The word of the day is Patience.

For a cute reminder of the letter-of-the-day, watch Sesame Street’s tribute to the letter “P.”  Believe me, you’ll need patience to deal with today’s political scene. Especially Donald Trump.

The P word I want to focus on is Patience. Why? Because everyone wants it and I have it. At least in this moment I have it. It comes and goes; it’s fleeting, like a butterfly. The more you chase it, the quicker it leaves.

How is it I have it? Because “All things in God’s time.” That’s the Christian version. The Wiccan version: “As above so below.” New Agers would say: “All is well in all of creation.” The uncommitted might say “It is what it is.”

I have to believe everything is as it should be, because the alternative approach—to not believe–is living in fear.

Right now, Donald Trump is ravishing our nation. His reality-show presidential bid is getting exactly what he wants—ratings! He wants to win at all costs. But what he believes is repugnant. Disgusting, to use his favorite word. What he believes, his ideas for the nation, will cause calamity. He’ll put a target on our back.

We’ll be living in fear. A world where Trump is going to build our military and use it as a threat over other nations, leverage for when he needs to negotiate hard. He wants to go back to religious persecution. He points his fat fingers at people and says they are ISIS. He’s making this up as he goes. It’s like watching a WWF Smack-down match.

I’d say he’s a pig, but that’d be insulting to the pig. He’s a racist, a troll, a thug, and ironically exactly the opposite of what he wants to be. This man is a loser.

Trump is inciting violence. He brags that he could shoot someone and people would still love him. His rhetoric is so disturbing, calling people that don’t believe what he believes “bad.” So anyone who opposes what Trump thinks is “bad, a very bad person.” He says he’s a “unifier,” but his “us against them” mentality is empowering people to strike out. His crowd is turning ugly. As ugly as he is.

How do I know that Trump creates hate? Because his fans hate others. And because I hate him.

I don’t hate very often. I’m smarter, bigger, and better than that. I listen, I accept, and I believe we can all get along. We all come to this universal truth in our own time. Some never get to that understanding. Trump supporters obviously are not there. Neither is Trump.

That means I have to have patience, and belief, that people will come around; they’ll come to see, hear, and understand the maliciousness in his speech, his words. If they continue to watch him, hopefully they’ll see through the celebrity and see the monster.

President Obama says he’s not worried, he has faith; faith in the American people, that they won’t elect Trump. We’re smarter and better than that, Obama says. I choose to believe the same, and have patience that the American people will envision a better world than the one Trump presents. That people will act better than to follow Trump’s encouragement–to beat up those that don’t stand with him.

As I watch his nasty hate-filled face plastered on the TV, I choose to turn the channel, and watch Sesame Street, where P is the letter and Patience is the word.

And believe that “All is well in all of creation” if I just have Patience.

And that’s the word of the day. Patience.

#loquaciouslindee

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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!

Our words create our worlds — words I’ve been using since I discovered the connection between intent and language 24 years ago. It was Brian Tracy in his self-help audio program The Psychology of Achievement that taught me the power of the “I am” phrase.

I am powerful. I am confident. I am easy-going and patient. Simple translation: we are what we say we are.

When I wanted to write my first book. I didn’t say, “I want to write a book, I want to write a book.…” I said, “I am a writer, I am a writer, I am a writer.” Through the process of owning it, embodying it, and embracing it, I became a writer—and then a published author.

I learned just recently the fun, logical, spiritual reason for why the “I am” affirmation phrase works so well.

“I” stands for intent. What is it that you want to be, do, or have? What are your deepest desires?

“A” stands for attention. What we give our attention to—think about, talk about, write about, focus on, work towards—comes true. It…

“Manifests.” It becomes real in our life.

Intention, attention, manifestation. Language is the bridge between wanting and having. Speaking what you want, out loud, in words that say “I already am it or have it” are key.

Today when I get the opportunity to introduce myself, I use the following positive affirmation: I am the courageous, outrageous, audacious, and loquacious Lindee Brauer.

Just saying it makes it so.

I woke up this morning with the “scareds.” With February rent looming, my business is moving forward…and I’d like to find one or two clients with enough work to cover the bills for one month. Meat and potatoes clients I call them. Then the rest of the clients and projects and money are gravy. That would take the pressure off. And I wouldn’t wake up afraid…scared…with the “scareds.”

Being fully awake and conscious of my thoughts, I knew I was hedging toward worry—a negative emotion. And as all students of the Law of Attraction know, when you think negative you get negative. Emotion is simply an outer reflection of an inner thought.

It was time to change the thought and the emotion. I grabbed the closest self-help book beside the bed, The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire by Deepak Chopra. As I dug in, grasping for an idea that would pull me from worry, my sweetheart and business partner rolled over, “what are you reading?” he asked.

I told him what I was reading, how I was feeling, and what I was trying to do—turn the emotion and thought around.

And then he asked the question that accomplished both of those tasks at once. He said, “Are you worried or are you aware?”

In a flash, worry was gone—replaced by a word that carried no emotional voltage—a neutral word that allowed my mind infinite possibilities. Worried or aware? … Yes, I was aware.

Aware put me in “observer” role, in “decision-maker” role. I was aware of the situation: the bills due each month, the desire to attract new business, the desire to do what I do best—write! Using the word “aware” got rid of the fear. It put me back in control and set me in action.

When it’s time to change the emotion, it’s time to change the word. When you change the word, you change the thought. Change the thought and you change the emotion. Change the emotion and you change your behaviors–your actions.

So…are you worried or are you aware?

It’s five days til Christmas and I’ve yet to do my shopping. I’m not a procrastinator by mental wiring. I like getting projects done before deadlines loom. I’ve been putting off my shopping until the cash flow improves. I have been browsing for gifts for my three teenagers online though, and I’m reading the Exchange Policies. After all, what good is a present if the person doesn’t like it and won’t use it.  Many companies make exchanging items easy. And all this has me thinking of my own internal “exchange policies.” Here’s one thought I’ve recently exchanged:

I recently parted from a j-o-b.  My first in 16 years actually. I’ve run my own sales/marketing/communications company since 1991 and early this past year, strapped for cash and credit limits maxed, I became an employee for someone else. It was a brutal mental game. I worked everyday to “hold the light” and be positive as I worked in an office focused on the negative–mine, our team’s, and our client’s. I cried every Monday morning. The stress was tremendous.

Time to activate the Exchange Policy! I’ve exchanged the stress of having to work for someone else with the pressure of once again being on my own–self-sufficient, and responsible for three teenagers, two cats, and a condo. I’ve got January’s rent covered. February? Yet to be determined.

But if I get to choose–and you know I do–I choose the pressure of the unknown versus the pressures put upon me by others. I’m back in positive mode full time–and no longer crying on Monday mornings. My days are my own to make or break–and I choose to “wonder” where the next client is coming from versus the thoughts of how to cope in an energy cesspool.

Occasionally I replace the pressures of a job with the fears of not being financially successful, but who’s got time for such nonsense thoughts. And isn’t it wonderful knowing that if the fears do creep in, I can exchange those, too.