Joy for the Grabbing

“Until you make peace with who you are, you will never be content with what you have.”
- Doris Mortman

This morning as my fingers hit the keyboard it is a balmy negative 10 degrees outside.  Winter, which is not officially here for another 6 days, has arrived in full force.  As I write to you this morning my heart and head are swirling with the events of the last 24 hours.

Yesterday morning about this time we were awakened by our daughter, Bailey and several of her friends, whose voices were coming from downstairs.  Any of you who have teenagers know this is an unusual event at 6am in the morning.  We were soon to learn that a friend of the girls was killed in a car accident on her way home from her first semester at college, late Saturday night.  Jenny Martinez was not someone I knew but have come to find out was a person many people in our small town of Niwot knew and loved.

Last night as Bailey returned home from a candlelight vigil that was held outside Jenny’s parents home, she was inconsolable.  The fear of death and dying, the pain she saw is this young 19-year-old girls family was devastating.  The question she kept asking me was “why?”  A question of course, I could not give a clear and concise answer to.  “Why her, this girl who did nothing but good, walked the straight and narrow, helped others, loved and was loved.”  – Perhaps the greatest of the mysteries of life.

It is the moments like this that we are reminded of life’s frailty.   The importance of holding each other tight and taking who we are and what we have in this very moment of time and being grateful.  That is not to say that we shouldn’t strive to have more and be more – but to find the ways in which to be perfectly content in the process.

I had picked today’s quote out days before this sad event transpired and I find it to be ever so true.  As this letter continues to talk of peace – we need to find it around us in order to fully appreciate life.  No matter what events of life unfold before us.

Saturday night while driving into Boulder we saw shining on Flagstaff Mountain the Star that lights up Boulder every holiday season for the first time this year.  While I tried to snap a picture of it with my trusty little iphone – it did not give the full effect that this symbol that marks the evening sky of Boulder each holiday season.

Thinking I would go on line to get a photo I found nothing there either.
What I did find however was a video of a young man who had video taped a sledding adventure under the star.  It brought a smile to my face this morning.  It is a reminder that the simple joys of life are all around us for the grabbing.  In our home life as well as our business life we can focus on what is wrong or remember what is right.

To breathe deeply – Pull the ring – sing a carol – eat a candy cane – hug those you love a little tighter – go sledding.  Find your peace and joy as you share it with others.  That is what this season is really all about – isn’t it?

Don’t stress about what is to be done – be grateful for what has already been done to date.  The picture I share with you today is of an artists rendering of the Boulder Star as it shines on the mountain above Pearl Street.  Not exactly what I had in mind but I invite you to watch the sledding adventure under the Flagstaff star here and now.  For a little extra lightness watch it to the end for a little reminder of what happens when you put your tongue on a frozen pole.  Smiles to you and those you love.

Possibilities Abound

“Our inner peace is our possibilities”          
  – Cheri Ruskus

Last week while walking across my back patio to take something to the recycling bin I saw something I have never seen before in the 28 years I have been fortunate enough to live in this beautiful state of Colorado.  Yes, let the history records note that on December 2, 2008 I saw not one but two yellow pansy’s growing in one of my patio pots that I had yet to put away.  Yes! A pansy (one of my favorite flowers) in December!

It inspired me so much I decided to come up with my own quote for this week.  I thought of it mainly because, for me, I find that when I am at peace with myself my creative possibility thinking tank goes bonkers!  The ideas just start to flow and the possibilities just happen easily, purely and simply.  

This particular day last week for instance I was so in the flow that I could not get one thing completed before another cool thing happened.  The pansy being one, and within a few hours of seeing it, a nice piece of new business came my way, out of the blue.  It was as if it was all part of the greater plan.  The law of attraction was in action.  

We all have those days when everything just ticks along perfectly and our talents seem to take us forward.  Of course in contrast there are those days when nothing seems to go right at all.  The question becomes, is it really the day that is different or is it our perspective in approaching the day?  

Perhaps the key is in blending the good with the bad.  To fully stop and appreciate the simple little pleasures that we have been given in our lives.  In the case of the pansy – it was wiped out by a snowstorm just a couple of days later.  Had I not stopped to appreciate it and snap it’s picture – it could have gone unnoticed and forever unseen.  

In this busy holiday season ahead, what if we insured ourselves the possibility to truly feel at peace.  To notice the small little things around us that are in fact the key ingredients that can give us the most peace.  To fully appreciate those things in our life that gives us reasons to smile.  

Take this morning for instance – I ended up going on my Monday morning walk around Coot Lake before finishing this letter.  I could have rushed this letter, sending it earlier, but I wanted to enjoy the process of getting it out to you.  

It was interesting as my buddy Patti and I headed out around the Lake the wind was blowing incredibly hard and giving us a little bit of an extra workout.  Now we could have given up and headed back to our warm cozy cars but we headed on and by the time we got down to the Boulder Reservoir the wind had stopped blowing altogether and it was as calm as could be.  It was as if we had stumbled on a different day in the short 45-minute walk that had transpired.   We gave it our all and came back to our cars having accomplished our work out for the morning.  

On Wednesday at noon mst I am hosting a teleconference (click here for more info – it’s free) on the key ingredient in our business life – that simple yet critical factor – a happy customer/client.  I started writing about it a few weeks ago and I am amazed at how many companies give lousy service even in these challenging times.  

Having started my career in customer service it is always a part of the business world that is near and dear to my heart.  I am happy to report that with the bad comes the good.  There are also those companies out there that seem to be thriving even during this economic challenging times.   The one thing they hold in common is great customer service.  Ah, the essence of giving more than you receive and it turns to give back to you.  

I just wrote an article for Victory Woman Magazine on the Master Mind Principal of giving more than you receive.  Take a read here if you have a few more minutes to read on this morning.  

Wishing you a week ahead that inner peace reigns supreme and helps you to rock on, every one of the seven days before us.

Moments of Peace

“Peace is always Beautiful ”          
  – Walt Whitman

This morning as I begin to write the words of this week’s letter there is a peace in thinking about not only a new week but also a new month ahead of us.  Peace the theme I have opted to take into the month of December.  It is a simple word – just five letters long – and can mean so many things to so many people.  The key I think is in feeling it thoroughly.

This past Saturday we had our first significant snowfall here in on the Front Range.  There is something I find incredibly peaceful about waking up to a new fallen snow.  Everything just seems to be as it should be.  There is a lightness in the air almost a feeling that nothing should be touched to disrupt the peacefulness that the snow has brought.

It’s amazing when looking at the picture I share with you this week of my garden covered in snow.   I prepared for that moment when the snow would fall, throughout the month of October and even into November.  To make sure that my garden beds were ready and at peace when the snowfall came.  That the beauty and serenity of my garden would remain even when the plants were either gone or their roots slumbering under the compost.  Yes, my garden is at peace.  A wonderful feeling indeed.

What brings you peace in your life?  What are the moments that fill you with wonder and awe?  The moments that you are actually live 100% in that moment – not in what the next minutes or hours will bring.  Just being – enjoying living life for the peace that it brings you.  

Close your eyes and think of those moments in your life when you really felt at peace.  I think of moments like on Thanksgiving when hours were spent in the kitchen preparing the meal and then the time came to sit down to eat.  There in the candlelight was the blessing of not only the food, those whose love fills my heart.   Those wonderful moments of just savoring the peace you find in connecting with your family and/or friends.    

The truth is that peace can be ours for the taking or it can be evasive – the choice is always – believe it or not – ours.  We can make steps in our lives each day to create peace and harmony in our lives if we so choose.  Our attitude and actions count a lot in what transpires for us in our life.  Seeing that glass half full instead of always wondering why it is not full enough.  Looking past the imperfections to find what is already perfect.  

Yesterday afternoon I took a walk to let go of the sadness of my son, Travis having just left to go back to college.  As I looked across the lake near our house I gathered up all my strength, courage and yes that element of peace to know that things were as they should be, life was moving forward.  The joyful moments he had given me during his visit would be there to carry me through.  

So again, I ask you as you move into this fresh new month, the start of the holiday season to look at the elements of your life that give you the greatest joy – share the wealth of this joy with those you come in contact with this week – just think about how contagious it could become!