THE SUN ALWAYS SHINES

The sun is rising on another day.  It looks beautiful outside.  My grandma (my mom's mom), used to say "sunny everyday" in her best broken English.  On rainy days, I used to tell her, "raining today grandma, we gotta stay inside."  To which she replied, "no, sunny everyday."  I used to think she was just old and kind of senile, but later on in my life, when I understood the spiritual meaning of her words, it all made sense to me.

She was trying to tell me that above the clouds, the sun is always shining, so no matter what we might see just above us, its always a beautiful day if we can get past the clouds (or whatever weather we see).  That's been a valuable lesson for me because there were large parts of my life where I let the "clouds" in my life distort my reality.  I used to let the clouds determine how I was going to feel because I didn't "believe" in the sun unless I could see it and feel it.   My grandma gave me the first step of my spiritual evolution, to believe in things not seen, to have faith in nature (like the sun) and to understand that our perception is really our reality.

I miss my grandma, but I remember her at the beginning of every day, whether or not I can see the sun rise.

OUR LEISURE TIME DEFINES US

Most people who are around my age have been going to the same job for years.   By now, they have elevated themselves to a position where they are already starting to think about retirement.  Most don't want to retire because in some form, they have defined themselves by their work.  If you asked them the question, "who are you?" most would answer with their occupation (teacher, doctor, lawyer, shipyard manager, etc.).

But who we are can be better defined by what we do when we're not working, rather than who we perceive ourselves during normal business hours.  During the business week, we are who we have to be based on our job, but on the weekends, we can be who ever we want to be, it's our choice.  Some people have hobbies like fishing or hunting, but some are content with just wasting hours away in front of the TV or the computer, drinking, gambling or sleeping.

Others choose to give time to their church, their children's activities or social groups.  When the choice is up to us, our value system kicks in and we follow whatever is most important to us.   Contrary to what we may believe throughout our professional career, what we do in our leisure time is the best indicator of who we really are.

RECIPE FOR HAPPINESS

Each morning, when my eyes open up, I can think about only one thing: getting to my computer and writing something.  Writing is my passion.  It's the thing than wakes me up in the morning and when I do it right, it makes me come alive.  People always want to know how you find their passion.  I think it's finding out what makes you come "alive."  My brother comes alive when he plays his guitar, another friend comes alive when she dances the hula, my son comes alive when he rides his bicycle.

When you find that thing that makes you come alive, then your purpose is to deliver that passion to the world.  Find your passion then give it away to world.  It's the recipe for our happiness.

REVEALING WHO WE ARE

From "The Book of Awakening" by Mark Nepo:

"It is perhaps the oldest of inner laws, as inescapable as gravity.  There is no chance of lifting into any space larger than yourself without revealing the parts you hold closest to your chest.

Any time you hesitate revealing who you are, picture yourself as a bird perched on a roof, wings tucked at your sides.  To enter a relationship without opening your heart is to jump off that roof without spreading your wings.

It's true that baby birds hesitate the first time out of the nest, but once tasting the air, it is in their nature to open and rise, and close and land.  This is their life.  It is ours too.

The paradox, of course, is that we must trust that the power to lift and land, for us, is in revealing what we hide.  Once revealed, these tender things become our wings."

THE WAY THAT OTHERS SEE US

Early in my professional career, I was working for a large international airline as a field representative.  My job was to make sales calls on travel agents and persuade them to book passengers on our airline.  As sales positions go, it was an entry level position.

Less than a year into my job, we had a national sales meeting in Vancouver, BC, where all the field representatives and their managers gathered for our semi-annual meeting.  The Executive Vice-President of Marketing flew in from Honolulu to chair the meeting.  During the two days, he talked about our expansion and a "reorganization of leadership" that was going to take place within the month.  Some people were excited about the reorganization, but others were wary that their positions could be eliminated.

When the meeting was over, the big boss asked me if I would drive him to the airport in Seattle, a two and a half hour drive.  Since I was going in that direction, I was glad to oblige.   After 20 minutes or so of pleasantries and sports talk, he revealed the reason I was driving him to Seattle.   His plan was to make me Director of Sales for all of North America, a newly created position.  I was stunned and immediately started referring to other people in the company that were more qualified and deserving of such a high position.  It didn't seem right that I would leap frog over dozens of people that had been with the airline for decades.

But he went on to explain why he thought I could do the job and why I was the most qualified person in the company, as far as he was concerned.  By the end of the drive, I reluctantly agreed to take the position and actually went on to do very well.  But that experience taught me a huge lesson about the difference between how we see ourselves and how others see us.  The lesson?

We rarely see ourselves the way that others do.


Other people don't see us as potential failures (like we do).  Other people look as us in terms of our strongest traits (not our weakest traits like we do).   Other people visualize us as successful most of the time (not like we do).  Other people have belief in us (even if we don't believe in ourselves).

Sometimes we hide our own greatness behind our fears and doubts and it takes the belief of others to help us break free.

THREE WORDS YOU SHOULD STOP SAYING

If you're a believer in the Law of Attraction (as I am) you know that whatever you give your attention, focus and energy to, you'll get more of, whether it's positive or negative.  Most of us know that if we write down our goals, envision our success and put out the positive vibrations, the Law of Attraction will help us to manifest what we want.

The problem is that we still put out so much negative energy it dilutes the positive things we're trying to manifest.  How does that happen?  It happens when we use the words "don't", "not" and "no."  These words put negative attention, energy and focus on things and it's main reason why we get more of the things we don't want.  Listen to the words you use everyday and see how they can be "re-phrased" to give more positive energy toward what you DO want.

"Don't forget to pick me up at 3" OR "I'll see you at 3."

"I'm not going to spend all weekend working" OR "I'm going to relax this weekend."

"I feel like no one understands me" OR "I want people to understand me better."

It's amazing how much our verbiage contains negative words that put energy, focus and attention on the things we don't want.  Banish the words, "don't", "not" and "no" from your vocabulary and you'll see the difference in what starts showing up in your life.

GOAL SETTERS AREN'T ALWAYS GOAL ACHIEVERS

In the '80's, as I was coming up the corporate ladder, I went to a lot of goal setting seminars.  If there was a "buzz word" in the business world (at that time), it was "goal setting."   I was always amazed why so many people set goals and so few people achieved them.  "Keep your eyes on prize" was the battle call of the workshop facilitators.  Think about your goal, keep it in mind all the time, say your affirmations daily, make a dream board of what your goal will look like, smell like, feel like, etc.   That was certain path to success.

It wasn't.

Only a few people achieved the lofty goals they set.   The others (most of us) were still wondering what happened months after our goals were supposed to be achieved.  What was the difference between us and the gifted few?

People who achieve goals focus on the activities it takes to reach their goals.  They break things down to what they have to do everyday (some every hour or even every minute).  Real achievers understand that it takes focused work everyday and that the accumulated effect of daily effort is enormous.  When I watch the people on "The Biggest Loser" the thing that hits me right between the eyes is not the amount of weight they lost, but it's the difficulty of the work they had to do every single day to get there.

I once read a story about a man who wrote hundreds of books while holding down a full-time job and raising a a large family.  He did it by simply writing for two hours a day several times a week.  The compounding effect of a small amount of daily time is enormous if you can remain consistent.

Anyone who achieves goals does so through consistent action.