What You Look For

  Hello, Friends.  At my house we have  peculiar kind of spider.  This spider has strange little attachments on his thorax that make him look a lot like a little piece of a leaf.  I first noticed one a month or so ago, suspended between the bushes in front of my house.  I thought it was a dead leaf that had got caught in a web, but as I sat in front of the window, presently, I noticed it beginning to move.  I was amazed, as, even with growing up in the country, I had never seen a spider like this before.  I watched it for many mornings after that, following its elaborate pattern back and forth between the bushes.  I pointed it out to my husband as well, and he was also impressed by this sneaky little creature.
  Not long after choosing to pay attention to this critter, I noticed another on the front porch, and another on a window.  It seemed that now that I had focused my vision on them, I could see them everywhere hiding in plain sight when I had spent the previous thirty years never seeing one.
  Life is like this in a lot of ways.  We have to choose what we focus on.  It's called the Law of Attraction.  If you are constantly focusing on, looking for, pointing out, and complaining about all the negative or bad circumstances in your life, guess what you will find more of?  Bad circumstances. Conversely, if you are determined to find the good, focus on the positive, and live with gratitude, you will find more and more things to be grateful for.  It's all in what you choose to look for.  The Bible says it this way, "For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance.  Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."  (Matthew 25:29)
  Do you need to change what you're looking for today?  The choice is yours.  It's all in what you pay attention to.  Focus on the positive today.  I can't wait to see you succeed!

~K.W.

Visible Progress

  Hi Friends!  I have been thinking lately about making progress in our lives, and how it is difficult to measure our progress on a short term basis in most things.  We may work out for two days and then grow discouraged at our lack of chiseled arms and six pack abs.  We might put in our best effort for a whole week at work and not get a $1,000 raise.  In our heads we know that success is a long term game, that we have to stick with our good habits for days, weeks, maybe even years to achieve the results we want.  The Rock wasn't built in a day, know what I mean?
  Despite knowing that results take time, we live in a microwave, I want it now, purchased on credit kind of society.  We've never been accustomed to waiting for anything, and so waiting for success seems extra difficult. So, what's a tangible way to measure our success?  Is there a way to see day by day our progress in small increments?  I think that there is.  And that measuring stick is reading.
  Now hear me out.  Charlie Tremendous Jones stated, "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and books you read."  I like the person I am today.  But I sure don't want to still be the same in five years.  So for me, reading is a daily habit.  It's a way to move myself towards my goals on a daily, tangible basis. And the beauty of reading is that you can find a book on almost any subject you would ever want to get better at:  health, fitness, finance, spirituality, relationships, success, investing, business, organizing, the list goes on.  And the other great thing about reading is, books aren't that expensive.  You can get a $20 book on investing and read it daily.  If applied, the knowledge you gain should net you far more than $20.  And here's the best part.  When you read, you can do it a few minutes or pages at a time, and you are still making progress.  Try it.  Get yourself a 300 page book on a subject you want to learn about.  Check it out from the library if you aren't committed to investing the money to own it yet.  Then splurge and buy yourself the coolest $2.99 bookmark you can find.  And here's the hardest part.  Decide to read for just ten minutes a day. (It's not actually that hard... it's easier than sit-ups.)  Just set your timer, and do it.  Stick with it, and I promise you, day after day, you will have the satisfaction of moving that book mark.  You can literally see your progress through the book on a daily basis.  That, my friends, is exciting.  But what is even more exciting are the subtle changes you won't even realize are happening.  As you read, you will see an idea, and maybe you will decide to try it, and you might find another idea a few pages later, and pretty soon, you've started to implement new habits, and before long you've changed for the better.  Book by book, you will start to become the person you've always dreamed of being, and if you keep up that ten minutes a day, five years from now, you might just be impressed with who you've become.  But it's all based on that daily measurable action.  Are you ready for noticeable progress?  Move the bookmark today.  I can't wait to see you succeed!
~K.W.

Jumping In

Hi Friends!  A while back I shared with you my 104 Things, and I wanted to continue that story a bit.  If you remember, I shared with you a few things I had checked off my list (riding a camel, riding the Banana boat).  And I'm excited to tell you that I have checked off more things since then.  (Successfully growing a plant, and trying Sound Bathing) to name a few.  If you go back and read the thoughts I wrote about my list, you will see that there was a regret I had tied to one of my goals, and that was that I let fear stop me from diving in.  When given the opportunity to dive into the open ocean and go for a swim, I said "No," because it was out of my comfort zone.  But my regret of this moment caused me to make a commitment.  To not allow myself to miss out on life experiences because of fear.  And last week, I got an opportunity to make good on that promise. 
We were doing some trail walking with my family over the holiday weekend and happened upon an amazing swimming hole.  One of those that is a rare find of deep, cold, fresh water, secluded and inviting on a 90 degree day.  Typically I would have just sat and put my feet in at the edge, because swimming in water where I cannot see the bottom is not my thing (ie... outside my comfort zone).  But I decided, this time I would go all the way in.  I crept out a bit at a time until my feet could no longer touch the bottom, and I enjoyed the cool, refreshing pool and the joy of knowing I had overcome my fear.  But then a greater challenge arose.  On the other side of the pool was a ledge of cement jutting out a few feet above the water.  Various individuals had been climbing up and jumping off into the water during our time at the pool.  They had warned us that if you jumped, you had to jump far enough out to clear the rocks and to reach the deep water safely.  This was enough for me to remain safely planted just on the edge of my comfort zone in the water slightly deeper than what I could touch.  To make the jump meant to swim all the way across the pool, which meant there was no land within inches to turn back to.  And then there was the jump itself, another way outside the comfort zone thing which I might have avoided, had it not been for the voice of my ten year old speaking up. 
"I want to jump."  He said excitedly.
"No."  Came my knee-jerk reaction, followed by a series of whining and pleading from him.  Slowly my thoughts of the ocean invitation started to come over me, and I realized to say "No" to this opportunity was to miss out and cause my child to miss out all because of fear.  And I had committed to not doing that.  I knew that if he was going to jump, I had to do it to, and so, with my heart pounding I acquiesced, adding the admonishment that he understood if he jumped he had to swim the entire way across the pool as it was too deep to touch and also that he was not allowed to go head first (the goal was to push the comfort zone, not to be all out foolish). 
I began my swim across the pool reminding myself that this was just a little challenge, and I could do it.  Now, I know that to many of you this probably seems quite mundane, but to someone with a fear of open water and a general avoidance of any new activity, this was monumental.  Reaching the other side I climbed up on to the rock and asked for advice as to the exact spot we needed to jump in order to avoid hitting the rocks.  I gave my son several last minute warnings and then sent him off to jump.  Seeing him safely come back up and start swimming toward my husband I knew it was my turn.  I set my sights on the spot I needed to land, took a small running start and jumped.  And you know what?  It was fun!  I survived.  I had taken a leap outside my comfort zone and felt the joy of overcoming. 
For me it was simple.  Jump into the water.  For other things in life it may not be so simple:  take that new job, make the call, invest in the opportunity.  Sometimes the things that stretch our comfort zone are mild, like swimming across open water; and sometimes they are big, like moving across the country.  The more we choose to open up to life and push those boundaries, the easier it will be to say "Yes" when the right opportunities come along.  What do you need to say "Yes" to today?  Stop allowing fear to keep you from your destiny.  It's time to jump in!  I can't wait to see you succeed!

~K.W. 
*Photo credit to Chris Hoefler