Think about it – do you look forward to seeing your family and friends on Christmas because of the gifts that they bring, or because of the GIFT that they ARE!?
With all due respect to Santa Claus, the biggest gifts we can give this or any season do not come in wrapping paper. Bring joy, peace, and goodwill in your sleigh, and you will be a welcome visitor anytime of year.
Read more
I made a stop at the QFC grocery store in Redmond Ridge Saturday night. I was on my way home from teaching a “Wealthy, Worthy and Wise” workshop and I needed a few groceries. It had been a long day with an early start, and besides the groceries, I was also in the market for a shot of caffeine. I stopped by the in-store Starbucks stand and ordered a mocha from the friendly young male barista. After writing on the cup and ringing my drink into the register, he started telling me a story before allowing me to pay for my drink. “This morning, our store’s assistant manager decided to pay for his drink and also the drink of the person following him,” he explained. “The next person did the same, and people have continued it all day long, paying for the next person’s drink.” Sure to let me know that there was no obligation, he added, “So your drink has already been paid for. If you’d like to contribute to the next person’s drink, you can.”
Read more
I was so moved by the words of FDR at his inaugural address, and struck by the timeliness of what he wrote for our own time as well, I wanted to share this excerpt. Given March 4, 1933, this speech was delivered in the depth of the Depression. “This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days. “In such a spirit on my part and on yours we face our common difficulties. They concern, thank God, only material things. Values have
Read more
The chaos in our financial markets seems to stand in contrast to the serenity of a beautiful fall day, with many-colored leaves on display and the gentlest of breezes giving them breath. But look closely… I often find that my life tends to mirror and follow the season, both in exterior patterns and interior rhythms. And perhaps the financial markets, which at a glance appear to be such a contrast to this autumn beauty, are doing the same.
Read more
“The quality of our life is the quality of our emotions.” Gas is over $4 a gallon, meanwhile foreclosures are up, workers are being laid off, and business owners are tightening their belts. The word “recession” is bandied about, sometimes in whispers (as if we’re afraid the economy might hear us), other times in not-so-soft complaints. I’m a prosperity coach, not an all-powerful genie who can cure this country of what ails it. However, I may have some “cures” that may help our individual suffering in a measurable way.
Read more