Order in My Universe

Certainly, our relationship with Him is the ultimate "sun"
around which everything else is just a "planet." We can't
make any choice that will adversely affect this anchor
relationship. There are other non-negotiables God wants you
to make the center of your choices: what's best for your
marriage, your children, sticking to His calling, His
life-mission for you, uncompromised integrity, your
responsibility to show the people around you what Jesus is
like, and your responsibility to spread the Jesus message
to people who will die without it.

See, life's choices are a lot less confusing when you know
your non-negotiables. Then you decide based on everything
else having to revolve around those non-negotiables.
Actually, you have to be sure you know God's non-negotiables
as you re-clarify them with Him each new day. There are just
too many noble detours that you just can't afford to take.
Your personal universe is in order when the sun is in the
center, and then everything else is where it's supposed to be
- planets taking their place around a sun that never, never
moves.

- Ron Hutchcraft 'AWWY'

Is Your Music Still In You?

Oliver Wendall Holmes once said “Many people die with their music still in them.” I think that captures the fear of about 99% of the people I see who come in for career coaching. Either they know exactly what gift or talent they have that they are not using or they are just afraid they have somehow missed finding their real authentic and fulfilling path.

What is that area that is lying dormant for you? I recently had a pharmacist approach me at the end of a short presentation I titled Hold Fast to Dreams. He said he had been in his profession for 17 years and could not think of any dreams he had. In his description of his “responsible, predictable” life it became clear to both of us that his dreams had become buried along the way. All those childhood passions had been put aside as one responsibility led to another. At this point he was so desensitized that he couldn’t even bring them to mind anymore. He began weeping in the 3 minutes of our conversation as he identified his current life.

You know the symptoms: as a child you loved singing but now you haven’t sung in 20 years. Or every time you see a news item about the starving people in Africa it brings you to tears - but you’ve never done anything to help. Or when you see a beautiful painting you remember how much you loved that second grade art class. You may recognize that whenever you are around old people you are energized by the compassion and wisdom they have - but you only go there once or twice a year.

Change - even when unwelcome or unexpected, often wakes
up those dormant dreams. I have seen physicians move to
the country to take up organic gardening, pastors who
switched to fulfilling careers as artists, and housewives
who emerged from the years of raising children to release
their gifts in writing and counseling.

“Many people die with their music still in them. Too often
it is because they are always getting ready to live…Before
they know it….time runs out.” Oliver Wendell Holmes

Check out this 7 year-old singing the National Anthem.
He’s getting his “music” out. It will be interesting to
see where he is 30 years from now. Will he be enjoying
singing as he does today? Or will the realities of life
have him push that down as “unrealistic” as he goes off
to his cubicle each day?
- 48days To The Work You Love, Dan Miller

Yes We Can!

There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?
Robert Kennedy

Such a wonder and inspiration that depicts promise and giving hope of change in my lifetime. With God's help I know we can.

Healthy Reflection

Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him.

- Aldous Huxley, writer

Head-to-Toe Healthy

Dry, Tired Eyes
Infuse a bag of chamomile tea in 4 to 6 ounces hot water,
cool in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, then apply
as a compress on eyes for 10 minutes, until it comes to
room temp. Chamomile has a mild anti-inflammatory effect.
The Expert: Paul S. Anderson, ND, associate professor of
naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University

Bad Breath
Drink up to 1/4 cup pure aloe vera gel dissolved in about
half a cup of water or apple juice. Aloe vera contains an
anti-inflammatory compound called B-sitosterol that
soothes acid indigestion, a common cause of bad breath.
But go easy; in large doses, aloe vera can work like a
laxative.
The Expert: New York-based herbalist Letha Hadady, DAc,
author of Healthy Beauty

Nasal Congestion
Irrigate the nose with contact lens saline solution, using
a Neti Pot. Or try: putting a few drops of eucalyptus oil
on the floor of a hot, running shower and inhaling the
steam that accumulates. (Note: The room may be too hot
for children.)
The Expert: Benjamin Kligler, MD, MPH, research director
at the Continuum Center for Health and Healing in New York City

Handy Hints

A small amount of lemon juice pour onto minor wounds can
help stop bleeding and disinfect the injury (it will sting
a bit). Lemon juice applied to itches, poison ivy rashes
and wasp stings is said to relieve discomfort.

Healthy Reflections

And then the day came, when the risk to remain tight
in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

- Anais Nin, Danish diarist

New Star Wars Inspired "Hovering Chair" Coming

The Lounger, a hovering chair inspired by
the land speeders from the "Star Wars" science
fiction movies, is set to go on sale in Britain
in March. The furniture hovers above the ground
using three strong magnets to give a feeling of
weightlessness, the Sunday Times of London
reported. Keith Dixon, 40, of Middleton said he
has already gotten response about his invention
from around the world. "Sitting on it is an
incredible sensation," he said. "You are defying
gravity." The chair is comprised of a base and a
see-through acrylic seat all with magnets repelling
each other, forcing the seat to float up to 14 inches
above the base. A pair of connecting rods stops the
seat shooting off sideways but allows it to move up
and down. "The lounger moves when you sit down, but
then it finds its own level," said Dixon, adding that
it can hold up to 266 pounds.

The saying is so true that what you can dream, you can achieve.