The Lure Guide Center

Here we are, on the fast track of the approaching lazy, hazy days of summer. Perhaps your family will be experiencing a graduation or maybe a wedding. Perhaps you’re looking forward to outdoor cookouts, vacations, fun in the sun, laughter, relaxation, being with friends, or even an afternoon siesta. Most individuals believe these times of celebration are reserved for specific times, or for weekends or holidays.

Most of my life I believed it was about struggle and work with times of fun sprinkled around in particular moments. Never in my wildest imagination did I conceive of the idea that all of life could be a celebration, until recent years when I realized this truth. Having lived on both sides of the fence, I can assure you that the way I now live exceeds all that went before.

Celebration is defined as experiencing good times, honoring publicly or sharing in festivities. My wish for you is to understand that ALL of life can be this way, and that the only thing required to experience this phenomenal life depends on your choice.

Right now you might be saying something like, “Yea, right, what a joke. This lady has no idea what’s going on in my life or she wouldn’t make such a ridiculous statement.” Here’s the beautiful part of what I just stated…it’s really true!

Everything in our life revolves around choice. We can choose to see the glass half empty of half full. We can see our challenges as struggle and hardship or as a gift that helps us move beyond what we thought we could do. There’s a saying out there that goes like this: “If you believe you can, or you can’t, you’re right!” Get it? It’s all up to you!

You will experience challenges that may appear to be difficulties or even tragic. You might experience illness, death of a loved one, job loss, financial devastation, broken relationships, all of which can appear as a tragedy, certainly not a celebration. But you can choose another way of viewing these life situations.

Everything comes into your life for a reason, and it always is there to help you grow. When things are going along perfectly smooth you usually don’t ask for divine help: you probably figure you’re doing pretty well by yourself. Then along comes the appearance of a problem and what immediately happens - you cry out for help. In this place you are ready to listen because you no longer know what to do. When individuals feel helpless, they are ready to surrender. Surrender allows one to move beyond and accomplish something not possible before. Why? Because in this place you are accepting the divine power within you as you reconnect with your power source - your Creator. Now you can move mountains!

This doesn’t mean you won’t experience challenges, for life does bring these to everyone. But what it means is that you can see the gift in every circumstance and know it is in perfect divine order. Illness may help you see new ways for healing, including letting go of old patterns and emotional negatives as is did for me some years ago. Losing a job will most probably bring you a better job if you allow it to come to you. A broken relationship happens, and in hindsight most individuals eventually see what a blessing it was. Financial devastation is only devastating if you allow yourself to remain in the victim mindset. Instead, ask for divine help and then follow the new doors that open. It may take a while, but I have found that every time I reached a point when I thought I couldn’t make it, something out of the blue would appear and sure enough, I’d make it once again. Now, I never go to that place of doubting the end result because I know that my Creator is watching out for me as long as I remain connected and trust the process. The same can be true for you!

It may not be easy for you to see life as a celebration when you’re lying sick in a hospital bed or juggling a large stack of unpaid bills, but if you realize there is a bigger picture that although you cannot see it at that moment, there is a power greater than you on your side, directing you through whatever you are experiencing. Then you can shift internally so that you can celebrate whatever is in your path.

If you never had night it would be hard to appreciate day. So it is in your life. It’s hard to appreciate the wonderful times unless you experience the not so wonderful situations. But, no matter what, it is important for all of us to celebrate whatever enters our path. Even night has great beauty if you simply look at what it offers: bright stars, a beautiful moon, emergence of nocturnal creatures like the owls, sleep, romantic evenings, and so on. Most of these things you would miss if you only had day.

Here are a few examples. Maybe a quarrel revealed some important bits of information that helped to create a new and beautiful relationship. Perhaps while lying sick in bed you discovered new things about yourself and your life, or maybe you found out how wonderful your friends and family were as they helped you. Maybe an accident totaled your car and gave you the definite incentive to buy a new car you had been thinking about purchasing. Perhaps the day you were late due to a traffic jam saved you from being the person lying dead on the freeway.

Shift your perception of what you see in your life and amazingly your life will become quite different. This is not denial about reality, it’s simply creating the reality that you truly want. If your challenges become a great gift you can see the benefits of whatever shows up, even if it feels painful at first. As you move through the situation, you become an expanded and stronger being, and that is always a reason to celebrate!

Look at each day as a celebration of life, for each day truly is, even the very fact that you got up that morning and are alive. See it as a celebration and that’s exactly what will show up!

Carolyn Porter, D. Div., is an inspirational Speaker, Author of multiple books, ebooks and audios, Spiritual Wholeness Coach, Trainer for speaking and Energy Facilitator whose passion is to help individuals move beyond their limiting beliefs and create the life they truly want and deserve.

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I’ve had a vast array of job experiences. While in high school, I worked as maid for a local motel. While attending college, I worked as an office worker in the Sociology Department and Museum of Fine Arts. After college, I was a social worker for six years.

Following a career change, I spent the next several years working as an editor and technical writer in various publishing and software companies, including Microsoft. And…whenever I had any spare time, I worked on my true passions: creative writing and art.

I’ve worked with maids, nurses aides, office workers, people with PhDs, and millionaires. I’ve worked with people subsisting on welfare and those living…and dying…in nursing homes. I’ve worked with software engineers, project managers, and vice presidents, as well as publishers, artists, and writers.

And…in that vast array of different jobs, locations, and peoples, what have I observed?

I’ve observed maids and nurses aides who are as sharp, witty, and insightful as famous guests on television talk shows.

I’ve observed employees who had made millions in stock options, standing in the espresso line at Microsoft, bragging about how many coupons they had for free lattes.

I’ve observed post-graduate students getting their PhDs, cramming hard to write their dissertations in time, sweating over passing.

And, I watched in amusement, as a coworker who had recently received his PhD spent 30 minutes hanging a sign over his cubicle that read, “The Doctor Is In.” Otherwise, he’d just be a plain technical writer, like the rest of us.

Based on my observations from working with many types of people, millionaires and PhDs are not smarter or better than the rest of humanity. But there is one major difference: Confidence! Because of their situation, they feel much more secure about the future.

So, if millionaires aren’t smarter, why do they have a lot more money than most of us? A few reasons come to mind:

• People with money often inherit it. Or, they inherit the opportunities that come from their families having money. This often includes access to a network of well-heeled businessmen and investors.

• They are in the right place at the right time. For example, during Microsoft’s heyday, many employees became millionaires and retired after working with the company only 5 years.

• People who make millions from the ground up, from their own efforts, are rare and usually have a good business sense. Most millionaires aren’t in this category.

And, if people with advanced college degrees aren’t really smarter, they must have something (besides confidence). So, what is it?

• They have the financial resources to pay for college, whether from their family’s savings, financial aide, or working their way through school.

• They usually have good memories, or at least a good short-term memory that enables them to memorize numerous facts they promptly forget after the exams are over. (Most educational systems still reward good memories over the ability to analyze and creatively solve problems.)

• They have a certain amount of discipline. (Or, they hire ghostwriters to write their masters theses and doctoral dissertations for them! Yessome people do this!)

Life circumstances, including those that evolve from the choices we make, can make a big difference. For example, when people get married or have children at a young age, it limits their opportunities for going to school. Sometimes people must take care of disabled family members or younger siblings. There are many life events, some unforeseen, that can make it nearly impossible for someone to complete a college, or even a high-school, education. But most of these have nothing to do with intelligence.

So! If you have been feeling “less than” because you don’t have a degree, an advanced degree, or a million dollars in the bank, please stop beating yourself up. Most likely, you are just as smart as the next person. You are just on a different path.

And, contrary to popular belief, having a college degree doesn’t automatically mean you’ll earn more money. I’ve known service workers who work for themselves–for example, guys who mow lawns, paint houses, and wash windows-who earn more than many software engineers!

I’ve also worked with people from all over this country, and people from countries all over the world - including Asia, Vietnam, Canada, Ireland, England, France, Indonesia, India, and Russia. I have found most of these people to be intelligent, charming, and sincere. Yes, our customs (and our senses of humor) may be different, but most of our needs are very similar.

Yet stereotypes abound. Some people feel a need to judge others, or themselves, by superficial differences. But when all is said and done, no group of individuals is smarter, better, or less than another. We each have our own talents and strengths. As well as our own weaknesses.

We each live life the best way we know how, learning lessons along the way. And, hopefully, learning tolerance and compassion as well.

About The Author

O’Vivian is a versatile author and artist who believes that art has the ability to help heal, and inspire, the Soul. O’Vivian holds degrees in psychology and sociology, and has long been fascinated by spiritual psychology, the human condition, and the seemingly universal quest for a more meaningful existence. These elements invariably find their way into most of her work. To view O’Vivian’s work, go to http://www.ovivian.com. To contact O’Vivian, send email to ovivian@ovivian.com.

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In the form of a simple easy to use checklist, you can score how well you are doing out of 10. Better still, ask them. It’s like what they describe as a mini-360^o, where your people get the chance to give you feedback. Only here it is a lot easier and far far cheaper! But then it’s how you handle the results of feedback that counts the most.

Scoring gives you focus and a better way of moving forward than some nebulous measure like ‘Good’ or even ‘Excellent’. And that measuring is what can and will prompt you to make the effort to move up a notch or two. Your own ‘motivation’ will require you to have the same conditions delivered well by your boss, so there is the opportunity to give upwards feedback yourself too.

That is such a powerful thing for you to do. Feedback in this way is a high level of intimacy in a business relationship - if you take it up.

So, have fun and use this checklist to see if you are doing all you can to ‘Motivate’ the people in your business.

1. I have easy, regular conversations with my people /10

2. I have a natural interest in people /10

3. I say ‘Thank You‘ and give praise regularly /10

4. I give credit where it is due /10

5. I treat everyone equally and fairly /10

6. I always keep the promises I make - or I don’t make them /10

7. I delegate responsibility wherever I can, with guidance /10

8. My people know exactly what is expected of them /10

9. Challenge is a part of the way we work /10

10. I coach, support and guide my people to their success /10

Averaged out, your total score out of ten is /10. So, which one’s are those that you can make steps forwards in quickly - what moves your score in the ten areas above, up two or preferably three points? Again, talk with your people - get them to help you!

And, having achieved this, you will find a few more tips to follow - the ‘Advanced Level’ - in a couple of weeks!

Copyright 2005 Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide,
mainly by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He
has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website,
http://www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com.

(Note to editors. Feel free to use this article, wherever you think it might be of value - it would be good if you could include a live link)

…helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow…

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