Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Hollywood stars are not going to use this secret trick

Yesterday was my birthday. I realize this morning that 59 is old. When there's leftover pie, you might as well eat some for breakfast. You may not get another chance.

Not that I am going to go completely crazy, but this is a time to loosen the rules a little. It occurs to me I am never going to look like Hugh Jackman, and that's okay. While I'm sure Mr. Jackman is an affable and decent fellow, and very talented, a big part of his job is looking good for a living. Thus he sacrifices, and he has an army of people to advise him about what he eats, wears and how much and how often he exercises.

I woke up at five this morning to write. There's nothing particularly virtuous about it; it was just that I'd slept long enough and there was nothing I wanted to do more than get started in my study.

A more disciplined man would start the day with a 3-mile run or a grapefruit, both of which would improve my chances of getting into last year's pants. Though I'll take some time for physical activity later today, it isn't my first priority at this point in my life, and I'm not going to be slavish or self-sacrificial about it.

I asked for a birthday pie, and Vicki is so kind and sweet that she made one, marionberry, my favorite, and it might have been her first. The filling was soupy, but you could spoon it over the crust and it was delicious.

I'm having a wedge for breakfast, and if Hugh Jackman is in the neighborhood, he can run over and have some too.
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This is the Way the Transformation Begins


"Some men see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say "Why not?"
George Bernard Shaw, Robert F. Kennedy


This is the way the transformation begins.
It begins in me.
It begins now.
It begins with small incremental changes and shifts in attitude
it begins with positive action
failing forward
and suddenly I start looking at the world and my place in it in a new way. I speak differently and dress differently and project a different energy, and the world opens up like a glorious pink azalea bush, eight feet tall and blooming like mad.


photo by Kajo123 from the website flickr.com

Good morning!

An engineer builds a bridge and every bolt and weld has to be exactly right; every measure has to be perfect, or the bridge collapses or fails to take its place. Fantastically detailed blueprints have to be laid out. Impact statements have to be filed, sediment has to be studied, years of effort, months of planning, and a man-made marvel rises in the sky. Park somewhere and take a good look at a bridge, and think of all the skill and knowledge and hard honest work it took to create it. Consider how a few thousand years ago we were living in caves.

It is not so with a dream. Some people are remarkable dreamers and dreams spring whole from them, or they can leap up from bed and pages of creative genius flow out of their pen, intricate and perfect. Most of us though are baby dreamers, new at it and tentative to the trust the power of what we wish for.

Start the dream! Whether you want to go to nursing school or college or learn to play the guitar, take a first step, now, even in the wrong direction. Don't wait for the blueprint to come to you, the environmental impact statement, the permits and the 200-page budget and legislative dream approval. Rough it out, sketch it on a napkin, tell a friend, and take action. Your dream begins the moment you step out in first moment of believing, and the result can touch a thousand souls. Listen to Jim Valvano: never give up, never surrender. Believe in the audacity of action and your fantastic potential for change and new opportunity.

The Hawthorne Bridge at sunrise, Portland Oregon. Photo by Joe Collver, from flickr.com
Genuine happiness and success start with an attitude of abundance

Make it a daily practice to begin your day with five minutes of thankfulness. You can even do it in your car on the way to work. Do it in your own way, whether it's thoughtful reflection or a prayer or singing out loud, but focus on your rich, amazing, abundant life.

Feeling grumpy or resentful or worried instead of thankful? Change direction! Consider the incredible gifts you have--mind, body, spirit, senses, your family, your friends, your clothes, your car, and the breakfast you enjoyed this morning. By the standards of 99% of the world, Americans are incredibly, amazingly rich. You truly have no idea how richly blessed you are until you start thinking about it. Even the heart that beats within you and the lungs that breathe your air are an intricate and amazing miracle.

Some of my favorite movies are ones that feature a once-defeated character waking up to an absolutely new day: "It's A Wonderful Life," the various versions of Dicken's "Christmas Carol" and "Groundhog Day." How exhilarating it is for George Bailey to wake up and realize his life isn't over, it's just beginning, and that today truly is a brand new day.


"It's a Wonderful Life"

"It's a Wonderful Life"
George returns home to everything he ever wanted.