Change is difficult for many people. Often times our whole identity is wrapped up in what we’ve learned as children will work for us when dealing with people, allowing us to survive, thrive and fit in. While some people have had to learn to thrive in the midst of change and learned to be adaptable by being open to new ideas and embracing change, many others have had to fight for survival and every table-scrap that came their way. Behavior is learned and it takes work to unlearn and dismantle these old beliefs.

The truth of the matter is that win-win is always possible. When you are able to see beyond the ego and recognize the abundance that is available, people, minds, and ideas come together and can create amazing changes that improve the current scenarios for many, many people. When you work with people who have this abundant and generous attitude, you are uplifted, the team soars, and amazing energy and creativity is unleashed. This is much harder to do, to sustain, and to elevate within others when you encounter individuals driven by the thought of scarcity and competition.

People like Steve Jobs are visionaries that have sought to bring about such shifts in society and in business. One thing I’ve learned along the way is that it is often better to take the high road. This isn’t about judging others as wrong or seeing yourself as better than others. This is about recognizing your truth as to how you wish to BE in the world. Don’t compromise your integrity. Don’t get caught up in the competition. See the vision, see the outcome, feel the purpose and passion you’re driven to offer the world, and give it freely. We all die. You can’t take anything from this life with you. So give what you have to offer the world. What is not given is lost forever.

If your goal is to truly bring about a positive change and serve others, how it is accomplished becomes less important and seeing it accomplished becomes more important. While it may be a blow to your ego when others criticize your inspiration, or someone takes the credit for something you’ve introduced, holding fast to the benefits for everyone will often soften the sting. You do need to pick and choose those places where you’ll offer yourself, the key is to evaluate whether it is serving a common good. When you’re getting compensated for your contributions, gratitude would serve you spirit of peace. If you continually feel abused and stomped on, maybe it is time to move on to a more collaborative team, as well as a more receptive and appreciative audience.

Knowing that you are accomplishing your purpose and living your passion will be reward. In time, it will be recognized. Imposters will eventually be seen and heart & soul will always outlast the mind & ego. Along the way, through the journey that is your life and career, you will need to hold fast to the true inner qualities and nature of the brilliance that is you. Don’t allow these negative experiences to become something that undermines your value. You are not the negative experience. Often times, the negativity we experience from others, is more a reflection of them and less about who you are.

We all have different lenses, different gifts, different wiring, and different experiences. Difference is not something to be judged, it is a gift of diversity that brings the pieces of the puzzle of life together and creates a society, a solution, a technology, etc., together for the benefit of us all. Don’t doubt yourself when others cannot see the vision you see. Keep true, keep your intentions, and you will attract the right support, the right people, and the right opportunities. Lower the ego and aim high the vision.

Best wishes, Lee

Make a Difference

Our church has charged all parents of young children to read a Bible story each day to our children so reading from my son Noah’s children’s Bible has become a part of our regular bedtime routine. Sometimes I try to hit stories that relate to the current holiday in the Christian calendar and other times we simply pick stories that look interesting to him (there are pictures to help with the choice). There are also stories that he considers to be favorites–Noah and the Ark of course, Zacchaeus (because he loves the song), and Jonah.

I have been very happy with his eager responsiveness to the stories and to reading them. He will even pull out his children’s Bible to share the stories with his stuffed animals–or at least some version that he remembers or can guess from the pictures.

One day when he related the story of Jonah to Fred the green rabbit I was struck by how close to home the story strikes–for Noah, for me, for all of us.

Noah’s version of Jonah:

God told Jonah to go to a special place but Jonah didn’t listen. He went on a boat to another city instead. So God sent a storm and threw Jonah into the water and a giant fish swallowed him up. Jonah was in time out in the fish for three days before God told him he could get out of the fish. Then Jonah went where God told him to go. The End.

Noah to Fred: “You have to listen to God or you’ll get in time out too!”

Noah’s story is simplistic but then so is the essence of Jonah’s story. The moral of the story is simply that we must listen to God.

If only it was as simple as that!

Of course we know that. No matter what our religion or creed we know that we must listen to God. We know we must follow the rules and guidelines that God has set down for us.

Children, like Noah, know they must follow their parents’ rules and dictates or there will be consequences. Often those consequences involve a time-out for Noah so the story of Jonah strikes home with him.

Obviously as he grows older the rules that he must follow will come from many different sources and many will be unspoken. This is why his father and I now set down rules and boundaries for him. Obviously it makes our home life easier if he follows set rules and other rules are necessary for his protection, but even more important we are teaching him to follow the rules that God and society have set down for him.

We learned rules as children for the same reasons but as we grow up and learn to abide by the rules of God and society the punishments we receive change and become more subtle. We no longer are put in time out but instead encounter punishments that more often come in a social or monetary form.

For many of us it becomes increasingly easy to ignore these punishments without the threat of a big whale to swallow us up.

As a Christian, I think God’s message to us is simple. He wants us to love him and to show that love by loving and helping others. All of Jesus’ lessons and teachings can be tied to that simple theme.

It is simple and yet so very hard. What have you done this week to love and honor God? What have you done this week to love and help others?

What worries me is that some people get so wrapped up in following other messages they have gleaned from the Bible that they often overlook or directly contradict these essential truths. While the Bible and its teaching are incredibly complex, one can find the truth by simply studying Jesus’ teachings and actions. There is truth in the simple question–What Would Jesus’ Do?

It is simple and yet so very hard. What have you done this week to love and honor God? What have you done this week to love and help others?

Of course the difficult challenge is the fact that by not doing these things we are just as bad as Jonah. We are not doing what God has told us to do.

Don’t look now, but isn’t that a big whale coming up behind you?

If you are struggling with how to have confidence in your life, you are not alone. Most people think that self-confidence is something that lucky people have, people who can do anything and everything.

Part of the problem with confidence is we think we have to have tons and tons of it and all the time. The reality is, that not everyone knows how to have confidence in all situations.

Self-confidence is really an attitude a person has, that allows them to have a positive view of themselves and the situations life may put them. People with a confident attitude are realistic. They trust in their own abilities and believe that they will be able to do most of what they want to do in life. They know they can’t do everything.

To look at how to have confidence you need to understand that the typical person is always going to have some areas in their life that they are more confident than others.

You can be very athletic and comfortably confident in your athletic abilities while not feeling confident when meeting new people. Chances are you are confident in more ways than you may realize. The key to discovering a realistic self-confidence is to remove some of the false beliefs you may have developed.

1. False Belief:

I believe that to be successful in life I have to be competent in all the important areas of life.

Realistic Belief:

I know that achievement-based thinking is not the true way to feel worthy. I get some satisfaction when I achieve things that I set out to do, but I know that failures have nothing to do with my personal worth. I was born worthy.

2. False Belief:

The past has shown me how to have confidence in myself or not. My past is my most important guidance-system.

Realistic Belief:

As we grow we don’t have the same vulnerabilities we did when we were young. You’ve gained some awareness on what you think should continue to influence you in life. You choose which areas of the past that you’ll allow to steer the present, but you don’t have to be a slave to the past.

3. False Belief:

Everybody knows that bad things happen more than good things. The good things I do can’t be given too much importance with all the bad. People remember the bad so I should, too. Maybe if I concentrate hard enough, I’ll have less bad results.

Realistic Belief:

I know that if I win 4 out of 5 times, that dwelling on the one time I lose and how terrible I feel is not a positive outlook. I know I can’t win all the time! It’s enough for me to do well at something most of the time.

I can use how good it feels to win next time things aren’t falling my way, because I know it’s only a temporary setback.

Learning how to have confidence has a lot to do with learning how to have a more realistic attitude towards life’s ups and downs.

Are you ready for your inspirational thought for the day? When you first read it, it may seem too simple. However, if you think about it for even a moment, you’ll see that the implications are profound – and inspiring. This is t:

“Whatever goals you have in your life, and no matter where you are start, someone has succeeded at something similar or even more difficult, starting with less than you have.”

There may be some of you out of the six billion on the planet for whom this doesn’t apply. Perhaps some really want to do things that are far beyond anything a man or woman has ever done, so I apologize to the fifty of you. As for the rest of you, what do you want?

Want a loving partner? Somebody less attractive, charming and intelligent than you is getting happily married somewhere today. Want to create a new food and successfully market it? You probably already have more resources than Harlan Sanders had when he started trying to sell his Kentucky Fried Chicken. Want a big beautiful home? Three or more people in your town have such a home after being poorer than you at some point in their lives.

Is This An Inspirational Thought?

Anthony Hopkin’s character, in the movie “The Edge,” says “What one man can do, another can do.” He goes on to kill the bear that is stalking him. What if you aren’t as strong, as rich, or as smart as others? Not all those who have done great things were always stronger, smarter and richer than you. Just like them, you can learn the right things, take the right actions and put in the effort. This is why this is an inspirational thought. See where some people started from, and you’ll find yourself saying, “Hey! If he can do it, I can too.”

I told a guy he could save money to buy a home, and he claimed he just didn’t have any extra to save. He forget that he already knew several people who were making less money than him and surviving just fine. If he lived like those people for a while, couldn’t he bank the difference? (Just say yes – finding reasons why you can’t do something is a terrible habit to encourage.)

Would you like a date for this Friday? How? Here’s a clue: An awkward young man asked a woman friend why he couldn’t get a date. She asked if he had asked anyone out. After he thought about it for a moment he said, “No.” “That’s why,” she told him. Better example: I know a jerk who always had a date – after asking twenty women a week out. These are lessons, aren’t they? If a geek and a jerk can get a date, you can too, right?

Colonel Sanders drove around in an old van living off his social security check as 900 restaurants told him they were not interested in his recipe. One eventually said yes, and he eventually made millions of dollars. Maybe this could inspire us to try something more than three times?

People come here with little money and speaking little English and end up owning restaurants and stores. If you want to own a restaurant or store, find out how they do it. There are almost three million millionaires in the U.S. If you really want millions, read their stories, talk to them, and learn how to make money. Whatever you want to do, someone has done it, starting from a worse situation than yours. If they can do it, you can too. This is your inspirational thought for the day.

Do you believe in asking God, or whatever higher power you choose to believe in, for the answers you need, when you need them? Read below for an enlightening story about my 11 year old daughter’s missing homework papers.

The problem started when my daughter took a break from her homework to eat dinner. She asked me if she could take it in her room and work on it while watching TV.

(Not a good idea, BTW). Even the best of us moms have our weak moments. :o)

Anyhow, by the time dinner was over, there was no homework to be found.

As with all lost items, I suggested the usual mom replies. “Retrace your steps.” “Think, where was the last place you wrote an answer down on it.”

She spent 15 minutes of looking, another 10 minutes of tears for fear of getting detention, during her first week of middle school, (for not turning in homework.) All the tears and whining in frustration were followed with another 10 minutes of both of us looking, and still no homework.

Can you relate?

I bet as a mom, you have probably, been there, done that, if not with homework, with a child’s shoes, your car keys. etc…..

I had recently been reading and studying up on manifesting your life, and creating the life you want by projecting a positive attitude, following your intuition. I had been real motivated and psyched with what I was learning.

“Okay mom, I thought to myself,” “now you can put all this philosophy to the test.”

I said,

“Let’s kneel down on the floor right now, and ask God to help us find your homework.” She started to giggle as if to say, but she knew not to dare say it out loud, “Yeah right, Mom!”

We knelt down and I lead her in a short but to the point prayer. Although small in time, it was still filled with gratitude but we did request immediate help to find her homework.

I can see some of you laughing at me, as this story unfolds.

As soon as we were done, I stood up. I told her to take a deep breath and relax. I did the same. Then I went to the kitchen. I thought to myself, “maybe she was still hungry and brought the homework out here while looking for something else to eat.”

I started to walk to the refrigerator. :o) Well who knows, it could have been in there. But before I even got that far, I glanced over to the counter, and there sat her homework packet, on top of the toaster.

I picked it up and took it back to the living room. Now remember, I told her to take a deep breath and relax. She wasn’t even through relaxing and I had already found her homework.

Needless to say, my daughter had a hard time believing that I hadn’t known it was there all along.

She did know that though, because she had heard my anguish and frustration just minutes earlier with her misplacing it.

Was it just coincidence? Did I just get lucky?

I believe we create our own luck. I have been studying hard lately to eliminate negative thoughts and replace them with power affirming thoughts instead.

I believe God did just what I asked him too. It was my intuition that led me to the kitchen with the thought about her maybe being hungry. The fact that she might have been looking for food when she set down her homework led me straight to the toaster.

In my humble opinion, it was God who planted those thoughts into my mind, because we asked him for some help. When He answers us so quickly, it is really almost impossible not to believe and have faith.

If it was only that easy to have the same type of faith if we were to ask to win the lottery, (which I don’t feel is really an appropriate prayer,however). To believe that he could remove all thought, or doubt in our minds that we wouldn’t, it might just happen too.

How many of you can honestly say, when you buy a lottery ticket, it is an absolute winner, that you have not one flickering of a doubt that you will have the winning numbers? You would have to have miraculous faith to do this.

You can’t really, because it is next to impossible for the human mind, knowing the odds of actually winning, to eliminate all traces of doubt in that particular scenerio. Some of those thoughts are buried so deep in your subconscious that you are not even aware of them.

In contrast though, it was fairly easy for me to have faith that God could help me find my daughter’s homework, because I knew it hadn’t grown feet and walked out the door. :o)

Whenever one is beset by a situation that he or she is unsure of facing someone admired, having to perform in front of an audience, or simply talking to others he or she is facing a goodly amount of stress. Confident people are usually able to face these situations without blinking; but the rest of us will probably melt away and try to run away from the situation.

For most people facing this kind of low self-esteem, these situations present an opportunity for them to make fools out of themselves. This is a very embarrassing prospect.

If you are one of the millions of people that would like to stop fidgeting in front of others, trying to squirrel out of such situations, and being so unsure of yourself when facing presentations, here are a few tips to set you on your way.

1. Competence is Confidence – Some organizations, like the Toastmasters, help those afraid to speak in public toughen up by stressing this credo and it really works. One secret to confidence and self-esteem is to be able to trust what you are able to do. This comes with a lot of practice and study. Whenever you practice a given skill, you increase your own confidence in your capability to perform even in front of other people.

Before a big presentation, study up. Try to know everything about the topic before you step in front of the audience. If you have practiced way before the presentation, you will be in a better position to knock their socks off.

Practicing in front of supportive people you trust will help you get feedback on how to improve your performance.

2. Believe in Yourself – One of the reasons people are not confident in themselves is the fact that they are already convinced that they will fail even before anything happens. Never underestimate the power of the mind. If you believe you will fail, you indeed will! A better exercise would to be to believe that you can succeed. Set your mind towards succeeding and you probably will!

3. Take Criticisms, whether Good or Bad – Most people are bad at taking criticisms. Instead of taking the criticisms personally, use every comment and suggestion to make yourself better. However, you will also have to look out for some criticisms that were never meant to benefit you. Ignore them and move on.

4. Remain Calm at All Costs – Panicking never benefited anybody. If you are suddenly in a situation where you are unsure of what to do or what will happen, keep your composure. If you don’t know the answer, say so calmly. If you do not know what to do, it would not be bad to admit it. However, beneath your cool fa

Introduction
Many people don’t really understand the nature of our guardian Angels. Every one of us, as long as we are in our human form has one or more angels with us at all times. In many years of working with individuals to help them come into closer contact with their guardian Angels I have experienced that they are present for each and every one of us. This message from them describes what they do, why they help us, and how we can receive their gifts to the fullest extent.

Angel Message
“We are given unto you as gifts of God, gifts of Creator. We are the expression of Creator in a form that you may more easily access and experience. We are given unto you to help carry you onto God, to help carry you into the love of God, to help carry you into the expression of the love within you.

Above all, we are given unto you for the expression of your soul; the true, deep, and complete expression of your soul. We have been with you from before your birth, from before your conception, when you were a soul in the splendor of heaven. We were with you at the time that you chose what gifts you would share with others upon the earth.

Your soul in pure form is pure light, pure love, pure joy. The gifts that you have chosen to embody, and carry, and to bring into full fruition upon the earth, are those very gifts that bring you joy, wonder, and excitement. They bring you into a natural place of buoyancy, of the joy of sharing.

We amplify your ability to connect with the gifts that you carry within you. We work with you to open your willingness to experience your own gifts within, to see and know them as pure expressions of love, to hold them, both sacred and true, and pure, and yet to share them with no holding. With no reservation. With no concern of how they are accepted. We stress this last part, that you have no concern, that you have no expectation, that you have no demand upon those whom you give your gifts to.

We ask you to look upon the heavens above you, seeing the moon, the planets, the stars, the endless and infinite galaxies of stars; all of this creation revolves in order that the soul is expressed in pure and true form. All of this has been given upon you and to every soul in form.

Realize that whatever limitations of consciousness you currently carry, reality is infinite. God is infinite. Our abilities, the abilities of the Angels, are truly infinite. We withhold nothing from you. Creator withholds nothing from you in your role of true creation as a being of love, and of light, and of compassion, of caring and of devotion to what you have come upon the earth to express.

We are completely outside of your ideas of limitation of any kind. We are not limited by time, or space, or place or amount.

It is vital that you understand this. As you call upon us to assist you, there is no diminishing of our energy, of our ability, of our presence. There is no diminishing. We are given unto the people of the earth to serve, to assist, to guide, to arrange, to partner with. We have no other reason for existence. Please take this in and know that you are our full occupation. We do not have another “day job” or other responsibilities that you distract us from when you call upon us.

We wish you to know that Angels are in total service to you in your present condition and your present level of consciousness. In the exact moment of your life you find yourself in right now. We carry no judgments. We carry no criticisms. We carry not even expectations for you. We make no decisions about when to help you and when not to help you. We have no free will in this matter. That is not our role. We are not created in a configuration of choice or judgment. We are beyond any concept of judgment.

We express the will of Creator in a form and in a manner that you can easily connect with, that you can access for all that you need in the present moment. This remains true moment to moment throughout your lifetime. We never evaluate you are good or bad. We never give or withhold based upon any concept of good or bad. There is no withholding of any kind within our realm. All we do is give infinitely, completely, eternally to you. Please realize as deeply as you are able that the grace we carry to you, the gifts we carry to you, the love and the loving presence we carry to you is not dependent upon your behavior. It is not dependent upon your past. It is not dependent upon you doing anything in this moment, other than receiving it.

We shine upon you as the sun shines upon every plant, every tree, every shrub, withholding nothing. The sun does not judge this plant worthy and this plant unworthy and shine only upon one. We wish you to fully and completely realize that our love is infinite, our gifts are infinite, our presence is infinite and is given to you exactly as you are in this moment. There is nothing that you need do to receive this. There is nothing you need accomplish to receive this. There is no redemption you need to achieve to receive this. There is nothing you need do except to attain the consciousness of receiving.

And this, which we have just labeled attainment, is nothing more than merely letting go of all beliefs of limitation, lack, critical evaluation, and judgment. For, while we are not free will beings and are given completely unto you, you, however, are a free will being.

It is very important that you realize that your choices are fully honored. Your choices are completely respected. We do not and cannot force anything upon you. Even a blessing that is so important for you, so dear to your heart and so dear to your soul can only be received by you if you allow it.

We wish you to realize that for you to experience receiving our assistance and our help you must choose this for yourself, you must invoke this within yourself, you must milk your own willingness to receive. You must ask to receive. You must be willing to receive. And yet this is all you need do, nothing more than this.”

What is love? Everybody uses the word “love” in daily conversations. There are millions of movies and songs based on love, but do we really know what it is?

Here are some Greek definitions of love:

Eros: romantic love of passion, physical longing, deep intensity, and intimacy. Often initial love that attracts a couple. Attracted to what it finds desirable, or beautiful–often knowing no limits and searching without satisfaction through many objects of desire.

Philios: characterized by sharing, companionship and shared values, it exemplifies friendship-based and brotherly love. It is more comprehensive and less self-seeking than eros.

Storge: family love between parent/child or between two incredibly close people. It is instinctive, and does not need to be requited.

Agape: considered purest, most comprehensive and most mysterious form of love, which loves unconditionally. Agape dissolves our separateness from God, others, and ourselves, as instead of seeking the security and consolation of seeking to be loved, we are love. Agape is the love of altruism, of giving without asking anything in return.

A famous Bible verse in 1 Corinthians 13 states other qualities of love:
Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way: it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

So how do we attract love into our lives? We get love by giving love, for as we give, so do we receive. Life is a mirror and will reflect back to us what we put out. Want more love in your life? Then I invite you to demonstrate to a friend or family member real AGAPE love. Call someone up for no other reason than to tell them you love them.

LOVE IS PATIENT: Imagine for a moment what patience could do in your life? What would your home be like if everyone had great patience? What would the world be like if all people had patience with each other? What is love? Love is Patience and it begins with each of us.

LOVE IS KIND.
Kindness is directly connected to patience. Patience endures injuries and insults and kindness pays them back with good deeds and kind actions. In Greek the word kindness means “useful.” Love is kind means we express God by being kind, by being useful and of benefit to others.

“Who is born of love is born of God for God is Love.”

Random Acts of Kindness –
Get Supercharged with Kindness Motivation Tips

Are you looking for ideas or motivation tips to make a difference in your life or for someone else’s life? Are you like most everyone and just don’t have much time? Can you perform random acts of kindness every day?

Honestly, it doesn’t take much time to brighten someone’s life. A few minutes a day can make a difference to a person or a family. Just some kindness and the evidence that someone cares about them can turn their world around.

These five motivation tips from the E-book, “101 Ways to Change the World”, don’t take much time, so begin to make a difference today! You’ll feel better — and so will the recipient of your kindness.

1. Send at least one e-mail a day telling someone:
how much they are appreciated
thanking them for something they did for you
telling them something you like about them
You can also send beautiful, encouraging e-cards, by visiting http://www.togetherwecanchangetheworld.com You’ll find the right e-card for every occasion – these are not your usual, everyday e-cards!

2. Send a note of appreciation to your local police department or Fire Station to encourage the people who make a difference in everyone’s lives. This doesn’t happen nearly enough for these people who put their lives on the line for all of us every day.

3. Put a Thank You note and a cookie in the box for your Paper Delivery person. Can you imagine the last time they were shown a kindness for doing their job?

4. Have everyone in your family (even if it’s just you) drop all their loose change in a large glass jar you keep on the counter.
Every six months decide where to send it
Make a family ritual out of the event and make a difference in someone’s life almost effortlessly.

5. Buy a few extra items at your grocery store and drop them by your local homeless shelter or food bank. You’ll make huge a difference, simply by adding a handful of extra items and a few minutes to your shopping.

I hope these five kindness motivation tips help you realize together we CAN change the world – one kindness at a time! At http://www.101WaysSeries.com, you can download the E-book, “101 Ways to Change the World”, for more easy motivation tips on how you can make a difference.

Dear fellow entrepreneurs, while reading some very informative information on the internet, I came across a really intriguing concept of creativity and imagination. In it’s application to marketing strategies, imagination is often one of the most powerful aspects that can be applied to internet business ventures. In just a few words, I’ll explain the power that lies within the use of creativity and imagination. Keep in mind that nothing “under the sun” is new. Everything in existence has always existed, and facts and substances are continually changing and shifting. All that is necessary to exercise creativity is to borrow from what already exists and rearrange the material into new combinations. This process is called Imagination. Now imagination in it’s nature is both interpretative and creative. This means that it can receive impressions and ideas, and it can also use these impressions and ideas to form new combinations of the same. So, any person of average intelligence can take information from endless sources and transform this information into endless new combinations. Having infinite new combinations or ideas is, without debate, one of the most valuable tools a person can possess in their business. A remarkable example of how this concept has been applied, can be found by examining the efforts of Thomas Edison. The invention of the incandescent electric light bulb was nothing more than a combination of two old, well-known principles. He then simply arranged the two principles into a new combination. So you can see, both the simplicity and the power in the concept of creativity and imagination. Therefore, in each of your business transactions, it is very important for you to apply this powerful concept by prompting your imagination to make new connections between multiple principles and apply them to things that are unique to your situation.

I hope this information helps you to create new business heights.
Joe Clinton.