I remember, as a young adult, trying to be myself through indirect means. I thought I was my car when I was sixteen, and I thought I was my job in my twenties. What a fabulous feeling of freedom I experienced when I scorched the false beliefs that convinced me – what I do and what I have determine who I am. Where do such foolish notions come from?

The truth of the matter is that our BEINGNESS determines what we do well and our BEINGNESS is the magnetic vibration that attracts what we have in our lives. I had this marvelous insight while at a prior New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival: Life’s most precious jewel, like a genuine rare diamond, is when we simply allow ourselves to BE who we really are.

Have you ever watched a jazz or blues performer being carried high by his or her genuine expression? It is SO REAL that it touches the soul of everyone in the room. Is it because of the talent or is it the absolute authenticity that gets to you and me? Hmmm.

I will be enjoying the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festival again this weekend, and while attending the concerts – I will remind myself repeatedly that there is something in everyone attending the festival that is waiting to guide that person to her or his own authentic expression.

How do you open yourself so your genuine expression flows through? You must turn from the world’s advice, and go deep within yourself and listen to that still, small voice. If you do not go deep within and listen, you find that you spend your entire lifetime dancing like a marionette to other peoples tunes, rather than expressing yourself in genuine ways that have you gracefully soaring high like an eagle.

What is that still, small voice saying to you? Have you found your authentic expression? Have you found what stirs your soul, yet? I will respond to your comments when I return Tuesday. Thank you.

See Mind Adventure pictures from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Here

I met Rob two years ago through a business acquaintance who told me; “You have to meet this guy Rob, he is a high energy business man and spiritual-guy type.” I was immediately skeptical. “Spiritual guy” hmmm… Not my type. I’m what you might call a hardened New Englander. An old Yankee who thinks spiritual thinking belongs on the ‘Left’ Coast. One who values self reliance, pragmatism and intellect. I thought ‘Spiritual’ was anathema to my East Coast upbringing. Well, after meeting Rob, I was surprised to see that we clicked. I found Rob’s philosophy to not only be pragmatic but in essence in line with my values. When Rob told me; “If it aint practical, it aint spiritual” I knew I was awakening to a new conversation. Rob has taught me a lot and has given me a platform to express what I have learned. I’m still a work in progress — but trust me; I’ve come a long way.

In Praise of Blissful Ignorance

Is it possible to be ignorant enough to succeed at business? Can a person actually not know that he can fail… and thus succeed? What if I spent all of my time imagining that I would succeed at my first business… instead of spending all of my time worrying about failing? I lost $15,000 in the pizza business because I was a worrywart.

Do you think that you have to get a business degree from a fancy school to be a rip roaring success? I just read a statistic that said most whopping successful businesses are still owned by people who have no business knowledge when they begin the business.

I think maybe there is an intelligence that we can tap into that guides us if we allow it to. What do you think about that? Have you ever done anything right just because you believed you would – no other reason? Lately, I do that a lot. I got a hunch and invested in my neighbor’s invention and got a twentyfold return in a year. Not bad! Any stories you can share?

Is it possible that there is a center of awesome power lying dormant inside of you?

What do you have to do to activate that power so it supports what you are up to?

What are you up to… do you know?

Clearly life is here to help you with your aspirations and aims, but it cannot help you if you think you are just trying to cope with life’s challenge. I remember a time when I felt that way.

When I began seeing myself and my life differently, all kinds of new people and events showed up in my life to support me.

If you want to multiply the loaves and fishes in your life – you have to identify them!

(1) What do you want your life to be about?

(2) Where do you want to go?

(3) Who do you want to be?

(4) What do you want to do?

(5) What do you want to have?

BEING… DOING… HAVING – these are the BIG THREE… take the time to give these some thought. It all begins with ‘BEINGNESS’… get that one settled, and the DOING and HAVING come quite naturally.

Any comments?

I met Rob two years ago through a business acquaintance who told me; “You have to meet this guy Rob, he is a high energy business man and spiritual-guy type.” I was immediately skeptical. “Spiritual guy” hmmm… Not my type. I’m what you might call a hardened New Englander. An old Yankee who thinks spiritual thinking belongs on the ‘Left’ Coast. One who values self reliance, pragmatism and intellect. I thought ‘Spiritual’ was anathema to my East Coast upbringing. Well, after meeting Rob, I was surprised to see that we clicked. I found Rob’s philosophy to not only be pragmatic but in essence in line with my values. When Rob told me; “If it aint practical, it aint spiritual” I knew I was awakening to a new conversation. Rob has taught me a lot and has given me a platform to express what I have learned. I’m still a work in progress — but trust me; I’ve come a long way.

I can’t take it!

Do you know what I do if I can’t take it?

I turn to a higher power = my objective mind!

I let the light of objective reasoning take the place of my usual emotional reactions.

Regardless of how baffled I may feel about a problem, there is always an available answer, if I am willing to get my emotions out of the way.

Has that ever happened to you? You couldn’t come up with an answer and later on, the solution was so obvious that it blew you over?

Real answers are only found when we look where they truly exist – in our objective mind (not the subjective mind where we say ‘woe is me’ to everything). I stole this ‘woe is me’ phrase from rob’s book – thanks, for that, rob. It is a great reminder that I have more resources than I am can ever imagine when I get emotionally involved and upset. What has baffled you, that later became an easy fix?

I was watching a TV special on ‘deserts’ the other night. It explained how some deserts rarely get any rain in years, and yet when they do – dormant seeds, buried in the sand, come alive and sprout beautiful colored flowers. These seeds wait patiently for the opportunity to express themselves, and when that opportunity comes – they are ready!

I asked myself, “How long do I wait before I express something that is beautiful and new, something that is lying dormant inside of me? What opportunities have come and gone, and I fail to notice?”

Years ago, I met John. He is a professional pianist, and gives piano lessons on the side. I began taking piano lessons from him and enjoyed making up my own jazz riffs. I got pretty good at it. I didn’t know I had that in me.

A few years back I saw an ad – ‘begin cooking for yourself’. Evening classes were beginning at a local restaurant, given by the chef. I took the classes and began experimenting with new recipes (rather than my standards), at home. I became a pretty good cook. I didn’t know that this talent was lying dormant inside of me.

What newness might be waiting to express through you? What opportunities have you allowed to pass by; opportunities that invited you to try something new and discover hidden talent lying dormant in you?

I met Rob two years ago through a business acquaintance who told me; “You have to meet this guy Rob, he is a high energy business man and spiritual-guy type.” I was immediately skeptical. “Spiritual guy” hmmm… Not my type. I’m what you might call a hardened New Englander. An old Yankee who thinks spiritual thinking belongs on the ‘Left’ Coast. One who values self reliance, pragmatism and intellect. I thought ‘Spiritual’ was anathema to my East Coast upbringing. Well, after meeting Rob, I was surprised to see that we clicked. I found Rob’s philosophy to not only be pragmatic but in essence in line with my values. When Rob told me; “If it aint practical, it aint spiritual” I knew I was awakening to a new conversation. Rob has taught me a lot and has given me a platform to express what I have learned. I’m still a work in progress — but trust me; I’ve come a long way.

WHY DO PEOPLE SINK THEIR OWN SHIPS?

I have a friend (let’s call him Jim), who is always complaining. Jim’s favorite statement is, “I still don’t know what to do, can you help me?” He says this about almost every project that he gets involved in at work.

My advice to Jim is always the same: “try to see that it is you that is your biggest deterrent to succeeding.” Jim thinks he has a flighty mind, and he does. WHY? Because he thinks he does. Why does Jim do that to himself?

He will never come up with any valuable ideas at work as long as he is faithful to his flighty mind theory. For heavens sake, if you are going to be faithful to something, Jim, make it something that gives you confidence. His confidence is so fragile, that it is shaken with one frown from anyone. Again, I ask Why does Jim do that to himself?

You cannot win at the game of life by pouncing on yourself every time you make a mistake. Lighten up. Your mind isn’t supposed to be a jungle, it should be a flowery meadow (or something like that).

I met Rob two years ago through a business acquaintance who told me; “You have to meet this guy Rob, he is a high energy business man and spiritual-guy type.” I was immediately skeptical. “Spiritual guy” hmmm… Not my type. read more…

If you ask 100 people what inspires them most, 99 of them will mention something like a rainbow, or the Rocky Mountains, or the sound of baby birds chirping …. but what is truly inspiring is something that motivates you to set your own ‘personal achievement bar’ higher so that you may improve your life.

Take a moment to take a second look at your life; what inspires you to make changes that will improve your attitude, or your health, or your relationships with family and friends? This change could mean freedom from negative self talk, or perhaps eating fruit rather than candy bars, or maybe it’s letting go of insisting you are right – being more flexible?

I have an 88 year old friend who is always in a most delightful mood. She reminds me to lighten up. That’s inspiring. I have a neighbor who is as fit as a well tuned fiddle; he inspires me to take my daily 5 mile walks. That’s inspiring. My mail carrier is so easy to chat with; he is always asking delightful questions and is very open minded with any topic of conversation (including politics and religion). That’s inspiring.

What inspires you, if you consider inspiration from a pragmatic point of view?