• Thursday, July 29th, 2010
These days Howard and I are writing and editing our three chapters that will be submitted in Round 3 of the Next Top Spiritual Author contest on Monday, August 16.
A panel of judges will then review all submissions and about four weeks later four finalists will be selected from the top 25. From the final four, one winner will be selected who will receive a publishing contract with Hampton Roads and $50,000 for marketing.
As I review my highlights and low-lights of the past 2o years for our memoir called Feel Great Naked – One Couple’s Quest for Heaven on Earth, this wonderful poem about the journey of self-discovery comes to mind.
Autobiography in Five Chapters
by Portia Nelson
Chapter One:
I walk down the street.
There’s a deep hole in the sidewalk. continue reading “Choose Again”
• Thursday, May 27th, 2010
This morning I confess I went a little crazy. Howard and I were still trying to pull together our book proposal for the Next Top Spiritual Author contest and it felt like we are running out of time. Round 2 started last Monday and we were already 3 days overdue. For our book “Feel Great Naked” we needed a brief description, an outline, author bios, a marketing plan, a review of complementary titles and a written chapter.
We argued over every phrase. He wrote something. I corrected it. He corrected it. Our friends with editing skills corrected it. He wrote some more. I added something. He corrected it. On and on. My inspiration was fading.
This morning when he insisted that we had to stop all these edits and just get our book proposal uploaded to the contest website, I lost it. “It’s not good enough yet!” I said.
Howard was getting irritated with me. “What do you want?” he shouted.
I shouted back. “Joy first!”
A grin spread over his face as he caught the absurdity of those beautiful words spoken with utter frustration.
He slammed his fist onto my desk and continue reading “Joy First. Damn it!”
• Saturday, May 22nd, 2010
I have been fascinated by the power of thought from the time I was six years old. That’s when my father successfully convinced me I could cure warts with chalk. My warts vanished and I told everyone about it, until my father took me aside. He told me, “I know nothing about warts or chalk, but I do know that what you believe becomes true for you.”
Louise L. Hay
My passion for learning to create on purpose, with the power of thought, led me to study with Louise L. Hay, author of the book, “You Can Heal Your Life.” Louise led me to practice positive affirmations and visualizations with delightful results. I attracted my dream job, my dream home, and the man of my dreams!
It’s been almost 20 years since I created those incredible results and to this day, I still continue reading “Create What You Want with Positive Affirmations”
• Monday, November 30th, 2009
Photo Credit: Flickr User Flowizm
It was a dark and foggy evening. Char and I were driving home along a country road when, a few meters ahead, the bright red lights of a railway-crossing barrier started flashing.
The warning bells clanged and the barriers came down and Char pulled her van to a stop. A fast moving train rushed out of the darkness and roared passed, the railcars illuminated by the flash of crossing lights. As if we had been pulled into another world a sudden silence settled upon us. continue reading What is the Message Here?
• Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
Relaxing in nature
At the beginning of this summer I set an intention: to have every day feel like a vacation day. To my great delight, this summer has been full of wonderful adventures. I’ve been to beautiful gardens, toured other cities and cohousing communities, enjoyed fun filled gatherings with family and friends, went whale watching off Vancouver Island, hiked in the mountains, camped in Paradise Valley, and canoed down an almost raging river (my sister called them ripples, but I swear they looked like rapids to me). Heck, I even enjoyed wonderful vacation days lounging in my back yard. … Until today.
Where's that receipt?
When I got out of bed this morning, it didn’t feel like a vacation day. 
It felt like a workday. After weeks of resisting, I had finally agreed to do the annual review (2009 and 2008) of our community’s books – a throwback to my days as a financial controller and auditor. Accounting is a job I’ve come to dislike and I resist committing to accounting projects whenever possible. So it was with a great deal of trepidation that I contemplated what I’d committed to. I expected that this project would take at least 50 hours over several weeks – not the usual good feeling generating, deeply satisfying coaching, writing, socializing and internet training work that I generally fill my days with.
I knew I had to shift my attitude. My mantra is, after all, “Joy First. Then anything else I have time for;” enjoying my journey through life is a high priority for me. So I asked myself, “How can I look at this situation in a way that feels better?” Lying on the trampoline, watching the clouds pass by, I pondered this question. Finally, a new perspective came to mind. continue reading My Vacation Crunching the Numbers
• Tuesday, May 05th, 2009
Last Friday morning, a shocking message from my sister, Lydia, appeared in my email box. The subject: Mom’s in hospital again.
My heart began pounding as I sat down to read the message.
“Mom has been admitted to the hospital with a small bowel obstruction. They’re prepping her right now for the operating room. They will do a laparoscopy (insert a tiny scope through a small incision in her stomach) and look at what’s going on inside her.”
My Mom is 82 years old; she lives in Edmonton, Alberta – a 12 hour drive from where I live in Langley, BC. Usually, she is the picture of health but this was her second trip to the hospital in a month. I felt concern; but what could I do to support her from here?
In circumstances like this, it used to be my practice to worry, to dwell on the worst that could happen, and to torment myself by imagining how awful it would feel to lose her. Now I know that worry doesn’t support her or me. continue reading How I lost my worry when Mom got sick
• Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
I enjoy a daily dose of inspiration from a variety of books and emails. One source of inspirational quotes is Mike Dooley’s Notes from the Universe.
Here’s one of my favorite Notes about the law of attraction:
Your Attention Please…
Your Attention Please…
This… is the Universe.
Today I’ll be recording your every thought and emotion, no matter how “good” or “bad”, no matter how generous or stingy, and no matter how helpful or hurtful they may be. And everything I record… will be played back for you, as soon as possible, as some type of physical manifestation in time and space.
Thank you, that is all.”
And another Note: continue reading Inspirational Notes from the Universe
• Thursday, April 02nd, 2009
“An old Grandfather said to his grandson, who came to him with anger at a friend who had done him an injustice…
“Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt great hate for those who have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It’s like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die.”
“I have struggled with these feelings many times. It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.
But…the other wolf… ah! The littlest thing will send him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all of the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, for his anger will change nothing.”
“Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit.”
The boy looked intently into his Grandfather’s eyes and asked, “Which one wins, Grandfather?”
The Grandfather smiled and quietly said, “The one I feed.”
- Native American Tale, Author unknown
A negative tail spin or a positive uplifting experience.
You get to choose.
• Monday, March 09th, 2009
photo credit: topher76
When I was taking my coach training from CTI we learned some cool ways to deal with the crazy voices in our heads that sabotage our efforts to be who we really are and get what we really want. We were encouraged to name these saboteur voices, describe them and even to draw them. The idea was to create awareness about these voices that were running in our minds and messing with our lives so that we could then consciously choose different, more supportive voices to listen to.
One of my voices I call “Buster Max”. He’s a drill sergeant with a barrel-chest, big muscular arms and thighs, a deep voice, and a brush haircut; he wears army fatigues and his job is to keep me in line. He does this by marching me around until I’m too tired to think, too drained to protest, and too weak to care. “Get your nose to that grindstone!” he shouts, “or nothing is going to get done. Who do you think is going to deal with this if you don’t! What do you need sleep for anyway, you wimp!”
I used to get caught up in the momentum of it, moving from one task to another, eagerly crossing things off my list, ignoring my body, marching with Buster Max along side me with his whistle, marching, marching, marching to some victory or another trophy. And not whistling a happy tune.
After a while I’d notice that my energy was flagging and even as I wondered why I was doing things that were not enjoyable, I’d hear Buster Max’s voice in my ear, “Don’t think, girl, just do it.”
Finally about seven years ago, continue reading Have you got a Dream Buster on board?
