Words that save lives  “Equanimity” Suggested by David Schmelzer

David Schmelzer

Click here “about the program” ~ and here for a list of “PosiWords”

Posidriving is a important new program created by the Positive Imperative that will save lives!  Please look at this important topic from a brand new perspective. Click here for the page.

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♬♪♫ Posimperative Radio ♬ Positive Music ♬♪♫

For a number of hours of Posimusic check us out on Blip FM.

Learn the importance of Positive Music. Here is our top ten Positive Songs and hundreds of yours!

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Posithanks Volume 6 –> 365 Themes Of Gratitude.

Theme 159 Today we are thankful for our shoes, and our lives that fill them.

Recently I had the privilege of touring the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. I highly recommend going if you get the chance.  In fact, I really think everyone should go.

It was no small challenge to balance as much of a tasteful presentation as possible under the circumstances.  All graphic pictures were behind a cement wall that adults could look down upon should they choose, or not, but were screened from children.

The museum was balanced with not just the World War II story of the war and the atrocity to Jews, Gypsies, Masons, Handicapped and Jehovah Witness, and also included the important element of Neutral with the story of the Curse Of St. Lois a boat denied entry in both Cuba and the US.

Best of all, it reconized the heroins that risked their lives and made a difference and also made the critical connection with other such genocide in Cechnya and Rwanda with a focus to educate and examine ways for the world to avoid such madness again with the Genocide Prevention Task Force.

Of the many pictures, stories and displays like the railway car in which you could touch the walls and know that this was one of many walls where there were once hands clamoring in desperation.  The one picture locked in my mind will be the room of shoes with the piles of shoes that once barely protected the feet of so many precious lives.

Yet another thing we take for granted each and every day.  The shoes on our feet.

PIQ Positive Imperative Question. What do you take for granted?  Will you try and stop each day and appreciate all that you are given?

Big Hugs!

Victor Sinclair

PI/PMI Founder

Please take the time and share your thoughts and help inspire others by leaving your comments here.

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It's not magic. A smile starts with just being there.

Posithanks Volume 6 –> 365 Themes Of Gratitude.

Theme 158 Today we are thankful for our Elders Wisdom

The most precious resourse we have in wisdom, his the decades and even centuries of knowledge and wisdom we can learn from our Elders.

Elders give us love, knowlege, wisdom, humor, stories, candour, humility, and so much more.

What do we give Elders.  What should we give Elders?  Respect?  Love?   Caring?  Empathy?  Understanding? If you go to many a seniors or nursing home you’ll find many seniors all alone.  The most precious gift they need is  of course all of the obove which also translates to your TIME!

“True love can enjoy all the seasons of life from the wonder of our youth to the understanding of our middle age to the mystery of our elder years.” Grant D. Fairley

PIQ Positive Imperative Question. What do you give Elders?  Are you going to take the time?  When?

Big Hugs!

Victor Sinclair

PI/PMI Founder

Please take the time and share your thoughts and help inspire others by leaving your comments here.

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Courteous Drivers leave all of us with a smile on our face.

Posithanks Volume 6 –> 365 Themes Of Gratitude.

Theme 157 Today we are thankful for courteous drivers.

Yet another thing we take for granted is when a courteous driver.  A simple act that lets you in traffic gives you another reason to hope.   Why is it so important?

Courteous driving is important as is each act of kindness.  It’s the ripple that continues positivity and diminishes negativity,

Courtesy, is a word we seldom use any more….. it’s not an every day word.  Courtesy is all about Polite Habits.  When we get the courtesy given to us we need to appreciate it and be grateful.

Posithanks is all about the study of gratitude as in its deepest elements it’s a lifelong subject to continually learn, apply and master.  Being grateful for a driver who let’s you in, in heavy traffic also means you need to try and show that gratitude to really complete the thankfulness.  Have you ever gone out of your way to let someone in and they didn’t wave a thank you?   How did that make you feel.  Did you quip something like Ingrate?

Despite what some people think, most truckers are among the safest and courteous drivers on the road

Courtesy is the first step in kindness.  I know many people regard truckers as the evil incarnate of the road, however as I drove a 5 tone tuck in high-school for my summer job I learned to look at them differently.  They often have 32ft or even 70ft. of vehicle to manoeuvre and that’s a challenge.   The vast majority of them are save and courteous drivers, and like all occupations, a small percentage ruin the reputation of the others.  When I stop and consider it… I remember out of four times I was stranded on the road with my family, three of them were by truckers, and in a couple of cases they got the car going again and wouldn’t even take money for a beer. Another great habit of truckers on the highway is their flick it lights habit.  One truck flicks his head lights to let the other trucker know it’s save to comeback into his lane while passing and the other truck flicks his clearance lights as a way to thank the first trucker.  I’ve loved that trucking tradition for years and adopted it myself.

Positive Imperative Qustion PIQ

So we often ask with the Positive Imperative…. like the Clocks song states, are you a part of the cure of  a part of the disease?  Are you a part of the solution or a part of the problem.  How will you show your gratitude for courteous drivers?   Will you wave, flick your lights, or even become one yourself?

Big Hugs!

Victor Sinclair

PI/PMI Founder

Please take the time and share your thoughts and help inspire others by leaving your comments here.

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PI member/admin @Kristen and her son Xavier

Posithanks Volume 6 –> 365 Themes Of Gratitude.

Theme 156 Today we are thankful for our mothers and all the gifts they have given us.

My mother is my root, my foundation. She planted the seed that I base my life on, and that is the belief that the ability to achieve starts in your mind.
– Michael Jordan

If there is one completely unbalanced ratio in this world it is the time, devotion, sacrifice and love given to us by other mothers, which despite our greatest efforts can truly never be fully repaid.

For myself who did not have as much time as I would have liked with my mom (who I lost when I was 28), it think of many fond memories from going to Brown School with a baseball bat and glove in hand to teach me and my brother baseball, to the many times she came to root me on from school band performances to that Football Game at Don Mills collegiate where her mere presence helped me get two fumbles and three quarterback sacks.  But my fondest memory of all will be the love in her tender voice saying one more time, A.A. Milnes, Christopher Robin is saying his prayer.  God Bless Mommy!

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.
– Washington Irving

PI member/admin @Ashley and her son Benjamin

“M” is for the million things she gave me,
“O” means only that she’s growing old,
“T” is for the tears she shed to save me,”H” is for her heart of purest gold;
“E” is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
“R” means right, and right she’ll always be,
Put them all together, they spell “MOTHER,”
A word that means the world to me.
– Howard Johnson

Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, comrades and friends - but only one mother in the whole world.
– Kate Douglas Wiggin

Positive Imperative Qustion PIQ

So, it is simple to send mom flowers and a card, but is that by habit, or by expectation.  Do we really by homage to our mothers in the way we need to?  Do we put enough thought into our thanks?  Are we thankful for just 1/10 of all the time and gifts they have given us?  Have you thought about adopting a senior who has no children to visit?  All great food for thought?

Big Hugs!

Victor Sinclair

PI/PMI Founder

Please take the time and share your thoughts and help inspire others by leaving your comments here.

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Theme 155 Today we are thankful for fresh clean drinking water every day. There are few things more important than the air to breath, food to eat and water to drink, and few that we take so much for granted.  Water CAN be one of the greatest triggers to living a life of gratitude.

So what if?…..

A positive mind is a positively focused mind.  Simple to say, not easy to do.  With so many distractions and negativity such as the almost non stop negative news, we need constant reminders to focus on the Positive, and in order to do that effectively we need constant triggers.  An easy one to create is rituals.  We are creatures of habit, positive and negative, or neutral…. none at all.  Creating daily habits like a simple ritual for being thankful for the water we drink will only be accomplished by creating these types of habits.

Sow a thought, reap an action
Sow a action, reap a habit
Sow a habit, reap a character
Sow a character, reap a destiny.
- Seneca

So What If….

So what if you were to create an acronym for water and each time you drank it you said,

W is for the wealth of health water gives me

A is an attitude of gratitude. Next…..

Terrific appreciation I have for I know many in the world have no safe drinking water

E is for the effort I put in for taking the time to thank people who make a difference

R is for a reality check…don’t take clean water for granted or we won’t be here.

That’s just a starter, you can create whatever word make the most sense to you, notice the thoughts of being thankful for water are blended with the ritual of reinforcing the importance of all gratitude.  The exponential benefits for these types of rituals are phenomenal, and it’s not until you continually practice them, that the wow factor can come in.   You’re drinking a bottle of water at a service centre and you notice somebody pull their car a head to allow you to get to the gas pumps.   Where as it’s easy to skip eye contact or come up with an excuse like not wanting to raise your voice to get the person to hear you 30 feet away….Bingo, you pay special attention and thank the person for moving their car up a few feet before going in to pay, and do it!

The Water Project

Learn more about the Water Project

Positive Imperative Qustion PIQ

So, it is simple, and it is nice to talk about, however reading this blog has not been positive unless it has reinforced current gratitude practices, or you are going to commit to a ritual or personally practice of being thankful, for water or all the other blessings in your life.  What choice do you make?

Big Hugs!

Victor Sinclair

PI/PMI Founder

Please take the time and share your thoughts and help inspire others by leaving your comments here.

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Theme 154 Today we are thankful for a beautiful sunrise.

We often watch the weather forecast and mindlessly ignore it, even when the forecast says it’s going to be sunny tomorrow with 0% chance of precipitation.  Did you ever think that’s the perfect time to schedule a visit with a sunrise on purpose?

There are few things that are as inspiring as a seeing the sun inch its way up the horizon.  It brings new hope, and new beginnings. Yet it’s another place where many people miss the opportunity to be grateful simply because they get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the every day life, alarms, traffic, getting to work on time.

“Sunrise doesn’t last all morning, a cloudburst doesn’t last all day, seems my love is up and has left you with no warning. It’s not always going to be this grey. All things must pass, all things must pass away.”  ~ George Harrison

“We can only appreciate the miracle of a sunrise if we have waited in the darkness”

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“Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered for they are gone forever. ~ Horace Mann

Positive Imperative Qustion PIQ With the above quote in mind, is there a date with a sunrise you can make?  With each sunrise we start a new.

Big Hugs!

Victor Sinclair

PI/PMI Founder

Please take the time and share your thoughts and help inspire others by leaving your comments here.

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Good Neighbours are easy to tell

Posithanks Volume 6 –> 365 Themes Of Gratitude.

Theme 154 Today we are thankful for Good Neighbours!

You notice we didn’t say “Perfect Neighbours”.  Putting out the energy vibration that you do in-fact love your neighbour, barking dog (I have one of those) or not is the best way to build a positive community.  Like all Positivity in the world it all starts at home with one person, and it is all as important as that ripple.

Like in-laws, neighbours sometimes get a bad wrap, and when you’re looking for the negative, you get ideas like Good fences make good neighbours.   The glass is definitely half empty.

On the other hand when you have this attitude…..

The capacity for getting along with our neighbor depends to a large extent on the capacity for getting along with ourselves. The self-respecting individual will try to be as tolerant of his neighbor’s shortcomings as he is of his own.
- Eric Hoffer

you are quite often among those who create long lasting relationships with their neighbours.

Just the other night, some neighbours came over to wish my son a prosperous trip to Vancouver, and it got me to thinking how lucky I’ve always been at having good neighbours.  Over the years they’ve signed for parcels, shovelled my driveway without being asked, boosted my battery, help build porches, make various repairs to our home, lent tools, vehicles, given us food, presents and donated money to charities at the loss of a loved one and driven my wife to the hospital at a moments notice and without hesitation when my daughter got hurt.  They’ve smiled, had a beer, shared a laugh and their tough times too.  I know our family has done just as many things the other way.

That’s truly living and understanding Interdependency.

PIQ Positive Imperative Question.

How many times to you smile or go out of your way to be nice to your neighbour or simply show them you care?  When and how do you think you will do it?

Big Hugs!

Victor Sinclair

PI/PMI Founder

Please take the time and share your thoughts and help inspire others by leaving your comments here.

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Theme 153 Today we are thankful for our Olympic athletes, their coaches, trainers and supporters.

Has the Olympic fever worn off yet?  For some it likely has, but for others who really understood the meaning of the Olympics it likely will have an effect on them whether it’s one day, a week, a month or several months since the flame went out.   What did you learn?

Clara Hughs, Canadian Flag Bearer, Six Times Medalist and the only athlete to win in both the Summer and Winter games.

There was lots to learn if you watched the Olympics this year.  Everything from a tragic death of Georgia Luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, to come from behind victories, to watching the host nation (Canada) demonstrate a level of pride seldom seen in their history.

The ultimate lessons though was the same ones that can have been taught at any previous Summer or Winter Olympics and that is simply the athletes commitment to excellence as well as the courage to stick their neck out and lay it on the line.  They did so with thousands of spectators, hundreds of cameras and journalists and often their countries hopes and aspirations laid upon their shoulders.   The number of athletes who had undergone at least one and sometimes several surgeries for knees, ankles, shoulders and many other joints and bones is astounding.  Perhaps the most amazing of all when we witnessed a skier or other athlete wipe out on a final run was that thought that they trained and worked for four years for the thirty seconds or four minutes or other relatively short period of time to put it on the line.  Translated into hours, these athletes dedicated more time and energy than most of us can really imagine.

Add to that parents and friends who drove and cheered, coaches that had incredible dedication and trainers that worked tirelessly to help their athletes excel.

It so sounds like a cliche, but if you really got it, each time you did, the bar was raised for us, and for that we are eternally grateful.

PIQ Positive Imperative Question. Is there some area in your life, that learning or watching the Olympics can help inspire you to greater levels of your life?

Big Hugs!

Victor Sinclair

PI/PMI Founder

Please take the time and share your thoughts and help inspire others by leaving your comments here.

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Theme 152 Today we are thankful for quotes that inspire and make us think.  Quotes to remember.

Quotes stand the test of time, and sometimes can sum up in once sentence an idea that takes others a page or even a book to try and capture the essence.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

- Margaret Mead (1901-1978), Anthropologist and Writer

Quotes can leave a person with a determination to change their life.

I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something I can do.

Edward Everett Hale

Do not go where the path may lead,

go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Quotes can give you a paradigm shift.

“Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.”

~ Albert Einstein

Quotes can help us to Evolve as humans.

“A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest… a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”  ~ Albert Einstein

PIQ Positive Imperative Question.

We become what we think about.  Quotes can do a lot to elevate your life and help both inspire you and create a more positive focus and world around you.  How often do use quotes.  Are there places in your life you can insert your favourite quotes to keep you inspired?

Big Hugs!

Victor Sinclair

PI/PMI Founder

Please take the time and share your thoughts and help inspire others by leaving your comments here.

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Theme 151 Today we are thankful for The Journey of Life.

Although I have been writing a journal since 2001, it wasn’t until last year when I familiarized myself with the whole social Internet media of You Tube, Facebook, and Twitter, that I started to share those thoughts publicly with you including today’s Poisthanks.

I am grateful for the lifelong journey I travel through; with all the shortcomings, sufferings and everything else that comes with being a human being. I have learned one main thing, and that is I CAN’T COMPLAIN.  The words of wisdom from avid morning coffee drinkers I have served at the McDonald’s of the small town Pana, Illinois have taught me many lessons.  Sitting in with the “GOLDEN AGE SENIORS” of men and women, I am in awe when I leave the table with words of wisdom they have shared with me. Their life experiences and stories are a highlight of my day whenever I journey into town and sit in amongst the regular patrons. Their ages are beautifully beyond my time spent thus far along my journey here on Earth and the stories of their unique journeys and the many hardships they have endured, one would never be able to tell just looking at them.

Thanks for stopping by, until next time…Stay Gold!!!! and BE the Positive energy that this world needs…

the Poetoflife, the Voice of Tomorrow

Mary Ann O’ Rourke,

Please take the time and share your thoughts and help inspire others by leaving your comments here.

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1. Turn down the volume on negative emotions (e.g., anger, fear, sadness) and neutral emotions (i.g., apathy and disengagement).
   
2. Turn up the volume on positive emotions (e.g., contentment, joy, love, curiosity, amusement, interest, relaxation, pride)

Only in the past few years has the field of psychology recognized

1. The significance of positive emotions
2. That we can teach sustainable happiness and meaning in life
3. Why it is critical that we learn to turn up the volume on the positive.

Over the past 100 years, psychology typically asked ‘what’s wrong with you?’ Or ‘What’s your underlying problem?’ This is a mechanistic approach similar to how you would approach a car that is not running properly. What is broken? Identify the broken part. Replace the old part with a new part. We aren’t as simple and straightforward as a car, however.
In my experience as a speaker, an author, a psychologist, a coach, a person with depression, and a person with social anxiety, I have come to the conclusion that we’re all a bit crazy. And that’s okay. It’s our idiosyncrasies and oddities that make us human and loveable. Besides, I’m not shooting for ‘normal’  and hopefully you aren’t either. I’m aiming for something way beyond normal. I am aiming for purpose, passion, meaning.

My goal is to change the emotional landscape for men. I want to change how men view their emotions, to help them understand that emotions are a normal part of life. We all have them. Emotions are not feminine. They are human.

And, here’s the most important part. Emotions are manageable. Once we learn to manage them, we become extremely powerful because we are coming from a place of authenticity and passion. Then our message resonates with others at a very deep level. And so we begin to change the world one person at a time – a ripple effect if you will.

So let me ask you this…

What are you doing now that you are passionate about?

What gets you excited to get out of bed in the morning?

What would you enjoy doing even if you weren’t paid to do it?

What are you really good at that also energizes you?

In this day and age, there are no questions which are more important. Research has shown that only a mere 10% of people in the United States are leading thriving, happy, meaningful lives. Think of how much better the country would be if we brought that number up to 20%. We’d have higher productivity, more creativity and innovation, greater employee engagement, better parenting, and a happier place to live.

The best news is that research is now being done at top universities around the world to discover exercises that can help us to sustain positive emotions such as happiness, contentment and love. Research has shown that, no matter how old we are, we can change our behaviors, thoughts and feelings. Studies are coming out daily demonstrating ways to discover meaning and passion and strengths. So let me share some of the wisdom that is coming out lately on happiness and purpose.

How do you foster positive emotions?

Part of sustaining positive emotions is attitude; part of it is practicing exercises that have been shown to have a positive and lasting impact on your mood.

How do you go about changing your attitude to one that is more positive?

When you come right down to it, the secret of having it all is loving it all.

Unconditional love is the intentional conscious decision to look for the best in people, other living creatures and any part of nature. Albert Einstein had a brilliant quote, ‘The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or a hostile universe.’ Other people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. By noticing the good in others that surrounds us daily, we can lift up not only ourselves but others as well.

1.) Seek Out the Good in Others: Actively look for good traits and noble deeds in other people. Only use positive and supportive language. When you compliment other people, be specific about the behavior you are praising. For example, rather than saying “Nice work,” you might say, “Hey, you did a fantastic job closing the sale with Ace Hardware!” Remind those around you of their unique talents on a daily basis.

2.) Become More Aware of Your Internal Tapes: Watch the internal conversations that take place in your head. Challenge every negative thought that you have. Let go of your negative judgments about others AS WELL as yourself. Judgments are deadly. Judgments create negative emotions such as guilt and shame and tear down self-esteem. Judgments are unfair. You can never be aware of the circumstances that have led another person to a particular point in their life. So you are never in a position to judge their actions and decisions.

3.) Self-compassion: Go easier on yourself. Forgive yourself for your mistakes and shortcomings. Picture yourself as a small child. Now picture yourself parenting yourself. Forgive yourself as you would like to have been forgiven as a child. Mistakes are merely learning opportunities. Fail your way to success!

4.) Recognize Strengths: Few people have an idea what their strengths are.

Discover your strengths. What do you do well? What are your talents? Once you begin using your strengths every day at work, you will increase the degree to which you are engaged at work. Being engaged in work is similar to being in the ‘zone’ for athletes – you are more satisfied, time flies, creativity flows, and your talents are maximized.

Exercises To Help Foster Positive Emotions

To begin: Think about what you excel at. Think about the activities where you lose track of your ‘self’. Become more aware of these areas.

1. Discover Your Dreams:

Ask yourself…

What makes me ‘really’ happy? (Go outside of your comfort zone!)

Why is it important to me?

How will it serve other people?

When do I want it to happen?

What is the first teeny, tiny step I need to take to make it happen?

2.) Blessings Exercise:

Every night write down 3 things that went well for you that day, even if you have had an awful day. You can still find 3 things that went well. Write them down and then write why they went well. This is a very simple exercise that has been proven to improve your mood on a long-term basis. It is an easy yet powerful way to shift your thinking from focusing on the negative to becoming aware of the positive in your life.

The benefits of cultivating more positive emotions are vast: a longer life span, greater success at work, higher quality of relationships, and increased productivity, just to name a few. So get comfortable in your discomfort. Take a chance. Step outside your comfort zone. You’ll be happy you did!

To book Dr. John for a speaking engagement, coaching or training, call now. (925) 944-3440. Or visit the website at http://www.GuideToSelf.com.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.

Mahatma Gandhi

About the Author

Dr. John Schinnerer holds a Ph.D. in educational psychology from U.C. Berkeley. Dr. Schinnerer has been an executive, speaker and psychologist for over 12 years. Dr. John Schinnerer is Founder of Guide To Self, a company that coaches executives to well-being and success. Dr. Schinnerer wrote the award-winning, “Guide To Self: The Beginner’s Guide To Managing Emotion and Thought,” which is available at Amazon.com. His blog, Shrunken Mind, was recently recognized as #1 in positive psychology on the web by PostRank (http://drjohnblog.guidetoself.com) and as one of the Top 100 blogs on the web by The Daily Reviewer. Dr. John Schinnerer hosted over 200 episodes of Guide To Self Radio, a daily prime time radio show, in the SF Bay Area.  Dr. Schinnerer’s areas of expertise range from positive psychology, to emotional awareness, to anger management, to executive coaching. His offices are in Danville, California.

Catherine Graham, Positive Singer, Life Coach, Author

Life Coach and Author, Catherine Graham, speaks of our need to heal beyond the obvious, to live a more enriched and enlightened life.

On Sunday morning, I gasped as I read the headline, “Children’s author, Robert Munsch admits to cocaine and alcohol addiction.”  You see, Robert has been a favourite of mine since I was four, with many favourites, including David’s Father, Thomas’s Snowsuit, and at the top of my list, ‘I’ll Love You Forever’.   How, I wondered, can such a famous and successful man still feel the need to fill a void like that?  What would make him feel so empty inside that he needed to pursue that way of life?

And yet, even as I had thought it, I realized just how judgemental I had sounded at that very second.  A couple dozen children’s books published, and some awards sounds great to me, however, when there’s those parts of your heart, of your past, of your childhood that aren’t healed, the amount of success, fame, money and awards just can’t cut it.

I have been living proof of this, and only this month admitted to myself that I still had healing that needed to be done in order for me to move forward in my life.  About four years ago I had started on my healing journey, and I had accomplished a lot.  I learned to deal with and forgive so many ‘issues’ of my past, coming to terms with experiences I had never been able to accept before, and releasing so much anger and resentment that I had decided to carry for so long.

However, at the same time that I was releasing all of this pain, and all of my past experiences, I went through another experience, that for some reason, I decided I would pack away to deal with on another day.  I had been four months pregnant when I miscarried.  At the time, it seemed like it was for the best, I was leaving my husband and I had three children already… I didn’t need to add to the burden or the stress with another child.

Little did I realize just how much the death of that child would eventually eat away at me, turning me into an angry monster at all of the wrong people, and letting me lay down and cry myself senseless for days at a time.  Little did I know that this little person, who I would never meet, would allow me to miss it so much.

This is how it was for three years.  I blamed everything and everyone else.  After leaving my (now) ex husband, I met and fell in love with a wonderful man, who, after his own experiences had a vasectomy.  I started blaming my emotional outbursts on this.  He wasn’t able to give me a child, and that was what I wanted most, and so when the pain became to much I took it out on him.

And this is how it went.  For three years, and five months, until I realized that what was hurting me the most was not the fact that we couldn’t have a baby, but the fact that I had lost my baby.  Now for some, I realize that miscarriage is not something that’s easily talked about.  Many people don’t understand it, or believe it happens for a better reason, or it’s God’s will, or whatever.  But the truth is, a miscarriage hurts, and there is no ‘good’ reason that it happens.

My need to heal this pain went beyond the obvious.  It had seemed to me for so long that my real problems were right in front of my face, and yet, they were so far deep inside, that it took me as long as it did to realize that it was even there, and even longer to face the truth that it needed to be healed.

As children we share everything from icecream to our deepest inner thought. As adults we often build up walls and inhibitions to sharing that must come down.

At this point, it’s just an opening door.  I opened my heart to my partner, and to my mother and some of my closest friends, to let them know what was going on with me.  I spoke with a counsellor, who gave me some direction to aid in my healing, and this Friday, which would have been the child’s birthday, I will be doing a celebration of her life.

Always, in talking with others, I come to realize that I am not so alone.  Always, there is someone who has gone through something similar, or has a friend who has, or is simply empathetic to my own personal pain.

The truth is, whether we’re a Robert Munsch, or Mel Gibson, or simply your every day, ‘average’ person, we all need to open our hearts,  and let others know, and more importantly, ourselves, that we don’t always have the answers, or the cure to an aching heart.  It is only in reaching out, that we are able to start moving forward, and slowly, releasing the pain in all that has past, so that we may once again feel free and inspired.

Until next time,

Live love and love life,

xoCatherine

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Catherine Graham is an author, singer-songwriter, life coach, speaker, and a mother of six. Her work has been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul; Divorce and Recovery, and the Kitchener Waterloo Record. Catherine wrote her first novel, Woman To Woman, The Journey To Me, in 2008.

Catherine has been playing guitar since she was nine years old, and started writing her own music in 2008. She has competed in many competitions, and was featured at the Clothesline Project for Women, in Collingwood, Ontario in 2008. Catherine’s music can be found on Facebook.

After overcoming many obstacles in her own life, Catherine realized that she had an important message to share with girls and women alike. She uses her own lessons, from abuse to divorce, to help others shed light on their own lives, and live to their highest potentials.

To learn more about Catherine, please visit www.journeyhealers.com

So why do we need a new word created from an acronym?  Well it’s quite simple.  The more energy and attention we focus on the roots of positivity, the more the tree will blossom.  Understanding this concept is simple, however doing it for most of us is anything but easy.  Gaining mastery of this one idea will have a big impact on your life…..

So for many of us the following idea is quite simple.  We are the thoughts we think, the people we keep company with, the books we read and now for many of us learning the music we listen to.  While we get those connections, we haven’t put that concept together with the understanding of the second tenant of the Positive Imperative which is the Posiratio. (To see all three click here).

Positive Imperative ~ Second Tenant  “THE POSIRATIO”

The nature of Positives and Negatives are not deeply understood by society.  Significant Positive creations take ten times the effort and energy to create as a Negative and once achieved create three to five times more Positive effects.  Negatives take ten times less effort and energy to achieve but do ten times the damage and Neutrals take no effort or energy and also create a Negative ripple effect and because of the vast quantity of them, also do ten times the damage.

What’s the gap!

So that’s really the issue, when you start to think of statistics like author/speaker Jack Canfield’s quote “kids hear 432 negative statements for every 32 positive” (and I don’t think that stat would differ for adults), coupled with Positive author/speaker Robin Sharma’s assertion that 95% of the thoughts we think are the same as we had the day before, we are all getting a title wave of negative ideas, thoughts, statements and images to try and combat.    Many of these are like triggers, or a button to push.  The trigger could be one of a thousand things; a driver cutting you off, a bill that didn’t get paid, you get to the bank one minute after it closes, you miss the bus, you forgot something again, any sort of on going conflict with a friend or family member, and the list goes on.  HOWEVER….. most of the triggers will be internal dialogue or previous negative scripts about your self image, or something in your past you’ve “failed” at,  I can think of a hundred of my own, from a letter I didn’t write to a miscommunication that never got cleared up to almost anytime I repeat a small or large irritating circumstance like misplacing my car wallet or keys.  A favorite of mine is to think I’m smart enough to time a trip to the exact minute only to find leave later than I thought or wasn’t realistic about the time allotment and then beating myself up like Jim Carey did in the movie Liar Liar.    Now I realize there are many strategies to replace a negative habit with a positive one, however knowing that we have an an exhaustive supply of these scenarios some old, and some new we need an on going fix for the many variable situations these road blocks hit us when we’re not looking.

The end result in many of these situations, is that the first negative thought causes another and another, and may also cause negative statements and negative actions.  Almost every time you see a person get mad or lose their temper its a whole series of these dominoes running just like a computer program to the point you can almost predict the next thing said or done.

The Solution

Each line of blue balls represents a series of negative thinking habits. Once they are identified the balls turn green and the new habit redirects the thinking to chosen positive thoughts.

The solution to all important negative issues in ones life is really a large amount of energy towards the Positive Solution.  Self affirmations and visualization is a simple concept that says you can train your brain into thought patterns that you desire, thus eliminating the ones you don’t want.  This concept of using PROTO to interupt your negative thought process is by no means new.  Anthony Robbins has used similar strategies and the word “soosh”, Napoleon Hill in his book Think And Grow Rich, used the term “Autogenic Thought,” other techniques have including things like wearing a rubber band and snapping it on your wrist to get the thought changed.  The Positive Imperative is that you gain control of your thought patterns by any way which works.  We also need a better vocabulary to identify quick decisive Positive strategies, hence the word Proto!

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Action Plan

Negative dominos start in one of two ways.  1. A Negative Situation or 2. Negative thoughts or statements.

For negative situations

that are lasting more than a moment, such as you’re late for a meeting and you get a flat tire.

1. Catch yourself in the negative emotion, thought or statement.  (Be aware as you’re saying it)

2. Say out loud or to yourself the word Proto.

3. If there is still a negative issue to be dealt with use the question “how can I use this delima to learn and grow, or other positive interpretations and positively redirect your thoughts to the oppotunity to (benefit from this situation).

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Negative thoughts or statements.

IE: Why do I screw up all the time….. I’m such an idiot….. etc.

1. Catch yourself in the negative emotion, thought or statement.  (Be aware as you’re saying it)

2. Say out loud or to yourself the word Proto.

3. If there is no real issue at hand and it’s just a negative recrimination and useless, simply go on to your positive thoughts and move on and Positively redirect your thoughts to the opportunity to stay in a positive frame of mind or think of 3 things you are grateful for.  ie. family health and freedom.

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A Caution for you. The danger of being to smart or a know it all.

“Most of the time, people know what they need to do,

they just don’t know why they’re not doing it.”

~ Bob Proctor

So the danger or gap once again is that you may get what’s just been said, but then trick yourself into believing that “YOU” really don’t need to do it yourself ’cause you get it, and therefore don’t have that issued.

PIQ Positive Imperative Question Like anything else, the more you practice this concept the more you master it.  Will you start consciously using the word Proto?  How will you remind yourself to us it?

Victor Sinclair

PI Founder

Victor Sinclair. Author of the forthcoming books; the Positive Imperative and the Positive Music Imperative, has a wide background in teaching, broadcasting, the music industry and business including a number of management consulting firms.  He served as both founder and Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada (AmCham Canada). He has also dedicated more than 30 years of his life to volunteerism and not for profits including Big Brothers, Memorial Boys and Girls Clubs, St. Leonard’s Society, London & District Distress Centre, and Minor Leagues Sports. Interests include family, biking, tennis, reading, positive music and PI/PMI of course.

Cindy Ashton, Positive singer, speaker and author

How do we balance the one school of thought which says we alone determine our destiny, and the other school which leans towards the law of attraction and the universe unfolding as it should?  So which one is right……?

Every time I am in yoga class we do a posture called the “mountain” pose. Basically it means we put our feet together, stand tall and activate all our muscles. Now here is the tricky part - while keeping our muscles active, we must keep our internal calm, relaxed and flowing. This way of balanced being is the ideal way to approach life and how we manifest our desires.

Just like in the mountain pose, in order to manifest your desires it is essential to find the balance between taking action and doing so in a relaxed way in order to allow the good to come our way.

Here are the typical ways we try to realize our desires:

UNBALANCED: We vision want we what and just expect the universe to deliver without any effort. Visioning is great but there needs to be action that will propel the energy forward. I meet so many ’spiritual’ people who say “Spirit flows through me. I am just going to sit and meditate and breathe with the angels.” Okay that is not realistic. If Edison wanted to create the light bulb but didn’t take action over 1000 times until he had success, we would still be using candles.

UNBALANCED: We decide what we want, take charge and go wild with taking action. Often what happens is that we are taking so much action, stuck in HOW we think we are going to make it happen, that we leave no room for the universe to respond.

BALANCED: Vision and take action but make sure you take time everyday to relax and find joy. When you release resistance and stress and take time to breathe, you are in the flow to be open - open to receive signs, guidance and the results of your efforts. You can always tell when you are taking too much action when you are feeling stressed, tired, overwhelmed or negative.

So like the mountain pose in yoga, you need to find that delicate balance between taking action and allowing. At first you may seem lost - did I take too much action? Too little? Did I rest enough? Play enough? Your results and the speed at which they come will give you the feedback to know if the balance is there. With practice, you will become the master of manifesting.

Enjoy the journey!

Wishing you an incredible day!

Cindy

Kiss Your Monsters Away

Cindy Ashton is a motivational performer, speaker and expert in overcoming obstacles. Born with a 20% chance of living, Cindy underwent three heart surgeries by age fourteen and was left in chronic pain and with a damaged lung. Recovering well beyond doctor’s expectations, she has gone on to train in a professional dance company six hours a day and sing opera, even on her damaged lung. An internationally published writer, Cindy was recently published in Performance Magazine, alongside Donald Trump, President Obama and Tony Robbins. In presenting keynote speeches, interactive seminars and motivational concerts across North America, Cindy combines her extensive backgrounds in performing, education and kinesiology with her own real life experience. Cindy has been featured on CBC Radio, Metro News and the Body Mind Spirit Show as well as other international media. She released her debut CD, Don’t Rain On My Parade, in 2006, her Kiss the Monster Meditation CD in 2008 and her book, Kiss Your Monsters Goodbye: Overcome Your Obstacles & Achieve the Success You Deserve.
www.cindyashton.com

Posimass Applies to the individual and society.

The indiviual.

How do we become unstuck?

How do we forge through some of the breakthroughs that the many obstacles have been keeping us from?  This is a question I have been asking and studying for quite some time.   All of us have been stuck at one time or another from accomplishing the things we want to do and we wonder why we get so easily off track.  My experience has been the genesis for the word Posimass.  (which yes is our new Posiword). The first thing to understand is the Posiratio……

The Posiratio.

The second tenant of the Positive Imperative is that significant positives take ten times the energy and effort to create.  Negatives take far less and do ten times the damage and Neutrals take no energy and do five times the damage.    Without repeating the analogy made several times and places in this blog (see application to parenting in Posivalues), it simply means great things take great work.  Three years to build the world trade centre less than an hour to knock it down.   The same is true of how much effort it takes to create a well rounded positive human being and how fast their life can be ended by some senseless act of violence.

More bikes less cars? Sometimes you have to see the vision first!

Applying Posimass to the Posiperson aka you and me.

A little more than a year a go I lost 60 lbs to honor a long out standing promise to my children.  I had been wrestling with accomplishing that for a number of years and always losing the battle, which is ultimately the battle for the mind.  I was successful for two reasons.   Creating a Posimind  (you’ll get use to these Posiwords trust me ;>) and massive positive action.

“In order to make major change in your life you need to take massive action.”

~ Tony Robbins.

So my massive action was to first, constantly keep in a positive frame of mind using affirmations and posimusic. The ten to one posiratio here is so important.  For many of us we have old internal scripts in our mind that will justify anything from one more portion of food, to a reward of food for just about any reason that we once deemed made sense.  Of course we need to rewrite these scripts but it takes ten times the effort and practice and focus to do that successfully or boom, the minute we take our eyes off the mark we’re having too much food at a social gathering or a chocolate mile on the way home.

My second tact was a Posmass of action.  So for me, my diet changed from too many sandwiches to lots of salads, too much pasta to the right amount of protein, from too much coffee with double cream to green tea.   From a lifestyle perspective I was doing the Rona MS Ride and training for it, so 100 Kilometer bike rides on the weekend and ten and fifteen kilometer rides in the morning and some after work.  I was riding easily 200 k a week.  This is one place I feel where the baby steps approach does not work, because it’s far to often one baby step forward and two steps back.  So this is where Posimass comes in.  A critical amount of massive energy, time and focus in the positive direction you want to go.

POSIMASS SOCIETY & THE WORLD.

We have recently seen massive efforts of relief and action by millions of people in response to the disaster in Haiti.  It is indeed a Posimass response.  As tragic as this event has been, there is a silver lining which need do nothing more than remind the world that we are all one, and that it is indeed all of our responsibility to respond as much as we can.

One million gather in San Franciso to lobby for immigrant rights 2006

One of our Positive Imperative group members Eve, made an astute comment, which was simply…. “isn’t it too bad that this type of effort was not done before the earthquake” and while there is a hundred and one statements that will provide “an” answer, the question still trumps any of the answers.  In other words we must be a world that becomes proactive and responds to problems and issues before they become major problems.  It’s the old scenario of fire prevention versus fire fighting.  This issue faces us every day with urban crime and violence, the environment, education and the list goes on.  Educating on our responsibility to respond to these issues and principles is the Positive Imperative Mission.

Possimass versus dissipated fractionated efforts.

One million in Turkey demonstrate for democracy.

This question is a Pandora’s box for sure, but I’ve heard many people make many comments about the overwhelming number of aid groups responding to Haiti.  Some groups are very focused like Doctors Without Borders while others definitely appear to overlap in purpose and mission however are different by organization and mandate and while some motive is similar others have a clear agenda (My personal thoughts blog).  In the end one can’t help wonder if the dozens of groups worked together in unison; wouldn’t the efforts become more effective and efficient?  Simply looking at the sheer advertising dollars that was being spent recently made it look like a race.  At times it was obvious that they were competing for the same dollar to help the same Haitian orphan or victim.

So as a society we are going to need to look at how we’re doing things and really examine the road map to how we’re going together, because we only have so much time and fuel, and if everyone is going to get to the right destination we’re going to need to go in a convoy with a coordinated approach so we can get to the destination.

The first step is to be rowing in the same direction with a Posimass!

PIQ Positive Imperative Question Have you given any thought to create a posimass of action in your own life?  Have you taken the necessary period of time to plan the posimass approach needed for both mind and in terms of action?

BIG HUGS!

Victor Sinclair

PI/PMI Founder

Victor Sinclair. Author of the forthcoming books; the Positive Imperative and the Positive Music Imperative, has a wide background in teaching, broadcasting, the music industry and business and most recently served as a founder and Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada (AmCham Canada). He has also dedicated more than 30 years of his life to volunteerism and not for profits including Big Brothers, Memorial Boys and Girls Clubs, Minor Leagues Sports and as a President and board member of several not-for-profit boards. Interests include family, biking, tennis, reading, music and PI/PMI of course.

There are no Neutrals when it comes to givers and takers.  There are no fence sitters.  The balancing act of being in the middle is such a finite tipping point that in reality you are always on one side of the fence or the other.

So which side of the fence are you on?

We arrive, are born and quite often in our elder years of old age leave as takers.   As infants we’re 100% dependent on our parents for food, nurturing and shelter and although giving back love and joy it’s not until we are young adults or are exceptional children that we have the opportunity to start giving back to any large extent.  Unfortunately many young people don’t participate in volunteerism because they have not been raised in a family that had made the posivalue of giving a part of their family culture.

For the rest of our lives we are for the most part in a position to be a giver until we once again reach that age where we become dependant upon others for some of the basic necessities of life.   It’s the very nature of humans that we are Interdependent. We in fact are the most Interdependent of all species.

Stephen Covey identified an acspect of our Interdependancy with relationships as deposits and withdrawls.  You need a great deal of deposits in life and in relationships to guarantee you have a sufficient balance to made a withdrawl and that the withdrawal doesn’t put you into overdraft.

Whenever we get into discussions of giving, there’s a part of our brain that almost automatically works against the notion of giving. It’s a primal instinct to be a hoarder of food and territory for survival.  Even if you don’t acknowledge that part in you, it quite often directs itself to the conversation of the capacity to give.  That is a definite part of the equation.  Our capacity comes from both the resources we have and our awareness and responsibility to be able to. This conversation is the primarilty on the focus of awareness.  When it comes to capacity it is really the Resource Capacity we are talking about.

Giving - Resource Capacity    -  T(aking) =  Give / Take Balance

.            .  Time

The formula is the Amount you Give -(minus) Resource Capacity - what you take devided by time = your Give Take Balance which will be either Plus or Minus.  Think of it like hockey. Your plus minu is the amount of goals you are on the ice for, minus the number of goals that is scored on your team while you’re on the ice.  If it works out to a zero, consider that you are in a minus… no fence sitting.

So we acknowledge right off the start that someone with a severe handicap may not have the capacity to do much giving.  (Everyone starts at 100, and in an extreme case where a person was in a coma the obvious minus would be 100.  Having said that we also acknowledge that the each case is subjective.  However we must also point out that in some wonderful illustrations (see our top ten videos Clay Dyer and Nick Vujicic.) there are amazing cases where with almost no physical resources a person can crate a 100% capacity to give.  That begs the question is the lack of RC a reason or an excuse?

Giving is positive and like positivity can be measured in all things.  True giving is done without expectation.  With expectation it is really a form of barter and negotiation.

Giving can start off with the smallest of things.  Do you hold doors open for other people more than are held for you.  Do you smile at others often.  Do you go out of your way to learn peoples names, where they are from and what’s important to them?  Those are simple activities but they won’t happen unless you are mindful of the opportunities and make them a habit.

Giving really starts to create dividends when you start to take on bigger possibilities like volunteering.  Donating blood, dirivng a cancer patient to the hospital, fund raising for cancer, or becoming a big brother or big sister.

Giving is a rewarding road and the exciting part is that it often takes you places you never dreamed of going. The best more recent exmple is the Sandra Bullock movie Blind Side, simply because it was based upon a real story.  If you haven’t watched it, DO!

This is the better than life real story, that is spun out x 2 x 10 x 100. When you’re done reading this blog, come back and watch the videos…. you’ll feel great when you’re done and you’ll also see that this story is not a one of!  If you’ve seen and love this movie, you’ll love the 20/20 ABC New Story.

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—— The dividends!

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SO the connection has to be made between the life of Michael Orr before the kindness shown by the Tuey family and so many other underprivlidged youth that never get the chance that illustrates the possibilities when we accept the Interdependency response.

Law of he harvest. You reap what you sew. Posivalue #19 Volunteering.

30 years of voluteering has ultimately lead to all the blessings in my life

For those of you who have been giving for years you will know it pays dividends you never dreamed of.  My life has been affected 100% because of my volunteering.  One of the current singers I’m working with was because I met him at a special riding camp over three decades ago.  Because I volunteered there (SARI) Special Academy Riding Insitutute, one of the parents there got me involved in London Minor Football.  This is where I met the McAulley Boys which became my Juno nominated group I was so privilidged to work with for three years because years piror I had coached all for brothers over the six years I volunteered there.

The absolute change in my life came as a result of volunteering in Big Brothers for over ten years.  My 3rd assigned little brother Jon McDiarmid, lived next door to Debby Saker who a few years later I married.  Suffice to say, no Big Brothers, no, Debby, no Richard, Dawn or Lesley (my kids) no Kaydence my grandaughter and you can guess where the ripple will go in years to come.  So when you ask me how volunteering has affected my life, I’ve got quite an answer for you, and I could add quite a bit more.

If you were a non believer and asked me how important giving is, I would have to say that you would have to believe first in the importance and understanding of the Interdependency Responsibility. You would also need to believe in the importance of each and every creation of a ripple effect as it is always the momentum that creates wealth and abudance.  Posivalue 10.

Once you understand those two paradigm shifing values you will always become a giver.  Your reward will be an unsinkabile self worth and dignity that money can never buy (Scrooge) and so many other benefits you never even dreamed of!

PIQ Positive Imperative Question Will you make the new years resolution to be a giver in 2010?

Victor Sinclair

PI/PMI Founder

Victor Sinclair. Author of the forthcoming books; the Positive Imperative and the Positive Music Imperative, has a wide background in teaching, broadcasting, the music industry and business and most recently served as a founder and Executive Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada (AmCham Canada). He has also dedicated more than 30 years of his life to volunteerism and not for profits including Big Brothers, Memorial Boys and Girls Clubs, Minor Leagues Sports and as a President and board member of several not-for-profit boards. Interests include family, biking, tennis, reading, music and PI/PMI of course.

Sara Westbrook, Singer/Songwriter ~ Motivational Speaker

The most important ingredient we put into any relationship

is not what we say or what we do, but what we are.

~ Stephen R. Covey

I have often heard people say, “I want to find a great relationship.’ And my reply to that is, ‘A great relationship isn’t found – it’s created.”  What exactly do I mean?

I want to share with you one of the most powerful exercises I did as a teenager to attract the relationship I wanted in my life.  I took my journal and started to write down what I wanted in a relationship. I wrote down the Positive Values that I wanted the person to have (ex. honest, responsible, committed, faithful, family oriented, open communication, good listener) and the characteristics (ex. humour, kind, generous, understanding).

There is power in putting it to paper.
Also, knowing & believing you deserve a great relationship is key.

I believe it is important to find someone who will be your best friend, whom you can trust, whom you can grow with and learn from. Someone who will be your soft place to land when life gets tough.

My new husband, George, and I started dating when I was in grade 10. The reason we have a great relationship today is because we have similar values & he has the characteristics I was looking for. It is not that we don’t have bumps along the way- it is that we have the same commitment to each other. We are committed to creating an amazing relationship. We are committed to having open communication, listening to one another and understanding each other’s needs. We are a team.

In order to create extraordinary relationships you have to figure out what an extraordinary relationship looks like for you. It is different for everyone.
Write it down. Focus on it. Believe you deserve it and that it is possible.
Amazing things happen when you focus on what you want and believe you can have it!
A great relationship doesn’t happen by chance- it is created!

‘Looking back on our first days who’d of thought we’d come so far
But we did You know we did ‘cause here we are.’
- lyrics from my song ‘Here’s a Story’

George & I have been together for 12 years and just got married!

Some of the biggest challenges in relationships come from the fact that most people enter a relationship in order to get something. They’re trying to find someone who’s going to make them feel good. In reality, the only way a relationship will last is if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take.

~ Anthony Robbins

Sara Westbrook
my voice your choice
Let’s Start A Love Crusade

Sara Westbrook is an international singer/songwriter/speaker. Sara created UPower® concerts, motivational concerts designed to let people, especially youth, know they have the ability to make powerful choices that will create a positive impact no matter what the circumstance.

Each song Sara writes contains a life skill. Through the power of speech and music Sara takes people on a journey. Let the Journey Begin
at www.sarawestbrook.com

Cindy Ashton, Positive singer, speaker and author

As we walk along our path in life, it can be easy to get into the comfort of our routine, denying our deepest desires. In dreaming the big dream, many of us struggle because our fears come creeping in. Instead we either make small goals or we fail to dream at all. I am going to dare to you claim what you want, despite the fear or as I like to call it… your monsters! It is time to conquer those fears in the way of dreaming the big dream.

Are you ready?…..

Two Things To Keep In Mind

Now, when claiming the dream, 2 things to keep in mind:
1. If the dream doesn’t scare you, it is not big enough.
2. You should not know the HOW of how it will manifest itself.

Here are the top 4 fears aka monsters that may appear:

1. “What happens if I fail it at?”

Dare to live the dream. Keep focused on the end result. Ask the universe/inner knowing for guidance and signs. Take action when you get it, even if it doesn’t make sense (and it probably will not). Reflect and learn the lessons as you go so you don’t keep repeating the same pattern. And if you don’t achieve it right away, at least you are much closer than you were a year ago. Keep going and it is just a matter of time.

2. “What happens if I tell people what I am going to do and it doesn’t manifest? I don’t want to be embarrassed or look stupid”

What is more important? Conforming to limiting beliefs of others so you can be accepted and then being miserable that you aren’t living your dreams? OR Daring to stand out from the crowd (in which case you will attract new friends who DO have more open beliefs) and having a shot at living your purpose and being happy?

3. “I am afraid to dream because I have been disappointed in the past.”

That is the past. You do not have to keep repeating it. Instead of seeing these as disappointments, start to ask yourself these questions, “What did I learn from those experiences? How can I do things differently this time?”

4. “I think it is impossible.”

Every time you think this thought, ask yourself these questions, “Has anyone else is this world, achieved what I want?  Has anyone else had major obstacles to overcome, but still found a way to achieve success? Has there ever been a time in my life when I felt like I was trapped or something was impossible, but somehow in the end it all worked out?” Journal your responses and review them whenever you have doubt.

Why is living the dream such a Positive Imperative?

The consequence when you succumb to the fear and doubts is that you give up and the Neutral of Procrastination takes hold.  That Neutral becomes a negative ripple effect and will give rise to more Neutrals which may include indifference and apathy.  They in turn can eventually become the catalyst for many other negatives in your life.     Think not? Take a look at the many people who have had tragic ends to their lives and you may find a ripple effect that goes all the way back to when they gave up on their dream.  The dream killer is like the dark reaper…. it doesn’t take hold the first few days, weeks or months you procrastinate, it hits you like a tone of bricks when you realize the spark of the dream fizzled out years ago, and perhaps the vitality, fuel, and most importantly the physical and mental health to make it happen.

PIQ Positive Imperative Question.

Okay now dare to claim the dream! When those monsters appear, acknowledge and kiss them goodbye. You can accomplish anything!  So what are you going to accomplish that will be a big dream, a legacy, something to leave behind?

Wishing you an incredible day!

Cindy

Kiss Your Monsters Away

Cindy Ashton is a motivational performer, speaker and expert in overcoming obstacles. Born with a 20% chance of living, Cindy underwent three heart surgeries by age fourteen and was left in chronic pain and with a damaged lung. Recovering well beyond doctor’s expectations, she has gone on to train in a professional dance company six hours a day and sing opera, even on her damaged lung. An internationally published writer, Cindy was recently published in Performance Magazine, alongside Donald Trump, President Obama and Tony Robbins. In presenting keynote speeches, interactive seminars and motivational concerts across North America, Cindy combines her extensive backgrounds in performing, education and kinesiology with her own real life experience. Cindy has been featured on CBC Radio, Metro News and the Body Mind Spirit Show as well as other international media. She released her debut CD, Don’t Rain On My Parade, in 2006, her Kiss the Monster Meditation CD in 2008 and her book, Kiss Your Monsters Goodbye: Overcome Your Obstacles & Achieve the Success You Deserve.
www.cindyashton.com

Catherine Graham

It’s not very often we get to see humanity joined as one, participating together, laughing, loving, and enjoying the true nature of themselves.  In fact, so often, we find ourselves separated from each other, thinking we are the only ones who feel the way we do, who think the way we do, who see the way we do.  Now, more and more, I am seeing these changes….where humanity is becoming more ‘ONE’ than ‘NONE’.

Victor Sinclair, founder of Positive Imperative, and Positive Music Imperative, has nailed this one on the head, as he sends out the message that positively filling your life with positivity, positively changes your life.

Every day, I listen for the next positive song to blog about , the one that speaks to me, the one that I can share with others.  This is how I can contribute, one small step at a time, to raise the positivity of others.

I was quite excited this morning, when I didn’t have to look very far.  Posted on my Facebook wall, was a video from Oprah, and the Black Eyed Peas, a joint venture, to celebrate Oprah’s Big Launch Party.

I’ve Got a Feeling