Freedom On Toast

Yep, disappointment.  We all have it from time to time.  Something just doesn’t go our way.  In fact, sometimes things go very differently than what we hoped for and anticipated.

Many of you know that in addition to my wonderful candle business, I also work part-time at our local airlines.  Well last night we had 7 inches of snow, which, as you can imagine, impacted flights a great deal.

As I worked my shift (constantly thinking “free travel, free travel, free travel”) I had the opportunity to see first hand how people handle disappointment.  Some, many actually, handled it with grace.  They were able to see the situation for what it was and make the best of it.  Some joked.  Some were very appreciative of the services that could be provide - limited as they were.

Others - and you know there are “others” - clearly can not handle disappointment.  Some came with an attitude of entitlement.  Some came with anger.  Some came to manipulate.  I even had one woman who spoke in a very exasperated manner, accused me of lying (I guess she didn’t look out the window!), told me she was on her way to her mother’s funeral and when that didn’t work, told me she had just had kidney surgery and her kidney was only functioning at 10%.  Now, that may all be true and if it is then I truly feel bad for her - she has a lot on her plate.  But her presentation FELT so manipulative that I did not have the empathy for her that perhaps she deserved.

The end result?  Well, all passengers are treated pretty much the same.  We really do try to do what we can.  But those who came in with a positive attitude helped everyone.  They felt better about the situation - we clearly felt better about doing everything we could to help.  Those with a sour attitude were helped but even fellow passengers were put off by the demands being made.

So how do you handle disappointment?  If you are in business you know there are great days and days things just don’t go as planned.  Do you let the disappointment derail you or - as my grandfather used to say — do you pull your boot straps up and get going?

Disappointment is a choice as are all feelings.  You can choose to feel disappointed and let it ruin your day or you can acknowledge the disappointment and move on.  Your choice WILL have an impact.  What choice will you make?

So I don’t normally watch videos on YouTube (or anywhere for that matter), but my local radio station was talking about their favorite YouTube videos and one of the DJs mentioned “Charlie Bit My Finger.” So I watched it - and laughed. But what I love the most is the big brother never resorts to violence, never screams bloody murder, never bellows at the top of his lungs “MOM” - he just sort of deals with it in his own big brother way. The world could learn from this big brother.

Enjoy and have a Happy Weekend!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV9PZk8ojF0

Okay, I have tried to be good. But I am done. I am laying the cards on the table for you to decide. Where, exactly, have our collective brains vanished? At what point in history did we decide that when someone makes a bad choice or a “mistake” we should just open the wallet and forget about it?

First we have the bailout - which you KNOW my feelings about that. Not that I don’t think we seriously need it. Just the reasons we need it irritate me. And the fact that the “fat cats” are enjoying elaborate parties and spa days while I work 7 days a week so I can help pay THEIR bill.

Now we have poor (literally) Nadya Suleman. Mother of 14 children - 3 of whom we know are disabled and it is likely that at least a couple of the newborns (per Drs. interviews) will have disabilities. That in itself is sad. These children will face challenges their whole lives. Now it’s not really the financial help this family will receive that is all that disturbing. I am a social worker at heart and would always advocate for the health and welfare of these children. What is disturbing is the presumption - by Nadya, by the Infertility Dr. who knew Nadya had 6 children, no home of her own and no employment, by the hospital who used the birth of these babies as a publicity stunt - that the people of the USA will take care of it.

We are a giving people and that’s really a good thing. But at what point are we just chumps? And how DO you draw the limit? If we said no way to the bailout we would be in serious (make that more serious) economic straits. If we said no way to Nadya, the hospital and the Drs. we would have a large, homeless family in which the children would likely receive no consistent education (you can see that cycle repeating already can’t you?)

Well, maybe I should just jump on the band wagon before it’s a runaway train. My credit card payments are due but I would prefer to go on vacation. Could somebody take care of those for me please? And while you are at it, feel free to leave your condo keys under the mat so I have a place to stay for free. Thanks - oh wait - I forgot - nobody says thanks.

I woke up this morning at 2:30 am. I did not set the alarm. I did not have to get up for a reason like…taking the dog out or using the bathroom. But I did lay there…and lay there…and lay there…you get the idea. Finally at 3:50 I had decided I might as well get up. After scanning the TV options (just over 300 infomercials - okay, I exaggerate, but not much) I decided to watch White Men Can’t Jump. It’s a good enough movie and seriously, what is one supposed to do at 4:00 am?

I, like the rest of the world, occasionally have difficulty sleeping. So on a whim, I decided to check out some sleep facts.

According to www.LucidDreaming.com,

• Dolphins use only half their brain to sleep at any given time. They need to keep half “awake” so they can surface to the water!
• Untreated Sleep Apnea causes more than 500,000 car accidents every year.
• Sleep loss of 4 hours or more is the equivalent of being drunk with a .10% blood alcohol level. (Uh oh.)
• 15% of people sleep walk.
• There is such as thing as Sleep Debt. (Can we have a bailout?) Sleep Debt occurs when sleepless nights occur over consecutive nights.
• 30-40% of the population report that they have sleep problems at some time within a year.

We have all heard that sleep deprivation can have mild or even catastrophic consequences. For one, a person is just tired. But sleep difficulty can cause obesity, hypertension, it can impair your reaction time and can cause fatal accidents. And difficulty typing (I know this first hand.)

So how do we avoid sleep issues or resolve them if we are already dealing with them? Experts will tell you to get regular exercise, eat balanced meals, blah, blah, blah.

To heck with that! First of all, who has time for regular exercise and balanced meals? Geez, there are days that getting A meal is a bonus. Healthy - no. Reality - yes. My personal solution? Grab a glass of herbal tea - or a glass of wine and flip on the TV. It is my guaranteed remedy for sleep. After almost 2 hours awake this morning, I turned White Men Can’t Jump on and was sleeping like a baby within 20 minutes. Ah….rest.

Side note: Don’t invite me to the movies (unless I am in need of a good nap!)

So the big concern of the day is that Bank Executives will balk at the $500,000 cap on annual salaries for banks that receive bailout money (not those that already received and went to the spa) and therefore, they will get only those who are not really qualified in those positions. Now this is really some set up these goofballs have going.

Let’s see if I get this right. The Bank Executive, who was making WAY more than the average US citizen, completely messes up the bank, overextends itself, gives money to those who aren’t financially set to repay the loans, then gripes when a salary cap is set.

Yes, this makes perfect sense. NOT! So let’s apply this to the real world. What position would allow me to completely screw up, make way too much money to begin with, use bailout money to go to the spa and party then be compensated with a HALF MILLION (and don’t forget the stock options) dollars a year for..what? My good work?

You will never convince me that the banker’s position is THAT much more difficult than most professional level positions. Feel free to post all your justifications - I won’t be sold. I know professionals who have such an incredible amount of responsibility on any given day that their blood pressure must be off the charts and they aren’t earning a quarter as much. What makes the bankers think they are so much more worthy? That level of arrogance truly sickens me.

This while the average middle school teacher makes $50,630.

This while the average police officer makes $50,670.

This while the average CEO makes $151,370.

This while the average Judge makes $99,270.

This while the average Mom makes $0. (Unless she is smart and has her own home business!)

Congrats President Obama. “This is America,” President Obama said on Wednesday. “We don’t disparage wealth. We don’t begrudge anybody for achieving success. And we believe success should be rewarded. But what gets people upset - and rightfully so - are executives being rewarded for failure. Especially when those rewards are subsidized by the U.S. Taxpayer.”

Amen.

Well, for better or worse, it has arrived. The Pink or Blue Early Gender Test. Available to the general public online for a cost of $240.00. The manufacturer claims the kits are primarily purchased by young moms who want to surprise their husband with the sex of their new child. Hmmm. In India, nearly 2000 female fetuses are aborted everyday using this same technology.

So is this where we really want to go as a nation? I have to believe that in a “free” country - modernized by all standards, would not use this product for the purpose of gender selection. But then again, I live in the real world where I know not everyone is nice or ethical.

So as a society, what position to we take? Do we pretend it’s no different than an ultrasound that can identify sex? Hard to pretend that when the Pink or Blue Gender Test can be taken at 7 weeks - well within the standard abortion timeframe. Do we assume nobody will use it to actually select the gender of their children? Hmmm… Not only am I not that naive, I think there may be quite a market for this. Maybe not in the cultural sense of other countries who value boys more than girls but with parents who want a boy first, then a girl. Or just a cute little girl or a scrappy young lad. Sort of like going to the grocery store and shopping for the child of your choice. UGH.

I am not getting into the abortion issue because I really see these as very separate issues. But the idea of “selecting” our children does disturb me a great deal. And what message does it give children?

It’s a sad way to celebrate the new year if you ask me. Maybe I’ll ask for purple and really mess with the world.

Now think about this. Seriously. When was the last time you had to learn something new. I don’t mean something little or something that you could learn if you practiced for a day or two. I mean something new like a new job. You know, the kind of “something new” similar to if I suddenly transported you to a foreign country and left you there to figure it all out (I know, it sounds fun doesn’t it?)

Well I recently took a PT job at one of the local airlines. Read this as, “I want to travel the world for free.” It had to be a position that ultimately would not interfere with my business but would provide me with a benefit - the ultimate benefit - free, unlimited travel.

Well, if you have been reading my posts for very long, you know that travel is a big part of my “Why” for my business so this works out great! Except, it requires that I go through some FT training for the next month. Yes, it will be a challenge but I know it’s short lived so everything will be fine in the end. But I am required to learn new things. And not just a few new things. Who knew those nice folks who board your plane did so many things? Certainly not me.

So here I am at the beginning of the learning curve and, well, I am dumb. I know all the nice sayings…”but you will learn it in no time” or “everyone has questions - that’s a good thing!” And while I know they are true let me just add that I am dumb. Thankfully, I am not dumb in all areas or life would really stink. But it is such a huge reminder that everyone has to start somewhere.

I actually think, that in addition to the travel benefits, this has held other benefits. For example, do you know why the folks at the airlines are almost always thin? Because they have to walk 10 miles just to start their job! And it is certainly a good exercise in learning. Not just regarding the airline industry but more about what it’s like to be new at something. Certainly the distributors who have joined my team must feel the same when they see the amount of resources and training available to them. So it’s GOOD to remember how dumb you feel when you are just starting. And it’s okay to be dumb - or at least that’s what I am telling myself to help preserve my ego!

So if you are new at something like me, just know it’s going to get better and it really IS okay to be dumb. If you are a leader, take a trip back to dumb and remember how you got to smart. Help people get there. Mentor and coach them along the way.

But by all means, don’t get in my boarding lane for at least a couple months!

Many of you know that I am a fan of Michael Clouse. He is an inspiring trainer and can relay concrete information about Network Marketing - what to do and what not to do - in a manner in which most trainers can’t compare.

So here’s the good news! He has started his own blog which is sure to be filled with all kinds of useful tidbits. If you are interested in achieving success in your Network Marketing business then check this out! www.mscmlm.wordpress.com

Want to hear something even more cool? Our company is having one of it’s Regional Meetings in Las Vegas in March and guess who’s coming to dinner? You guessed it! Not only will Michael Clouse be providing several hours of training to those in attendance, team members who have achieved the title of 5K Diamond or above (a very doable achievement) will be invited to attend a dinner with Mr. Clouse. What a great event that will be!

It really doesn’t get better than that! Vegas, training and networking with talented Network Marketing professionals, fun with team members, etc. Pinch me! Man do I love this business!

I know some people bellieve the Law of Attraction takes God out of the picture.  But if you have ever studied James Arthur Ray and other noted leaders, you know that isn’t necessarily the case.  I, myself, absolutely believe in the Law of Attraction.  I have seen it over and over again in my life and LOVE when I can say, “I made that happen.”  I’ll post more stories about that later, but I have a great one to share today.

My daughter, bless her heart, started a fire in our microwave.  Completely freaked her out while my husband and I shrugged it off as a learning experience.  Well she has felt terrible about this and has been wanting to replace the microwave.  Again, my husband and I shrugged it off and figured we would pick one up on sale during the holiday season.

Jump forward 3 or so weeks - she is sitting in her church class and they always start by saying a community prayer and asking God for what they want.  Well, these are teenagers so their thinking is relatively advanced.  Some kids KNOW you “shouldn’t” ask for your own self (bad recommendation by the way) so they ask for worldly things.  The group starts going around, one asks for world peace, one asks to provide enough food for the starving, one asks for shelter for the homeless…you get the idea.  All GREAT requests, don’t get me wrong.  Maybe if the whole world asked for these things we would be in a better place.  Here comes my daughter, bless her heart, she asks for a microwave and a water heater (she knows ours is leaking.)  How she knows these things is a bit of a mystery and a reminder to be careful about what I say or leave around.  The prayer stops.  The leader - who is, by the way, the closest thing to an angel living here on earth - says, “your prayer has been answered.  I have a microwave you can have for free.  It’s pretty new but I just don’t need it.”  You can imagine the other kids wondering why world peace hasn’t been granted!  But you see, I know my daughter well enough and the law of attraction has almost literally (note I say almost) been pounded into her head.  I KNOW she has been putting that out to the world or God or whomever you want to believe the great Genie of the world is and so she attracted a microwave.

We picked the microwave up last night.  Works like a charm.  And her wonderful class teacher noted, “next time she is asking God for something in her prayers, she might want to ask for the winning lottery numbers.”  I agreed and made a note to speak with her about this.  But her world is back in harmony.  Maybe the WHOLE world isn’t in harmony, but she feels she has “fixed” what needed to be fixed in her life.  A valuable lesson learned, no doubt.

So next time you are in need of something, put that thought out into the world, take action (in her case her action was as simple as asking) and watch God, the world or the magic Genie reply.

I think it is a requirement that all Network Mareketers be dreamers.  It’s just part of the “job” description.  In fact, it’s a mandatory component.  I have NO problem with this.  I have pictures of my next cars, next vacation spots, next homes, great family adventures, etc.  But one of the hardest parts of the “big dream” for me was where would I live or own property if money were no object?

The obvious comes to mind - Hawaii, Tuscany, Southern France, Utah Mountains, any tropical island (yes, I did see what property and even my own island would cost me) and virtually anywhere that is moderately nice.  I just LOVE to travel.

But seriously, where would you live or own property?  There is a fun online tool to help you discover your ideal spot in the world.  You can find it at:  http://www.findyourspot.com/

So where could I end up?  Well my top five picks (selected for me based on my responses) are:

1.  Portland, OR
2.  Hartford, CT
3.  Providence, RI
4.  New Haven, CT
5.  Boston, MA

Now the funny thing is - there are no tropical beaches in these locations!  Hmmm.  But they must meet my other “qualification” to be on my top five.  I have never been to any of these locations and have only seen very limited parts of the NE. 

Well, off to another adventure!  I guess I know where I should be travelling anyway!  Ah…the freedom of having your own home business and being able to travel whenever and wherever you want.  Life is good!