H A P P Y
T H A N K S G I V I N G

and thank you Sarah Hale!

With Thanksgiving around the corner, I thought I would take this time to reflect on all the things I have to be thankful for.

Many people focus on the negative and they practice having a victim mentality. Nothing is ever their fault and they are experts at making excuses. These people are usually not happy, nor are they particularly fun to be around. They like to complain about everything that’s wrong and how bad they’ve got it.

I’ve heard it said that if everyone were to put their worst problems in a big pile that most of us would creep forward and gladly take our problems back. Once we see the obstacles faced by some, most of our problems are miniscule by comparison.

One of the best ways I know to be happy is to spend a little time each day giving thanks for all the good things in your life. When you practice having an "attitude of gratitude", your focus shifts to the positive. Since we get more of what we focus on, it only makes sense to look at all the gifts you already possess.

Here are just a few of the things I’m thankful for:

• Water – It quenches my thirst, soothes my body, and keeps my clothes clean.
• Electricity – It allows me to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
• Lighting – It makes maneuvering in the dark a whole lot easier.
• Modern Transportation – It allows me to explore the world.  Just imagine how difficult it would be to visit someone across country in a stagecoach!
• Food – To me it’s not only a necessity, it’s a great source of pleasure. Most people eat to live. I must admit I am sometimes guilty of "living to eat" especially around the holidays.
• Books – They allow me to learn and expand my knowledge.
• Television – Programming that’s entertaining, informative, and educational.
• Telephones – They allow me to speak with loved ones who don’t live nearby.
• Computers – They keep me organized and in touch with the world.

While these things may seem like basic necessities to some, they are luxuries to a large portion of the world and I feel so lucky to live in a time and place where these things are abundant.

Some other things I’m thankful for are:

• Great Music and the ability to hear it
• Blue skies and the ability to see them
• Sunny days
• Beaches
• Palm Trees
• Iced Mochas
• Creativity
• Family
• Friends
• Flowers and the ability to smell them
• My Kitty Cat
• Laughter
• Butterflies
• Good Health
• Modern Medicine
• Free Will
• Dark Chocolate
• Good Restaurants
• Rainbows
• Sunsets
• Green Grass
• Ice Cream
• Amaretto di Saronno
• Art
• Photographs
• Memories
• My husband, who’s love, patience, and kindness continue to overwhelm me. Someday I hope to become as wonderful as he thinks I am.

These are just a few of the many things I’m thankful for. Now take a moment to think of all the things you’re thankful for. Counting your blessings is a great attitude adjuster; it lifts your spirits and puts you in a joyful mood.

Make sure to tell the people who have helped you how much you appreciate them. And the next time you run into one of those victim types, be sure to smile and give them an encouraging word. Sharing your joy is an excellent way to give something back and to perpetuate the attitude of gratitude.

I consider myself very fortunate to live in a beautiful, sunny area of Southwest Florida, located in between Fort Myers and Naples.  The climate suits me to a tee: sub-tropical and sunny with bright blues skies.  Exotic palm trees and foliage abound, enhancing the natural beauty of the area.  Due to the sub-tropical climate, there are probably more species of palm trees here than any other part of the United States, with perhaps the exception of Hawaii.

However, there are a few drawbacks to living in Paradise: tourists and their driving habits, over-development, and the occasional hurricane.  In August 2004, Hurricane Charley paid a visit to our area and made landfall about 40 miles north of where we live.  My husband and I prepared for the storm, relaxed, and rode it out.  After the storm had passed, we drove around town to see if any damage had occurred.

Since the hurricane made landfall further up the coast, the damage to our area wasn’t too severe and thankfully, no lives were taken.  Some buildings had roof damage, business signs were damaged, docks were torn out, and many trees were either completely uprooted and some just snapped in two.  The one thing that really stood out among all of the destruction was the palm trees.  Not a single palm tree was damaged!  That’s because palm trees have a great deal of flexibility.  Rather than resist the heavy winds they simple give and bend with the wind.  The trees that lacked this flexibility lay scattered and broken all around.

You may be wondering what the palm tree has to do with having success in life.  If we choose to be flexible with our plans and our thinking, then we open ourselves up to greater opportunities.  In a hurricane, trees with flexibility have success and trees with rigidity can often experience failure during turbulent times.

Flexibility in the body promotes better health and athleticism.  If you’ve ever torn a muscle then you know that an inflexible body is not a good thing.

Flexibility in relationships promotes harmony and balance.  Think about the times in your life when you’ve been inflexible to change or inflexible with your beliefs, only to later change your opinion.  Flexibility in relationships means being compassionate and having the willingness to consider the viewpoint of another.

Flexibility in business promotes new solutions and opportunities. Sometimes when you’re too focused on one thing you fail to see an opportunity that might be right before your eyes.  You might even close yourself off to a great new idea.

In trees, rigidity can cause stress and damage.  The same is true of humans.  An inflexible mind meets life with resistance, which can cause us to experience additional stress. Flexibility allows us to adapt when needed and expands our minds.

Corona has made their beer commercials quite memorable by using the slogan “Change your Latitude” and depicting images of people lounging on the beach under the swaying palms.

We can’t always change our latitude but we can change our attitude.   So instead of being inflexible, be like the palm tree and experience greater success in all you do.

Have you been procrastinating about projects you need to get started? Do you find yourself continually frustrated at the end of the day, with a mound of things that need to be done? Unfinished projects, e-mails to answer, stacks of paper that keep piling up? If so, you’re not alone. A lot of people suffer from an inability to make the most effective use of their time, but there is a solution if you just apply a few simple time management strategies. You’ll be able get more accomplished in less time with less hassle than ever before!

1. Set goals and determine what you want to accomplish. Determine when you need to have the task completed by. Don’t think of this as a "to do" list but rather a "must do" list. Don’t give yourself the option of not finishing the task.

2. Determine where you are losing time.
Keep track of what activities are eating up your valuable time. Checking e-mails throughout the day can be a huge time waster. A much better option is to get as many things accomplished as possible early on, and then check e-mails later in the day, all at once. Also, it’s a good idea to keep your e-mail folders organized so that you can easily find what you’re looking for. There’s no need to do double paper handling, even if it’s just electronic paper. Another tip for e-mails is in regards to handling long e-mails with multiple replies. Just keep the latest version and delete all previous versions. That way you won’t be reading the same things over and over again.

3. Use a daytimer or computer contact manager software.
Use one of these essential tools to list everything you need to accomplish and keep track of all your valuable contacts.

4. Prioritize.
Each morning, review the tasks you need to accomplish and prioritize them. Determine which ones are urgent, needing immediate action, and which ones can wait. Do the most important things first. Sometimes these are things you don’t really want to do but by getting the tough stuff out of the way you’ll feel a greater sense of accomplishment.

5. Ask for help; delegate.
You don’t have to do it all yourself. Ask for the assistance of others whenever possible.

6. Have a plan.
When you have a doctor’s appointment this doesn’t have to be down time. Bring something with you that you can work on – a book or report to read, a notepad, a laptop computer, or a PDA to check your email. Continue working on those tasks. Don’t let a moment go by wasted. Do this anytime you know you’ll be waiting in a lobby for any reason.

7. Work the plan. Be consistent and work the plan every day.
Consistency is the key to this endeavor. If you’ve set realistic goals and you’ve followed the seven steps outlined here, you’ll be on your way to getting things done! There may still be some days that you just can’t get everything done. If you’re consistent however, you’ll be on your way to living a more productive and less stressful life. We all have the same 24 hours in a day, and how we choose to spend this time is up to us.

Dance…

like nobody’s watching

Love…

like you’ve never been hurt

Sing…

like nobody’s listening

Live…

like it’s heaven on earth

~Mark Twain

A pessimist sees the glass as half empty and an optimist sees the glass as half full.  So which one are you?  Your thoughts are very powerful and whether you’re aware of it or not, they don’t just affect your attitude but they can also affect others around you.  I’d like to ask you to do me a favor.  I want you to listen to your thoughts and notice what thoughts fill your head? Are they positive, or negative?

Suppose you’re walking down the street with these thoughts. Do you think others would be able to tell you what’s on your mind?  Although people won’t be able to tell exactly what you’re thinking, there’s more than a good chance that they’ll know how you’re feeling.

Since your attitude is simply a reflection of your thoughts, your attitude can also affect your appearance, health and overall well being.  Others can notice this by your body language, your expressions, and even by the manner in which you dress.

The type of attitude you possess depends on you; it can be either positive or negative, the choice is yours.  To a large extent your attitude is shaped by where you focus your thoughts.  You have thousands of thoughts every day; some you dwell upon while others you immediately release.

Let’s say you’re driving along, you see an accident up ahead and traffic slows to a standstill.  Where does your focus go?  Are you annoyed because you just know some jerk driver probably caused the accident and now you’re going to be late getting home?

You could think about what a beautiful day it is and how you’ll have an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors a little longer or get caught up on your audio book.  You might also be thinking of how thankful you are that you weren’t involved in the accident.  Do you see the difference in where your focus lies?

When you go about your day, do you encounter inconsiderate idiots or do you meet thoughtful, interesting people?  If you are looking for idiots, then you will surely find them.  If you are expecting to meet wonderful people, you will surely find them.  It all depends on your focus.  Are you looking for the good or are you looking for the bad?

Much can be gained from a positive attitude. Studies have shown that a positive attitude promotes better health. Those with this kind of attitude also have more friends. If you have a positive outlook, you will attract positive people and positive attributes.  Likewise, negative attracts negative.

When you choose to focus on the positive you will project a positive self-image.  If you practice self-love and acceptance, this has a contagious effect on others.  On the other hand, focusing on the negative has the opposite effect. So, carrying a negative attitude has a twofold drawback. You feel bad about yourself, and you make others feel bad about themselves.

If you’re not already doing so, practice focusing on the positive and see what kind of results you attract.  See the glass as half full instead of half empty.  When you’re ready to kick it up a notch and really start thinking outside the box, begin visualizing the glass as completely full!  Obstacles that may have once seemed like mountains are now just bumps in the road.

When I look at the flag, I am reminded of you.
Your bravery, courage, and commitment.
Your tremendous sacrifice.

I salute you.

Here are some great examples of people with vision.  To them, failures are not failures, but merely stepping stones.

Famous Failures

I’ve heard it said that if you were to take all the money away from the wealthy and redistribute it evenly among everyone, that within one year an upper class, a middle class, and a lower class would re-emerge. I believe this to be true because some people would see opportunities and take advantage of them as they arise. Others would save or invest their money and possibly take advantage of a few opportunities. The remainder would blow their money, ignore opportunities, and make excuses as to why they no longer have the kind of life they desire.

Have you ever noticed that so many of the wealthy people in this country weren’t even born here? This is something I have always found very fascinating. I’ve heard story after story of people who immigrated to this country and came here with very little or no money. Yet many of them became very successful people, at least in terms of amassing wealth. They do whatever is necessary to acquire their dreams. Many of them achieve this success by initially living as cheaply as possible, working 2 or 3 jobs, and saving their hard earned dollars. Then they learn everything they can in a given field and often go into business for themselves. Sometimes they get small business loans if necessary. Once they achieve initial success with one store, they often go ahead and open a second and then a third. They find good managers to run the additional stores. The power of duplicity is a great way to create wealth because once you train someone to do exactly what you do you can continue duplicating this success over and over again.

Why do so many foreigners take advantage of these opportunities while the rest of us do not? I believe it’s because they see opportunities where we do not. Many of these people grew up in countries that don’t have the endless luxuries that we do.

Imagine if you lived in a shack that you shared with 10 other people. The place has no heating or air conditioning, no refrigeration, and a dirt floor. Food is scarce and you have no running water and have to walk a mile just for fresh water. Suddenly the idea of working two jobs in exchange for living in a place that has flooring and refrigeration would seem like a dream come true. The opportunity to learn about business and actually be able to get a loan for this purchase would be unheard of where you came from. So naturally, when you arrive in this country all you can see is opportunity, everywhere you look. There are even fountains with fresh water and coins in the bottom! This is obviously a place of great abundance.

Now this may be an exaggerated example but I use it to illustrate a point. Why don’t we see the many opportunities that surround us? It’s because when you’re comfortable and all of your basic needs are met it’s harder to see the opportunity. We simply don’t want to take advantage of opportunity because sometimes what’s really an opportunity feels like a tremendous sacrifice. We’re just too comfortable to see what we’ve got. So, we make excuses as to why something won’t work to avoid making what we perceive to be a sacrifice.

We use negative self-talk; getting my degree will take too much time, or owning my own business would require too much work, or getting a loan involves too much risk. Oh, and then, pursuing a certain course of action might take up too much of my time and I’d have to give up watching my favorite TV shows, and so on and so forth.

We’re like spoiled children who get everything handed to them only to take it all for granted. It drives me crazy when I see parents give their kids everything, which teaches them the value of nothing. There, I said it. This opinion might not make me too popular with some, but I don’t care; it’s what I truly believe. We tend to place much more value on things that we have to work for and pay for with our own money especially if we earn them the old fashioned way. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to give your children opportunities and provide them with a wonderful life. However, teaching them the value of working and seizing opportunities is one of the best gifts you can give them.

The following quote is attributed to Helen Keller.

"When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us ."

If a blind and deaf mute could see opportunity then surely all of us can learn from her remarkable attitude. While she may not have had the gift of sight, she certainly possessed vision.

People have been coming to this country for years in search of a better life. After all, this is the land of opportunity. Once you realize this, the possibilities are limitless! If you have sight, but lack vision you might not see every opportunity. If you have vision, you can take advantage of opportunities and create the life you desire. Having sight allows you to see what is. Having vision allows you to see what can be!

This is Sister Madonna Buder.  She is 78 years old and look what she is able to do.  Talk about Amazing Grace!

Sister Madonna Buder.