Lets Cultivate Optimism and Possibility..

At it's simplest form, the paired adding of 2 negative values will never equal a positive outcome. In mathematics as in life, 'nothing from nothing' means nothing, (or less than that even).

As adults somewhere between the ages of 35 and 45, many of us have adopted a peculiar reverse logic that, if not addressed, can cause an atrophy of our dream muscles. If this reversal of values that happens in us goes long enough unaddressed, it seems like the universal law that 'anything that can go wrong, will', proves itself out more times than we might like.

Operative notion 'than we might like':

If we like the ideas of stability, big dreams, appreciation for our work, connectedness to one another, and healthy living, why is it we feel obligated to change our understanding of basic math as middle aged adults to cope?

It could be the task of "being grown up" mandates we be practical about preparing for the worse. Now I am not suggesting blind optimism, but I am suggesting a shift in the headlines that attracts our attention, and the self talk that supports our experience. Truly expectations have much to do with the outcome of our life experience.

As I look through my mail, news, and inbox I see how common the occurence is that we try to rail against a negative value to make a positive impact:

• "Let's stop bully and tragedy."
• "Actor reflects on last days as Tony Soprano "
• "Drunk driving not just Paris "
• "Chained to your desk"
• "Iraq surges towards more violence"

What have we given importance and attention to, when a public figures failur becomes a consolation prize? What ongoing experience is that creating for us mentally? If we act on our values, then surely the headlines would suggest:

• Pain hurts, lets kill it, medicate it, sue it, fight against it.
  
• A really popular TV Show is proof as well that nothing good lasts forever and this might be your last break.
  
• See success is just about waiting to get busted for being your natural self-- everybody does it, and if you have money, you might get treated unfairly too.
  
• Working hard to earn the right to be caught drunk driving or worse, never getting a chance to get caught as better than insurgent violence in it's extreme danger.
  

And so my friends, I suggest an opposite approach to flexing our dream muscle. The newspapers have some 100 or so pages every day to give you the highlightw- the good, the bad, and the ugly.. The news has an hour or so, unless it is one of those news show looping the world news every 2 -3 hours until something more urgent happens.

The problem is not the news-- the media is reacting plain and simple to demand. If demand is for failure, pain, heartache, and reasons for societal demise, their first obligation is to profit. What sells? Hard fought success or disgracefully bad behavior?

Here are some alternative thoughts and headlines spoken throughoiut the years:

• "I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there."
  ~Mother Teresa
• "Art, like a garden, must be nurtured and sustained"
• “To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right.”" Confucius
• They WON friends and Influenced Advancement.
  
• “An education which does not cultivate the will is an education that depraves the mind.” ~ Anatole France
• Because as with biodiesel, doing good has to be good for business
• As soon as you concern yourself with the 'good' and 'bad' of your fellows, you create an opening in your heart for maliciousness to enter. Testing, competing with, and criticizing others weaken and defeat you.
  ~Morihei Ueshiba

What can you do today to create and cultivate optimism and powerful possibility? What are you willing to let go of in order for this to recognize it's highest form?

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Kindness: Doing way more than 1 nice thing!

I posted a job this week to a lovely good will, website. I love to post job opportunities and work with people that share my passion for bringing good to others. That is how the Helping Friends Career Network found it's start.. Stepped in a desire to make a difference by showing uncommon caring in a time of frightening change. "We can do it" we CAN make a difference by exercising uncommon kindness, very different from the norm that makes headlines, but creates heartache.

What a delight when fortune graces you with an uncommon spirit that encourages you to be a better person, through their own experience, strength, and hope. Certainly that spirit was present in my interaction with Shmuel Greenbaum.

Dawn

____________________________________________________________________




Shmuel Greenbaum
Coping With Tragedy
Fighting Terror With Kindness

By Shmuel Greenbaum
info@TraditionOfKindness.org

Kindness has been my personal response to terror. My wife, Shoshana, was murdered by a suicide bomber. She was one of over 100 victims that were killed or injured on August 9, 2001 at the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem.

Sometimes I wonder whether telling my story can really help others. Since, the way I am coping with tragedy is so different than the norm, would anyone else understand it?

Many of the rabbis that came to visit me told me a story about a carpet. "Sometimes you only see the knots on the back," they said; "Only later do you see the beautiful design on the front." I thanked them for coming and explained that I see the beautiful design now. I see the "big picture."

I have always been interested in the "big picture" – in how to make the world better. Since I was a kid, I always liked to tackle these big problems by assembling a group of experts to solve them. As a teenager I designed a system to tap hydroelectric power from the wastewater of apartment buildings. I contacted a local engineering school and assembled a team of academicians to prepare the plan for the US Department of Energy.

After my wife’s violent murder, I began a project to teach people how to be kinder. The project has just started to take off. At the moment, we have more than 30,000 subscribers on six continents to our "Daily Dose of Kindness" e-mail. Everyone who signs up for this e-mail list is also automatically signed up as an advisor. As I said before, I like having many advisors. Right now, I have over 30,000 "Kindness advisors".

Last week, one of my Kindness advisors sent me an e-mail link to an article in the New York Times about how medical researches have found that acts of kindness stimulate the brain in the same place that physical pleasures do. So now medical researchers have shown that doing kindness causes enjoyment. From this you can see one way that I cope with tragedy – I receive tremendous pleasure by promoting kindness.

My favorite author on kindness is Zelig Pliskin. In his book Kindness, he presents eighty-five techniques to find new opportunities to do kindness by improving yourself and improving the world around you. In one chapter he explains how you can feel the thrill of an international sports victory every day if you visualize 100,000 people applauding for you and cheering you on when you do an act of kindness. Studies have shown that our hormonal system has actual biochemical responses even though the victory is totally a figment of our imagination.

Shortly after my wife’s death, I prayed with great intensity to G-d to help me to make the world better. From the feedback I am getting from my kindness projects, it is clear that my prayers are being answered and that I am helping to make the world a little kinder – one person at a time. This feeling of Divine assistance combined with the biochemical responses to my imagined victory has given me tremendous emotional strength.


Join Us!
Be a "Partner In Kindness."
Visit our websites:

English:
http://www.TraditionOfKindness.org (Daily Jewish e-mail)
http://www.PartnersInKindness.org (Weekly Non-Sectarian e-mail)

French:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Potentiel_de_Bonte (Weekly e-mail)

Spanish:
http://espanol.groups.yahoo.com/group/LapracticadelaBondad/ (Weekly e-mail)

Hebrew:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KindWordsInHebrew/ (Weekly e-mail)

German:
http://de.groups.yahoo.com/group/FreundlicheWorte (Weekly e-mail)

Russian:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/KindWordsInRussian/ (Weekly e-mail)

Indonesian:
http://asia.groups.yahoo.com/group/KataKataBaik/ (Weekly e-mail)

Portuguese:
http://br.groups.yahoo.com/group/ParceirosNaBondade/ (Weekly e-mail)

If you would like to do a very easy, but powerful act of kindness, forward this e-mail to friends and relatives. If you know of any groups that are interested in having me speak, I don't charge a fee, other than travel from New York (if I am not already in the area).

MetroMint.. Turn on a great health habit!!

I grew up in Illinois putting crushed mint leaves over ice in the summer time for a refresher.. so is it any surprise that MetroMint is now my favorite drink.. unmessed with water with a crisp flavor and a bold splash of mint. And caselots is how I would like to receive this from now on.. I love this..

So when I was telling my health transformation teammates about MetroMint, I sent them the URL rather than just sending them to the grocers or health stores that stock this treat. Alot has changed since I went to the website.. I knew about the 3 other flavors, but what I did not know is that they were shipping and directly... AND having free stuff with a fan club.. now that is some product placement I can get behind.


Other flavors I would like to see--- grapefruit mint, ginger mint, and maybe rosemary mint.. This is something the elegant spas should pick up on too!

Abundant thought and creativity.

The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent
I just finished reading Esther and Jerry Hicks 'The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent". Paraphrasing the most profound statement in the book:

"you begin to see immediate results when you improve the relationship between your 'wants' and 'beliefs'. Disharmony comes from sensing, acting, and lingering to long in the poverty or the 'lack of want' or the 'belief that explains why it won't ever really happen.

Appreciation for a really lovely week.

After a month of blissful sleep I have made peace with my body and my mind can visualize happy thoughts more easily.

The weather has been beautiful and the sunshine on my face as I am cutting the grass, in the summery heat, makes me really enjoy and appreciate my connectedness to this earth, with everything in colorful bloom-- this year splashes of purple, red, and yellow seem to grace the sunny areas, and in the shade there are light airy wildflowers of a pale blue, yellow, and white.

• I am so grateful to be able to work from home and appreciate this weather.
  
• My connection to resources this week has been remarkable for health, friendship, and business richness.
  
• I am finding the sleep and health improvements sufficient to find a boost of energy to do more.
  
• I am able to really relax and delight in both the quiet time and the busy times..
  
• Job leads and opportunities, resumes, and talents are being recognized through our network. The successes seem to be multiplying.
  
• I am learning through contrast and transparency... to tell my story as it is, to see myself more realistically, and to make decisions that support my dreams more deliberately.
  
• I have also taken the courage to keep quiet until asked, but then when asked, being very frank and purposeful in my desires seems to get me better results faster than the belief system that we are running low on resources.
  

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Happy Earth Day!!

The most beautiful spring weather has graced Ohio. The grass is lush, the flowers and trees in bloom.. Kevin and I were negotiating for WHO would get to mow the grass-- now THAT is a negotiation that will not be necessary a few more weeks in to spring.

Every day in an appropriate day to honor the Earth and care to take meaningful actions to preserve it for the future.

Today is a perfect Earth Day! The first celebration of Earth Day was April 22, 1970 when over 20 million people celebrated and honored the earth that we enjoy. Earth Day is celebrated by nations in over 175 countries. The first event featured keynote speaker and folk singer Pete Seeger performed in Washington DC. Paul Newman and Ali McGraw supported a New York City Event.

It is not just celebrities making a difference. Imagine what happens if one person in one home on every block in your city were to take a few positive actions like that of 6 year old Ryan Hrejlac of Ontario. Those who say environmental issues are out of reach have never considered the possibilities of a child armed with knowledge and optimism that they CAN make a difference! Since he learned at a young age that unclean water was causing a number of citizens of our earth to die, Ryan sprung into action, creating a wellspring of goodness! Today Ryan's Well Foundation has delivered clean water in the form of 266 wells in 12 countries serving
435,343 people!

Why Raise Awareness now?

• All About the Environment
• Climate Change Fact Sheet
• Energy Efficient Light Bulb Fact Sheet
  
• Climate Change Solutions: What you can do right now!
  
• Earth Day Energy Fast
  
• Ecological Footprint Quiz
  
• Embrace and employ Green Career Options savings estimated at a 25-ton per year reduction of volatile compounds could be reduced in metropolitan areas that allowed 4,500 telecommuters to work from home 1-2 days per week! InnoVisions Canada reports that 1.5 million Canadians are working from home more than one day per week.
  
• Think large corporations are not considering this option? Think again!
  
• It saves the environment, and real estate costs! AT&T saved about $550M by reducing office space and allowing telecommuting. About 1/4 of IBM's workers telecommute saving IBM $700M in Real Estate.
  
• It expands the pool of available resources to hire, while reducing relocation costs, and studies have suggested that teleworking 1-3 days/week increases employee productivity by 10-20%, translating into 5-10 telecommuters giving the equivalent of one free extra worker.
• Green Shopping Tips
  
• Planet Green Game
• Educational Resources- wow an average tv consumes 200-300 kilowatt-hours/year. TV use alone constitutes an estimated 3-4% of the annual electronic usage in the USA tipping the scale at 46.9 billion kilowatt-hours/ year! Or, in a more earthly view, creating approximately 36 million tons of carbon dioxide, a global-warming causing pollutant. Turn off the TV a week a month and rediscover your family! Its good for you AND the earth.
  

Kids Activities:

• Earth Day Activities and fun for kids
  
• Environmental Games, Songs, and Activities.
  
• U.S. Government Earthday Kids Activities.
  

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Telecommuter Resources: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Telecommuter_Professionals/
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I beg your pardon.. Here I promise you a Flower Garden!

Stir Crazy from that feeling of wanting it to be spring, but knowing a walk in the out of doors to the shivering daffodils, demonstrates a more chilling reality.

Check out the flower garden.. Click on the URL and drag your mouse across the screen... http://www.procreo.jp/labo/flower_garden.swf

May you plant joy like these flowers, where ever you go!

Helping Friends Winning Business and Careers... on Ryze Network at:
http://linkedinhfcngroup.blogspot.com/2007/04/ryze-and-winning-business-careers.html

What Color Is Green? And finding beauty..

My thanks to Chris Lekander for inspiring this blog!! What Color is Green is a story about finding beauty in being the change you want to see in the world. What color is green to someone who has never seen?

Whether you have the gift of sight or not, may you feel deeply the beauty an joy that exists in the contrasts of our life.

After a long winter, how can I explain the beauty and delight of the emerald green lawn that has suddenly awoke-- of the trees which have exploded in colorful bright pink flowers-- to someone who has never seen? Yes certainly, the gift of life, of sight to see, is a most precious gift.

That story unfolded into a beautiful message when a filmmaker witnessed children at the Kamla Mehta Dadar School for the Blind in Mumbai celebrating the Indian festival of colors -- Holi -- he decided to turn the experience into this poignant and playful public service announcement. Upon completion of filming, he and 67 others pledged to donate their eyes to those in need.

http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=72

For More Information:
http://www.ebai.org/html/index.htm
http://www.tbionline.org/
http://www.restoresight.org/