Perspective. Perception. Interpretation.

It’s a beautiful morning.  The sun isn’t up yet, but I’m seeing in my mind’s eye what the landscape looks like because I’ve driven this road often.  I know that the leaves are brilliant hues green lifting up overhead as I get closer to the mountainside.  The view is breathtaking in the daylight, even though I can't see it right now.  I feel alive and in-tune.  I’m rockin' out to some tunes as I drive with my thoughts and loving how the other drivers on the road are responsive and moving out of my path in perfect time.  I’m really enjoying the thrill of driving a little faster this morning.  

In front of me, my husband and daughter, and behind me someone else is following - all of us on our way to the same destination.  I’m eager, excited, content, and I’m enjoying this motorcade very much.

Upon our arrival, my perspective is intact.  This was fun!   As we all got out of our respective vehicles, the person who’d been following us exclaimed, “That drive was horrendous!”

Same drive.  Same flow of traffic.  Same road.  Same scenery.  Same houses.  

Very different perceived realities.

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Can You Dare?

Many of us forego good for great; awesome for roarsome; magnificent for phenomenal; outstanding for astonishing.

When I was thinking about leaving my first husband, I feared that I was being stupid.  I doubted that I could do it and I didn't know if I should.  I didn't know where I was going, let alone the steps to take toward what I wanted.  I feared I was leaving a man and a relationship that were really great and would possibly never realize the more that I was reaching for. 

I had stability and a thriving business with my husband.  We had an exquisite home that was often the hub of gatherings for our friends and family.  We traveled frequently and money was ours to spend freely.  We got along, had fun together and respected each other; I loved this man.

So why would I want to leave when I had it so good?  It didn't make sense to me.

There was nothing fundamentally wrong with our relationship and nothing that I could say was a "deal breaker".  

There was nothing I can say that I needed to run away from. 

But I did feel a sense that I wanted to run toward something more. 

Did I dare want more than what I had? (I made myself wrong for wanting more for a long time).

Did I dare go from really good to roarsome?

Was this even possible???

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You're Right Where You're Supposed to Be

To the guy who thinks he just delivers medical prescriptions to homes...you're saving people's lives.

To the gal who thinks she's just a waitress at the local diner...you're making someone's day with your smile.  

To the young lady who thinks she should have taken violin lessons when she was a little girl...you didn't want to do it anyway.  

To the local garbage pickup guy who thinks he's not good enough to do anything else... you're helping beautify someone's place.

To the hair stylist who thinks she's just doing hair...you're promoting self-love.

To the factory worker who thinks he's just pushing buttons...you're helping build something that's going to benefit a lot of people.

To the dedicated mom who takes her kids to school every day and thinks she should be doing something more important than that...

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You Can Always Tell A Different Story

We all like to tell stories; the stories of our lives... It's how we relate to one another, bond and make forever friends, isn't it?

We embellish them here, flower them up there, tell the truth-as-it-is for the sake of accurate and actual accounts.  We provide the sequence of unfolding events along the way, dragging up all the good, the bad and the ugly parts that got us to where we are and made us the person that we are now.  

While it may make for a good story, what you think and talk about and how you feel about it - becomes.  

You're always creating your now (because it's now and you're having the experience of it now as you're telling it) and you're also pre-paving a future reality.  

So if you're going to recount events (tell stories) about your past, present or future, make light of the bad and the ugly - or leave it out altogether.  

You don't have to emphasize the struggle to affirm your worthiness.

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If Only You Were Different - I Would Like You So Much More

Imagine you have a dog.  He's a lovely dog, mostly.  You enjoy having a dog around, yes you do.  It's comfortable and it has it's perks - like companionship and someone to play with.  "Having a dog around is a good thing", you think.  

Now imagine that you'd like your dog so much more if he didn't insist on being fed at a certain time, or if he were less selective about his food. You'd also like him more if he stopped whining and didn't bark like a dog.  If he didn't leave muddy paw prints on your floor and dog hair on your clothes you'd be so much less annoyed - let alone hogging the (your) bed and the snoring at night while you're trying to sleep.  

In other words, if he would change just a little here and a little there, and if he would alter this and adjust that - you'd be so much happier with him. If he were less like a dog and more who-you-want-him-to-be, your world would be so much better, wouldn't it?

Is that kind-of how you feel about your mate/partner/boyfriend/girlfriend?  

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Be Here, NOW

Can you be right where you are?  

Not trying to grow your list or get more likes and followers.

Not trying to make anything happen, or make someone hear, understand, respect or regard you.

Not trying to make your kids do something other than what they're doing or listen to you when they're not.  

Not trying to be thinner than you are now and not trying to figure out what's coming next.  

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Inside Job

Everyone wants a sense of control over their own life.  There's no one you know who would say (and really mean it), "Here, you be in charge of me and my life.  I'm done."  

While that notion of someone swooping-in, taking-charge and taking-care-of things for you seems attractive at times (maybe often), if someone else were actually in-charge and you had no choice or creative control over any of it, you'd soon feel trapped and resentful of the one you'd put in-charge.  

We were all born with a clear knowing that we're free.  Free to choose; free to feel; free to create our own reality - our life and how we perceive it.  We were all born knowing that we personally get to decide what we want and that it could be uniquely tailored to our requests.  

The illusion that you're not in-charge of you and your life and that something can assert itself into your experience creates a sense of vulnerability and loss of control. 

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The Grass Will Be Greener When...

The grass will be greener when...

You have enough money to buy beyond what you need - and then the grass will be even greener when you can buy what you really want.

You can do only what you want, not what you have to.

You're at the body weight that you've always wanted to be.

You can take that trip of a lifetime.  More than once.  

You can quit your day-job and hang out at the beach. Forever. 

Your house, taxes, paperwork and closets are in-order.

You have the place, the space and the landscape that you want.

Your business is running smoothly, you've built your list, and you've got more followers than bees are on-to honey.  

You get your degree, start your dream business, finish that project, the people in your life stop annoying you and your dog stops barking at things you can't see or hear.   

Your kid cleans up his room, you find the guy you want to marry, or the gal loves you back the way you love her.  

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Stirring Up Trouble-Soup

So you've got yourself elbow-deep-in-some-sort-of-poop-soup and you're wondering how you got here, why you got here and how much it stinks to be here. 

Yep...we've all been there at one-time or many in our lives, haven't we?

Maybe you've gone and stirred-up some trouble in your relationship.

Maybe you've gone and stirred-up some trouble in your finances.

Or maybe you've gone and stirred-up some trouble with your health, career, your kids, or your next door neighbor.

It doesn't matter what kind of trouble you've mixed up and it matters less how or why you made it.  

If you were making a soup - you'd add some sort of broth (you know, the gluten-free/soy-free/dairy-free/toxin-free kind), veggies, spices, meat, more gluten-dairy-soy-free stuff and maybe a little bit of salt (of the sea variety, of course) - and voila - you'd have soup. Maybe you'd give a taste-test along the way, or maybe you'd let it simmer awhile before finding out what all of those ingredients produced.  

Let's say in this example that you didn't like the soup you made (because we're talking "trouble" here and most of you don't like the troubles you create). 

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