“Often people attempt to live their lives backwards; they try to have more things or more money, in order to do more of what they want, so they will be happier.  The way it actually works is the reverse.  You must first be who you really are, then do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.”           Margaret Young

      1.  From Jeffrey Davis: “Intentions Pave the Year with Creative Purpose”:

“An intention plants a seed, a suggestion that may manifest that day, in the next two weeks, or a week later. Not incidentally, action with intention also stimulates more portions of the brain and can lead to actual changes in our neuronal pathways (1), so we create and act with more mind and brain, literally. (If you’re interested in more about how writers use intention, check out chapter one of The Journey from the Center to the Page.)”

“In this way, intention deepens volition – that capacity to get things done and to become a creative action figure. Working with intention is a simple, effective way to retrain the automatic mind – unconscious emotion, gut feelings, unconscious impulses, and physiological functions that comprise about 95% of what we call “mind.”

“You can phrase an intention question for 2011 in these ways:”

* How does my best self need to act in order to fulfill goals for this year authentically?
* How is my best self emerging this year?
* How is my business growth shaped in 2011? What does it look like? How does its texture feel?
* How does my best self need to relate this year – to work, to other people, to the environment?

“You can phrase an intention question for your work every day this coming year. Intentions shape my day and affect the quality of my day. Each day I ask myself, “What am I writing for?” I ask myself, “What am I consulting for?” I ask myself, “What is Tracking Wonder for?” Not “Why?” which would put me on the defensive as in, “Why aren’t you doing something more productive and fruitful?” The phrasing of “What am I writing for?” puts me in a receptive, present-tense mode.”

“It’s an admittedly intuitive process, but imagination and intuition are faculties that will sustain our creative action.”

2. From Rae: “Pain as the Pathway to Peace”:

“As I continue on my journey to healing and recovery, I recognize more clearly than ever that it is the core underlying issues of self-esteem, insecurity and much more that is actually being addressed as I learn to care for myself, refrain from using old, ineffective coping mechanisms and keep my side of the street clean while giving others room to grow. This does not mean that I never want to act out. In fact, the desire to seek comfort (what food, sex and love are for me) can be far greater when I’m doing work on resolving the trauma of my childhood, which I have been doing lately.”

“This weekend I was preparing for a few trauma healing exercises and my body began to ache with physical pain, stiffness and discomfort just reading about the various stages of healing we go through when recovering from childhood sexual abuse. The pain, which has been carried in my body since childhood, deserves a chance to be felt and experienced, and released. No one wants to hurt unmercifully. Still I know that if I can endure the pain while it is here — being experienced in its fullness — rather than eating it away or losing it in the numbness of sexual/romantic intrigue and pursuit, I will be releasing it and making room in my body for comfort and growth. I pray for the strength to feel the pain and to face the future with a new perspective.”

        3. From Jack Zufeit: Success is an Inside Job”:

“Although we create many outward images of ourselves-so we can interact with or impress others and sell our ideas or services-we only
have one self-image. The way we view ourselves determines the level of success we attain in anything. To achieve more success, some parts of our sense of self will have to change.”

“One of the most frequent questions I’m asked focuses on the issue of confidence, self-esteem, and self worth.”

“The important thing for anyone dealing with lack of confidence, or self-esteem issues is you must drill down to the core of your heart to find the real truth about you as a person.”

“The real truth is always much better than your truth about you.”

“Generally, the way others see you is much better than the way you see yourself. Change your self-paradigm and accept the truth about yourself – that is how you will begin to grow and achieve differently.”

“As your belief in yourself increases, so does your ability to accomplish anything your heart desires.”

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