Motivational Monday: The Book That Inspired "The Secret"

I just finished reading a life changing book written nearly 100 years ago. It has impacted millions of readers through the years, including Rhonda Byrne who is best known as the woman who brought us the film and book called "The Secret"--a bestseller around the world.

The book is THE SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH: FINANCIAL SUCCESS THROUGH CREATIVE THOUGHT by Wallace D. Wattles. It was written in 1910 but it is as timely as ever today in our current state of doom and gloom regarding the economy and our personal state of wealth.

Every politician should read it. Every business leader. Every teacher. Every student. Every American. I paid $6.95 for it in a beautiful Barnes & Noble edition but its value is many times that.

The lessons taught are straight forward and simple for all to understand. The principles are timeless and practical and they WILL work if you apply them and believe they will work.

The basic premise is that your thoughts are things...that they bring things into your life, both good and bad. Your mind is a magnet and it will attract whatever it is you are dwelling on.

Wattles believed, and correctly so, that you cannot dwell and put your focus on poverty and expect to reach prosperous results. You cannot dwell and put your focus on illness and expect to reach healthy results.

Your thoughts and your feelings are always a match. Try driving to work tomorrow thinking awful, earth shattering thoughts of pessimism and see how you feel. I guarantee they will not make you feel good.

Conversely, I can guarantee it will be hard if not impossible for you to feel badly if you are singing your favorite song and thinking wonderful thoughts about your future.

The book is less than 100 pages long and can change your life if you follow its principles and teachings. Go out and buy this book! You owe it to yourself.

Thoughts...are...things. And thoughts...become...things.

So make it your aim to focus less on the bills that have flooded your mailbox and more on the endless supply of abundance that is always at your feet.

It has always been at your feet. You just were too worried dwelling on lack to notice.

That is all going to change. Starting today!

The Kids Aren't OK

We already know that many American schools have banned childhood staples such as tag and dodgeball over the clear and present danger such games pose to children. After all, we are talking about physical AND self esteem injuries should junior take one in the face or always be "it".

Now a story from Britain leads us further down the road of sterilizing everything that was wonderful about being a kid.

Teachers at a primary school dropped plans for a traditional potato sack race over fears that...gasp...the kids might get hurt.

Three-legged races were also dumped, not out of fear of offending four-legged children, but out of fear that...Heavens to Murgatroyd...a little one might trip and fall and skin a knee. OH NO!

A local educational leader explained. "We had to assess which of the activities were liable to cause a risk."

How about waking up in the morning? Opening the front door? Crossing the street. Or even worse--DRIVING to the event!

My kids slip and fall ALL DAY LONG and it's never been as a result of hopping on one foot or sprinting in a potato sack.

KIDS SLIP AND FALL!

We are engineering a generation of kids who don't ever fall. They will turn into adults who have never fallen.

And one day when they do, they will come unhinged.

Stop butchering childhood! Let kids be kids!

Let the potato sack races live on!

In Loving Memory of My Mother

My mother died last Tuesday morning.

Even as I write those words, none of it seems real. It's fiction. It must have happened in a horrible nightmare or to someone else. My mother is still alive and will walk down the stairs of our home any minute now and hug and kiss and love her grandchildren.

She died in intensive care after days of dialysis and heavy life support. She was, according to the doctors and nurses, in a coma the last few days of her life and she didn't suffer, which is one of the few reassurances you can give someone as they watch a loved one die before their very eyes. Another reassurance is that they can still hear the words we whisper into their ears, even if they outwardly don't seem to be registering them.

My mother came to visit us on a Thursday. She came down with flu-like symptoms the next day. And by Saturday morning she was being shuttled by ambulance to intensive care. The following day she was on dialysis as her kidneys had shut down. Sunday night was rough and a tight rope. Monday night showed promise and a glimmer of hope. We all really started believing she was going to pull out of this sudden calamity.

But Tuesday morning at 8am my precious mother left this world. My father and I were there to hold her hand and stroke her forehead and kiss her cheeks. I have never seen my father more broken and I have never cried as intensely for anyone or anything as I did watching my mother having the monitors turned off and her vitals fading forever.

She died with my 8-month-old baby girl's security blanket (a sweet tiger that she would never generally part with) on her chest. She loved all her grandkids, but the joy she experienced with that baby girl was enough to take your breath away.

Our lives were, needless to say, sent into a spiral of confusion, denial, and anger.

How on earth could this happen?? She was FINE one day and sick the next. Then she was taken from us.

The most unnerving part, I think, is when the best medical crews and doctors scratch their own heads and offer little in terms of definite answers. Her body was attacked and ultimately destroyed by a catastrophic infection. It happens, they said. And sometimes there is nothing that our advanced medical technologies can do to stop the wheels from turning down their inevitable end.

What I found the most remarkable about those days and final moments in the hospital was the lack of the sense of urgency and chaos that we have come to know from Hollywood's version of the inside of a hospital.

Even as my beloved mother began to slip away, the doctors and crew spoke calmly and walked about her bed with soft steps.

How could you be so CALM, I remember screaming inside my head as I felt the tears and the horror and the angst coming over me. MY MOTHER IS DYING...HOW CAN YOU WALK SO LIGHTLY??

Maybe it was her age (77) or the fact that they knew ultimately they had done everything they could for her. Maybe they knew it was simply but sadly her time to go.

My mother was a great woman and I wish that you could have known her. Those of you who did know how enriched your lives were just by virtue of knowing her.

She was the most selfless person I ever knew. Nothing was about her. She was always more concerned with the comfort and happiness of others before her own. Such a person is rare, especially in today's world. In this GIMME, GIMME, GIMME world, it's getting harder and harder to find someone who will make sure you are being treated well.

She leaves behind my father, to whom she was married for almost 48 years, myself (her only son), an adoring daughter-in-law, and 6 grandchildren (there was no such thing as STEP grandchildren to her...she loved them all the same and her obituary made no distinction between them...that was how deep her love was), not to mention countless others who will miss her dearly.

I am currently being comforted by my faith and by the words of scholars and experts who continue to remind us that our loved ones never really GO somewhere far away. They are with us even now. We may not be able to hear them or see them or touch them. They are our gentle and unseen companions that never leave our sides as we continue to take our steps through this life.

Forever hoping that we never lose sight of the fact that they are never more than a whisper or a thought or a prayer away.

We bury my mother on Wednesday in a ceremony ultimately designed for the living, not the deceased. We will all look down at the grave as if she is IN it. But she is not. Her earthly body perhaps, yes. But the essence and beauty that was my mother still IS my mother and always will be.

We are better served looking next to us than below us at the ground.

I love you, my sweet mother. You were the most amazing woman I ever knew. I wish I could have had you for more time than I did, but I thank God for the years I was fortunate enough to have. You will always be with me.

Fiery California

I just tried to take some pictures of the blood red sun outside my kitchen window and none of the them are capturing the eeriness of the sight.

The sky is filled with haze, and other than the brownish tinge to it, it reminds me of the foggy days growing up in San Francisco.

Only the skies over the Sacramento area are generally bright blue. It looks like winter outside.

And it smells like a thousand ash trays were thrown into the BBQ and cooked right in front of your captive nostrils.

What experts are calling "unprecedented" lightning storms are the culprits in the more than 800 fires burning throughout the Golden State, all but a couple in the northern part of the state. Imagine--more than 5,000 lightning strikes!

The smell of the smoke on your clothes and in your car and house are minor inconveniences compared to the terrible (dangerous in some parts) toll they can take on your breathing. In some areas, people with weakened immunity and breathing conditions are advised to stay inside if possible.

Two of the biggest fires are within two hours of us but you wouldn't know it looking out the window. I can't imagine being at ground zero at any of these fires if it looks like this here.

Thousands of acres continue to burn and firefighters have been injured.

It's all an awesome and humbling and frightening reminder of the power of nature and how little we become when viewed against its immense backdrop.

Motivational Monday: S'mores Galore In Spite of Gas Prices!

No, I didn't fall off the face of the earth. Although taking a week off in radio is the equivalent of 2 months in most other occupations. It seems like I have been gone longer.

Maybe that's because we traded in the 4 bathrooms at home for a bathroom down the flashlight lit path of a campsite.

Now all you avid campers don't need to get too excited. I didn't camp in a tent or anything. I still hold an aversion to the thought of sleeping on rocks and having little critters sneaking a peak through or under some pretty thin looking material.

Yes, I still like the idea of giving a bear or a raccoon a few extra layers of wood to have to tear through to get to me.

Anyway, we packed up the kids, 2 cars, a million dollars worth of fuel, and enough Capri Suns to quench the thirst of a thousand. And we headed for the great outdoors. 5 days in a two room cabin less than a mile from the beautiful California coast (http://koa.com/where/ca/05113/).

In the first 10 minutes we were there, we almost started another California wildfire. My wife hooked up the propane tank incorrectly and when she went to light it...ZOINKS!!

I wish I hadn't been panicking so much because it would have been cool to have run and grabbed my camera for pictures. The flames were two feet high on the picnic table and the look on my face was worth the price of admission.

After a few moments of smashing the table with a box, the flames were out and the rest of the trip was all down hill from there.

We didn't exactly rough it THAT much. My wife and kids brought their Nintendo DS's and we DID order pizza one night. HAHAHA. Ordering pizza when you go camping! Now that's MY kind of camping!! Not being too far for the pizza guy to come find you in the woods!

That might actually be my prerequisite from now on. That we have to be within delivery distance of a pizza place!

Even though we packed all the food away at night, our neighbors didn't and the raccoons and skunks paid us nightly visits. I tried to scare three skunks away and they looked at me like, "Yeah. Right. We've tipped over GARBAGE CANS bigger than you, Bud."

Our adventures ranged from swimming in the pool to spending a day at the world renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium, right on John Steinbeck's Cannery Row. Check them out at http://www.mbayaq.org/. Where else can you touch a Bat Ray and pass by historical fish canning factories made famous by one of America's best authors all in the same hour?

We also visited one of the quirkiest places in America...the Mystery Spot in the redwood forests outside Santa Cruz (http://www.mysteryspot.com/). This place is WILD. Everything you know about the laws of gravity and physics will come into doubt. I saw things with my own eyes that STILL make my head hurt.

Our final big excursion was any train lover's heaven...the Roaring Camp Railroads in Felton, California (http://www.roaringcamp.com/). We rode a narrow gauge steam train through thousands of ancient redwoods. It was amazing to think that such a memorable outing could be had in less than 90 minutes.

Nights ranged from warm to freezing cold and always ended with a roaring fire and plenty of s'mores and fun times.

Why is all this a Motivational Monday blog topic? Because it would have really been easy to cancel the whole vacation and blame the mind boggling price of gas for putting a damper on our plans.

But we compromised is all. Instead of a vacation further away and perhaps involving hotels and eating out a lot, we rented a rustic cabin less than 4 hours away from home and kept the amenities to a minimum.

We WERE able to swing it. We just had to make the proper CHOICES to make it happen.

Cut here and there, make a few sacrifices, and you won't have to cancel that family vacation after all. Defy the headlines and the doom and gloom! Go for it!!

Oh and here is a funny close to today's blog. Thursday night, I accidentally left out a hot dog grill basket on top of the campsite's BBQ pit. The next morning it was gone.

I mean ALL gone. Not just the hot dogs, but the GRILL BASKET, too.

It makes me smile to think somewhere there's a raccoon nest stacked to the ceiling with the wares of careless campers.

Maybe they can sell all the camping gear and buy enough gas to leave the woods and visit the city.

I will leave you with Spencer's Camping Tips:

1) Always have at least a wood wall separating you and the wildlife. Tents are for people with death wishes.

2) Screw the propane tank on correctly or you could end up looking like Wile E. Coyote after a bad run in with the Road Runner.

3) There is no such thing as too many showers when you are in a cabin with 6 kids.

4) It's not smart to yell at a skunk when its tail is up to the sky.

5) Make sure everybody hears you when you say "Last call for the bathroom!"

6) Fun is right in front of you, if you aren't afraid to look.

Does Anyone Read Manuals Anymore?

I worked retail for several years and although I didn't work directly in the Returns Department, I know from experience the amount of products that come back because they don't work.

Or should I say, because they ALLEGEDLY don't work?

An article I read this week from Engadget.com claims that gizmos and gadgets aren't as messed up and poorly made as we might think.

According to a study done by Accenture, a whopping 95% of gadgets work despite what customers claim!

That reminds me of the customer service lore about the technician telling the computer owner to close Windows only to have the person put the phone down and close every window in the house. Even if that story is exaggerated, it may hold more truth than we'd like to admit.

People just don't read manuals anymore. We're too smart for those, right? We KNOW how that DVD player or remote controlled airplane works. The manual is for OTHER people. The dumb ones, right?

Next time that toaster doesn't work or your cell phone insists on alerting you to new texts with "Funky Town", try flipping through the manual and seeing what's up.

Chances are it's user error. And you, I am afraid, are the user. I am, too. We ALL are!

And remember this sobering statistic. Out of the nearly $14 billion worth of returned products last year, only 5% were truly broken.

And now if you'll excuse me. The microwave is blinking 12:00 and I need to figure out if that has anything to do with the fact that my popcorn comes out tasting like tri-tip. I think the manual is in the drawer next to my broken watch.

Motivational Monday: Let Nothing Stop You!

Monday is the hardest day of the week for many people. But only because so many people unfortunately are clocking into jobs that they simply tolerate or downright despise.

We all need something to pump us up, a morale booster that will set us off on the right course for the days ahead.

And that is what I hope the story of Nick Santonastasso will do for you.

Nick is 12-years-old.

But unlike us, he was born with a rare disorder that affects only 11 other people on earth.

So Nick was born with no legs and only one arm with a single finger attached at the end of it.

His parents could have fallen into a depression as many parents would have under such stark adversity.

But they didn't. They decided they would not treat their son differently. And that decision has paid off beautifully all these years later.

Nick, himself, could have fallen into a deep depression, too. Imagine facing life as difficult as it can be...and without three of your limbs.

Most of us would be tempted to curse God and the universe and collapse deep within ourselves.

But Nick was raised that "anything's possible" and he has lived that mindset. He has played football and baseball. He can do a headstand on a skateboard. He can type on a computer and even play the drums.

And he even helps in the kitchen!

How many of YOUR kids help in the kitchen?? How many of US wake up with the love for life that Nick does??

The answer is: not enough, unfortunately.

Our excuses? I'm too poor. Too overweight. I'm not pretty enough. Smart enough. That stuff happens for OTHER people, but never for me. I'll take the chance later...just not today.

Unlike us, Nick has REAL excuses if he wanted to use them. Hmmm. I can't play baseball because I HAVE NO LEGS AND ONLY ONE ARM AND ONE FINGER!!

Shouldn't we feel a little silly now when we come up with our endless excuses each day? Hasn't Nick taught us that we should get off our unmotivated behinds and DO SOMETHING!! Take action!! And do it NOW!!

Ever see severely handicapped people with GIANT smiles? Ever stop and wonder sometimes how it is that someone facing such enormous adversity could find the will to be HAPPY??

Shame on us. They are happier than we are, really, even as we run around with two healthy legs. Why? Because they believe in themselves ultimately more than we believe in ourselves. They are at peace with life, something most of us only strive for but rarely achieve on any given day.

Nick recently entered an art contest for which he drew a large tree. "The roots of a family are..." were written above the tree. And below the tree?

"Love."

The one simple word that makes everything possible. Love of family. Love of life. Love in the belief that anything's possible.

Because as young Nick has proven to all of us, it really is true.

Next time the kids or your spouse of a friend complain about something, share with them the story of Nick Santonstasso. They should stop the complaining very, very quickly.

Life is what you make of it. So make it EXTRAORDINARY!