by Debi G | May 30, 2010
One of the biggest lessons I was fortunate enough to learn over the last few years was not only how dangerous my own mouth could be, but also how dangerous it was for me to listen and engage in the negativity that other people had to offer. Learning how to control what came out of my own mouth, however, was perhaps one of the hardest lessons of my life to learn. Unbelievably hard. But worth it.
What I learned was much deeper than the fact that gossip was a bad thing. I learned that the heart and the tongue are not separate entities. They are not mutually exclusive. One functions because of the other and not independently of each other. The mouth, the wise sages say, expresses the contents of the heart. A mouth that spews venom can only be the outlet of a heart that produces it. When we truly examine our words, we learn that they, more than anything else, define us.
The tongue is unique in it’s nature. It is partly hidden and partly revealed. It is usually not seen, but it is heard. The tongue is actually designed to reflect its function, which is to reveal the hidden self–one’s thoughts, ideas and personality. The tongue takes these hidden elements from within the person and, through words, brings them into the open.
So began my quest to find and see the good in everything. The words we choose determine how we experience our lives. We’ve all heard the edict to guard your tongue from evil. King Solomon knew what he was talking about. He knew that seeing good and seeing the good in others and in life is the engine that drives a healthy and sound life. Actually, it is a very simple principle: if you remove negativity, gossip, slander, and divisiveness from your speech, you can automatically and dramatically improve your life and the lives of everyone around you. The instant a thought is released into the world, it sets out on a path for either destruction or construction. A few careless words, a derogatory word, which labels another person as slow, sloppy or spoiled, can make that perception true in the minds of all who hear it. Sticks and stones may bruise you, but words can hurt and hurt deeply, for a very long time. An encouraging word, however, can dispel despair in the most difficult of situations and even turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.
By taking hold of our power of speech, we take hold of life itself and we build real power. When we guard our speech and engage others in conversations that are positive and constructive we set the stage for and instill confidence in the fundamental goodness of the world and the people around us.
Guarding my speech is still not an easy thing to do, but the more I practice, the more I realize that this will ultimately create a sense of closeness and trust with my friends and neighbors and it will be tremendous vehicle for bringing blessing, health, happiness and peace into my life and into the world around me.
Reign from your head, live from your heart, and breathe from your soul.
by Debi G | Apr 24, 2010
Everyday I see and talk to people who have become so frustrated with themselves and the world around them. One step forward and a giant step backwards. Success. Does it really have to be so illusive? As soon as we find the skip in our step and a song in our heart, along comes a big life distraction trying to steal our forward momentum.
So, why exactly is one person successful while another finds nothing but failure? Why do people always seem to find excuses for why we can’t push forward?
Here’s the thing you have to understand…EVERYONE has issues. Everyone has distractions. Everyone is busy and everyone has life issues that would get in the way IF we let them get in the way.
If you talk to any of the most successful people you know they will tell you the same thing. They had issues…
Elderly parents they were care givers for. Marriage challenges. Diseases, car accidents, and natural disasters. Death of loved ones and health challenges of their own. They didn’t become successful because they didn’t have challenges. They moved forward in spite of those challenges. They evaluated and adjusted their course accordingly. They didn’t give up. They didn’t quit. They saw a vision and they kept going forward. Like the “Little Engine That Could”.
To create success, you have to open yourself up to the possibilities and make the present moment the point of action in your life. Not later, not when you’re ready, not when it’s perfect. The perfect time is now.
Govern from your head, live from your heart, and breathe from your soul.
by Debi G | Apr 24, 2010
“Success is not built on success. It’s built on failure. It’s built on frustration. Sometimes it’s built on catastrophe.” -Sumner Redstone
by Debi G | Mar 27, 2010
Taking risks is just that. It’s risky. When you take a risk on a person, you never quite know how it will turn out. Especially when the heart begins thinking instead of the head. Sometimes we fall in spite of telling our hearts, no, no, no. Heart, you don’t have permission to go to that place. Even if all of the red flags are there, we who have been wounded, believe until the bitter end.
I’ve done that recently…but now, after being cast aside again, this time for the last time, game over. In my innocence I believed for all of the right reasons, and hoped for the best, but to my sorrow it didn’t materialize. A hard love lesson learned. However, more importantly a life lesson was learned about my life. I found my golden nugget hidden from sight beneath the murky underbrush of the macho bravado of skillful innuendo played out with mind games, lies, and empty promises.
By shifting to a bit of a scientific angle, I learned about the energy provided by a hormone named the Oxytocin. Google for more exact definition. For my purpose here, lets call it the Hormone of Happiness. My theory is that with the excitement of a new love relationship, the hormones go flying. Our emotions become saturated with feelings of intense happiness. We can do anything, nothing can stop us, the world is our empire. We become invincible. My lesson is that those thoughts and feelings need to originate from within us, from our own DNA, from our own belief of who we are and our own intrinsic value. Not from a circumstance, and certainly not from the affections or lack thereof of another person. Joy and happiness should already be.
Love lost, life gained…me found. Thank you, life, for the challenge to be…me.
Govern from your head, live from your heart, breathe from your soul.
There, from that place, you can move mountains.
by Debi G | Mar 18, 2010
It continues to amaze me the excessive number of excuses I hear about “why” someone can’t do something. Now, I know that we are all guilty of that from time to time. But really people, we live in the most incredible times ever. Every time you’re presented with a new challenge dig deep into your soul and then dig even deeper. There is a beautiful treasure waiting to be found in dark dirty mess of the challenge. The challenge is there to teach you something about yourself.
And, don’t ever let let yourself think that someone is better than you. There is no comparison to the unique and genuine you. So stop making excuses. Connect to yourself and live from your heart and breathe from your soul. And there, in that place, you will be able to move mountains!
