A New Frontier

 ”On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.” - President Barack Obama

The words that our new President said as he took office on Tuesday are no doubt words that will go on to serve not this generation but also many generations to come.  They warm my heart on this balmy 13-degree morning.    Unable to listen to it last Tuesday, live  in its entirety due to prior obligations, it was invigorating to listen to it while we prepared for the day yesterday via C-Span.  In fact, I had a hard time deciding which part of it to use in this mornings Victory Letter.  

It was amazing to watch as over a million people gathered live and in person to witness the historical event.  For me, I found myself really starting to have an extra spark of hope and excitement that perhaps this man could in fact make a difference. That he could get past the traffic jam that has been slowing this country down.   Indeed, as many of us, I have gotten a bit jaded when it comes to believing that a politician will actually doing what they say they are going to do. 

One of the biggest assets of a true leader is to have the innate ability to bring people together.  Our new President definitely did that on his first day in office bringing an unprecedented number of people to witness it first hand. 

If he can bring the spirit of a new frontier to the day perhaps we can assist him in turning the wagon train around and get this country back on course.  In fact, one of the visions I got while listening yesterday was  the idea of just that, the wagon trains coming across the US in 1800’s to find a new way of life.  When we think we have it tough with the course before us perhaps we can look back to that way of life and all they had to overcome. 

Heading forward, the pioneers of the “wild west” had no phones, internet or satellite’s to guide the way.  No ipod or radio to entertain them over the hundreds and hundreds of empty and treacherous miles.  Imagine those many miles of rough and bumpy rides with no ice coolers for a cool drink.  In fact, they couldn’t even stop in at a variety of restaurants along the way, they could only hope their meager food supply would last them through their journey.  The Pioneers of the “wild west”  simply had their intuitions and perhaps most important,  a dream that carried them forward.  What would our country be today if they hadn’t had that courage to move forward just a few short generations ago?  

What if you envisioned your course in the same respect.  Keeping your eye on the dream that will carry you and those around you forward.  Imagine yourself driving that wagon and what lies in front of you if you choose to believe in a new today and tomorrow.  And as you think about it, read more of the thoughts that Barack shared in his first words as President:

“Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends – hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism – these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility – a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.”

So as you move forward in the week ahead I invite you to look towards the west and watch each day dawn.  See not only the magnificent colors that the sunrise can bring but also the opportunity for the victories that are before you if indeed you “give your all”.  Being sure to enjoy the simple pleasures each new day brings.  

Wishing you a joyful journey along your way into this new frontier in the week ahead.  After all, remember, to reach a new frontier you need to expand and reach past your furthest limit of knowledge.  

Your Options

“If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.” - Benjamin Franklin

While today is officially the birthday of a great leader, Martin Luther King, another leader, whose 303rd birthday was this past Saturday, has been on my mind.  Yes, that would be the generator of today’s quote, Benjamin Franklin.  

Now think about it – Ben Franklin was a man who started his career as a printing apprentice and went on to be so much more.  In fact, so much more that now 200 years after his death he is still a household name to most Americans.  Did you know that when he died at the age of 84 in 1790 that 20,000 people attended his funeral?  In my minds eye that reflected the respect he had for life and the vigor in which he lived it.  

The way I see it, Ben Franklin allowed himself the pleasure of unlocking his genius and doing all the things in his life that he wanted, was compelled and needed to do.  Think about it, beyond his initial trade of being a printer he went on to nurture his inventive nature, became a scientist, a philosopher, an author, politician and statesman to name just a few.  That doesn’t even include the other things like firefighter, cartoonist, Mason, Anti-slavery activist (at the age of 83), Newspaper publisher and the list goes on. Nor does it include his personal life as a family man.  

Perhaps you could say that more than anything he fully embraced the human potential to be all that he could be.  And he did it without all the modern conveniences we have today including the Internet!    

This morning as I write these words I can’t help but wonder what a place this world would be if we all fully embraced our potential.  Imagine it, if we allowed ourselves to take on the many things within our power and control to take on.  In fact, just imagine our country’s potential if every American instead of waiting for the ax to fall – raised up their own sword and created their own destiny.  That is in direct opposition of waiting for others to make your life decisions for you.  

Tomorrow we inaugurate a new President; the day will dawn with the hope that it will be a turning point for this country on many levels.  The truth is Barack cannot do it on his own, as a nation we can’t hang out and wait for someone else to “fix it”.  In my humble opinion each one of us needs to step up to the plate.  

What will the turning point be in your life to let your full potential come out to see the full light of day?  What will the story be to future generations as to your contribution to this planet?  What is the story that will be told about your life?  And even most important perhaps is what kind of joy was experienced along the way that allowed you to live a long full life?  

 I can’t help but to believe that Benjamin Franklin was a very happy man – how could so much eek out of one person without it coming from a deep sense of joy and fulfillment in bringing things to life.  Not to say that he didn’t take any risks in life, in fact, they were quite plentiful!  For starters, when he left his first apprentice job as a printer, working for his brother, it was thought that no good would come of him.  In those days you just didn’t go out exploring for your possibilities.  

Try this experiment on for size if possible - 
It is believed that carrying a 100-dollar bill in your wallet – not to spend but as an attractor for abundance to your life.  Well whose smiling face is on that 100-dollar bill?  Yes, Ben’s, with the place he loved to hang out ,Independence Hall, on the back.   What if you carried it with you not only to attract abundance but as a reminder of all that you have the potential to be?  Each time you opened your wallet it could be there as a reminder – a thought.  

In the week ahead I wish you the joy that is possible when you open yourself up to the many options available to you, each and every day.  

Discovering Your Victories

Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities.  Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.   - Gloria Steinem

Yesterday afternoon at 3:45 my holiday season officially came to an end.  A bit late on at the 11th of January, but happen it did with my return from LA late last week and my son Travis heading to the airport towards college yesterday afternoon.  Yes, the holidays for me are now officially over.  In the year ahead I will hold near and dear to me these past weeks full of heartfelt memories.  

So this morning, as the white stuff falls from the sky (picture of it outside my window above), I officially face 2009 dead on with much to do and a very full plate.  This week’s quote was a gift I was given late yesterday while cruising through my email – Thanks Kim!  As I look over all the planning that I need to fully orchestrate in the weeks ahead I will be sure to incorporate some dreaming in the process along the way.

Last week while in California I did mix a little business with pleasure.   One day I set aside to have several meetings making sure to somehow incorporate a visit to the ocean in it all.  During a breakfast meeting with a colleague, I had the opportunity of actually meeting her in person for the first time.   During the course of our conversation the topic of  “Victory”  came up – imagine such a thing <grins> .  We discussed how the seed of the idea for these very letters, The Victory Letters, was started during a tough economic and mentally off time in my life in 2001.   

As I explained to Diane over breakfast, the thought I had back then was to find something each and every week to find Victory in throughout the course of the path of my life.  I decided to do it on Monday mornings as I was finding them the most difficult time to get my engines going.  I had started sharing my thoughts in writing, via email with the people who had crossed my path from business colleagues to friends and family.  Something about putting my thoughts down in writing seemed to (and still does) bring to life ideas that never really crystallized until they hit the paper or computer screen.  Actually sending them out for others to read made them more real somehow.  Perhaps because it made me dot my i’s and cross my t’s.  

I never imagined that 7 ½ years later after publishing one book (with another one in progress) on the topic, I would still be writing these letters each Monday morning.  They have become an important part of the beginning of each week for me and I hope for you also.  

Perhaps it is important to explain that just like everyone else, my life is not perfect – yes, some weeks in fact, far from it.  No doubt I have challenges from raising teens to my car going on the blink late last week (yes to the the tune of $1500.00).  But the greatest gift these letters have given me over the course of the hundreds that I have now written is to remember what in fact is right about not only my life but with the world that surrounds me.  The people and the components that make it tick.   

Last night during the Golden Globe awards Steven Spielberg, while accepting a lifetime achievement award, said something to the effect of none of us being anywhere without a little inspiration.  The truth is sometimes it is right in front of us if we just find the time and inclination to acknowledge it.   Right now if you were to pick up a pen and paper (or start clicking on the keyboard) what would you have to share with others that represented Victory in your life?  What little piece of Victory from your life could propel you further along your way right now, at this moment, today?

Just as the news media dwells on what’s wrong, what if we continuously dwelled on what’s right?  Don’t you think it could make a significant difference?  You know I do!  

I invite you to think it through, dream about what you want in your life and then have a little celebration for what you already have in it.   Let it carry you into the week and year ahead.  With those thoughts I encourage you to write to me with stories of Victory that come from your slice of the world.  After all Victory is in fact what you decide it will be -  for you.  

Here’s to a shining week ahead!

Connecting In 2009

“Everything is connected - 
no one thing can change by itself. “ - Paul Hawken

And a Happy New Year!  As I sip my coffee, while creating this first Victory Letter of the year, I find myself n Southern California.  This past Saturday I had the extreme honor and privilege of joining my brothers and sisters in honoring my Mom on the occasion of her 80th Birthday.  Wow what a party it was!  One of the moments in time that you just wish would go on forever.  But we only had four short hours in the facility we had for the occasion.

My mom’s nearest and dearest friends where there, from her special friend, Mary Jo that she went to high school with in Kansas City, to the many friends she has gathered around her along the way.   It was also really wonderful to have family members in attendance, including some of my own siblings that I have not seen in some time.  The stories and memories that were shared as we passed the microphone were full of love, some heart felt tears and lots of laughter.  These are the exact combination of ingredients that my Mom seems to have shared with so many people along her way.  

The most amazing visual of the day came from an idea that we had come up with while planning the party.  We asked on the invitation in lieu of gifts that each guest to bring a single flower.  From that we would create a “life celebration bouquet”.  Well all I can say was what a celebration it was because the flowers kept coming and coming.  Many brought much more than one.  Some brought beautifully unique flowers I have never seen before.  The assortment was really breathtaking.   The amazing thing is that flowers started arriving not only from those who were in attendance but from people who could not make it to the event and had them delivered.  

As we surveyed the entire length of the table full flowers of all shapes colors and sizes we fully realized the variety and amount of people my mother has and continues to touch in her life.  The photo in today’s letter is representative of just one of the many bouquets created – in a five-gallon container.  

I share all of this with you this morning not only because it is so alive in my brain as I start off this New Year, but also because it really hits home to the power of how other people affect our lives.  No matter what resolutions/goals we have written down or have thought out, if we don’t surround ourselves with people who make a difference in our world, it makes the road not only a lot harder to travel on – but also not nearly as much fun.  Why go it alone when there is so many other people that have gifts to offer us with their wit, perspectives and inspirations.  In this scenario too, let us not forget what we to offer to others.  

The reminder of the power we bring each other also came my way a week before Christmas when my Victory Circle met for our last meeting of the year.  We were each asked to bring a non-monitory gift to share with the 16 other women of our Circle.  The quotations, poems, heartfelt stories, small little mementoes and inspirations that were shared lifted our hearts more than any expensive present ever could have done.  Each one of us left that meeting that day filled with so much to carry us through the end of the year and beyond.  

Today, I move forward into 2009 with my own personal theme for the year of “Connecting the Dots”.   I am grateful of how totally and completely clear I have become of how much the people we include in our world make all the difference.  This includes the ones who are our roots as well as the ones who root us on.  No, we don’t have to do it all ourselves!  

So as you make your plans for the year ahead don’t forget to include the people that will be a part of it.  Who are those that open you up to be all that you can be no matter what the conditions.  

Let’s face it, in the year ahead we will see change – from the leadership at the helm of our country to those of us who are going to work diligently to get our economic ship turned around and running in the right direction.  Open your mind to who those people are that you want to have on board with you during the journey of 2009.  It really will make all the difference between a not so fabulous journey and fabulous journey full of wonderful memories to share years into the future.    

In the week and year ahead I wish you all that you can imagine possible – and then some!

A New Year Approaches

“Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected.  ”           – William Plomer

As the minutes click by we are tiptoeing closer to the end of the year 2008.  Doesn’t it seem like just a few minutes ago we were celebrating this new century?  Now eight years have come and in a couple of days will be gone.  The ticking of time as we have come to know it.

Yesterday, Bailey and I headed out to see the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  A movie all about our time on this planet, except in Benjamin’s case he had it backwards – starting out old then becoming younger and younger throughout his life.  It was an enjoyable movie, especially with its message about embracing change along with enjoying our time today, in this moment.  We, in fact, don’t really know what tomorrow will bring but we can open our minds and hearts to the possibilities.  

There seems to be a thin line between living in the moment and planning for tomorrow.  One of the aspects I love in the approaching of a shiny new year is setting goals for what I want to see unfold before me.  First I like to have a theme for the year and second a famous quotation that goes along with it.  I find that it keeps my inspired throughout the year.  For the last couple of weeks I have been playing around with some ideas and quotes.  I was pretty sure I was going to use a favorite of mine from Napoleon Hill, “That which we believe we can achieve.” 

Then yesterday while spending several hours looking into my crystal ball <grins> I came across today’s quote from the late writer William Plomer.  It fell perfectly into the theme I had decided I needed for the year of  “Connecting the dots”.  The past year has put many opportunities before me and now my goal for 2009 is to pull all the opportunities together.  To de-fragment so to speak.  To bring clarity that will fit with the changing economic situation as well as those pieces of my life that I would love to see enhanced and further enriched.    

Just speaking it out loud to myself has given me the motivation to start walking in the direction of 2009 with my head a little higher and my heart a little stronger.  I highly recommend that sometime before the clock strikes midnight this Wednesday the 31st that you stop and take analysis of where you have been and where it is you would like to be traveling in 2009.  The journey really is ours for the taking if we know where we are going.  Sure there will be curves in the road that can’t be foreseen but if we have our roadmap somewhat figured out it gives us more time to enjoy the ride.  

On new years day we do a ritual that my daughter, Bailey,  and I have come to enjoy as we kick off the first day of the New Year.  If you would like more info on this ritual drop me an email and I would be happy to send you the details.  It is a great way to start of the year.  

As we say goodbye to 2008, wishing you prosperity and abundance in the week and year ahead.

Light It Up

“A harvest of peace is produced from a seed of contentment.”           – American Proverb  This week’s letter comes to you a day late as Monday found me a bit under the weather.  I decided to go with the flow and get the rest my body was asking me to give it.  So as I write this to you on Tuesday morning I hope that you are well and ready to flow into the holidays before us.   With theme of peace continuing on as we get close to Christmas day I thought I would share two final items on the topic of peace (for this year anyway).  The first is a quote from Og Mandino and the second is a picture of the how we are sharing peace in our neighborhood this holiday season.  Thanks to my hubby, Ed,  for his efforts on creating this work of art that is displayed on the side of our house. It has really been cool as you can see it driving into our neighborhood and it just makes me feel joyful.   The words from Og -  “Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.” And now the light of peace from the Ruskus residence -    I hope the days ahead this week finds you spending times with those you love, enjoying yourself and if possible, the time to partake in a long winters nap.