Free Inspiration
In these challenging times, inspiration can lead to motivation that gets us through the crud. Opening our minds and hearts will lead us forward on our path.
You are invited to register to receive the Victory Letter. This e-letter has been written every Monday morning for the past seven years as a reminder to appreciate the small victories in our lives. Open up your Monday morning for a little extra inspiration to send you on your way each week. To see an example of what you will receive visit our blog page.
Parallel Lines
"Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution." - Reinhold Niebuhr
Have you ever noticed that you are humming along in life and everything seems to be running together in parallel lines? What I mean by that is that one thing leads to another and another until a message starts coming out to you loud and clear.
It can be remarkable the messages out there waiting for us if we take the time and gather the insight to really listen.
Here is where writing comes in as such a handy little tool. Thoughts that were rolling through your head can suddenly become clearer when you actually bring words to them and get them on paper (or the computer screen).
For myself, last week was pretty monumental in my life as a mom, my baby girl, Bailey, had her last day of high school on Thursday. The emotions it brought up were somewhat surprising and I am sure will only ensue when we head into graduation which happens this coming Saturday.
Home Sweet Home
"Every time you come home you should feel like you have arrived." - Sotheby's
There is something about the place we call home - no matter where it is in the world that makes it unique to each of us. That place where you lay your head down, eat your meals and live out your days. I believe it was Dorothy who said, "No matter where you roam, there's no place like home."
I suppose I am thinking about this today, as this is one of my favorite times of year in my home. It is as if someone has taken a magnificent paintbrush and colored up the world all around us. The flowers, the greens of the trees and grasses coming to life, the essence of another way of being than how we live here in the winter time! It is a lot of hard work but the rewards are huge!
Early on Saturday morning while getting in some desk time there was a link shared over facebook (thanks Cathy W.!) to the most amazing website!
It is http://www.hornbyeagles.com and I have been watching it on and off as my weekend went past. It is the best reality TV I have ever seen. Imagine viewing eagles in their nests via live webcam!
It really does remind you of the simplicity of life as these magnificent birds on Hornsby Island go through raising one baby eaglet while waiting for another egg to be hatched.
Moving Over
"Move and the way will open." - Zen Proverb
This Monday morning finds me moving a bit slow - as the avid gardener of yesterday is feeling the many squats today! I will need some stretching to get me moving forward to be sure.
As I headed out early to the garden on the beautiful Mother's Day morning we were given yesterday - the day was full of many delights. Initially being a bit hesitant about the day, my first without my Mom, I took my steps into the sunlight yesterday morning convinced I would be strong and make it through without a complete melt down.
One of the first things I saw, that I had not seen in the wilds of my yard before, was a purple tulip (today's picture). Somehow I just felt it was a sign from my Mom (her favorite color was purple) to relax and enjoy the beautiful blue-sky day we had been given here in Colorado. It gave me a strength I was in need of in that moment.
Well I didn't exactly relax but got into my gardening with a great vim and vigor. Now one thing for sure about this time of year, gardening in Colorado, is that you can't be fooled by a blue-sky day. Though it may feel like summer is on the way, we have come to know that Mother Nature may not be finished with that white stuff yet.
With a foot of snow in our forecast for the week ahead - I did some careful gardening - planting seeds that I knew would make it through another round or two of snow. 10 beds planted - 2 to go! The tomatoes I will wait for another few weeks.
This week's Zen proverb really resonated with me as I looked in my treasure chest of words for a quote to get us rolling into the week ahead. More times than not when we are trying to move forward in our lives finding the biggest obstacle we come across is unfortunately - ourselves. If we would just get the heck out of our own way the possibilities would abound around us.
Lost and Found
"You must be lost to find a place that can't be found." - Captain Barbossa, A Pirate of the Caribbean
Happy Belated May Day to you! You know, not only is it remarkable that it is May but already it is the 3rd day of May! We are off to a running start.
As my fingers warm up on the keyboard this morning my brain is warming up a bit as well. Thank goodness for the advent of coffee!
This whole idea of being lost kept popping into my head over this past weekend. It started with watching Pirates of the Caribbean on Friday night and ended with reading (thanks to a referral by a friend - thanks Don!) a new book, Mindful Leader over the weekend.
In the book the author, Michael Carroll was talking about a picture he saw in an office lobby that contained a lighthouse with the words, "Vision is not seeing things as they are but as they will be."
As the author sat there contemplating these words he shares how he kept saying them over and over to himself, "Vision is not seeing things as they are." The sound of it was totally incorrect in his minds eye and brought him to this conclusion, "For the mindful leader, such vision is blindness, and focusing on the future without facing reality as it exists is choosing to be lost."
It is interesting for me to contemplate as I begin this fresh now week and month in what areas of my life am I lost and where will I go to be found?
Spring Becomes Eternal
"Energy from your heart can be felt from 30 feet away - from your mind, inches." - Keith Cunningham
I am not sure how it is that Monday mornings get here as quickly as they do! One minute it's Friday afternoon, the entire weekend before us, and the next moment the new week is ready to begin. So begin with it we must!
Yesterday, I worked away in my garden coming to find out that there was an impending snowstorm on the way. Travis and I covered a few beds with plastic but the size of my garden just made it pretty impossible to cover everything before the white stuff hit the ground.
Sure, I suppose I could have made it happen but my instincts told me otherwise.
Upon inspection this morning everything seems okay, including a new little blueberry bush. But time will tell as the day moves forward. All I can do at this point is hope for the best.
There are times in life it seems that we can do many things to change the outcome of events and at other times we can only hang out and wait for nature to take her course. Perhaps the remedy in keeping our sanity and as the saying goes "to know the difference".
The other side of that equation is to know in our hearts we did all that we were meant to do. Life happens. If we live life it to the fullest, savoring the moments that mean the most, not living with regret - we should be good to go. Right?
In last week's letter I had made a mention of a friend getting ready to have a baby. It was my BFF Linda's daughter, Ashley who was having the baby. Little baby Carson was born on Tuesday.
Simple Solutions
"The problem creates the solutions, and the solution creates genius." - Debbie Travis
As we head our way into a new Monday morning I am amazed at how different a single day can be for each of us. Thinking about the people I care about, today is a monumentus day for several. With one friend heading to deal with ending a marriage and freeing herself from that pain and hurt, another is in the hospital ready to give birth to a new baby boy! Both of these events are life changing, both bringing new adventures with them.
This morning as I looked out my window the sun was just rising revealing the dew on the grass in the most spectacular way. It was like little diamonds resting on top of each blade of grass. I tried to get a picture of it to share with you, but my camera could not translate the magic I was seeing through my minds eye. Kind of like life is sometimes - hard to translate - so the picture I am sharing instead is of my newly planted lettuce bed.
With plenty of dirt under my nails this Monday morning I can say that the official gardening season is well underway! While working in the garden yesterday I kept thinking about how much gardening contrasts with the technical work I found myself embroiled in on Friday and will be heading back into today.
Yet in some ways it is the same. After all, something needs to be dealt with whether removing winter growth and planting seeds or grabbing hold of the in and outs of a web based system and understanding how it will apply to your business needs.
Implementing Excellence
"Never write the word Excellence without capitalizing the letter E." - Tom Peters
In this fast paced world we live in, sometimes we lose the essence of Excellence because of excuses like there isn't enough time or money.
Early Saturday morning while attempting to get caught up in the ongoing game of clearing out my in box, I came across an email from the Tom Peters organization. They were touting Tom's latest book, The Little BIG Things.
There was a great recording that came along with the link over to the Tom Peters website. Tom shared, in his great voice, some of the highlights of the book. For those who have known me for a number of years, you know that I am a big fan of Tom Peters work from the 80's, In Search of Excellence.
It was wonderful to hear him speaking about this topic once again. A simple word, Excellence, and when used, can make all the difference in quality input and output.
Tom talked about basics like bathrooms. Companies who fully practice excellence have spit spot bathrooms. Remember the days when you knew that if you wanted to find a spotless bathroom while on the road you could head to McDonalds. Not so much anymore. It is now hit or miss and quite frankly you wouldn't find me even eating at McDonalds.
I am sure you can think of a company or two that would fall under the category of "Withered Excellence", as Tom dubbed it. This would be a business that has lost their Excellence component because of the scarcity of the dollar or perhaps even worse, the lack of caring.
Short-term profitability along with many other varied reasons can leave a business owner without the zest required to bring a business to Excellence on many different levels.
Begin Again
"Begin Again." - A stone
Last week while perusing through a catalog I had received in the mail, there was a stone on the cover that caught my eye. Its words stayed with me - and this morning seemed quite appropriate for this week's quote, Begin Again. It has spring written all through it.
Easter seems like the official kick-start to spring and beginning again. No matter your religious beliefs it can become a day to celebrate all the new growth that is right in front of us.
Right on cue, the grass is getting greener and the flowers are starting to bud, making their way into the sunshine. The changes that unfold this time of year are nothing short of inspiring.
As the suns rises out my window to the east this morning it gets me to thinking how lucky we are to open our eyes each morning and in fact, begin again. A good nights sleep under our belt and anything is really possible.
A challenge that was staring us straight in the face only hours before can suddenly takes on a new light and can now seem not quite so impending. It could be a physical challenge, a mental challenge or a professional challenge.
Shifting Angles
"The question is not what you look at, but what you see." - Henry David Thoreau
There is just something so enlightening about going out and spending 5 days in an intensive learning experience. Now I know that there are some out there that think that everything that can be learned - has been learned. For those individuals I wish them to rethink.
With that word just now written, rethink, I realize how critical that component really can be in making all the difference for a really valuable learning experience.
What something looked like yesterday can change its appearance with more thoughts, ideas and perspective thrown our way. Traveling home yesterday my head was spinning with all that had come my way hanging out with some unique and amazing business minds.
As this Monday morning reveals a new week I am full to the brim with new ideas and possibilities for my life and for my business. This week's quote is fairly similar to last week's as it points out how we each see something differently because of what we bring from the inside out.
Emerging Persistence
"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are." - Anais Nin
With a bit of a cold in my nose, a new week dawns and here we go! Some people say it takes 21 days to create a habit, others say 28. I am going with the 21-day theory as this morning I hit day 22 of my yoga challenge. Yes, 22 days of yoga by the 22nd day of the month. Hooray!
Now the big challenge comes into play as I leave at 5am tomorrow morning for a business workshop out of town for the next 5 days. They supposedly have yoga at the hotel I am staying at, so hopefully I will be able to keep the momentum going until I get home. My days will be full with the trainings I am attending so I will really need to want to make this yoga challenge happen.
It is interesting to see how this yoga effort has affected my mind and my body. My mind more than anything, as this body of mine needs me to keep this practice consistent to make the difference I would like to see long term. Persistence is key!
Easing In
"The rock in your path, is your path" - Stacie, Yoga Teacher
As I ease into this Monday morning I find myself full of much love and gratitude. A good deal of this is shifting towards my son Travis who turns 20 today! Happy Birthday Trav - my special little leprechaun, who isn't quite so little any more (6 foot and counting). His birthday also marks the 20th anniversary of my introduction into motherhood! I must say, for as challenging a roll as it can be, the blessings have far outweighed those challenges.
Driving home from day 15 of my yoga challenge this morning, the song "Take It Easy" by the Eagles was bellowing from the car radio. One of the things I love about listening to the radio, especially first thing in the morning is the songs that randomly come out and touch a piece of my heart. This tune by the Eagles this morning was no exception. As the words unfolded from the melody they got me to thinking about how life falls as should when we in fact do take it easy and don't force it along.
Blowing Bubbles
"I've burst some bubbles, just makes me want to grow more bubbles." - Col. Harland Sanders
Well I have done it so far - eight days and counting in my yoga challenge. It has been an interesting time, and my body, while a bit tired and achy from the daily requirements of pushing it, I know is much better for it.
There are some things I have been learning in the course of the past week, mostly about the importance of listening. You see I can't wear my glasses while doing hot yoga as they slide right down my nose, and without them I can't see very well. So as the yoga teacher gives instructions I have to listen very carefully. It is a listening what happens both externally and internally. The body and the mind become engaged together to let me know what it can and cannot do, empowering me to stretch and reach further.
Challenging Challenges
"Lets take a Victory and then keep on marching" - Martin Luther King
The dictionary describes one of the meanings for the word challenge as follows: "A task or situation that tests someone's abilities." With the 2010 Olympic games now just a memory in our wake - I am creating my own challenge with thoughts of spring that are only 21 short days away! Can I get a hooray for the coming of Spring?!
This morning I arose early at 6am headed to our local hot yoga studio and immersed myself into a 30-day yoga challenge. Bottom line is that I need to do 26 yoga classes there at the studio between now and March 31st to to win the challenge. No small feat for me to be sure - especially because I will be out of town for 6 days of the month.
My husband, Ed, and I have been going each Sunday for the past three weeks so I have a bit of a start with hot yoga, but I am most certainly not the most limber person to be sure! What will I gain from this challenge? A much healthier body and clarity of mind, as well as the knowledge that I really allowed myself to do something I know that I can do.
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