Give Your Best Anyway

I have been listening to Eva Cassidy sing "Songbird", and so appreciating the beauty of the lyrics and her voice. Until today, I had no idea that Eva Cassidy was dead, and that, at the time of her death, she was virtually unknown outside of the state of Washington, where she was born. The gorgeous album, "Songbird", was released more than ten years after her death.

I got thinking about what it must have been like for her to have such talent and yet to be largely unrecognized. What if she had given up and quit singing? What if she let the lack of appreciation for her talent dim her light? The world would have been a poorer place without the loveliness that was Eva's voice.

It made me think of the statement by Mother Teresa, which tells us to do what is in our hearts to do, regardless of response or lack of response. In her words:

"People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway." ~ Mother Teresa

I think she is stating a great truth here: that we need to listen inside, act accordingly and let go of what the outcome around us might be.

Here is a link to listen to Eva Cassidy sing "Songbird":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFFo1pu4q7Q

May you too sing your song today, whatever it may be.

Make a Leap Sideways

On the nights when I have insomnia, I always watch "The Dog Whisperer" with Cesar Milan. I find it very interesting and often see parallels with how we are as humans. One parallel that always strikes me is the need for us to be our own "calm and assertive pack leader", which I think is another way of saying "be your own best friend".

In the last episode, I watched how Cesar dealt with a dog which was in attack mode. He didn't pull the dog back, but rather he pulled the dog sharply sideways. He said that if you pull a dog back, it just creates resistance and more determination in the dog to accomplish its current mission. On the other hand, pulling the dog to the side changes its state of mind altogether.

I thought about how similar it is for humans. How do you react when someone tries to pull you back from something you want to do? If you are like most of us, you react like the dog and become more determined to accomplish your existing goal.

Very often with my clients, I notice that they try to solve whatever their challenge of the moment is by doing a slightly different version of what they did the day before. A little tweak here and there, but rarely making a radical change. This is because they continue to look from the same point of view rather than changing their perspective.

Clients often tell me that the greatest gift they experience when working with me is that their point of view is radically altered, like seeing from a helicopter after being stuck in the forest forever. A different viewpoint automatically yields different solutions.

I recently watched a most enlightening video about the current state of the planet and where our present trajectory will take us. The speaker, Chris Turner, states the reasons he thinks humanity is at a turning point, and where we will be if we keep doing what we are doing. But then he describes the exciting future we can create if we are able to take off the blinders that we have worn since the industrial revolution, and make a radical leap sideways to a different plan altogether. His vision is hopeful and inspiring, and you can check it out at this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prGdWKod7r4&feature=player_embedded

Change in the world and in our personal lives may be possible if we explore different points of view, and that exploration can be a great adventure. As Helen Keller said "Life is either a grand adventure, or nothing at all."

Are you laughing?

On my wall, I have a wonderful photo of two Tibetan monks, heads thrown back in paroxysms of laughter. The person who took the photo told me he had never met people with more simple joy bubbling up all the time. Yet these monks live with virtually no amenities, never mind luxuries. What they do have is a sense of connection with Life as they understand it, and the community in which they have chosen to live.

I think that in North America, it is important for us to ask ourselves some simple questions: "What really makes me happy? What causes me to throw back my head in helpless laughter? What gives me a sense of inner "glow"?"

If we aren't as happy as we would like to be, it is important to get a conscious understanding of why this is rather than to keep doing what we have always done. There is a great quote which says "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."

For most people, answering the question of what really makes them happy involves examining what they truly value. A simple way to do this is to imagine your life without each of the elements which make it up. You may find, as many other people have, that the thing you take most for granted is the thing that takes your breath away when you think of losing it.

So what are you paying most attention to in your life? To what do you give most of your time? When we organize our lives so that we give a significant percentage of our time to those things we value the most, there is less liklihood of losing them, and less regret when we do.