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How Do You Measure a Year

4/14/2019

A year ago today I found out that my mortgage for my dream property was approved. Facebook memories reminded me. It was also the day that my Dad's spirit came back after he had been hanging out on death's door for awhile. It was the day after my brother Kevin lost his battle to cancer and six months to the day that my Mom died. Dad had emergency open heart surgery that ended up in cardiac arrest and began a long and difficult six month journey back to health. Way too much! As I look back there are hardly words to describe everything that was happening and how I got through it. Well, maybe one word ...

Here's the post Facebook Memories showed me this morning:

April 14, 2018 at 8:08 PM, Bradenton FL

Dad's spirit is back! He is awake, alert, medically stable and responding well to everything he is being asked to do so he can finally move on to the next step in the rehab process. It is so good to look into his eyes and know it's really him looking back at me as he squeezes my hand to let me know he's really there. He can't talk yet with his trach, but soon ... really soon.

It's been a long and difficult year for me and my family. Watching my Mom slip away was difficult. Losing my brother Kevin, way too young, was way too much. Sitting at my Dad's bedside in Florida not knowing if he would pull through at the same time the rest of my family was saying goodbye to my brother was just crazy. At the same time, it's been a year full of insights, awareness, growth and transformation ... within each of us and all around us.

As I look back over my experience and reflect on how I survived it all, I realize that I have a powerful set of foundational tools and an amazing network of people supporting me. I am inspired now, more than ever, to share those tools with others as I fully embrace the role they play in my life today. I've had an amazing opportunity to get some pretty high level coaching with Jack Canfield, his team and a wonderful group of people who helped me sort out and map out the next steps in my journey. Jack was standing with me in the moment I gave consent for my Dad's doctor to perform surgery that gave us the last chance for my Dad to come back from his medically induced coma and hooked up to a ventilator.

So many thoughts and ideas flowing right now.

In this instant, the most exciting news right now is this. For those of you who have heard me talk about my dream of opening a retreat center, I just got word that my mortgage for the property I live in was approved. It is the ideal location at exactly the right time. Through all the challenges, this miracle emerged at exactly the perfect time in ways I never could have imagined. I never would have seen the house deal unfolding in the midst of the crisis and chaos if I had not had the foundation upon which I live my life today.

In the perfection, the duality in all of this is profound. It brings me to the question "what's good and what's bad?" From my perspective, it's all one. Just as we are all one. All opportunities to learn and grow and heal and transform fear to love, and ultimately, when we are ready, to serve.

Today Dad is back on the golf course. When I talked to him this morning. I could hear the excitement in his voice when he told me that he's back on the golf course and that he just got word that he qualified for the River Isles Annual Golf Tournament. And he could hear the excitement in my voice as I told him I was putting together my event schedule and business plan for Ripple on Silver Lake. Both of us expressed our gratitude with each other as we reflected back over the year. The miracles. The challenges. The connections. The magic. The love. As I hung up the phone my thoughts led me to on of my favorite songs about life and love. How do you measure a year in the life ... ?

Seasons of Love from Rent (Original Cast Recording/1996)
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
Five hundred twenty-five thousand moments so dear
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles. in laughter, in strife?
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes
How do you measure a year in the life?

How about love?
Measure in love ...

Seasons of Love
~Donny Osmond

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What Would Your Life Be Like If ...

4/4/2019

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Jim Rohn says, “You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself.”

Are you happy with your life? Your work? Your relationships? Your financial situation? Your living environment? Most of us have some things about our life that we’re not happy with. Often we fall into the trap of blaming external causes for why we’re not happy and successful.

I am surrounded by adults who aren’t satisfied with their jobs while blaming the economy for forcing them to stay, or their bosses for their work environment when, in fact, they are choosing to stay and aren’t doing anything to either make their work environment more pleasant or shift their perspective.

Many people I know aren’t happy in their relationships, yet they would rather blame their partners for their unhappiness then take action to change what needs to be changed.

I work with teenagers around pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention, substance use and academic success. When getting the news of an unintended pregnancy or STD, teens have blamed the condom company for making a cheap product or their partner for not using condoms. One teen even blamed her situation on her parents, stating that they wouldn’t let her go on birth control so that’s why she got pregnant.

I once had a student tell me it was my fault he couldn’t graduate despite the fact that he chose to reject every opportunity I gave him to make up his assignments and missed classes.

Jack Canfield, author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series and The Success Principles, refers to blaming and complaining as “having a reference point of something we prefer that we are not willing to risk creating”. He goes on to suggest we consider the following formula:

E + R = O

E stands for all the “Events” in our lives.
R stands for our “Responses” to those events.
O stands for the “ Outcomes” we experience.

Jack teaches that the outcomes we are experiencing in our lives are the result of our responses to the events that are occurring. He further suggests that we don’t have control over the circumstances and events that show up in our lives, nor can we control the behavior of the people in our lives. For example, we can’t control our bosses, our spouses, and the economy.

However, we do have control over responses. The thoughts we think, the choices we make and the actions we take in response to the events. In fact, our “R’s” are really the only thing we can control. And so by changing our responses to the events that happen in our lives we can create better outcomes.

So let’s be honest, taking a full 100% responsibility for everything in our lives can be difficult and feel overwhelming, especially to start. So how about taking 5% more responsibility to start?

Activity
Get pen and paper or power up your laptop and complete each of the following statements:

“If I were to take 5% more responsibility for my life and well-being, I would …”
“If I were to take 5% more responsibility for living my passion, I would … “
“If I were to take 5% more responsibility for the attainment of my goals, I would …”
“If I would take 5% more responsibility for the success of my relationships, I would …”

If you really want to make lasting changes, improve your self-esteem, and increase success in your life, take it one step further than this activity and consider joining my Take Back Control of Your Life 14 Day Challenge. It's a simple, powerful and FREE way to get started on your way to creating the outcomes you want in your life. The 14 Day Challenge takes place in a private Facebook group. I promise it will be worth the little bit of time and effort you put into it and you'll be pleased with the results that you'll see as you begin to remove some of the blocks that have been standing in your way of success, happiness and fulfillment.

Sign up here to get your name added to our email list and you'll be notified of our next 14 Day Challenge.

How Do You Measure a Year

What Would Your Life Be Like If ...

Manifesting Magic with the Law of Attraction

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