Vision and Drive

And we have plans that won’t tolerate our fears.
- Erica Jong

Another Monday comes to pass.  Some of you will have the luxury of playing or sleeping in this morning, as we celebrate Presidents Day.   I am up early as usual in order to find the time in the course of the day to hang out with my daughter, Bailey.   She is in the midst of her “birthday days” (as she likes to call them) that are leading up to her 17th birthday on Wednesday.

Today’s quote seems to summarize the strength we all need to find, perhaps from deep inside of us, as we move forward to take care of the details of our lives.

I heard a chef say the other night, “It’s all in the details.”  However, the truth is,  we can’t even get to the details if fear has us so jammed up.   Just imagine in the case of a Chef – he or she wouldn’t even try a …… For more visit http://victorycircles.com/blog

Simple Pleasures

Live well, Love much, Laugh Often.
- A  Saying 

Today marks the start of Valentines week, a week of appreciating those who spark our hearts, culminated by Valentines Day next Saturday.   Over this past weekend I had the fun and privilege of having my dear friend Nancy (from California) and her daughter, Gretchen (from Minnesota), come to visit.  It wasn’t any standard visit as Gretchen has decided to move to Colorado with her husband Toby.  The weekend was about celebrating her plans to start her new life here.  

The past couple of days have been filled with lots of laughter and enjoying each other’s company.  Yesterday we had a total girls day with mother and daughters having pedicures, shopping, going to see a chick flick, topped off with cheeseburgers and fries. Simple pleasures that allowed us to really relax and enjoy ourselves, as well as each other.  All these ingredients brought together the elements of today’s quote.    

Simple pleasures like laughter.  They say that you should laugh at least 12 times a day for optimum health and happiness.  How are you doing on your quotas?  Are you finding yourself filling your days in the company of people you not only care about but who care about you in return?   Those that make you smile and laugh?   I find that when you do, everything just seems to fall into place making for a life of clarity and peace.

This week during out Wednesday Wisdoms Teleseminar we are going to discuss the ability to make good decisions in your business and in your life.  Business growth specialist, Laurie Taylor will be on the call to guide us through the elements that need to be present in order to make strong, fruitful decisions.  

This topic seemed appropriate to discuss right now as many people, whether ourselves, or those we care about, are facing new challenges that require strong clear decision making skills.  It is important in order to fully “live well” to move forward for the reasons that spark our hearts as opposed to doing so out of fear or panic.  I invite you to spend an hour on Wednesday at noon mountain standard time evaluating your decision making process.  Click here to get details on this free call.

As you move forward in the week ahead I wish you an open heart to fully love, spending your days doing what you are passionate about pursuing and remembering to laugh along the way.  

A Little Spark

“You can’t start a fire without a spark” 
- Bruce Springsteen 

Last nights super bowl was a unique experience for me.  Perhaps because it quietly crept up and at 4:00 yesterday afternoon as I was doing the weekly shopping.   Suddenly there I was realizing why the grocery store was so wondrously empty.  It was Super Bowl Sunday!    With Ed off to a launch in Florida, Travis off at school and Bailey off with friends suddenly it was just me and my writing deadlines watching the Super Bowl out of the corner of my eye.

It grabbed my attention at the very end of the first half with a great touchdown by Pittsburg.  Then my favorite part of the evening was watching Bruce Springsteen rock the stadium.  He sounded great and looked pretty darn good <grins>!   His songs energized me and prompted me to pull one of my favorites up on utube, Dancing in the Dark, inspiring this mornings letter.  Take a listen yourself this morning - 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx05LgzpDdM

I couldn’t help but think as I listened to this song that it is a tribute and action plan for many right now with so much uncertainty – it does all really come from a spark that we each need to supply.  

One of the announcers last night summarized the game saying, “The emotions of this game have been over the moon.”  I like the thought of the energy that brings.   Pulling things and creating the kind of synergy in our days that allows us spark them right over the moon.  Think of the kind of game both teams played in the game last night, as they gave it their all.  Are you ready to do that in the week ahead?  Go for that long drive down the field towards the goals you are looking to achieve?  

This morning for your further reading pleasure the latest version of Victory Woman magazine has just hit the virtual newsstands.  In it are a variety of articles written to inspire you to spark your passions in the month before us.  Take a read here. 

With that I will make this version of the Victory Letter short and sweet giving you time to get your spark burning brightly for the week and month ahead!

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.

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.