Which are you?

"There are some people who 'live in a dream world', and there are some who 'face reality'; and then there are those who turn the former into the latter."

-- Douglaus Everett

I'm sure you've heard the expressions: "He's living in a dream world. Sometimes you just have to face reality." These expressions define our current and self-imposed limitations in life. I used to hear them applied to me quite often, before I was clear about who I am and what I'm here for. I am clear now. Anything you can imagine you can create. Anything you can focus on and think about relentlessly, commit to completely, hold yourself accountable to being, can be yours, with the world knocking down your door to ask you how you've done it.

The challenge of acting on wisdom

"Wisdom is knowing what path to take next. ... Integrity is taking it."

-- Robyn Elpruhzlein

"History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely only after they have exhausted all other alternatives."

-- Abba Eban

I know that I have learned to hold myself ruthlessly accountable to my word only after having tried everything possible to avoid doing so, and then after having had to dig myself out from the rubble of the consequences of those evasive actions. Many people would love to learn the lessons of those of us who've failed miserably without having to experience the pain of those failures, but only a few seem to have the necessary awareness, commitment, and discipline to actually pull that off. It seems that more often than not complete and utter failure is the best and only teacher. Fortunately for you, if you are consciously reading this before you unconsciously create that complete and utter failure, you get to choose. I wish you the very best with that choice. When it comes to landing on the ground floor of your own personal truth, you can either take the stairs or the window.

A note of thanks to you

"Happiness in life is not measured by the things we achieve, the places we go, or the route that we take to get there. Happiness in life is measured by the people that we share all of our experiences with and the quality of that sharing."

-- Chris Needham

It feels good every so often to take a moment to thank all of you for being such a generous place where I can share myself with all my heart. You are an awesome community of great listeners, and I feel truly blessed.

Get busy living, or get busy dying.

"To live is so startling, it leaves little time for anything else."

-- Emily Dickinson

I find myself really busy these days, but I'm realizing that it's not the way I used to feel "busy." Busy used to be a distraction from my real life - from what was most important to me. It used to be a frantic attempt to escape a nightmare I made up about myself in a child's mind. Busy is now about experiencing my real life full-out. To really live, which includes fully experiencing the wonder of each aching, breathing, conscious, death-defying, effervescent moment (ah, you thought I was going through the whole alphabet again, did ya?), is so astounding that spending it distracted or in complaint about it for one moment is such a colossal waste of time. Feel it, yes, by all means feel all of it. Numb yourself or complain about feeling it, no way. It is too precious a gift and such an awesome journey of discovery. It's kind of like when Jodie Foster discovers God's hand in her first real "vision" of the universe in the movie, "Contact," where she sighs in amazement, "there are just no words for the beauty of this." Yesterday was filled with such raw, real life, such profound opportunity to connect with and serve others, which really serves me. It doesn't always show up for me that I'm "doing it right," but I trust God know what he's doing by using me this way. It overwhelms, thrills, and sometimes sickens me with its intensity. And just when I was starting to feel totally exhausted, it all became so completely worthwhile when Anne comforted me over dinner with the comment, "I want to be a rock for you to lean on at times like this." God, thank you for the miracles of my life and my wife, and please help me get better at doing your work and relaxing in its flow.

The inner revolution

"The greatest revolution in our generation is that of human beings who, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives."

-- Marilyn Ferguson

Today has been a day of intense support of the above revolution in so many lives, starting with my own - an ongoing battle. There are so many "legitimate" reasons to feel angry, sad, and lonely in this world. Whether its global terrorism, or local snipers, or interpersonal power struggles, or money struggles, or partnership intimacy struggles, or blinding addictions to avoid feeling this or that. It takes such heroic work to transcend callousness and resignation in the face of it all, and I have committed my life to supporting those who choose to BOTH feel whatever it is they feel, honoring their humanity in the process, AND then choose what they actually create and experience in their lives. There is so much beauty and joy possible on the other side of those very real feelings.

Returning home

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs, and returns home to find it."

-- George Moore

We've been away from home for a few days, enjoying the world while showing it to Jake, and it's nice to be home. For those who have reached out wondering where these messages in your morning inbox might have gone, we're sorry to keep you guessing, and we're back.

Happiness

"Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them from the inside."

--Leo Tolstoy

I am away right now, in Port Aransas with my family, thanks to a gift from a client and friend of the use of his family's beach condo for a long weekend. After a wonderful night's sleep and a morning run on the beach, we all went down to a nearby fishing pier, ate breakfast at The Pier House, and then walked out on the pier to see what Jake calls the "BIG oshin." Well, I have been on many fishing piers in my day, having spent many summers on the Jersey Shore, but I have never experienced such joy in the midst of crusty old fisherman and spilled fish guts. Jake ran down that pier with his face up to the sky and his hair blown back by the wind, and I swore he was going to lift into the air just like the seagulls. It reminded me of that last scene in the movie, "Powder," where the boy was running through the fields to meet an oncoming thunderstorm, his face toward the sky in total bliss. And then we walked further down along the beach and some very nice women saw Jake and offered him some stale croissants to feed the gulls, and his face lit up all over again. As I tore pieces of the croissant off and handed them to Jake the birds would all hover in the wind right over his head, and all of us would shriek with delight as they gulped his offerings. Anne got some great pictures as we walked holding hands in awe of our life and our little boy. It was heaven. Things I have done hundreds of times before, all new, all through the eyes of a child. Thank you, D. & T., for being in our lives and for the opportunity to visit this wonderful place.