Insurance has been a lot on my mind. The transfer of risk to another.

I recently changed my car insurance.  There is something to say about big companies and then there is something else to say about them.  To spare you from the details, I saved 15% or more my switching FROM Geico.

I have also been thinking about my life insurance policy and what to do in that case.  For now I will leave what I got in place and think about it as time goes on.  I’d love to hear your opinion on it!!

-St. Francis of Asissi

Wow, now if that isn’t just so profound I am left speechless.  I’ll come back to this one.

Ok, I am back now.  I defiantly have been looking at myself in a totally different mirror.  I won’t tell you what I find but I will tell you what I am going to do about it.

I am going to make sure I take 3 deep breaths before I respond, not just one!

I look back and think, wow my mom is amazing and awesome.  That is also after several years of NOT being in the house and having a different relationship with her now, than I did then.  I didn’t always think she was the best ever.  And, you know what, she wasn’t.  I find myself reacting as she did when I do what my daughter does.  But that is what change and growth is all about.

I remember a trip sitting in the back of the van singing at the top of our lungs the chorus to the song Oh La La, (that’s the only part we knew).

I wish that I knew what I know now
when I was younger
I wish that I knew what I know now
when I was stronger

All I know is that I am stronger now than I will be tomorrow.  Better get crackin’!

-Henry John Kaiser

I have been thinking of this exact thing all week.
 At church we discussed Paul. He was imprisoned
and the Lord came to comfort him.  He told him
to be of good cheer why?  Because he had more
 testifying to do.  More work!  It  is so perfect though.

It is when life is in it's pits that we feel the most
discouraged.  Most of the time all we need to pull us
up to good cheer is to know what to do.  Simply said
 we need someone to come and tell us what the next
step is, to create a plan of what to do or where to go
next. 

For me this came at a time of intense financial planning.
 I have gotten to a place where I need that self control to
 stay disciplined so that I can create the future that I want.

So, Problems are opportunities in work clothes simply
 explained as go to work!  Create your opportunity to
make a better life.

-Stephen R. Covey

How can one really listen if they are continually thinking of their response?  I think that many of us expect the conversation to move rapidly.   Once we are done it is their turn.  Where is the silence in communication?

It is gone.

In teaching I have learned that when I ask a question with an expectation for an answer that it takes time for that answer to come. Why?  Perhaps it is because in a class people are use to being lectured to and don’t expect a turn in the conversation.  Perhaps it is because they aren’t thinking of what their response is because it isn’t expected of them.  Perhaps they are in some different world, time and or place.    Give them long enough and everyone is able to take a turn in answering and participate.

So if we listen to listen rather than to respond when in a class or lecture why not listen to listen all the time?

-Thomas J. Watson, Sr

 What?  Increase my failure rate?  Why would I want to do that?  Simply because your increasing your efforts.  A friend of mine Collette Larson, a very successful business woman who helps others be successful said count the No’s.  When talking to people don’t count the yes’ count the No’s.  Once you get to 100 No’s you’ll have found enough yes’ along the way to be successful. 

The level of success has often been compared to the level of risk.  What is the ultimate risk?  Failure and if you fail what does that mean?  You’re that much closer to success.   Thomas Edison didn’t fail at creating the light bulb.  He found several ways not to do it before he found the one way to do it.

You can do it.  You can be successful.  Find something you’re passionate about, even if it is the light bulb and work with integrity.

-Reverend Jesse Jackson

It is helping others and serving others in a positive way that leads to growth both for them and for ourselves.   It is when we place ourselves in a state of giving for the purpose of giving that we gain internally an attitude of compassion and purpose.  It is those that have purpose that go somewhere in life and in personal progress.  When changing and becoming our best selves it is easiest to be done in an act of selflessness.  We forget ourselves and put someone else and their needs, wants and desires before our own.

I recently heard a young man describe a lesson he learned.  He was placed in a position of leadership and was overwhelmed with the burden of it and didn’t want this responsibility.  He asked for it be be given to someone else.  The reply he got was:  you will be imperfect in this role, I am imperfect in my role but we have it for a reason.   Focus on those you lead and love and give.  It is OK to be inadequate and to falter at times.  By giving and serving and seeking to lift others we become a guide, a leader and a motivation for others.  We lift them up!

- Alexander Graham Bell

I am sure you have all felt as I have at times that I am lost and don’t know where to look for answers.  I have found that if I search for something I want that I currently don’t have, whether it be more time or a new something or other.  By placing my thoughts on getting what I don’t have I find opportunities and other doors that have opened.  I guess it is combining visual dreaming with a search for answers and what I get is both.

I like the following quote on focus:

One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular. – Tony Robbins

“I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul” – Henley

We are in control of our own fate.  We do have the ability to control the mind and steer it into the direction we wish to travel in.  I remember hearing someone say something to the effect that: if you tell me what a man thinks about when he doesn’t have to think and I will tell you what kind of man he is.

• Keep your mind ON the things you want and OFF the things you don’t want!
• It is much easier to focus your attention on something you believe will happen than on something you believe is unlikely.
• Controlled attention is the act of coordinating all the faculties of your mind and directing their combined power to a specific end.
• Positive and negative emotions cannot occupy your mind at the same time.
• Independence starts with self-dependence.

Where is your focus?

Where is it you spend your time?

I think of a family and how we start from a young age to either work as a team or to fight against it.  It is my desire to have a strong team of a family and always be working with my spouse and children in forward direction.  My vision board is a family vision where my goals and rewards are for us as a team.  I feel more motivated when the results effect others future as well.

• There is no record of any great contribution to civilization without the cooperation of others.
• Enthusiasm is contagious and teamwork is the inevitable result.
• A good football team relies more on harmonious coordination of effort than individual skill.
• Most people will respond more freely to a request than they will to an order.
• Helping others solve their problems will help you solve your own.

Where is it your going and who are you traveling with?

I was thinking last week about how grateful I was that our back yard is now fenced in and it nice to not have Neche running around terrorizing the neighborhood.  Then…we were about to eat dinner last night and the door bell rang.  It was animal control with my little naughty dog.  This is my first pet so I didn’t know you had to license your dog every year like your car….well I got a fix it ticket.  I just kept getting dinner on and kept sending positive thoughts and vibes that this is a good thing and everything would work out.  (I was scared that I’d have to get rid of her because it gave Robert one more thing to complain about in regards to my dog).

Robert being the friendly guy he is just talked to him and visited all about his job what he liked about it, why he went into it and all that jazz.  When the officer finally handed me the paper work I sighed with exhaustion and asked how long I had to take care of it….. he then offered to do it for me… WOW… he went to my vet and got verification for rabies shots, came back with the little tag for her collar (which is very annoyingly loud) and gathered my paperwork to submit for me.   Perhaps he has kids and understands the effort it takes when you have a new one… or he doesn’t have kids and watching our crazy family scared him.  Either way living in a relatively small town and having awesome people all around us is a huge blessing… not to mention very convenient.  I tease that next year I’ll just let my dog out and have door to door licensing service take care of it again.