When I was walking on the beach this morning I noticed several pieces of trash.  I walked to my regular spot where I turn around and head back when it dawned one.  How many people walk by noticing trash in the street, in a park, by a lake, by an ocean, etc. and don’t do anything.  I thought, why not me? and why not now? 

So on my way back, I looked for anything that needed to be taken to a trash can.  Very quickly I started noticing lots of cigarette butts.  Each time I bent over to pick one up I woud think, how is this really helping?  I continued this for a good 20 minutes and had at least 50 of them in my hand when I had a thought.  That thought was how can I really make a difference?  There was no way I could pick up all the cigarette butts up and it seemed the more I looked for them, the more I saw.  I continued for another 10 minutes and made 3 trips to the trash cans to drop off my collection.  I thought about what I was doing and it dawned on me, yes, I can and did make a difference, at least for this beach on this day. 

It is kind of like the kindness challenge on my idontstink.com website.  It all starts with one kind act at a time.  If you try to fix the whole beach, the whole city, the whole country, the whole world, you probably will not get very far.  Start changing the world you see by doing one kind act today.  Then if the urge exists, do more kind acts for yourself and others.  That is how you make a difference.  As Gandhi put is so clearly, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” 

Peace, love and gratitude,

Bill

Here are a few more pictures that I thought you might enjoy of Destin, Florida. 

Peace and gratitude,

Bill

Yesterday I was watching some pelicans fly by me as I was sitting on the beach.  While watching them it was very clear that they were using teamwork and staying focused on their ulitmate objective: survival.  At some point in their evolution, they learned that when they work together thier chances of finding food was significantly increased.

I believe we can learn a valuable lesson from these birds.  No matter how good you are at what you do, there is always someone else that can help you achieve your goals.  For me, I frequently attend seminars and workshops to help me grow both personally and professionally.  I suggest that you find someone who can mentor or coach you, I certainly do.  Even though I coach and mentor others, I have found it extremely benificial to get coached myself.  Initially I thought I didn’t need any assistance but man, I was way wrong.  Getting coached and attending seminars has helped me take giant leaps toward achieving my goals. 

Once you get a coach or attend some seminars and workshops, the next step is to stay focused on your goals.  Get the attitude of “I can and I WILL do this” and accept nothing but a positive result.  You know, that part of you that “steps it up” when it is a do or die situation.  You can achieve anything you desire, just seek help from others and then have a focused determination to do whatever it takes to achieve it.  You CAN do this and I know you WILL.

Peace and gratitude,

Bill

This morning I saw a bunch of dolphins playing around not far from the shore.  It was difficult but I did get a couple of pictures of them.  There was a baby dolphin that came completely out of the water several times.  It was so awesome to see wild dolphins playing around.

As I took my morning walk down the beach, a few times they came very close to the shore.  It was best beach walk ever with dolphins all over the place.  I wish I had brought my camera because I would have been able to get some really close up shots.

Peace and gratitude from Destin, Florida,

Bill

I was sitting in the hot tub tonight looking out toward the Gulf of Mexico and replaying the last eight months in my mind.  I recall when I gave my notice at my corporate America job it was the single hardest thing I have ever done.  I had heard stories of others doing the same thing and when I heard them, I couldn’t even phathom the idea of doing myself.  Aferall, I was in an executive level position with even higher levels of positions and salaries locked in my sights.  I gave my notice anyway and I give thanks every single day for making that choice.

What I have learned from this experience is that when you give gratitude for things that have not yet happened, amazing things start showing up.  For me, each morning and evening I give thanks to God for all the wonderful gifts that are on its way as well as the ones I have already received.  I believe that this opens doorways because when you give gratitude for something you don’t have, it is like you are telling the universe it has already happened.

Bob Proctor uses something called a “Goal Card.”  On this Goal Card he starts each goal this way, “I am so happy and grateful now that…..”  I think it is an ingenious idea and it is what I have been doing since for the past eight months. 

Give gratitude daily and watch what wonders the universe has in store for you.

Peace AND Gratitude,

Bill

November 1st Sunset

Saturday my wife and I arrived in Destin, FL.  I thought I would post some of the pictures I take of the water, the ocean, sunrises, sunsets, etc.  Check out the past two sunsets.

Peace, love, and gratitude,

Bill

Tonight's Sunset

Last week I was fortunate enough to get to go on a 7 day Western Caribbean cruise.  We visited Nassau Bahamas, Jamaica, and Grand Cayman Island.  It was such a great cruise and I met some awesome people.

It was a seminar cruise and I met some very famous speakers and authors.  I met Michael Beckwith of the AGAPE center, Mark Victor Hanson, Larry Wilson, and many others.  Michael Beckwith did two early morning shows which were absolutely awesome.  You know, that man really lives what he preaches.  He and his wife Ricki are really incredible people who you should take some time to learn about what they are doing in LA.  Go to http://www.agapelive.com/ to check them out.

I was able to visit the Dunns River Falls in Jamaica and get some really good shots.

One of my favorite shots was standing near the falls and looking out to the ocean.  What do you think? 

Peace and gratitude,

Bill

Today my wife, son, my son’s girlfriend, and I went to the Dallas Museum of Art to see the King Tutankhamun exhibit.  Every single time I hear King Tut’s name I instantly start singing the Steve Martin song from the ’70’s.  “…King Tut, buried in his jammies, King Tut…”   Sorry about that. 

If you have not yet been to see the King Tut exhibit, I would highly recommend you checking it out.  It was an awesome exhibit filled with some unbelievable history.  I suggest that you watch the 24 minute movie before you start.  It gives some good information that helps you understand what you are about to see.  I also recommend renting the speaker devices to listen to additional information on a number of the exhibits.

 One of the most surprising items in the exhibit for me was the funerary mask of Lady Tjuya.  It shows a cool smiling face which I had never seen anything like before in Egyptian artifacts.  It had lots of positive energy and it was as if this lady’s personality was captured in that mask.  I thought it was just so very cool.  If you get the chance to see the exhibit, I would love to have you put your comments on this post.  The question I would ask you is this, “What was your favorite thing about the exhibit?”

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

Peace and Gratitude,

Bill

PS. I didn’t see those famous jammies anywhere. :-)

Earlier today, I drove to my wife’s work to take her out to lunch.  While on my way, I kept having cars driving way below the speedlimit and keeping me from passing them.  There was a 3-lane road with 3 vehicles driving approximately the same speed all lined up side-to-side.  I didn’t pay much attention to it.  Then, on the way back home more cars were driving even slower.  I was now starting to get a little frustrated.  Just when that happened, I got behind 4 bikers riding no more than 10 MPH.  I safely changed lanes and then a tractor was in my lane going even slower.  I still hadn’t done anything to address this growing frustration.  Still on the way home, I was on one of the interstate highways when everyone was slowing down abruptly for some reason I could not see.  When I got there, I saw a person talking on the cell phone and obviously not paying attention to the fact she was driving 20 MPH below the posted speed limits.   This was starting to bother me more and more.  Believeit or not, this happend a few more times before I got home.

When I got home I realized that I could have avoided the frustration by practicing forgiveness.  So to answer the question, “When is a good time to practice forgiveness?, practice it while you are in the car.  Anytime something frustrates you at all, do what I typically do (except for today) by practicing forgiveness.

Here is what I “normally” do when I am in my car.  If someone cuts in front of me or acts like an idiot or something and it gets me even slightly frustrated, I say the following: “I forgive you for ______ and I forgive my self for having to forgive you.  Thank you.”  In the case where someone cuts in front of me, it might sound something like this: “I forgive you for cutting in front of me and I forgive myself for having to forgive you for doing it.  Thank you.”  I have done this for years but every now and then I have a brain freeze and forget to do it.  When you make practicing forgiveness a part of your routine, I promise, you will feel much better about the commute and yourself.

Peace, gratitude, and forgiveness,

Bill

Earlier today, I was making a goal card to put in my pocket.  I put packing tape on it to keep it from tearing up.  When I was trimming the edges, a piece of tape fell on the floor.  I looked down and could not find it anywhere.  I rubbed my hand over the carpet but did not see or feel it at all.  I forgot about it and walked away.

When I came back to my office later, I saw it immediately.  It got me thinking.  Just because you can’t see something, doesn’t mean it is not there.  It is kind of like the power of positive thinking.  It is not something you can see, but for me, I know it is there.  If you work too hard at positive thinking, you can easily miss the message or miss something right in front of your eyes.  When you learn to trust that all will work out, it will.  It is through positive thinking and visualization that you get to reach your goals.

A very easy way to start working on your own positive thinking is to do a fun and easy exercise called, “Take Out Your STINKIN’ Trash”.  Click on the link and check it out.  It is the very first step to changing negative thinking to something positive.  I know I take my trash out all the time and when I do, I feel so SA-WEET!

Peace and gratitude,

Bill