Leadership that inspires
“Leadership is based on a spiritual quality; the power to inspire, the power to inspire others to follow.”
~ Vince Lombardi
I am so grateful to be alive at this day and time. Born as 1971 drew to a close, I have known history’s greatest leaders only from film, the printed page, or the stories that others tell about these amazing men and women. But now I’m privileged to be living as another remarkable leader takes his early steps.
This man is a leader akin to Gandhi, King, Mandela, Kennedy. He is the fire starter for millions around the US, helping us rekindle our own greatness and inviting us to bring our light to shine for all. Rather than telling us he’s here to take care of our every need, he reminds us that we each have a role in caring for ourselves and others — ours is a country founded “of the people, by the people, for the people.”
Yes, We Can!
Thanks to him we are remembering that we are a community, a country, a civilization. As much as we need this leader, he needs us — our destinies are interconnected, our futures arrived at by collective action. All across America people are reawakening to what IS possible, what CAN be, what WE can do, build, start, complete, provide. Thanks to this man, we are letting go of the false stories, the outmoded ideas, the tainted ways that we’ve been relying on. We know that positive change can occur AND we must take part if we want the change to come.
Join me in this worthy cause. Invest yourself in the future that’s possible. Stand up, make your voice heard, and give your gifts to our common endeavor. We have the power to create a new reality. Unite with millions of your fellow citizens in supporting Barack Obama as he seeks to serve as OUR next president. Learn more online via these links:
- Read about Barack Obama’s history
- Fact check what you see, read, and hear about Barack Obama
- Learn where Obama stands on the issues we all care about
- Find out how YOU can volunteer to help Obama’s presidential campaign
- Listen to Obama’s inspiring, rejuvenating speeches
Our collective tomorrow can be much brighter than today and our brokenness can be mended. With Barack Obama as our leader, we can make this journey…together…now…for good!
“Management is getting people to do what needs to be done. Leadership is getting people to want to do what needs to be done. Managers push. Leaders pull. Managers command. Leaders communicate.”
~ Warren Bennis
Go, Obama, go! Go, people, go! Yes, we can!!
Remember love
As we prepare to move into this new year, I want to share a delightful love poem with you. It’s called Do You Remember Love? Written down by James Jacobson, it’s wisdom about love and life from his dog Maui. He’s put the poem to music and has it as a video on his site, so I hope you’ll take the time to watch/read Do You Remember Love? Enjoy!
Spiritual Cinema Circle — The best movies you’ll ever see
Since 2004, Bruce (my husband) and I have seen some of the most heart-warming, funny, inspiring, thought-provoking, interesting, unusual, meaningful, and magical movies. The films include features, documentaries and shorts. Some are animated, most are live action. Many films are from foreign countries. All of them are independent and unique.
We’ve seen these amazing films through our membership in the Spiritual Cinema Circle, a DVD club that specializes in uplifting and inspiring films. These are movies for people who want cinema that opens their heart, expands their mind and stirs their soul!
Each month, members pay $21 plus shipping and receive 4 films on DVD. The DVDs are yours to keep so you’ll get to build a library of inspiring films (this is one of my favorite parts of membership because then we can share our favorite films with others). Members of the Circle also get access to members-only teleconferences with amazing people such as Marianne Williamson, Neale Donald Walsch, Deepak Chopra, James Ray, and more!
The Spiritual Cinema Circle (SCC) generally offers a special trial membership deal (you often pay just the shipping for that month), so you can check it out risk-free (you may cancel at any time and for any reason).
“I love movies, but the movies I get from Spiritual Cinema Circle love me.”
~ Gary Zukav
Spiritual Cinema Circle Films for September 2007
Believe In Me (feature film)
A young man dreams of being an important basketball coach until he is forced to take a job as the coach of an all-girls team. Though he fears his short career will come to an end, what actually happens is nothing short of a miracle. The joy, tears and friendships captured in this wonderful film remind us how important it is to put our faith in a higher plan. This is a film for the whole family!
7 Days With 7 Dogs (short film)
Two of SCC’s original filmmakers spend a week taking their furry friends from one beautiful doggy heaven to another. This short documentary reveals the joy that comes from giving something wonderful to others.
5 Wishes; The Conversation (short film)
This insightful film probes the depths of what it takes to find peace and comfort within ourselves and our relationships, while opening a door to new possibility.
Now You See Me, Now You Don’t (short film)
This intense, award-winning film from Hungary conveys its powerful message through suspense and chilling action. A simple story unfolds to reveal healing in many forms.
See previews of these films by visiting the Spiritual Cinema Circle’s Preview page. Click on the month of September for the films described above, or watch any previews that interest you.
Earn money with the Spiritual Cinema Circle
Another great thing you can do if you find that you are a huge spiritual cinema circle fan, is join their affiliate program. This allows you to earn money for people you refer to become members. You can find out more about the SCC affiliate program using the link below.
All the links above do connect to our affiliate account and potentially earn us money. If you prefer, you can visit the Spiritual Cinema Circle directly at spiritualcinemacircle.com.
“I love from Spiritual Cinema Circle because every month a DVD with entertainment that is right in line with my spiritual approach to life arrives in the mail. I’m always so excited as I know I’ll appreciate what I see.”
~ india.arie
It’s time to move off the fence
“I must do something” always solves more problems than “Something must be done.”
~ Author Unknown
Overwhelm. Powerlessness. Fear. Confusion. Busyness. What’s the excuse you give most often for sitting on the fence of life, waiting for things to change? ALL of us do it. Though our hearts call us to act, we restrain ourselves, then tell stories to justify our inaction.
There are two primary problems with doing our lives this way.
- The cries for help go unanswered. Situations get worse (Rwanda, Bosnia, Darfur) or things are destroyed all together (New Orleans, animal species, West Virginia mountain tops).
- We lose our souls. Our lives lose meaning because we’re not doing what we know in our hearts to be the right things to do.
Are there potentially millions of causes that need our attention? YES!
Is it easy to sometimes thing we’re too insignificant to change the tide? YES!
Does it seem that we might lose convenience or comfort if we work for peace/justice/transformation? YES!
Do we sometimes receive contradictory messages or lose our way? YES!
Are we sometimes too preoccupied with our individual issues to notice what’s happening around us? YES!
Do any of these reasons mean that sitting on the fence is where we should be? Hell NO!
I urge each and every one of you to notice the fence you’re currently sitting on, and GET OFF! Start with that one action of choosing to fence-sit no longer. Then take the next action — writing a letter, getting the facts about an issue you care about, joining a group working for change. One step at a time away from the fence and toward a better future for us all!
Enjoy this song from Madonna, “Hey You!” It’s the theme for the Live Earth Concerts taking place on every continent today, 07/07/07. It’s an anthem for living your life OFF the fence — there’s a million reasons why, and there’s no time to waste.
Celebrate Independence Day with More Personal Freedom
“Freedom is actually a bigger game than power. Power is about what you can control. Freedom is about what you can unleash.”
~ Harriet Rubin
As we celebrate Independence Day in the United States (July 4), we talk much about our freedoms and the colonists who fought to secure our liberty over 200 years ago. While we are blessed to live in a country without much constraint or imposition on our personal freedom, I believe, nonetheless that many Americans (and many of our brothers and sisters living elsewhere) are less free than they can be.
What is freedom?
For many people, freedom is something they yearn for, expect, and champion as a basic human right. Yet frequently, people abdicate their own power and wait for outside forces or other people to free them. In my book, Live the Life You’ve Imagined, I devote an entire chapter–”Experience More Personal Freedom”–to the subject of how to free oneself and live in a liberated, joyful, powerful way. Last year, I wrote a blog post using material from this chapter.
Experience More Personal Freedom
- Freedom is when we make conscious choices rather than running on autopilot.
- Freedom is being fully responsible for all our choices and the victim of no one and nothing.
- Freedom is choosing our mindset as much as our actions.
- Freedom is being attached to nothing (no result, no person) even though we might fully hope to have/achieve that thing.
As I wrote in Live the Life You’ve Imagined, freedom is our choice, our individual decision. People in deplorable and inhumane situations have shown us this. Viktor Frankl, Holocaust survivor, psychotherapist, and author of Man’s Search for Meaning, and Nelson Mandela, South African civil rights leader, former president and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, both demonstrated this fact when they chose to be spiritually and mentally liberated despite being physically imprisoned (Frankl in Nazi concentration camps and Mandela in apartheid-era South African prisons).
“Deciding to focus on our own freedom isn’t selfish; it is the greatest gift we can give to humanity.”
~ Don Miguel Ruiz
Whether or not July 4 is officially “independence day” for you or not, I urge you to take a stand for your personal freedom on that day. Then continue your choice to be free every day thereafter.
If you’d like to share stories of your own liberations or challenges with choosing to be free, please drop a comment in below.
Knowing what to hold on to or let go of
My friend Amit who blogs at The Power of Choice, recently wrote a post about his “holding onto” a negative situation from work even though it had been resolved. I’m confident that like Amit, all of us sometimes rehash or stay stuck with unpleasant memories even though we don’t have to.
Below are my off-the-top-of-my-head/heart thoughts on things to keep and things to release from our lives.
Hold onto these things in your life
- Love – whether real or imagined, loving thoughts and feelings are good for you
- Beliefs that serve you — if a belief gives you more confidence, hope, faith, or courage, that’s got to be positive
- Nurturing memories — perhaps because we all have down times in life, having a storehouse of happy, joyful, or pleasant memories can be beneficial (and fun to remember)
- Childlike wonder — though we get sensible as adults, retaining our ability to be captivated, enchanted, mesmerized, and awe-struck is good for the soul
- Uplifting relationships — people and animals who love us unconditionally and whom we love with all our hearts are irreplaceable, so care for them well
“May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human enough hope to make you happy.”
~ Anonymous
Release these things from your life
- Judgment – whether your criticism is for yourself or others, judgment is a separating, soul-stifling act
- Resentment – this emotion only keeps pain fresh and wounds you over and over again
- Guilt – would’ve, could’ve, should’ve can’t turn back time, so make amends when appropriate and forgive yourself (you’re human, remember)
- Fear – though we’re all bound to feel frightened from time to time, build up your muscles of trust and let go of as much fear as you possibly can
- Unworthiness – my experience as a human and coach is that most of us somewhere believe that we are unworthy of love or that we must do something and avoid other things in order to receive love; NOT TRUE. You, me, and everyone else is worthy of love just because that’s the way it is.
If you have other items to add to my lists, drop them in the comments area. May you have a day filled with carrying only those things which uplift you and enliven your soul.
“Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life. What is it you would let go of today?”
~ Mary Manin Morrissey
Love and commitment — a winning combination
At the peace rally held in Washington, D.C., just before the US went to war in Iraq, one of the things we often chanted was “this is what democracy looks like.” I think that if you want to know what love and commitment look like, you can find the answer in the story of Dick and Ricky Hoyt. May this touching video inspire you to boldly give your love and commitment in whatever way life calls you to.
“Love is a force more formidable than any other. It is invisible - it cannot be seen or measured, yet it is powerful enough to evolve you in a moment, and offer you more joy than any material possession could.”
~ Barbara De Angelis
Accomplish your biggest dreams. . .starting now
I have an irrepressible desire to live till I can be assured that the world is a little better for my having lived in it.
~Abraham Lincoln, 16th U.S. president
What’s the song that plays in your heart that you’re afraid to sing out loud?
What dreams from your youth tug at the sleeve of your soul?
What visions dance in your mind until you remember you’re
too busy, too old, or too settled to pursue them?
We all have contributions to make to our world. In large and small ways, we are here to share our gifts. Many of us, however, substitute trivial ambitions for meaningful desires, not because we don’t have passion, but because we listen to that little voice in our heads that says we’re not “enough” to give ourselves to following such calls.
Our ordinary mind always tries to persuade us that we are nothing but acorns and that our greatest happiness will be to become bigger, fatter, shinier acorns; but that is of interest only to pigs. Our faith gives us knowledge of something better: that we can become oak trees.
~E.F. Schumacher
The world needs your biggest game!
I believe we’re at a crucial time when it’s no longer enough to sit on the sidelines, play the small parts, or delay the pursuit of our dreams until everything is “just right.” Right now, all the forces of the universe are waiting for you to stand up and give the best you can offer. There is no better time–in fact, there is no other moment than this present instant, to commit yourself to giving all that you’ve got. This may be your last opportunity. . .start making your visions into reality, take your dreams out of the closet, and let loose that song in your heart.
Always remember this. . .
- Though you may still doubt yourself from time to time. . .
- Though you may occasionally feel discouraged, confused, or disillusioned. . .
- Though you may sometimes believe you’re all alone. . .
There is someone/thing that remains in constant connection with you, knowing your true heart, your deepest dreams, and your greatest gifts. This spirit has a message for you. A message for you to remember for all those times when you lose hope that your biggest dreams can come true. This spirit gives voice through the gifts of Nick Arandes, and his song (or spirit’s song with Nick’s voice), I Believe In You (listen/watch below).
Thank you Nick, for this powerful, evocative reminder that there is always faith in us, even when we’ve forgotten to have that faith in ourselves.
Oh, the worst of all tragedies is not to die young, but to live until I am seventy five and yet not ever truly to have lived.
~Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
