Grow With the Flow!

As the year closes out to make way for the new, perhaps it is as good a time for you to consider too – What do you want? What will you do?

When we understand from whence we come, we free ourselves to consider past choices, smart and dumb. 

By doing so we build on this – we step into tomorrow with preparedness.

Much like the Yin and Yang of life’s interaction, we move ourselves with inspirational dissatisfaction. 

So heal your wounds and count each blessing.  Soon it will be unveiled- a completely new dressing.

Go with the flow and you will soon know, that life and living from within does grow. 

Follow your heart, follow your passion.  Follow your dream.  Take some action.  Sometimes it is what you do when no one takes note, that prepares you to get the ultimate vote.

Happy New Year.  Be thankful.   Believe and… Succeed!

Clif McKnight

Since I woke …

Since I woke up this morning at 4 am and felt wide awake, (see www.professormcknight.blogspot.com and Clifton McKnight motivision on facebook) I thought it would be appropriate to offer you this excerpt from my book, IF YOU CAN’T CALM THE WATERS LEARN TO RIDE THE WAVES – HOW TO SUCCEED IN TURBULENT TIMES 

Can’t sleep at night?  Use the time to work on a task or concern that has been bothering you.  It just may be the very thing that is keeping you from sleeping.  At the very least you can feel good about completing or resolving something important instead of tossing and turning all night leaving yourself with the same issues in the morning.

Another option is to redirect your focus to your blessings and a prayer of gratitude until you fall asleep.  This can actually result in a rather restful sleep enabling you to approach the following day and your problems with a fresh new energy.  You may be amazed at how effective a strategy this is.  Like most other exercises, it will get easier with practice.

Now I can watch a video or get some sleep.

Enjoy the Fruit and Plant the Seed

Enjoy the fruit and plant the seed.  On more than one occasion you’ve probably heard someone say, “If I only knew then what I know now…”  You may have even said it yourself once or twice.  I certainly have been there.   The sentiment of this saying  alludes  to missed opportunities.  Well here is another possibility-  “You know Now what you know, now.”

You have the benefit of life experience.  You probably have read more.  You certainly have thought, assessed and evaluated a great deal more since “then.”  Now, “You know Now what you know now!”   AND, you know now what you thought you knew then too!  Have you learned the power of caring and of giving?  Have you seen the value in planning?… I bet you’ve  experienced rising out of the ashes in victory or at the very least, realized that you are still standing, still moving forward.  Perhaps the lesson was that after “failing,” not only are you still standing but you are more as a result.  You are wiser and not at all diminished in the truest sense!  Perhaps NOW is the time to act on your insights.

Try this:

Consider projecting ahead 5 or 10 years, even 2 or 3.  How  do you want your life to be?  Imagine the steps you took to get you there.  Write them down.  Go ahead, record it.  You can tweak, alter or downright rewrite any or all of it later.  Engaging in this exercise, in this mindset, can absolutely have a greater impact on your future than hanging out in the shoulda, woulda, coulda’s.

Look at yourself today.  Sure, you can look back at what you didn’t do or you can use the emotion and the insights of life experience to spur you as you work and play NOW and as you look forward to what you are going to do next.  How might you look at things to appreciate the best of your “NOW”?  Take a little action and

"...create a little more joy in 'your now'..."

plan a little more action for tomorrow, too.  Have fun and get your work done.  You may just start something that perpetuates long after you are gone.  Abundance is the law of nature.  Enjoy the fruit and plant the seed.

For More Peace of Mind, Be Thankful and Simplify

This is a great time to consider shedding baggage in exchange for some simplicity.  If you feel stressed, remember this and say to yourself, “It’s not up to you, it’s up to me. Don’t have to do it all, just what feels right. I provide the space to just be me tonight…”  Ever feel like you have so much to do?  Take some time to just “do you.”  You may even want to consider doing this “on a regular” as the saying goes.  John Lennon is quoted as saying “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”

Focus on your gifts and let some stuff go.  Bye bye.  Lighten the load.  Now, what to do with the new empty space?  Breathe, relax, be thankful slow your pace.  Life, is not a race.

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”

It is the journey itself that provides flavor and color and sustenance and more.  So lose “the stuff’,” the “DOs,” and have more, “Be Free.” It is giving, not hoarding, that opens the flood gates of possibility.   Don’t think about what will come to you, make space for more to flow THROUGH YOU.  Have a tremendous day on the way to helping somebody and every so often,  just enjoy the moment.

Appreciate What You Have

"There are Generations of Blessings to Embrace..." Art work by Chelsea McKnight

Sometimes in all of our striving, we may get pre-occupied with what we do not have yet.  We set our goals and we drive ourselves toward its end and at times it seems to remain just beyond our reach.  Perhaps while we strive we should take time to experience being alive.  Be awake to your blessings and appreciate what you have.  There are generations of blessings to embrace even as we strive to win our race.  Be grateful as you climb and add to someone’s day and your day too.  You will be glad you did.

When the Journey Seems… a Bit Much, “Smile”

On my way to work this morning I had the privilege of hearing Kirk Franklin lead his group in singing “I Smile. “  If you haven’t heard it go directly to youtube after reading this and then you may even be inspired to purchase it for download (try http://www.kirkfranklin.com/).  My morning started well enough but you know how sometimes the weight of things may take their toll cumulatively and we may not be as mindful for our own needs as much as for another?  It can make us run out of gas more quickly.  I guess I was there even though I have taken some very conscious steps to add zest to the best of my days. 

When the song came on my spirit soared.  My heart roared.  My gratitude poured.  I play the song often enough.  I am on the path of my hearts desire.  I am living passionately and I sure needed to hear that song at that moment.  Most of us can stand to treat ourselves well more.  We work to be the change that we want to see in the world as Ghandi said; we would be wise to be the change that we want to see in OUR WORLD as well.

It is amazing and uncommonly used common sense to do the things that fuel us when we are low on fuel.  Deep breathing, prayer and meditation, deliberate action and consultation are just a few obvious things we may not do as much as we could.  Good music and good friends can lift the spirit too.  How often do you do - for you?  In my book, IF YOU CAN’T CALM THE WATERS LEARN TO RIDE THE WAVES – HOW TO SUCCEED IN TURBULENT TIMES, I list 101 Ways to Cope with Stress that I received from a flyer provided by the Rockville Maryland Health Association who adapted the list from the Mental Health Association in Greater San Antonio.  But it is not about quantity.  Taking care of yourself is individual and situational.  Just be awake and open and be sure to take healthy doses of good living to “keep it moving.”  I may have mentioned this list in an earlier entry.  It is well worth repeating.  Take care of you.  This way you are in a better position to be a help to this you care about.

Make this Season Your Better Health Season

This is your time.  Are you ready to attract better health and a greater feeling of well-being?  The means and the support is all around you.  Begin with an internal shift.  Declare yourself to yourself who the improved you is and your body will catch up!  I had just made a decision to dramatically improve my health position when I received an email that a “Biggest Loser” style program was being offered at my workplace.  I figured, “what the hay, I can dabble to help me along my way.”  I soon found myself engaged and engrossed.  It became a main stead for me.  then when work schedule and time off interrupted the flow, I still had the internal shift to support me.  Below is a communication I sent to my teammates.  Want to join in?

“Ok, we keep missing the pool parties but we sure can take advantage of myplate.gov.  I hope you are all well and staying true to your goals.  If not, you can still dust yourself off and get back on the path.  That is the beauty of it.  If you really want to accomplish a thing, you stay with it.  While I have been off work a few days I have been a walking machine, a veritable monster of walk,  a beast in the east! Well, maybe it hasn’t been ‘all that,’ but relatively speaking, I have been doing well.  I walked between 2.5 and 3+ miles 4-5 days per week.  I am feeling great.

My eating habits have been wonderful too, relatively speaking. I have been juicing regularly.  My staple beverage is carrot and celery juice but I have various combinations including a delectable fruit juice with pineapple, cantaloupe and apple juices.  I use the pulp of my vegetable juices for soups and salads.  I haven’t done anything with the fruit pulps.  I hear that all of the pulps make for great compost and I haven’t done any of that yet.  I‘d be happy to store and bring in for anyone interested in using it.  Points may not be mounting but we can keep accounting.  I know, I have a million of ‘em…

A word about being still:  We all take a moment here and there and our fitness coach, Brenda had us “smell the roses” as a “Biggest Loser” activity.  If you have indulged yourself with a moment of peace recently you are likely, keenly aware of its benefits.  Please, take a moment often and drink deeply of the glory of life and living.  I read an article recently that suggested taking 5 minutes of every hour to focus on something good.  WOW!  I honestly never thought of something so simple as that.  Anyway, enjoy the journey and let’s keep supporting each other. ”

Looking for healthy recipes?  Try www.vegetariantimes.com .   Brenda, pulled the following excerpt out of my book IF YOU  CAN’T CALM THE WATERS LEARN TO RIDE THE WAVES, “

[Brenda] “Here’s an excerpt from the book to ponder today:”

“Each of us has many selves. There is a physical self and a spiritual self. These “selves” are interdependent.  Your physical self has the potential to affect the experiences of your spiritual self. When we eat well, move our bodies, stretch ourselves, think positively, and feel appreciative, we tend to be healthier and happier. When we are persistently inactive, eat a poor selection of foods and crowd ourselves with worry and disappointment, we set ourselves up for poor health.”   This is YOUR SEASON for better health.  Enjoy the journey.  Want more resources? Visit http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department2.aspx?id=18049 and http://www.choosemyplate.gov/index.html  For all around uplifting try http://barbaratalley.wordpress.com/?cat=30119712.

Hope for Tomorrow

Ever notice how things sometimes get harder as you approach completion of a worthy endeavor?  Sometimes when we feel overwhelmed, all that stands between us and utter breakdown are our attitudes and  our hope for tomorrow.  My daughter Chelsea put it eloquently, “

“Fighting while smiling, even though I feel there is nothing left to give.. Though the thunderstorm hurls winds, lightening and rain, I know a rainbow awaits.. somewhere, sometime.”

Michael Thomas, Program Manager, University of Michigan, Dearborn, whose interview was chronicled in  my book, IF YOU CAN’T CALM THE WATERS LEARN TO RIDE THE WAVES – HOW TO SUCCEED IN TURBULENT TIMES,  said, “Faith, education and hope  will help us weather any storms.”  It may feel like you are faced with more than you can manage but hang in there.  You will get through it.”  Keep the faith… For “Joy cometh in the morning.”

The Power of Acknowledgement

Isn’t it exciting and warming when others want to acknowledge you?   It is affirming and motivating and reassuring.  When we are acknowledged, it boosts our confidence and our attitudes.  Scientists and doctors are even confirming that it strengthens our immune systems!  It most certainly can improve performance.  With all of that why don’t we acknowledge one another more? 

We often underestimate the benefit it offers yet, acknowledgement, like love and kindness, only multiplies as you give it away.  While some may abuse it, the one who truly loses is the abuser.  Take a moment to make someone’s day and you will discover your day is a little brighter.   You can revisit the good feelings it gives you too. 

So do yourself a favor and let someone know what you appreciate about them.  Acknowledge your family, your team, your friend, your partner, your neighbor, co-worker or service provider.  You just may get something started that returns great dividends to you.  Thank you for taking the time to make a difference.

The Majesty of Divine Plan

Everything connects in some way.  When we expect the good, our attitude reflects that expectation. When we expect the worst, well, the same often occurs. Even when something undesirable occurs it will pay great dividends to ask yourself what you might glean from the experience.  The question in and of itself offers value as your focus moves toward lesson instead of deepening the pain.

I have been inspired by recent turn of events that are moving me in a wonderful direction.  My focus grows clearer as I am called to make decisions on how my life is BEST expressed. Since we are here for only a brief time on this earth, doesn’t it make sense that we should dedicate our energies to what fulfills and supports our selves and one another?  A wonderful thing occurs when we do this.  WE are enriched.  All of us!

Focus on your strengths and not so much on your weaknesses.  Oh, give them attention, but do so through the vantage point of your strengths.   You can seek out others and you will attract those whose strengths are in doing what you prefer not to do.  Yes you can build those weakness.  You can grow in these areas and you should.  Just consider growing together.  It pays in greater dividends. 

Remember we are all part of something.  It serves the whole of life to maximize our life experience by doing what we do best and giving others the opportunity to do the same.  Live, love, learn.  Give, forgive - your turn.  Live your peace, your joy, your dream and watch the world grow better.