When we refuse to leave the safety of what we know and grow beyond our horizons, we shut off the flow of Grace! ….Bob Trask
When our visions seem just too large to attain, our next step is to expand our identities to match them. I often hear people say what they want is simply not available for them, when in truth it is usually they who are not available to what they want.
Here is a happy example; Glen, a dear friend came to tell me his grandfather, who he had not seen since he was a child, had been in the hospital a while and had just died and left him his farm. Glen was leaving to go run the farm. I bade him goodbye and asked him to stay in touch. About a month later I got a letter. Here it is as nearly as I remember it:
As I passed through Grandpa’s little town I remembered the road out to the farm. I got there and saw the rope swing still in the tree and everything looking the same but really, really shabby. I went inside the house and realized Grandpa must have been in the hospital a long time because this place was a mess. Two windows were broken, the paint was peeling and there were mouse droppings all over the floor. Out in the barn the old farm equipment had not been used in so long it had rusted and weeds were growing right up through it. This wasn’t like Grandpa; he always wanted things right.
When I was walking from the barn back to the house I looked at the adjacent property up the hill behind me and saw a lovely big home and barn and men working the fields with newer tractors and I couldn’t help feeling a little down. It seems like it’s been like that my whole life; I’m always getting leftovers or hand-me-down junk. I wondered why Grandpa couldn’t have gotten himself a place like that.
Then I realized how selfish I was being and I didn’t want to be ungrateful for his gift. So I went to work. I got new shingles and fixed the leaks in the roof; which alone took me three days. Then I bought and put in the three new windows and after that I started my scrubbing. Man it was dirty! I was coughing my lungs out and my mousetraps were snapping constantly. When it was clean I aired out, and then I painted. Man that was a job! But I got it done; every single room.
I had the house pretty well fixed up by the end of the month and was going into town to look at some carpet when Grandpa’s old fishing buddy and lawyer came out to see me. I made him some coffee and we talked. I could tell he had something on his mind but it took him a long time to get around to it.
“So," he finally said. "I guess you're planning to rent this place out.”
He must have figured I was just here to fix Grandpa's house up and then leave. “No,” I told him. “I’m not going anywhere; I’m staying to run the farm.”
“Well that’s good then; folks around here were hoping you’d stay; still- there’s a lot of talk as you might figure ‘cause we can't see why you’re living down here instead of up at the big house.” He was pointing to that place up behind us!
It turns out, Grandpa bought that next farm with the big house and barn more than ten years ago. The men I saw running tractors up there were his farmhands.
Glen's letter ended with this message he wanted me to pass along to others I coach. "Tell them their dreams are ready when they are but not a minute before." Like Glen, we get so focused on what we think is true we can't see beyond it. Taking the next step requires changing our minds, expanding our self-identities and allowing our dreams to be fulfilled right now.
An entertaining and inexpensive way to start that mission is through Romancing The Soul, Your Personal Guide to Living Free, available in a first-edition hardback for only $29.95 at Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Romancing-Personal-Guide-Living-hardcover/dp/0961216441/ref=sr12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1264206738&sr=1-2
When we need car repair, dental work or a haircut we seek professionals. Top athletes, musicians and even businesspeople have professional coaches. I have helped tens of thousands become healthy, wealthy and filled with joy. Don’t waste another minute; call me now for an appointment either by phone, email or in person. Ph: 425- 577-0556 Email: Bob@ARASFoundation.org
A Bit of Humor for You:
A little guy had been sitting at the bar just staring at his drink for half an hour when this big trouble-making truck driver stepped up to him, grabbed his drink and gulped it down in one swig. The poor little guy put his head down and started crying.
“Aw, come on man,” said the truck driver. “I was just giving you a hard time. Here, I'll buy you another drink. For God’s sake please stop crying !"
“Well, this has just been the worst day of my life," said the little guy between sobs. "I can't do anything right. I overslept and was late to an important meeting, so my boss fired me. When I went to the parking lot, my car had been stolen and I have no insurance. I took a taxi home and left my wallet in the cab. I went into the house and found my wife in bed with the gardener. So then I came to this bar and finally got up the courage to end my life, and now you show up and drink all my poison!”
Our Heroine of The Week:
Canadian figure skater, Joannie Rochette was favored to win an Olympic Medal and was at practice on Saturday when her parents Normand and Therese flew from Montreal to watch her compete. Later that same night Joannie’s mother suddenly collapsed from a heart attack and despite doctors’ best efforts was dead early Sunday morning.
Her dad waited until 6 o’clock before going to Olympic Village where his daughter was sleeping to tell her the news. Joannie was devastated. Yet seven hours later, she was on ice practicing at the Pacific Coliseum. Her dad watched her fight through her tears while wiping away his own as she ran through the routine of her short program, hitting jump after jump.
"Skating is so much emotion,'' two-time Olympic medalist Michelle Kwan said Sunday.”I worry that it will be too much for her to handle.''
William Thompson, chief executive of Skate Canada, said, "If she changes her mind and feels she has to leave, she has our full support as an association."
But two days later Joannie skated a magnificent short program and afterward dissolved in tears; “My emotions just got the better of me,” she said. “It was really hard to control them. Mom was my biggest fan and my best friend. She was always with me- every step of the way."
Two more days of sorrow passed and then it was time for the long program; the medal competition. With her heart aching and raw, Joannie did what only heroes and heroines may do; she pulled herself together and won an Olympic Bronze Medal amid the toughest imaginable competition. When she finished her performance, she looked heavenward and said thank you to her mother. "I wanted to be strong and show her I could do this—that's what she would have wanted me to do."
Joannie was completely spent, emotionally and physically exhausted. "It was a very tough couple of days, and I want to thank everyone around the world.... I felt so much love....It really helped me get on the ice and skate for myself, my country and my mother. I knew she'd be proud of me!"
Joannie Rochette, we are honored to name you our hero of the week!
Great stories!
ReplyDelete