Can You See Your Dream Differently?

If you see a dream one way and it's been that way for more than 30 years like Dave has, can it really be as satisfying if you do it any other way? Of course it can! Especially if you reached a point that you let go of the dream all together anyway.

If you could open the door to the dream that you thought died and invite some part of it into your life right now, would you want to do that? Dave said yes, that this concept was appealing to him. I was glad to hear that because what he may not realize is that by opening the door to other ways to have the dream live a little, will create a momentum that will help it to grow from just this little bit of a hobby to a possible full time career. "How would that happen?" I can hear you asking. I don't know the exact how, but I know it happens. When you focus your attention on something, it grows.

When you start doing something you love, you will gravitate to those joyous feelings, how can you not? My ideas are simply that if you feel you can't have the whole dream (whatever you think, you're right), why not allow a different version of it? If you open your mind to these ideas you might find that an orange road is exactly the right direction to your dream come true!

Happily Married

As you all know by now, Dave and I are very happily married. I know several other couples that are also very happy and they express their affection openly and abundantly. I asked Dave if he thought we were happy because we tell each other how we feel, and generally focus on being so.

We agreed that being happy is a choice. There are certainly things about each other that are mildly annoying, but it just seems that those things come along with a really great package, thus making them insignificant.

Here again, is evidence that those things you choose to focus on, grow. We focus on the things about each other that we first loved, learned about later and loved, and still have to find out about and expect to love. What about you? What do you choose to focus on in your marriage? I wish for you love and happiness!

"I'm A Yes Man!" - Guest Writer Amie Chilson

On my 32nd birthday I found myself stuck on the JFK tarmac for two extra hours due to a weather delay, en route to Madrid. After playing the, “It’s my birthday” card with the flight attendants, scoring a few free mini bottles of wine, I sat back and started the solo movie marathon on my way over the Atlantic: it was “Yes Man” starring Jim Carrey.

If you haven’t seen it yet…go rent it today! Through its silliness and moments of expected Jim Carey hilarity, the underlying message struck a chord with me. Carey plays a middle-aged, loan officer who leads an unextraordinary life and is accustomed to saying “no” to everything. He’s begun to alienate friends, never moves ahead in his career, and has developed a bad habit of closing himself off to life and all its opportunities. After attending a self-help seminar where attendees make a covenant to say “Yes” to everything…and anything, his life begins to transform in amazing and unexpected ways.

At face value, this flick is a predictably fun, brand of 90-minute, Jim Carey comedy. (And anyone who knows me knows I shy away from the Hollywood drool of endless, formulaic films!) Yet, I chose to watch the film 2.5 times and laughed like an idiot throughout–but why? Because I am “Yes Man” and have recently built my lifestyle around this value system.

2008 was a tough year for me in several ways; I buried two grandmothers, closed both my companies down, and nearly went bankrupt. I retreated into my metaphorical cave and shut down to most of the world. At the end of the year I vowed to make 2009 incredible and milk the most out of every day, while being open to the universe and all it had to offer. I created a “101 Things To Do in 2009” list, naming items as simple as: sampling more international cheeses, indulging in a house cleaner, and reading the Declaration of Independence, to more loftier goals such as visiting Thailand, completing my scuba certification and hiking the Grand Canyon. (The list was easier to develop than I thought…which means subconsciously lurking were all these things I’ve always wanted to experience, learn, and try!) Never again did I want to waste a year, and look back regretfully to say, “Damn, I didn’t do any of the things I wanted to accomplish! Where did the year go? And how utterly unremarkable it was…”

Since I made that covenant with myself at the end of 2008, my life has been purely magical! I recently took my husband on a wonderful month-long vacation to Spain where most of our lodging across the country was free; I’ve been invited to vacation in Fiji , Mexico , and India to study with a renowned Guru. Business opportunities have flooded my gates, I’ve met many new people and made wonderful friends, I find myself in great health and training for one of the hardest Triathlons nationwide, and I live each day with such zest and fascination. Sometimes it feels as if I’ve lived 3 days to the actual 1. As for the 101 List of To Do Items… I’ve been happily knocking them down by the dozens, and even created an ancillary 101 List!

What I’ve learned about myself during this 6-month experiment of saying “Yes to Life” is when I embrace being ‘open’, I expect something good to happen every time and it does. Being authentically ‘open’ also has forced me to become more empathic, less selfish, and more compassionate to others. It’s removed the ability to go through life ‘half-ass’ which is an easy to rut to fall into. We become busy, get comfortable, and even ease into laziness. (I know I did!) The good news is it is simple to pull ourselves out of the “No” coma. It’s as easy as saying “Yes” to little things, like smiling back at a stranger, answering an Unknown Caller ID phone call, or meeting your inbox of Evites with hopefulness vs. impatience.

In the movie, “Yes Man”, Carey changes his life in a matter of weeks and welcomes many new life experiences, people, and opportunities. In addition to falling in love, he gets promoted in his career, reconnects with his friends and inspires many different individuals. His unremarkable life has radically transformed, and he is a happier man for it. Carey also learns there is such a thing as ‘balance’ to strike in life with being constantly open to life and opportunities.

And that balance is important to keep in mind, as agreeing to all things is unreasonable and potentially dangerous. As I find myself mentally and verbally saying, “Yes” to most opportunities that flow my way, I still exercise instinct, fiscal prudence and my own version of life harmony. I will ignore the invite to pierce my nipples, not join a cult, and not invest all my money in what resembles a Ponzi scheme.

What I will do, is wake up tomorrow morning and breathe in the delicious moment of NOW, and energetically say “Yes” to what life has to offer me because I know it will be fantastic! I suggest you try it: who knows, the next “Yes” you say could lead to meeting the person of your dreams, making a new best friend, drop the next incredible business opportunity in your lap, or inspire your biggest idea ever.

Be a “Yes Man” with me.

http://myexistentialmusings.wordpress.com

Much Gratitude,
Amie Chilson

Isn't Time The Best?

Last week was a roller coaster of emotions. I won't bore you with the details, but suffice it to say, I was exhausted by the time the weekend rolled around.

I take comfort knowing that a little bit of time will set my thinking right, take me out of my emotion filled angst, and let me get back to my faith that, everything is as it is suppose to be. I really do believe that, and I've come to be able to recognize what it is I need to learn from a difficult experience in a relatively short period of time. I also trust that as tough as things may get, in the big picture (long time), much of our day-to-day lives is not going to hold much weight in five years.

I won't go as far as to say that I believe time heals all wounds, but it sure provides a nice cushion from the pain, and reminds us that a new day is just that, new. Let go of the old and create today. You get to choose your thoughts, and your thoughts create your actions. Go, choose wisely and make today great!

Yesterday Was Really Bad!

Laughing! Maybe I shouldn't have posted about being grateful when life gets tough! Did I attract that? I'm laughing because I finished crying and can now see that it really wasn't all that bad.

I can honestly say that even though I was in the troughs of despair....little melodrama...I was still able to be grateful that it wasn't worse. And even better, I was able to check with a friend who is battling cancer and if that doesn't put a crummy day in perspective, nothing will.

I am so very grateful for all that I have. I even went as far as to putting an e-mail out to my work associates offering my consulting services at a discounted rate to their clients. I really want to help in these tough times, so why not let the world know. This is just another way that I practice gratitude. How do you show your gratitude and put it into action when times get tough?

Can You Be Grateful When Life Is Really Bad?

Times are really tough right now for many of us. I know my family is not exempt from tight finances, things breaking, and difficult life circumstances in general. No matter what happens, I've found a solid space of gratitude.

Yesterday, while cleaning my very old stove top, it blew up. Literally! Fiery sparks, a puff of white smoke, and a pop! I don't have the money to replace it, but I won't take the chance that this is a fire waiting to happen. As soon as this happened, I found myself uttering, "Thank goodness it didn't catch on fire."

Can you practice gratitude when you are at your lowest? I hope so. The reality is, no matter how bad things get, they can always get worse. I learned a long time ago to never, ever challenge the universe with the words, "It can't get worse than this." I believe as long as I'm dressed in my right mind, no matter what circumstances present themselves, I can do something to better my condition. I usually start with acknowledging and accepting where I am. I try to learn if the lesson is obvious and then I look at what I can do, and I start.

That's my way. What's yours? Can you be grateful when life gets really bad?

Do You Dread Monday?

Are you one of those people who hates to see the new week begin? Not me! I love Monday! Not only do I love the opportunities that come with the new work week, but I love the structure of the weekdays.

Even though I don't go into an office, all the people I work with are doing exactly what I'm doing. We may not be in the same room, building, or even the same state, we're all working together; connecting via e-mail and telephone. Mason is in school and Dave is at his office. We all know where we need to be and what we need to be doing, and it feels good.

If you really really feel a deep disdain for the start of a new work week, maybe you need to ask yourself what you could be doing that you would look forward to. Dave doesn't love his work, but he loves his family, and the job he does provides for us. I look forward to the new week because what I'm doing is moving us one step closer to our dreams of working together in all of our philanthropic goals.

Yes, the new week takes the vehicle out of park and gets us back on the road to success. If you'd rather sit in the parking lot, than think about what you're attracting with a heavy sigh and dread of Monday. Is it what you really want your new week to shape up to be? Whatever you think, you're right!

For All Your Best Intentions

Have you ever worked really hard to make something happen only to find, it didn't go at all the way you planned? I have!

When this kind of thing has happened to me, It's made me really mad! I looked around and thought, what the heck? It's not until later that I realized that the way things turned out was exactly what I needed. Not necessarily what I'd envisioned or planned, but the best possible outcome.

If you can accept that you can only control so much, you can then see that every "not so great" turnout usually holds the door open for something far better. Next time you can't figure out how you landed where you are, turn around and look for the opportunity that is likely smiling a great big "WELCOME" your way!

I Set A Mantra This Week

You all know I'm a firm believer in getting back what you put out. This week I have made my mantra, "How can I help you?" I've been learning a lot about social media and spending some time on facebook and twitter (@kdpartak) and I have to say, I've met some really wonderful people.

My intention for investigating this medium was to see how I could promote my gloves, my blogs, and my self as a writer. Here's what's come to me. I've met several really great ladies with whom I've spent many a late evening on the phone. One of these ladies knows the president of a large retailer and she is not only willing, but excited to take him a pair of our ZipperBack Gloves for consideration (www.zipperbackgloves.com). Another of these wonderful women is the neighbor of a large grocery chain and she's planning to take a sample box of twist caps (www.buytwistcaps.com e-mail me to buy!) to introduce me. My new friend Tania added polish and pizazz to my sell sheet to send to above mentioned president. I've also connected with the editor of a military magazine and a mom who writes a successful blog who I may be guest writing for in the near future.

This sounds like there's so much that's come my way, what have I given to receive all this love? I don't think I've given enough if anything at all, but it seems the women I've become friends with will disagree. I've been told that I've inspired, enlightened, and in a few cases, really helped them work through a tough situation. Is that enough? Only the parties involved can answer that, but for me, I want to do more. How can I help you?

What Do You See?

Literally and figuratively, what do you see when you look at your future? Are you looking to your future or are you simply coping with today? Using the power of intention starts with changing the way you see your life right now, this very minute.

You absolutely have to change the way you think about circumstances, pending actions, and your past. It's impossible to attract the life you want to lead if you are still fretting about the past, the way things are now, and all the nonsense you have to deal with tomorrow. I feel heavier just writing the words! You are in charge of what you think. You get to choose to let go of past disappointments, and you can allow yourself to see your life in a whole new light. This change can happen in an instant, literally, a split second.

You're likely asking how you can let go of hurt you feel from a past betrayal, or how you can be excited when you know you haven't paid your property taxes and know you have to answer for that. My answer to you is that all the terrible things that happened in the past are done. It's like continually trying to drink a glass of water that you already finished. Choose to let it go. Answering for your unpaid taxes is the right thing to do. It doesn't matter that you still can't pay. Initiating a conversation is taking responsibility and that will make you feel great. Feeling great changes your physical vibration, and making that single change will send a positive message out, thus attracting a positive energy return.

The more you practice taking action (responsibility), the more you'll find yourself feeling good, and the more you feel good, the more good will come to you. The more you live this cycle, the easier it will be to see a prosperous, happy future. See? Easy!

Is There Something You Resist?

Here's something to think about; do you spend so much time trying not to be or do something that you find you are right there doing and being exactly that? Think about that for a second. It's a lot to take in.

With certain things in our lives, we know we don't want to be there. We don't want to do that. If you put enough attention on those things you despise, those are exactly the things you are going to get. It doesn't seem fair, but if you recall, the universe is not biased, it simply looks at the magnitude of your energy output and magnifies it back to you. If you only remember one thing today, remember to make the earthquake with a magnitude "six-point-this-is-what-rocks-my-world-seven" in all the good ways!

Do what you have to do to handle anything sticky or not pleasant and get on to creating the good stuff. The stuff that makes the bad seem simply mundane! How much attention do you pay to the mundane? Exactly!

How Good Are You, Really?

Mason used to love bull riding and bull riders. From the time he was just about two until he was almost five, he has was obsessed pretending to ride bulls, watching Cowboy U over and over, dressing like a cowboy and roping the dog. It would only make sense that when he heard the advertisement for the Professional Bull Riders event coming to Sacramento he would want to go.

Of course we want to take our kids to see and do the things they love, but 2007 brought with it a strict financial plan that did not include a day at the arena watching bull riders. Our local country radio station has a promotion every weekend and appropriately guess what? Tickets to the PBR event, and an entry into a drawing for use of the KNCI box with a party for the winner and 15 of their friends.

I had not won on the radio in quite some time so when I felt that familiar excitement I knew I was going to win those tickets.

The first opportunity to call came and the sound we were listening for was not very easy to hear. This was good news because I think this increased my odds. You see, I have “Supersonic Radio Contest Hearing.” When the sounder played, I called and got a ring right out of the gate, no pun intended. "Caller number 1." Redial, busy, redial, busy, redial, busy, redial, ring! It’s ringing! “Caller 5” the DJ quickly answered and hung up. Oh good, I’m in I think as I hung up and redialed again. I dialed and redialed numerous more times and then the phone rang. “Caller 19” I hear. Not this time I thought as I waited to call again.

I tried to call the next time and I was callers 1, 12, 18 and 23! I needed to be caller 25. At this point I was unsure how many more opportunities I was going to have, so I called the radio station to ask how late they would playing. To y surprize, the DJ answered the phone saying “Hello, you win!” “Win? Win what?” I replied. It was a movie promotion prize pack and I immediately told him I did not want to win that, I wanted to win the bull riding tickets. He was a little taken aback but told me he would have more bull riding tickets in the next 10 minutes.

10 minutes later it was time to call and this time I had to answer a trivia question about Minnie Pearl’s hat. I was the first caller and I answered correctly and won. Mason did a very cute “Yee Haw Cowboy!” on the phone and we discussed that I just conceded the win a few minutes ago. I assured him I intended to be the winner of the grand prize on Monday and he informed me that this was a little sidebar contest, an extra pair of tickets that were not included in the weekend contest and thus did not qualify me for the grand prize. I told him I had to be in the drawing for the grand prize and I needed to pull out of this one, too. He was shocked. He asksed me if he could still play Mason on the radio since he was so cute and of course I said yes. He wished me luck and we hung up.

By now my husband was sitting on the couch in the living room in utter disbelief. He had heard me concede two prizes and had to come downstairs to see what is going on. While we were sitting together discussing all of this, it was time to call again. He started dialing on his cell phone and I was calling from our home phone. The phone was ringing and I won, I was caller number 25. This not only won me two tickets but I was now qualified to be in the drawing to win the grand prize. The DJ was blown away, he said “You really won. You are really caller 25” I know I told him. I let him know that I have an uncanny ability to win when I put my mind to it. “No kidding!” he said.

I won the tickets to take my family to the PBR event the following weekend but despite my best intentioned efforts, I did not win the grand prize for 15 of my friends to join us. No matter, I was elated and Mason got to see the bulls and riders. I love the power of intention and the ability to pull forth the things we desire for the people we love.

The Law Of Attraction Defined

Wikipedia says, "The phrase Law of Attraction, although used widely by new thought writers, has a variety of definitions. Turn-of-the-century references conceptualized the law of attraction as relating to physical structure and to how matter develops. A more modern consensus among new thought thinkers is that the Law of Attraction says people's thoughts (both conscious and unconscious) dictate the reality of their lives, whether or not they're aware of it. Essentially "if you really want something and truly believe it's possible, you'll get it", but putting a lot of attention and thought onto something you don't want means you'll probably get that too."

It's only fair to share the other side as well. Wikipedia goes on to say, "Since many of the claims of the law of attraction appear impossible without violating established scientific principles and our understanding of the universe, it has received criticism from the scientific community. Physicist Ali Alousi, for instance, criticized it as unmeasurable (and therefore unscientific) as well as questioning the likelihood that thoughts can affect anything outside the head. The Associated Press is also quoted as saying that "some medical professionals suggest it could even lead to a blame-the-victim mentality and actually be dangerous to those suffering from serious illness or mental disorders."

This is a very basic definition and those of us who believe the law of attraction is alive and well, know there is so much more to it. Intentional Winning, (LOA plays a mjor part in IW) starts first with taking responsibility for your condition, for better and for worse. You got you where you are, and I believe you can get yourself wherever you want to be!

You know, it's not airy-fairy, think it to be it, it's so much more. It's about first knowing what you want, finding a first step in that direction, taking that step, taking that step, taking that step! Yes, I know I wrote that three times, just as you will take that step three times, four times, ten times, a million times. Taking a step is taking action. When you take action, you move mountains. Resources become visible, people who are living where you want to be, will suddenly be in your life, the question then becomes, are you seeing what's now visible? Are you speaking with these "new" people, or smiling with a nod and moving on? When you determine what you want and start to become aware of how much opportunity is all around you, and then take the steps, you'll see that the law of attraction is alive, well and available to you!

We have started this journey, I'm so glad you're here!

Let's Talk About The Secret

Have you seen it? Do you believe it? Better yet, do you live it? I do, for better and for worse!

Here's my take on the Law of Attraction (LOA), I do believe that we attract what we live. I have areas of my life (or psyche) that take a great deal of work to undo...undo many years of someone else's thinking layered again and again on my young being. Now that I have complete control over what I believe and practice, my life has traveled light years in the direction of success and abundance.

Without as much concentration and work, I can see the call from the producer of a national television show as exciting! I'm on their radar. If nothing comes of the communications, I still have that contact information. It just doesn't occur to me to sulk over the fact that, "It fell through! Darn! I never get the big break." All I can see it that, "It's happening, it's really happening!"

I loved that The Secret opened so many eyes to a new perspective, however, I feel they left out the importance of taking action. You have to DO something to make things happen.

I can go on and on about all the little things I see as the manifestation of the LOA, but I want to hear from you. I want to create a living, breathing forum for people to learn about what to do to really live the Law of Attraction. If it's wine making for you, what did you do, exactly? It it was finding the man/woman of your dreams, again, what action did you take? Share with us and let's build the momentum for all to see, and not just see, but see how-to!

I've got exciting plans for this year and I want you to be part of it. Join me here and I'll share more as we go!