A Christmas gift for you

Until 26th December I have reduced the price of my book Eliminate Your Fear to only $12.95. You can get it at http://www.lulu.com/content/985342

What better gift could there be than to find out how to reduce, manage and even eliminate fear in your life.

What’s normal

Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

You're not alone you know.

In counseling you soon realize that a lot of people seem to have it all together on the outside, but on the inside it is a different story.

I remember days when I was a school principal when I felt filled with dread going to school. I never got physically sick because I can't stand throwing up, but I had colleagues who actually did throw up from fear.

Yet they, like me, appeared 'normal' and functional to people around them.

One of my colleagues at a school down the road from mine seemed to have it together pretty well. We used to share similar grievances about work and life on occasions we'd get together, know we were in the same boat, and feel not so alone. Until he hung himself in the schoolhouse he lived in.

What a shock. He didn't have it together as much as we all thought.

So next time you see someone who's normal, or even some one who's a bit off the rails, take a moment to wonder what their world could be like on the inside. You might find yourself changing – becoming more 'normal' perhaps.

Ho Ho Ho

Recently a Santa was fired for saying ho ho ho as it was offensive to the local ladies of the night. This is so ridiculous there must have been more to it than we were told. Anyway when I'm playing the Santa role I say it more than ever now.

Here I am with a special little girl.

Finding victory in little things

Do your dreams seem far away? Does the distance between you and the finish line deflate your motivation?

Did Hilary and Tenseng climb Mt Everest in on step or even in one day?

Often we forget that goals and dreams are not achieved overnight, but rather in a series of small steps. Any progress towards your goals should also be counted as victorious!

Remember life is not a destination but a journey. Stop looking at the end result to bring you the greatest joy. Enjoy everything you can along the way. Celebrate the ways, however small, in which your life is gravitating towards that desired result.
Nothing is guaranteed in life, so make the most of each day and persevere. Remember that the small things in life build up to the bigger ones.

Get up and win

Here is a great poem by Dee Groberg which has been made into a short inspirational movie by Mac Andersen from SimpleTruths.com. Watch The Race movie.

The Race

Whenever I start to hang my head in front of failure’s face,
my downward fall is broken by the memory of a race.
A children’s race, young boys, young men; how I remember well,
excitement sure, but also fear, it wasn’t hard to tell.
They all lined up so full of hope, each thought to win that race
or tie for first, or if not that, at least take second place.
Their parents watched from off the side, each cheering for their son,
and each boy hoped to show his folks that he would be the one.

The whistle blew and off they flew, like chariots of fire,
to win, to be the hero there, was each young boy’s desire.
One boy in particular, whose dad was in the crowd,
was running in the lead and thought “My dad will be so proud.”
But as he speeded down the field and crossed a shallow dip,
the little boy who thought he’d win, lost his step and slipped.
Trying hard to catch himself, his arms flew everyplace,
and midst the laughter of the crowd he fell flat on his face.
As he fell, his hope fell too; he couldn’t win it now.
Humiliated, he just wished to disappear somehow.

But as he fell his dad stood up and showed his anxious face,
which to the boy so clearly said, “Get up and win that race!”
He quickly rose, no damage done, behind a bit that’s all,
and ran with all his mind and might to make up for his fall.
So anxious to restore himself, to catch up and to win,
his mind went faster than his legs. He slipped and fell again.
He wished that he had quit before with only one disgrace.
“I’m hopeless as a runner now, I shouldn’t try to race.”

But through the laughing crowd he searched and found his father’s face
with a steady look that said again, “Get up and win that race!”
So he jumped up to try again, ten yards behind the last.
“If I’m to gain those yards,” he thought, “I’ve got to run real fast!”
Exceeding everything he had, he regained eight, then ten...
but trying hard to catch the lead, he slipped and fell again.
Defeat! He lay there silently. A tear dropped from his eye.
“There’s no sense running anymore! Three strikes I’m out! Why try?
I’ve lost, so what’s the use?” he thought. “I’ll live with my disgrace.”
But then he thought about his dad, who soon he’d have to face.

“Get up,” an echo sounded low, “you haven’t lost at all,
for all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.
Get up!” the echo urged him on, “Get up and take your place!
You were not meant for failure here! Get up and win that race!”
So, up he rose to run once more, refusing to forfeit,
and he resolved that win or lose, at least he wouldn’t quit.
So far behind the others now, the most he’d ever been,
still he gave it all he had and ran like he could win.
Three times he’d fallen stumbling, three times he rose again.
Too far behind to hope to win, he still ran to the end.

They cheered another boy who crossed the line and won first place,
head high and proud and happy no falling, no disgrace.
But, when the fallen youngster crossed the line, in last place,
the crowd gave him a greater cheer for finishing the race.
And even though he came in last with head bowed low, unproud,
you would have thought he’d won the race, to listen to the crowd.
And to his dad he sadly said, “I didn’t do so well.”
“To me, you won,” his father said. “You rose each time you fell.”

And now when things seem dark and bleak and difficult to face,
the memory of that little boy helps me in my own race.
For all of life is like that race, with ups and downs and all.
And all you have to do to win is rise each time you fall.
And when depression and despair shout loudly in my face,
another voice within me says, “Get up and win that race!”