Just the word “change” scares some people backwards. Do something different? Try something new? Recreate my day …  my image …  my life? YIKES!

Do you feel like that? Are you afraid of change? Do you think things are okay right now, so let’s not rock the boat? Well, that’s just fine if you are content with an “okay” life.

But if you want to live a “laughing … gotta have it … can’t wait to do this” life then you are going to have to embrace change.  It can be small, subtle changes or big, about face changes – just start recreating your daily rhythm.

–  Drive a different way to work and challenge yourself to find three new and exciting things before you get to your parking spot.

–  Get up an hour early (okay, maybe 30 minutes early) and sit in silence with a hot cup of something and listen to the still small voice that will guide your day in the best direction.

–  Get on a crowded elevator and turn around to face the people riding with you. Ask them about their day. Some will inch away from you, but most will smile and love that you were so bold.

– Dust off that resume – beef it up – send it out. A lot.

–  Find ways to show someone kindness, love or tolerance … today and every day.

–  Start writing that book, painting that picture, calling those leads … just START!

There is magnificence waiting to be freed when you embrace the change that has been tugging at your heart for the past weeks, months, years. Spread your wings – catch the wind – and enjoy flying over the new horizon that you create.

What will you do this day to change for the better? Let me know so I can cheer you on!

You’re trapped … it’s dark … you try to move but it feels like your arms are glued to your sides. Struggle, push, groan – it’s not working – you’ve been at this for days with no end in sight. That’s the plight of the caterpillar as well, just before he erupts into an amazing butterfly. Have you ever watched the forming of a chrysalis, a cocoon? It is a ton of work to make the cocoon and even more work to break out of it when the timing is right to test his wings. And, get this, if some helpful person comes along and in witnessing the struggle tries to help the butterfly emerge sooner than is time, the butterfly’s wings will be deformed and it will never fulfill its destiny.  It is in the struggle that the caterpillar is transformed allowing the emerging butterfly to become strong and soar.

The same is true of you. You need those struggles to make you stronger and to shape the person you are meant to be. No one ever said life is easy – or fair for that matter. But the struggle is invigorating and forces you to find a new way to look at life – accomplish more – redesign your thinking. Everything that you think on either drives your forward or holds you back.  So how do you think about this struggle of yours? I ask that you embrace it with anticipation of who you are becoming:

• Let this time be one of quiet expectation of good, of transformation, of learning.

• Love your struggle and let the energy of movement expand your boundaries of thought and achievement.

• Remember that even in the midst of struggle there are beautiful moments to savor.

And when you are free of your cocoon, spread your wings and fly because the wise and wonderful Dr. Seuss tells you:

“You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.

                You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.

                Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best.

                Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.”

Bon Voyage!

Do you feel you have to always be producing in order to succeed? I work with executives who feel that to sit quietly and explore their own creativity is a waste of time. Quite the opposite is true. The most successful in our world are those who can step away and take a few minutes to breath – to tap into their vision for their lives and their work – to allow creativity to consume them.

I do this every week – 30-60 minutes. Sitting in my chair…its arms molded around me with a hot cup of tea steaming at my side. This is where my mind is allowed to take fancy, exploring old memories and designing new adventures. From where I sit I can see mountains and rivers, beaches with magnificent trees, cities filled with characters and country lanes with children playing.

It is here, from my vantage point, that the world opens up to me … my mind drifts and plots and plans. My creative twin conjures up ideas that make my fingers twitch with desire to write them down. I envision strolling through Grecian ruins to absorb the lives and thoughts of Kings. I explore tiny Italian villages, stopping to rest at a street side café, while sipping wine served with warm buttery crusted bread. I stand atop a snow covered mountain in the Alps, breathless with the majesty of the view, praying for all the people struggling, trying desperately to reach the summit of their life. I lie in the warm, soft sand of Maui with the waves playing chase with my toes and the sun kissing my shoulders. I lounge on the deck of a steamer as it trudges toward Milan, secretly watching the people, eavesdropping on their lives, creating the characters for my next adventure on paper. In the peace and quiet, my mind is free to solve problems, create new plans.

Where do you sit to embrace your fancy, to envision your future, to give wings to your deepest desires? Find your chair, a park, the beach, a mountain. Sit with yourself every week for 30 to 60 minutes. Take a journal to record your great and wonderful ideas. You will astound yourself at the heights you can reach when you care enough to step away from the chaos.

Our society somehow stepped away from revering and learning from our elders.  Now, it’s so cool to be young that old people are too much a reminder to the young that aging is inevitable.  Our elders have sadly become disposable in the eyes of too many.

The slowing down of elders doesn’t happen because they get old…it happens because through years of experience they realize that it is wiser to slow down…to spend “quality” time with the earth, with nature, with our loved ones, with our ideas, with becoming who we truly are meant to be.

Young people think they don’t have time to spend with Grandma or Grandpa, with the older generation, but they don’t have the time not to spend with them!

Stop, sit, listen, learn. Learning from our elders, receiving wisdom handed down through generations is the most powerful mentoring we can ever receive. This wisdom, these ideas, this knowledge will save you countless hours and days and weeks of trying to figure it out for yourself. These ideas may be the very ones you need to break your future wide open!

The contacts and friends of our elders can be invaluable in helping us find our way. They’ve lived a long time; they know hundreds of influential people – ask them. Listen to them.

And, just imagine, how happy and fulfilled our elders would become. Instead of becoming less and less important in our society, they would step into the place of honor that they so deserve. They would command the respect we owe them for a lifetime of sacrifice, experience and knowledge.

Instead of the younger generation having to figure it all out – there would be mastermind groups, think tanks, in every family, in every neighborhood. Synergy would develop and cause great things to happen! Generations would have respect for one another – they would NEED one another. Combining the wisdom and experience of our elders with the energy and “can do” desire of the young would bring America back into its rightful position of the most wise and power filled country in the world!

It’s that simple, isn’t it? To stop a moment. To give a damn. To reach out a hand to lift someone else up.

How can you walk away? This is your brother, this is your sister, this could be you, but for the grace of God.  STOP! LOOK! SEE! LISTEN! HEAR!

How can you make a difference today? Right now…in this moment that will lead to forever moments.

STOP! I know you’re busy – isn’t everyone? But you are not the most important … take a moment to LOOK around you. Take a moment to really SEE the needs of people who pass you on the street or are struggling to stay alive half way across the world.

LISTEN to your heart, to the stirring of your soul … that moment … that defining second when you truly see, when you really hear. It will rock your world – you will tingle with purpose – you will be filled with the stamina to help today, tomorrow, him, her, them. WOW! It is a rush like no other.

Stop. Look. See. Listen. Hear. Get involved. Change your world…start NOW.

Slowly and mindfully our intentions come to us in the quiet and peace. We must slow down to hear the inner workings of our hearts, our souls, our God. We must be quiet to hear what we must do and how we must live our day, who we must touch and how we must be.

We run around looking outside of us, thinking that we will find the things that we need … but it exists inside of us …. a quiet knowing …. a true sense of purpose ….. a calm, steady sense of what we must do next. Why do we fight it? Why do we not trust it? Perhaps because the knowing is harder to do than the thinking of what we should do. Let me explain. When we think and search and talk with others, our mind creates the course of our actions ….very rarely do we check in with our soul, with our knowing, to see if our direction, our thoughts, our actions are correct with who we are meant to be, with what we are meant to accomplish. It is more acceptable in our society to “follow the course” most taken. We do not “stick out” if we follow the proven course of lives that exist alongside us at work, in our families, among our friends.

We all tend to go outside ourselves to find the truth, when the truth exists all along in our middle. You see, the knowing inside of us will not shout to be recognized, will not push for attention. It will simply wait. Patiently. Until we are ready to slow down our pace, quiet our minds and check in with our inner compass …. finding our true direction, our true purpose and the very things we need to do reach our destiny …. the one created specifically for us … the one that resonates with us because in pursuing it we are calm and happy and light and energized.

But too often we listen to the outside world. We store our knowing somewhere inside of us to visit another day when we are not so taxed …. when we have the time. But, sadly, the checking back in gets less and less as we fill our lives with the “to dos”, the “work”, the things we feel we must do. It is in this chasing that we tire. It is in this accomplishing that we burn out … unless … until … we are pursuing our true destiny, then there is no tiring, no burnout because we know that our purpose is being fulfilled. Our energy source is much bigger than ourselves if we allow Him to lead us. If we allow Him the glory. If we allow Him to be the captain of our lives. Does that mean we sit back and don’t have to do anything? Not hardly! We must listen and learn. We must listen and apply. We must be visible to all in our path so that they might also want what we have … the peace, the knowing … and we become a beacon of His light to others. Our path is less rocky, our steps more confident, our hearts lighter. God never intended for our purpose to be difficult … we are the ones that make it difficult by not listening to who we should be each and every day.

When I think of wings, I think of flight, of goodness, of being light enough to float, bubbling laughter, filled with excitement….and peace.

Does that sound like your life right now?  Are you in a job or career that makes your heart take flight?  Do you laugh easily at work or play?  Are you at peace with the personal choices you’re making for your today, and your tomorrow?

If so – GOOD FOR YOU!!!!  Share with us what makes your wings take flight.

If not – then you’ve come to the right place.  Together we will explore the why’s and what’s and how’s of inspiring your journey, of navigating through the tough ruts in the road and guidance to achieve all you were meant to be and do in this life.

The first step is to tune into your inner self…that little voice that talks to you when you are quiet enough to hear.   You know in your middle what you want to do – no, what you need to do – in this life, but we have grown accustomed to telling ourselves, “Not now – maybe later – I’m stuck in what I am currently doing.”  Sound familiar?  Before I stepped out and started my own business, I felt trapped by my weekly paycheck.   I would get really excited thinking about my new venture and then the fear – those cold, creeping tentacles that wrap around your gut and squeeze – would raise up and I would falter.  I did that for five years until someone challenged me to step up and step out….. and it was the best thing I ever did.

So now I am challenging you to step up to your best.

Start asking yourself questions – be your own detective –  uncover what you really are meant to do and to be.   Journaling always helps me because by writing it down it makes me work through the tough questions….and if I step away, I am starting where I left off rather than at the beginning yet again.

Trust your intuition – we all have that gut feeling when we know something is right or when we are off track.  Listen to yourself – trust the feelings you have and begin to reach out to other people who can help you fine tune what you are hearing.

Start making changes today – even little ones, baby steps toward what you are being drawn to.  Start by researching – check the web – read a book – find an expert – make a list of the steps to take – trust yourself.

Here’s to your take-off…….