Category Archives: Power of Positive thinking

What’s Inside Counts

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God’s gifts put mans best dreams to shame ~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Gold BoxHappy Thoughtful Thursday! I am going to keep this blog short and sweet. Check out the touching short Christmas story I’m posting through a link. It’s only a few brief paragraphs and worth reading. I promise it will make you think twice about the spirit of Christmas and the gifts you put in a box.

The story is called The Gold Wrapping Paper. http://bit.ly/18xB44Q.

May other thoughtful, meaningful stories bless your life during this holy season!

See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling. This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Sunny Thoughts Welcomed Here

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Life is not about what happens to us, it is all about how we respond to it. ~ Unknown

I laughed the other day. My niece posted on her Facebook page that she was at a Baltimore Ravens game and it was “freeeeeeezzzzzzing.” Really, in mid-November? The geographic coordinates of Maryland wouldn’t indicate terribly dramatic temperatures.  I commented that she doesn’t understand what cold reeeealy means. She has never lived in locations where there are artic temperatures. As I write this blog this morning it is twenty-four below zero here  in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It is not expected to rise above zero today.

sunny thoughts  My motto every winter becomes “The sun is going to shine on me today, no matter what!”. Where I live 350 – 400 inches of snowfall annually is not unusual. It’s piled steep and deep for many, many long months. Sometimes when the temperatures dip so low, I have to dress in so many layers, I walk and move like a penguin.

I put out a welcome mat for Mother Nature, and look what happened she arrived in all her fury. Up until now she has been just teasing us.  I’ll turn these cold blustery days into warm, sunny fulfilling  thoughts through visualization.  http://expertenough.com/1898/visualization-works.

Where has this week gone? Did you notice it is snowing as you read this blog? Today on this thoughtful Thursday, I’d like to encourage you to return to All Things Fulfilling tomorrow for Film Friday. I will be featuring a movie and the critique of it from a New York Times best selling author. He has some very interesting things to say about weathering life’s storms.

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Right, No Matter What

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“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you‘re right.” – Henry Ford

This adage is all about “mind over matter,” a motivational principle that became popular in the 1960s and 1970s. The phrase means” the mind is more powerful than the body,” according to Wikipedia.com.

Little Engine that CouldThe “mind over matter concept” was integrated into the storyline of a children’s book all the way back in 1930 when “The Little Engine That Could” was published by Platt and Monk. This tale is still popular today. In fact, as recently as 2007, an on-line poll rated the book as one of the Teachers Top 100 Books by the National Education Association.

In yesterday’s blog, I mentioned the recent speech I gave about Helicopter Parenting. Within the context of the speech I cite the fact that if parents do everything for their children, kids start to doubt themselves and lose confidence in their abilities. They begin think they can’t or may not be able to handle a task. Here is a relevant article about the power of the mind and how to use it as a great tool. http://bit.ly/IllFOz.

In my speech I related some of my own experiences in life. To this day, I count myself as a very fortunate child because my parents didn’t let me know that I may face an uphill battle when trying to accomplish certain goals. They expected me to be able to keep up with everyone else. Guess what – it usually worked!

Thanks, Dad and Mom! Now that I am “big,” an adult, that is, I can I admit you were right!

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. Hope you’ll return to All Things Fulfilling tomorrow for more self-fulfilling thoughts.

Fulfillment of Career Dreams

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Everything worthwhile in life is work.  But if it puts a smile on your face, it doesn’t feel like work. ~ Unknown

world university games 2013 ItalyI am very excited for my husband! He has an opportunity coming up that not many in his profession get to experience. He was just selected to be one of the ski coaches at The World University Games in Trentino, Italy. These are the Olympic Games for college students. Coaches and athletes from all over the world will be attending!

He is deserving of it because over the years he has used his great motivational skills in helping young people to understand that there is value in working hard. His message to his athletes is that even if you don’t come home with top prize, knowing that you did your best there is great reward in that – called personal fulfillment. His universe, outside of his family, has been the world of ski racing. He would say “His career of working with very high-level performance athletes has been very fulfilling.” I can not imagine him doing anything else for a lifetime career.

ski racerPeople think that coaching ski racers is all glamour and fun. Hardly! Have you ever tried standing out on a mountain, at a high elevation where the air is thin, in blinding snowstorms day after day with your hands and feet so frozen that your toe nails fall off at the end of the winter season? Or have you tried driving thousands and thousands miles each winter in a van packed with athletes and gear after a long day on the mountain, on roads so treacherous that if you blink at the wrong time you’ll end up in a ditch or worse? That’s exhausting and a lot of responsibility.

The World University Games officially kick off November 9th, and guess who will be lighting the torch? Pope Francis! To read more about the World University Games, please visit this website. http://www.wugusa.com/pope-francis-will-trentinos-torch/.

Congratulations, Terry! You will represent ColoradoMountainCollege with honor, as well as your colleagues – the other coaches in your profession. Enjoy it. It’s your reward for all the years of your service to a demanding profession.

Return to All Things Fulfilling tomorrow. The blog of www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

A Welcome Greeting

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“Positive anything is better than negative nothing.” ~ Elbert Hubbard

This summer, when I was in Maryland, on the Eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay, I walked into a salon to get a haircut. There wasn’t an attendant in the reception area when I arrived, so I sat down and picked up a magazine. Some time passed, and I looked up at the counter, and there was still no attendant, but I noticed something on the counter that I hadn’t seen when I entered. There was an upright sign that had been posted in a clear glass frame that said, “Good Morning, this is God. I will be handling all your problems today. I will not need your help. So just relax and have a good day.” 

Hmmm….I thought, “Wouldn’t life be great if things were that easy? Having faith is a wonderful thing. It does help us  feel as if we can relax a little when we’re stressed because “someone’s got our back.”  But let’s not be too simplistic and unrealistic – we do have to take an active part in living up to our potential and making our own lives fulfilling.

faith welcome mat

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Minds, Metaphor and Imagination

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Have you ever wondered why we use metaphors in writing and speaking and the influence the imagination has on clearly understanding concepts?

children-quoteIn James Geary’s book, I is An Other: The Secret Life of Metaphor and How it Shapes the Way we See the World, Geary explores how children think differently than adults and thus their perceptions of the world are different. Intuition and pattern recognition also may play a part in children’s comprehension of concepts that are too big for them because they have not yet experienced certain ideas in life. Geary’s book is an interesting read for anyone who wants to know more about how children learn and think.

Metaphors are interesting. If you want to know more about the use of them in communication, http://www.brainpickings.org/  is a site that will stretch your mind and imagination. A summary of Geary’s book is posted on the site www.brainpickings.org, as well as other things for your brain to digest and to conjure about.

The beautiful child was the center of attention, with his golden curls and tuna fish complexion. – Author Unknown

See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling, the blog of www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com

Film Friday: Patching Up Families

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“Remember laughing? Laughter enhances the blood flow to the body’s extremities and improves cardiovascular function.” ~ Patch Adams

Happy Film Friday! Today’s featured movie is a throwback to 1998. Do you remember the film Patch Adams patch adams bookfeaturing Robin Williams?  The movie brought big smiles to a lot of faces, including sick children.

Did you know Patch Adams is not a fictional person? He is a doctor with a bigger than life personality – also a social activist, clown and an author. He also helped develop the Gesundheit! Institute in West Virginia. The Gesundheit! Institute is a “project in holistic medical care based on the belief that one cannot separate the health of the individual from the health of the family, the community, the world, and the health care system itself.” 

Patch adams house-callsThe Gesundheit! Institute does global outreach, and it is in the midst of planning a  Teaching Center that “will bring together artists, medical students, care practitioners, parents, and reformers to design positive ideas of health care systems, and ways to implement these ideas,” according to their website.

If your family hasn’t spent much time together lately due to the demands of life, mend things up by watching Patch Adams together, you’ll be in stitches. Robin Williams’ performance is wonderful – I highly recommend this film. Click here for info and ordering Patch Adams

Visit http://patchadams.org/campaign to read more about the concepts in holistic healing that are gaining in popularity all over the world, thanks to the Gesundheit! Institute.

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Have a good weekend. Return to http://www.allthingsfulfilling.com on Monday!

Beautifully Aged Specimens

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Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art. ~Eleanor Roosevelt

We all know someone who looks age in the face, and is out to prove every stereotypical trait of aging wrong. In fact, their determination to show others that being over age 50 is no reason to slow down, has become their fulltime job. Working at aging gloriously brings personal fulfillment to many men and women. After all, we take little notice of the fact that we are aging if we are busy enjoying ourselves.

There have been all kinds of studies that identify how influences to the human spirit affects the way we live. http://bit.ly/1hENNXn. Resilience and determination are just a few character traits that truly make a difference. Humor, gratitude, spirituality and creativity in our lives play important roles in the aging process, also.

We can often identify within minutes of meeting someone whether they have “esprit de la vie” or not. You can tell by the words they speak, the inflections in their voice and their outlook for the world we live in.

Juicy tomatoes_The Juicy Tomatoes Guide to Ripe Living after 50, by Susan Swartz is a look at women who take on the idea of living with spunk seriously. This book is written with cheeky attitude and humor,  which might annoy some readers but the tone matches the spirit of the book. It is fun, lively and a great gift for someone is overly concerned with growing older and the physical changes that naturally take place as we age.

Positive and negative attitudes affect not only our human experience, but also that of our children. My parents, who are well into their eighties and still maintaining their own house and gardens, are aging like heirloom tomatoes – a variety that has been passed down, through several generations of a family because of it’s valued characteristics.

How my parents have lived their lives has given me many reasons to be very grateful that I am their daughter. Mom and Dad, you are ripe with beauty – you’re wonderful specimens.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. Do return to All Things Fulfilling tomorrow!

 

Changing Your World, As You Know It

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“Minds are like flowers, they only open when the time is right.”
~Stephen Richards

Your world, as you know it, could end on Monday! You think I am kidding? Well, I am not!  

JoyOver the past few months, on All Things Fulfilling , I have hinted at a book that I feel is very valuable yet, I have not revealed the title of it. By now,  you are probably wondering if it will ever be exposed. Come back on Monday it will finally be posted. Consider this your “heads up!”

You might be asking,  “So, why is my world as I know it going to end on Monday?”

The answer:  With the release of the title of this book you are given an opportunity to change your life for the better. But, it is your choice. The inspirational tools inside the book, if followed, will help you remove self-doubt and start you down the path to living a more fulfilling life.

Since starting the business http://www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com in 1998 I have followed the principles in this book (and others like it) and positive results have followed. It has led me to “doing what I love and love what I am doing”. That includes networking with like minds and authoring over 1200 articles on All Things Fulfilling!

I look forward to the next step – it’s coming!  For starters, this site will finally soon have it’s new look and some other new things to follow, in the not too distant future.  Have patience and we will keep our promise.

Do return to this site on Monday! THE BOOK I’ve been hinting about will be announced.

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Important First Steps to Publishing

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“It is not in the pursuit of happiness that we find fulfillment, it is in happiness of pursuit.” ~ Denis Waitley

The e-Book Extravaganza on Saturday sponsored by the Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) was well-worth attending. During one of the breaks, the President of CIPA, Dr. Patricia Ross came over to me and said “Sue, I’d like you to meet one of our new members.” Of course, the usual niceties followed.

I asked the new member if she was enjoying the morning, and she said “Yes, but I feel so uninformed! There is so little I know about independent publishing.” Dr. Ross told her not to be discouraged, and off the President went doing her job of hob-knobbing about the room.

CIPA 9 13 #1As the new member and I stood talking, I said to her, “You know, each and every person in this room started where you began today, knowing nothing. That is the reason you have joined this group -to get help, to learn, to network and become informed about your options.” There is a lot to learn and you have taken a very important first step. You have joined this group!”

“Yes,” the new member replied. “There seems to be plenty of knowledge to learn from in this group.”

Before the break was over and we went to sit in our respective seats, across the room from one another, I had one more thing I had to say. “In your free time, read anything you can get your hands on about the industry, and keep coming to this group. It’s the best thing you can do for yourself.”

To learn more about the Colorado Independent Publishers Association, please visit this link. http://www.cipacatalog.com/join-cipa/. Please note the organization also offers downloadable webinars if you are too far to travel to their meetings.

http://www.cipacatalog.com/categories/CIPA-College-Downloads/

As I drove home, I began to ponder how many first steps I have taken since 1998, when the independent industry was in its infancy. They’ve all been in a quest to learn all I could about the industry and it led to becoming a business.  And the wonders and development of the independent publishing universe never cease to amaze me. I find it fascinating.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com. The space where independent thoughts, words and views are all part of the business. See you tomorrow on All Things Fulfilling.