Today many Americans will be celebrating Memorial Day in honor of those men and women who fought for what they believe in, our country’s freedom. My father was a fighter pilot during the Vietnam war. He was the guy who flew the jets, mostly at night, down the deep canyons of Vietnam to draw out enemy fire which they would then take photos to know their location. The especially hair-raising part to this was that this was during the time of film, not digital, cameras and so they often had to circle back 2-3 times taking photos until the roll was complete knowing that there was enemy fire hyped up to get them.

Dad didn’t talk with us kids very much about his time in Vietnam. For one thing, evidently there is this code of honor that in the line-up of the fighters, the guys on the ground had it the worst. In my kid’s mind I translated this to mean that by the time you got up to being an officer and a pilot, that really you’re story wasn’t as horrifying (but to us kids, it was) and therefore didn’t get the same deck time as the other guys and their stories of combat.

I remember being a little girl in Japan when my Dad was stationed at Itizuki AFB in Fukaoka, he would go on TTY to check out Vietnam in the early sixties. My mom would pile my brother and I in the car to see my dad off in the early morning hours and we would sit in the car eating donuts and watch the T-38s!!! taking off across the sea into the sunrise.

After Japan, Dad was stationed to train fighter pilots at Webb AFB. Those were good memories in my mind of swim parties at our house up on the only mesa in Big Spring, Texas. My parents would serve what seemed like vats of margaritas and play tons of Herb Alpert and the Tijiuana Brass. It was during this time period that it dawned on my mom that my Dad was choosing the military way of life over ranching his family’s lands. Their fighting got louder and more frequent so by the time Dad was stationed at Randolph AFB, the unraveling of their marriage was in full swing. After their divorce, Dad went to boot camp in Idaho and told us stories of how they had to learn to tie everything way up into the trees, including trash and themselves, so the bears wouldn’t get them. During his time in Nam, there wasn’t the internet then so my mom would record my brother and I to send tapes for Dad to listen to. My parents were really good about keeping the utter horror of the war at bay for us kids. Walter Cronkite was doing a good enough job of that. Dad earned quite a few medals but I don’t know what they were, I know my brother Hamilton could tell you what each are and their reason, I was just glad to have my Dad home and in one piece.

After Nam, Dad was promoted to Lt. Col and stationed at the Pentagon. I didn’t realize it at the time (1971), but it must have taken a lot of courage for him to wear his full dress blues to take the commuter bus from our suburb into D.C. After a few years, he was promoted to full bird Colonel and chose to take the route of Defense Attache. He and my step-mother went through what they called “spy training” learning how to speak fluent French for their next tour and how to watch out for spooks. I was away in boarding school so was spared any kind of fear that could have cropped up. I did stay with them for six months in Belgium when he as Defense Attache, and saw first hand the big “working parties” they would have with many dignitaries from the U.S. and other countries. Because I was convalescing there after a major operation, I spent the first month or so bedridden. During one of these parties, my Dad came upstairs to check on me and was dressed handsomely in his finest attire. I remember him telling me that just in case I thought these parties were all fun, that they were work for them and he took off his jacket and was wet from sweat from his pits and all over his back.

From Belgium to Ottowa, Dad took on another gig as Defense Attache. Our brother, Hamilton can tell you more in depth of what Dad did on behalf of the U.S. in Canada because this was during his early childhood years. Dad retired there and lives there still heavily involved in 12-step work, revitalizing the Yacht Club and generally keeping everyone on their toes who happens across his path. His arms have probably stretched to unusual proportions from playing tennis. His strategy in tennis is to stand grounded in one position and stretch out with his racket as far as he can to slam it back across the net.

Although I know my Dad considers me a bloody liberal and pacifist and he’d probably call me a hippy if he couldn’t find another word to get his point across but that’s okay with me, I understand why he would. I’m grateful for what he believed in still, I’m grateful that he lived his life doing what he felt was the right thing to do and so even if he sends out scathing emails going completely against the grain of what I believe in, it’s okay with me. He’s earned the right in my book.

Thanks Dad. Love, Lynn

I’ve been racking my brains out trying to figure out how I could be of service to anyone who happens upon this blog AND acknowledge and share about how there just “ain’t nuttin” quite like black cat love–mostly because our 18 year old Queen Bee black cat went to the big beyond yesterday. And she went exactly as she wanted to go in our home with me there helping her to birth her soul from this world to the next.

The way that I love animals is probably something that if I shared more about it, I could help other people either deepen the love and understanding that they already have with animals or at least help someone who does not “get” animals to become curious. But to tell you the truth, I have gotten so tired of how people that don’t get animals interpret/judge/believe/see those of us that do get animals that I just don’t have the patience to deal with their ignorance. Leave that to someone else better equipped with patience and steadfastness than me.

So this blog is for those of you who get it about critters. And if you at least get it about some kind of a critter — and don’t particularly care for cats of any kind — well, then, I invite you to bring in that awareness and fondness for the animal that you do so that I can help you to widen your horizons about cats and black cats in particular.

It’s been my experience that domestic cats are truly the mini-mini-mini watered down version of the bigger cats like Leopards and Lions and Cougars and maybe even Tigers in a few instances. Our black cat Rosie, was definitely a leopard. She was smart as hell too in figuring out how to do things like capturing a milar floating balloon after one birthday party and carrying it around the house by it’s string only to harness it steady by dragging it under the table. She did the same thing 2-3 times because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

I also think Rosie figured out a long time ago that some humans know how to “receive” information from animals in pictures or words or a “knowing” but more often than not, many humans had no idea they could. She didn’t care, she’d just “send” to them anyway. As luck would have it, we tend to bring people into our homes that are the animal-communicating type. Rosie was the kind of cat who would get things done, and in a very subtle way. I can’t tell you the number of times I’d find myself in the kitchen dishing up some tiny little tasty meat dish to put down for her–but at a time that I usually didn’t feed her—and with something that wasn’t her food–only to look down and see Rosie blinking up at me with her big yellow eyes. I had received her message and was carrying out her plan.

A family member who is very close to me and will remain anonymous, said in regards to Rosie that “that there was a piece of heaven” and admitted to having been lulled into Rosie’s desires one time when he was cat-sitting, by pulling a guitar of the wall and proceeding to sing her songs. I’m sure she blinked her eyes at him with approval. He knew he’d been “had” by a black cat.

My heart is full and sad that my Queen Bee Rosie had shed her Earth suit, but I just couldn’t let another day go on without acknowledging all the good work that she did with her human family and all the love and laughs we enjoyed because of her. May you be blessed with knowing a black cat someday.

Sail on dear Rosie and may your every meow be granted.

I’m one of those people who consistently “breaks” molds and assessments, tests. When my SUN Coach gave me a really simple assessment that would help me come up with a “motto” for my life, it didn’t work with me. Twice. We had to recreate the administration process so that I could get the desired results. I’m telling you about this because when the spiritual/informational on-line movie “The Secret” came rolling out into our universes a few years back, the whole concept of manifesting and living our dreams sent me into a tumbling series of turnovers.

And I do consider myself a spiritual person. A spiritual person who is also very hard headed. Some people might define what I call hard-headed as being “willful”. I can get so stuck in the way I see things that I cannot see anything else but the way I see things. Kind of like the story that has been passed down through the ages about how when the Nina, Maria and Santa Maria were floating by the great land mass that is now known as the United States, many of the tribal people who lived on the continent at the time did not see the ships because only dugout canoes were part of their life and perception so their brains did not have the information available that would enable them to see something completely different from what they were used to seeing.

I think something like that happened for me when I came across The Secret. I watched it several times, participated in Abraham Hicks’ Laws of Attraction Groups, even led some group coaching around the idea of attracting what we want in our lives. Only for me, I was really disappointed for what seemed like a very long time because I could not “see” what I thought I should see because I was working so hard on attracting what I wanted into my life.

What I didn’t realize was that I had begun the process of attracting a whole bunch of things that I desired and that instead of “seeing” them, I was feeling them. They had shown up in different packages than what I had expected.

For a very long time, I’ve held the belief that we can all do what we love for our work. I believed this so much that I quit a very lucrative job to embark on a coaching career after graduating from two coaching universities and having a few years of coaching experience under my belt. What I hadn’t realized at the time was that the kind of coaching I enjoy most, which is coaching with people who have done enough work on themselves already that we can just jump and go, is, that although my clients are consistent, it is not the kind of coaching that attracts clients who line up around the block. Consequently, what happened is what I dreamed my work life would be with coaching kept crashing head long into the reality of the kind of coaching I enjoyed most and what I was willing to do to attract it. Enter in the economic downturn that began a few years back and a saturated market for coaching in my community and I was pretty much treading water constantly. Not my idea of bliss!

A few years into my beating my head repeatedly up against the wall and not understanding why I could not do what I love to do and make a living at it, I took on a part time job to supplement the coaching that I have. For over a year, I worked part time in a job that pretty much kept me in my drug of choice (Starbucks) but was not something that I could enhance or expand and grow in. Day after day I asked the higher power of my understanding in my meditations, why was I in this job, what could this job mean? What is the purpose? Why do I have a navel? You know, all those kinds of things we pull out of the attic and basement of our brains when our understanding of how the world works turns upside down.

Somewhere along the way, I dove into my writing…for free…simply because I love writing. And I began interviewing people on the radio and on the web…for free…simply because I love researching, producing and creating shows where I can find out more about people who are living hope-filled lives and then sharing this with others.

Just last week, I left that initial part-time job for another part-time job that pays much better and I am so happy. I am still coaching the most fantastic clients. I am blogging more than ever, I am interviewing crazy-cool people on my web blog and somewhere along the way to my dreams, I’ve embraced this life that is happening right now and having a blast.

Life is what is happening while we’re on the way to our dreams. Live it now, embrace it now, trust your gut and know that all is unfolding as it should.

(written previously for my anniversary!)

On May 24, 2010, my husband and I will have been married 18 years (and celebrating 20 years of togetherness in October!). To the Lynn of a few decades ago, being part of a successful relationship for this length of time is, well, “inconceivable”!

One of my favorite movies is “The Princess Bride” and one of my favorite characters of the Princess Bride is Vizzini who uses many big words, but not necessarily correctly, like “inconceivable!” (http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0003791/quotes). I share this with you because when I say or think the word inconceivable, I now always hear it through the voice of Vizzini.

I shared in a previous blog about the book that I’ve almost finished reading by therapists/authors/lecturers’ Charlie and Linda Bloom called “Secrets of Great Marriages” in preparation for my interview of them (blogtalkradio.com/Hope42day) on Tuesday at 2pm CST. Evidently, they interviewed hundreds of couples from across the U.S. and winnowed the interviews down to a handful to share in their book. I think all of them have been married for at least 30 years. Anyway, it’s been thought provoking for me to read these couples’ stories and see where my husband and I are similar yet different.

I particularly enjoyed reading about one “power” couple who were/are both considered beautiful/handsome, powerful/successful and never lacking for attention. Well, when they found each other–they knew that each of them was “the one” for the other. One of the little “scenes” from their courtship they shared was on one of their first dates when they went to an art museum and the woman suggested to the man that they “act” out the paintings, which they proceeded to do all throughout the museum.

Welllllll, David and I do stuff like that to (I know that’s really hard for some of you to fathom!). We are fond of telling other couples (okay! Pretty much anyone who will listen to us!) that our first years of marriage were very tumultuous at best! Neither one of us had been in any kind of a committed relationship like marriage before and both of us are very strong-willed and, sometimes (cough-cough) pig-headed! But one thing we did manage to squeak into our days was spontaneous play….and in the weirdest ways too. Like the time we were driving around doing errands and some really boofy-do kind of jazzy hip hoppy song came on and we started doing the head bobbing thing to the rhythm of it and then I don’t recall which one of us began it, but we started doing this synchronized-devo-esque-movement where we’d bop our heads in the same timing and then instantly turn to the right and continue bobbing, and then look to the left and continue bobbing and the straight ahead, changing our perspective in time to the beat until the song was over. We laughed so hard when it was over because I’m sure that we looked very bizarre to anyone witnessing our choreography at the stop lights.

In this book, there were several themes that seem to run through every couples marriages such as trust and respect. And I would add, at least for us, the ability to play and laugh with each other. I can be one of the hugest dorks on the planet as well my husband, and so I’m grateful that the person that I’ve chosen to be in a committed relationship with is someone that I can be comfortable with being silly….even when there are times when he will do things like spring up out of bed when we’re reading and go do something in the computer and then prance back into the room with his jockey shorts up to his navel and in his best Ed Grimly voice ask me how I like his new look.

May you have many such moments in your relationship where the only correct thing to say about it is “inconceivable”!

I’ve been off caffeine for a couple of months now and as my friend Bob said, “it feels like your insides are all spongy” (when you’re caffeine free). He and I are both part of a group that one of the requirements is to be caffeine free and both of us LOVE the high from caffeine. I met my friend Bosco (congrats on your wedding by the way!) when he was one of my favorite baristas working part time til his full time upgrade at his “real” job came through (which it did!). I’m kind of like that “Norm” character from the Cheers at at least a few of the Starbuck’s around town. They definitely know me and my car….

A little while ago, I wrote about getting off of caffeine but now that I’m a couple of month’s down the road, I thought I’d check in and report on where I am now. It’s a pretty nice feeling to feel even. Just even keel. One way I realized that my body felt with caffeine was as if I had tiny crystals coursing through my veins. I do have to make sure that I get a good night’s sleep, otherwise the lure of caffeine is really hard to fend off. It’s one of our culture’s legal drugs. I’m realizing now that I feel like I have more focused energy than I ever did on caffeine.

One thing I worry about though is I don’t feel like I’m as funny as I used to be. Does caffeine make you funny? I did feel like dancing this morning while listening to a good song on the way to a meeting, so that’s good. Then there’s the meme out there that says that you aren’t as alert when you’re not caffeinated. There is almost an implication that your brain will not work as well with recall if you’re not caffeinated. I believed that. But that belief system is skating dangerously close to that of a someone who believes that a recreational drug like, say, speed, will make you more focused so that you can do more things. Truly, I know people who believe that. I used to believe that. Had a pretty clean house to, but a very messed up life.

Anyway, I still do drink my decaf coffees and teas, but nothing with full on caffeine. This is a new thing for me to hover close to the present with nothing between me and the experience of life but myself. Sometimes I still wonder what it would be like to be a “normal” person who can drink or eat or smoke or have caffeine but then I can recall any number of times when I have taken any one of those choices to the enth degree and remember that I’m far from normal which is a good thing.

For me being caffeine-free is just another layer of accepting who I am and who I am not and trusting that something great than myself will get my brain rolling when I need it to flare up. At least tonight I know that I am going to have one heckuva good night’s sleep!

If you haven’t gotten your hands on J. Pittman McGeeHee/Damon J. Thomas’ latest book, “The Invisible Church: Finding Spirituality Where You Are”….I heartily recommend that you do.

McGeeHee is an analyst in private practice. He also teaches at the University of Houston (lucky students) and is the director of The Institute for the Advancement of Psychology and Spirituality. He served for 11 years, as Dean of Christ Church cathedral in Houston. Thomas is a writer and editor who lives in Houston.

In the chapter “The Kingdom Within” there is a section labeled, “The Gifts of Paradox”. One paragraph especially stuck out for me today. It says, “If we are to live in the kingdom of God, we must learn to carry paradoxes consciously, for what could be a greater paradox than to be fully God and fully human at the same time, as Christ was, and as we all are?” In fairness to the authors, that appears on page 81 of the book–which is about mid-way through the book–so the authors have done an excellent job of leading the reader up to that little tidbit and then seeing us through to the end of their intent with this book.

For me, what this means to me today is that when I am “God” or the “I Am” or the Higher Consciousness of Lynn, I am operating without the ego interfering. And when I am the human being called “Lynn”, my ego is pretty much running the course. The paradox is to carry both of these within us at the same time. The challenge is to be as conscious as we can about which one is operating at any given point in the day.

I’m wondering if part of what is happening when we are feeling guilty or ashamed is that we know that some action or thought we have done or said has come from our reptilian brain or id ego and that we have it within us to be a better being. That we do have “it” within us to live well and make choices that do not harm ourselves or others. So really, if/when we can become conscious of this then we can ask our higher self/God/the great unknown for guidance in making amends or rectifying what we have done or said and to not repeat it. And my experience with this state is that it is very uncomfortable and as uncomfortable as it is to clean up actions/words, it is much more uncomfortable for me today not to do so. I can surely see why many of us have turned to booze, cigarettes, sex, money or anything that we think will take us away from the pain.

And you know that I know that I am SUCH an unfinished piece of work, right?!! You should have seen me today talking with someone I really care about over the phone about some really uncomfortable stuff that had right in the middle of it, me setting boundaries and owning up to my part of our story. So uncomfortable. But I had an inkling earlier in the week that a way that we had been relating was not working for me anymore and so, I had to speak up about it. I trust this person and their capacity to grow too. I know that we both know that we love each other but still, I will go to the ends of the Earth to avoid making someone else uncomfortable (the peanut gallery that is known as my family can keep their comments to a dull roar–I’m not a teenager anymore!).

What paradoxes are you carrying within yourself today? I guess one more thing I will say about this idea of God and the Human being inside of us is that, for me, I do believe there is something bigger than myself that is in charge but as to where they are (inside or outside) and what they are (unfathomable or human-like) I can’t tell you….because that is the paradox of belief!

This blog isn’t going to be what you think it is going to be about. I’m not trying to deceive you with the title, I’m just giving a definition that was used in a quote that I’m about to give you. It’s going to make your head expand and maybe, too, your heart.

This is out of a Self-Realization meditation book that I read each day called, “Spiritual Diary: An Inspirational Thought on Each Day”. For those who don’t know about SRF, It was founded by Paramahansa Yogananda who expounded the teachings of Bhagavan Krishna, The Christ of India, and of Lord Jesus, the Christ of the West, as in essence one.

Here it is: “When man becomes a little enlightened he compares his experience to the material creation, gathered in the wakeful state, with his experiences in dream; and understanding the later to be merely ideas, begins to entertain doubts as to the substantial existence of the former. His heart then becomes propelled to know the real nature of the universe and struggling to clear his doubts, he seeks for evidence to determine what is truth. In this state man is called Kshattriya, or one of the military classes; and to struggle in the manner aforesaid becomes his natural duty, by whose performance he may get an insight into the nature of creation and attain the real knowledge of it.–Swami Sri Yukteswar, “The Holy Science”.

Now that’s what I call a military class! WOW! Disciplined and passionate in our quest to know more about the unknown and what all this is and what it isn’t.

This is a juicy morsel for our brains to turn over and over and contemplate. It’s good for us to pull out of our everyday lives now and again to look around and wonder about what this all is about. It helps us (me!) not take ourselves so seriously. For we do take ourselves too seriously, and often!

Besides the quote being good for deep spiritual and mental contemplation–it also causes me to review what I know about English grammar so that I understand what Sri Yukteswar means when he said, “aforesaid” etc.!

One of my favorite angels is the Arch Angel Michael who is supposed to be the warrior angel. My understanding of Michael is that he/she/it is a warrior for God, but not in the way that many humans use that term. In angel terms I understand it to mean very intent and purposeful about carrying out the good intentions of God with the understanding that no harm is caused for the ultimate good.

Wouldn’t it be nice of we could insert kshattriya in as a new class within the traditional Army, Air Force, Navy or Marines?

Thus did today begin my first day at my new part-time gig (why do I seem to always do Yoda-speak when I am tired?) and I loved it!! Love the people I’m working with and for and love learning all the new stuff that they’re into (real estate) and helping them to get organized etc. but I gotta tell you…my brain is so full that post-it notes are falling out of my ears…..!

I have to remind myself that starting any new project of learning causes my brain to pull in all of its resources. If my brain were a spaceship that had just typed in the command for warp speed, temporarily it would look like a gigantic ball sitting in a big sling shot before everything clicked into gear and allowed all my thoughts and ideas to blast into new heights. Sounds a helluva lot better than blaming it on all the myriad of reasons that we come up with for loosing basic vocabulary words while we’re learning, right? I would love to see what my brain looks like right now under thought-construction and which areas are massively highlighted and which areas have a new little night-light coming on.

My hat is off to all of my friends who have Ph.D.’s. I don’t know how you guys did it, much less those of you who have earned your Masters. I would love to hear how you processed what you were learning when you were learning and your experience. But learning like that can also happen outside of the traditional academic environs, such as those friends and family who have children. I know that is a constant learning system for you—especially when you are first starting out and adjusting to the impact on your life and the changes.

All the more reason for why it is good for us to take care of ourselves while we’re in the uteri of learning. I was kind of a crazy person today when I came home because I immediately went to my PC to check email and then downloaded the latest version of Excel so that I could show one of my associates the rudiments of it and then asked David for this MacBook Pro so that I could begin getting a handle on it. And…wheewh! So first things first. Write this blog for the day, eat my dinner, make my meals for tomorrow so that I can take them to work and go to my Wednesday night meeting. The rest can wait. Course, there will be lot’s of loving on my dogs, cats and husband as well!

I’m also reading a book called, “Secrets of Great Marriages” by Charlie and Linda Bloom, which I am thoroughly enjoying. Stay tuned for my interview with them at www.blogtalkradio.com/Hope42day this coming Tue (5-25) at 2pm CST. God, please help me to stay healthy, happy and sane! I am very grateful to have good focused energy.

This is a God-send, you are a God-send to be out there reading this blog today. For me, when my brain is full to brimming with new learning, writing is the best way for me to ease the load. Would really like to hear from some of you about what your learning process is and how you feel and respond to life while you’re inside of high learning mode. I have a feeling my Honors’ thesis will be on this subject in some way.

Until tomorrow, arrivederche and may your brain be able to expand comfortably to allow new thought and learning.

According to Dictionary.com, one definition of ambiguity that it ” is an unclear, indefinite, or equivocal word, expression”. Suffice it to say that an antonym for ambiguity is clarity (clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding; freedom from indistinctness or ambiguity).

Raise your hand if you’re guilty of ambiguity? Higher so we can see those of you in the way back row ;D.

Today, I think ambiguity is part of the human condition. It is a skill that many of us learn to survive. Those of us who may have grown up in dysfunctional households (uhum and I’m thinking most of us have) learn that if we’re ambiguous about what we say, we’re less likely to get in trouble and there is more likely an opportunity for us to get approval. For example, we could be ambiguous about what color we prefer, with someone whose opinion matters to us, by our not being definite on our opinion. We could say we prefer beige (instead of rose) which upon listening to and watching for the nuances of the recipient we could easily morph from beige to actually white or maybe yellow or even tan with a hint of brown if the clouds are passing by. If we had clearly said that we prefer the color “rose”, we would then find ourself at risk of disapproval or, God forbid, disappointment with our choice.

I learned at a very young age that ambiguity could be a great platform to exercise my manipulation skills. Why, if I was ambiguous about how I felt about something, I could buy just enough time to find out what the consensus of an individual or group was before I said what I felt. And you know that when I said what I felt in that context, I wasn’t really being honest–unless it happened that the individual or group felt the way I really did.

We then take our ambiguity skills with us into the world of our work. My, my, my can we look around in our office or factory or who we deal with on a day-to-day basis in our working environment and notice where ambiguity is oozing out of the sides like a wafting cloud. When we or someone we work with are clear, you know where you/they stand. And many times if we are guilty of being ambiguous a lot of the time, we can sure get miffed about the person who dares to be clear about who they are or what they want.

To get clear about ambiguity means to say what you mean and mean what you say. Use your words to express how you’re feeling even when you may not understand what you’re thinking. It’s okay to not know. You can “feel” a tug in your stomach. You can feel anger rising up and not know why. And it is okay to say, “I’ve got a tugging feeling in my stomach and I am not clear, yet, the reason” instead of waxing over what you’re feeling in order to save face or keep the peace or a hundred other reasons that actually may not even be the real reason you are being ambiguous.

On a clear day you can really see forever.

Years ago I was part of a group that immersed ourselves in a weekend retreat with two friends of mine (one a therapist and the other a want-to-be) who led us through a low-intermediate-and-high-level ROPES course. After a weekend of everyone of us pushing past blocks within ourselves, whether it was trusting our waiting friends to catch us as we fell backwards from five feet high into their waiting arms or walking through the fear while oonching (Lynn term) across a little bitty wire at least 60 feet above the ground across a 25-35 foot expanse. At the end of our weekend we gathered one last time to say one word out loud to the group that encapsulated our weekend/or that we were filled with as a result. One of the guides held out his arms very wide and closed his eyes with his face pointed up to the sky and said, “receptivity”.

That image has stayed with me and haunted many of my writings. Receptivity. Receptivity. Receptivity.

Today, receptivity means an entirely different thing for me than it did even a year ago. In fact, this morning when talking with friends I woke up to the realization of receptivity in terms of how I receive “gifts” and opportunities from my Higher Power (insert here whatever term feels right to you). Gotta say that there have been many a time when I have pretty much shut (if not slammed) the doors of opportunities in my HP’s face. I’ve had opportunities come to me by the bushel full that I have networked/connected other people to and then felt let-down afterwards because there wasn’t a ME out there who would give to ME what I had just given to them.

HELLO? What? DUHHHHHH?!??! Well, God love me, God love you, we’re just doing the best that we can with what we got and sooner or later if we’re paying attention (and continually asking for the awareness) we’re gonna see that a door is open, an opportunity is in front of us or there is someone we need to have a conversation with because we count, they are here for us and our lesson is to accept and be receptive and let go of the control of not allowing.

Last week I had called a friend of mine to ask her to keep me in mind should she see any part-time opportunities that would be a good fit for me (she is very well connected). She asked me to send my resume and barely 24 hours later, called me to say that she was actually looking for someone and would I be willing to consider working with her and here’s what she could pay now etc. etc. etc. I tell you this because in the past, this is the kind of opportunity that would come to me and I would immediately believe that the reason was, so that I could tell someone else whose needs were greater than mine. This time, I did the counter-intuitive thing and met with my friend. As a result I will begin working with/for her later on this week.

And the wonderful thing is I felt no remorse about receiving this opportunity and I sure didn’t feel guilty that I hadn’t passed it on to someone else first. I believe other opportunities will come my way that I can let other people know about, but this one was for me to check out and accept or not. It sure does feel good to breath oxygen I can tell you that. How many times have I told people the analogy of the plane going down and putting the oxygen mask on your own face first before you can help others (you won’t be much good passed out in the seat next to them…)?

So if you see a door or window open–at least look through it to decide if it’s something you want to explore for yourself before you pass it on. If you meet some fantastic person and happen to be a connector/networker where you immediately think of several people who should know them….take some deep breaths first. Enjoy the rainbow. Step into the sunshine. Breathe deep of the clean pure air of opportunity for yourself. Once we’ve taken care of ourselves and been receptive to all the good that is coming your way, then more and more good will come to you and from the overflow of reserves you’ll be able to fill up all kinds of cups and pitchers and bowls for many, many other people.