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Motivational Minute is back! I want to
thank all of you who wrote asking why you weren’t receiving it. It did my heart good to know that so many of you looked
forward to each issue and I apologize for letting you down. This has been a difficult year for us, starting with my husband
losing his job and our subsequently having to sell our beautiful home. How easy it was to write motivating newsletters when
everything was going right. And how difficult it was when life seemed to be going so wrong. Many times I sat down to write,
only to find myself staring at a blank screen and asking myself, “What happens when the motivator need motivating?”
Was my advice only good for other people? Were my words of wisdom really true? Did I believe what I told my audiences?
How could I bring myself to write something motivating when, I was not sure I believed my own words. Better to say nothing
at all then to deceive my readers.
I began thinking about my message to others. What is the first thing I tell my audiences?
You are not alone. You have an angel who will give you courage when you cannot give it to yourself. I have learned our angels
come in a variety of sizes and shapes and appear suddenly from nowhere. They are often the least likely suspects. My angel
is a 17 year old with orange spiked hair, holes in her jeans, and earrings in every opening on her face. I bumped into her
at the grocery store when I had cancer and her smiling face has been a source of courage ever since. When I was at my lowest
point, I imagined her smiling face and suddenly realized that the pain of this year was not about what was happening on the
outside, it was on the inside – the struggle between the ego and the soul. My angel reminded me that, even though we
have torn jeans and goofy hair, our soul can laugh and rejoice. My friend and fellow author, Jody Stevenson, tells us the
soul will always choose courage. She is right.
The second thing I tell my audiences is to create a vision that is
stronger than their fears. Hmmm- do I have a vision that is positive and taking us someplace, or is my vision full of fear
and failure? A vision that sees what is NOT, rather than what is or can be? Every night as I climbed into bed, I set a vision
of success – a vision of a new home, a vision of employment, a vision of “making it” past this difficult time.
I remembered the story of my dog Snookers who refused to be confined in our fenced yard. No matter how many training sessions
we had, never mind the electric fence, nothing, absolutely nothing, deterred this dog from escaping the yard and running down
the street. Sometimes it took her a month or two to figure out how to defeat our latest effort, but her strong will and vision
always prevailed. Could our will prevail? Did we have the courage to leap the fence and strike out in a new town, in a new
home, in a new job? Or were we going to let ourselves be confined by our fears? No. Snookers had it right – if we keep
the vision in front of us, the obstacles fall away.
And, above all else, I tell my audiences to remember to laugh.
“Laugh? Now? You have to be kidding was the voice in my head.” Yet, I made it a point to find humor every day. When
I looked, it was always there – a humorous situation while driving or, more importantly, in my own behavior. I thought
of one of my recorded phone messages, “He (or she) who laughs, lasts.” When I could not find something to laugh
at on a particular day, I thought back to more humorous times in my life. For example, a day, following my year of breast
cancer, when my family and I went to the water slides and, after shooting down a very steep slide, I careened into the pool
at the end of the slide. While my family watched from the sidelines, their eyes got wide with horror as this beige, rubbery
object came catapulting out of my bathing suit. Floating on the surface of the water was my breast prosthesis. The 14-year-old
kid, whose job it was to help the people get out of the water, slide his hand under the rubber breast and moved it toward
me, “Ma’am is this yours?” My kids, husband and I could hardly get our breath as we doubled over with laughter.
Ah, yes, blessed are those of us who can laugh at ourselves, for we shall never cease to be amused!”
What has
this year been like for you? Have your ego and your soul had a battle? Who won? I hope it was your soul. I know mine has.
My ego did not want to write the Motivational Minute ever again for it meant admitting a form of failure. Yet my soul knew
it had to reach out and let you know that we can choose courage, that we can admit to feelings of failure, and more importantly
that we can move to a peaceful outcome by finding our angels, by creating a strong vision, and by remembering to laugh.
Perhaps
I needed this wake up call –perhaps God was saying, “Lynne you need another lesson here. Maybe, just maybe, the
old ego has pushed the soul aside.” Jody, in Doorway to your Destiny, says “Life is a continuing unfoldment of
opportunities to grow, expand, love and be loved. Not every day will we want to live life to the fullest.” But, “Once
we say YES to the soul, . . . we get to choose the attitude of our journey.”
We are now settled into our new home
in Spokane, Washington and enjoying the snow instead of the rain. My husband is successfully employed. My speaking career
is taking off. And the boxes are slowly getting unpacked.
No matter what happens to you this year, remember to watch
for your angels, have a strong vision, and, above all else, remember to laugh.
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