What is your Value?

Do you value yourself?  Do you know your worth to the world?  Or are you always seeking acceptance never discovering your true value?  Each of us brings unique traits and qualities to this world and our value should never be set by others, we should instead know and accept our true value of ourselves. 

I believe that if we do not value who we are as a person no one else will!  Is there a fine line between self-worth and Ego, yes there can be.  True self-worth is a quiet assurance that never has to be proclaimed to the world.  It is feeling confident in your abilities and your place in the world.  It is knowing what you can add to a situation and being willing to learn and stretch your abilities to help others.

So how do we begin to value ourselves?  It starts with listening to yourself, finding who you truly are and truly understanding what talent and abilities you have.  Recognize what you have been through in your life.  Give yourself credit for making it through everything you have been through.  Acknowledge the things you have learned along the way and most importantly believe in yourself.  The world is a better place because you are in it and contributing to it every day.  You have value and your willingness to define your value will only enhance your life.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “Discover your true value to the world.  Go forth with confidence that you are special and you have value!”

Open your heart to open your mind!

With the tragic events of the past week in Colorado Springs and San Bernardino there has been much talk, including by Presidential candidates, about how we should react to such events.  Most of the reactions out there are based on fear and hate.  These are the easiest ways to control people and rally them for your cause.  I dismiss the idea of fear and I abhor the idea of hate.  Certainly there are people in this world that are out to hurt us with no regard for who is responsible for their own problems but the way forward in the world is discover the love we each have inside.  By taking the time to see that true light in ours we bring ourselves to a place of compassion and understanding rather than a place of fear and hate.

Our country has a long history of trying to hate or define a new ethnic group until we as a society will not put up with it anymore.  This was true of the African Americans, the Irish, the Jewish, the Japanese and now it is the Muslim’s.  Why do we hate because we have not had the chance to know and understand each of these groups until much time has passed.  I believe that this world is coming together like never before and the vast majority of people are good people and want to be good.

The way we as a society and as individuals change the world is to open our hearts to everyone so that we can open our minds to their situation.  It is very hard to do it the other way around we try to box in our emotions with what we believe to be logic.  The truth is you can justify anything if you want to.  The opportunity to change the pattern is to open you heart first and allow your compassion to lead your mind to different conclusions.

There have been radicals in every ethnic group in our history.  Some of those groups were terribly feared in their time but we grew up and began to understand why they were acting out the way they were.  Once we did this we accepted the change that was needed to make their lives better. 

Stop allowing talking heads to tell you what you should think or feel.  Let go of the fear and find a way to make a difference.  You and only you can decide where you should stand.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the Day: “By opening our hearts first we allow our heads to hear a different truth.  Know compassion instead of fear and change the world with your love.” 

Giving Thanks!

With the Thanksgiving holiday this Thursday, I think it’s time again to think about giving thanks.  What are you thankful for?  Through gratitude everything is possible.  I have mentioned before that my wife Heidi and I practice gratefuls every day.  We believe in the power of giving thanks.  No matter how dark of a day you are having there is always something to be grateful for.

The more you appreciate your life as it is today, the more you open your heart to other possibilities.  It is only by being grateful that we allow God/universe to work on our behalf.  Remember God/universe only wants to give us what we are looking for but that can be negative things as well as positive things.  By starting each day with gratitude we express thanks to God/universe for the wonderful things that God/universe brought into our lives yesterday.

I have also discovered that by starting the day with gratitude we set a more positive tone for the whole day ahead of us.  This tone then translates into more things to be grateful for today and so on.  So what are you grateful for?  I’d love to hear all of your responses.  Here are some of mine:

1.       I am grateful for my family.  I love and appreciate all my sisters, my mother, my

 3 daughters and my beautiful wife Heidi.

2.       I am grateful for living in Colorado.  I love the beauty of this state and I am

 grateful that I have ended up here.

3.       I am grateful for my house.  I love where we live and appreciate owning my

 own place.

4.       I am grateful for the opportunity to start my own business and to get away  

 for the corporate world and especially taxes.

5.       I am grateful for my community.  I love the people in this area and believe

 together we can do anything.  I am honored to be involved with 2 Chamber

 of Commerce’s and to be the Co-Chair of the 285 Tourism Committee.

6.       I am grateful for our 3 dogs they bring us joy and laughter every day.

7.       I am grateful for all my online friends, some of whom have been with me

 for nearly 10 years.  I appreciate your friendship and support.

8.       I am grateful that I can be a voice for those that need one.

9.       I am grateful for my birthday which this year is on Thanksgiving.  I

 celebrate each year with appreciation as I know too well that nothing

 is guaranteed.

10.   I am grateful for finding joy in the smallest things.

I wish you all a beautiful, warm Thanksgiving and if you are not in the US, I hope the intention of this day can be shared worldwide.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “By giving thanks we open our heart to joy and discover the path to a better life.” 

Make the World Better!

Have you ever thought, I want to make the world a better place?  I have often, it is one of the things that drives me onward every day; I try to make a difference.  Not only in my life and the lives of the people I know, I try to make a difference in the world.  The whole idea behind this blog was to make a difference.

So why do I bring this up now?  After the events in Paris last week it is far too easy to fall into the negative.  We are afraid so we need to act in retaliation!  We need to make them pay!!  Can you hear it in your head?  It is so easy to become part of the group.  We feel more secure because everyone is thinking this.  Well just like the person at work that loves to tell you their troubles every day, even though your day is going well, you start to complain.  You find a comradery with this person because you have something in common….remember your day was going well, so do you truly have something in common?  We as humans are social animals and we like the feeling of belonging.  Do not allow others to pull you into the negative.  Do not believe all the negative things you hear.  Listen to your true self, listen to God/universe and remember who you truly are, love!

Do not join the hate, do not join the war believe in yourself and believe in other people.  The world needs more compassion and empathy, not hate and war.  Find a way to your true self, let go of the fear that you hear all around you and make the world a better place today.  I dare you!!

More hate will never bring anything more than more hate.  It is only through love that we can begin to change the world, one step at a time.  I believe in you, I believe in your compassion, I believe in love!!

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

Perception

Here's a look back on a subject we all need to be reminded of; perception.  Your perception affects everything in your life.  It is the most important subject to truly become aware of.

Let's start with the Dictionary.com definition: "the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding." Everything we know in life is filtered through our own perception. Our perception is developed throughout our life by the experiences we've had & the knowledge we've learned. The only way to change your life to a more joyful life is to change your perception of everything. Yes, I know that sounds like a big task, but actually it's just an effort, on your part, to look at things differently.

No matter how objective you think you are in life. Everything is affected by your perception & to complicate things a little more, everything you read, hear or see is someone’s else's perception which you then interpret through your own perception. So everything in life is filtered to some extent at least twice (1st by who's saying it & 2nd by your own).

What happens over our life is that we tend to get entrenched in the way we perceive things & this leads us to seeing things in the same pattern we've always known. The problem with this is that if we want to change our life we need to break these old patterns & look at things differently to begin to find more joy.

So how do we start to do this? There's no defined way it's whatever seems to work for you. What I've done over the past several years is to challenge myself to look at everything differently. I allow the 1st thought into my head & recognize it. I then challenge myself to look at it from at least one other point of view. The next step for me when it comes to other people is to not judge. I let go of all my preconceived ideas of what a person is I don't judge them by what they are wearing, what their appearance is what race or religion (if I know) or what sexual preference. I instead try to understand why they are saying what they are saying. In other words I try to understand their point of view, their perception of what they are telling me.

I believe strongly that every person that comes into your life is there for a reason. This reason is usually to teach something you need to know. Either something about yourself (as talked about in "reflections") or something you need to know to move forward in your life. If you try to open yourself up to this idea you begin to see the world in a different way.

For me the final step is to also look at everything else in your life (that's not people) in the same open (new) way. We can discover messages from everything that enters our life....everything is there for a reason! That's the way the universe works. (To learn more about the meaning of animals that show up in your life a great book is "Animal Speaks" by Ted Andrews).

Change your perception & your new life will begin to unfold in front of you.

Until next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: "Perception is your filter of the universe. Change your perception & the world will change around of you!"

Action!

In the past we have talked a lot about moving forward and not worry about the results.  Today I want to talk about action and what is the right action to see your dreams come true.  This topic came to me through my friend Jason Britt who was talking about taking responsibility for your life.  This is a beautiful way to introduce action!

We cannot just sit back and dream of the life we want to live.  We have to take responsibility for our actions right or wrong.  We need to learn from our mistakes and forgive ourselves for the mistakes we make.  Just as we need to celebrate the right decisions.  This is your life and it will happen with or without you.  You are the only one that can affect the change you want to see in your life.  God/universe will send you the people to help you but if you do not pay attention or if you are unwilling to hear their message, you will be stuck in the same routine that has kept you where you are.

The way forward is to always take a step towards your dreams.  Even when you are knocked down and feel hopeless, by moving forward you will always see change happen around you.  Now as we have discussed in the past if your dreams are completely Ego based; you may achieve what you dreamed of but may find that there is no satisfaction in achieving your dreams.  The reason for this is that the Ego can never be satisfied beyond a moment.  Once it achieves what it wanted it always wants more.

So how do we move towards our dreams?  Start by letting go of the negative thoughts in your head. Take a moment or two every morning, release yesterday, clear your mind and think of one positive thing you can do today to move towards your dream.  This ‘thing’ does not have to be significant but you must take action towards your dreams every day.  The reason for this is that God/universe only knows to give us what we ask for.  If we do not take action towards our dreams and become consumed with negative thoughts and energy will we only see more negative thoughts and more obstacles will appear in our path.

The way to live the life you dreamed of is not as hard as it appears; take action, move forward, release the negative, take responsibility and you will know joy like never before.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day:  “By taking responsibility for our life and always moving towards our dreams, our life will unfold perfectly before us!”

Head vs Heart

Yes one of the oldest battles in the history of man.  Can I shed light on this epic battle?  I hope so; let’s start with misconceptions.  The head is always logical, it always makes a good sound decision based on facts.  The heart is always emotional and every decision is irrational.  The truth is that both the head and heart are both.

Let’s start with the head; it is true that the mind can take in a wealth of information and based on experience and research can make a logical decision.  But unfortunately we rarely act on pure logic.  The mind instead tries to justify the answer that the Ego wants.  What do I mean by this?  Well how many times in your life have you gone ahead with a decision because it was the outcome you wanted?  Often we look at facts and interpret them as we see fit.  This is partly because of who we are but mostly because the Ego wants us to move in a particular direction to try and satisfy its longing for something.

The heart/soul on the other hand can make very emotional decisions.  We can feel the hurt or pain sometimes leading us to things that we would not rationally choose even if the head is telling us something different.  I often call these reactions, knee jerk!  They make no real sense except to us at the time.  But the heart can lead us to true joy, when we are able to move beyond the emotion and truly feel the correct outcome we align ourselves with God/universe and we move in the direction we are meant to move.

So how do we choose?  This epic battle has gone on for so long because there is no easy answer to this.  For the head we need to detach ourselves from the outcome and try to look at the true facts, not the ones we have created.  For the heart we need to move beyond the emotional response and feel the true connection with everything.  The balance between the two can take a lifetime to perfect and understand but if we acknowledge the challenges with each we move closer to the true answer.

Meditation is a great way to quiet the noise of the Ego and connect with our true self and sometimes just taking a breath or taking time can move us away from the emotional response and into a place of true connection.  Allow yourself to become aware of these internal battles and just by becoming aware you can begin to change your life.

The bottom line is we do not have to accept the battle we have to acknowledge the challenges and find our true connection with everything.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day:  “Acknowledge the immediate response that both the head and heart can give us.  Move beyond this response and find the true connection with everything for through this connection everything is possible!”

Asking for help!

One of the hardest lessons I have had to learn in my life is that of asking for help.  I have always been the first one to give, either of my time or my money.  I have done this regardless of my current situation because I have always believed that by giving we receive.  But I have always had a hard time asking for help or accepting help from others.

Why is this?  I believe it is all based on the Ego.  The Ego believes it is the best and the only thing that matters, by accepting help the Ego is shown that it cannot do everything or figure everything out.  I lived in this place for many years.  I was very bright and I could always figure out a way around things to create the outcome that I wanted.  As I grew spiritually I let go of the need for my Ego and started the process of listening more closely to my heart and soul.

The feeling of being connected to everything and feeling the natural flow of things; opens your mind and allows for best outcome in every situation.  This process does not mean that everything will always be perfect, or go your way.  It just means there is a time and place for everything and if we allow it things will work out the way they are supposed to.

I still have had problems accepting help from others, it is an ongoing process for me.  At this point in my life I need as much help as I can get to help me get through the process of building my new business.  I have tried to be more open and accepting of help from friends and colleagues allowing them the same satisfaction I receive by giving.

As I open my heart, I allow God/universe to send me the perfect people to help.  In the past I would ignore these people and do it myself.  The results were that I would usually get what I wanted but in the end it truly was not what was best or even what I thought it would be.

As we learn to live a more joyful life; allow your heart to be open to others help and together we can build a better world.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “By allowing others to help us when we need it, we open up the process of giving and receiving and can change our lives forever.”

Rainbows & Unicorns

Often in my life I have been told that I am too positive.  That I must be hiding something because no one can be that positive.  Well the truth is I have always been positive but since I have grown spiritually I am more positive than ever.  I certainly have my down days, in fact I have written about them on occasion here, but in general things do not keep me down for long.  I battle with the same emotions everyone does and as I have grown I have learned to deal with them better and better over time.

If you take a look at my life right now you may wonder if being positive helps?  I believe it softens the hurt and helps you move forward.  I have been out of a ‘regular’ job for over a year now, I started my own travel business in February but did not really start ‘selling’ travel until May.  The business so far is not making me the money I need to survive but the business continues to pick up.  So, should I be depressed because as hard as I am working I am not successful yet?  I do not believe so.  I believe that there is so much more positive about my experience than negative.  I am an active member of two Chambers of Commerce and treasurer of one.  This helps me be active in the communities that surround my mountain home and by giving back to the communities I am filled up beyond anything a job or a business could ever give me. 

I do not believe that man’s life is defined by his job and a man’s worth is not just the money he has.  Life is too short to not engage it fully and become who you are meant to be!  Each one of us finds our own path in life but the ultimate path is to discover who you really are….”Love”.  Once you know love of yourself and can express love outwardly to the world your life will change beyond anything you can imagine.

The struggle today is finding the time to discover your true self with all the demands that our busy lives have in front of us on a daily basis.  It is time that we all learn to slow down, it is time that we all learn that money is not the answer.  Life is precious and far too short to only worry about accumulating wealth and possessions.  True joy is found in service to others and spreading the love that you have to give.

So yes maybe I am too positive but I believe in people, I believe in this world and I believe once we all know love this small little blue planet will change forever!!

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “Being positive about life does not mean that you do not have negative things happen in your life.  It just means you accept them and move on to a better place!

Watching clouds go by

Do you remember when you were a kid and you laid in the grass and watched the clouds go by?  I have talked occasionally about wonderment, about finding the beauty in everything that comes into your life.  Part of this is opening yourself up to your inner child. 

When I was a child I could spend hours just watching the clouds and imagining what shape they pretended to be.  The hours seemed like minutes because I was totally entrenched by the beauty and the fun of the clouds.  I still do this on occasion, although I rarely lie down in the grass, I just sit and look upward to enjoy the clouds.  Are you willing to be a child again?

We are all so busy in our busy world that we refuse to take time for ourselves and time to play.  Why do we lose the joy of a child?  The answer is because we refuse to cultivate it as we grow.  Our society says that is childish and we should be more responsible.  I say baloney!!  I say to truly know joy we need to feed our inner child, we need to be willing to just watch the clouds go by.

We refuse to open our minds to the joy we knew as a child because we are afraid to let go of the noise of the people around us.  We need to find comfort in our own self and not be so concerned about what everyone else has to say about us or what we are doing.

Rediscover your inner child, feed its imagination and joy.  By allowing this simple act your heart will be lightened and joy will return to your life.  It is ok to be silly, it is ok be childish.  Do not allow anyone, including yourself, to take that joy away.  When you are able to just let go and watch the clouds go by you feed your soul and you begin the process of bringing joy back into your life.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “By finding time to watch the clouds go by we feed our imagination and rediscover the joy of being a child!”

Who am I?

Do you know the answer to this simple question?  Or is it simple at all?  So many of us have our different faces; a face for work, a face for home, a face for play & a face for friends but do you really know who you are?  This was a question that dogged me for years, I thought I knew what I wanted, I thought I knew how to get it & I thought I knew what people expected of me.  But the truth is none of this matters if you don’t know who you truly are!

There’s no easy way or quick fix to find the answer to this question.  This takes time and lots of self-reflection.  You need to move beyond the roles you play in life and discover who you are.  For me this started with meeting my wife Heidi and really gained momentum with the death of my father but it took me way too long to figure who I really was and what I wanted to do with my life.

It is so easy to hide in the different roles we play that often we totally lose ourselves.  I worked for 16 years in taxes not because it was a part of me but because I needed to provide for my family.  I did many things in my life for a reason but is it always good to justify the actions you took (read Tuesday’s blog)?  The truth is NO!!  Even things we do with the best intentions can be a way to avoid learning who you are.  You are not defined by any role, you are not defined by any action; you are instead discovered in every moment!

The work of discovering yourself begins with dealing with your past.  The past for most of us is like the elephant in the room; always there but never acknowledged.  For me I had to forgive:  Forgive the man that sexually abused me, Forgive my father for making me feel not good enough.  This wasn’t easy but over time and through reflection, I was able to forgive and let go of the things that happened to me.  I am a totally different person than I was before I did this.  I love more, give more and believe now that by opening yourself to the world you find much more joy than the sorrow people believe.  Yes there can always be someone out there that is looking to take advantage of you but there are far more that will return the love you give a thousand times over.

The process of self-discovery took time for me but it was the best time I ever spent.  I learned that my life was filled with decisions based on my Ego rather than my soul.  I learned that by forgiving we become a better person and I learned that when we truly trust God/universe everything is possible.

Take time, discover the person you truly are, always start with love and the world will open up to you like never before!!

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “Only by knowing who you really are (not who you pretend to be) can you find the lasting joy that is meant for you!” 

Justify

Do you try to justify everything in your life?  No matter the mistakes or choices you make you always have a reason for your actions.  Many of us do this to try to create a false sense of security.  The truth is no action that is taken by us should need justification.  When we act from a place of love or from our true self everything flows and we never need to justify the actions we have taken.

The reason we seek to justify is to placate the Ego, the Ego makes wrong decisions all the time because the decisions are based on instant gratification and embellishing itself. So to take command of your thoughts the Ego needs to be able to justify everything it does.  This is true no matter how wrong the decision is.  We can always find a ‘good’ reason for our actions because it gives us comfort that we made the correct decision but by opening yourself up to your true self you’ll learn that there’s no need to justify for every action you take is in harmony with everything else in your life and in the world as a whole.

Some of the worst tragedies in the history of the world had justification for the actions they took and people bought into these justifications because it was more comfortable to believe the justification then to stand up to the tragedy they witnessed.  We as a society need to speak up when we see wrong, we need to stop listening to the justification and start revealing the horror of the action.

On a smaller scale in our own lives we need to move away from our Ego and become more and more aligned with our true self (soul).  Once this shift happens in our life we will begin to see how easily life flows in the natural course of things.  This does not mean everything will go your way all the time.  As I have written before, look to nature there is a natural rhythm there and as in nature there are fallow times and harvest times in all of our lives.  By listening to our soul though we can even out the fallow times and still find joy when things are not going as well as we would like. 

Remember that even in fallow times we can prepare for the next harvest.  Through this preparation we can be stronger than we were before.  Let go of the need to justify your actions, move closer to your true self and discover the true joy that is missing in your life.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “When we listen to our true self there is never a need to justify our actions.  Move away from the Ego and the need to justify and you will discover true joy!”

Where are you going?

Do you know where you are going in life?  Do you have a plan?  Or do you just vacillate moving from one disappointment to the other never knowing when things will be different?  God/universe allows us to create whatever we want in life but first we must have a plan!  We have talked before about thoughts and intentions and these are part of the plan for your life but in order to create the life you truly want; you need to have a plan!  You need to have a dream!!  You need to aspire to something.

So how do you create a plan for your life?  I believe the most important part of any plan is flexibility!  You have to be willing to adjust your plan as you move through life.  Look to nature that always adapts to whatever comes its way.  In the case of nature some things take centuries but nature always adapts.  Far too often in our lives we have a vision and we are unwilling to adjust that vision to things that come into our life.  By being open and in touch with your true self (soul) you will know when to adjust the plan and when to stay the course.  We often need to move away from what we believe the vision is to truly discover the vision again.  We all know of stories of people that found their true passion when they were much older (in their 60’s or 70’s).  God/universe has no timeline for your plan or your life, what God/universe wants to do is give you everything you want, the problem is we all get so distracted in our day to day life we do not know what we truly want.

This is the true paradox of life:  God/universe wants to give us what we want but we cannot give God/universe a clear message to work from!!  I believe the answer to this paradox is simple; start each day with gratitude.  Thank God/universe for what has come into your life before today.  Next, focus!  Yes take time, even a few minutes every day, but take time to focus on what you want.  Move beyond your head (Ego) and into your true self (soul) and listen to what your soul is telling you.  This is the path you need to be on.  If we betray our true self we may have instant gratification but we will never know true long lasting joy!

After starting with gratitude and focusing on our true vision the next step is open ourselves up to whatever comes into our life.  You never know who can help you along the way to your dreams and sometimes the forward movement you need comes from a very unlikely source, so as with focus the answer is to be flexible and pay attention to what comes into your life.  As you do this, more and more things will come into your life that moves your vision forward.

Believe in this process, know that everything is possible.  Believe in yourself, know that you are a divine being and all God/universe wants is to give you what you want.  Remember to be open, to love and to listen and your life will change forever!

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “Where are you going in your life?  Do you even know?  Find your true calling, believe in yourself and you can do anything!”

My Heart is full!

Yes, my heart is full of love, love is the only thing I know as I move forward in my life.  I open my heart to everyone that comes into my life and try to help them anyway I can.  I find great joy in giving to others and in my life I have found by giving that I receive much more back than I give.

In the world today some people call me crazy for this & I am OK with that.  Yes, I have been hurt by people in my life because of my willingness to give but I believe I have discovered true joy even through the few times that people have hurt me.  I believe that the only way for the world to move to a better place is to learn to love more and judge less.  We are all humans and we all make mistakes, even if we don’t want to admit it.  Through love we move beyond our own imperfections and into a state of joy and fulfillment that can not be reached without love in your life.

Does everyone deserve to be loved?  I believe the answer to that is yes!!  The violence and pain we see in the world is based on fear not love and when we come together in a true loving state anything is possible.  By opening our heart without judgement to others we clear away the ego and move into a place where everything is possible.

Does this mean you have to agree with everyone?  Of course not!!  We love our family, we love our children, we love our spouse but we do not always agree with what they are doing or saying.  We all need to be true to ourselves but if we disagree with someone through love we can open our mind to truly listen and by truly listening we open the possibility of finding common ground even on issues we don’t agree with and even if we do not agree we can better understand where someone is coming from.  Through this understanding we may be able to find a solution to our differences.

Know that love is all that matters and no matter how much you have been hurt by love in the past finding the love in everyone that comes into your life is the way to a more joyful life!!!

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “My heart is filled with love for everyone in my life.  I let go of judgement and listen with my heart instead of my ego by doing this I find true joy.”

When darkness envelops you

We all have bad days, yes even me from time to time.  You the know days where you wake up and feel grumpy or angry or sad or maybe all of these things.  These feelings are a normal part of life.  To feel joy we need to know sadness; to know peace we need to know anger and to find calm we need to feel grumpy every now and again.  I learned over the years of my spiritual growth ways to deal with these feelings so they do not over take you and cause a shift into despair in your life.

We have talked often about focus and minding your thoughts.  The darkness that comes into our life is no different.  We need to acknowledge the feelings that we are feeling, we need to try to understand where these feelings are coming from.   Sometimes either of these can be very difficult to do but first look at what has happened recently in your life, then look at what you are afraid of.  Most often fear is the basis of bad feelings, we are afraid of what might happen, we are afraid of changes in our life that we have no control over or we are afraid of what we are missing in our life or the lack of something in our life.

Always remember that whatever you feel, you are allowed to feel.  No one should ever try to tell you differently!!  I propose only ways to limit darkness that comes into our lives so we do not fall into the darkness itself.  Look for ways to brighten your thoughts, always begin with gratitude for something in your life, through gratitude we change our focus automatically.  Find a song or a quote that lifts your soul whenever you hear it or read it.  Release the fear and know that just by moving forward you are moving towards your dreams.

I have discovered that life is rarely a straight line from point A to point B.  Often it is a winding path that we can only see after we have reached the goal we were looking for.  This alone can cause confusion and distress, just know that as long as you move forward towards your goal God/universe will bring you to it.  God/universe works through everything around us so the path is not always what we imagine it to be, often it is only by looking back that we can see how far we have come and that we are further than we could even imagine.

We all have darkness within us, celebrate the darkness, reflect on its part in your life and move beyond it to a more joyful life.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “When the darkness envelopes us; listen to what it has to say, open your heart to the light and discover the pathway to joy!”

The lies within,

Do you lie to yourself?  Do you quietly tell yourself you’re not worthy of what just happened in your life?  The secret lies that we tell ourselves are some of the worst we can have to deal with in your life.  When we continue to lie to ourselves, we perpetuate a cycle that only leads to more disappointment.  Remember thoughts create things so what we say to ourselves even in the quietest part of our mind only create more of the same.

We all have feelings of “not being good enough” at some time in our life and we often interpret others actions as confirmation of our own inadequacies.  We’d much rather listen to the noise of the world to find the truth we’re looking for; then to go inside and discover who we truly are!

The more we tell ourselves lies the further we get from the truth:  You are a beautiful creation, your soul purpose in life is to know you are love and to find and spread love into the world.  We all make mistakes, move beyond them.  We all feel disconnected from the world at times, like we don’t belong or that we’re not good enough.  Don’t believe those lies!!! 

Your Ego is what wants to make you feel inadequate because it wants instant gratification in every moment of every day.  It feeds on your true self to keep itself going strong.  The greatest practice you can learn in life is to quiet the mind and truly listen to the soul.  This took me way too long to figure out and because of that I lived in a state of ego for far too many years.

Let go of the lies, move out of your head and discover the joy you are seeking in your life.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “The lies we tell ourselves are the rarely based in truth.  Move away from your head and into your soul for the truth you’ve been looking for.”

Where is your Focus?

What are you focusing on in your life?  What are you focusing on in this minute? By focusing our attention on what we are looking for in our life instead of the problems or troubles we have we can truly change our life for the better.  The truth is whatever we focus on God/universe brings more of that item into our lives.  So many of us are overwhelmed in our lives that we focus only on how busy we are and not on anything to move our life forward.  By doing this we bring more busyness into our lives.  Again, what we focus on comes back to us.

I was just reading a post from Dr. Wayne Dyer where he said that he believed the most important 5 minutes of the day are the minutes right before we go to sleep.  If we can clear our mind and focus on what we want, even if it’s only for tomorrow, we give ourselves the opportunity to see those things come to fruition through our dreams and sleep.  My friend Deepak Chopra always taught that the first few minutes of the day are the most important, that if you stayed in bed and began with being grateful for having another day and then ask for what you want from God/universe in that day.  To me it doesn’t matter which method works best in your life.  I actually believe in doing both…what have you got to lose?  The point here is the focus and thoughts that you’re putting out into the universe.  The only way to truly change your life is to change your focus.  I know it sounds easy and it’s hard to believe that it works but with diligence and continued practice you will see a shift in your life.

We as human beings are all connected and our minds create more than we can ever imagine.  Don’t fall into the trap of misery loves company; it’s easy to complain, it easy to find fault but by doing so your focus is on the negative rather than the positive.  Think of a day where it seemed like nothing was going right, we’ve all had those days, try and remember how many times in that day you said to yourself “What else is going to go wrong today?” and then think about how many things continued to go wrong that day.  Probably many and every time you probably said “what else can go wrong today?”  What I propose is changing your focus from what’s going wrong to what you’re grateful for or to what you’re looking forward to later today.

We all have our moments when we feel out of control but only by letting go and changing our focus can we see our life change around us.  You are amazing and you can create the world you want to see just by changing your focus….believe it, know it & Live it!

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “Where we place our focus creates more of what we focus on, focus on the good and change your life forever!”

The need for control!

So often in life we feel comfort only when we feel we were are in control of our lives.  This is one of the biggest lies we can ever tell ourselves and yet some of us try to control more and more in our life in effort to find the joy we are seeking or to feel like things will be ok!

The truth about control is this; we have control over ourselves and our reaction to other people.  That’s it, all other control in our life is contrived and actually against our true self.  Control is driven by the Ego, the Ego needs to feel like it has an effect on things in the world because it’s the most important thing in the world.

Without emotional development and learning your true spirit the Ego runs wild and often it’s because of our own insecurities that we try harder and harder to control everything in our life.  This is especially true in business where true leaders delegate and insecure leaders try to control. 

So how do we move beyond control?  The answer is by taking the time to know yourself, by forgiving yourself for past mistakes and by feeling worthy of everything that comes into your life.  I know this sounds simple and in many ways it is, but the time to heal the past can be hard for us in this busy world.  So often we take time for everyone else and have no time or energy left for ourselves.

To truly shift to a more joyful life we need to take care of ourselves first, if we do this we will have much more time and energy for others.  Heal the wounds of the past, know you are an imperfect being that things are going to happen to.  Not because of letting go of control but because trying to hold on to it.

Practice daily affirmations about gratitude and loving yourself, allow others to help you.  Open yourself to letting go of control and watch your life change.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “Only by letting go of control can we truly soar!”

Taking a Leap of Faith!

So many of us live in a state of fear; fear of the unknown, fear of failure & fear of change that we refusing, knowingly or unknowingly, to move forward in our life.  This fear paralyzes us and even though our life isn’t what we want it to be, we continue onward without changing anything because we’re afraid.  This is no way to live your life.  Fear should never control your decisions, fear should never be listened to except in life and death situations.  The truth about fear is that it’s based in the Ego, remember that the Ego wants all the attention in our life, so when you’re not paying attention to it, the Ego creates fear to be heard.  The Ego can never be satisfied, it always wants more, to move beyond the Ego takes time and patience.  You must strip away the noise and learn to listen to the small voice deep inside.  This voice is what connects to God/universe and to everything and everyone.  The difference with this voice is that it rarely shouts out.  It waits quietly for you to listen to it.  This voice is always there but to hear it takes time and learning how to discern it from the noise of the Ego.

One of the ways to move beyond fear and Ego is to take a leap of faith.  I recently did this when I decided to take my life back from working in taxes the last 16 years and start my own travel company.  These leaps of faith can be defining moments in our life and no matter how comfortable you are with your decision the fear of the unknown will always poke its head through.  I know in my soul that whether this business is successful or not, I made the right decision to do this.  We all fear failure but failure is part of life and without failing we can never truly soar.  It’s what we do with the failure that matters.  As long as we learn and grow it’s not truly a failure!

So taking a true leap of faith opens your heart and quiets the noise from the Ego.  It connects you to your source and allows your connection to everything.  I have discovered that since I chose to do this that I feel more like who I truly am.  I see things opening up to me that never would have had a chance to be born.  This is not an easy step for anyone but sometimes through these dramatic actions we can find ourselves again.

If you’re thinking about taking a leap of faith; take time, listen beyond the noise and find the comfort in your decision that come from connecting to your true source.  I wish you well, I believe in you & if I can help, please let me know.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “When you take a leap of faith, you can reconnect to your true source and change your life forever.”

Do you need a hug?

How often in your life do you reach out to someone else?  Do you give them a hug for no reason?  The quickest way to finding a more joyful life is through helping others.  Sometimes it’s as simple as giving them a hug.  More can expressed in a hug than almost anything else.  I remember a few years back there were a couple of college students that went to big cities with signs that read “Free Hugs”, almost everyone who went by stopped and got one.  The news reports that talked to people afterwards were told that that simple act made their day better.

We get so caught up in our own lives that we forget the impact we can have on others.  We need to open our hearts and minds and give back to the people around us.  I’m not saying we should put up “Free Hug” signs but instead I’m challenging you to do something for someone else every day.  Whether it’s a hug, opening the door, carry the groceries or paying for the next coffee.  These random acts of kindness become greater than us.  We begin to see a ripple effect across our community and eventually throughout the world.

In lives that are way too over scheduled we tend to fear having down time to connect with our true self (soul).  We need time, we need to get out of our own heads and connect with who we truly are (love).  By volunteering, giving hugs or random acts of kindness we move away from ourselves and discover that by giving we receive.  Often we receive more than we ever give but the return isn’t the reason to do it.  The reason to help others gives us joy like no other and moves us beyond our ego that tries to control everything in our lives.

So do you need hug?  I’m here to give you one, anytime or anyplace through the computer or in person.  I’ll give you a hug, I’ll tell you how special you are and hopefully I’ll make your day better or change your life forever.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “By giving to others we open our hearts, move away from our mind and discover what true joy really is!” 

Be the Change

One of my favorite quotes is from Mahatma Gandhi “Be the change you want to see in the world”. This resonates with me so much because I truly believe that everything has to start from within you.  If you’re walking through your life waiting for something to happen, it rarely will.  Every thought of what’s possible only comes to fruition by taking action to move towards that possibility.  This is the reason more people aren’t manifesting their dreams; lack of action.  So ‘To be the change’ simply means to take action yourself and not sit back and wait for something to happen.

We all have the power to change the world within us and by individual small steps every day we do change the world but it’s up to you.  You decide to be the change, no one else can do it for you.  It is true that most of us have a tremendous support system around us of family, friends or maybe even co-workers that will help us through some of the normal struggles of life when we need them.  But this support system isn’t there to help us change the world.  It’s there only to support us and give us the strength and confidence we need to be the change.

I realize that change scares a lot of people but the world will change with or without you.  You can determine how the world will change for the better.  You have the power to make every day the best day yet!  You have the power to determine your own path!  You have the power to see the path open before you because you took the first step!!  Believe in yourself, you are magical, you are love and you can make a difference!!  Just always remember that everything starts from within you.  You write your own story and if that story was filled with pain and despair in the past, you and you alone can release the past, release the pain and create the life you’ve always wanted.  Take the first step towards your dreams.  Give God/universe the opportunity to open the door you’ve always been looking for by being the change you want to see in the world! 

Believe in yourself, believe in your dreams and know by taking the next step every day towards your dreams they will be manifested before you know it!!

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “Be the change you want to see in the world!” Mahatma Gandhi

Stop the World…I want to get off!

In this day we all get far too busy, we end up with full calendars and no time for ourselves or our loved ones.  This has been happening to me a lot lately, I go into a week with very little going on and end up with no time between, the Chambers, my new business and other community events that people want me to attend; my life feels like there’s just no time!

I am very happy that the people in my community are embracing me and my talents and want me to get more involved in their organizations and events.  I actually love that I am becoming more involved because I live in a great community in the mountains of Colorado.  The downside is time, time away from the business (sometimes) and time away from my lovely wife, often. 

So what do I do to make sure that I have time for myself and my family?  I follow a few easy steps:

1.       Remember always to enjoy the moment.  Even when it gets very busy, slow down, take breath and enjoy where you are and what you’re doing.

2.       Schedule time for yourself.  Sometimes when our lives get so busy we forget about taking time for ourselves, we need to do this!  So if this means blocking time on your calendar just for you, do it!! And don’t give that time back, keep it as any other appointment on your calendar.

3.       Listen to your body, often when we get busy we can go beyond our physical needs as well.  We can get so run down that we are not effective in anything we are doing.  Make sure you are listening to your body and only pushing yourself to a place you feel comfortable.  Always ask yourself, how much of a time commitment is this and can I do it effectively.

4.       Listen to the people you trust, often when we are unwilling to follow the advice of #3 above the people closest to us can see the effects on our physical body as well as our mental state.  Be open and listen to those you trust and begin to act on their advice.

5.       Always be grateful; be grateful for what you can do, do not get caught up in what you cannot do.  You can make a difference by your actions and help others in your community by your involvement only if you keep your obligations under control.

Life is a wonderful gift and by sharing yourself with your community you take a big first step to a more joyful life.  It is through service to others that we as a world community can make a difference.  Whether it’s just locally, regionally, statewide, nationally or worldwide.  Get involved and make a difference today!

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “When the world around you gets to crazy, stop, take a breath and be grateful for the difference you make in the world.”

I believe in Miracles!

Yes it is true, I believe in miracles….do you?  To me, the journey to a more joyful life includes seeing miracles in everyday life.  When most people think about miracles, they think about life changing events.  These can absolutely happen but the key to living a more joyful life is finding the small miracles that make a difference in your everyday.

What are everyday miracles?  They can be anything from someone allowing you to go first in line to finding $10 in a jacket pocket when you needed some cash.  The idea behind miracles is simple; the more you pay attention to the small ones in your life the more miracles will appear.  So much of life is about what we pay attention to; if we see only pain and sadness we begin to see more pain and sadness, if instead we focus on the good in people and are grateful for their help; we see more people being helpful to us.

Think of it this way; have you ever toiled over a decision on buying a car and once you make that decision you start to see everyone driving the same model of car you decided on.  Focus brings thought into the world!

The next two things that are important to continue to see more miracles in your life are: Gratitude, even when you focus on a million dollars, be grateful for the $100 you didn’t expect.  Action, in order to move forward with anything in life we need to take that next step.  The same is true with miracles if we sit back and wait for them, we may never see them.  Instead what we need to do is take steps towards what we want in our lives, then miracles will appear.

We all get too wrapped up in ourselves, we prejudge our self not worthy of miracles, so they don’t happen or if they do we don’t even notice.  Pay attention, know that you are worthy, believe that anything can happen if you take that next step and watch the miracles appear in your life.

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the day: “Miracles happen in everyone’s lives; open your heart, pay attention and be grateful for every one that appears!”

In Nature find Life!

Do you try to get back to nature?  Or do you avoid the outdoors?  I personally find great solace in nature and I believe that regardless of whether you spend time outdoors or not, nature has many lessons for us to learn. 

Life mirrors nature whether we want to believe or not.  Everything in nature has its time and place, in life it is the same way.  We try so very hard to hold onto our accomplishments and success….our “summer”.  We believe life is only about what we can accomplish, how we can find our next success.  But, I believe that through the winter (down times) we can find the strength to grow again and flourish even better than trying to hold onto something that had its time already.

Growth in life is the only path to enlightenment and if a person feels that there is no more room to grow because they have everything they want, they are not being honest with themselves. Everyone has something that they are missing in their life, sometimes this void can be a great motivator to find your next success. But, if we turn to nature and discover the natural rhymes of our life we will find everything much easier to move forward.  By truly listening to our body and feeling when it is time to move to the next season in our lives we give ourselves a chance to grow even greater than we were before.

Nature shows us that with every winter there is always another spring and with every summer there is a fall to reap the harvest.  The mightiest oak would never grow as tall or strong if all it had was summer to enjoy, it would instead never be prepared for the cold of winter and would fade away when winter came.

Our lives are about possibilities and every day we open a new chapter.  Do not fear the winter time in your life because through our trials we grow, like the oak, to be stronger than we were before.  Listening to nature will always bring you back to who you truly are, as with nature everything and everyone is connected.  Our journey in life is to know this and by knowing it to affect the world in a positive way.  Are you up for the challenge?

Till next time,

Bill

Quote of the Day: “Listen to nature and find your true place; for everything and everyone has its mission, once you discover yours your life will change.”