Kite Flying as a Metaphor for Life

I went kite flying yesterday and I have to say that I had a total blast! I think I found a new hobby. I mean it was seriously fun for me. I know what does that say about me : ) Oh that George, he really knows how to party, he loves to fly a mean kite! But seriously though, I found it very meditative and relaxing. So while I was meditating on my kite not falling out of the sky, I had an epiphany.

How much of our life is like flying a kite? The kite does not require us to do anything, but to allow and let the wind to take it. We don't have to try or force it, or struggle with life, all we have to do is allow it to happen and just like the kite its flight is effortless. So the next time we find ourselves struggling so hard to make something happen, remember to let go and let the kite go where it wants to go.

Also I realized that the feeling that the kite flying had on me lasted for hours afterwards. I was calm and serene and when I laid down to take a nap I could still see the kite in my minds eye soaring ever higher. So there you have it.

Go fly a kite!

If you would like to have a free life coaching session with George call 1-877-774-9333.

The Success Principles Workshop 2009

Hello Everyone!

Wow I'm still feeling the energy from the workshop that Jack Canfield presented on Saturday. Some of you may or may not know, but I started a meetup group The South Bay Success Principles a couple years back when Jack Canfield had put out his book "The Success Principles" and The Secret had first come out. The purpose of the group was to provide a place for people to come and learn about "The Success Principles" and work on their goals and dreams. In the process, I worked on some of mine, which were to speak and teach The Principles and to have support to write my book. The group has grown from it's humble beginnings of a couple of us talking about our goals to me presenting at The University of Toytota.

I was familiar with Jack Canfield from his "Chicken Soup for The Soul" books in the early nineties, but when my wife handed me this one it just so resonated with me. Jack basically compiled all his best work over the past years and put it into one volume for the reader to have if they wanted success in any area of their life. It was like a master book of success strategies. I had just left the non-profit sector as a Marriage and Family Therapist and was considering Life Coaching when my wife gave me the book. Now the funny thing is that my wife does not read this kind of material, but she "just thought I might like it." Boy was she ever right. I had been struggling with the question of what to do with my life, if not therapy? I have worked in the helping profession for almost twenty years and it was how I defined myself. Now what? As I read Jack's book, so many times I identified with his writing that I kept telling my wife he has traveled so many of the paths that I want to travel. It was as if he was writing for me! At the time, I had created a Parenting Company with a couple of friends, but it dawned on me that I was constantly coaching them in the business as opposed to being a partner, then *BAM* the light went on and I realized that while I was interested in parenting, and business, I was doing what I always did with friends, family, and clients, I was empowering and supporting them to reach their highest potential. Once I had created the company and it was off and running, I stepped down as President and CEO, so that I could focus on my core genius.

I decided to take a leap of faith and to do what came most naturally to me and that is using my intuition and empathy to inspire, empower, and support others to discover their highest potential. Around this time, he offered a Life Coaching program and I jumped at the opportunity. I worked The Success Principles and continue to use them in my day to day work with my clients and myself.

My group continues to grow as we have become a support for others who are trying to change their life in a positive manner. We use "The Success Principles" as well as other Law of Attraction and Life Mastery Teachers, such as Eckhart Tolle, Abraham/Hicks, and many others.

I currently offer a "Vision Board PlayDay" as well as a "Vision Quest" where I lead you on a guided meditation to discover your life's purpose. Here is a short clip from "The Success Principles Workshop" in Anaheim, CA. this past Saturday. I have seen Jack in Santa Barbara for his taping of the PBS Special and met him briefly then and at The Los Angeles Times Book Expo and he is always the most gracious person with his time.

As always, Jack was great and passionate about the material as he even ran over to make sure that he covered everything he intended. He was also very generous in signing autographs and posing for pictures. He has his "Breakthrough to Success" 7 day training coming on August 9-15, 2009 at the Fairmont in Scottsdale, Arizona if you get a chance go!

In Peace and Love,

George

Loving Yourself

Hello everyone!

Well Valentines has come and gone and I hope that you are still loving yourself and not depending on others to validate your being. Loving ourselves is one of the most important things we can do to obtain our goals in life. We have heard it so many times that it has become cliche, but we must learn to love ourselves before we can truly love another. This is really at the core of getting what we want in life. We must first feel that we deserve it otherwise it will not matter what is put before us. Here is a short video that I sent out to my groups but I thought was a message that everybody could benefit from hearing.

Wishing You Much Love,

George

56th Presidential Inauguration January 20th, 2009

3-D Magical Puzzle Look Closely

Hello All,
Today I was visiting my in-laws with my daughter when my father-in-law brought out one of those 3-D Puzzles where it looks like nothing is there but a design but as you continue to stare the "Magic" pops out. Do you remember these? They were real popular in the early 90's or so. Anyway he gives it to my daughter and of course she sees the image almost immediately. I on the other hand with my analytical left brain going full blast with all that we had to do, and on a time schedule to get back home, etc. could not see anything. Now granted I never liked these things and have always had a hard time with them could not see it.

I remembered how to do it: Focus on one spot and stare and let the picture begin to blur, blah blah blah, but alas nothing. I was determined to see the darn image which had already been described to me by my father-in-law and my daughter as a Northern Pike. My daughter lovingly points to the mass of swirls and psychedelic colors and says, "see dad his mouth is right here."

O.K. I know he's there, and I know how to do it, but with all the pressure to "see it" I kept getting shaken out of my intense gaze and would have to start all over again. Finally, I'm like let me just do it. My daughter giggled under her breath. "AHA, I see him, I see him." Look there's his mouth and fins and he's popping out...MAGIC. Too bad my father-in-law had already walked away, so I couldn't tell him I saw it.

So what does this all have to do with The Successful Path you might ask? I think that many things in our life our just like the Magical 3-D puzzle. We may try and try and even know how to do something and yet we have no results. We try harder and harder and even become intensely focused only to no avail. Sometimes we need to sit back and relax and let things become a little out of focus, o.k. downright blurry and watery-eyed, before it comes into focus.

I think the message is also that we must slow down, really slow down to see the MAGIC. We miss it when we rush or analyze what is very obvious and right in front of us. We don't have to do anything special but take the time to become conscious and aware. Looking at this 3-D puzzle I felt the shift from left brain analytical to right brain visual spatial literally. I was in the logical analytical part of my brain that absolutely could not see the image before me, but as soon as I relaxed and let go of any expectations of what was to come, there it was looking me right in the eye so to speak.

The message became even more clear as I felt hurried that we had so many things to do and I had promised my daughter a nature walk. I balked, she pouted, we went, and again the same message. "Slow down, look, breathe, stay present, and MAGIC again. We had a fantastic time full of wonderful surprises. We were able to see ducks, squirrels, rabbits, and a beautiful white bird that I have yet to name. This is the 3-D Magic of our lives.

Still More Pics

More Inauguration Pictures

Here's a picture of 7th St. before everybody arrived.

Here's 7th St. as it became jammed packed.

Yes We Did!

Well we attended the Presidential Inauguration and I must say it was probably one of the most intense things I have ever experienced on many levels. First on a physical level it really was brutal as it was below freezing temperatures and I believe the temps dipped to like eight degrees at its lowest point...Brrrrrr.

We stayed at the beautiful Crystal City Gateway Marriott in Arlington Virginia which was just a hop away from the Mall by metro or cab. We woke up about 2am in the morning, or in my case stayed up all night-I felt like a kid on Christmas Eve-to beat the crowds on the Metro. This was compounded since the Metro was not running until 4am and we wanted to leave before everybody else so we took a cab as close as we could get since the entire city was shut down to incoming traffic except for taxi's and tour buses. As we were driving the State Trooper had the freeway blocked, but pulled back to allow us through. Even then some of the major exits were blocked and we would still have to walk. Once we were there at the Mall we found that it had all been fenced in and the police were still conducting a sweep of the entire Mall.

At first it was a peaceful easy feeling with people sitting and chatting and basically trying to stay warm. It was very common for people to introduce themselves and to say what part of the country they were from. I must say I never traveled so far to meet so many people that lived so close to me. Eventually people started to wake up or arrive from the Metro as the streets began to fill and you could no longer see where the "line" began and ended. The fact that we were "lined" up meant nothing to the "newcomers" who were now pouring in from all streets. It was as if they just converged and for the first time I thought, "wow this is really a big crowd and could turn dangerous" at any minute if they were to start pushing. I quickly put the thought out of my head and continued holding on to my wife as people began to become impatient with waiting in the freezing cold and we started to get pushed together pretty tightly.

I did my best to keep good feelings and many were joking and keeping our spirits high. At one point a group of people calling themselves "volunteers" started trying to make their way through the crowd to the gate, but they had no "official" anything. They just all had red on as if that was somehow supposed to distinguish them as volunteers. The crowd gave them a hard time at first and some made it through and others just got trapped as the wave of people opened to allow them through and then closed. The running joke became, "I have red on too, I must be a volunteer." I think the Inaugural Committee would have thought this one out a little better. I mean you try to tell people that have been waiting over night that this person who wants to get in front of you is a volunteer is a lot to swallow.

At some point there was a police van that tried to get to the gate and just parked there at the entrance waiting. There wasn't much to do except try to stand and stay warm. At one point some of the people thought they were letting people in and people began to push and my heart just sank as I thought oh this could be deadly if people keep pushing. I and a few others started yelling not to push and somehow the pushing quelled. I felt great relief, but then chanting broke out and I thought they are going to have to let us in or they are going to have a bigger problem.

As if my prayer was answered around 5:00AM they opened the gates and then the danger became obvious as everybody began to run and fast. I grabbed my wife's hand and told her not to let go as we ran too to avoid being knocked to the ground. It was both exciting and scary at the same time. I couldn't believe how close we were actually getting to the Capital before it became impacted. We had a plan as one of our party wanted to stand in front of the first Jumbo Tron on the left side. As we were running there was strobe lights for some reason, so imagine everybody running with a strobe light flashing created a very surreal effect. Finally we reached our destination and we staked our ground by placing our blanket on the ground. It was amazing to see the Capital all lit up and people just everywhere you could imagine. It was a sea of people as far as you could see. Most sat on the ground which was a combination of frosty dead grass and dirt which made for a very cold seat.

Around this time, we ate our peanut butter (I know) and jelly sandwiches and some trail mix and began to hunker down and try to stay warm. It was dark and cold and we talked and chatted and texted and everything else we could think to do, but at some point we all just sort of sat or laid down. Some tried to sleep and the rest of us tried to conserve energy by not talking. We took out hand warmers and placed them in our gloves and found that they were indeed little miracles in that these little things can give off some serious heat which is what you need when your fingers feel like they can freeze. Eventually we placed some in our shoes to warm our toes, but somehow they didn't seem to work as well as the hand warmers, maybe because it was too darn cold on the ground. Some in our group covered themselves with blankets that are used to treat shock in case of an emergency and this seemed to help against the wind, because tents were not allowed.

There we sat in silence. No noise no Jumbo Tron. Just the beautiful crescent moon that gave off a nice yellow glow. At some point you could see the sun just beginning to rise and a crackle of noise was given off by the speakers of the Jumbo Tron and the crowd went crazy. A little later when the sun began to light the Mall they began to play a repeat of the concert from the day before and again the crowd went crazy. Any sign of life brought a cheer from an otherwise groggy crowd. A helicopter flew overhead and the crowd cheered as if signaling an S.O.S. Somehow an acknowledgement that we were there and alive.

Change in 2009

I'm headed to the Inauguration this coming week and I'm really beginning to feel excited. I mean this is history in the making. I have to say that I have really enjoyed this past couple of years of political campaigning. Yes there were some really tough times and yes it got a little ugly, o.k. at times it was bloody. However I must say that one of the things I admire most about our soon to be President is his ability to take a higher road or look for the spiritual solution to what otherwise might seem like an insurmountable problem. He rises above the fray. He tries to do what he believes is right and good for the whole. That is the impression I get and I am very happy to see change coming. I believe he means it when he says he wants to change the way we do politics. Now whether he will be able to accomplish his goal remains to be seen, but I believe he will stay the course and fight the good fight.

Now I don't usually write about politics, but I must say that Obama is one of the finest examples of using Success Principles to attain your goals. I get the feeling that this guy really believes that as we think so we become. He is living proof that what we believe we can achieve. He definitely shows this in his thoughts, words, and now his actions. I think he also has the wonderful ability to lead by example and his oratory skills are amazing. He has already given so much hope and inspiration to so many. Even those that don't know him feel an affinity to him when they listen to him speak.

So where does this lead us all to? Well I believe that we all have our strengths and gifts and when we discover what our life purpose is all about and begin to live our life from this place we become powerful. Not in a power hungry sort of way, but in a presence sort of way. We begin to realize our potential and we become an energy that is focused and well powerful. Even though the gift may be natural it still requires work and exercise to bring it to it's full potential and the same is true for us. We must live our life in a balanced way by certain principles that guide us. Things that are found from any good leader or successful person. Today I heard Obama speak about responsibility of the people, and of the political leaders, and of the responsibility of the people to hold their leaders accountable, as well as taking responsibility for ourselves.

This is huge as it is the number one principle that Jack Canfield writes about in "The Success Principles." Most people miss how important this principle is but there isn't a person alive who has become successful at what they do without taking 100% responsibility. The reason this is such a powerful success principle is that when we take responsibility for everything, good, bad, or other, we accept that we played a role in it and we are ultimately the creators of our life, and if we don't like the results that we are getting we can then begin to change (there's that word again) how we do them. Now if we don't accept responsibility then we blame everybody else for our problems and we feel helpless and victimized.

And this is what makes Obama such a strong leader already. He acknowledges his strengths and weaknesses. He knows he is going to make mistakes but he is willing to take responsibility for his decisions, his best thinking, with the help of a few dozen others. So in order for us to take control of our lives we must be willing to accept 100% responsibility for all that we see around us. We are either living our life on pupose or by default. Which is it going to be? One is empowering even if we "fail" or fall short of our goals and the other is a life of sleeping through it all. This is not a dress rehearsal so wake up!

I will be posting some video footage from Washington DC very soon so stay tuned.

In Peace, Love, and Abundance,

George

Your Life in 2009

Well the New Year is here and this is the perfect time to write about goals vs. resolutions and promises and agreements that we want to keep with ourselves to make 2009 the best year ever, but I would like to suggest something New for this year.

While having goals is important and I'm a big believer in having goals to direct the sails of our life, I would like for us to take a look at how we are treating ourselves this year. Are we being kind, gentle, and loving towards ourselves?

I caught just a sound bite of Oprah the other day saying how angry she was at herself for gaining back all the weight she had lost and it sort of stuck out as a major problem that most of us have when we are trying to lose weight, eat right, earn more, get a new job, or relationship, or whatever. Most of us are not loving and accepting of ourselves to say "hey I may not have lost that twenty pounds, but I'm still a worthy person."

Most of us have that inner critic going strong that is telling us that we are just not good enough or else we would have already lost the weight, bought the house, have the job, relationship, or whatever other lie the critic can come up with to bring us down.

The truth of the matter is that we are all lovable and capable, and the sooner we find this out and start to treat ourselves like the wonderful, beautiful, miracles that we are the quicker we will attain those goals, promises, agreements, or whatever else you want to call them. In fact, until we feel good enough about ourselves that we believe that we truly deserve whatever it is we are seeking, we will not attain it, or will not be able to hold onto it for long if we do.

So before you go getting upset at yourself for not eating right, not exercising, not making enough money, not having the right relationship, not living in the right neighborhood, or not driving the right car, or whatever delusion the ego will create for you, try stopping the critic by becoming consciously aware and begin loving the person you truly are from the inside out.

Now if this is new for you then you may find that getting in touch with your authentic self can be a time of self-discovery and you may think of it as getting to know a romantic partner. In fact, you may begin to have a wonderful relationship with yourself, and then when you are overflowing with self-love will you begin to attract those things that you want for your life.

Wishing You Much Love and Prosperity for 2009!

George