Because Change is the Most Constant Manifestation in the Universe, Pay Attention.

40 - pay attention

Paying attention is the best investment in the future. Why? After all, if you just let things slide, don’t they always have a way of working themselves out anyway? Isn’t it really enough to just get by day to day? Why should you care to give your best to the way your life turns out? Statesman Patrick Henry’s answered complacency:

Why stand we here idle? 

What is it the gentlemen want?

What would they have?

Is life so dear, is peace so sweet, 

as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?

Forbid it, almighty God. 

I know not what course others may take,

As for me,

Give me liberty or give me death!”

The meaning is clear; complacency is a form of slavery. The shackles are comfortable & easy to slip into. They require nothing but disinterest & indifference.Why wait for disaster to wake you? At the foundation of your being, There is a desire to make a difference in life. Time to add your creative energy.

Remember the Bakery Slogan-“Life is short, Eat desserts first.”

Identify those grooves in your life that have become ruts.Where have you stopped paying attention?

Become curious like a child on an Easter Egg Hunt.

Keep your excitement & enthusiasm alive & alert.

Do it now, because tomorrow never comes.

Certainty

41 - certainty

My favorite affirmation is, "I live my life with certainty."

Works all the time when I decide to use it.

It’s not about being right. It's about leaving no time for doubt, second guesses, "stinking thinking," excuses, blames, or the "if only’s".

"Trust is a must or your game is a bust," is an old bowling affirmation & a call for certainty.

Where does the certainty come from? Is certainty a belief or from the outcome of our experience? Does our belief’s create certainty?

If certainty comes from experience, how does that work with new goals, or with the experiences that didn't work?

What about the times when being optimistic (a certainties attitude) failed, thus becoming pessimistic and doubt wins.

I have battled the doubt & certainty continuum from "for sure," through "maybe," into "no way".

Certainty needs decision & commitment as partners to battle doubt.

In sports there never is time for doubt. Practice, planning & preparation with coaching is how to create victory. Don't leave anything on the field.  Have a plan and see the feedback, respond, commit with certainty and the power of a team striving toward Goals.  But how do you handle doubt without a group or team, those times when you are solo?

Make Friends with Douby

"Hello, you must be Doubt. I'm Gary I need to find you a job while I pursue my goals. What would you like to do?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Just tell me what to do and I'll, wait. I doubt I'll do it. I'll call my friends the dis's: discouragement, despair, dis-EASE & muddle around in distraction as doubt."

"Well here's an idea," I said, "Why don't you take the job to REMIND me to focus on my goal & appreciate the distance I've traveled."

"Maybe," Doubt replied.

That's probably all one can expect from doubt, "maybe" is a step toward Certainty.