The Navigator

Archive for the ‘Reflections’ Category

I have lots of great memories from summer’s past.  My most recent is one that might surprise others.  It involves the great storms of the summer.  Sitting here in the basement and hearing the hail hit the house and running upstairs with my daughter to watch the rain and wind and hail as it flails around outside.  We are safe inside, enjoying each other’s company, in awe of the wonders of nature.   The hail as large as big marbles filling the driveway and yard, a pile of them building in the corner of the deck.

It’s a bummer that the hail has damaged the house, we now have holes in the siding again for the third time in about 4 years.  I have mixed emotions as I think about the insurance companies who will now have to pay out many claims for damage and the companies who’s livelihood depends, in part, on storms like these for business.  I don’t like having to go through the process of filing a claim and filling out the paperwork involved but it’s just a fact of life we have to deal with.

I think about how much this is like my business.  I love having the opportunity to create and I love the process that involves.  I don’t love all the paperwork required to make it all happen.  All that left brain stuff that makes my head spin.  But it’s necessary.  I understand how important it is because, without it, great things cannot happen.  My good friend, Rebecca Metz, has something coming soon that I can’t wait to share with you.  Something that will inspire you beyond belief and will show you truly why all that stuff we don’t love to do is so important.

Today, take a step moving forward.  Do something you don’t love to do and get it done OR, even better, find someone else to do it for you and outsource or delegate!  Wishing you a life full of many successes (and just a little hail).

Saw these posted on the ISMA site and thought you might enjoy them as much as I did.  Great philosophy for life!

OPEN A NEW WINDOW Lyrics
Jerry Herman, Mame

Open a new window,
Open a new door,
Travel a new highway,
That’s never been tried before;
Before you find you’re a dull fellow,
Punching the same clock,
Walking the same tight rope
As everyone on the block.

The fellow you ought to be is three dimensional,
Soaking up life down to your toes,
Whenever they say you’re slightly unconventional,
Just put your thumb up to your nose.
And show ‘em how to dance to a new rhythm,
Whistle a new song,
Toast with a new vintage,
The fizz doesn’t fizz too long.
There’s only one way to make the bubbles stay,
Simply travel a new high way,
Dance to a new rhythm,
Open a new window ev’ry day!

If you follow your Auntie Mame
I’ll make this vow, my little love,
That on the last day of your life
You’ll be smiling the same young smile
You’re smiling now, my little love,
If you wake up ev’ry mornin’
And you pull aside the shutter,
And you promise me that these’ll be
The first words that you utter
Open a new window,
Open a new door,
Travel a new highway,
That’s never been tried before;

Open a new window ev’ry day!

Squirrels are not liked by many but truly deserve our admiration, in my opinion.  They are destructive little creatures because, once they set their mind to something, they don’t quit until they achieve it.  Is this a bad thing?  I guess it depends on who’s eyes you are looking through.  I, for one, admire them for all they are able to teach us.

Did you know they can live almost anywhere.  Who wouldn’t want a life where they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want??  I know I’m doing my best to create a business that travels with me so I can enjoy my life in climates and conditions that I like best.  I can’t wait to take full advantage of that!  Squirrels tend to avoid high polar regions and the driest of deserts – can you blame them?  The land must support them.  They need to be able to find food and shelter.  We also need to have access to things that support us.  Family, friends, nourishment, etc.

Squirrels have excellent vision.  This is important since they always need to be on the lookout for food and for predators.   Now, I don’t spend a lot of time looking out for the same type of predator they look for (I seriously doubt a hawk or eagle is going to be able to swoop down and take me away), I do spend time looking for other types…mostly time wasters.  These little guys are so destructive to our success in life.  Always ask yourself, if what you are doing will get you closer to your goals.  If not, do you really want to spend your time that way?

Squirrels collect what they need and plan ahead for leaner times.  What a brilliant concept and yet so difficult for many of us.  Being self-employed, this is my biggest struggle – planning ahead while building a business to support my family.  Squirrels seem to understand this concept well and are always looking for food, even if they have plenty.

Squirrels are very hardworking, diligent and prudent.  They never, ever give up.  They make calculated decisions.  Have you ever watched a squirrel on a mission?  They try something and, if it doesn’t work, they try something else.  They seem to sit and think it through before deciding what route to take next.  It takes some work, even when we are in the flow, to move forward in life.  We must be diligent and not lose site of our goals.  We must make wise choices that are well thought out.  And, hopefully, it still feels fun most of the time (if not all of the time) for you.   Life doesn’t have to be painful.  Look at the squirrel.   Climbing and playing and chattering with others.  What a great life!

Here is an article I published in one of my newsletters a while back that I got so much positive feedback on, I wanted to share it again.

I am Powerful Article

There is nothing as incredible as feeling powerful and in control of your own life!  However, you are not alone if you have ever felt like you give your power away to others and you don’t know what to do about it.
Here are some signs you may be giving away your power to others:
•    You doubt yourself.
•    You try to make everyone else happy.
•    You go along with others to avoid making waves.
•    You look for approval from others instead of from within.
•    You buy into other people’s drama.
•    You allow yourself to be intimidated.
•    You have poor boundaries.
Any of this sound familiar to you?  It does to me.  I doubt myself.  I look for approval from others.  So why do I do this?  There are many reasons we give our power away.  It might be a habit.  It might be the way we were raised.  We might be afraid of confrontation.  Maybe it feels good in the moment to take care of someone.  What happens when we focus only on that one little moment in time instead of considering the long term impact?
Each time we give our power away, we sell a little bit of our soul.  Over time this adds up.  Even if it feels good in that moment, the price is quite  high.    The good news is we can learn to be powerful, to be in control of our life.   Here are some suggestions:
•    Remember to breathe.
•    Practice staying in your own energy, space, etc.
•    Learn to say “no” and mean it.
•    See yourself as a whole being, with all the right answers.
•    Use your anger wisely and stand up for yourself.  Anger isn’t always bad – just use it wisely.
•    Ask for what you want and need.
•    Realize that other people have their own path and you are not responsible for them.
•    Remember that someone else’s behavior almost never has anything to do with you.  Practice just observing it without any attachments.
When we choose to live our life from a place of strength and trust, when we are living authentically it means we have the courage to show up as our true self.  It doesn’t mean being rude or inconsiderate.  It does mean speaking our truth and believing in who we are at our very core.

Today I choose to be my authentic self.  Today I will not apologize for that.  Today I choose to be powerful and it feels really great!

Today I hope you’ll choose to be your authentic self.  Today I hope you will not apologize for it.  Today I hope you will choose to be powerful and it will feel really great!

Another good one that I’ve probably posted in the past but good to get the reminder.

I think I’ve posted this in the past but it’s been a while and always a good one to reflect on:

You have been telling the people that this is the 11th hour.
Now you must go back and tell the people that this is The Hour.

And there are things to be considered…

Where are you living?
What are you doing?
Where are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.

It is time to speak your Truth.

Create your community.
Be good to each other.
And do not look outside of yourself for the leader.

Then he clasped his hands together, smiled, and said,

This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold onto the shore.
They will feel that they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination.

The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river
Keep our eyes open and our heads above the water.

And I say, see who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all, ourselves.
For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over.
Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.

All that we do must now be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

Yesterday I posted about my scary trip on 35W Monday evening.  If you didn’t read the last post, you may want to before reading this one.

My feeling of floating, of not connecting to the road also connects for me on how it is in business when you don’t have the right tools to get you where you want to go.  It’s tough to get traction when you don’t have what you need and are trying to “go forward” anyway.  Sometimes, we need to take a little detour and re-evaluate where we are at before taking action.

Do you have a business plan?  A marketing plan?  Are you clear about what you want?

These are just a few things to consider when in business for yourself.  Make sure you have the tools you need to be successful (however you define that)!

As some of you may have heard, last night I traveled to Owatonna to teach a Community Ed class on Auras and Chakras (including those great photos!).  The roads, weather and traffic were not pretty.  What should have taken me an hour to drive from my last meeting ended up taking me 2 1/2 hours!  I was late.  I’m never late to teach a class.  Luckily, everyone waited and they were happy when I arrived – nothing like being cheered on by 20 people in a room LOL.  They were even happier when I told them I was going to give them all their reports instead of having them pay the $10 if they wanted it since they had been so patient (they cheered again).

After class, I set out to make my way home.  It was the weirdest experience driving that I think I have ever had.  I felt like I was floating along the highway.  My car felt like it was being pulled side to side by wind but there wasn’t much wind.  I couldn’t feel the road under my car.  It was as if it wasn’t there.  I felt really unsure of myself and where I was headed.  After driving slowly for about an hour, noticing how few cars were on the road which seemed odd for 35W, I passed a white van that had gone off the road and rolled in the ditch.  A semi had pulled over to help them.

That was all it took.  I pulled off the road at the next exit, stopped at a gas station, bought a toothbrush and toothpaste and found a hotel for the night.

I am so glad I followed my intuition in deciding to pull off the road.  At the gas station, there were people talking about another accident up the road and how the highway was glare ice.  That must be why I felt like I was floating and couldn’t feel the road beneath my car.

This story has a couple of connections for me that I would like to share with you, one now and one tomorrow.

On your  journey, there will be times that you feel like you are floating along.  There will also be times when you feel like you can’t get any traction and aren’t making any progress.  Take a minute and ask yourself what you need to do right now in your life for your highest good.  If you follow your intuition, it will never steer you wrong.  While someone jokingly told me I should have kept going last night (he does auto body repair), I knew what was right for me to pull over and take a break.  I listened.  It slowed down my journey a bit but I made it home, safe and sound and my family, both two-legged and furry, never looked so good to me.  Trust your intuition.  Listen to the guidance it provides every step of the way.  Life is so much more enjoyable this way.

Isn’t Sunday supposed to be a day of rest?  LOL I guess when I am my own boss, I can’t complain about doing a little work today.  After all, it is my choice and I do love what I do.  I noticed the sun is shining brightly and hope to go into town a little later to get my car washed.  It is in dire need!

I shared a little bit on Facebook last night about how I got lost in the middle of nowhere heading home after a class in WI.  It was late, it was dark and I was tired.  It was all I could do to stay focused on the prize of getting home instead of losing it.  Before I went to the class, I had a nudge to print the directions on Mapquest in reverse…a nudge I obviously ignored.  I thought I’ll be fine, I’m used to following directions, I can figure it out to get back home.

Well, most of the time that’s true.  I’m pretty well versed on the art of following directions but every once in a while, I need that extra help and guidance and this was definitely one of those times.  You’ll be happy to know that I did make it home, in one piece and not too crabby.  I found a nice man at a gas station who gave me directions to get back to the highway (side note:  how come gas station attendants never seem to know where they are??).  Lastly, don’t give up.  I was so frustrated and was on the verge of losing it when that man appeared and gave me exactly what I needed.  Most businesses give up, right before the turning point would have happened where they can experience the success they desire.

Don’t give up on your dream!

Check out her blog: http://mixcreative.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/email-marketing-words-to-avoid/