Week 24- What a Wonderful Journey

A journey is not the beginning,  nor is it the end. It is the middle.

Our life here on Earth is a journey. It began with pregnancy and it will end with physical death.

Stuck in the middle is not what I ever wanted. I always had and still have a destination, a goal of where I want to go or what I want to accomplish, to get to the end.

But the journey is what is important.

I’ve heard all that before. It’s like all those cliches that don’t really mean anything, until you actually experience it.

This course has been a fantastic journey, all the way from “No way. That can’t be true!” to “Wow! That is fantastic! It’s really true!”

Had we not made the progressions we did and the discoveries along the way, had we not been encouraged to do the daily exercises, had we not been given the wisdom of those who had gone before, we would still be so very ignorant of all the possibilities available to us!

I am so grateful for all the things I have learned, for all the discoveries I have made on this journey, for the growth within, realizing that there is so much to discover, there is so much more to this journey.

Thank you.

Week 23-We are what we eat.

We’ve all heard that phrase so  many times that it goes in one ear and out the other. But the reason that that is a cliche is because it is true. And it is true in so many ways.

First, it is literally true. The food that is eaten is what fuels the body. Good fuel can create a fine body. Bad fuel can create a mess.

It is also true of what you feed your mind. The Bible tells us to think on the things that are pure, true, kind, lovely, and of good report. Simplistically, when you think on good things, the body release good chemicals and you have good health. When you think on negative things, the body releases bad chemicals and you have bad health.

I’ve also learned that what you think about feeds your subconscious. Again simplistically, when you think, atoms vibrate, causing everything around them to respond to the vibration, and (remember simplistically) you can literally change the world, at the very least, your portion of the world.

Everyone wants to change their portion of the world. It’s in our nature. We are constantly growing, wanting more or better. It’s how we are made. Some people have figured out how to use thinking to their advantage. Others are stuck satisfying their peptides, or stuck in a rut, to use another cliche.

Peptides can be very demanding, but once I knew why my habits had such a hold on me, it was easier to change habits and create new peptides.

My portion of the world is a better place, now. I recognize negativity now, in ways that I didn’t recognize it before. I can choose to override the peptides and change the vibration of the atoms, to go a better way, to make better decisions, to get more, or better.

Slow down, just a little bit here. The word selfishness just popped into my mind. Change that thinking. Change the vibration of the atoms. More or better doesn’t need to be selfish. Improving my portion of the world so I can help others improve their portion of  the world and eventually change the world.

Stuck in a rut? Not any more. I am what I eat!

Week 22

“And with this new knowledge I will also understand and recognize the moods of him on whom I call.”

This I need to work on.

I know my own moods. I’m not always in the best of moods. Others sometimes recognize when I’m not as exuberant as I usually am and make allowances for me. Thank you very much.

My selfish “me” doesn’t want to make allowances for others. My selfish “me” wants to stomp it’s foot and have it’s own way and say it’s all about me! But with this “new knowledge” my selfish “me” is starting to realize that others could be having a not so good day as well. My empathetic “me” is emerging above the selfish “me” and I am more understanding of the moods of others.

This would be an important thing to understand when you are in sales.

“No longer will I fail to call again tomorrow on he who meets me with hate today.”

I can see the benefit in this now. I need to “call again tomorrow” and not base everything on  a first impression. I need to make the same allowances for others, that others have made for me. Giving up after the first “not so good” encounter has resulted in frustration. Now, after a “not so good” first encounter, there is understanding on my part, and anticipation of a second happier encounter, and many more encounters after that.

Week 21-Tools

I love what was given to us this week about our new tools. I had figured out how to circumvent some of these emotions but not how to turn them into tools.

Fear-turn it into concentration and focus

Hurt feelings-means you are passionate so use it for motivation

Anger-release it into massive energy for something positive

Guilt-use the energy to fix the mistake and learn from it

Unworthiness-change the focus from inward (self) to outward (others)

Instead of circumventing these emotions, I am recognizing them and turning them into tools. Wow! My life has changed! It’s as if the clouds have lifted and there is a lot more sunshine in my life now. It seems like things are going my way a lot more now. I know I am smiling a lot more now.

And now, better than before, I understand the phrase, when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

Thanks for these new tools.

 

 

 

Week 21-Normal is okay, sometimes.

This blog is supposed to be about what we experienced over the past week. My past week has been pretty normal, nothing worth writing about. Not to say that the lessons haven’t been good. There’s just nothing interesting to write about.

I’m not complaining. If anyone has ever been through a rough time, normal, ordinary, every day living, is fantastic! We went through a rough time a few years ago. My son broke his collar bone in football practice. We were in a major car accident. My husband had a mild heart attack, but was off work for 4 months. Both my single daughters got pregnant. The house we were renting was put up for sale and we had to move. My husband’s place of work closed.

This all happened in a 2 1/2 year time span. Obviously we made it through. I learned that I didn’t need or want drama. Give me a normal, ordinary, every day life.

Week 20-I want to do it better.

I love this course. I love how it’s pushing me, getting me to think and do. I hate that I haven’t been able to do it the way I think I should be doing it-perfectly. I’m not doing it the way they tell me to do it. I run out of energy at the end of the day. Sometimes I don’t have time. My lunch time readings don’t happen very often because of how my job is structured. Sometimes I’m living life and I totally forget about it.

But. . .if I stop for a moment, and think about what I have been able to do, even the things that I didn’t understand, and think about where that has taken me, then I get excited! I’m 64 years old. I’m a grown up, supposedly. When I was younger, I thought I’d have it all figured out by now.

I now know that you never have it all figured out. If you stop learning and growing, then you’re done. I’m not ready to be done yet. I don’t feel “old”. I want to keep learning and growing.

Every week, I allow myself to be pushed. I purposely go beyond my comfort zone, and I grow. I make some mistakes, but that helps me grow too. I will continue on this journey, even if I do it imperfectly and I will continue to grow.

I don’t get everything right the first time. I need to do things a second time and sometimes a third time. I need to practice. Knowing that I need practice, lets me be kinder to myself and to others who don’t get it right the first time. I already plan on taking this course a second time, and maybe a third time.

I want to do it better.

Week 19-Life

We have all been on a fabulous journey. I love where this trip is taking us and I’m excited to follow this road.

But this week, it just kinda stopped.

I’m feeling blah. My body is trying to lead me. It doesn’t want me to do anything. I feel like crawling in bed under all the covers and staying there till this feeling goes away.

My job. I still have to go to my job.

Two events that I was looking forward to this week were changed to a later date.

My dad is in the hospital and the doctor said it might just be his time to go home. He’s 95 and if it’s his time, I’m okay with that, but my emotions don’t know it yet.

Pain from a car accident that happened years ago has come back for no reason that I can figure out.

What else is going to try to get me off this fabulous journey?

What a perfect time to watch a video about power pose. I need to stand up tall and take charge and take back control!

Wow! It works really well!

Thanks.

Week 18-I don’t want to!

We live in a small town. Our paper comes out weekly. That’s just about right for this size town. Our assignment this week is to look at the paper every day and read the obituaries. Not gonna happen.

I could go to the store and buy the paper from a larger town that does have a daily paper. Except for Tuesday and Wednesday. We got a lot of snow and there were no newspapers for those two days. Not gonna do it.

It’s depressing.

We’re all gonna die. We know that. The way things are going, with all the “diseases” in the United States and all the side effects from all the drugs, people are dead long before their body dies. They are existing in “homes.”

It’s depressing.

People don’t die every day around here. When they do die, you don’t need to read the paper to know about it. You hear about it the day it happens. You don’t need to read the paper to know how they used their life, who they married, who they are survived by. You already know it.

The obituary is used to highlight their life. That’s not what their life was really like. They don’t mention the struggles, the character-building events, the intimate moments when they left an impact on others.

I want to remember them by how they lived their life, the smiles, the hugs, the moments when they reached out to help others, the moments when I reached out to help them.

I want to make an impact on others, not just have a list of “things” that I finished.

When I die, I’ve told my kids that I don’t care what you do with my body, or even if you have a funeral for me. A funeral is for the living, not the person who died. I care what happens now, not after I’m dead.

Let me show love and compassion now.

 

Week 17 and 1/2-Ready, Set, Go!

I finally had time to listen to the Webinar Replay yesterday where our assignment was to read lesson 9 again. This morning I tried to read lesson 9. I read the cover page and the rabbit trail started.

I am a fairly confident person, but when it comes to talking to others about my business, I become “timid, vacillating, self-conscious, and over-anxious.” That’s the whole reason I took this course.

So the remedy is to substitute “thoughts of courage, power, self-reliance and confidence.” Hmm. How? Affirmations? They go out the window right before I need them.

I went to a training put on by my company last weekend and heard about putting the customer first. Okay, when I worked retail, I learned to put the customer first. But it wasn’t helping me here.

I’m not sure exactly what happened, but things started coming together. Somewhere I remember hearing about serving our customers, but not just waiting on them similar to a retail store, but being the servant to them. The analogy clicked when I thought about a master-slave relationship. The slave is to make the master’s life easier. A good slave will know what the master wants and can anticipate their desires.

In network marketing, it’s about building a relationship with people, finding out what their needs are, and letting them know how your products can help them. Sometimes they buy your product.

Wait a minute. That’s exactly what my future self told me during one of our sits. The light bulb finally goes on! Sometimes I get things right away, sometimes I don’t. This time took longer.

My new purpose is to build relationships with people. If my product can help them, I am now more excited that they got help than I am that I made a sale. Wow! How different is that?

For those of you who already understood this concept, please be excited for me.

I have started a new notebook. I am writing down “connections,” not prospects.

I am now excited at the thought of talking to people, not “timid, vacillating, self-conscious, or over-anxious.” Give me the phone. Let’s go!

Week 17-Excitement!

That seems to be my word for the week. Maybe it has something to do with my upcoming weekend. Several of my girlfriends and I are going to Branson for a conference this weekend. But we will have some free time for fun and games and shopping!

Mark J has been emphasizing all along to put feeling into everything. And this week’s read has some emphasis on feeling also.

Stop and think about the things from the past that have the most memory for you, good or bad. Now think about the feelings that go along with those memories. They usually aren’t just your everyday humdrum feelings, are they?

Studies have shown that women, in general, are better at remembering because their brains are wired to associate feelings with events, more than men.

Now stop and think about people who motivate you. Usually there is a lot of feeling involved, either through their words or their actions. They are passionate and that is probably what motivates you more than their words. This comes across in Mark J.

Close your eyes and just listen to Mark J. You can hear his passion. You can imagine what he is talking about and you’re ready to jump up and go do something!

And then life gets in the way and you settle back into your routine. The old peptides take over and that passion disappears, your dreams disappear, your hope disappears. You grow old and die.

What! Wait! I really don’t want that! I want my dreams! I want hope! Help!

Come over here feelings! Help me keep my hope! Help me keep my dreams! Where are my note cards? Let me do my daily readings. I need to get on the alliances and read, and share. Get rid of those old peptides! Give me new ones! Feelings! Feelings!

Hello hopes. Hello dreams. Please don’t leave me again. I have feelings now.