I was invited to a Governor's Luncheon as a Board member of APAPA, and although Arnold’s propositions to balance the budget went down in defeat, he still was upbeat and said the Great State of California "will be back". He had just arrived from Washington in a private jet rushing to get to our meeting and talked about the challenges that faced us.
He told us a wonderful story about how as a young 14 year old boy he was inspired by a Japanese weight lifter who he watched win his match and then later that week also won the title of Mr Universe. As inspiration, he would have posters of him as well as other well oiled men with bulging muscles hanging on his bedroom wall. He told us how his dream was to someday be and look like them.
One day, his mother walked into his room, saw the posters on his wall and with a tear in her eye, shook her head and asked herself "where did I go wrong?"
"A 14 year old boy should have naked women, not half naked men on his wall".
Perhaps this is where his phrase “Girlie Men” came from
At least he has a great sense of humor and I got to shake Arnold's hand twice!
Thursday
Tuesday
I love what I do. I own an Ad Agency. And loving what you do is one of the keys to happiness. Although the face of advertising is changing rapidly, it still remains (I think anyways) one of the most exciting businesses in America. My job combines business & imagination and has the extraordinary power to turn dreams into reality and reality into magic. Advertising is a people business and begins with respect for people...for those we work with...those whose products we advertise...and those that we touch with our craft. It takes a certain kind of person to excel in our profession...ones that mix excitement, enthusiasm and pride in their work with a willingness to learn and get involved. We dig, we ask questions, we labor and we learn. And it's worth it because only total involvement brings the knowledge it takes to touch people with our craft. We have the power to make people laugh and make them cry. We can inform, educate, remind and excite...But whatever the approach, it must touch their hearts ... it must be real.
The secret to good advertising is not how creative it is... Instead of people telling me how different or great my ad was... I would rather have people tell me that my ad was so interesting that they went out to buy the product or at least to find out more about it. Too many good agencys create "creative ads", beautiful works of art, however you have missed your mark when people walk away saying that's a great ad instead of wow that's an interesting product.
The secret to good advertising is not how creative it is... Instead of people telling me how different or great my ad was... I would rather have people tell me that my ad was so interesting that they went out to buy the product or at least to find out more about it. Too many good agencys create "creative ads", beautiful works of art, however you have missed your mark when people walk away saying that's a great ad instead of wow that's an interesting product.
Friday
The Four Agreements
The Four Agreements
Don Ruiz wrote a wonderful book, "The Four Agreements" who's concepts came from the ancient Toltec wisdom. They are simple concepts, ones that I live by, yet they can be difficult to incorporate into our daily lives if we don't make a conscious effort to try. But you will become a better person if you can. According to Ruiz, "everything we do is based on agreements we have made - agreements with ourselves, with other people, with God, with life. But the most important agreements are the ones we make with ourselves. In these agreements we tell ourselves who we are, how to behave, what is possible, what is impossible.
The agreements are:
Be Impeccable with your word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean.
Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
Don't take anything personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dreams. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.
Don't make assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement,
you can completely transform your life.
Always do your best.
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgement,
self-abuse, and regret.
Don Ruiz wrote a wonderful book, "The Four Agreements" who's concepts came from the ancient Toltec wisdom. They are simple concepts, ones that I live by, yet they can be difficult to incorporate into our daily lives if we don't make a conscious effort to try. But you will become a better person if you can. According to Ruiz, "everything we do is based on agreements we have made - agreements with ourselves, with other people, with God, with life. But the most important agreements are the ones we make with ourselves. In these agreements we tell ourselves who we are, how to behave, what is possible, what is impossible.
The agreements are:
Be Impeccable with your word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean.
Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
Don't take anything personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dreams. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.
Don't make assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement,
you can completely transform your life.
Always do your best.
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgement,
self-abuse, and regret.
Thursday
The Desiderata
I remember reading the Desiderata and hearing the poem on the radio back in the ‘70’s when I was in high school. Latin for “desired things”, it was written by Max Ehrmann in the 1920’s as an inspirational poem on how to attain happiness. It is amazing how some 80+ years later, it still applies today.
Desiderata
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 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 as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly 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 dark 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 with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
Desiderata
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 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 as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly 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 dark 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 with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
Wednesday
Are they better or worse from meeting you?
When I was President-Elect for our chapter of Rotary Club, all of us officers had to go to an Officer Training Meeting. It was great meeting members and listening to various speakers. But one concept from a general session really stood out and has become a part of my beliefs. The speaker was talking about how all of us are ambassadors for Rotary. That we had the ability to impact people in either a positive or negative way... and he then posed a question for us to ask ourselves... “when someone meets you, do they walk away better or worse from having met you?”
What a powerful concept. We all have stories to tell, things to say, actions we take. Are our stories, words or actions positive, uplifting, educational, empowering? Have they walked away a better person...Or did your words or actions sadden, anger, produce fear or apathy? Has that person walked away a little worse from meeting you? We can control how we feel, the stories we tell. We can choose to find the positive and not to beat on the negative. So as we go on our day to day living. Ask yourself “are the people I’m meeting better or worse having met me?”
What a powerful concept. We all have stories to tell, things to say, actions we take. Are our stories, words or actions positive, uplifting, educational, empowering? Have they walked away a better person...Or did your words or actions sadden, anger, produce fear or apathy? Has that person walked away a little worse from meeting you? We can control how we feel, the stories we tell. We can choose to find the positive and not to beat on the negative. So as we go on our day to day living. Ask yourself “are the people I’m meeting better or worse having met me?”
Sunday
Choices
I was having coffee with a couple of friends yesterday expressing our usual topics on politics, the financial market and the meaning of life. But the concept that really struck home for me was about choices. And although we were talking politics at the time, the concept is universally applied in all that we do. It’s no great secret that we all have choices in life, in love, in business and in politics. That we control our destiny through these choices. But what many don’t take into account (or don’t care) is that we also control the destiny of others through our actions, through our choices. When we make our choices we also directly or indirectly make choices for others. With politics we affect our nation, in business, our company and in our personal life, our friends, family and loved ones . So we must weigh our choices wisely. How will this choice affect me. How will this choice affect others around me.
Chuck Gallozzi on his personal-development.com has a great article on making choices. http://www.personal-development.com/chuck/choice2.htm He writes that life is not static, it is a flow. That every choice we make leads us closer to or further from our goals. We need to constantly keep our goals in sight. He continues with “you make choices every day, and your life becomes more convenient or comfortable because of them.”
Here are his suggestions on how to make the right choices
Each day, we make countless choices. How can we be sure we are making the right decisions? Here are a few suggestions:
1. Be aware of where the road leads
Choose intelligence. Not every decision we make is a moral choice. Sometimes it’s just a matter of choosing between stupidity and intelligence. For example, if you are a young nonsmoker and your friend offers you a cigarette, don’t take it. That would be stupid. If you’re looking for the path to happiness, it is easy to find. Just avoid the paths with signs that say STUPID and follow those that say SMART. Easy enough to do, but you have to remember to check the signs before you start down a path. As Harry Emerson Fosdick wrote, "He who chooses the beginning of a road chooses the place it leads to. It is the means that determine the end."
Whenever we are at a fork in the road, we will find that one of the paths is easy to take, but that may be the only thing good about it. So, look carefully. You may find that one path tempts you and the other ennobles you. Choice the one that ennobles you. Learn how to withdraw from temptation. For as it is written in the Bhagavad Gita, "Even as a tortoise draws in its limbs, the wise can draw in their senses at will."
Besides the paths of SMART and STUPID or GOOD and BAD, there is yet another road, and it leads nowhere. It is the road of non-action. It is the path of no-choice. Whenever we face choices and refuse to decide, that refusal is our decision. By refusing, we turn over control to the tides of fate, and instead of shaping our lives, we decide to drift wherever the tides and currents will take us.
2. Do what you can
Decide what you CAN do, not what you WANT to do. Our wants are insatiable. We want to do everything. But how can we become anything if we want to become everything? Choose worthwhile goals that you have time for. Set priorities and focus on the important issues. If you run out of time before getting to the minor tasks, at least you would have done the important ones.
Choose to carry out your responsibilities not because you HAVE to, but because you WANT to. Tasks that you HAVE to do create pressure and stress. Actions that you WANT to do, lead to the joy of accomplishment and freedom from inner conflict. Choose to learn how to WANT to do those tasks that you should be doing. For in the end, you will do only what you want to do. Similarly, when you can’t have what you want, choose to want what you have.
3. Look for the good
Some of us may be undergoing great hardships. But no life is so difficult that it cannot be made better by improving our attitude. No matter how dire the circumstances, if you look for some good, you will find it. But how can we find anything good if we occupy our time complaining? The rule to remember is that we are certain to find what we look for. If we search for good, we will find it. If we search for something to complain about, we will surely find it. Choose to search for good. And choose to believe something good can and will happen. Choose to live with hope, rather than despair. Don’t be a dope. Learn to cope. Live with hope.
4. If you can’t change the circumstances, change yourself
We cannot choose what will happen TO us, but we can choose what happens IN us. That is, we can choose to have the right attitude, one in which we view challenges as opportunities instead of problems. Choose to be positive. For example, although he became confined to a wheelchair after his accident, W. Mitchell (author, TV host, and businessman) said, "Before I was paralyzed there were 10,000 things I could do; now there are 9,000. I can either dwell on the 1,000 I’ve lost or focus on the 9,000 I have left."
5. Be aware of your choices
When we act out of habit rather than conscious choice, the path we’re traveling on is a rut, perhaps even a slippery slope. If we don’t want to end up at the wrong place, we have to be awake. We have to be aware and make our choices consciously. The best way to do this is to develop the habit of always looking for opportunities. Scout Cloud Lee also writes about conscious choice: "When we acknowledge that all of life is sacred and that each act is an act of choice and therefore sacred, then life is a sacred dance lived consciously each moment. When we live at this level, we participate in the creation of a better world."
Look around you. There are great people everywhere. Champions, victors. And they’re all rooting for you. They are voting for you because they want you to win. Unfortunately, you are also surrounded by losers, people who want to drag you down. They are voting against you. Half are for you. Half are against you. How will this closely contested drama turn out? It all depends on you because you will be casting the deciding vote. The ballot is the choices you make. Be careful how you choose!
© Chuck Gallozzi
Thanks Chuck for the great article.
Chuck Gallozzi on his personal-development.com has a great article on making choices. http://www.personal-development.com/chuck/choice2.htm He writes that life is not static, it is a flow. That every choice we make leads us closer to or further from our goals. We need to constantly keep our goals in sight. He continues with “you make choices every day, and your life becomes more convenient or comfortable because of them.”
Here are his suggestions on how to make the right choices
Each day, we make countless choices. How can we be sure we are making the right decisions? Here are a few suggestions:
1. Be aware of where the road leads
Choose intelligence. Not every decision we make is a moral choice. Sometimes it’s just a matter of choosing between stupidity and intelligence. For example, if you are a young nonsmoker and your friend offers you a cigarette, don’t take it. That would be stupid. If you’re looking for the path to happiness, it is easy to find. Just avoid the paths with signs that say STUPID and follow those that say SMART. Easy enough to do, but you have to remember to check the signs before you start down a path. As Harry Emerson Fosdick wrote, "He who chooses the beginning of a road chooses the place it leads to. It is the means that determine the end."
Whenever we are at a fork in the road, we will find that one of the paths is easy to take, but that may be the only thing good about it. So, look carefully. You may find that one path tempts you and the other ennobles you. Choice the one that ennobles you. Learn how to withdraw from temptation. For as it is written in the Bhagavad Gita, "Even as a tortoise draws in its limbs, the wise can draw in their senses at will."
Besides the paths of SMART and STUPID or GOOD and BAD, there is yet another road, and it leads nowhere. It is the road of non-action. It is the path of no-choice. Whenever we face choices and refuse to decide, that refusal is our decision. By refusing, we turn over control to the tides of fate, and instead of shaping our lives, we decide to drift wherever the tides and currents will take us.
2. Do what you can
Decide what you CAN do, not what you WANT to do. Our wants are insatiable. We want to do everything. But how can we become anything if we want to become everything? Choose worthwhile goals that you have time for. Set priorities and focus on the important issues. If you run out of time before getting to the minor tasks, at least you would have done the important ones.
Choose to carry out your responsibilities not because you HAVE to, but because you WANT to. Tasks that you HAVE to do create pressure and stress. Actions that you WANT to do, lead to the joy of accomplishment and freedom from inner conflict. Choose to learn how to WANT to do those tasks that you should be doing. For in the end, you will do only what you want to do. Similarly, when you can’t have what you want, choose to want what you have.
3. Look for the good
Some of us may be undergoing great hardships. But no life is so difficult that it cannot be made better by improving our attitude. No matter how dire the circumstances, if you look for some good, you will find it. But how can we find anything good if we occupy our time complaining? The rule to remember is that we are certain to find what we look for. If we search for good, we will find it. If we search for something to complain about, we will surely find it. Choose to search for good. And choose to believe something good can and will happen. Choose to live with hope, rather than despair. Don’t be a dope. Learn to cope. Live with hope.
4. If you can’t change the circumstances, change yourself
We cannot choose what will happen TO us, but we can choose what happens IN us. That is, we can choose to have the right attitude, one in which we view challenges as opportunities instead of problems. Choose to be positive. For example, although he became confined to a wheelchair after his accident, W. Mitchell (author, TV host, and businessman) said, "Before I was paralyzed there were 10,000 things I could do; now there are 9,000. I can either dwell on the 1,000 I’ve lost or focus on the 9,000 I have left."
5. Be aware of your choices
When we act out of habit rather than conscious choice, the path we’re traveling on is a rut, perhaps even a slippery slope. If we don’t want to end up at the wrong place, we have to be awake. We have to be aware and make our choices consciously. The best way to do this is to develop the habit of always looking for opportunities. Scout Cloud Lee also writes about conscious choice: "When we acknowledge that all of life is sacred and that each act is an act of choice and therefore sacred, then life is a sacred dance lived consciously each moment. When we live at this level, we participate in the creation of a better world."
Look around you. There are great people everywhere. Champions, victors. And they’re all rooting for you. They are voting for you because they want you to win. Unfortunately, you are also surrounded by losers, people who want to drag you down. They are voting against you. Half are for you. Half are against you. How will this closely contested drama turn out? It all depends on you because you will be casting the deciding vote. The ballot is the choices you make. Be careful how you choose!
© Chuck Gallozzi
Thanks Chuck for the great article.
Friday
Two Wolfs
I found this on the web while stumbling. Thought it was pretty good.
Two Wolves
Peaceful and relaxing
An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them...
“A fight is going on inside me... it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.
The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.
This same fight is going on inside you and every other person, too.”
They thought about this for a minute, and then one child asked his grandfather... “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied... “The one you feed.”
Two Wolves
Peaceful and relaxing
An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them...
“A fight is going on inside me... it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.
The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.
This same fight is going on inside you and every other person, too.”
They thought about this for a minute, and then one child asked his grandfather... “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied... “The one you feed.”
Tuesday
A Soul's Agreement
I found this while searching the web. It is from an anonymous writer on a newsgroup that talks about how our souls interact with other souls in our life time.
With each person who passes through your life, you have a soul agreement.
What this means is that, long ago in the realm of the soul, you promised to have some special encounter, share some life-shaping experience, complete some soul-honing work with that particular soul in this life. Soul agreements are commitments to the evolution of our individual souls in conjunction with one another, as one by one we make the journey to that state of seamless awareness that the mystics call Enlightenment.
It is because of these agreements on a soul level that at times you may feel a mysterious strange connection with some other person, why difficult people may at times inexplicably inhabit your life, why you may find yourself on a journey with a particular person- as if you had an unwritteen contract to fulfill-And then discover that, as if by amputation, your association is suddenly over.
As the community of souls who have gathered together in life on Earth, we have agreed not only to remember for each other the pure state that was our origin, but also to act out whatever portion of the needlessly changing tableau of human experience We have been called upon to play to ensure our own souls growth, And that of the souls to whom we have made these deep promises.
Some of us are here to be beautiful and strong, others to be cranky and difficult, some to die young and teach us through the searing heartbreak of great loss, others to live long and instruct us through wisdom.
But no matter what role we are playing, we are all enacting a part in that one great spiritual destiny, which is to remember our eternal essence and move toward ultimate union. So it is that every person you meet, each soul who crosses your path and affects you- wonderfully and terribly, briiefly, or for a lifetime- is here for that reason, and every relatioonship you engage in is but a small scene in the vast, ever-unfolding human panoply that is being endlessly enacted for the purpose of your souls development
When you recognize this, you will suddenly, breathtakingly see that each person has been brought to you with a high and elegant purpose, that each soul has come to touch your soul and teach it, and that each relationship exists to hasten your own souls beautiful awakening.
No longer is anyone a stranger, no longer can any of your relationships be seen as failures to mistakes. In the light of the Spirit, we see that we are all playing out roles that are the fulfillment of an exquisite and all-encompassing plan.
To recognize this is to step out of conflict, and into Grace. For when we realize that life has been so beautifully designed, we will bask in the light of the Spirit we will live in absolute Peace.
With each person who passes through your life, you have a soul agreement.
What this means is that, long ago in the realm of the soul, you promised to have some special encounter, share some life-shaping experience, complete some soul-honing work with that particular soul in this life. Soul agreements are commitments to the evolution of our individual souls in conjunction with one another, as one by one we make the journey to that state of seamless awareness that the mystics call Enlightenment.
It is because of these agreements on a soul level that at times you may feel a mysterious strange connection with some other person, why difficult people may at times inexplicably inhabit your life, why you may find yourself on a journey with a particular person- as if you had an unwritteen contract to fulfill-And then discover that, as if by amputation, your association is suddenly over.
As the community of souls who have gathered together in life on Earth, we have agreed not only to remember for each other the pure state that was our origin, but also to act out whatever portion of the needlessly changing tableau of human experience We have been called upon to play to ensure our own souls growth, And that of the souls to whom we have made these deep promises.
Some of us are here to be beautiful and strong, others to be cranky and difficult, some to die young and teach us through the searing heartbreak of great loss, others to live long and instruct us through wisdom.
But no matter what role we are playing, we are all enacting a part in that one great spiritual destiny, which is to remember our eternal essence and move toward ultimate union. So it is that every person you meet, each soul who crosses your path and affects you- wonderfully and terribly, briiefly, or for a lifetime- is here for that reason, and every relatioonship you engage in is but a small scene in the vast, ever-unfolding human panoply that is being endlessly enacted for the purpose of your souls development
When you recognize this, you will suddenly, breathtakingly see that each person has been brought to you with a high and elegant purpose, that each soul has come to touch your soul and teach it, and that each relationship exists to hasten your own souls beautiful awakening.
No longer is anyone a stranger, no longer can any of your relationships be seen as failures to mistakes. In the light of the Spirit, we see that we are all playing out roles that are the fulfillment of an exquisite and all-encompassing plan.
To recognize this is to step out of conflict, and into Grace. For when we realize that life has been so beautifully designed, we will bask in the light of the Spirit we will live in absolute Peace.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)