“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?

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”

5 New Year’s Resolutions for Wine Lovers

I am re-committing to these resolutions for 2009. I tried to live up to them last year, but I know I can do better! So here they are again….. Care to join me?

1. Drink less wine. I don’t know about you, but when I look back at this past year, I have drunk a lot of wine!! And, most of it has been generic, everyday wine for generic every day kind of days. Not much that has been notable. Often, I drink it without even really paying attention. This, when you think about it, is the way I spend a lot of my time. That’s wine and life passing me by! How about you? So, resolve to drink less wine, but to really pay attention and make every glass count.

2. Drink more, better wine. My theory is: if you going to drink less wine, you can afford to drink better wine! And, I know from my own experience that when I drink really good wine, I do slow down and savor every sip. Imagine if every glass of wine you had were an occasion to note. If every sniff and sip were worth making a memory?

3. Use your best glasses. I have a cupboard full of Riedel glasses. What good are they doing in the cupboard? If you are going to be drinking the best wine you can afford, doesn’t it just make sense to enhance the experience with wonderful glasses?

4. Expand you range. Make a point of trying wines from other regions or made from unfamiliar varietals. I know very little about Italian wines. So, this year I am going to make a point of discovering the world of Italian wines. Make it fun! Do some reading, do some tasting. You might just discover a new favorite!

5. Keep a journal. How many wines have you enjoyed and planned to buy again, only to find that you’ve forgotten what they were? I love the journals that have space to record the occasion and who you were with when you had that special wine. And, what fun to go back and re-live those memories later! The journals become treasuries of precious moments in our lives. Good wine, good food, good company….. does life get any better?

“A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.”  ~Author Unknown

Statistics apparently show that 22% of resolutions fail within a week, and over 50% have crashed and burned by the end of January.

So, what do you do? Don’t bother? Try again? How can you hope to succeed when past experience has proven that resolutions don’t work? Don’t give up!

I posted this list last year, and it’s still as relevant today. So, here are my Top 5 Tips to creating a Resolution Revolution:

1. Do it differently! You know the old saying that the definition of success is repeating the same actions and expecting different results. So, how can you approach your resolution differently this year? Step back and ask yourself how you can make it easy and fun?

2. Be clear about the results you want. I know you’ve heard it all before: goals need to be clear, concise, and measurable. Instead of just writing it down, create a vision of the way you want things to be. Picture your goal as already achieved. Imagine what it will feel like with your goal already accomplished. Write it in a letter to yourself dated December 31, 2009. Create a vision board with pictures that depict how your life will be. Come up with an affirmation that you can say out loud to yourself daily. Use all of your senses to cement your desired outcome in your psyche.

3. Break it into tiny steps. Reduce to the ridiculous. Create tiny new habits that when repeated daily will become second nature and allow your resolution to be successful almost effortlessly. Tackle only one new good habit at a time.

4. Create accountability. Tell your spouse, a trusted friend, or your coach exactly what you want to do, how you are going to do it, and ask for their assistance. Ask them to keep you accountable to your goals. Ask them to give you encouragement when you need it, and hold your feet to the fire when you slip. Ongoing support will keep you focused and on track!

5. Plan to celebrate! Make the process fun by planning to celebrate every small success along the way. We instinctively minimize our accomplishments or think that we should have done more, faster. Instead, focus on and be thankful for each tiny step you make. Remember, the Law of Attraction says that what you focus on is what you will get more of. Focus and celebrate all that is positive!

And, so, my New Year’s wish for you in 2009:

“Another fresh new year is here . . . Another year to live! To banish worry, doubt, and fear, To love and laugh and give! This bright new year is given me To live each day with zest . . . To daily grow and try to be My highest and my best! I have the opportunity once more to right some wrongs, To pray for peace, to plant a tree, And sing more joyful songs!”
– William Arthur Ward

A fellow coach, an American, wrote the following poem about the election of Barak Obama. In it she expresses gratitude for the gift of democracy and the message of hope and possibility that this election and it’s outcome have sparked for the world. It is truly moving and inspirational, and I wanted to share it with you.

GRATITUDE …

I hate cynicism
It’s small and judgmental and lives in a narrow box
On the contrary, I am, tonight,
a first snow night,
inspired.

Yesterday was a day of watching the opposite of cynicism
and finding myself expanded and grateful.

Spending the day at the polls,
observing humanity parade by.
Some aware of the privilege they enjoy living in a democracy.
Others not quite sure, treading softly,
like on new snow, feeling their way.

At the end of my polling obligations
I drove a young Native woman home from her journey to cast a vote.
We talked about her diagnosis,
her adjustments to living with cancer.
And my heart cracked open at her conviction,
in spite of her weariness, to let her voice be heard.

And finally watching the election results with friends,
ready to celebrate a victory for each of us and our nation.
Any trace of the cynicism that eight years of missteps
had wound around my heart
melted
as I listened and watched Barak Obama speak to the world.

For I saw a man who had transcended the difficulties life had presented him –
Raised by a single mother, her skin white to his black, who died much too early,
The lack of a father’s presence
And a country divided and unable to see it’s way out of the snare of cynicism and greed.

He had a vision. And so he stepped up to lead us.
He had a vision that carried hope and wisdom;
courage and commitment.
One that included all the people,
united in their passion for the possibility
the future could hold for us and the children of tomorrow.

The opposite of cynicism.
“Yes, we can.”
Which must be preceded by “Yes, I can.”
That midwife of your dreams.
Confidently holding a vast space of possibility.
Given nourishment, it blossoms and connects
with similar hopes and courage
and becomes “Yes, we can.”

And so I’m grateful
to be alive at this moment
and a part of the interconnected web
of smiling, tearful faces,
all linked by a dream,
too long asleep.
Now once again awakened.

Has “Yes, I can” visited you in the night?
What dreams are calling to be born in your waking life?
Resist the thorny branches of cynicism and No.
Call a prayer of gratitude to the Source of your inspiration,
and kiss awake the dream.

 Written by

Victoria FittsMilgrim, PCC

True Life Coaching & Retreats

www.truelifecoach.net

Thank you for sharing this powerful message in such a beautiful way, Victoria!

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

Do you want to get more creative? Think outside the box? Come up with some vibrant, fun and innovative ideas for your business, organization, or your life? Have you been mulling over some ideas for a new business start up? Or trying to think of a new way to do an old job that you’ve been putting off?

Where do you go for help?

Well, a coach like me, is an obvious place to start. But, if you’re looking for something a little out of the ordinary that you can play with on your own time, I just came across a wonderful website that absolutely fits the bill.

The Idea Champions website has a fun and brilliant “Free the Genie Card Game” that will get you literally jumping out of the box! This is what they say about the Free the Genie cards on their site:

“Because the genie is the archetypal symbol of unexpressed potential — the hidden force within us all capable of turning inspired dreams into reality. In Aladdin’s time, all it took was a rub of the lamp to free this power. Today, all it takes is some dedicated time and the willingness to interact with this very upbeat, engaging and graphically compelling breakthrough thinking tool. It’s fun. It’s simple. And it gets results.”

You can play the cards for free online, or you can buy the deck and other products from there site. So, this isn’t advertising, I have no affiliation with this site. I just think it is really exciting and fun!

So, check it out at: http://www.ideachampions.com/free_the_genie_intranet.shtml

And, leave a comment here to share if you come up with a doozy of a new idea!

I just watched Randy Pausch’s “Last Lecture” a couple of days ago. Man o’Man that is a powerful video!

You may have heard of him: he was a professor at the Carnegie Mellon University who gave his “Last Lecture” to the University this past fall. The “Last Lecture” is traditionally a chance for professors to give the lecture they’d love to give if it were to be their last. For Randy, it really was. He found out just weeks before the lecture that he had incurable pancreatic cancer.

That lecture has now become famous. It has been watched by millions of viewers on YouTube, was reprised on Oprah, and has been made into a best selling book. Of course I’d heard of him, but only just took the time to watch the video (all 104 minutes!).

Randy died a few weeks ago, but has left an enduring legacy in his message about fulfilling childhood dreams that he wrote for his kids and delivered in that lecture.

One of the many things that he said that really stuck with me was that you can decide if you want to be a Tigger or an Eyeore. That is so true!! You have the choice to be happy right now, today. Or the choice to be mopey, sad, and downtrodden.

I’ll take the bouncy, cheerful, fun loving Tigger any day!!

Take the time to watch the video. You’ll be glad you did. Here’s the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo