this money monster for so long!!

“The farther you fall, the higher you bounce,” is what Million-Dollar Mary Kay National Sales Director Monique Todd used to tell me. I know it’s true because the momentum has already shifted. I’m looking forward for the first time in months. Looking forward to the first snow when I’ll be tucked into my new space, surrounded by a lot of my favorite things. (She’s got the space! What a blessing!) Looking forward to affording gas and lunch out with friends as I work my businesses and network for a job. Looking forward to having a little money to buy boots and jackets for the kids. Looking forward, that’s the key.

I predict this buoyant excitement will last awhile; I’ve been falling for awhile. But, if the laws of physics hold true, then a bounce equal to the fall is happening now! And it’s just getting started! Goodbye fear, regret, and worry. Greetings courage, hope, enthusiasm, and spunk! Time to enjoy the bounce… bounce… bounce… bounce.…

Got a Glimpse of Glory—

Actually, I got an eye-full. It’d been a hell-of-a-night, followed by a hell-of-a-morning. I’d spent the night worrying—and that exhausts the living crap out of you. (Read Lost My Give-a-Shit if you’d like details.) I’d been mining my heart; fretting it, softening it, doubting it, preparing it to receive a greater gift: the gift of Understanding.

I was driving north on I-25, on my way to pick-up my best friend, Kook, and her daughter, Alex, from the airport. They were jetting in from Milan; they’d spent the last two weeks in Italy. It was a typical Rocky Mountain Sunset—spectacular. Oranges and pinks blended in to gray blues and purples. The clouds were stirrin’ up an Earth-Meets-Sky raspberry/grape smoothie.

The ride home was a swirl of conversation, a mix of stories from all of us. As they shared tales of drinking Italian roasted coffee from silver cups on a rose adorned and rose-petal covered patio, on a balcony overlooking the sea, I shared my excitement for the social networking seminar I’d attended, books I’d read on Facebook, Linked-in, and Twitter, updates to my websites, and the blog article I’d posted.

Kook talked of the beauty of the people, and I bemoaned I had no beautiful people to work with—and then I understood! I want beautiful people, with passionate businesses that I can believe in and promote. I want to blog and tweet and book my face off. I want to sit on my tush and earn a living by writing for others—telling their story and engaging in a dialog with their customers. I don’t need a ton of clients. I need two or three with companies or causes I support.

It seams so simple, now that “I got it.” Focus on the beautiful people! There’s no time for doubt. No time to worry. Only time to focus on others. What a glorious thought.

Inspiration (Page 2)