Category Archives: Making CHANGE

Only The Few Can Hear

dance

 

Sometimes I forget to be still. 

I forget what is important, or what it is to be bold, brave, open, and willing.

I forget that Inside I have a song to sing, a passion to dance with, and a soul journey to travel. 

There are rest stops along the way, and some are so cozy and warm all I really wish to do is curl up in the comfort of it and kick off my shoes- home at last! 

and forget about “all that”.

My weariness sets in when I think of the journey ahead, and the fear makes cold prickles down my neck. 

“aren’t we there yet?” I cry out from the back seat of this crowded, stale, hot, Brady Bunch ride-

only to shake myself awake,  dusting the crumbs of complacence from my chin as I haul my leg to climb over

vinyl seats, and broken head rests…

to claim my life again.

Back into the drivers seat… windows down.. music pulsing,  revving the engine of a complacent heart as I shift into gear….

for another adventure down a backwards country road,

or some nameless city street, 

 

into the middle of no-where….

with trust

that

more will be revealed

as I listen to music that plays 

in a distant land 

where only the few

can hear it.

 

 

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Season Three Officially KICKED.

We’ve got a pretty major TRP season booked.  Today was a blast.  Thank you to everyone who has made this project what it is.  I am so so grateful for every single day I get to be here. XO

If you know anyone who would like to book, season three is officially open.  It’s already been amazing ;)

sofun

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Start a Girl; End a Woman

Give yourself a little treat and watch this.  What a trip.

Makers: Women who make America- Narrated By Merrill Streep

Makers Documentary

I Possess Tremendous Power
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I Possess Tremendous Power

I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element.

It is my personal approach that creates the climate.

It is my daily mood that makes the weather.

I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous.

I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration: I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or dehumanized.

If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat them as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.

~ Goethe

Did you think i’d finally lost the plot on my post title?

I’ve spent so much of my time recently marveling (yes marveling), at life’s paradoxes.

I received my “lunchbox express” in my email yesterday (my children’s school newsletter) , and in it, this quote struck me as beautiful, and profound.

Goethe’s quote, is to me, the ultimate paradox of being human.

We are all powerful, and can do anything, and yet… if left to our own devices, may in fact use our own power against ourselves or against others to hurt, or destroy.

As human beings we completely miss the boat when it comes to acknowledging our own power for good, or at all for that matter.  We live our lives as if “it” is happening to us, or being inflicted upon us vs. that we are so powerful that we can easily determine the outcome of our days, our relationships, our emotions, and our lives.

That “I am the decisive element in my own life”, is in fact a frightening conclusion. That I am the one-  little old me, that is capable of determining the outcome of situations based on my response to them, and by how much integrity I hold.

I remember years ago in one of  my leadership courses, I was working on a concept that was very difficult for me to grasp initially.  The concept had to do with integrity and a distinction called “being cause in the matter” of ones life.

goethe2

The concept is this:

As human beings we are continually offered a choice, and based on which choice me make, we determine that we are aligned with integrity or not.

Now, what the hell does that mean? 

To answer this question I’ll ask another before answering:

How does one identify greatness in another? 

For the purpose of owning ones own power, stepping into it, and leading ones life with it, (their greatness if you will)  we must realize that we are only ever accountable at the end of the day, to ourselves. We can only ever really know with 100% certainty whether or not we handled something to the very best of our ability; with integrity.

If you define the word integrity, you’ll find that it means either or both:

  • The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.
  • The state of being whole and undivided: “territorial integrity”.

When a person is operating from a place of integrity, they are powerful-  not to be confused with forceful.  They embody their own principals in such a way that gives them access to a wide range of possibilities and offers them an advantage because they are truly aligned within themselves, and have nothing to hide, shrink from, or manipulate.  Their internal compass is solid – and will lead them true, every time.

People with true integrity are kind of  like Harry Potter with Magic.   People who posses integrity posses a certain magic all their own.  The reason Harry was such a powerful force to be reckoned with, is because he had the forces of good working in his favor, and he had a strong and steady inner compass.  This, combined with his dedication and study to use magic for good is what made him a formidable foe to those who were operating against him mistakenly using the organic power of magic to force or destroy others in ways that undermined the integrity of all that is good.

Like Harry, those with true integrity are able to be “cause in the matter” of what ever is happening in that given  moment because they use their word as a powerful tool; as a contract.

When someone with integrity gives you their word, or when they commit to something, you can rest assured it will happen, or that you will get a strait story regardless of the outcome.

If integrity is honesty, truth, and the state of being whole, then the natural state of life energy and all that goes with it is also.. If like-forces attract, then these forces combine and the “magic” of life  always seem to accompany those who truly live in this way.

goethe

When good triumphs evil, it can also be viewed as:

Good = Integrity (true, whole, complete)

Evil= Out of Integrity (not true, fractured, incomplete)

If one undermines the “integrity” of a wheel on a bike by taking one of it’s spokes- then at any given point that same wheel may fail and all that rides upon it, fall to the ground. Life works similarly.  If someone of great intention is working on a project and desiring a great outcome but is “out” of integrity ( inside knows or feels he is not being true, honest, or is somehow lacking but hiding it from those that should know) then he jeopardizes the future happiness of many riding upon it- he has undermined his own integrity- therefore setting the stage for being unable to fully realize his true greatness.  Even, if at the end of the day he should succeed in his project;  if done so at the expense of his integrity, then he can never fully realize his true happiness.

When a person is willing to be accountable, and willing to be aligned with integrity, he brings to his own being an ability and power to be “cause” in the matter of all situations his life touches.  He realizes his greatness with little effort because he has wisely surrendered to the rules of nature, and is unwilling to sacrifice his own honor (integrity) for anything because he knows that nothing in life is worth having unless you can also possess this.

Ultimately, the possession of power and success is but a surrender to good, truth, and wholeness, and by honoring your own, you in turn have it all. 

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Fifty-Three Facebook Friends Have the Power to Transform The American Heath Care System

“What are the reasons, good or bad, that cancer means a half-million- or million-dollar tab? Why should a trip to the emergency room for chest pains that turn out to be indigestion bring a bill that can exceed the cost of a semester of college? What makes a single dose of even the most wonderful wonder drug cost thousands of dollars? Why does simple lab work done during a few days in a hospital cost more than a car? And what is so different about the medical ecosystem that causes technology advances to drive bills up instead of down?”

~ Excerpt from Time Magazine Article: Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us; Author, Steven Brill

Does this article make you feel powerless?  It makes me feel sad, and distressed, and I sit here wondering:

“Who exactly is going to take care of this injustice and help the American people get treatment for the care they will most certainly will need?”

Unfortunately, I’m not coming up with any names, and, like many of us, unless I really sit down and think about this now – then it’s very likely I will make the grave mistake of thinking that I am immune to this issue, and continue along my merry way.

Grave mistake.

I have 1,382 facebook friends.

Odds dictate that three-hundred and forty-five of them will get cancer in their lifetime (One out of every four people in America will get cancer in their lifetime).

If this is the case, then three-hundred and forty-three of you (friends, and family members I love and care for) will be faced with exorbitant, and highly inflated medical bills that have been known to bankrupt families, or worse; have them unable to receive the medical attention that is necessary to help them, or that will greatly increase their chances for survival (Medical costs start out being reasonable, and are then “inflated” up to a Jimi Choo retail market prices- WTF? The ROI is making hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies ridiculously wealthy, and the American people – sick, and broke, and devastated).

The average Facebook user has two-hundred and fourteen friends. 

If you are reading this post right now, and have a facebook account,  then chances are- using this formula, potentially fifty-three of your friends will get cancer, and deal with the issues discussed in the article referenced above.

For the sake of utter horror, and all things wrong and completely inappropriate, I want you to perform this scary little exercise because I think it’s relevant. When it comes to grasping the gravity of an issue of this magnitude I have to think in the following terms and I think you should too, because if you are like me, at this point in the post you will tend to numb out, bail out, close the browser at this point and go on about your merry way thinking:

“I can’t think about this right now”.

or

“Someone needs to address this issue, and it’s not me”.

or

“This is not my problem, and is bringing me down..”

So just stay with me here, and for the sake of allowing me the honor of driving this home I want you to:

  • Go through all of your Facebook friends.
  • Choose FIFTY-THREE of them and mentally give them cancer (totally wrong, I know… what kind of friend are you?) (or, divide your number of friends by four and single out this exact amount).
  • Once you’ve chosen which ones will get the big C, then I want you to think about how you are going to handle it when they tell you, or you read their FB status informing you.
  • How you are going to be supportive now that you know what they must be going through based on what you now know to be the obstacles facing them?
  • Now, let me know if you think that this problem is not your problem, and if you think it’s bringing you down now? Just wait.

It’s OUR problem.

This problem is OUR problem. 

I’m posting about it today because it’s the “something” that I can do… and because without my peeps (you), then I can’t make much change happen,

Or can I?

I mean, this is how we tend to think – right?  Like…

“how can I- ”wee- little-nothing” me, make a difference around a problem of this magnitude? After all- I’m just one little person in a

big.

corrupt.

world.”

Except, WAIT!

This isn’t really the conversation happening here, with those of you who read this blog, because here, in this place we call TRP,  we believe that

Anything that is revealed, can be healed.

and we also believe that anything is possible if we dare to look at it, examine it, think about it, talk about it, and then….

share it with others. 

Malcolm Gladwell calls it The Tipping Point, and describes how ideas can spread like viruses through the law of the few, 

“The success of any kind of social epidemic is heavily dependent on the involvement of people with a particular and rare set of social gifts.” According to Gladwell, economists call this the “80/20 Principle, which is the idea that in any situation roughly 80 percent of the ‘work’ will be done by 20 percent of the participants.

Which is just another example of how little can be mighty…. just like you n’ me.

fierce2

Here at TRP we also know, that you get what you tolerate, and that sharing our voice with others is important, powerful, and necessary, if we really want to make a ripple in the world. Those people who surround us are here with us because they want to support us, and listen to our voices when we have something important we want to say (and if not, you should un-friend them asap-this advice on the house).

Ok- take this wee-little nothing blog for example.

This wee-little-nothing blog maybe wee, but it is also mighty.

It has the power to start transformative conversations with wee-little-amazing-nobodies like you,

and then,

this wee-little-nothing blog post can be shared by you with other wee-little-nobodies, who can share it with other wee-little-nobodies….

If the average wee-little-nobody has two-hundred and fourteen facebook friends (those are the stats folks), and I begin this example by using the amazing wee-little-nobodies who read the TRP blog each day, then these 250-500 nobodies who share this post, and start this conversation-  about how we can solve the issue of health care in America,  then have the potential to touch an additional 53,500- 107,000 people!

Wait, that’s not all… if between 53,500-107,000 people touch this blog post today- what if they, then also share this post with their two-hundred and fourteen friends? That’s means that the possibility exists that between 11,449,000- 22,898,000 people may potentially bring this conversation into their marriage, family, playdates, athletic teams, schools, committees, and so on today… and potentially more…

…and if this is possible just by sharing a post today- what will be possible tomorrow?

Just by taking THIS moment right now to become more aware of this problem, is getting us all closer to a solution.

If just for today, you would dare to believe in that wee- little-nobody voice of yours, I bet that what you’ll find is this:

If enough of us wee-little-nobodies get together to honor this conversation about our healthcare crisis, that together, all of our good intention, desire for change, and the great love we hold for our fifty-three facebook friends (who certainly do not deserve, but will, I’m sure, forgive the mental cancer you just gave them) then our collective voices and awareness will someday soon, be enough to equal the somebody big enough, powerful enough, and smart enough to solve this problem.

Join the revelation and lets reveal what we want to heal….

We hold the intention to heal the broken health care system in America, and make healthcare affordable and available for everyone.

Share, wee-little-mighty one, share with fierce intention.

 

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Forcing the Outcome is not TRP

“A waiting person is a patient person. The word patience means the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out to the full in the belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us.”

― Henri J.M. Nouwen

I love this quote because it holds personal meaning for me…”the willingness to stay where we are and live the situation out…” 

I’m remembering so many moments in my life when confusion and agitation would overwhelm me wondering why a certain situation was happening in which I felt powerless, and even angry for not being able to make sense of it.

The agitation was the “unwillingness” as I fought against the tide, swimming against the current to get to the shore when there was no shore even in sight.

I lived this way for years and years, without the “willingness to stay….” and just be with, whatever was happening.   It took years for me to cultivate a “trusting” that the events of life make sense either immediately, overtime, or never,  but that if they are to be known by me at all, that they will eventually reveal themselves.

“…the full belief that something hidden there will manifest itself to us.”

This full belief is

FAITH

TRUST

WISDOM

and unlike what I used to believe in my narrow minded view of what life was all about; wisdom is not the “knowing” of what it all means, but instead the understanding and acceptance that the knowing will come, in time.

When things happen in my life now…. I trust (mostly) that all will be revealed, in time. I accept that my role in the situation is to simply “stay”… not in a hanging, dwelling, preoccupied way… but in a loving, patient, observing way- sometimes just in the allowing it to be a mystery until it otherwise informs me…  which could mean, days, months, years, or never, but what difference will it make for me to try to force the understanding, and to close myself down in anger and hostility? This would be foolish.

As human beings I believe now, that our thoughts are of divine origin, and come, not generated inside of it’s own engine, encased in our heads- but from the divine source who has given us life, and access to the mysteries of life, so that we can experience love and all of it’s expressions more fully, more deeply, and more powerfully.  The thoughts that come into our minds are simply an offering for us to explore, more openly, that which the the source is gifting.

We all have access to the day to day insights that wait for us to declare them, just as we do the larger mysteries that call to our hearts and desire us to know them.   To know them is to exercise that unused muscle of looking within oneself, and to explore the situations that give our lives meaning, and to share those revelations with others.  Sharing with each other, and being vulnerable, and intimate with each other about the emotions and situations that REALLY matter, and allowing these situations to really develop each of us into a whole-hearted person.

If we deeply desire to understand and know the meaning behind the mysteries of our lives, or the purpose of our existence, then we must stay at each and every opportunity, and be patient for those revelations to manifest.

In doing this,  your own Revelation Project has begun- no?

Henri

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Steve Jobs and Rudolf Steiner Walk into a Bar……

child

I know who Steve Jobs is, but who the heck is Rudolf Steiner?  Well, actually, he’s also one of the most prolific and forward thinkers of our time… he’s just a bit more historical.

I attended a documentary last night about his life, and found it fascinating   In addition to his contributions to philosophy, architecture, nutrition, science, and medicine – he is also the founding father of  Biodynamic Farming, and Waldorf Education, which is one of the fastest growing, independent, educational movements in the world.

I was lucky enough to attended a Waldorf School for three years from the sixth grade to the eighth.  Looking back, I can say with conviction, that it was my only experience of school that made a positive and lasting impact on me. I have retained the lessons, friendships, memories, and the wisdom. The experiences I had there  were profound, and meaningful, to every level of my being.

Although I could not have articulated what it was at the time that made such an impression-  I would now look back and say this:  I was free to be myself, and I was free to enjoy learning.  Does that sound funny?

In contrast  to the traditional approach of education, my school days were structured to focus on a main lesson study in the beginning of each day for approximately two hours.  The rest of the day rotated around the arts, movement, music, and, outdoor activity.   There was no social hierarchy amongst the children, no grading system through which to compare ourselves, and no standardized testing.  This alleviated considerable stress in the classroom, and offered students instead, endless opportunities to approach lesson material with an open mind, and an interest in applied learning.  No tests, no workbooks, no textbooks, no rote memorization, no pop quizes, no competition.

I recall at first, feeling very misplaced, and trying to jockey for my social positioning amongst the children.  I realized quickly, that these kids were different.  No one cared what I was wearing, how I looked, how smart I was, or how much money my family had.  Once the initial anxiety wore off, I simply began to enjoy learning in a way I had never experienced before. My friendships blossomed as everyone in the class seemed to respect one another.  There was no divide based on color of skin or learning differences. As my heart expanded, and I gave myself permission to breath – so did my mind, and I genuinely began to look forward to my studies, and let go of all the anxiety and stress that had been trapped inside me from my former school experience.

Although we did not have traditional text books, we had instead a teacher who was rich in personality, and knew how to draw, recite, and animate lessons through vivid story telling and oration, and brought to life, much of the discourse through elaborate chalk drawings he created on the blackboard.  We each had a lesson book that contained only blank pages, and we were to draw and interpret the colorful stories, using colored pencils to translate lessons into drawn images and text while we attentively listened.  Lessons in science, math, geometry, english, and grammar were all done this way, using variations in materials, interspersed with outings, and movement that complimented the course material.

Each classroom was decorated as an expression of the personalities it contained;  with artwork, tapestries, dog eared books on book shelves, plants, and other charming furnishings to make it feel homey.  There were no school bells to change class, and no clocks on the wall to watch, and believe it or not, there weren’t even any mirrors in the bathrooms.  The entire atmosphere was designed to inspire freedom of learning, creativity, and respect for one another.

After the eighth grade, I was transferred to an all girl high school. I wore a plaid uniform and sat in classes from 8:30 am- 3:15 pm. When the bell rang, I changed to another class, and then another, and another.  My learning was relegated to 50 minute intervals, pop quizzes, ditto sheets, ball point pens and mechanical pencils. The classrooms were cold, sterile, and uncomfortable.  I counted the minutes to freedom, each and every day, and hated my parents for making me change schools.

I won’t spend a lot of time outlining Rudolf Steiners accomplishments (which are prolific) but instead share what i personally learned about him last night that really struck a chord with me.

What I learned is that Steiner was all about love, and shared wisdom.

He believed that each and every person, animal, and thing was interconnected and interdependent.
He believed that the head, heart, and hands of each and every individual person, was an access for learning, and informing the mind, body, and spirit.

Perhaps one of the original holistic thinkers, Steiner believed in the universal “oneness” of all things.  He treated each living organism with reverence, and as part of a larger whole, as was each microcosm part of the macrocosm.

As he lectured,  shared, and taught his theories, his ideas and practices took root in many aspects of human life, making him one of the most respected thinkers in the world.  The best way I can think to explain his impact on global culture is to say:

What Steve Jobs was to personal computing and technological advancement;  Rudolf Steiner was to human development and evolution.

Steiner’s own perception of the world was different than those of his predecessors, and called for it’s own definition in terms,  hence the birth of the name,  Anthroposophy, which translated, means, ‘the wisdom that lies within’, or;  ’the divine wisdom of the human being’.

One of his most interesting theories ( to me) is that our ability to “think” comes from source; ie; God, divinity, the spiritual world. Instead of the belief that the origin of thought comes from the brain.

In fact,  Steiner believed that our human evolutionary potential was made in the likeness of God.  Therefore, it was possible to achieve universal oneness and to be at one with the divine.

He also believed that each stage of our evolution is an awakening process, and each connection we make in the physical world, should further our experience and connectedness to that of the spiritual world, always furthering human consciousness.

Do you get it?

Ok, neither do I but I’m damn closer than I was yesterday.

All i know is this:

My own experience with Waldorf Education was profound, enlightening, and illuminating.
Being a student in the Waldorf School, is the closest to divinity that I have ever been.

I really think the man is on to something revelationary.. and it’s amazing it’s taken this long for the world to catch up, but by gum, I think it’s getting there.

More to be revealed…..

The Emperor Has No Clothes

emperor

I was sitting with my Mom yesterday afternoon in Maine watching the Katie Couric Show , a little luxury I couldn’t help but take advantage of, especially because her featured guest was actor; Bradley Cooper.

Her conversation with him centered around his”weighty” starring role, in a film recently nominated for five Oscars, as a character who suffers from Bi-Polar disorder, in the screen adaptation of Silver Linings Playbook.

Cooper was joined by actor legend, Robert De Niro, Director, David O. Russell, and the recently diagnosed Congressman, Patrick Kennedy, whose appearance added extra emphasis to the films subject matter; mental illness. 

Apparently, as Katie saw it,  the content of this film offered significant opportunity to ignite conversations in audiences everywhere around the recent hot topic of mental healthcare in America. Each of the actors spent time talking about the relevancy of this film in relation to several recent tragedies involving mentally disturbed individuals- i.e.; Adam Lanza (whose name was explicitly mentioned) and the Sandy Hook Tragedy.

I went to see 7:00 pm showing last night, after Mom and I decided that it seemed important.

As I sit here writing, I’m not sure who is more disturbed… me, our culture, or the mentally ill.  Perhaps these are all one in the same.

I shake my head and want to point out some inconsistencies I find relevant:

  • The film was hardly about mental illness, and I do not get the correlation made about the films ability to spark intelligent conversation on the topic of mental illness in America- huh?
  • The film is a comedy, and, honestly, I’m not getting the humor.  It left me, (perhaps a minority in this case) feeling sad, disgusted, and angry that Katie or anyone else would attach the films relevancy to this time period in our tragic history.
  • It barely really touched on what Bi-Polar Disorder is, or how it truly impacts a family.
  • “Mental Illness” was not even the genuine story line of the film, but only the container for a humor filled look at a dysfunctional family with weird tendencies around football.

Maybe I should not be so irritated and disgusted, but I’m just sitting here sputtering in my frustration feeling really sad for the twenty six kids who were killed in vain, the mentally ill young adult who never got the treatment he needed, and all of the parents and educators who have anguished over the insanity they must continue to feel as our culture carries on after this tragedy even though, “The Emperor has No Clothes“

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The Sales Prevention Team: How to Change Cant’s into Cans.

glass full

Many Many years ago I stopped playing on the sales prevention team. 

That’s what we used to call one of the departments in a company I used to work for in my early sales career.  It was a group of individuals in the company who were always a “NO”- before they were a yes ( if they were ever a yes)

They could always see problems before a solution.  This isn’t to say that there aren’t those circumstances that call for this type of raw talent… but this was more like an artform;  sniffing for issues, the way a pig does truffles, without even considering the possibilities of what the result might yield.  Short term pain, longterm gain… you know… like progress.

PAINFUL.

I have a hard time with those words: “I Can’t.”

“Can’t never did”,  my dad used to say.

“I can’t paint, I can’t hike, I can’t make time, I can’t do Math, I can’t write, I can’t ski, I can’t be happy, I can’t say can, I can’t see the glass half full…”

or

“We can’t improve our customer service, we can’t adapt our product to meet the markets needs, we can’t pull out now, we can’t let them see us sweat, we can’t improve moral, we can’t do that…..”

Now, these people – we can call them “halfers…. “, usually also have additional character traits I think are worth mentioning.

Score keeper (hey, you got a bigger piece than I did! Not Fair!) 
I told you So-ers ( I love when they shake their heads at you.. “yep, I tried to tell you but you wouldn’t listen…) 
Glass half empty ( whoa is me….)
You owe me ( hey… you still owe me $3.06 from when I picked up your coffee at Starbucks….) 

What business is to negotiation, transaction,  and investment; relationship is to cooperation, generosity, and support.

It’s very difficult to be in a relationship with someone who is always an immediate no, before they are a yes, or even a maybe.  It’s no fun working with someone who is always unwilling to compromise or who makes every interaction a challenge.

Oppositional
Challenging
Defiant
Adversary
Controlling
Contentious

These are just some of the words that come to mind when I am dealing with people who would rather look at problems before solutions, and who seem to have a very narrow and limited viewpoint.

SO WHY DO WE WORK WITH THEM OR HAVE THEM IN LIVES?

Hmmmmm.

Why do you have to work a job that’s difficult to make progress in, or that’s filled with negative people?

LEAVE.

Why do you have to take on a difficult client and do business with someone who is going to bust balls, hem and haw, and think small?

FIRE THEM.

Why do you have to stay in a marriage where everything is an argument, and you are miserable, and sad, and tired of trying?

EXIT.

There are plenty of places to GO HAVE NO FUN SOMEWHERE ELSE.

There is nothing that says we have to interact with negative, uncompromising people.  It’s great for socialization up to a point but, once you reach the age where you know the difference, it’s kind of like asking for cancer.

Who would do that?

You get to un-decide to have them in your life, in your house, in your work, and in your environment  You don’t HAVE to include them in your life, and you don’t have to interact with them.  All you need to do is recognize the difference between:

“NO NOT THAT” and ” YES MORE OF THAT” and let this be your compass that directs you onward.

What do you want out of life?

Do you want to keep looking at a life half empty?

Do you want to keep wishing it were different?

Do you wish you could find some fun, expansive, and interesting people to hang with?

YOU CAN.

CHOICE. It’s one of the most powerful and least utilized tools we own.

YES.

YOU CAN.

Now, go build something beautiful.

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I Wish You Enough

I have this love/hate relationship with quotes and sayings all over the place – unless I like them and  then, well, it’s great of course.

But how bout those super queer emails you get that say something super flowery and time-wasty like and then at the bottom they chain you…. ( this is the real reason it’s called a chain email)

“Send this message to 11 friends and something miraculous will happen…….DON’T break this thread!”

UGH.  Please. I love that you are my friend … but if you really consider me one of yours and want to stay one of mine –  please, do me a favor and DON’T.  Just don’t. Ever. ESPECIALLY if it has a TOTALLY QUEER aesthetic or graphic with it, like, say,  a cudley wudley kitten.

kitten

This lil’ guy is sooo cute!! omg! look at his tummy!

If you send these out… or participate in them… you need to stop it. now.

Then, there are those times when I am stalking browsing around on facebook and I see a kind of interesting or poignant graphic but it has all these shares and comments so it peaks my curiosity and I hover my mouse over it for a moment and I think to myself:

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

but it’s too late…

so I click on it?

and then I’m all thinking ….

“ooooh, this is .. hmmm… oh, god, that’s, oh, this is… so sad…. “

and then I’m all….

*sniff.  *sniff *sniff…. sniff sniff sniff  (getting  closer now) sniff, eyes welling, sniff sniff sniff sniff…. WHHHHAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

and then I’m a balling sobbing hot mess with snot all down my face and feeling like I got sucker punched by that cute, cudley wudley kitten.

Here it is:

wish you enough

 

I Wish You Enough:

Recently, I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport as the daughter’s departure had been announced. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said:

“I love you and I wish you enough.”

The daughter replied, “Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom.” They kissed and the daughter left.

The mother walked over to the window where I sat. Standing there, I could see she wanted and needed to cry.

I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, “Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?” “Yes, I have,” I replied. “Forgive me for asking but why is this a forever good-bye?”

“I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is the next trip back will be for my funeral,” she said.

When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, “I wish you enough.” May I ask what that means?”

She began to smile. “That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone.” She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more.

“When we said ‘I wish you enough’ we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them”. Then turning toward me, she shared the following, reciting it from memory,

“I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

 I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.”

She then began to cry and walked away.

AND THEN OF COURSE AT THE BOTTOM IT SAID………

They say it takes a minute to find a special person. An hour to appreciate them. A day to love them. And an entire life to forget them. Please Share this with your friends. It has the potential to inspire a lot of people.

GRRRRRRR. *sniff. GRRRRRRR. *sniff, *sniff, *muffled sob…

Go ahead, share it.

I double dog dare you.