Are you holding onto any resentment, anger, or guilt toward another? Know  that even if these thoughts aren’t foremost in your mind, they persist in the form of an energy drain.

The good news is, there is peace i n release. Think about how much energy you expend on draining emotions and what you could do with that energy, if released. This month , identify something within that is not serving you, and let it go. Once you do, take advantage of the remaining energy and do something productive and/or fun.

When we know why we are here, we can use that knowledge for the purpose of planning our lives. Now, having said that, it is not always to find the answer, so plan a few hours and perhaps begin with mediation and look again at your values, needs and strengths before you begin. You may want to continue to refer to them during this process.

I will share with you what mine are just to give you an example to work from. These began, in the planning process, much longer and then I was able to ‘pare down’ because I know what the longer description means and takes into account. The information you will be determining in the questions that follow will become your work sheet.

I also find it does not matter which you create first, personal or business, perhaps the one that is easiest. HOWEVER, I do advocate that we create a life we love and then design the work around that. The exact opposite of the way society does it.

I like visuals so here is one for you:

I relate Vision to the eyes on the body – what do I see is possible, perhaps not even during my lifetime…but something I am holding (visioning) for me.

Mission: I relate to the hands, what is that I can do to assist this Vision along?

Purpose: the heart – who do I need to BE in order for this to happen? Who am I being as I go about doing each and every day? Is it someone that is at peace, someone I am proud of, someone is living the purpose I came here for? What does that feel like?

My Personal

Vision: That each person will awaken to the God within and live their worthiness. (The shortened version that I refer to daily is: I know and live my worthiness.)

Mission: To assist others in this awakening process by loving, connecting and demonstrating happiness, joy and peace. My own awakening occurs as a result of this. (The shortened version is: To demonstrate happiness, joy and peace.)

Purpose: To model God’s gifts of love, enthusiasm and connection.

Professional

Vision: Through partnership (coach & client; nations, families, businesses) the world will prosper in wealth, wisdom, and understanding.=

Mission: To inspire, ignite and model integrity, leadership and prosperity.

Purpose: To evolve spiritually in order to model peace and inspire others.

Work Sheet:

Answer these questions (be very specific and do the first one last as you’ll want to use a combination of all the others). This will be a little long, but you will always hold the larger, longer version in your head and it will create the vision you want for your life. Then when you shorten it to a few words, the short words will represent the longer version to you – no one else need know the longer version. Just the repeating of the mission/purpose statement (short version) will attract the longer version or ‘big picture’ to you.

Personal

In my personal life I am committed to: (doing what, with who, because)

For recreation I enjoy:

My home environment will be:

My retirement home will be:

My hobbies, passions or interests are:

I will maintain (or regain) my health by:

Professional Life:

In my professional life, I am committed to:

I will concentrate my practice in the areas of:

My office environment will be:

My financial plans are to:

My business philosophy is one of:

examples: integrity, courage and truth, dedication to servicing my clients, providing superior coaching , providing service that exceeds the expectations of my clients, being known for my expertise in my field, a commitment to organization, automation and aggressive growth, being accessible to my clients.

~~~~

The shorter you can make them the better, then you will post these near your computer or phone, so that you can ask yourself each day, are my priorities supporting my Vision, Mission, and Purpose?  Does my calendar/schedule reflect this? Do my interactions with others reflect this? (You may keep a longer version in your journal so that it totally spells out what you are committed to.)

If you need guidance (other than me, feel free to ask) you might do some mediation on these areas. Perhaps one where you actually meet Jesus, God, Spirit, Buddah (whatever you wish to call this universal presence) and have a conversation around these matters. Listening carefully for the answers, but not beating yourself up, if you don’t get anything.

It’s a process. Enjoy the process. I find that when we have clarified these matters, our lives just work more effortlessly and we are much more effective.

These markets are awash in noise.  Fear mongering, complaining and finger pointing dominate the talk shows, newscasts and conversation among people.  The doom and gloom voice is mixing and mashing until it gets so knotted up in the daily dialogue, that it fills the head with noise.

Yes, it is important to make intelligent decisions, steer clear of the greed which fueled a ferocious housing bubble and return to the basics, creating true and lasting value, one client at a time.

We say, stop listening to the noise and start listening to the music.

LISTEN TO THE MUSIC

We say, dial down on the noise and focus on making music.  What we mean is for you to refine your craft, cultivate your talent and produce the best music you know how, the market will recognize it and reward you.

This means:

1. KNOW YOUR TRUE PASSION
2. COMMIT TO ABSOLUTE EXCELLENCE
3. BE DISCIPLINED DAY IN AND DAY OUT
4. CULIVATE COURAGE
5. FOCUS, FOCUS, FOCUS
6. BRING THE FRUIT OF THIS LABOR, PASSION AND EXCELLENCE TO THE STAGE, THE MARKET WILL ALWAYS RECOGNIZE AND REWARD MASTERY.

However, when we can appreciate these challenging times and respect their value in our lives, we come to a place of contentment. When we can see beyond our current difficulties and realize that these challenging times will make us stronger, allow us to grow, and give us a deep admiration for the blessings that life grants us, we truly open our eyes with optimism. And when we understand that ultimately we are in control of the way we respond and think about life’s events, that only we have the ability to choose the thoughts that enter our minds, we discover absolute freedom. No longer are our attitudes tied to what happens to us. Such hope is there in knowing that when faced with any type of circumstance, the truth remains, after all, that life is what we choose to make of it.

When your rain comes…will you choose to be the businessman, upset how the storm has inconvenienced you? Or will you choose to be the farmer who knows that while rain has the potential to be destructive it also brings growth and new life?

When the first drops fall, may you be reminded to think differently about facing life’s obstacles. May you choose to see beyond life’s storms, to uncover the blessings that the rain brings, and during all of life’s twists and turns, may you always choose to…Welcome The Rain.

Sadly,  we habituate to pleasure gifts. The Pleasant Life is governed by our own  personal set ranges for well-being. After wide swings of emotion following  events as extreme as winning the lottery or becoming paraplegic, people tend to  settle back to their habitual levels of life satisfaction. In spite of the  tripling of purchasing power in the United States over the last 50  years, the general level of life satisfaction has changed very little.

But  the other two pathways to happiness, The Engaged Life and The Meaningful Life,  are not constrained by set ranges. So when we give gifts that increase absorbed  attention and/or meaning in people’s lives, we give gifts that can bring  lasting growth in happiness.

For the Engaged Life, give gifts that grow skills, are  challenging but not impossibly so, that give frequent feedback, and that the  receivers believe are intrinsically worth doing. Here are some examples:

• Give dance lessons or music lessons. If you have the expertise yourself, so much the better, but if not, there are good teachers around. Maybe you could take the lessons together.
• Encourage nature-watching habits. For example, give bird feeders, bluebird houses, or binoculars. Convert a  passive interest in observation into a growing and active interest.
• Give materials and lessons for arts and handcrafts.
• Give tickets to a concert or play.  Even better, buy yourself a ticket and go along for the shared experience.
• Give books that challenge and uplift. This is particularly important for adolescents, who are often assigned very grim and discouraging books at school.
• Give a treasure chest of coupons redeemable for activities with you. For example, give coupons for a monopoly game or a trip to a ball game or even 24 hours of your time to be used all at once or spread over the next year.
• Give scrap booking materials and help someone work through photographs to represent his or her personal history. Perhaps hire a personal biographer to help write down his or her story.

For the Meaningful  Life, we give  gifts that help others live in service of something larger than themselves,  whether that be the family or the local community or the world at large. Here  are some examples.

• Give cooking lessons that include preparing food for the local soup kitchen. For example, teach your children to roast a turkey, and then take it together to the local food kitchen.
• Set up a monthly conference call for your widely dispersed family so you can have a chance to tell and listen to each other’s stories.
• Give someone a trip to visit someone else that they love but have not seen for years.
• Give a gift to a charity of your friend’s choice in his or her honor. It is always fun to give.  I give the The Victory School here in Miami. My  son was diagnosed with autism. So at the moment I am raising money for  a school bus.
• Give someone your time working together on a  local volunteer project of their choice. Perhaps it will mean going together to the soup kitchen once a month or working together on a Habitat for Humanity project or at the hospital or wherever is close to your friend’s heart.

This is just the beginning of  a list to get your creativity going. Good luck!

Mrs.. Thompson had watched Teddy the year before and noticed that he did not play well with the other children, that his clothes were messy and that he constantly needed a bath. In addition, Teddy could be unpleasant. It got to the point where Mrs. Thompson would actually take delight in marking his papers with a broad red pen, making bold X’s and then putting a big “F” at the top of his papers.

At the school where Mrs. Thompson taught, she was required to review each child’s past records and she put Teddy’s off until last. However, when she reviewed his file, she was in for a surprise.

Teddy’s first grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is a bright child with a ready laugh. He does his work neatly and has good manners… he is a joy to be around..”

His second grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is an excellent student, well liked by his classmates, but he is troubled because his mother has a terminal illness and life at home must be a struggle.”

His third grade teacher wrote, “His mother’s death has been hard on him. He tries to do his best, but his father doesn’t show much interest, and his home life will soon affect him if some steps aren’t taken.”

Teddy’s fourth grade teacher wrote, “Teddy is withdrawn and doesn’t show much interest in school. He doesn’t have many friends and he sometimes sleeps in class.”

By now, Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and she was ashamed of herself. She felt even worse when her students brought her Christmas presents, wrapped in beautiful ribbons and bright paper, except for Teddy’s. His present was clumsily wrapped in the heavy, brown paper that he got from a grocery bag. Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found a rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing, and a bottle that was one-quarter full of perfume. But she stifled the children’s laughter when she exclaimed how pretty the bracelet was, putting it on, and dabbing some of the perfume on her wrist. Teddy Stoddard stayed after school that day just long enough to say, “Mrs. Thompson, today you smelled just like my Mom used to.”

After the children left, she cried for at least an hour. On that very day, she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic. Instead, she began to teach children. Mrs. Thompson paid particular attention to Teddy. As she worked with him, his mind seemed to come alive. The more she encouraged him, the faster he responded. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of the smartest children in the class and, despite her lie that she would love all the children the same, Teddy became one of her “teacher’s pets..”

A year later, she found a note under her door, from Teddy, telling her that she was the best teacher he ever had in his whole life.

Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy. He then wrote that he had finished high school, third in his class, and she was still the best teacher he ever had in life.

Four years after that, she got another letter, saying that while things had been tough at times, he’d stayed in school, had stuck with it, and would soon graduate from college with the highest of honours. He assured Mrs. Thompson that she was still the best and favorite teacher he had ever had in his whole life.

Then four more years passed and yet another letter came. This time he explained that after he got his bachelor’s degree, he decided to go a little further. The letter explained that she was still the best and favorite teacher he ever had. But now his name was a little longer…. The letter was signed, Theodore F. Stoddard, MD.

The story does not end there. You see, there was yet another letter that spring. Teddy said he had met this girl and was going to be married. He explained that his father had died a couple of years ago and he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit at the wedding in the place that was usually reserved for the mother of the groom. Of course, Mrs. Thompson did. And guess what? She wore that bracelet, the one with several rhinestones missing. Moreover, she made sure she was wearing the perfume that Teddy remembered his mother wearing on their last Christmas together.

They hugged each other, and Dr. Stoddard whispered in Mrs. Thompson’s ear, “Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me. Thank you so much for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference.”

Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, whispered back. She said, “Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you.”

(For you that don’t know, Teddy Stoddard is the Dr. at Iowa Methodist in Des Moines that has the Stoddard Cancer Wing.)

Warm someone’s heart today. . . pass this along. I love this story so very much, I cry every time I read it. Just try to make a difference in someone’s life today? tomorrow? just “do it”.

Random acts of kindness, I think they call it!

“Believe in Angels, then return the favor.”

For cutting the grass: $5.00
For cleaning up my room this week: $1.00
For going to the store for you: $.50
Baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping: $.25
Taking out the garbage: $1.00
For getting a good report card: $5.00
For cleaning up and raking the yard: $2.00
Total owed: $14.75

Well, his mother looked at him standing there, and the boy could see the memories flashing through her mind. She picked up the pen, turned over the paper he’d written on, and this is what she wrote:

For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me:
No Charge

For all the nights that I’ve sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you:
No Charge

For all the trying times, and all the tears that you’ve caused through the years:
No Charge

For all the nights that were filled with dread, and for the worries I knew were ahead:
No Charge

For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping your nose:
No Charge

Son, when you add it up, the cost of my love is:
No Charge.

When the boy finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes, and he looked straight at his mother and said, “Mom, I sure do love you.” And then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote: “PAID IN FULL”.

Lessons:

•You will never how much your parents worth till you become a parent

•Be a giver not an asker, especially with your parents. there is a lot to give, besides money.

Advice: IF your mom is alive and close  to you, give her a big kiss and ask her for forgiveness. If she is far away, call her. if she passed away, pray for her.