Did You Lose Your Legacy?

At the end of every year, I often experience a period of reflection. And when I think back on my life, I am happy to see a few brilliant moments.

 

• My bicycle trip across the country with my friend Pat to raise money for kids with cancer. (www.fourdiamondsfund.org)
• My extraordinarily mystical trip to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota where I was honored to sweat with one of the elders involved in the last Native American uprising at Wounded Knee in 1973.
• My 2 years of full-time volunteer environmental work where I introduced hundreds of students to the importance of preserving the natural world around us while influencing policy at the local, county, state and federal level.
• The brief moments I shared with the radiant Maggie Doyne and her ever-inspirational organization, BlinkNow. (www.blinknow.org)

 

Each of these moments called to my heart. And after each one, I imagined . . . no . . . was inspired to do more.

 

• Start an annual bike ride with college students to raise money for kids with cancer.
• Become a leading environmentalist that would change the mindset of Americans and our wasteful ways.
• Restore the pride, honor and lives of the Native people who had everything ripped from them by our forefathers.
• Move to Nepal and spend a few years in service to Maggie as she established her organization.

 

Sadly, I did none of these, and yet I still think about them regularly.

 

Here’s the VITALLY IMPORTANT thing we NEED to know about inspiration.

 

Inspiration requires immediate attention.

 

When that flash of brilliance hits you, don’t think about it. Don’t ponder it. Don’t percolate on it. Don’t strategize about it. Don’t try and develop a plan.

 

That is not what inspiration calls us to do.

 
 
 

Inspiration calls us to immediate action.

 

It comes from our intuition. A deep, internal knowing in our soul. It promises a life of excitement, joy, fulfillment and feeling fully alive! But it asks that we take immediate action . . . and to trust.

 

That is the hardest part. That is what kills countless dreams and possibilities. Our fear and inability to trust and make the leap.

 

This coming year, when inspiration hits you, no matter how big or small it is, whether it is about your life, your family, your business, a relationship, your community, your future, whatever – take that leap. Just close your eyes and leap.

 

I promise it will lead to an astonishing life you love . . . and it might just become your legacy!

 

First you jump off the cliff, then you build your wings on the way down.

 

– Ray Bradbury

 

Don’t ever question inspiration. As hard as it may be to believe, it is a message from the Universe guiding you. It is an answer or clue to something you have been pondering or wanting for a while. Sometimes we don’t see how that inspiration fits into our life, but without fail it does. The answer to “how” is only revealed in the future, and without a magic crystal ball, it is TRUST that will lead the way there.

 

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He Who Hesitates . . . Dies

It’s no secret that conditions change quickly. Whether they are conditions in your life or business, what is true one moment may not be true the next.

 

I often walk through the woods near my home on a path that passes several streams. Until a few days ago, everything seemed fairly normal with these streams. Then, as if it happened overnight, the water levels dropped noticeably. One particular stream stopped flowing. It may just be my awareness this year, but I don’t recall seeing this occur in the previous 2 years I walked this path.

 

Then, just as suddenly, that one stream that stopped flowing went from a small pond, to a small puddle. Overnight. As I stopped and took advantage of this unusual opportunity to explore the rarely exposed stream bed, I noticed a great deal of movement in the puddle. It was filled with several small fish that did not swim to safety when they had the chance before the stream began to dry up. Now, they were stuck and left vulnerable in an ever-shrinking mud hole, which by my guess, gave them only 1 or 2 days left to live, especially if rains did not come soon.

 

Watching them frantically swim in the little puddle of muddy water, coming to the surface every now and then to gulp some air, it was hard not to reflect on the situations in my life where I perhaps did not act as quickly as I should have, and my indecision left me in a very vulnerable position with very few, if any, options.

 

Watching this lesson in life unfold before my eyes reminded me of one of my favorite quotes I heard at a business seminar, “Hesitation is the leading cause of road kill.”

 

The next day when I walked past this puddle, the water, and the fish, were gone. All that was left in its place was a drying stream bed and tracks from a smart raccoon who easily feasted on the fish that were left so vulnerable.

 

Where in your life have you, or are you, hesitating when you know you should take action? Are you doubting your instinct and not trusting yourself to make a certain move? The Universe rewards action; even more so if it is immediate action. Don’t delay and get caught in the mud hole. Chances are, that will only lead to you becoming someone else’s meal.

 

The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it.

– W. M. Lewis

 

Stop waiting for your life to begin, or for conditions to be just perfect before you do something you know you need to do or have always wanted to do. Take action now. Your life will feel uniquely rewarded and enriched by doing so.

 

Or, like the wise men in this video, and in corporations across the globe . . . you could just have a meeting.

 
 

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The Hidden Secret to Manifesting

Not to long ago, the movie/book The Secret received a great deal of attention. Ever since, its wisdom has been helping millions of people create miracles in their lives. I see this phenomenon as part of an “awakening” that is going on in our country and throughout the world.

But there is a hidden secret within the concept of the Law of Attraction that I believe is not emphasized enough in the movie and book. It is incredibly simple and it magnifies quite measurably the power of manifesting all you desire.

The secret is this: more than just thinking and visualizing our desires, we must also speak them into the world and take action. By expressing our desire, we connect with those around us and tap into their infinite energy and possibility as well. There is certainly power in holding an intention by oneself, but there is unlimited power in sharing it with the world and connecting to all those around you. Imagine how the energy of that intention is multiplied when others hold it along with you.

In the world of physics, this concept is known as resonance – when two objects vibrate at the same level or frequency. When this occurs, not only is their energy transferred, but it is also combined and strengthened. The power and possibility of this simple concept is amazing.

 

To find a very simple and clear explanation of this concept click here:

 

 

To see one of the most mesmerizing and powerful examples of resonance and frequencies aligning, click below:

 

 

Equally as powerful as speaking your desire into the world is taking action upon it. The Universe responds to energy, and what greater way to poke the Universe into action than to send your own wave of it out into the world. That is what an action is, a wave of energy. And invariably, the Universe will respond. I believe the philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe captured this concept best when he said,

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness, concerning all acts of initiative (and creation). There is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.”

The Universe does indeed want to give us all we desire in our heart, but just thinking it is not enough. Keeping an intention a secret does not serve us as powerfully as it can. There is a massive amount of help and support around us to help fulfill our desires, but we have to let those around us know what we desire, take some action and allow them to contribute to us and increase the frequency.

One voice singing a cappella can be beautiful and moving. A whole choir of voices singing in unison inspires the world.

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