My wonderful client gave this to me, which, in my eyes, was the greatest compliment…

Enjoy,

Geese Story

In the fall when you see Geese heading south for the winter flying along in the “V” formation, you might be interested in knowing what science has discovered about why they fly that way.

It has been learned that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a “V” formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own.  Quite similar to people who are part of a team and share a common direction get where they are going quicker and easier, because they are traveling on the trust of one another and lift each other up along the way.

Whenever a Goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go through it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the power of the flock.  If we have as much sense as a Goose, we will stay in formation and share information with those who are headed the same way that we are going.

When the lead Goose gets tired, he rotates back in the wing and another Goose takes over.  It pays to share leadership and take turns doing hard jobs.

The Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep their speed.  Words of support and inspiration help energize those on the front line, helping them to keep pace in spite of the day-to-day pressures and fatigue. It is important that our honking be encouraging. Otherwise it’s just – well honking!

Finally, when a Goose gets sick or is wounded by a gunshot and falls out, two Geese fall out of the formation and follow the injured one down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly or until he is dead, and then they launch out with another formation to catch up with their group.  When one of us is down, it’s up to the others to stand by us in our time of trouble. If we have the sense of a Goose, we will stand by each other when things get rough. We will stay in formation with those headed where we want to go.

The next time you see a formation of Geese, remember their message that “IT IS INDEED A REWARD, A CHALLENGE AND A PRIVILEGE TO BE A CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF A TEAM”

—Angeles Arrien

Have you ever felt like some days all the stars just line up and everything just flows so easily?

Then on other days, it’s not so much the feeling of being “stuck”, as it is just not feeling as excited as those days when you are really turned on…

What is that?
Why does that occur?

Well, I can tell you why.

The answer is that on the days when things just seem to “click”, you are resonating “clearer” than on those days when you are not.

Abraham-Hicks (whom I adore) talks of the “tuning in to a particular radio channel” and the fuzziness that occurs when you are a few knob turns to the right or left, meaning that you are not on the station that you are wanting to hear;  and then, in turn, the clarity that you feel when you are “tuned in, tapped in, turned on” to the exact channel that you are seeking…

So, the question always begs to be answered, “Then exactly how do we tune our radio dial to be exactly on the station that we want?”

The answer is often too simple for many folks to “hear”… they themselves are not resonating near the “station” to even hear the answer of how to tune into the station…hahaha

Ironic, but oh so true!

The answer is:  You MUST act completely against your social conditioning and just relax.  “Physical Action” at this point will do you absolutely no good… no matter what, you will be spinning your wheels and getting more and more frustrated.

Creativity is an elixir for me…

Some days it feels like a light clear sparkling soda and other days it feels like thick maple syrup!

In other words, some days it trickles, sprays and gushes and other days it slogs, creeps and all out just sits there like a blob!

The point is that when it’s flowing freely, you know that you are resonating in a really good place, tuned into the “radio station”, so to speak — harness it, continue to smile, laugh and enjoy the ride…  and when it’s slogging along, step back and go do something else completely off topic that will cause you to smile, laugh and enjoy the ride!

Do you get it?

You control the flow of your creativity, no one else… and the spigot opens bigger and bigger, causing more and more to flow through you, when you are smiling, laughing and enjoying the ride!

Sure hope that you can hear what you just read because it will change your life.

Don’t be deceived by its simplicity, it’s very powerful stuff!

Until next time…

Pam

Who am I today?

Or even more specifically:

Who am I in this very moment?

Apart from the normal societal labels of mother/father, husband/wife, brother/sister, friend, co-worker, contracted freelancer, independent recluse (ha, that’s my favorite) and contributing member of the community, I would like to add one more and that is:  Freedom-Seeker.

Now, I’m not really talking about “freedom” from the flag-waving, patriotic perspective, but rather from the overall approach to how we manage our lives.

How exactly we move through each of the experiences within the different labels listed above and define our own freedom with true elegance and an awareness as to who we actually are and more importantly, who we are in the process of becoming.

Can one really be a good father or a good sister or a super-active community member if they have nothing within themselves to give?  My personal opinion is “no”.

That feeling of personal empowerment that comes about when you truly do feel free, is something that cannot, and I mean absolutely cannot, be described by the limits of language.  It’s very similar to the word “happiness”, of which both words are nebulous at best.

I equate it to the overused cliche of learning how to ride a bike or climb a mountain by only reading about it in a book.  Impossible.

The feeling of true freedom that we all seek is not in any book or movie or fighting of any war.  It is in taking steps toward something that you really really want in your gut/heart despite the paralyzing fear and voice of logic in your head that screams otherwise.

Conquering that will leave you in such a rapturous state when you absolutely least suspect it.  It will take you to a place that you’ve never been before mentally (or emotionally, for that matter).

It will leave you knowing that “you did it” in the most subtle, surreal way without a lot of hoopla and fanfare, typically not shrouded in bonuses, or titles, or slaps on the back from anyone.

More than likely you will be alone at the time.

And the grin on your face that appears, will feel like your face just can’t stretch any wider and that people must be staring at you because you feel like you’re glowing (and with that silly grin on your face as well, no less).

My “freedom event” occurred in the back of a rickety, noisy bus in the loud honking streets of Buenos Aires, Argentina in the year 2001.

That is when I knew true freedom for the first time in my life.

That is when I experienced true happiness and finally knew who I was for the first time in my life.

It was undeniable and left me wondering if everyone eventually feels this feeling.

Sadly, I fear the answer is “no”.

Have you had your “freedom event” yet?

Do share.

What are you paying attention to?

• Your kids?
• The news?
• Your customers?
• The pile of bills on your table?
• Your boss?
• Your aching back?

Your attitude?

Your attitude?

Your attitude?

You and I are really lucky whether we know it or not, and that is because we already have a built-in, “comes with the base model” indicator gauge that tells us exactly what we are paying attention to every second of every day  in our lives and that is:  our emotions.

If you feel good, you are on the right track.

If you don’t, you’re not.

It really is that simple.

Pay attention to how you feel in every moment.

Now, more than ever, you need to breathe deeply… and most of all, stop worrying and panicking!

Some crazy days are upon us (or so it appears), as the economic roller coaster continues this week, but have no fear, it will all work itself out.

You?  You are going to be just fine, as am I.

Why?  Because we are not like all the rest.  We are not running around like a chicken with its head cut off screaming, “OMG! The world, as we know it, is over, over I tell you!”

For Pete’s sake, those people just need to calm down.

As you know, I live in Argentina and have done so for the past 8+ years.  I arrived in the year 2000 and the Argentina currency (the Argentine Peso) was 1:1with the US dollar, or “pegged to the dollar” as they call it.

Well, long story short, the country couldn’t maintain that 1:1 ratio for just a boatload of economic reasons, with the main reason being that previous presidents had gradually eliminated/phased out/shipped abroad the manufacturing sectors of the country over the years and were now importing everything.  In short, the economy couldn’t support itself and therefore, couldn’t pay its debts, yaddah yaddah yaddah.  Sound familiar?  It should.  The US has been on this exact same trajectory for the past 10+ years.

Bottom line:  The Argentine economy collapsed at the end of 2001, I mean completely collapsed!  Yes, a grand “Great Depression”, no kidding!

It was all a bit shocking to tell you the truth, having only just arrived one year earlier with my pockets stuffed with US dollars.  The peso immediately “devalued”, or “debased” as the US likes to rename it, to 4:1 (that’s 4 pesos to 1 dollar… which, btw, It has now settled into a cozy 3:1 ratio for the past 5 years) meaning that the Argentines basically couldn’t buy anything outside their own country… their money was nearly worthless to all other markets outside of Argentina!

Wow, what a shock to the Argentine people who were accustomed to traveling abroad for vacations, buying things while abroad as any American would because their money, after all, was equal to the US dollar, so it was as if they were living in the US and purchasing/consuming as Americans would.

But, all good things come to an end.

Did Argentina disappear after their economic crisis?  No.  Did they resort to tremendous violence against the “injustice”?  No, but they did beat a lot of pots and pans walking in the streets.  

Did they accept the situation and move on?  Absolutely.  Are they stronger today because it caused them to see the economic opportunities in building up their manufacturing sectors again, as well as seeing other global online/offline possibilities?  Wow, are they ever.

My point:  There is opportunity everywhere and the wheels of the world never stop turning.  So, STOP watching the news and get on with building your business and stop worrying about everything outside of you that you cannot control.  Focus your energy on what you can control and that is your business and your efforts.

Let the financial and political folks play their games, that’s what they love to thrive on, so let ‘em!

You?  Just focus, focus, focus and breathe deeply because everything in your world is going to be just fine.

Take some time alone, write down some ideas, connect the dots and thoughts and then take the action necessary to assure yourself that you will prosper from all of this “noise” in the world.

Let me know if I can help!

Good luck.