Perfect Moments

Have you ever experienced one of those moments in life where everything fell into place, where you were really in the flow and everything unfolded beautifully?

An important thing to realize about that is that each perfect moment cannot be duplicated. Each is a result of the confluence of people and events that contributed to its creation.

One way of thinking about those wonderful successes that you have enjoyed is to try and replicate them over and over as the path to success, yet this might only be appropriate for mass produced products or generic exchanges, such as eating at a fast food restaurant.

When you take the time to reflect on some of the perfect moments you have enjoyed, whether they were business or personal, notice how some timing, or interaction or opportunity opened a window that you jumped through and landed in such a way that you found everything coming together.

Successes can be repeated, and upon close examination, you will notice that each subsequent one was the product of other combinations of perfect moments, unique opportunities and personal interactions.

Being in the right place at the right time is of the essence. There is an old saying that luck is the place where hard work and opportunity intersect.

Be very aware, highly conscious, and note exactly where those perfect moments are presenting themselves again. There are no two moments exactly alike, no two opportunities exactly alike, any more than there are people who are exactly alike.

Heightened awareness is what brings forth more perfect moments and today's successes. Whether it is business or personal, aren't we always ready to savor those perfect moments?

Can a Detective Novel Help Your Business Grow?

For a good number of years, I read mostly how to, non-fiction books, biographies, histories and so forth because a lot of it was business related. I would make time for a novel from time to time, but not usually the popular stuff like detective novels.

Then one day a few years ago, just for the pure fun of it, I decided to read a couple of them, just for a change. And I started to listen to more books on CD to make the long commutes less frustrating.

I was surprised. I liked the detective novels. For so much of my non-fiction reading, I was trying to go slow and absorb and remember the material. So to read a story just for the fun of the story, without trying to labor over it became a pleasure that I had known before but forgotten about for a long time.

In addition to simply enjoying the stories, I also notice that my reading speed picks up so that when I go back to reading other kinds of books, my speed is up when I tackle the other materials.

And there is another bonus. And there is another bonus. In these kinds of books, there is a focus to the story, also a puzzle to solve and the story encourages you to be more observant. Other kinds of books are more likely to go off on tangents than a detective novel. I find that this orientation helps me to think about my business creatively. Focusing and problem solving a skills we can always use, and these stories can train our mind to be alert to them and use them more sharply.

It has worked for me. Perhaps it will work for you. Try it and see for yourself.

Changing Thoughts, Changing Bodies

Can we just change our aging patterns by changing our thinking about it? To me, the evidence seems to point that way.

When my grandparents retired at 65, they really looked beat and they did not live to enjoy more than a few years of retirement before their health failed.

After a lifetime of working on farms and factories and doing other manual labor, they were just plain tired by the time they got that age.

Now my mother, on the other hand, also worked a long hard life, but she always kept busy with her friends or her volunteer work, and later in life even took up things like yoga and water aerobics, and now she has outlived her parents by quite a number of years.

How many of us have accepted as a fact that as we grow older, we will lose various functions and abilities and that these diminish to the end?

And how many of us reject that thinking? How many people are still doing things they enjoy doing in their 70s, 80s and beyond? Quite a few I see.

Consider this as a very real example of how our thoughts can shape our lives.

Bringing Out the Beauty

Have you ever really noticed how beauty shows itself in a person?

Have you noticed how people who are always grouchy or bitter look unattractive compared to someone who is smiling and happy? Which kind of appearance draws you to them? Which one is more comfortable to be around?

When someone does what they love for a living, or they do what they love for fun, that joy seems to radiate out from the core of their being and the smile is not just on their lips but in their eyes.

Beauty is the sweet attitude invites other people to be comfortable in a person's presence.

And this kind of beauty treatment is something that anyone can access.

Since it occurs naturally as a result of other things that you enjoy, think of it as another benefit that comes from following a path that you really want to be on.

Letting your light shine through is a beauty treatment that is available to you right now, at no cost, and it works wonders.

Greatness: Is It That Simple?

Perhaps the relationship between fate and free will is simpler than many people think. How many times when people have done great things, were they simply doing what needed to be done next?

Yet at some later date, it may appear that they were destined to do something great. Perhaps it always was a matter of survival.

Consider that even the monumental achievements such as the construction of the pyramids or Stonehenge were simply examples of those people doing what they felt needed to be done next. They felt a need to construct gateways between worlds and these structures were places for transformation.

These, plus many other examples of fascinating developments on our world continues to pose an obvious question. It is a common belief that humans have become smarter over time, in a linear progression.

But what if earlier humans really focused on things that we have forgotten how to do?

Take another example. The well known and familiar cave paintings where we see a shaman doing hunting magic. They knew ways of communicating that seem far out to many people today. Ancient men and women painted pictures as a form of visualization and manifestation and telepathically communicated with their prey before the hunt and some think that far fetched. Yet today, people seek out horse whisperers, dog whisperers and bird whisperers when they need them, just like they call for a dowser when they need to drill a water well.

These things only seem fanciful when we don't need them. And there may be the key. When something needs to work, we need to find a way to make it work. And in one instance, that may involve walking the ground with a forked willow branch while in another instance, need may have required the building of pyramids.

Doing what needs to be done may indeed signify greatness and magnificence, and other times, it may seem that only a simple task by unnamed individuals got things done.

Simple tasks can remain simple, or they can rise to great heights. And as we all know, sometimes the simple things aren't really that simple.

Attraction, No Law

Attraction is part of what is always at work. We are drawn to people, places, events or things that we feel connected to.

If we make it clear what we want, then we magnetize ourselves to our desire and we feel drawn together.

Sometimes we see results quickly. These are the times when we are stating our desires most clearly. That clarity helps us attract because when someone knows exactly what you want, they can respond.

Attracting what we want in our life is not a law, it is simply the way things work. Like gravity. We don't need anyone to tell us what we like or what will suit us. Once we state our heart's desire, focus on it, and take steps in that direction, we start to notice what appears in our life that is related to those desires.

Look at how smoothly everything flows when we are full of confidence and clarity and radiating out joy. People are drawn to that joy.

That is why the response to what we are attracting may look different than we planned, but it is our response, so the next thing to do is to figure out the best way to make use of it.

The call and response determine the outcome. It is a large responsibility to think of ourselves as the cause leading to an effect, but there it is.

A Dancing Fool

When I was younger and rock was most of the music I listened to or danced to, dancing was whatever you did when you got up off your bar stool. Sometimes it was hot, and sometimes it was kind of wobbly. Which one might depend on how late in the evening it was, and how many drinks it took to get ready to dance.

Then a number of years ago, a woman who I was working with at the Renaissance Festival suggested that I try contra dancing. I had never heard of it until that moment, but upon her recommendation, I went and tried it, and I liked it right away. The musicians playing acoustic instruments, the caller keeping everyone moving in beautiful patterns together. Yes, with this kind of dancing, it is not a free for all, it is dancers working together to create something beautiful. And when I was nervous about starting my first dance, a woman came up to me and asked me to dance. And I have kept dancing ever since. I like it that in this kind of dancing women ask men to dance just as commonly as men ask women.

One of the guys I met there was picking up flyers for all kinds of dances, not just contra, but swing, salsa, Cajun, Irish, waltzing, all kinds. I asked him if he really did all that.

He said yeah. "I used to be over weight. Then I took up dancing, lost weight and I have kept the weight off just by dancing as much as I can. This is my whole fitness program. Dancing. I don't go to gyms and lift weights or chase balls around courts, run races or any of that. What's more fun, lifting weights or dancing with women?"

There are lots of good reasons to dance. This is one of them.

Could your life use a little more music?

Music is our common currency. Even though some of us may hold opposite views on some political, economic or social matters, it is amazing how all those people could come together to sing some song that we all know.

If you have not been singing or dancing in a while, look for an opportunity to do so, because it will boost your spirits and brighten your outlook on the world.

Personally, I seek out opportunities to dance and sing every week, and consider it just as important to my well being as walking or swimming.

Making music and dancing are not just funny human tricks. They are among the most sublime creations mankind has ever come up with.

When beginning the evening's music, perhaps there is a feeling a hesitation, especially if you are new to it or haven't done it for a while. Then once you begin, joy starts to weave its way through the room so that by the end, you feel like you have been in the company of some warm, friendly people rather than strangers.

Music is very powerful at dissolving those boundaries, bridging gaps, and spreading joy like a contact high.

Could your life use a little more music?

The Music of the Spheres

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending a few parties where making music was a central part of the entertainment, as well as conversation.

I love to go chanting and dancing and used to play in a lot of drumming circles. And there is a different feeling that comes from those activities.

It is the difference between giving yourself to the music with an intensity and devotion and a relaxed atmosphere where there are lots of guitars and voices and suddenly you find yourself singing songs that you had not thought of in years.

We used to do that a lot, years ago. People would come over for the evening and we would go around the circle, different people taking turns starting a song. We spent many evenings that way.

While guitar was the most common instrument then, there would be other instruments in the mix, like harmonica, flute or another wind instrument. Hand drums didn't get popular until later. At some parties, there is a piano and if there are people who know how to use it, then the piano will lead.

There are so many ways to bathe yourself in music and enjoy the sensation and the energy boost that comes from making music, singing and dancing with other people.

It was a great pleasure to remember some of the other ways we used to enjoy music and have great parties. The more I conjure up magic through music, the better I feel. It is one of the fastest ways to bring a group of people together, creating an aura of unity and joy. And it lasts a long time. How many people were singing all the way home and when they got up the next day?

More music in your life will bring all kinds of good results. When I used to play African style drums, there was an oft repeated saying. "There are three things that make the gods happy: drumming, dancing and singing. Any two are good, but all three is best."

The music of the spheres connects us in ways that conversation and other techniques can never match for speed and closeness.

Music is the secret code for connecting us.

Fire Signs

We assign meanings to things, giving ourselves direction when we do, along with indicating where our thoughts and actions are heading.

Huge wildfires throughout the Rocky Mountain region this last year opens a huge window for us to look for omens.

Last year there were several huge fires in Colorado between Boulder and Fort Collins, and now this year, we are seeing huge fires in Arizona and New Mexico.

These wildfires are amazing creatures, jumping and running with the wind, engulfing huge swaths of land. Yet within these huge areas, there are amazing sites, like where there were two houses across the road from each other, and one got burned and one didn't.

Twice in the last year in Boulder, and last week in Santa Fe, I was able to look up at the horizon above the mountains and see only dark clouds, with ashes raining down like gray snowflakes. From behind the dark clouds of smoke, the sunsets were spectacularly colored orange balls, the moon also being colored when you could see it.

After sunset, the skyline would be invisible, except for the flames of the wild fires licking up over the crest lines, nothing but black with orange spilling out of the sky. I imagine that is what a volcano looks like when it is erupting.

Some people say that it is only nature going through her cycles. Some say it is because we need to do more logging in the national forests.

Then, of course, you can find those who love to dwell on catastrophes predicting that this is some kind of sign that we are punished for being such sinners, and that is one of the signs of the end of the world. Of course, some people are always looking for such signs, so of course, they proclaim that they have found them.

Not me, of course. As I write this I am looking forward to going to a party later this evening, enjoying food, beverages, socializing with friends and meeting new people. And since I do not believe in sin, I am sure the party will be fun.

How do the fires make me feel? They stoke my thirst for some big rainstorms. I would love it if we had more of those. Even in normal weather conditions out here, I would like to feel more rainstorms. Firestorms just make me wish for them more.

What do the fires mean? I don't know. What do you think they mean?

Feeling Your Way to Where You Want to Be

Our feelings are important to our progress, so pay attention to keeping them stoked. When we feel happy about life in general, we can open to more possibilities.

That is why I look for opportunities to sing and dance. it lifts my spirits, and when my energies are stirred up and my spirits are lifted, I tend to think of more good ideas.

When we are depressed, disappointed or discouraged, we don't usually come up with our best new ideas.

When business is going well, it is easier to project out that aura of success and good will.

One of my teachers pointed out that revolutions never come when we feel at our lowest ebb and have no hope. Revolutions come when people see some improvements coming and then press for more.

Making some progress gives people encouragement, and so they are motivated.

So what is the revolution you want in your life? More business? Better relationships? Breakthroughs in your thinking? Fresh ideas? Alignment between your inner life and outer life?

Get rid of everything that will not help you get where you are going. Do whatever it is that gives you energy and inspires you, and soon you will find more of what you really desire strongly coming into your life.

If we are not sending out clear signals, we cannot get clear results. If our energy field and our residence are cluttered, we will send out cluttered signals.

When you are feeling good, in many ways, you are at the top of your game. And when you are at the top of your game, there is a flow between concept and execution.

So get rid of everything that will not help you get where you want to go, and stir up energies that lift your spirits. Whatever it takes is what we need to do.