Three Steps To A Great Year

"Although Spirit is the very essence of your being, it will never move into form without your assistance. You must always do your part to start the creative process in motion." Bob Proctor

As we're getting ready to begin a new year let's start by asking how we did with our goals this past year.

Well? How did you do?

OK, so you don't have to answer. that. But I suspect that you, like me, have plans to do even better in 2013.

So here are the three simple steps to achieving goals. Note: I said simple, I didn't say easy. If it was simple AND easy I wouldn't be writing this newsletter.

First, get very clear about what you want, and what area of your life you want the goal to apply to.

Second, meditate on the goal until you can see it as accomplished and really feel the certainty of the fact that it's a done deal. That is, take possession of it in your mind and heart.

Third, take bold and decisive action toward bringing that goal to life.

Oh, and step 3 1/2 is important: don't quit!

As Bob says in our quote, goals do not achieve themselves. They require our assistance. Do the inner work, and then do the outer work.

Many people have found the How To Create Success program is a big help in doing this work.

Make 2013 your best year ever!

All the best

Go From Ordinary to Extraordinary

"And she gave birth to her firs born son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room fo them in the inn."Luke 2:7
                     
There are often powerful lessons contained in the writings of the world's great spiritual traditions that we can appreciate whether we're part of that tradition or not.

I particularly like this one - from the Christian tradition about
the birth of Jesus.

The lesson for us in this story is simple - great things can come
from very humble beginnings.

Often we discount ourselves and minimize what we can
accomplish because we feel so ordinary. We're just a regular
person from a regular family doing regular stuff.

Or perhaps our family was, shall we say, a little less than ordinary? How could we expect to do great things? No one in our family ever did great things!
Good. You get to be first.

I'm pretty sure you got a better start than being wrapped in
rags in a stable. It's not where you came from, but where you're going that counts.

No excuses. We need you. Go change the world.

Merry Christmas,
Wes

What do you do when you hear voices

"There are no misfits in the Universe. All notes are
necessary for the symphony. You are unique. There is
nothing useless other than your belief and concept that
you're useless." Dr Robert Anthony

One of the beliefs that keeps us from doing great things is
our belief that only great people, special people, can do
great things.

A brief look at world history and spiritual writings will
quickly disprove that notion. The most enduring tale in
literature and real life is the ordinary person who is called
to do great things.

A skinny little guy from India got treated badly on a train
in South Africa one day. He decided he couldn't ignore
racist discrimination any more. So Gandhi went back to
India and when he was done the British were out and India
was free. Just an ordinary guy.

One of my favorite stories in the spiritual literature is in the
Hebrew scriptures. A young kid is apprenticed to a priest in
the Temple. He's doing OK, until he starts hearing a voice
calling his name.

He goes to Eli, the priest, several times to find out what he
wants, but Eli finally figures it out and says, "Samuel, that's
not me, that's God talking. Go listen!"

How many times has that happened to us? We don't hear
what we're being called to do because we are trapped in
our ordinary-ness.

Every special person is an ordinary person who listened to
the call and said "Yes!" The next time you find yourself
thinking that "somebody should do something with or about
that" just stop, take a deep breath, and like Samuel, say, "OK,
I'm listening."

We'll all appreciate it.

All the best,
Wes

"Letting go means to come to the realization that
some people are a part of your history, but not a
part of your destiny." ~ Steve Maraboli


We've all had a lot of people that have helped us along the
path to where we are today. Some of those people were
obviously positive influences, and some of the others were
not so obviously positive influences.


They all contributed to our growth and development in one
way or another. We can be grateful for them.
I know, it's a lot easier to be grateful for some people than
it is for others, because the help we got from some people
was more pleasant than others. But they all helped.


That doesn't mean that we need to carry them around with
us for the rest of our lives, however.
When our lives take different paths, and our relationships
change, there's a tendency to feel like we must stay in touch.

We can, if we choose, but we don't have to. It's OK to let
that person go. If we feel guilty about doing that, we should
look at the situation and ask our #1 question - is that true?

Do we really have unfinished business, do we really owe
that person something? Or do we just have a "guilty" tape
running?
As our quote says, people can be a valuable part of our
past without needing to be part of our present. We can be
grateful and move on. They can do the same.

We'll be a lot freer without the guilt that comes from putting
unreasonable restrictions on our choices. We'll make room
for new people, to help and be helped.

That would be good.

All the best,
Wes Hopper

It's the little Things

"Too often we underestimate the
power of a touch, a smile, a kind word,
a listening ear, an honest compliment,
or the smallest act of caring, all of which
have the potential to turn a life around."
Leo Buscaglia


What is the one concept that unites
virtually all the religions, spiritual paths
and moral teachings of humankind?

It can be expressed in one word:
compassion.

Compassion is the ability to step into
the shoes of another person, see thru
their eyes, feel their joy, or pain.

Without judgment.

We don't have to give advice, we don't
have to tell them how they could have
done life better. We get to just be with
them and share our humanity.

It is amazing how much power this
simple act has. And it is simple, but not
easy.

As a man I've been programmed to give
advice, provide counsel, to help. No one
ever taught me to just BE. But that's where
the power is.

As the Byrds sang, 40 years or so ago, "for
every time there is a season." There is a
time for advice, and there is a time for
compassion.

The simple act of compassion has the
power to turn a life around.

Maybe even yours.

Wes Hopper

The Risk of Love

"The risk of love is loss, and the price of
loss is grief. But the pain of grief is only
a shadow when compared with the pain
of never risking love."
Hilary Stanton Zunin

We've had to deal with a death today.

We didn't want to, and we didn't expect
to, but we get to deal with it anyway.

Death is hard to deal with, even when
you're expecting it. It's harder when it's
a surprise.

You feel like you've been blindsided,
unprepared, no chance to get your
defenses up.

No cocoon of armor to wrap yourself
in, to be safe from your feelings. So
all you can do is let the feelings wash
over you, and FEEL them.

It's not very comfortable. And it's even
worse when you realize that you're
resenting the person who died for
springing this on you so suddenly.

Slowly the waves of emotion slow down
and what's left is the grief and loss. And
as you get centered in that, perhaps the
wisdom in our quote comes to mind.

When you love, you risk loss. So how
can we avoid that? By not loving?

We know that's not the right answer.
All we can do is accept that grief is
a part of life. If we love and are loved
we'll have great joy and great grief.

The good news is that grief passes,
but love endures. We can be grateful
for that.
---Wes Hopper