“So life’s year begins and closes;
Days though shortening still can shine;
What though youth gave love and roses;
Age still leaves us friends and wine.”
— Thomas Moore

The shortening days of autumn are, indeed, upon us. I love the fall season. It is full and ripe. It is the culmination, harvesting and reaping of all that we have sewn this year.

And, so, it is time to celebrate. Fall harvest celebrations are happening in every corner of our continent. Images of grinning children, huge pumpkins and corn stocks come to mind. Here in the Okanagan Valley, we have just celebrated the Fall Wine Festival. So much bounty!! (So much wine, so little time….)

A time to give thanks. This season is the cornucopia of life. How can we not pause to take stock of all our blessings? We live in such a hurried environment these days, that sometimes we forget to stop and appreciate all that we have. We pass by those moments where we can bask in the warmth of accomplishment and fulfillment.

It’s a time to reflect on the past, and gaze into the future. Busy, chaotic Christmas/Holidays will be here before we know it! And, then the New Year is come and gone. Resolutions made in haste are soon forgotten.

I find this is the ideal time of year for crystal ball gazing. It’s more of a dreamy, soft sort of look ahead as opposed to the hard, by the numbers goals that I would set in January. The challenges and successes of this year are still a fresh taste in my mouth. I am savouring my victories, my accomplishments. I can still catch the bitterness of the disappointments. I have a generous sense of my potential.

So, I would invite you to sink into this season, and gather it around you like a warm blanket. See your glass full to the brim, and make a toast in celebration. Smell the aroma of all you have achieved this year. With each sip, say a word of thanks, appreciate the bounty you have created. And then, as you savour the lingering finish, dream into the future. Picture yourself in the rosy glow of next autumn. What will you be celebrating and giving thanks for then?

What a great weekend!

I love this time of year. We’re enjoying spectacular Indian Summer weather, the grapes are being harvested, crush is on full bore. There’s a great energy about this season. It feels positive and productive. It’s all about abundance and the successful culmination of effort expended. It leaves me feeling full and grateful.

And, expectant. We’re also taking the harvest and processing it into future enjoyment. So, in that way, the harvest is not an end, but a beginning.

This weekend we harvested, crushed and pressed our pinot gris and sauvignon grapes; and we bottled some of our 2007 reds. Everything is pure potential. Everything just another beginning.

Can you see me smiling?

When we choose not to focus on what’s missing from our lives but are grateful for the abundance that’s present…..we experience heaven on earth. Sarah Breathnach

This quote was on an email that I received recently, and I thought - “How true!”. And, I also thought about how this could apply to the “not enough” syndrome that most of us fall into at least occasionally.

It seems like there is this huge prevalence of scarcity thinking. “I don’t have enough of…”, or “I’ll do such & such as soon as….” or “when I get better at…” or “I can’t do (blank) because I don’t have….” or “I’m not good enough”.

We have a tendancy to put everything off “until”. We spend all our energy focusing on what it is we don’t have.

How would it be if we changed our thought patern just a tiny bit? What would change if I said “I can do xxx right now, and it will be even better when yyyy”. How would things be different if I really focused on what I already have, be grateful for it, and do what I can do today?

The Compass Coaching program is based on what they call “Abundance Intelligence” which has been adapted from Kim George’s book called “Coaching into Greatness“. I’ve been delving into their coaching program both as a client and now as a Certified Compass Coach for the last couple of months. And, I love it!

I find that feels really empowering. It gives me choice. It creates abundance. What is it I can do, right now? Today? It blows all of the obstacles out of the water!!

Every time I get stuck, I ask myself that question: “What can I do?”. And, it never fails to get me into action. It also makes me feel full, and blessed. I feel satisfied instead of wanting. I feel more peaceful, less anxious.

What would change for you if you chose to focus on what you do have? What you can do? Look at your strengths (and those of others) rather than weaknesses?

How would you feel?

PS. Another book that I have really enjoyed and found very enlightening on the topic of scarcity & abundance is “Trance of Scarcity” by Victoria Castle. Check it out!

The world seems to be filled with doom and gloom these days. Investments and house prices are falling. Jobs are being lost. Businesses are failing.

Are you worried? Are you getting sucked into the mire of negativity? Are you finding it harder and harder to see the light at the end of the tunnel?

How do you think this effects your life? How do you move forward towards your goals and dreams when from everywhere there seems to be screaming “STOP! You are under threat. Don’t move or you’ll get hurt”? What happens when you actually start believing those voices?

I’m not saying that all is well. I know it’s not. But where is the opportunity? The laws of physics tell us that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. So when everything is going down, something has to be going up, right?

Why can’t that be you?

Just think about it. When you buy into the hype and really believe that the world is going to hell in a handbasket – where are you headed? If you hold that belief, what chance to do you have of going anywhere else?

What if you CHOSE to believe in possibility? What could you accomplish if you looked for the opportunities?

In coaching, we are taught the concept of “Disturbance as an Ally”. To us, when there is upheaval, conflict, tension; change is trying to happen. If we embrace that disturbance and look for the opportunities, we are going to come out the other side way ahead of the game. It also points to the idea that there is never 100% truth in anything. Where is that 2% opportunity that is lying in this mess? What would be different if that is what you focused on?

Can’t find that needle of opportunity in the economic haystack? Where are you looking? Are you focusing on the hay or the needle?

So, how do you do that? Here are some suggestions! Try one or two, see what happens….

1. 1. Focus on the positive! Do the Oprah thing and have a gratitude journal. Spend some time every day counting your blessings.
   2. When you find yourself saying “I can’t”, ask yourself “how can I?”
   3. Practice active appreciation by making a point of noticing the wonderful things around you, the wonderful people around you. Tell them what you appreciate.
   4. Spend time visualizing your dreams and goals every day. Let your psyche be infused with the positive feelings of achievement.
   5. Surround yourself with positive people. Seek out those in your life that make you feel good. Ask yourself how you can make someone else feel good and do it!
   6. Be generous. Give what you can. Reap the satisfaction of making someone else life better.
   7. Finally, be good to yourself! Wrap yourself in a warm comforting blanket of self love. And, you’ll find you have an abundance to give.

Have you got another habit that you use to focus on the positive? Leave a comment here to share it with us!

Wow! the following comes from the Hopi Indian Nation and I came across it on one of my coaching networks. It is so relevant to where we are in the world right now, I wanted to pass it along. It is wonderfully inspiring and speaks to the responsibility that each of us has to create change.

Enjoy & reflect:
Reading from Hopi Nation

“You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.

Now you must go back and tell the people that this is the Hour.

And there are things to be considered:

Where are you living?

What are you doing?

What are your relationships?

Are you in right relation?

Where is your water?

Know your garden.

It is time to speak your Truth.

Create your community.

Be good to each other.

And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast.

It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.

They will try to hold on to the shore.

They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination.

The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.

See who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally.

Least of all, ourselves.

For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt. The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”

The Elders, Oraibi, Arizona Hopi Nation”

I watched this 15 minute video, and it kept me smiling all day! Well worth the time.

You pop the cork. Pour a stream of crimson fluid into your glass. Inhale deeply the aromas it offers up. Taste the richness and notice the complexity. Feel how it glides over your tongue towards your throat. Hold your glass to your ear. And, listen. Just listen.

This wine has a message for you.

I was contemplating wine the other day (ya think?). And, I was wondering what messages it might have to impart to us. What does the wine have to say to you and me?

I think it says: Stop. Pay attention. Savour the experience. Really tune into the moments in your life.

I think it says: Celebrate! Life is good. Enjoy what you have and rejoice in the small successes that are offered up every day.

I think the message is: Take care. Take care of yourself. Take care of the place you live. Be careful to nourish your body and soul. After all, what is wine without the soil, water and sun?

I think it says: revel in diversity. Enjoy the differences. Just as wines come in different colours and flavors, so do people. Appreciate the variety of the human race.

And, I hear something about changing, and growing. And, the process. Creating something beautiful.

I hear: Cheers! The importance of family and friends, being in good company. Choosing to be “cheer”ful and bring cheer to others.

Am I hearing things? Maybe I need another glass!

I don’t know why, but for some reason as I was laying awake in bed at about 2:30 this morning, I thought about the desiderata. Remember that poem that was popular in the late 60’s, early 70’s? I looked it up this morning, and it is still so relevant. So, I pass it along to you!

 desiderata - by max ehrmann
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.

Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann c.1920

So often, when “bad’ things happen, we see the worst, we run and hide or get caught up in the negativism. And, sometimes, if we choose to, we can see the good that comes as a result. The following is a Taoist parable that I learned during my Relationship Systems coach training. It has a powerful message:

“When an old farmer’s stallion wins a prize at a country show, his neighbor calls round to congratulate him, but the older farmer says ‘Who knows what is good and what is bad?’ The next day some thieves come and steal his valuable animal. His neighbor comes to commiserate with him, but the old man replies ‘Who knows what is good and what is bad?’ A few days later, the spirited stallion escapes from the thieves and joins a herd of wild mares, leading them back to the farm. The neighbor calls to share the farmer’s joy, but the farmer says ‘Who knows what is good or what is bad?’ The followng day, while trying to break in one of the wild mares, the farmer’s son is thrown and fractures his leg. The neighbor calls to share the farmer’s sorrow, but the old man’s attitude remains the same as before. The following week the army passes by, forcibly conscripting soldiers for a war, but they do not take the farmer’s son because he cannot walk. The neighbor thinks to himself “Who knows what is good and what is bad?’ and realizes that the old farmer must be a Taoist sage.”

Just asking that question seems to open up a world of possibility. How much freer would you feel if you gave up judging good and bad? How much worry could you shed? How much relief from grief and sorrow?

Things just are what they are. We don’t know what will come next. All we can do is decide to make the most powerful, positive choices that are available to us in the moment.

After all, who knows what is good and what is bad?

7 Tips to feeling happier, stronger and more optimistic in these trying times.

It’s easy to fall into the ground swell of desperation and fear that permeates the media these days. And, it’s hard to stay optimistic and positive. So, what difference does it make?

How does feeling small and scared do you or anyone else any good? How does giving into the mass hysteria change anything?

So what can you do? How can you make a difference?

I know it sounds Pollyannaish, but focusing on the positive is one way! Looking for the good in your day, your life, your community and the world might make you happier, stronger, and more resilient.

According to an article in a recent Reader’s Digest, studies have shown that people who look for the “bright side” and count their blessings sleep better, are more optimistic, and more active. They get sick less, and live with more joy and energy. People who regularly acknowledge the what is going right instead of dwelling on what is wrong have better social lives and are more likely to try to help others.

Not sure where to start? Here are seven tips on making gratitude and appreciation for the good things a regular habit. I promise that if you do one or two of these everyday, you will be less stressed, more content and better able to weather the current turmoil. Try:

1. set aside just 5 minutes per day to reflect and write down all the good things that happened each day
2. make a game of noticing 5 things on your way to work or the store that make you smile
3. take several mini “gratitude” breaks through the day, tune up your awareness of the good stuff that’s all around you waiting to be noticed
4. tell your loved ones how much you appreciate them and why
5. relive some happy memories
6. do something nice for someone else
7. find something that makes you feel good, keep it with you & touch it whenever you need a lift (remember your blanky?)

Make it fun! Make it everyday, and soon you will find that it becomes a habit. And, when you are radiating more positive energy, what kind of impact do you think you have on those you interact with?

I know you can’t change the circumstances, but you can change the experience of it.  And, it’s contagious! Like ripples in the water, you will infect everyone in the world around you with the positivity virus. Now wouldn’t that feel good?