Posts Tagged ‘imagination’

Take Risks . . . Don’t Settle

Friday, June 19th, 2009

People are settling more and more these days and it seems to be contagious. Let’s change the tide, turn the ship around, and carve a new path, a path where we are willing to compromise and at the same time unwilling to settle for anything less than the best that possibly can be.

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When you settle for something less than what is possible the result is less than what you really desire. Settling can even have negative impacts that are totally unexpected.

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When you don’t settle you come closer to setting yourself up for success instead of failure. If you do fail, and we all do, take notes, think about what you learned, stand back up, dust yourself off and get back on that horse.

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Some reasons people are willing to settle for less than what can be is because the goal is too much work, they really don’t care, they might have to step up and put their ideals on the line, they might look bad in the public eye, or perhaps they are empty inside.

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Nothing of great historical importance has come from anyone who has settled. If ever there was a time in history to not to settle for anything but the best for all people, it is now.

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Anything is possible, and when we believe it and live it, this thinking will manifest itself in everything that we do.

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Never ever give up. Stay flexible and at the same time remain on task. Show what is possible by taking on the challenge.

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It is my hope that you will not settle for anything less than what is possible. Take a risk. The biggest risk in accomplishing what you want in life is to not take a risk at all.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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The Artist Within

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

When you think about art, what do you think of? A painting? A sculpture? A Drawing?

“Let me ask you something. What is not art?” Author Unknown

You see art is not just that which is painted, or drawn, or sculptured, or designed.
Whether we know it or not, everything we create each and everyday is art. It is that creative part of ourselves that takes on many different forms. Starting a business? Art. Making a meal? Art. Having a conversation? Art. Choosing which clothes to wear? Art. Planting a garden? Art.

Kind of cool don’t you think?

We are all artists. We are all inherently creative. The challenge for each of us is to find the artist within to more meaningfully create what you most desire in your life.

“The artist’s world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep.” Paul Strand

The most powerful art comes from the art you create inside yourself. This is a critical step in the direction of self-awareness and knowledge that will support you in reaching your full potential and creating great art everyday. This step is imperative if you are going to have a positive influence on the world around you.

Look into your heart. What do you see? Great art is within each of us. You just have to discover the key to unlock the door.

One of the reasons people don’t look inwardly to find solutions, to draw on their creativity, or learn about themselves is because they might not like what they uncover. Inside of you is a truth so powerful that it can take you anywhere you want to go. The artist within, that creative part of you, is waiting to be set free.

“All art requires courage.” Ann Tucket

The fact of the matter is that we are afraid to uncover the truth about ourselves because we might not like what we will find. Sometimes the truth may make us uncomfortable or maybe a little uneasy. It is just easier to go along coasting through life with blinders on than to face the truth.

Think how different our world would be if we all could look at and speak the truth on a more regular basis. Maybe even this statement frightens you.

The truth is inside your heart and so is the artist within you. You just have to be willing to go there. Everything you see is art. Everything you feel is art.

You are an artist, a powerful and unique artist. What kind of art are you going to create?

“A man’s work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened.” Albert Camus

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Using Your Imagination

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

Your imagination may be one of the most potent creativity tools you have. Whenever you imagine something you want to create in your life you are actually taking the steps to make that imagined visualization a reality.

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Your imagination has no limits, no barriers; anything you think up is possible.

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When you practice using your imagination you start to unlock one of the great doors to making your dreams a reality.

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If you believe what you imagine with all your heart and soul, what you imagine has the potential to become reality.

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What you imagine you create. If you imagine scarcity you create scarcity. Instead, open your eyes to abundance, that you have and attract everything you need and desire in your life.

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Your imagination strengthens your creative abilities and supports you to achieve what you want to create in your life.

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“Life increase” is all about focusing your imagination, your thoughts and energy on abundance, what is possible, positivity, giving back, and letting go. “Life increase” is tied to the realization that nothing is permanent, that what you have is to be shared and that when you give it away you open up to receive unexpected rewards.

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When you align with “life increase” and become more aware of what you most desire, you will change your life for the better. Whatever you most desire you will create in your life.

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When you start to practice and experiment with your imagination focusing on what can be, the positive, and abundance you start to put the power of imagination to work for you and for the benefit of others.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Living Your Life with Purpose

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

Living a life of purpose reflects who you are deep inside; your beliefs, your values, and your passion for living. It is all about following your heart and doing what you love to do with passion and purpose.

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Creating balance in one’s life takes tremendous effort. You can take steps to create a more balanced life by setting aside time each and every day to do nothing and just “be.” When I am able to incorporate “being” time into my day and life, I am better prepared to take on the challenges of life and feel more complete.

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Fear suppresses our inner abilities leading us to continue to avoid taking risks in life. If we spent half as much time learning how to take risks as we spent avoiding them, we would eliminate many of the fears that we have in our lives.

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Living a life with purpose takes constant practice, evaluation, and patience. Living a life with purpose does not mean that you have to be involved in some great discovery or tremendous idea. Instead, it often rises from a commitment to be faithful to even the most undervalued of tasks.

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Living in the present moment means being totally aware of what is happening around you; what you are doing, how you are feeling, and what you are thinking.

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Continual improvement is a must to meet the ever-changing array of challenges and fears that are uncovered along the journey. Every slip and every fall is a lesson learned, an experience gained, from which golden grains of wisdom are the reward.

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Anything is possible, and when we believe it and live it, this thinking will manifest itself in everything that we do. Take a risk. The biggest risk in accomplishing what you want in life is to not take a risk at all.

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Nikola Tesla, Michelangelo, and Abraham Lincoln marched to their own beat believing in the possibility of the impossible. They showcased for us the power of change we have hidden deep inside ourselves. They demonstrated what is possible.

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When you live a life that takes in each and every moment, appreciating the positives and working towards fulfilling the dreams you have, then you are truly living.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Knowing Yourself

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Think of all the experiences you have been exposed to during your life. When you start thinking about these experiences, you begin to realize that you have been exposed to a great wealth of information and knowledge, knowledge you can apply to your individual and community goals and dreams.

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People who have a willingness to tap into their personal wealth of knowledge stretch themselves and step off into the unknown as a way to increase their learning experiences and base of knowledge.

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The brain files away everything we experience or that we are exposed to, yet we only use about 10% of our brain’s potential. Your lifetime collection of knowledge has tremendous potential to support you in achieving your inner most desires.

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We all have a Shadow. Our Shadow is everything that is deep inside of us that is unconscious, repressed, underdeveloped, and denied. This is the dark side of ourselves, and like all things in life it also has the potential to become the light inside of us.

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If I am going to stop repeating the negative patterns in my life I am going to have to take a hard look at my Shadow so that I can learn more about myself.

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Life will always present you with opportunities for growth and learning to occur whether I ask for it or not. We all have the choice to learn from these opportunities or to ignore them. In any case, they will not go away until they are dealt with.

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When we pay attention to the Shadow side of ourselves we have an opportunity to see and accept who we really are, enabling us to positively develop the person that we were meant to be. To “know thy self” is one of the most important things we can do. It is impossible to become a balanced person and reach our full potential without understanding and embracing our Shadow side.

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The goal for all of us, the goal for you, is to become all that you can be, to reach your full potential, and to make a difference in this world.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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What’s Your Attitude?

Friday, May 15th, 2009

The kind of life you are creating for yourself, whether or not it is positive or negative, depends very much upon your attitude.

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A positive attitude is the great differentiator between those that achieve and get what they want from life and those that don’t.

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The choice to have a positive attitude, no matter what situation you find yourself in, will make all the difference in the world.

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It is easy to have a positive attitude when things are going the way you want them to go. It is when things are not going so smoothly, when there is adversity in your life, that a positive attitude makes the greatest difference. A positive attitude in times of adversity has the power to inspire others, to move mountains, and to change the course of history.

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People who are positive through difficult times think differently than those that get down during hard times. They see the light at the end of tunnel and focus their attention on that light.

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My positive attitude, even when I have been in a negative situation, has allowed me to reach for something more, something of value and greater meaning. It has enabled me to be open to new ideas and to be creative in my response to the challenges that have been presented to me.

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When you know a truth, live it! The truth can set you free. Use the truth to make a difference in the world. Focus on what is possible. Move toward what you are called to do. Follow your instincts and intuition, for this is where the truth hides.

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It is an individual and unique experience that you are living. When you make searching for the truth a priority you come closer to living your purpose in life.


Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Finding Inspiration in Nature

Monday, April 20th, 2009

Nature is a powerful place to gain inspiration and insights into the true essence of what it means to be a human being on this planet.

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Taking walks in the woods, listening to the wind singing its songs through the leaves, or just sitting on a rock taking in all the life that surrounds you has a very pleasant way of connecting you to something greater than yourself.

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Being in touch with nature helps us to be more relaxed, to make better decisions, and to embrace and act upon our unique and creative talents.

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Clouds inspire us to use our imagination and tap that creative side of ourselves that sits idle when we focus too much of our energy on the man made world and not on nature.

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Awakening to nature has allowed me to understand what it means to be present in the moment, what it means to let go of the past and the future, and allows me to focus on the power of just being.

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Nature is the doorway to understanding ourselves along with our role-in-the-whole. This door is always open for those with open hearts.

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Nature is one of our greatest gifts, which has the ability to teach each of us about our unlimited potential and ourselves.

Let me know what you think.

Remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create for yourself.

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Embracing Change

Monday, November 24th, 2008

Embracing change is one of the greatest challenges we face as humans. Change is accelerating at an ever increasing pace and if we do not learn to embrace, or at a minimum accept, the changes taking place globally we will in all likelihood wake up one day and say to ourselves, “Was I sleeping? How did we get so far behind?”

Many of us are so caught up in our own lives that we are blinded by the realities of what is taking place outside our daily activities. We get so focused on ourselves that we lose sight of the bigger picture. Because of this self-centered focus many of us are unable to see the changes going on outside ourselves, changes that can have direct or indirect influence on our lives.

Nothing stays the same and if we are going to be a relevant as a community we need to collectively wake up to our changing world and figure out how we can be a part of these changes.

Our challenge is not to forget how we got to where we are and remember that to be relevant we must continually reinvent ourselves. We cannot live life in a bubble thinking that we can remain the same.

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Victor Frankl

When we think outside-of-the-box and look beyond what we know learning takes place and we increase our chances of being relevant players in our increasingly changing world.

Instant gratification is a growing phenomenon and it is preventing us from seeing how we contribute to a positive or negative future for the generations ahead.

Now more than ever the world needs for us to take a “long view,” a view that allows us to look toward the kind of future we want to create for our descendants. The decisions we are making today have the ability to create a positive impact on the future or our decisions have the ability to have a potentially negative impact.

When you allow your mind to imagine future scenarios as they connect to past events and current activities you will start to link and form new ideas and creative and innovative scenarios.

“Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights.” Pauline R. Kezer

Today we need to be thinking about the future we are creating. This means that we will have to take calculated risks, think beyond our comfort zone, out-of-the-box, and collaborate with others.

With the pace of change accelerating and the desire for instant gratification growing, it becomes imperative to think out ahead into the future so we can make the best decisions today, decisions that will have a positive impact on the future.

When you are open to letting your imagination wander, enabling connections to be made, new and powerful solutions become possible.

We need to get serious about expanding and exercising our creativity as individuals and a nation. This means thinking differently about how we go about interacting, relating, and doing business with the world and ourselves.

“They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.” Confucius

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Believe and Trust in Yourself

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Inside of you is the ability to do and accomplish the most remarkable things. Anything. Everyone, no matter if it is Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, George W. Bush, or The Grand Lake Bum, is just like us. They too have to put their pants on one leg at a time.

Some people may have more resources, some may have less, and some may have none. Nothing changes the truth that we all have the capacity to achieve great things if we desire and are willing to work hard enough to make our dreams come true. You can do and create anything you can image if you put your mind to it and believe in yourself.

“People become quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves, they have the first secret of success.”
Norman Vincent Peale

What is it that holds many of us back from doing and achieving the things we want in life? Is it because we are scared to fail? Is it because the goal is perceived to be too much work? Is it because we don’t believe we can do it? Or perhaps we are scared of success?

This can be on of the trickiest parts of life’s success. When we are young we are all told “NO” a lot, “You can’t do that,” or the ever-popular “It will never work.” This kind of messaging is pounded into our brains so much that many of us start believing in our heart of hearts that we can’t do what we know we CAN do. As adults we perpetuate this undermining messaging, telling others that they can’t do something, all because of our programming as children. Following this negative and unproductive line of reasoning for yourself will only result in achieving far fewer meaningful accomplishments in your life than if you choose to live a life of “I CAN do anything!”

“Life begins as a quest of the child for the man and ends as a journey by the man to rediscover the child.” Lauren van der Post

Believe in yourself and you will be unstoppable!

The challenge is to find the courage not to be influenced by the naysayers and believe deep down inside that you can accomplish anything no matter what people might say.

What if the Wright Brothers had listened to all the people who said, “You’ll never be able to fly.” Instead, they chose to believe they could. When you are able to believe that you can do anything, it does not mean that your life will result in instant accomplishments. Success comes in small steps, in small accomplishments that eventually add up to big accomplishments, big successes. It is said that every overnight success takes 20 years. The Wright Brothers had to work very hard and experiment many, many times along the journey to human flight. They never ever gave up and continued believing they could and would fly. Just like the Wright Brothers you have everything you need inside of you to reach your dreams. It is never too late to start.

“Every achiever that I have ever met says, my life turned around when I began to believe in me.” Robert H. Schuler

In so many cases people believe that they will not succeed even before they start something. What a travesty. Instead, create a mindset of expecting success even before you start. All achievers, no matter what their game, start with the expectations that they are going to succeed. Achievers say, “I want to do this and that I CAN do this,” not “I would like to do this, but I don’t think I can.”

What do you think about yourself and your abilities?

Say you CAN and you WILL. Say you CAN’T and you WON’T. This is a universal truth we can’t hide from.

Try this. Next week become a Possibilitarian and say YES to those things that the week before you said NO to. Say “I CAN do this”, “We CAN do this” and see what happens.

You CAN and WILL do what you think you CAN.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Living Life

Friday, August 1st, 2008

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Just suppose you were living life exactly the way you have imagined you want it to be. What does that look like? Are you traveling around the world? Are you swimming with dolphins? Where are you living? What kind of car are you driving? How are you helping the world? Are you taking time to just be? Are you creating that piece of art you have always wanted to create? What kind of career do you have? How are you spending your leisure time?

“Prepare your mind to receive the best that life has to offer.” Ernest Holmes

If you are already living your life exactly the way you have imagined it, congratulations. You are among the select few in the world who have achieved such bliss in life. For the rest of us who continue to dream about a life still not fully achieved there is hope. For each new day has the potential of opening new doors of possibilities. The key is to stay optimistic even through the dark times, the times when our path to living the life we know is possible is shadowed by the daily challenges of living.

It is easy to gain enthusiasm for a dream in the short term. It is a very different thing to remain enthusiastic for that dream through the passing of time. Creating and living the life you want and imagine takes time and hard work. Very few things worth obtaining in life are easy to achieve. This is why so many people fall short, giving up and settling for what is instead of what can be. Don’t let this happen to you. You have too much to give back.

When you stay optimistic you are able to see the doors of possibility opening up in front of you. You are able to go through these doors and explore the possibility to see if this new opportunity supports you to live the life you have imagined and are supposed to live. You will start to see your continued perseverance begin to pay off. Each day you make choices that either support your drive to live the life you dream of, or work to hold you back from living that life. We all need to be vigilant to keep the daily stuff that fills our lives from taking over and limiting our ability to see new opportunities.

Just living in today’s “super human” environment is enough to drag anyone down. When you let skepticism and pessimism take over your state of being, you derail your efforts to living the life you have imagined. I have met many people who have let the challenges of living take over and suppress them from becoming what they know they can become. They have given up and, worst of all, in many cases only complained about their situations as if they had nothing to do with it. They did and you do too.

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Suppose for example, that you are making only the best choices for your life from this point forward. What choices will you make? Who will you choose to hang out with? Who will you choose not to hang out with? What health choices will you make? What will you choose for your life?

I suppose life is a journey of ups and downs, highs and lows. It is how we choose to respond to these highs and lows and ups and downs that allow us to appreciate the highs that much more. Sometimes this may mean taking a day as a do over or just going to bed, looking forward to tomorrow and a new day. When you are able to focus on the positive even during the times when your path to living the life you know is possible is shadowed by the daily challenges of living, you are on your way to making the most out of your life and the life of those around you.

“Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.” Anon

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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