Today is Christmas day. It’s NOT really about presents and gifts although the unexpected gifts are the most fun (like mine last Friday night) and those that you bestow upon others are really the best!

This is a day of birth – Christmas is the birthday of Christ. But what does Christ represent to you? That is what’s really important about today. Just as with your birthday, your life can start anew today. Christ is within all of us and that is the Spirit Divine – the Universal Mind.

Take at least 5 minutes today and don’t you dare say that you “don’t have time” – you have plenty of time and can spare 5 minutes. In those 5 minutes you can accomplish a great deal:

Start by 30-60 seconds of gratitudes – what are you most grateful for? Be specific, really drill down. Is it health, is it friends, family, having a job, pets, etc? Writing them down will be more powerful but you can say them in your mind too.

Follow that with 7 sets of deep breathing – 5-7 count (seconds) in, hold for 5-7 seconds, exhale for 5-7 seconds and repeat 6 more times.

• Set an intention – “Show me what my true purpose is”, “Reveal to me the truth about my true purpose”, “Grant me the wisdom to know what to do about  _______”, “Lead me to whomever I can help the most today – physically, emotionally, financially – make me a match between someone’s needs and my abilities”, etc. Pick a focus for the time remaining.
• Sit quietly (or if it works better for you, you can do this while exercising – many people get their best ideas and inspirations while running) for the remaining time and ask for these ideas and inspirations to come to you.
• At the end of the 5 minutes, say “Thank you for the Divine Ideas” and then go about your business.

Don’t despair if nothing comes to your during this time period. It will come because you’ve put it out there into the Universe.

Remember that although these ideas will come from within you, today is really about what you can do for others. That is the most rewarding part of every day. Change your thoughts around and love what you’re doing for others!

Enjoy your day!

Terrie

 I’m pretty sure I mentioned this earlier but it bears repeating. Take every day and every part of every day and Love What You’re Doing. This is in conjunction with “Do What You Love” – why should we be wasting the days of our life by doing things which we do not like to do. Can you try for a week to actually make a decision to Love What You Do? How hard would that be. Let’s say you’re out exercising and you’re not really “into” walking or running. Can you just decide to Love IT for now? What would that take out of you?

I look at all these amazing ultra runners around me and see that they must be in some sort of pain from all the miles they have covered. But you know what? It doesn’t show at all. They are being supportive, friendly and appear very happy every time I saw them. So, despite the fact that they are in pain, they obviously love what they are doing.  And when you do love what you’re doing, then it simply radiates from your being.

Why don’t you take it one hour at a time starting today – say to yourself that “no matter what I’m doing, I am going to love it.”

At the end of the day ask yourself how you felt throughout the day. Did it make a difference? Were you happier? Did it make things easier? Did the people around you seem different (which might actually simply be a reflection of how you feel)?

Let me know how it went. Then try it again tomorrow, ok?

Terrie

 This is a very timely subject. I have trained for a year for the New York City Marathon and should have already been in New York to be enjoying it right now. But….Hurricane Sandy blew into town and put a damper on all of that – literally.

It’s been a week of ups and downs – not knowing if it was going to be held and then elation when it was announced that it was still going to be held.  So I got busy changing plans and making/confirming reservations. That was teamwork for sure – people all around me helped me get organized and know who to call and in what order (I mean why change plane reservations if I had no place to stay so you start by finding out if the hotel is operational etc).  I am so grateful to everyone who worked with me this week (and all year actually – more on that in another post).

Yesterday I spent putting the final touches on my packing and getting things ready in the house etc. I actually finished and had the suitcase in the car and my knapsack by the door.

I sat down to wait for my EFT appointment with Kay and had some time so I started looking at the New York City papers online. That’s when the Universe continued to pull things together for me.  I had been most concerned about figuring out how I was going to get from the airport into the city with the traffic problems (on a weekday). But when I started reading the comments about how it was wrong to have the marathon this weekend, my conscience kicked in again (it had been wondering about the propriety of doing this in the face of such devastation but I kept rationalizing that they did it after 9/11 – but that was 6 weeks later, not a few days).

I was even more conflicted by the time my appointment came.

So, instead of talking to Kay about my fears about the race, we talked about my indecision and my not knowing what the right thing to do was. By the time we were done tapping, I had become more at peace with a decision not to go. Why? Well, I felt it was selfish of me to go to fulfill something personal and not pay attention to the grief and troubles facing the entire region. Yes, my not going was not going to change the world or the event but it was me living up to what I felt. I can’t explain it and maybe that means I made the wrong decision. I really don’t know but it doesn’t matter now because I hit the “cancel” button so it’s done.

Kay was great in telling me something so vital in dealing with the pain I felt (I have never felt such pain – it was definitely multi-factorial). Abraham says “Make a decision and make it right”. I am trying to do that.

So, why am I hurting so much? Why is there such pain for a simple race? What am I really feeling?

Disappointment, loss, grief, feeling of letting others down (it’s even worse because I found out afterwards that my personal trainer is going to NY and was doing that to surprise me and also propose to his girlfriend – I felt really bad after that but there was nothing I could do), emptiness, “what now-ness” (my term), sense of failure, incompletion, etc.

How do I deal with this disappointment?

So many things pop into my head but they are all just jumbled….

What do you think? Comment below….

Terrie

Apple® announced that Steve Jobs has passed away. This is truly a sad day no matter what you think of Apple products. The man was definitely a living legend and changed the world of technology and computers. He had been battling cancer but it’s unknown what actually caused him to step down from the CEO position this summer.

Sad, too, that his death comes right after Apple announces a new iPhone. Takes some of the slam out of that announcement. If you look on Twitter and facebook and all around the web, people are mourning his loss. Even Major League Baseball (the thing I care about the most in these few days) lauds him (as do I) for creating a way to listen and watch baseball games from a mobile device.

But since you’re here to read about how to “get unstuck”, what can y

I was in a Wells Fargo bank the other day and was very taken by the very large sign on the wall. It said “There is one very powerful business rule.  It is concentrated in the word courtesy.”  I thought that was just phenomenal in it’s simplicity while being so powerful in its message.

It was even more significant because every time I’ve been in this bank, I have been treated as if I were the President of the United States. I could understand that happening once but every time? It’s strange that I’d been in there so many times and yet not paid attention to the sign until that day.

I was so impressed that I asked to speak to the manager when my transactions were completed. She came out and I told her that her staff definitely embodied the Wells Fargo Business Rule. I also asked for the address of someone above her so that I could write to them.

To be even more emphatic, I received a thank you note from the manager for stopping to say something to her. I thought that was very special.

Here is one schoolbook definition of “courtesy” – “Willingness or generosity in providing something needed”. It also means “Polite behavior” or “A polite gesture or remark.”

These people treated me special. They met my needs, were friendly and caring. I don’t really care what the schoolbook definition is, that’s what I call exceptional courtesy.

What is courtesy to you? Have you seen alot of it in your business encounters. Do you have any pet peeves?

I have a pet peeve – when I was brought up, I was taught to say “you’re welcome” when someone said ‘thank you’ – nowadays it drives me nuts when people simply say “No problem” – I am trying to find a good comeback for that but I guess that wouldn’t be very courteous, though, would it…LOL.

Post below if you have something to say about courtesy.

Terrie