What's holding you back?

The sound of silence

It's the silence that is so deafening.

Funny how the mind twists and turns truths like an old tired rope. All frayed at the edges.

It's the silence (or lack of response) that keeps you up at night worrying and re-living and keeping you from truly resting your spirit. When someone stops talking to you, many things happen.

For starters, the mind starts filling in the blanks that now so obviously exists between two people. The mind is inventive and cruel and cunning. It can tell you things so seemingly impossible, and make you believe them more than any thread of truth.

Silence can cause enormous paranoia.

You make up fears. You invent scenarios that never actually happened. You make up the problem in your head, and not the one that actually took place last week or last year or even many years ago.

What happened? Well, usually both people are right and wrong.

I always say there are three sides to every story.

First there is the truth which actually happened.

Then what follows is that each person sees it from a different perspective which creates the other two stories.

It's the perspective.

It's funny what people remember. Ask them to tell you their experience of the same event you just experienced with them and you'll know what I mean.

Where they stood and what they heard and saw and felt cannot be what you saw or heard or felt.

It cannot be. Because its two people experiencing it from different places.

A point of view changes everything. It's not all right. It's not all wrong. It's just different.

We are all guilty of this in smaller, subtle moments: The call we forgot to return. An email that we haven't replied to. Not responding to a facebook comment on our wall. We were busy. We forgot. We're still planning on calling, writing, commenting... we just haven't yet. And maybe we never will. But it's not intentional.

I am wishing you a view to remember that it's not always personal ... the courage to rise above the silence ... and the perspective to keep you focused on your journey.

The first step is the most difficult

You really can do all what you want to do. Simply by getting out there and start doing it. It's not the distance.... it's the first step that is truly the most difficult.

This video is not just about running. If you want that college degree or simply want to tackle those weeds in your back yard, I hope you consider putting on your shoes and getting out there. Once you do, you'll feel your spirit soar.

vacation

I am back from vacation.

Again? some are asking. I have traveled quite a bit during the past four to five months. Some are just two or three night getaways.

But I need them. Anyone who scoffs and says to me, I am too busy to take time off... I seriously see them as someone who is on the verge of a burnout.

Getaways are essential. They don't have to be expensive. But I'm not so sure about these stay-cations people are talking about. Oh sure! They are excellent for cleaning out the garage and working in the yard and catching up on all those things on your To-Do List, but they don't slow down the mind.

And that is essential for the mind and spirit to have that recharge time.

And you know, you can even visit a friend over the weekend. When you are not home, your mind isn't busy planning or worrying about all the things that need to be done. You are in the moment and not thinking about paying the bills, watering the lawn, buying groceries.

When you are away, you are merely in the moment.

And if you're a lot like me, (and i think you are)... then you're all for calming the mind, rejuvenating your spirit and inspiring your soul.

If you haven't gone anywhere in some time, it's time to go somewhere.

Do it now.

You deserve that.

Dreaming to Win

Driving home from work this evening I was worrying about my finances, and stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things and on my way out, I passed the California Lottery machine and spontaneously put a dollar in to play.

And afterwards, while driving home I was so lost in the dream of what it would be like if actually did win ... that when I got home, and pulled up into the garage ... I still sat in my car for the longest time...  feeling giddy, still caught up in the moment envisioning my life as if I had just won!

Its amazing what the imagination can do. In that moment, I was able to shift my feelings of anxiousness to feeling calm and joyful because of where I was inside my head. 

Obviously the chances of winning are slim to none, but a dollar really is worth the dream.

Making the most of it

Because how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. ~Annie Dillard

And suddenly there was nothing left of December and the year 2008 slipped right out of my hands like a sudsy bar of soap.

December was a very busy month for me. As I know it was for you.

I spent the second week in New York City upgraded to an apartment suite overlooking Times Square. It was beautiful. Snow fell the size of snowballs. I went there on business to work and to also attend our company end-of-the-year party in SoHo. It was such a wonderful, magical week for me.

And then Christmas zipped around the corner in a rapid pace and I was busy focused on that. Afterwards, my best friend flew out here to visit me for a week and suddenly it was 2009. And then that sped by in a blur and soon it is now a week after that.

Happy New Year!

My wish for you this new year is for you to discover some sweet magic in places and in people you'd never expect it. And with this glimpse of enchantment, your life will feel softer and more beautiful.

I will be back soon.

Yes, you can

This video is for you to watch and listen. If you feel your luck is down. When you feel the world owes you something. When you feel uninspired and feel like quitting, please don't. You really can go on. You're much stronger than you know.

I believe in you.

Don't be so hard on yourself

If you made a mistake today. Or you're feeling like a failure of sorts, please don't. We all make mistakes at one time or another. Things don't always happen the way we have dreamed them to be. Even pyschics get it wrong some times.