Making Lemonade out of Lemons

Do you remember the story about the old mule that they wanted to get rid of but they didn't want to waste a bullet on him so they just threw him down a twenty foot hole and they began to pour dirt on him to bury him alive?

At first the mule really began to panic. Then the mule shook off the dirt that was being thrown on his back and he stepped up on it. The more dirt that was thrown, the more he shook it off and the more he stepped up.

Eventually, he walked right out of that hole because of the way he used what was being done to absolutely lift him up higher and higher.

So whatever has happened in your life and whatever is going on right now, shake it off and step up.

Shake it off and step up.

Everything can work together for good, for those who love the good.

Money

Vicki Robin writes in Your Money or Your Life, that many Americans are making a dying instead of making a living, or making a killing. The work they are doing is un-fulfilling, even unhealthy, but caught up in the chase for money, they keep doing it.

Money itself isn't the problem. Money isn't bad or good, Money doesn't have power. It's our interpretation of money that holds the real mischief.

You may have to look closely to find the thread to your money story but it is there and it holds meaning for you. By beginning the process of examination you can change or transform your relationship to money to a place where your strengths and skills, your highest aspirations and your most profound qualities can be freed up. Whether we are millionaires or dollar-iares our relationship to money can be one of joy and freedom.

For The Moment: Observe

Observation is underrated, undervalued, under stressed, and misunderstood.

The power of observation is key to any success.

Most people do not simply observe. They judge and evaluate. That's where they get lost.

Observation is really seeing without malice. It is allowing yourself to be in the presence of and receive information. That information, the feeling of the emotion in the room, the noticing of conversations going on, gives you a kind of power, clarity, and freedom to respond.

So, learn to pay attention. Pay attention to the people around you, to what is being said, what is not being said. Just pay attention.

The Moment is Beautiful

I realize I got tired of being manipulated.

I got tired of sales pitches promising me that if I acted now, and only now, my life would finally be....well, better.

I got tired of being told that times were hard, and nobody could ever make money in these economic times.

I got tired of being told I was wrong in some way, too fat, old, unskilled, imperfect.

I just got tired of struggling.

And so I stopped, and listened.

And the moment was beautiful. Just as it was, just as I was.

It was like giving myself a no calorie fudge Sunday or New York Cheesecake. It was delicious.

It didn't last, that moment. But neither do the hard moments. That was the realization. To allow each moment to pass, and roam free. To release the moments, not cling to the good or bad ones. But allow each moment to inform.

That takes listening. As Joseph Campbell says, We are the ears of the universe, the eyes, and consciousness of our world.

The difference between 'busy' and effective

I hear many people say, "Oh, I'm too busy for that", or "I don't have time for that".

It gave me pause, what are they really saying?

What am I really saying when I profess to being busy?
Usually, I'm saying no in a polite way. I've discovered many people are saying it to profess importance, or to 'get off the hook' to produce a result.

I have known many successful people, they never left me with a feeling that they were 'too busy' or that they were more important than anyone else. These effective shakers and movers got the results, and with grace and ease.

I didn't say easy, they did it with ease. That ease might be one of the many secrets to being effective and successful. They do not resist the problems at hand, they do not try to sluff them off to someone else, they are effective because they look at problems directly.

Ease, practice ease today. It brings clarity, joy in the moment, and effectiveness.