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Hold on to your hat, you are about to take an incredible ride!! If used properly, imagination is one of the greatest tools that you can use. In your imagination, anything is possible and there is absolutely nothing that cannot be imagined. The fantasy book authors, who have spent hours in fantasy places, creating every detail and every aspect, have imagined some of the greatest and wildest places in fiction. All kinds of characters,
people, and creatures have been created to inhabit these fictional places.

Whole kingdoms and whole planets have been invented for you to explore. Movies, plays, books, television shows, media events, stage shows, theme parks, dvds,
audio cassettes, board games, electronic games, puzzles,
toys, and sometimes a combination of several of these have
all been vividly imagined and created in every detail.
When you enter into these kingdoms through the
author’s guidance, you also explore them through your
imagination, so that no two experiences are exactly alike.

You can use your imagination for great adventures, great
encounters, fantastic stories, love stories, poetry,
building a special house or special property, designing or
inventing something that has never been done before, or
making something that already exists even better. From
the tiniest piece of intricate machinery, to the most
colossal awesome machine, it was first imagined in someone’s
mind. She or he believed in that vision enough to figure out how to make it a reality and then she or he worked diligently
until her or his imagination was taking place in the earthly realm.
Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, and electricity.

Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. Charles Drew
found a way to preserve and store blood, and he created
the world’s first blood bank.
Frederick McKinley Jones invented a way to add sound to
movies, which revolutionized the movie industry; he also
created cooling units for trucks and trains to keep food
cool in transportation. All through their own imagination
and work that went on before them. They imagined something in their minds first and they worked diligently to bring that imagination into the physical realm. They
were not deterred because it didn’t work the first or second
or even third time; the whole process, or the end product,
was pictured very clearly in their minds.

Harry Potter was a
character invented and nurtured in one woman’s mind, now she
has written several books about him and there have been
several movies created about that one character and all his adventures.
Imagination lets you fly above the trees and soar
out over the water. It allows you to go further than is possible or ever dreamed of before. You can talk with kings and queens, you can go into the past or the
future, you can speak in foreign languages, or you can
invent a language. You can create brand new colors,
you can go to another planet, or down under the water.

Your imagination can be bright, big, dark or
foreboding. Where there is light there is dark, where there is up there is down, male and female, good and evil.

Everything has a dimension and substance in your
imagination. Try it yourself and see
where it takes you. Allow yourself a rich and
active imagination. But don’t get stuck in the
fearsome side of your imagination; if you created it in
your mind you can un-create it too, and you can create
good and positive protectors in your mind to take care
of you. You can create a new picture in your mind to
replace a piece of imagination that may have scared you.
You can change the focus and change the outcome all with
a thought. You don’t have to settle for the same thing in
your mind all the time; you can change your thoughts
at any time. You can create the life that you imagine,
right now, with your thoughts and actions. Every new
thought can progress you towards your dreams.

The world is wide open for you, my dear. Just imagine
what you can do, where you can go, who you can meet, and
then enjoy the journey.

Yoga Kat–aka Katheryn Hoban is a yoga teacher with twelve years experience. She teaches children’s yoga ages 3-6, and 7-12 and Adults privately in NJ. She is the author the book DAUGHTER BELOVED which will come out next year. She has created a children’s affirmation CD (ages 3-6) and an affirmation CD for adults. Yoga Kat is available for speaking or writing and can be reached at katscoolcorner@yahoo.com or 201 970-9340

The key to feeling better and being more spiritually attuned is always to raise your frequency. Here are some instant frequency boosters that will have you flying high in no time!

Palm-Rub Sevens

Place your palms together and rub back and forth, seven rubs. Once you are used to what seven rubs feels like, speed up your rubbing so that one set of seven takes only a second or two. Pay attention to the sensations in other parts of your body while doing thistingles! Do multiple sets of this whenever you feel the need to rev up your frequency. Seven sets of seven really works spectacularly!

Infinity Bridge

Close your eyes and imagine that there is an infinity symbol (a horizontal figure bridging your left and right brain hemispheres, with one loop on each side and the crossover point in the center where the corpus callosum would be. See the symbol lit up with energy, and see this energy using the symbol as a kind of track. Run the energy along the lines of the symbol rapidly, as many times as feels right to you. Your eyes will probably want to sweep along with the energy as it goes around and around. Remember to breathe!

Quick Mini-Meditation

With your eyes closed, face forward, roll your eyes downward toward your chin and hold (unless you do regular eye exercises, you will feel a mild strain). Gradually roll them upward (should take about 10 seconds), stopping when they are pointing toward your 3rd Eye (center of your forehead). This, too, will cause a mild, and not unpleasant, strain. Hold for 10 seconds, and release eyes to relaxed position. You will be a little spacey immediately after doing this, so it’s probably not wise do it at a stoplight when you’re driving!

And always, always stay super-well hydrated. You are an electromagnetic entity and being hydrated is necessary for attainment of higher frequency and the health, joy, and fulfillment it offers.

©2006 Julia Rogers Hamrick

Julia Rogers Hamrick has been a spiritual-growth facilitator for over two decades, and is the author of Recreating Eden: The Exquisitely Simple, Divinely Ordained Plan for Transforming Your Life and Your Planet. Julia writes about and leads seminars on proactive joy, and the relationship between frequency and experience. For more information on Julia and recreating Eden, and to get on her list to be eligible for her f’ree monthly teleseminars, visit http://www.recreating-eden.com

Bagdad Cafe is an oasis in the desert. That is if you like your oasis’s in the mold of run down gas stations/cafes/motels where it’s tough to find a real cup of joe. What you will find it stocked with is a ready band of eccentric characters willing to make you not only forget the desolate surroundings but even appreciate it.

One of those characters is a German tourist named Jasmin (Marianne Sgebrecht). She had ambled away from her husband in the middle of the Mojave and found refuge at the Bagdad. Initially there was a bit of friction with Brenda (CCH Pounder) who runs the Bagdad Gas and Oil Cafe. But gradually Brenda begins to appreciate her.

In fact, Jasmin’s exotic spirit infuses magic into the dusty lifeless Bagdad both literally and figuratively. She begins to perform magic that brings in truckers from miles around and she forms solid relationships with the Bagdad regulars including a laid back artist played by Jack Palance.

What is spiritual about this movie? Jasmin was fearless. She was like an alien on another planet who in short order not only learned to blend in and live with the inhabitants but became indispensable to them. In a sense she became the heart and soul of Bagdad. Her easy manner of bonding with others may cause you to reflect about the friendships in your life. Is there a group of people who consider you indispensable? If not, what might you do to create one?

I’ve been researching the topic of procrastination, and I’m finding that it’s making me more frustrated than ever.

For some reason, I see procrastinating, putting off the doing of something, as a symptom and not as a malady in its own right.

For example, let’s say I’m procrastinating about submitting a course proposal to a university. Most of the literature says my sloth reflects a personality flaw, a bad habit, or perhaps the fear of failure, or even the fear of success.

Possibly, but I think it may have something to do with the fact that in this sort of circumstance I haven’t made a real decision about doing the class. Yes, I’ve developed the concept, planned it to an extent, done most of the marketing of it, but I’m putting off the paperwork because I’m ambivalent about it.

This ambivalence might be manifested in a different way. Let’s say I’m not certain I want to tether my future to that course, what I may do is price it at such a premium level as to force my sponsors to reject it if they are ambivalent, as well, thus confirming my suspicions that it may be a marginal concept.

If the outside world applauds my concept, I must be telling myself unconsciously, then it is meritorious, and worth a commitment on my part, but if it isn’t acclaimed, I’m better off doing something else that has more support.

All of this seems perfectly logical, and perhaps sensible. Why commit to actions for which there isn’t solid support, or that don’t portend profitability, right?

But the problem with this thinking is if you’re really innovating, you’ll be out of step with your peers, you’ll be seeing something that they are blind to, and winning them over, at least right away is unrealistic. You may have to do a lot of lobbying, risk taking, and leading in order to drum up even a little initial support.

All you have to bolster you at that point is the strength of your decision, however you arrived at it.

You’ve heard the expression that “confidence sells,” and it’s true, you need to manifest it if you hope to gain assistance, and you won’t unless you’re operating on a solid basis of belief in your own venture.

Procrastination is a tip-off that you don’t fully support the task that you’ve set in front of yourself to do, that on some level you don’t believe it is meritorious, or you suspect it is a waste of your time.

Until you go back and sell yourself on the value of accomplishing this task, you’ll spin your wheels, or seemingly idle away your time, or distract yourself with other things.

Taking action about our current station in life involves taking responsibility for our current state of affairs. When we acknowledge that we are the main culprits with regards to where we are now, we will more likely take responsibility for creating the future we desire.

Most of us grew up without learning to take responsibility for our state of affairs. Somebody else but us is always to blame. We play the blame game. We blame our spouses, our bosses, the economy, government, fate, the devil and other factors for our plight.

We have dreams, but we don’t plan. When we manage to plan, we don’t execute it. Among the few that go on to execute their plans, most give up at the first setback. We have ready-made reasons for why events turned out contrary to our expectations. Most return to Status Quo Boulevard and Grumble-Ville.

By refusing to take responsibility for your situation, you invariably transfer that responsibility to someone else to solve our problems. It is not our responsibility to fix it. It is someone else’s. We wait and wait. We wait for the solution to come to us, instead of actively seeking it out. We become reactive, instead of proactive.

You are perpetually at Broke-Ville, always out of pocket for instance. Your take home pay abandons you midway in the month. You live paycheck to paycheck. In your subconscious, it is not your fault. It is your boss that refused to give you a promotion or a raise. It is the bad economy, inflation, high interest rates, oil prices or politicians. It is never your fault.

How will your situation improve? Well, since it is not your fault, the other guys have to do something. Pay raise, promotion, falling interest rates, low oil prices, lower bills, tax cuts, debt forgiveness etc. If all fails, win the lottery! All you need is for fate to deal you the right cards, and then your dreams will come true. It will get better, one day for sure…

It is natural to avoid responsibility. However, the tragedy is that when we refuse to take responsibility, we hand over our lives to others and chance. When we start taking responsibility, we begin doing something about it, like controlling our finances, creating multiple streams of income, networking, developing ourselves and moving towards the fulfillment of our dreams.

In any economy, you always have those that get bruised and battered by the vagaries of the economy, and those that rise no matter the general outlook. There are always risers and fallers, winners and losers; it has nothing to do with the whole system, but individual scenarios. It is the sum total of the individual scenarios that paint the picture of the entire economy.

Let’s use the stock market as an illustration. Everyday at the floor of the exchange, prices of some stocks rise while others fall or remain the same. The index gives a total picture of what is going on. If the index rises, it means that the risers (bulls) are stronger than the fallers (bears). The same way, if the index is going down, it means the bears have taken center stage. This is a rather simplistic illustration, as not all companies in the exchange have equal contribution to the overall index.

So every day, some stock prices rise, while some fall. The interplay between the bulls and the bears gives the direction of the overall index, rising or falling. It does not mean that one day, all stock prices crash, and next day, they start climbing. Of course a bear market might trigger gloom, which may force rising stocks to dip, but that does not mean that all stock prices go the same direction.

Hence, blaming the economy for example is being escapist. Everyday, a millionaire is being made. We have to take responsibility and choose which camp we belong, winners or losers, bears or bulls. We cannot afford to leave that responsibility to circumstances, time and chance. We are wholly to blame for where we are right now. Our current position is a resultant of past decisions we made. Our future is being fashioned today.

I know lots of folks that would like to start a business. Each time I ask them why they have not started, I always get the same answer; lack of start up capital. They need that much money, but there is no one to borrow from, friend or foe, the banks are impossible etc. End of story. They leave it right there. It is not their fault that they have not started. It is always an uphill task to persuade them that money is an idea. The answer lies within them. There are many roads to Rome. There are many options on how to start a business without mega bucks. The limit is your imagination.

We cannot blame past abuses, color of our skin, bad luck and a whole lot of other things for where we are right now. How we respond to whatever adversity we face is our full responsibility. What we went through is not an excuse for doing the wrong things. We cannot do all the wrong things and blame the system for our lack of progress. The system did not make you do it, you did. The system did not shut down your brain, you did.

If we keep blaming external circumstances, we will find ourselves stuck in a rut, and going downhill. Pause for a moment and take a good look around. You will find out that others in the same situation have moved on. What seems to be your obstacle has become a stepping-stone to others. Success is the best revenge. Adverse circumstances should provoke us to greater heights, not drown us in depths of self-pity. Our attitude and outlook determines whether adverse circumstances make us better or bitter.

Life is not fair, it never has been, it will never will be. Nobody said it was. In life, you don’t get what you deserve; you get what you negotiate for. Instead of whining at the cards life dealt you, work hard, keep playing till an ace turns up and then make very good use of it. Mother luck smiles at those who work hard, and are ready to grab opportunities when they present themselves.

It starts with taking responsibility. Responsibility for our actions, responses and inactions… If someone makes a derogatory remark about you, you have many choices. Curse back, smile and walk away, go ballistic etc. The other party cannot force you to become upset, you choose to.

Our choices determine whether our dreams will come true or not. Lets choose to take responsibility for our lives. Accept past mistakes, deal with it and move on. You are the reason you are jobless. You are the reason you are broke. You are the reason you are still stuck in the rat race. You are the reason you have not started that project or business. You are the reason your dreams have become a mirage. You are the man! Look no further.

Become pro-active. Get to work. Dream again. Study, plan and execute. Before long, you will find out that you are far away from where you started. It starts by taking responsibility.

Usiere Uko is the webmaster of the Financial Freedom Inspiration website and editor of the monthly Financial Freedom Inspiration Newsletter, a free ezine to inspire you to exit the rat race and fulfill your God given dreams. To subscribe or visit the site, please go to http://www.financial-freedom-inspiration.com

Your ability to move into action and to achieve bottom line results rests in the power of your thinking. These ten strategies will support you in transforming your desires into concrete action.

1. Expose your fears.

Fear is a gift that was given to us at birth as a means of protection and to provide us with safety from harm. This innate fear often becomes distorted, and as adults, we begin to react with anxiety, sabotage, and self-defeating behaviors. Ask yourself this question: “What is my main fear? Is it fear of rejection, commitment, loss, change, or of growing up?” Once you have identified this fear, speak it out loud to one person and write it down on paper. Once you expose your fear, it is very possible to break through its control over your life.

2. Identify Your Beliefs.

Our belief system is formulated in numerous ways through our environment, family, friends, society, religion, the media, politics, and cultural influences. Quite often, negative beliefs can cause us to act in ways that actually repel success. Do you believe that “Money is evil” or “To be successful, you have to work way too hard,” or “Girls should be seen and not heard?” If so, you may be pushing away the thing that you most want in life. By identifying your negative beliefs and replacing them with beliefs that empower you, you will begin moving in a direction of lifelong success.

3. Assess your communication style using the DISC.

The DISC is a fantastic assessment tool which provides individuals with a nonjudgmental language for exploring behavior. One of the key foundations of personal and professional success lies in understanding yourself and realizing the impact that your behavior has on your life and the lives of others. This one instrument can help you be more productive, improve your communication with others, and ease conflict and frustration in all life areas.

4. NOW! Discover Your Strengths.

The strengths profile finder from the book NOW! Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, Ph.D. is a revolutionary program which can show you how to discover and then develop your unique talents and gifts. One of the secrets to achieving big results and for feeling more fulfilled lies in exercising your strengths, not in dwelling on your weaknesses. This tool by Buckingham and Clifton can guide you to becoming a high performing and empowered individual.

5. Tap into your creativity.

Many adults move through life thinking “I am not creative,” and wondering “What if?” As humans, we all have the ability to be wildly creative, and sometimes, this requires practice. Through the support of tools such as “Five Star Mind” by Tom Wujec, you can begin to unlock and expand the creative potential that lies deep within you. Using puzzles, mind-mapping, word association, and the power of curiosity, you can stimulate your intuition, innovation, and creative expression. As Napoleon Hill stated “All the ‘breaks’ you need in life wait within your imagination. Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind-energy into accomplishment and wealth.”

6. Focus!

A good idea can become a fantastic and profitable idea when it is given true focus. Your ability to concentrate begins with removing external (phone, interruptions, and noise,) and internal (fear, worry, and doubt) distractions. Creating a brain dump is a first step in the direction of focus. By purging all that is in your mind onto paper, you will create the room you need to begin focused thinking. From here, finding a time and place to focus and choosing one priority to concentrate on will make you more productive and will start your walk to greatness.

7. Join or Start a Mastermind Group.

Did you know that Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone were all members of a Mastermind Group? This group of Leaders knew something many of us do not know. They knew that the key to their success was in their ability to rely on each other for feedback, ideas, accountability, and above all…support! These men controlled much of the industry of the United States during the height of their careers. Innovation and expansion in human thought often result from teams that mentally capitalize on the principle of collaborative thinking. With spontaneous expression and interchange of thoughts with folks who are up to big things in life, a mastermind group can shift your awareness, expand your thinking, and can take you to unprecedented levels of inspiration.

8. Be devoted to extreme self-care.

You have heard it hundreds of times, but are you living it? Be devoted to a life of great sleep, daily exercise, a balanced diet, meditation, and luxuries such as massage. Begin today to formulate a plan for self care that will give you the energy to not only tackle life’s challenges but to one that will inspire you to greatness.

9. Teach what you most want to achieve.

Teaching is about sharing and using your own experiences in order that others may learn from your learning. The teaching process can also support you in developing yourself and is all about learning from other people. When we teach, we are developing, both personally and professionally, as we learn from our students, and most significantly, we are more likely to put our knowledge into action. By teaching what you most want to achieve, you will develop the knowledge and skills to take you where you most want to go in life.

10. Strive for mastery.

Mastery is defined as a possession or display of great skill or technique. By going for mastery with your goal, you will be playing a much bigger game in life, calling you to set your sights much higher. When your goal is mastery, you will be devoted to finding better ways to deliver what you offer, you will be expanding your knowledge, and you will find yourself achieving much more than you ever thought was possible.

About The Author

Bea Fields, Southern Pines, NC, USA

bea@fivestarleader.com

http://www.fivestarleader.com

Bea Fields is an Executive Coach and a Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach. She is also a Consultant, Trainer, Public Speaker and author of the Five Star Leader e-course. Her area of expertise is that of Leadership Development and Marketing for Executives, Managers, Small Business Owners, and Political Leaders.

What important goal have you set for yourself? What is the most important thing in your life that you have been trying to do for sometime now and haven’t made any progress? Why haven’t you made any progress? Why isn’t the project going forward? Do you believe it can be done?

Try thinking about what you are doing in different way.

There are five basic steps to getting lasting results. We will take for granted that there is first the desire to do whatever it is you have set out to achieve. The five steps are:

1) To have a chance at achieving a goal, one must first have the desire to achieve that goal and your vision must be clear. You must KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT.

How specifically did you define what success will look like for you when you finally get what you want? For example saying you want to quit what you’re doing and start your own business, isn’t enough. You must specify it down to the last detail. What kind of business do you want to have? Who will your customers be? What is the market in which you will operate? What will your products or services be? How much will you charge? How do you see yourself getting business? Where will you conduct business? How much money would you like to earn? How many hours a day do you want to work? Close your eyes and visualize every detail around your goal.

If you can imagine it, you can do it!
If you don’t know exactly where you are going, how do you expect to get there?

2) The maker or breaker of any project has to do with how much you believe in it. Henry Ford once said that “Those who believe they can and those who believe they can’t are both right.”

How much do you believe that what you want is really achievable? We don’t always have to know right from the start how we are going to be able to do something in order to be able to believe it is possible. Belief can open many doors for you. Belief works magic! Once you decide that something is possible, even though you don’t have the solution and you put your focus on it, magical things begin to happen. You overhear a conversation gives you an idea about how to achieve your goal. You see something in the newspaper, hear something on the radio, see something on a billboard, think of something, read something! The list goes on. All these things will happen when you really and truly believe!

Do you really believe in your goal?
If you don’t believe in what you are doing, why waste your time?

3) Your belief will inevitably help you bring out the potential that you have inside to achieve that goal. Your potential is inside of you, reach in and pull it out! Your potential is fuelled by your beliefs!
What is your potential to get it done? In other words, what resources do you already have at your disposal (financial, physical, emotional, character, spiritual). Remember that according to studies done on the subject of success, the intangible resources can sometimes weigh more than 50% on the outcome of an attempt to reach a specific goal: drive, determination, curiosity, resourcefulness, discipline, ingenuity, knowledge, decisiveness, are you being proactive.

Are you using all the potential that you already have at your disposal?

4) The consequence of truly believing, which leads to the bringing to the surface of your potential to resolve a problem or to achieve a task leads to TAKING action!

You must ask yourself a crucial question: What actions can you and are you willing to take to achieve your goal? Remember that if you keep doing what you’re doing, you keep getting what you’re getting. You must find new and innovative ways to do things! Some action is better than no action at all.

Do you think you have already tried everything? I’m willing to bet that you haven’t! Try something completely different! Step out of your comfort zone. Think outside the box. Be innovative. How many different ways are there to get what you want?

5) Action leads to RESULTS!

If you go through those steps, you will inevitably get results that will get you closer to achieving your goal. Or you might not always get the results you were looking for this time. Some results are better than no results at all. Results, no matter how big or small are the little motivators that keep us motivated and on our path to success.

Condition yourself to focus on the positive results and not the negative.

6) ANALYSE the results you got and start again if necessary. See what went well and think about why. Look at what didn’t go well and ask yourself why.

Condition yourself to learn from every result, positive or negative. Always ask yourself why this result was positive and why that result was not. Always ask yourself what you should continue to do going forward and what you should stop doing and what you should modify. Every little success is adding up for the big one.

If you haven’t been enjoying the success you desire in a particular aspect of your life that is important to you and you haven’t already gone through these 6 steps and committed to them, I hope I have given you something to think about. If you apply what is written above, then you will be in for a surprise. If this hasn’t been the way you have traditionally approached your goals, then you are in for a treat! You will begin to get results you maybe never dreamed of! And that my friend is the spice of life.

If you are still having trouble, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t possible for you, it could just mean that you need help. If you feel that’s the case, stay tuned for upcoming articles on our journey to achieving extraordinary results or come visit me at www.jolten.com . You can also ask for Anthony to come speak at your event.

JOLTEN Inc. http://www.jolten.com was founded by Anthony Lee Smith with the goal of helping people to improve the quality of their lives, or more specifically, with the intention of aiding organizations, teams and individuals in the achievement of EXTRAORDINARY results.

Anthony Lee Smith realized that inspite of the immense benefits the corporate world provided him as an executive in two multinational companies, there was something much more meaningful burning inside him. Since 2003 Anthony has founded his own business and is now a successful motivational speaker, seminar leader, host and actor. Read his story and about the services of JOLTEN Educational Events at http://www.jolten.com

Doing anything creative often brings up fears, anxieties, insecurities. Courage may be defined as going ahead in spite of fear. But many creators not only live with their fears, they welcome them.

Fear is perhaps the most basic emotion we have. As Leonardo da Vinci reportedly said, “Fear arises sooner than anything else.” Writer Julia Cameron has commented that artists are often terrified. Being creative is venturing into the unknown, and it sets off emotional alarms.

Fear can show up, in various forms, at any stage of a creative project, and regardless of our level of talent or experience.

When she was told that Scholastic Press was paying a huge advance to publish her first Harry Potter book, J.K. Rowling said, “Most of me was just frozen in terror.”

Actor Nicole Kidman admits she has tried to get out of almost every film she has done “because of sheer terror. I can always come up with a list of actresses who would do better.”

Meryl Streep said she identified with “Adaptation” screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s insecurities. “You realize that everyone is just eaten up by that feeling,” she said.

Many writers and coaches talk about the destructive and limiting effects of fear, and what to do about it.

Dr. Judith Orloff, author of the book Positive Energy, says we are addicted to fear. and cautions it is “the biggest energy thief there is.” She counsels acknowledging any voice of fear in our head – “Thanks for sharing” – then moving awareness back to our heart.

Sandra Ford Walston, author of the book Courage: The Heart and Spirit of Every Woman, points out the cowardly lion of “The Wizard of Oz” actually had tremendous courage but was unable to perceive that quality in himself. She notes that people often do not recognize their everyday actions as courageous, especially women.

But is it always in our best interest as creators to “fight” fear?

Director Steven Spielberg has said, “I still have pretty much the same fears I had as a kid. I’m not sure I’d want to give them up; a lot of these insecurities fuel the movies I make.”

Many actors and other artists say they are drawn to projects that make them feel scared. Meryl Streep said of insecurity, “Maybe it’s a good thing. I hope it’s some sort of breaking down of whatever is familiar to you. Whatever is complacent, whatever is easy.”

American Buddhist nun Pema Chodron writes in her book The Places That Scare You: “To the extent that we stop struggling against uncertainty and ambiguity, to that extent we dissolve our fear.”

Psychologist Robert Maurer has worked with many successful writers and other creative people, and thinks fear may be an indispensable part of the creative process.

“Fear is good,” he says. “As children, fear is a natural part of our lives, but as adults we view fear as a disease. It’s not a disease.” He points out that a creative achievement, such as publishing your first novel, does not make fear go away.

He adds, “Your skill at being able to nourish yourself and give yourself permission to make mistakes and learn from them is your single greatest attribute as an artist and as a human being.” Philosopher Mary Daly notes we “learn courage by couraging.”

Doing what scares us can enable us to do more and be more.

Douglas Eby writes about psychological and social aspects of creative expression and achievement. His site has a wide range of articles, interviews, quotes and other material to inform and inspire: Talent Development Resources
http://talentdevelop.com/

Warming winter thoughts

The air is getting crisper and the leaves have almost finished falling. Winter is almost upon us. The changing of the seasons are timely reminders of the cycle of life and the need for change.

What exactly is the message of winter? The message is that some times we need to let go. Some times things finish serving their purpose. Some times we no longer have need for the things that we have. Some times, the time comes to ‘out with the old’.

Winter is all about creating space. A space for the new and exciting things that will be coming our way in Spring – the season of embracing the new and of rebirth. We create space now so that the universe can fill it.

So it is officially ‘clear out’ time. Time to clear out all the clutter and baggage and things that no longer serve us. Time to make space for some exciting new things. Here are some things to consider in your clear out:-

Materialistic Items: Clean out the kitchen drawer, throw away the keys you have whose locks are long forgotten, the used batteries, empty matchboxes, spare screws and washers that do not belong to anything, the rusty something you can no longer identify, the ‘just incase’ this and the ‘just incase’ that. Bag it all up and throw it in the bin.

Clean out the first aid kit, throw away the band aids that will no longer stick and the medicines that are out of date or missing their instructions. Bag it all up and take it to your local pharmacy to dispose for you.

Clean out the wardrobe, throw away the clothes you no longer wear, the clothes you will wear when you are thinner, the clothes you keep incase you get bigger, the clothes with missing buttons or broken zips, the clothes that have faded and lost their shape. Bag it all up. Throw away the useless items and take the rest to your favourite charity shop.

Ladies: shoes, toiletries and cosmetics bag. I will say no more. You know what you need to do!

Gentlemen: Garage. I will say no more, you know what you need to do!

Spiritual/Emotional: It’s not quite so easy to ‘bag up’ the spiritual and emotional items. However they may too have served their purpose and come to the end of their days.

Friendships: Are all your friendships two-way truly mutually beneficial? Is there anyone who has been dragging you down, holding you back or draining your energy? When would now be a good time to let this friendship go or to restate your terms and boundaries for friendships?

Career: Are you doing what you love? Do you wake up Monday morning will passion thrusting through your veins? Is now the time to find the career you want and deserve?

Relationships: When you look in their eyes do you know with absolutely certainty that you are their every thing? Have you showed them how much they mean to you lately? Have you told them how much you cherish having them in your life? When would now be a good time to take your relationship to the next level?

Health and Vitality: Do you love what you see in the mirror? Is your body, your temple, in the best shape it possibly can be? Have you given your body all the love that it deserves? Is now the time to revisit your nutrition and exercise regimes?

Beliefs: Are there any beliefs that are holding you back? Do you spend each day thinking and knowing ‘I can’? Do you truly appreciate how gifted, special, magnificent and wonderful you are? Have you realized yet how much potential you have? Have you realized yet how much more of you there is to give and how many of us are eagerly awaiting you to do so? When would now be a great time to write a top ten list of awesome rocking beliefs that will propel you forward into the life you deserve and were destined for?

Have fun as you ‘declutter’. Know that anything you hang on to is a space you take up which prevents something new from entering your life. The space in your life, like you, is valuable and precious. Be sure to only fill it with the things you love.

Grab your warm clothes. Feel the hug of your scarf and winter jacket. Take a long walk and decide all the things that need to go. There’s a new beginning around the corner and its waiting for you.

Let go………… and let the universe fill the space.

I was a fifth grader the first time I flew on a commercial flight. I remember being amazed that I could get all the soft drinks I wanted for free. I remember the wonder of looking out at the clouds and the topography far below. I remember watching us land. The entire thing was a great adventure and I was full of wonder.

In college, as I flew once in awhile, I always got a window seat – I wanted to be able to watch the ground pass below me. The wonderment of it all – the patterns and beauty of looking out the window was overwhelming. Yes, I would sometimes read or do something else, but much of the flight I would sit… and stare… and be in wonder of it all.

Soon after I started working, I found myself flying a bit more, and it became clear that during my business life that I would fly. I mentioned once to my Mom, who loves to fly, that I’d never lose that great feeling that an airplane flight brings – and that I would always get window seats.

Somewhere along the way from flying once every couple months to flying 100,000 miles per year I moved to the aisle. I lost the wonder of it all. Last week, I had a window seat and stopped working or reading long enough to spend some time looking out the window. Today, as I write this, I have just finished 20 minutes of window gazing. Some of the wonder is back! There are many things in our lives that we once considered wonderful (full of wonder). Many of those things we now take for granted. All of this makes me wonder, where the wonder has gone.

Where’s the Wonder?

I believe seeing the wonder in things around us is one of the ways we make our lives more meaningful and enjoyable. This is one of the reasons we go on vacations. Yes, some people’s vacations consist of little more than a beach (which can be wonderful in many ways!). But many more people take time to learn new things on vacations, by going to museums and art galleries. Many of us travel to exotic places to marvel at sites, and cultures and foods. Wonder plays a big part in the allure of these trips and the satisfaction gained from the experiences.

You may be thinking, is wonder really such a big deal? I would say a resounding yes! Why? Think about it, the absence of wonder, is often called boredom, or worse, cynicism. These are not things that people aspire to!

While we can all certainly experience wonder in new things – new locations, new experiences, new books, new ideas, I believe I found an important key to a more enjoyable life outside the plane window. That key is to add more wonder to life by re-capturing past wonder, and finding new wonder in the things I do each day.

Re-discovering Wonder

There are several things we can do to add to the wonder in our lives – to make our lives more wonder-full.

1. Look at things with fresh eyes. Think about things that have become habit for you. The next time you do them, do them as if you were a beginner again. Start with your drive or commute to work. Make it an exercise in finding wonder. For example, perhaps you go by a school on your way. Spend some time thinking about things from your kidhood days in school. Then try this “fresh-eyed” approach to other routine tasks.

2. Make a list of things you found wonderful at different stages in your life. If you write a journal do it there. If not, make these lists instead of watching TV one evening. Once you have the list, spend some time reveling in those wonders. Think too about how you could re-experience those things again.

3. Make a list of wonders you find each day or week. Again, a great journaling task, or a great routine to add to your planning for a new week.

4. Plan a mini-vacation or a day trip to someplace wonderful for you. I grew up on a farm, so a drive in the country in spring or fall is particularly helpful in restoring my sense of wonder in the growing process. Others might find your mini day to be boring – help them see your wonder – and in turn you will experience your own at a deeper level. Then go with them when they try to recapture their own.

5. Go to an old event, focused on different things. The next time you go to a ball game, focus less on the action, and more on the spectators, or vice versa. Go shopping and shop for something entirely different than you usually would. You get the idea.

These are just a few ideas to help you re-infuse your life with wonder. This idea is really taking hold in my life, in small ways each day is more wonder-full and more meaningful as well.

I believe when you choose to rediscover your wonder, you’ll benefit in the same ways.

You know, the Mississippi River is an awesome sight from 31,000 feet.