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Beach Notes: After the Storm

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by Guest Writers Suzie Cheel and Des Walsh

After the storm, creative thinking …

With all the driftwood on the beach after recent big storms, some people see debris spoiling the usually pristine sands. Others see a gift for creativity.



What do you see when everything goes pear-shaped and plans fall apart?

Suzie Cheel & Des Walsh

What to do while you are waiting

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Many people have to wait a long time for something to happen. Tom Petty was right: The waiting is the hardest part. It’s easy to become impatient, especially when we cannot see any signs that anything is happening. It’s like the seed germinating within the earth. Although there may be millions of chemical reactions going on beneath the surface, from topside, the soil resembles a mute brown plane, keeping its own counsel.

Maddening.

The urge to dig up the seed to check on its progress is almost overwhelming, and yet, in order for the seed to bear fruit, we must trust that the process is on schedule. If we have chosen the correct soil for the seed, watered it properly and fertilized it accordingly, then we must have faith that something will happen.

I seldom make direct references to our nonprofit in the Successful Blog Series, but this week, we awarded a car to a woman who epitomizes the example of doing the work and then waiting.

“Everything you want is out there waiting for you to ask. Everything you want also wants you. But you have to take action to get it.” ~ Jules Renard

Eight months ago, she was living in a homeless shelter with her children. She wanted a better life for herself and her children. We, as a nonprofit, wanted to give it to her. But in order for the transfer to happen, she needed to first decide that she wanted to move forward and then take steps toward achieving it.

Reaching out to a caseworker. Determining the correct steps to getting her GED. Fulfilling obligations to secure an apartment. Achieving these goals constituted a symbiotic relationship between asking and effort. It’s difficult to articulate, and I’m not sure that I’m doing a very good job of it. It’s not a matter of “deserving.” It’s a matter of realizing.

Once we realize ourselves, we begin to see ourselves as worthy. And from that sense of worthiness, concrete and tangible results flow.

“Maturity includes the recognition that no one is going to see anything in us that we don’t see in ourselves. Stop waiting for a producer. Produce yourself.” ~ Marianne Williamson

Our applicant had to do the heavy lifting of overcoming her own inertia, developing clarity about the things she wanted and then taking action to bring about the changes she wished to see in her life. Even the most insightful and intelligent among us cannot begin to presume what another wants for him or herself.  Each of us has the responsibility of divining that kernel of truth for himself or herself.

“It is a great piece of skill to know how to guide your luck even while waiting for it.” ~ Baltasar Gracian

Once you have an inkling of what you want, you must seek out the conditions and people where you’ll have a greater chance of coming into contact with others from whom you can learn and grow.

Ultimately, you must also be willing to act when the opportunity for which you have been waiting presents itself. You must trust that your time spent preparing has been effective.
One of the best ways you can thank someone for giving you a chance is to take it. When have you had to wait for something? How did it pan out? Were you able to pay it forward?
——-

Molly Cantrell-Kraig is a woman with drive. Possessing an innate sense of purpose and a pragmatic, solution-based approach to empowering people, she fused these two traits in order to establish Women With Drive Foundation. Based upon its founder’s personal history, Women With Drive Foundation is a means through which Cantrell-Kraig may effect change on both a micro and macro level. By providing women with something as essential as personal transportation in order to transition them from poverty to prosperity, she, through Women With Drive Foundation, seeks to empower women to help them help themselves. Through this action, the individual applicant benefits, as does society as a whole. Follow Molly on twitter as @mckra1g or @WWDr1ve (Women With Drive Foundation) or “Like” them on facebook.

Buy the Insider’s Guide to Online Conversation.

Making wishes a reality

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Wishes get a bad rep sometimes. Wishing is seen as a dreamy-nonsensical foray into ‘la-la land” and not very practical. “If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride,” as the saying goes. Dreamers don’t live in reality. They need to get their heads out of the clouds and snap out of it. Right? Wrong.

Wishes are where the seeds of possibility are sown. A life without wishes would be a colorless, dismal march through a series of mundane, rote tasks en route to a quiet, unassuming death. Without wishes, no expansion would happen, no exploration would occur beyond the Known and the Seen.

That being said, merely wishing doesn’t make anything so.

If wishes are the seeds, they also provide the fuel that propels actions.

“You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it come true. You may have to work for it, however.” ~ Richard Bach

There is a significant step between wishing and action, without which you cannot hope to succeed: belief. You must believe that you are capable of attaining your wish. Most of the time, when we first have a wish, we have no way of making it come true immediately. Our wishes are usually outsized and unrealistic compared to our skills and resources we have initially. However, making your wish come true is a process. One of my takeaways from SOBCon11? Believe, then act.

By opening yourself up to possibility, you have changed the nature of your reality. Furthermore, through the combination of wishing and belief, you will have a source of energy that sustains you when your spirits flag and doubt creeps in. Believe, then act. Your options will increase in direct proportion to your actions.

Another central element of making your wishes come true is determining the motivations behind your wish.

“Are you fit company for the person you wish to become?” ~ Unknown

When I was a little kid, I would wish for the dishes to wash themselves. I would wish for a teleporter to materialize at the school so that I didn’t have to walk through the rain to get home. These are “tissue paper wishes” based on immaturity, the desire to escape and are ephemeral, silly exercises in futility.

As you mature, take note of the reasons behind your wishes. Are they selfish ones? Do you wish to better another’s life or experience? What do you ask for? Power? Money? Fame? Why? Having the answers to these questions helps you to make your wishes come true.

We cannot attract anything for which we do not have the capacity to receive.

When we wish for something, we must examine our thoughts and our actions. If they are out of alignment, our desires cannot be fulfilled. From this skewed perspective, we will not recognize the answer to our wish, even if it is wrapped in neon tape and standing before us, covered in blinking lights.

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

Anything that currently exists was once a wish. Take a moment today and jot down some of your wishes. See if there is a pattern. Have any come true? Which ones remain to be granted? What steps can you take today to help bring them to fruition?

——-

Molly Cantrell-Kraig is a woman with drive. Possessing an innate sense of purpose and a pragmatic, solution-based approach to empowering people, she fused these two traits in order to establish Women With Drive Foundation. Based upon its founder’s personal history, Women With Drive Foundation is a means through which Cantrell-Kraig may effect change on both a micro and macro level. By providing women with something as essential as personal transportation in order to transition them from poverty to prosperity, she, through Women With Drive Foundation, seeks to empower women to help them help themselves. Through this action, the individual applicant benefits, as does society as a whole. Follow Molly on twitter as @mckra1g or @WWDr1ve (Women With Drive Foundation) or “Like” them on facebook.

Buy the Insider’s Guide to Online Conversation.

 

The Top 7 Ways to Motivate Yourself Even on Mondays!

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How to Own Every Day

I used to not like mornings. Monday mornings were the worst. I liked them so little that I thought of Sunday as the impending doom … that made my weekends even shorter.

One day it dawned on me that if I lived to be 70 holding on to this feeling about Mondays, I’d have discounted 10 whole years of my life. Ten years — 520 Mondays lost, crashed, and burned — due to a bad attitude. I had to find a way to get and stay motivated. I had to get back my Mondays. I was pretty sure that I didn’t have enough future left to be throwing away 10 years like a fool.

Monday mornings made feel like a giraffe — all gawky and spotted, all sleepy eyed and too tired to chew my food. I needed motivation. But I wasn’t sure I knew how to do it. It would take some experimentation. I got down to it.

Who wants to sleepwalk through life? I had things that needed doing.

The Top 7 Ways to Motivate Yourself Even on Mondays!

Motivation, without it, we move slower. We’re susceptible to distraction and procrastination. Inside a company or working from home, what fuels our success is motivation — that reason, that determination to make something good happen.

I figured out early that it wasn’t such fun to be unmotivated. In fact, it was both stressful and boring. I didn’t like myself much and maybe that is what struck that match that got the home fires burning. Once I made it a quest to motivate myself, the rest was mostly easy. Here are 7 ways I found to motivate yourself even on Mondays!

  1. Feel all of your senses with amazing experiences. Give yourself the luxury of time to enjoy your shower. Wear clothes that feel good on your skin. Drink delicious coffee. Eat lovely food that smells good while you’re fixing it. Look at fabulous colors. Listen to amazing music. It’s hard not to feel alive when you put your whole body into the experience. Don’t just bring your head into the day show up with every cell of you. Let your DNA have a chance to be part of what you’re doing.

    It’s no accident nature puts on such a great show at sunrise – it inspires, invigorates, and motivates human beings. Try to see it. Don’t just look at walls, windshields, and buildings.


  2. Live every day as a quest. Work is work, but a quest is valiant and noble. Don’t just brainstorm, conspire. Let your fingers dance on the keyboard as you type. Smile while you think. Enjoy your food. Don’t just walk, stride — feel the ground beneath your feet. When you stop for a break look at the sky. Dare yourself to find everything easier, faster, more fun, and more meaningful.
  3. Work at your best learning level — your challenge sweet spot. Beak down your challenges to meet your skills set. Challenges that are too easy are boring. Challenges that are too hard cause anxiety. Neither state moves to action. Challenges that fall equally between anxiety and boredom inspire us. They catch our attention and feed our need to grow.
  4. Know that almost any work can be motivating. Whether you’re copying documents or cleaning up after a party, devise a way to put the task in your challenge zone. Time it. Measure it. Set a standard for your personal performance. Turn the work itself into art form. Make it a game.
  5. Get curious and confident. It’s hard to think of a knot as a problem when you curious about what holds it together and confident that you’ll find the way to unravel it. Be alert. Be aware. Notice things. People who notice things know more than people who don’t. Then choose the things you notice energize you. Let them fuel your day. Ask new questions. Rather than asking, “What will I do to fix this problem?” try “How can this situation be a strength?” “How can go with it and end up with a better than what I had in mind?”
  6. Stop listening to the voices in your head. Those voices undermine determination and focus. Tell them you might have needed them once, but you know what you’re doing today. Lock them away and get on with being productive. You know how.
  7. Appreciate your ability to choose to be in a good mood AND appreciate the people who respond to that good mood in good ways! You’ll get energy from doing both. Let it fill you up. Be liberal with your smiles and your thank yous. Give a few extra smiles and thank yous to the folks who try to steal energy from you. Be confident that they’ll enjoy their bad moods even more if you leave them alone.

The trick to motivation is knowing that every bit of it is in our control. Even if we start to go off track, we can go back to number 7 and choose again to be in a good mood. Then start all over at Number 1 … No day is lost until we give it up.

It’s your day. It’s your life. You’ve got 7 ways to own every day.
Why would you spend a minute in unmotivated and boring?

Be irresistible.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

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How to recognize miracles

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I blame Charlton Heston.

When I was a little kid, the yearly Easter screening of The Ten Commandments was anticipated in our household for a number of reasons. The first of which was its role as a rite of passage to, if not adulthood, at least Big Kid Status, proved through the ability to stay awake through the entire thing. Alas, for many years, my brothers and I would consistently conk out on the living room floor somewhere around Yul Brenner’s “So let it be written; so let it be done” edict.

We yearned for the year when we could finally last until the second reason: the special effects, chief among them the parting of the Red Sea. THIS was a miracle!! Epic. Sweeping. Monumental. Supernatural. Seeing Chas up there on the rock, serving as the conduit for what God wrought below spoiled me for quite some time where miracles were concerned.

I’m not alone in this misperception, however. Most of the time we need big and flashy, or at least it’s what we’ve come to expect from our miracles. The quiet ones like breathing, flowers blooming or a choice parking spot opening up on a rainy day? Meh.

“Why, who makes much of a miracle?

As to me I know of nothing else but miracles,” ~ Walt Whitman

Folks who follow my twitter stream will note that I sign off most evenings with #poetry as my #goodnight tweet. One of my favorite poets is Walt Whitman, and this poem is one of the reasons why. The poem lists a number of every day miracles: events, observances and experiences, all of which exist within a confluence of everything: “The whole referring, yet each distinct and in its place.”

As an example, speaking to the women with children reading this, when you were pregnant, did it seem as though every other woman on the planet was pregnant? This perception grew from your awareness stemming from your own pregnancy. You were attuned to pregnancy and everything that involves bearing a child; hence, you recognized this experience in those who surrounded you.

Same thing with the awareness of miracles. The more you see, the more there are.

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” ~Albert Einstein

I like this quote. Although it’s a reconstituted version of Whitman’s more poetic observation, Einstein put it pretty succinctly. And it’s true. Which way would you like to live? Which world would you rather inhabit?

“There is no greater miracle than our conscious efforts to become good human beings.” ~ Sri Chinmoy

As I understand Chinmoy’s quote, this is where we internalize and externalize our worlds; we sync the inner and outer environments. Through the symbiotic action of improving ourselves, we improve our environs by default. In so doing, we effect change and provide the catalyst for miracles.

For the sake of discussion, let’s assume that miracles are evidence of the Divine. When we take active steps to nurture and develop our higher selves, are we not engaging the divine within? Taken a step farther, by engaging the divine, are we not giving it the opportunity to flex itself and to manifest itself in our lives?

“I am the miracle.” ~ Budda

You are the miracle. DNA, tRNA and other helix models aside, the fact that you DO exist is, in and of itself, a miracle. Your thoughts, desires, mechanical dexterity and talents are all finely orchestrated cellular wonders. You are a carbon-based life form with sentience, a conscience and an ability to decide what your life is going to be. Every morning you have another 24 hours to make something happen.

“So let it be written…” ah…. you know the rest. What miracles would you like to create in your life?

——-

Molly Cantrell-Kraig is a woman with drive. Possessing an innate sense of purpose and a pragmatic, solution-based approach to empowering people, she fused these two traits in order to establish Women With Drive Foundation. Based upon its founder’s personal history, Women With Drive Foundation is a means through which Cantrell-Kraig may effect change on both a micro and macro level. By providing women with something as essential as personal transportation in order to transition them from poverty to prosperity, she, through Women With Drive Foundation, seeks to empower women to help them help themselves. Through this action, the individual applicant benefits, as does society as a whole. Follow Molly on twitter as @mckra1g or @WWDr1ve (Women With Drive Foundation) or “Like” them on facebook.

Buy the Insider’s Guide to Online Conversation.

 

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