Acceptance, not Apathy

Several of my clients just this week have been concerned that they are becoming “hardened” or “past feeling” because they don’t feel as upset about something in their life as they did a while back.  When we first encounter or anticipate a difficult or painful life circumstance, we may be overcome with fear, dread, shock, or horror.  As we come to terms with these life challenges, we begin to accept them for what they are.  This frees up our mind to actually start working on productive solutions or adaptation.  As you begin to accept things as they are, you become less frantic, and can actually have more influence on potential outcomes.  Acceptance doesn’t mean that you don’t care.

The real voyage of discovery consists not in making new landscapes but in having new eyes.

- Marcel Proust

 

Choices

Decisions, choices, options… Those words delineate freedom and control over various aspects of life. They also strike fear into the heart, mostly because of the chance that your choice will be WRONG! But not making a choice is itself a choice with a full spectrum of consequences. You can’t not choose, so choose wisely. Don’t worry about making a mistake – that just gives you the opportunity to learn something you didn’t know before.

When you have to make a choice and don’t make it, that is in itself a choice.

- William James

Enough Time

When you say you don’t have enough time you are always lying. Everyone has exactly the same amount of time – 24 hours every day – not a minute more or less. You will spend all of it every day, and then you get a new allotment of 24 hours the next day. The frustration comes in sacrificing things of greater value. If we spend our precious time on things that aren’t really that important to us, we will feel that our time is wasted. Commit to spending your time as carefully as you would spend your money on the things that you really want.

The key is not to prioritize what’s on the schedule, but to schedule your priorities.

- Stephen Covey

Calling all parents! – Register now for Parental Power – http://www.parental-power.com/?page_id=424

Dr. Paul

Integrity

As a child when my parents would take me to church, we used to sing a song – “I Am A Child Of God”.  I believe that we as humans are creators, because we are offspring of the Great Creator.  You are the driver and creator of your own life.  When you get really good at creating what you intend, there is a much shorter distance between your words and what actually happens.  When you say you will be somewhere, you are there.  When you say you will do something, to anyone listening it is as good as done.  This is true integrity – to speak things into existence.
 

I define integrity as the distance between your lips and your life.
- Mark Sanborn

Real or Stuffed

As a youth I was fascinated with the art of taxidermy.  A few days ago I was visiting a neighbor who was showing me two huge fish that he had caught which were now stuffed and mounted on his wall.  I found myself thinking, “Wow, those look real!”  The appearance of a live fish was what the taxidermist was going for, although it was mostly just stuffing.  Sometimes we call our material belongings “stuff”.  Real people have deep and meaningful relationships.  If we get too attached to possessions, perhaps we too have become “stuff”ed.

Until you make peace with who you are, you’ll never be content with what you have.

- Doris Mortman

Diffitunity

My wife posted this thought on my facebook (http://www.facebook.com/drpauljenkins) wall this week:  ….”A pessimist and an optimist approached Goliath. The pessimist thought, ‘He’s so big, I can’t possibly kill him. The optimist thought, ‘He’s so big, I can’t possibly miss!” Mary Ellen Edmunds.

 

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; and optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

- Winston Churchill

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Join me this weekend (September 26th) in Salt Lake City for the official launch of The Women’s Information Network – Vicki and I will be show hosts for this exciting new network for women.  Please register at www.thewinonline.com – hope to see you there.

Keep Moving Forward

Recently I was hiking with a group of boy scouts up a rather steep trail in the mountains near my home. After a few miles, some of the boys were really feeling the strain of the hike, and would occasionally stop on the trail. They would sometimes look forward with a hint of discouragement in their eyes because it seemed as if we would never reach the destination. The only way to get there is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Keep moving forward!

Constant effort and frequent mistakes are the stepping stones to genius. – Elbert Hubbard

P.S.  I’m excited to let you know of the launch of a fantastic new network called WIN – The Women’s Information Network.  I’ve become a show host for the network, and we’re launching next Saturday in Salt Lake City – Go to http://www.thewinonline.com/ for more and to register for the FREE launch event.  Hope to see you there! DP

Now or Later

In his book, Luck By Design, Richie Goldman points out that you are going to have to figure it out now or later:  there are certain laws in life that can’t be avoided.  Among the absolutely predictable and certain laws of life are that you WILL experience pleasure, pain, loss, gain, disappointment, success, frustration, satisfaction, death, and life.  How you respond to each of these defines who you are and the course of your life. (Hint: you handle all of these the same way… with gratitude, grace, and humility).

 

Life is not going to hand you what you want; you’re going to have to create it.

- Richard E. Goldman

 

Start Here

An acorn does not become a great oak by scurrying around frantically searching for leaf molecules and bark molecules to build the tree.  It simply exists right where it is and uses the resources immediately available to it.  The resources you need to solve absolutely everything you currently face are right there around you.  Start with what you know to do and then the next steps will become evident.

 

True greatness is starting where you are, using what you have, doing what you can.

- Arthur Ashe

The Happiness Secret

Many people go through life constantly searching for the way to happiness.  They don’t seem to understand that the way IS happiness.  If you want to be a productive and successful person, work on your happiness.  I read an article this week by Arthur C. Brooks who said, “Happy people show up for work more, work longer hours, work more joyfully, and are happier with every aspect of their productive lives.  Happiness is the secret to success.”  That’s the secret folks – happiness brings success, not the other way around.

 Charity brings happiness, and happiness brings success.

- Arthur C. Brooks

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