A Matter of Inspiration

Legend has it that Robert the Bruce of Scotland was losing the battle and he barely escaped with his life. His soldiers were hard pressed to keep up the fight as many were wounded and dying. The Bruce, tired, dismayed and broken-hearted found a hidden cave where he took refuge.

He threw down his sword and sat to rest a while. Gloomy thoughts filled his mind and he reflected on the insurmountability of the task he had tried to accomplish. Perhaps Scotland would never be free ... at least not in his lifetime. Perhaps he should abandon all efforts, give it up and lead an obscure life as a fugitive.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a tiny spider trying to climb a strand of web that extended from the top of the cave almost to the floor. Up went the spider and just a few feet from the top, it slipped and fell all the way down.

Over and over again the spider repeated the process as the exhausted Bruce watched, fascinated by the perseverance of the little life form. Once again the spider climbed, this time almost reaching the top. Again it slipped and fell to the floor of the cave.

Now with rapt attention, Robert the Bruce watched to see its next move. A few more tries and finally, with one quick dash, the spider reached the ceiling. The Bruce slowly got up, picked up his sword, cleared the depressing thoughts from his mind and went back into the battle, inspired by the strength, will and perseverance of such a tiny creature as a spider.

The rest is history. The battle was won and the Bruce was, once more, the triumphant, gallant leader of his people.

There are times when everything in life seems dark and dreary. There are those times when we feel we're totally unable to take the next step or to even move one inch. These are precisely the times when we most need inspiration.

Why inspiration? It helps recharge our energy when all seems hopeless. It gives us encouragement when our "spiritual well has gone dry".

The dictionary gives different meanings to the word, "inspiration". But I think "inspiration" actually means divine messages from the Universe. In our lives there are many sources of inspiration. someof the ones I find most ... inspiring are:

Nature
In the middle of the worst crisis, a little walk in the park or on the beach does wonders for the body, mind and spirit. Breathe in the fresh air, watch the ripples on a pond or even in a fountain; take a few minutes to clear your mind by looking up to the sky or the stars. Get inspired by the sheer magnificence of Nature.

Music
Listen to some music you really like. Whether it be the vibrant, upbeat sort that your body simply moves to almost inspite of itself or the soft, melodic sounds that take your mind to another place. Either way you'll find that miracles can occur.

Books and tapes
Spend some time absorbed in a good book. And I don't mean just self-help or spiritual books. It could be any book that engages your mind and thoughts. When things seem really gloomy to me, I likeot read stories about magic, there's a part of me that knows it's only a story but it feeds that belief in miracles. For me, that works. For you, it might mean a totally different type of book.

And audio tapes, CD's, video tapes and DVD's have been a wonderful gift from technology. There are so many wonderful movies out there, the one I loved most recently was Sandra Bullock's 'The Blind Side' was fabulous, Richard Bach's 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' on my video player. Recharge yourself in fanatasy land and come out to face the seeming impossible and smiling.

Friends
We're fortunate indeed, if we've got a few good friends. Connect with the people around you. Real friends are such a bonus in life; whether if be sharing a laugh or handing out the tissues.

These are a few of the simple things in life that help to lift us when things around us aren't the way you want them to be.

There's stack of things you can do to give yourself inspiration to move forward and I'm sure you can come up with a list that works for you.Things like taking a drive, going fishing, paint a picture or making something.

So what is it that does it for you? What do you do to give yourself that lift when life has lost it's bounce?

Remember, the Universe is on your side. Just give it a chance to show its magnificence in your life. Lift up your eyes and look to the horizon ... Perhaps you'll see a whole new, beautiful day dawning for you. It's there. Go for it.

Love life and live it creatively and on purpose!

Leanne
PS If you’re looking to feel great about yourself and your life check out our fabulous audios at www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/FeelingGreat MindRight Programming Tools to put you back in the driver’s seat of your life!

The Daffodil Principle

You may or may not have seen this story, written by Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards floating around in cyberspace ... if you have it's well worth another read because it's both practical and inspiring ...
It demostrates that no matter how small our actions may seem, they accumulate over time and can make an enormous difference!

~~~~~~~~~

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, "Mother, you must come and see the daffodils before they are over. I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead. Going and coming took most of a day ... and I honestly did not have a free day until the following week.

"I will come next Tuesday," I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I drove the length of Route 91, continued on I-215, and finally turned onto Route 18 and began to drive up the mountain highway.

The tops of the mountains were sheathed in clouds, and I had gone only a few miles when the road was completely covered with a wet, gray blanket of fog. I slowed to a crawl, my heart pounding.

The road becomes narrow and winding toward the top of the mountain. As I executed the hazardous turns at a snail's pace, I was praying to reach the turnoff at Blue Jay that would signify I had arrived.

When I finally walked into Carolyn's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren I said, "Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these darling children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!"

My daughter smiled calmly, "We drive in this all the time, Mother."

"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears ... and then I'm heading for home!" I assured her.

"I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car. The mechanic just called, and they've finished repairing the engine," she answered.

"How far will we have to drive?" I asked cautiously.

"Just a few blocks," Carolyn said cheerfully.

So we buckled up the children and went out to my car. "I'll drive," Carolyn offered. "I'm used to this." We got into the car, and she began driving.

In a few minutes I was aware that we were back on the Rim-of-the-World Road heading over the top of the mountain. "Where are we going?" I exclaimed, distressed to be back on the mountain road in the fog. "This isn't the way to the garage!"

"We're going to my garage the long way," Carolyn smiled, "by way of the daffodils."

"Carolyn," I said sternly, trying to sound as if I was still the mother and in charge of the situation, "please turn around. There is nothing in the world that I want to see enough to drive on this road in this weather."

"It's all right, Mother," She replied with a knowing grin. "I know what I'm doing. I promise, you will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."

And so my sweet, darling daughter who had never given me a minute of difficulty in her whole life was suddenly in charge ... and she was kidnapping me!

I couldn't believe it. Like it or not, I was on the way to see some ridiculous daffodils ... driving through the thick, gray silence of the mist-wrapped mountaintop at what I thought was risk to life and limb.

I muttered all the way. After about twenty minutes we turned onto a small gravel road that branched down into an oak-filled hollow on the side of the mountain. The Fog had lifted a little, but the sky was lowering, gray and heavy with clouds.

We parked in a small parking lot adjoining a little stone church. From our vantage point at the top of the mountain we could see beyond us, in the mist, the crests of the San Bernardino range like the dark, humped backs of a herd of elephants. Far below us the fog-shrouded valleys, hills, and flatlands stretched away to the desert.

On the far side of the church I saw a pine-needle-covered path, with towering evergreens and manzanita bushes and an inconspicuous, lettered sign 'Daffodil Garden.'

We each took a child's hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path as it wound through the trees. The mountain sloped away from the side of the path in irregular dips, folds, and valleys, like a deeply creased skirt.

Live oaks, mountain laurel, shrubs, and bushes clustered in the folds, and in the gray, drizzling air, the green foliage looked dark and monochromatic. I shivered.

Then we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped.

Before me lay the most glorious sight, unexpectedly and completely splendid. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes where it had run into every crevice and over every rise.

Even in the mist-filled air, the mountainside was radiant, clothed in massive drifts and waterfalls of daffodils. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow.

Each different-colored variety (I learned later that there were more than thirty-five varieties of daffodils in the vast display) was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue.

In the center of this incredible and dazzling display of gold, a great cascade of purple grape hyacinth flowed down like a waterfall of blossoms framed in its own rock-lined basin, weaving through the brilliant daffodils.

A charming path wound throughout the garden. There were several resting stations, paved with stone and furnished with Victorian wooden benches and great tubs of coral and carmine tulips.

As though this were not magnificence enough, Mother Nature had to add her own grace note ... above the daffodils, a bevy of western bluebirds flitted and darted, flashing their brilliance.

These charming little birds are the color of sapphires with breasts of magenta red. As they dance in the air, their colors are truly like jewels above the blowing, glowing daffodils. The effect was spectacular.

It did not matter that the sun was not shining. The brilliance of the daffodils was like the glow of the brightest sunlit day. Words, wonderful as they are, simply cannot describe the incredible beauty of that flower-bedecked mountain top.

Five acres of flowers! (This too I discovered later when some of my questions were answered.) "But who has done this?" I asked Carolyn. I was overflowing with gratitude that she brought me ... even against my will. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"Who?" I asked again, almost speechless with wonder, "And how, and why, and when?"

"It's just one woman," Carolyn answered. "She lives on the property. That's her home." Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory.

We walked up to the house, my mind buzzing with questions. On the patio we saw a poster with the headline ...

Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking

The first answer was a simple one. "50,000 bulbs," it read.

The second answer was, "One at a time, by one woman, two hands, two feet, and very little brain."

The third answer was, "Began in 1958."

There it was. The Daffodil Principle.

For me that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than thirty-five years before, had begun ... one bulb at a time ... to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top. One bulb at a time.

There was no other way to do it. One bulb at a time. No shortcuts ... simply loving the slow process of planting. Loving the work as it unfolded.

Loving an achievement that grew so slowly and that bloomed for only three weeks of each year. Still, just planting one bulb at a time, year after year, had changed the world.

This unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of ineffable magnificence, beauty, and inspiration.

The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principle of celebration: learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time ... often just one baby-step at a time ... learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time.

When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.

"Carolyn," I said that morning on the top of the mountain as we left the haven of daffodils, our minds and hearts still bathed and bemused by the splendors we had seen, "it's as though that remarkable woman has needle-pointed the earth! Decorated it.

Just think of it, she planted every single bulb for more than thirty years. One bulb at a time! And that's the only way this garden could be created. Every individual bulb had to be planted. There was no way of short-circuiting that process. Five acres of blooms. That magnificent cascade of hyacinth!

All, all, just one bulb at a time."

The thought of it filled my mind. I was suddenly overwhelmed with the implications of what I had seen. "It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Carolyn. "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"

My wise daughter put the car into gear and summed up the message of the day in her direct way. "Start tomorrow," she said with the same knowing smile she had worn for most of the morning. Oh, profound wisdom!

It is pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson a celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, "How can I put this to use today?"

Love life and live it creatively and on purpose!

Leanne
PS If you’re looking to feel great about yourself and your life check out our fabulous audios at www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/FeelingGreat MindRight Programming Tools to put you back in the driver’s seat of your life!

A Message by George Carlin

Yet another Gem from my inbox ... I do hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

This is a master piece.. If you have not read it take the time to read it now. And ... If you have read it take time to read it again!

GEORGE CARLIN ( Who died not long ago.) Isn't it amazing that George Carlin - comedian of the 70's and 80's - could write something so very eloquent ... and so very appropriate.

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways , but narrower viewpoints.

We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less.

We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space.

We've done larger things, but not better things. We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait.

We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight or show it to others ...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember; say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.

Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Love life and live it creatively,

Leanne

If you’re looking to feel great about yourself and your life check out our fabulous audios atwww.YourSuccessfulMind.com/FeelingGreat MindRight Programming Tools to put you back in the driver’s seat of your life!

What Do You See In Your Future?

When I look into the future, it's so bright it burns my eyes. ~Oprah Winfrey

Do you have a vision for your life?

Do you wake up each morning full of energy and enthusiasm for the new day?

What's your reason why?

What do you see in your future?

Look for the bigger picture in what you do and you'll find your level of energy and enthusiasm for even the smallest of tasks will rise ... it's like magic.

Love life and live it creatively,

Leanne

If you’re looking to feel great about yourself and your life check out our fabulous audios atwww.YourSuccessfulMind.com/FeelingGreat MindRight Programming Tools to put you back in the driver’s seat of your life!

The Importance of Time!

Another gem from my inbox ... Enjoy!

A young man learns what's most important in life from the guy next door.

It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams.

There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.

Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday." Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.

"Jack, did you hear me?"

"Oh, sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.

"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him.

"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.

"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said

"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important ... Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said.

As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.

The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time.

Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture ... Jack stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.

"The box is gone," he said

"What box?" Mom asked.

"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most,' Jack said.

It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.

"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."

It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read.

Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention. "Mr. Harold Belser" it read. Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside.

"Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch.

Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved:

"Jack, Thanks for your time! ~Harold Belser."

"The thing he valued most was ... my time"

Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his assistant asked.

"I need some time to spend with my son," he said.

"Oh, by the way, Janet, thanks for your time!"

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away,"

Think about this. You may not realize it, but it's 100% true ...

1. At least 2 people in this world love you so much they would die for you.

2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.

3. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.

4. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.

5. You mean the world to someone.

6. If not for you, someone may not be living.

7. You are special and unique.

8. When you think you have no chance of getting what you want, you probably won't get it, but if you trust God to do what's best, and wait on His time, sooner or later, you will get it or something better.

9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good can still come from it.

10. When you think the world has turned its back on you, take a look: you most likely turned your back on the world.

11. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.

12. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.

13 . Always tell someone how you feel about them; you will feel much better when they know and you'll both be happy .

14. If you have a great friend, take the time to let them know that they are great.

To everyone reads this ... Thanks for your time!

Love life and live it creatively and on purpose!

Leanne
PS If you’re looking to feel great about yourself and your life check out our fabulous audios at www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/FeelingGreat MindRight Programming Tools to put you back in the driver’s seat of your life!

The Spark Plug

by Dr. Robert Anthony
www.ManifestingSecrets.com

How is your car running these days? Have you perhaps had occasion to change spark plugs lately?

If you have, you'll know that it's a very simple job. You drive into the garage and the mechanic opens up the hood of the car, looks underneath, takes off one electric wire, puts in a wrench and takes out a spark plug, puts a new one in, puts the electric lead back on and within five minutes you can be on your way. It's a very simple thing to change spark plugs, isn't it?

But supposing you walked into a garage and asked them to change a spark plug and the mechanic came out and immediately started to take off the right-front wheel.

You would probably think that he was slightly insane, wouldn't you, and you would protest vigorously that you didn't want the wheels changed, all you wanted was a new spark plug.

Well, the other day I had a friend come to see me. He has a new sports car and he explained to me that to change the spark plugs on one side of the car, it was necessary to take off the right-front wheel! This is absolutely true.

Can you imagine the reaction of the owner the first time he drives into a garage and asks for new spark plugs? Out comes somebody and takes off the right-front wheel. He'd probably protest vigorously, as I said. Yet, my friend assured me that it was but a two-minute job to take off the right front wheel and once that was off, the spark plugs were very, very accessible and simple to remove.

Now there's a lesson this for all of us. We look at things in our lives and we see activities going on, like the taking off of a front wheel, and we wonder how on earth our lives work in this way. We're looking for the solution to a problem and a solution begins to come in some form, which is totally incomprehensible to us. We expect our good to come to us in one way. We expect the solution to come into our lives in one very obvious way, like lifting up the hood and taking out the spark plug, but the solution begins somewhere entirely different.

We may be looking for the solution of a family problem when the real need is a change in jobs. We may be looking for a change in health when in Truth; the real need is a change in our own activities and our own thinking.

The whole point to the story of the sparkplugs and the front wheel is this: that we should not attempt to judge the way in which our problems are solved, or the way in which good comes into our lives.

The total universe is a vast and complex organization. We can never understand the ramifications of Creative intelligence in our universe and, therefore, in our own lives. What we could do is say, "Fine, I accept that Life totally support me, and I accept that there is good in my life, and whichever direction it may come from, I'll accept it, know that it is good and wait for the final outcome of good."

Here then, my friend, encapsulated, is a great and vital Truth:

DON'T EXPECT YOUR PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED IN THE WAY THAT YOU SELECT.

There may be a better way if you will put your preconceived ideas aside and open yourself to the inspiration of Creative Intelligence. It may mean taking off the front wheel of your life to get a defective spark lug by the results will be better than you can possibly imagine. Trust your inner guidance and allow the solution to come from any direction and your problems will be solved easily and effortlessly.

. . . . . . . .

This article is from the e-book "50 Ideas That Can Change Your Life" from Dr. Robert Anthony. Score "The Secret of Deliberate Creation Sampler" for 95% off the regular price ... here: ManifestingSecrets.com

Ralph Waldo Emerson and Self Trust

Self trust is the first secret of success.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I love this quote by Emerson. Why do so many us give ourselves such a hard time? A lack of self trust. Why do so many businesses and relationships fail? A lack of self trust.

If you set your goals and don't achieve them, you're in risky territory. You begin to doubt yourself and then you lose confidence. An incongruent person begins to emerge, someone who says one thing and does another. Even if the incongruence isn't noticed by the outside world, it's noticed in the inside world of the most important person concerned ... yourself!

Think about it for a bit. If you decide you're going to start working out, keep a clean office, be on time or set clearer boundaries in your relationships. Then you skip a few days of working out, your office goes to mess, you're habitually late and you cross boundaries. Then what happens? You lose your trust in yourself.

According to Emerson self trust is the first key to success. Why? Because trust builds confidence! When you do what you say you'll do you trust yourself. One of the most impactful things a person can do to improve their life, is to follow through on their decisions and goals; to keep the promises you make to yourself.

Follow through creates self trust and self trust creates momentum.

Do you trust yourself? I mean really trust yourself? Emerson says this is the first secret of success and I believe him.

Sometimes though, we have such high expectations for ourselves and it can seem so hard. One statement which has had an enormous impact on my ability to change the way I do things is ... 'Just for today!'

Trust is built in small steps, just like learning to walk ... on step at a time ... one goal at a time. If life happens, rather than beating yourself up ... ask yourself ... 'What did I learn from this?'

So .. Just for today ... Set a goal ... a small goal ... follow through on that goal and then congratulate yourself for your achievement.

Then tomorrow ... Just for that day ... set another goal ... and follow through on that one.

I'd love to hear about the goals you're setting and how that's impacting your life.

Love life and live it creatively,

Leanne
If you’re looking to feel great about yourself and your life check out our fabulous audios at www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/FeelingGreat MindRight Programming Tools to put you back in the driver’s seat of your life!

No Charge For Love

Some more Inspiration from my inbox!!

Puppies for sale. This is a heartwarming story ... is it true? I have no idea. Is it inspirational ABSOLUTELY!

A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the 4 pups. And set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of little boy.

"Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies."

"Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "These puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."

The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?"

"Sure," said the farmer. And with that he let out a whistle. "Here, Dolly!" he called. Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur.

The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.

As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared, this one noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid.

Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up ... "I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt.

The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He'll never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."

With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe.

Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands."

With tears in his eyes, farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully he handed it to the little boy.

"How much?" asked the little boy.

"No charge," answered the farmer,"There's no charge for love. "

The world is full of people who need someone who understands.

Love life and live it creatively,

Leanne
If you’re looking to feel great about yourself and your life check out our fabulous audios at www.YourSuccessfulMind.com/FeelingGreat MindRight Programming Tools to put you back in the driver’s seat of your life!

Marianne Williamson, Let your light shine ...

Our greatest fear is not that we are inadequate,
but that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.
And, as we let our own light shine,
we consciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

So get out there, shine your light and inspire those around you to do the same.

Love life and live it creatively,

Leanne
If you’re looking to feel great about yourself and your life check out our fabulous audios at www.yoursuccessfulmind.com/feelinggreat.html MindRight Programming Tools to put you back in the driver’s seat of your life!

Karen Salmansohn says 'Life is not Random'

I'm not sure about you but my inbox is a wonderful place for inspiration.

I've signed up for an array of different newsletters from some incredible people and if I need a bit of a lift or to be inspired, I randomly select one. And one of those great things about life ... whatever I open it's somehow is just what I need at the time. And this morning was no exception as I was trying to work out what to write here.

Life is not 100% random destiny. Life is a lively, interactive fusion of destiny AND free will.
~ Karen Salmansohn

Life is about choices. and the wonderful thing about choices is that we get to make them either by our action or our inaction.

Once we really acknowledge and accept this truth life seems to take on a whole new aspect. For me, and you can choose to accept this for yourself or not ... after all the choice is yours ;) ... I have started looking for confirmation, for serendipity and the co-incidences. And since I started looking for them, boy have they started showing up.

Yesterday I was working through a 'Contrast and Clarity' exercise from a workshop I did with Michael Losier.

My clarity statement was 'the right people and circumstances show up at the right time to move me forward to achieve my goals quickly, easily and naturally.

I just finished writing it and the phone rang ... Oh My Goodness!!

How quickly does the confirmation, the serendipity and the co-incidences start showing up for you?

Love life and live it creatively,

Leanne
If you’re looking to feel great about yourself and your life check out our fabulous audios at www.yoursuccessfulmind.com/feelinggreat.html MindRight Programming Tools to put you back in the driver’s seat of your life!