Lets Get off our BUTs

Here's the premise:

We are all, right now, living the life we choose.

This choice, of course, is not a single, monumental choice.

No one decides, for example,

"I'm going to move to L.A., and in five years I will be a waiter in a so-so restaurant, planning to get my 8-by-10's done real soon so that I can find an agent and become a star," or "I'm going to marry a dreadful person and we'll live together in a loveless marriage, staying together only for the kids, who I don't much like, either."

No. The choices I'm talking about here are made daily,

hourly, moment by moment.

Do we try something new, or stick to the tried-and-true?

Do we take a risk, or eat what's already on our dish?

Do we ponder a thrilling adventure, or contemplate what's on TV?

Do we walk over and meet that interesting stranger,

or do we play it safe?

Do we indulge our heart, or cater to our fear?

The bottom-line question:

Do we pursue what we want, or do we do what's comfortable?

For the most part, most people most often

choose comfort - the familiar, the time-honored,

the well-worn but well-known.

After a lifetime of choosing between comfort and risk,

we are left with the life we currently have.

And it was all of our own choosing.

Peter McWilliams Do It!

Let's Get Off Our Buts

"The masses of people lead lives of quiet desperation,because they lack a sound plan through which to accumulate a fortune."

-Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich

The Outside dogs don't get the

most cookies R.L.o.F. ....Bark, Bark

Spot Dunckel

Goals for Spot Today lol

Goals

Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal or ideal.

Earl Nightingale

The unfortunate aspect about living life without your own goals is that you may very well reach a point in your life where you will wonder, 'what would have happened if I had only done...

Catherine Pulsifer

The great thing in this world is not so much where we are,

but in what direction we are moving.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

The tragedy of life doesn't lie in not reaching your goal.

The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach.

Benjamin Mays

My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind

what we are going to make of our lives,

then work hard toward that goal,

we never lose - somehow we win out

Ronald Reagan

Finding one more cookie on the floor,

just one more for today

Spot Dunckel Google Me Soon

When Life presents an opportunity

Heron stands in the blue estuary, Solitary, white, unmoving for hours. A fish! Quick avian darting; The prey is captured. People always ask how to follow Tao. I

t is as easy and natural as the heron standing in the water. The bird moves when it must; it does not move when stillness is appropriate. The secret of its serenity is a type of vigilance, a contemplative state. The heron is not in mere dumbness or sleep. It knows a lucid stillness. It stands unmoving in the flow of the water. It gazes unperturbed and is aware.

When Tao brings it something that it needs, it seizes the opportunity without hesitation or deliberation.

Then it goes back to its quiescence without disturbing itself or its surroundings. Unless it found the right position in the water's flow and remained patient, it would not have succeeded.

Actions in life can be reduced to two factors; positioning and timing. If we are not in the right place at the right time, we cannot possibly take advantage of what life has to offer us.

Almost anything is appropriate if an action is in accord with the time and place. But we must be vigilant and prepared.

Even if the time and the place are right, we can still miss our chance if we do not notice the moment, if we act inadequately, or if we hamper ourselves with doubts and second thoughts.

When life presents an opportunity, we must be ready to sieze it without hesitation or inhibition.

Position is useless without awareness. If we have both, we make no mistakes. Deng Ming-Dao

Happiness

Happiness

Did you ever see an unhappy horse? Did you ever see bird that had the blues? One reason why birds and horses are not unhappy is because they are not trying to impress other birds and horses.

Dale Carnegie

Many people think that if they were only in some other place, or had some other job, they would be happy. Well, that is doubtful. So get as much happiness out of what you are doing as you can and don't put off being happy until some future date.

Dale Carnegie

The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance,

the wise grows it under his feet.

J. Robert Oppenheimer

The pursuit of happiness is a most ridiculous phrase:

If you pursue happiness you'll never find it.

C.P. Snow

Happiness comes from people paying attention to ALL my needs LoL
Spot Dunckel Google Me Soon LoL

Gaining Clarity While Giggling LoL

Mindfulness and Laughter:

Gaining Clarity While Giggling

By Maya Talisman Frost
Life is funny.

Throughout the day, there are plenty of humorous moments that we tend to ignore. We get so caught up in being earnest that we

miss opportunities to gain clarity while giggling.

Sure, there are times when it is considered inappropriate to laugh, but if we're honest, we'll see that if we're suppressing a smile it's

a sign that we're fully present.

Not only that, but these are times when we could most use a little laughter to bring levity to an overly-serious situation. The best business meetings--and funerals--I've ever attended included plenty of bust-a-gut moments.

Years ago, during a two-week silent meditation retreat, I got the giggles. Oh, I know, you're supposed to be *serious* about meditating

for five hours straight, but I couldn't help it.

It all started when I was roused from my peaceful posture by a certain "KLUNK!" from across the room. I opened my eyes to see that one of my retreat buddies had fallen asleep and landed with his head against the wall. Momentarily unnerved, he quickly straightened up, closed his eyes and put on his best meditator's face.

I, on the other hand, completely lost it.

I managed to stifle the first few giggles, but then they started escaping in little bursts. I tried the ol' coughing technique, hoping to disguise my snorts as expectoration, but I wasn't fooling anyone.

Pretty soon, I saw (well, I did have my eyes open) others looking my way. Nobody else was laughing. In fact, nobody else was even smiling.

Clearly, I was the only one who had allowed myself to get caught up in that unexpected moment of hilarity.

I was chagrined, and then annoyed, and continued to watch my response to this incident shift over the next few minutes.

Had it been funny? Of course.

Were we supposed to be concentrating fully on the moment?

Absolutely. Anything else would be attachment to past regrets

or worries about the future.

Okay, so we were focusing on watching our thoughts, and this little interruption was not part of what was going on in our heads. But isn't ignoring what's happening around us the same kind of thing that

gets us into trouble back in the Real World?

We go about our lives, obsessing silently, moving mindlessly, getting things done. We fail to notice the wonder and joy and beauty all around us because we are in full scowl mode about the things in our heads.

Well, I'm all for taking time to laugh. Give me a giggling guru over a dour taskmaster every time. The greatest guides--in business, education, and personal success--are those who encourage us to

invite hilarity into our lives whenever it happens to appear.
Open your eyes to the silliness around you, and laugh out loud.

It's good for your heart in every way.

Maya Talisman Frost is a mind masseuse offering specialized mindfulness training in Portland, Oregon. She teaches eyes-wide-open ways to get calm, clear and creative. Her work has inspired thinkers in over 100 countries. To subscribe to her free weekly ezine, the Friday Mind Massage, please visit http://www.massageyourmind.com

How much of your Natural Ability are you going to use TODAY ?

Ability

Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it

Lou Holtz

If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.

Thomas Edison

Ability will never catch up with the demand for it.

Malcolm S. Forbes

The world cares very little about what a man or woman knows; it is what a man or woman is able to do that counts.

Booker T. Washington

We ONLY use about 15% of what we are capable of doing or

I would enjoy far more cookies
Spot Dunckel - Google Me Soon