How to be an Eagle! Have you heard about the eagle that was inadvertently raised on a turkey farm? Although in most ways, it was a nice existence. Turkeys, you see, took things pretty easy. The problem was the eagle had aspirations that the turkeys did not. In a nutshell the eagle wanted to fly – and not just above the earth – he wanted to fly HIGH! And he was curious. What is over that hill? What is the world like beyond the farmyard? Why does the sky change colors from morning to night? What causes the leaves to fall from the trees? “ The problem is that when you are an eagle on a turkey farm, it is clear you are different. Now, that could be okay, but in this case, this eagle stood out. The turkeys were happy pecking around looking for grain, whereas he was head to the skies, dreaming of flying. Even when he tried to conform, he felt weird and awkward. The turkeys must have thought so too because they would stop and gawk at him. It clearly wasn’t working. You know how it is - dreamers are often laughed at by those who won’t let their minds run free! As it happens, one day the eagle was mesmerized watching a family of robins in a near by tree. The babies would jump from the side of the nest to the center and practice flapping their wings. Soon their wings were strong and they would jump from the nest and fly around the tree. Okay, that was his break. He practiced jumping from a bale of hay and running while he pumped his wings. As he ran, he could feel the wind taking hold of his wings. As his body grew and his wings expanded, he could feel himself lifted right off the ground. It’s wonderful, it’s beautiful; I’m free. After that he was never the same. He never felt bad about being different and he never allowed anyone to tell him his dreams weren’t valid. You see, within each of us is an eagle yearning to fly high above the masses. The question is: will you let yourself have your dreams? Or will you let other people’s limitations become your own? What is your inner yearning? What are you willing to do to manifest it? From one eagle to another, I wish you an elevated life, soaring above the crowds, and having a fabulous life. Here’s the deal, once you accept your dreams as your destiny, your mind will begin to show you the steps to get there, just as the eagle found his teacher through a group of robins, you will find your mentors. Once you make up your mind that you are not here to peck around in ordinariness, you will find your way. May you fly HIGH!!!

Putting the Past in Proper Perspective No matter what you have done or what challenges you have experienced, they are but memories in your personal history that cannot, of themselves, create pain for you now -- unless you keep them alive in your awareness! Often times, because of past training, we are tempted to judge an experience as bad. Once labeled, we smugly stuff it in a mental box and complacently file it in some unconscious place. Thinking we are cleansed of it, we brush ourselves off and go merrily on our way. Because it was a "bad" experience, we will make sure not to let it happen again. Dismissing it too quickly is not smart. Life's challenge is to understand what has happened in the past so that as we discover the principle of cause and effect at work. It is then that we learn to direct our lives toward more positive outcomes. Don’t try to steal mistakes from others (fix it for them), for you are also diminishing their growth. Blaming and guilt are triggering thoughts that encourage quick categorizing and dismissal. These are traits of our civilization. People love to blame others because they erroneously believe that when they place responsibility elsewhere, they themselves are off the hook. WRONG! Our lesson is self-discipline, to take responsibility for our lives and to put aside negative reactions as they are based on unrealistically expectations. No one is perfect. (That is a good thing.) That doesn’t keep us from striving to be and do better daily. If you develop a conscious commitment to grow, and evolve, you can look honestly at any past situation and discern its significance relative to your personal education. This is our challenge, and also a way of seeing a bigger picture of life. Some lessons are costly while others not-so-much. As you strive for this broader perspective, you discover new freedom. Pain is diminished when we consider the growth (maturity) achieved in an experience. Look for the lesson and you will find it, and then each past experience, relationship, situation, mistake(??) just become part of the continuum.

Effortless Action Nothing in the world is more yielding and gentle than water. At the same time, nothing is more powerful than water. Water has no equal in conquering, overcoming, or wearing down resistance. When a stream meets an obstacle in its path, it doesn’t fight, struggle or even contemplate it. It basically gives it no attention. It simply flows around it. The stream does this without strain or concern. In fact, it sings as it flows past the obstacle. Water provides a perfect example of effortless action. You can learn from this metaphor daily. As you face the challenges in your life, think about water. Consistent wearing away at an obstacle wins out, as does changing course. And, in the mean time, don’t forget to sing your song. For instance, if you are traveling to Texas and run into a detour, you can cancel your trip or find another route or mode of transportation. If you are driving, you can fly. If one highway is closed, there are other roads and thoroughfares that will get you there. Furthermore, reassessing your options can be accomplished without losing your cool. In fact, you can enjoy the entire maneuver. And, who knows what amazing surprises you might find along your route. You might say that this discovery was the real purpose all along. There is a story that further explains effortless action. It is about a horse that was tied outside a shop in a narrow Chinese village street. Whenever anyone tried to walk past, the horse would kick him. After a while a crowd of people gathered and began debating how best to get by the hazardous horse. Soon, someone came running announcing, “The Old Master is coming! He’ll know what to do!” The crowd waited anxiously. As the Old Master turned the corner, he saw the horse, and immediately spun around to walk down another street. The Old Master had learned the lesson of water and moved with effortless ease. He simply adjusted his journey. How can you use this principle of effortless ease in your life? What are the obstacles you need to flow around? ____________________________________________________________

Persistence builds strength Botanist, Alfred Russell Wallace, a contemporary of Charles Darwin, conducted a laboratory experiment involving an Emperor butterfly. The butterfly was struggling to get free from its cocoon. Wallace decided to assist the process so he cut a slit the length of the cocoon to help the butterfly exit. “The butterfly emerged from the cocoon, spread its wings, drooped perceptibly and died.” Wallace concluded that the butterfly had been denied the struggle out of the cocoon and it had failed to grow. It entered the world lacking the necessary strength to survive. To be successful in life we must face our challenges squarely for it is in doing such that we build the vision, stamina, determination, and self trust necessary to navigate beyond them. To deny anyone, including yourself, the opportunity to grow, take risks, and learn how to accomplish is a dire mistake. Strength can be accrued only by facing our problems, learning through our mistakes, and starting over again. Experience is the teacher. As with the butterfly, the pain and intensity of the struggle is what builds personal stamina that translates into meeting goals and manifesting dreams. Although, we don’t tend to welcome adversity, pain or struggle, with a positive approach we can maintain perspective and recognize them as the way to expand and excel in life. With a positive mindset we not only defeat adversity but build the skills we require to fulfill our desires. Oprah Winfrey succeeded in becoming one of the richest women in show business after experiencing an abusive, poverty-ridden childhood and many difficult experiences such as incest, rape, weight problems and insecurities. Her adversities are what made her strong, and increased her vision. Yours can do the same!

Blog: Look Back To Clearly See Road Ahead At New Year Year's end is a good time to look back at what you have learned, completed, accomplished and left undone. It is all too simple to walk away from one experience and move quickly into the next. Yet, without introspection, you tend to repeat yourself, often neglecting to learn from your situations. Contemplation helps you put your life in perspective and that lends itself to clearly seeing the road ahead. Take time to consider the following: What did the past year present to you? What were the most significant events and how did you respond to them. How did they shape you? That leads you to the present. What do you want now and what is required, on your part, to move in that direction? Answering these questions not only helps to establish perspective in letting go but also adjusts your thinking and expectations for new experiences. You also achieve better self-understanding and, perhaps, appreciate what you’ve been through and accomplished despite it all. Resolution means to resolve or promise. Resolutions for the New Year can work for you, if you are clear and explicit about why you want them. Keeping tabs on your progress and growth through the years helps you calculate future steps. In time you develop objectivity and clarity of purpose. Your goals or resolutions become promises or commitments to yourself, not the rest of the world. In that way they are motivating and easier to remember and keep sacred. It is kind of like being a Monday morning quarterback. By looking over your shoulder to objectify the past, you know where you've been and that helps you know where you're going. Appreciating your life is fundamental to growth. It is a superb way to let go of the past and get yourself ready for new promises and expectations. Remember to feel gratitude for every event and experience. It doesn’t matter if you performed well or not. Don’t use this time to be critical. Just observe and take note. In the past year many people busied themselves clearing the away the old (job, relationships, lessons, goals, or even the rubbish in their homes – or minds). This prepares you for something new. Wisdom tells us you can’t have a new kind of friendship or relationship if you continue to put up with bad behavior -- abuse, neglect, or negativity. In the same way, you can not move on to having a joyful career, if you hang on to one that is not fulfilling. Change has to take place to pave the way for newness. The good and even the bad times offer gifts and insights. Stop, reflect, and receive those offerings. Putting things in perspective is crucial to having hope for the future. Without hope, there is no motivation, and without motivation, joy and enthusiasm wane. Ensure your forward movement by making your new year's promises thoughtfully. Make these commitments to yourself and no one else. Know your personal reward for each one. (Most of the time the outcome is feeling good.) Then you are ready to begin 2008 with a clear head, a happy heart and joyous expectancy.

Peace - How to Achieve It Stress is created in the mind. Situations do not create stress, your beliefs about them do. Jim sees a yard full of leaves and starts pressuring himself to rake it. Meanwhile, his next-door neighbor, Harry, observes the same sight, and, recognizing he has other priorities, walks right past, without guilt or consternation. Jim can’t release the obsession to clean up the mess. Harry has no pressure because he has placed his peace of mind ahead of the yard waste. Jim’s belief that in order to be a good person, you must have a clean yard plagues him. Even though, he knows there is no time for yard work, he is burdened. Instead, he could focus on matters at hand. This would necessitate self control and a redefinition of the prerequisites to being a “good person”. Beliefs of this sort, and the ensuing pressure they create, keep the mind disorganized. Contrarily, peace can be achieved by making it the priority. Let yourself off the hook. What’s more important than peace of mind? Putting peace at the top of your list makes sense. Many are unwilling to put themselves on their list at all, much less at the top. “I’ll get to my needs when everything else is finished.” It’s no surprise then, when the day is over, you’re still waiting your turn. If we each dedicated an hour daily to creating peace of mind, the world would be calmer, brighter, and more hopeful. Leisurely walk, appreciate the sunshine, glorify in nature, sit quietly, fantasize a perfect life, read a positive book, smell the flowers, breathe deeply, write yourself a love note, meditate. The possibilities are endless. Often, this kind of restructuring takes place when illness strikes in a family. Suddenly the messy yard, dusty furniture, or other important work lose significance. Health comes first. There is no guilt as tasks are ignored. The patient comes first (perhaps you are the patient). Don’t wait for an emergency to include yourself on the priority list. Do anger, people pleasing and worry about the neighbors come before generating calmness? What beliefs do you hold that interfere with serenity?

The Heart to Give Sometimes people approach the holidays with resentment. Feeling the season has been commercialized; they focus on the buying and doing aspect of the holidays and lose the possibility of joy. Yet the principle of giving is inherent in the season. Thus the potential for learning how to give is an immediate undertaking for everyone. It would seem that re-framing the way we interpret the quality of giving could change our response to the holidays. Happiness lies in the spirit of givingness. Often this feeling of the spirit of givingness is felt more around the holidays than any other time, and this is a wonderful thing. Yet, we don’t have to limit our experience for we could make every day a kind of Christmas or celebration. The confusion lies in the idea that we must give “things”. For often with the giving of things, there are strings attached, and that takes away the joy. However when we give freely, without conditions, reservations, recriminations, attachments, we become the greatest recipients of our gifts because that kind of giving is accompanied by the feeling of great joy. We can develop the SPIRIT of givingness and experience it daily. The greatest gifts anyone can give are time, energy, and wisdom. This is similar to the axiom that to teach a man to fish is better than to give him a fish. If you give a man a fish, he will need another in a few hours, for one fish cannot satisfy hunger for long. Yet, if you teach the man how to fish, he can satisfy his need for fish as often as he chooses. Giving in this way is an excellent way to grow because it moves you out of your small (ego) self and helps you focus on the needs of others. It is the way we learn the true meaning of love. Giving your knowledge, experience and wisdom unconditionally leads to joy. This is not meant to down-play giving material gifts. What is important is that whatever you give comes from the heart. Then it is easy to practice giving without concern for a return. Soon you will discover that your givingness fills you and that everything you need or want, you have. Ultimately, your world will reflect that as well.