Inspiration Archives

One of the first movies I can remember resonating with as a small girl was the black and white Christmas classic "Miracle on 34th Street." I believed right alongside little Natalie Wood that her Christmas wish would come true and that she would get that dream home she'd been praying for each night and day. In fact, I think that I believed as deeply if not more that if little Natalie's character could only believe strongly enough that she would get that home and MORE. I believed even when her character faltered. I held the vision AND the belief for…

It is incredible to me how many fortunate people move through life confused, unhappy, and depressed. The "Woe is me!" attitude seems to run ramped in today's society. So many people would rather give up the privilege of truly living for the comfort of complacency and dissatisfaction. It takes effort to truly live, little more than the effort it takes to remain depressed. Yet so many choose the latter. I find this to be quite sad. When you watch a loved one fight for his life and then lose, that impression, and the wisdom that prevails, follows you for the…

Life is a miracle to be lived and never a problem to be solved! Consider each day to be a white canvas that you can fill with all your love, gratitude and skills to make the day a special, unique and abundant one. As you are made in God's image you are wonderful just the way you are and isn't it the most amazing fountain of pleasure and happiness that God is closer to you than your skin? God permeates you completely and in my experience there are only a few really important things in life. Feel excellent for no…

Didn't win the $640 million mega lottery? Don't be sad. Do you know a person who cares for you? If so, you are receiving the one thing in the universe that money cannot buy: Love! So cultivate a balanced life. Aside from routine work, make time for family and friends. Work never ends. There will always be something to do. Catching up with emails, phone calls, and other bits and bobs will have you on a treadmill. Sometimes, the only way to get jobs done is to simply cross them off your to-do list! That frees up space in your life…

Surprise!!! Let's pretend that you just walked into a surprise party - for you. Look around. Who is in the room? Most likely all of the people who are closest to you. Your immediate family. Maybe your parents. A few of your neighbors. A couple of co-workers? Some friends from previous jobs or neighborhoods? Your boss? Maybe people from when you were growing up or people you went to school with? A microcosm of your life is in that room. Now pretend I walked in behind you, asked everyone to be quiet and posed this question: "WHAT SHOULD _________ (insert…

Note from the Editor: Today's Brilliance is a bit different and longer than most. We feel that it's important to bring things like this up every now and then, so we wanted to share Carl's wisdom with you today. If discussing suicide is hard for you, we encourage you to come back tomorrow. One of my older brothers at age 22 took his life. I was just 16 years old. The effects on myself and my family were devastating, beyond description. We had but two choices: to pull together or tear each other apart. We chose the former and used…

All moments matter. Perhaps you believe that there are two types of moments: Ordinary moments and extraordinary moments; moments that are to be treasured and moments that might as well be pitched in the trash. But all of our "ordinary moments" are moments that we must learn to treasure. Why? Because these "ordinary moments" moments are like seeds from which the exotic flowers of extraordinary moments blossom. If we are expert gardeners, we will look at the humble seed and know that a blossom of remarkable beauty is waiting to be born from it. We know that if we take…

"Know thyself" and "To thine own self be true" are old but wise quotes that have been very important, sometimes painful and transformative and liberating lessons for me. A key technique in knowing myself that is vital to making life decisions that are aligned with being true to myself is developing, listening to and then trusting my intuition. Over and over again I continue to discover that my inner voice, what I call my intuitive knowing, or Divine Guidance, is always right. The problem I have had is that my head often overrides my gut feelings, that deep knowing in…

America's founding fathers were wise to embed the "A pursuit of happiness" in the DNA of the country - in the Preamble to the Constitution. It was a profoundly new idea that changed the world. Clients tell me, "I want to be happy!" and I show them how thoughts affect mood. How you relate to yourself can lift or dampen your spirits. Happy people have an easier life, bounce back from problems, and generate love. Research demonstrates we are hard wired to focus on problems, which creates physically and emotionally damaging stress. As we learn to focus on gratitude, the…