Lesson Three and Four

Lesson Three: 

"If you think you can, or if you think you can't, either way, you're right."

Henry Ford (1863 - 1947)

This is one of my favorite quotes and I believe that a truer statement cannot be found!  Our thoughts create our reality whether you are aware of it or not!!  I have seen many people over the years who held a belief about this or that, and funny thing, sure enough, it came to be.    Whatever you believe to be true is true for you!!!  You always have a choice to choose something else.  I have seen many clients who believe that some tragedy awaits them.  They say things like: “I always knew this would happen.”  Or “I saw this coming”.  These beliefs have an obligation to show up.  I meet a woman once who was afraid her daughter would have mental health issues like her mother did.  This woman had a very difficult childhood due to her mother’s mental health issues and because of her great fear she predicted mental health issues in her daughter.  Sure enough her daughter started to display mental health problems.  By doing this she was still not free from the chaos and crisis that was her mothers/daughters life.  This lesson also applies in cases where we limit ourselves by our beliefs.  Beliefs such as “I can’t possibly do that.”  Or “I never get what I want”.  or “I deserve to suffer because I am a bad person”.  This list of beliefs is endless.  They all stem from childhood and get supported through our lives through our experiences, of course because we believe they will.  Change your beliefs and you can change your life.  Next time one of these limiting beliefs pops up in your mind stop and ask yourself who says so and then if it doesn’t work for you anymore, change it!  You get to decide what you believe!

  The mind is everything. What we think we become. ~Buddha~

As a man thinketh so he is.  ~Proverbs~

The greatest discovery of my generation is that man can alter his life simply by altering his attitude of mind.  ~James Truslow Adams~

Lesson Four: 

Let Your Mistakes Be Joyous Happy Memories!

I have often shared stories about my relatives or past cast members and the mistakes that occurred during a show. The really interesting thing is that these are the best stories and the ones most often re-told. Sure we might have had 7 perfect shows but it is that one show, where the lights go out or someone forgets their lines completely and others rise to the occasion and cover for them, that we remember! We learn so much as we make mistakes. We learn that it is not all up to us!  That we can choose to see the world is full of people willing to help us.  We can allow those people to support us and be there for us.  We also learn that we have within us, the resources to pull from to face challenges and make it through no matter what is thrown at us!  Live your life as if the mistakes are the best part because really they are. They are the times when we learn to think on our feet, when we learn that we have within us the ability to create something out of nothing.  When we realize that laughing at ourselves really is the best kind of fun!

There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from. ~Elisabeth Kubler-Ross~

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. ~Nelson Mandela~                               

Forgive yourself for your faults and your mistakes and move on. ~Les Brown~

Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm. ~Winston Churchill~

Lesson Two

Always Keep Your Toes To The Front

                      

Every person who has ever been involved in any show I have directed has heard me shouting these words; KEEP YOUR TOES TO THE FRONT!   Why did I shout them so loudly and so often? What does it mean to keep your toes to the front? Well, for the purpose of the show, it literally meant staying open and aware of the audience. Remembering that we are there to serve the audience and to make them smile and feel good! Facing the front means you are aware, open and conscious of your purpose to serve. In life it is a good idea to stay open and looking forward. Looking backward is a waste of energy and time. You cannot change the past. Any time you spend thinking about it is time you have lost from today. If your thoughts are always in the past you miss the moment. This moment is all we have and we only have power in the now! We have no power to change the things that have happened in the past.  We can affect our lives and others by being fully present and recognizing that today in this moment we have the power to create everything we want for our life! Stay open to what’s in front of you!  Keep your toes to the front, your eyes and your thoughts open so you can see where you may serve!

Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.     ~James Dewar~

Joy blooms where minds and hearts are open. ~Jonathan Lockwood Huie~

The broad-minded see the truth in different religions; the narrow-minded see only the differences.~ Chinese Saying~

Lesson One:

What you experience in any given moment is up to you! You choose. Good or bad, you choose!

An important lesson that I have tried to teach is that we have the power over how we react to things. The people and things around us may be out of our control but we have the power to choose, always, our response to life! In my counseling practice I often see people with anger issues. When asked, they always say they don’t seem to have control over their anger. They believe that it is something that just happens and they can’t seem to stop it. Yet, when I asked them if they ever act that way with their friends, or their co-workers or boss, they always say no. There are places that they have deemed it inappropriate to let their anger control them. In those places they do have control and they do not express their anger in ways that are hurtful and embarrassing. So, if they have control in some places why don’t they have control everywhere? This line of questioning always makes them stop and think… and then I come in with the killer question. So you do have control over your anger? What can they say? They have to answer ‘yes’. This awareness awakens in them the idea that maybe if they have control in some places with some people, they have control everywhere!!! The most important thing is how you see yourself in each situation. That will dictate how you behave! Do you see yourself as a victim? As someone who has no power and is subject to others? Or do you see yourself as powerful and able to choose your own destiny and therefore, choose your own responses in every situation? Whether you know it or not, you are divinely created, full of love and joy and happiness!!! Over the years I’ve asked a lot of people what they want for their lives and the most common answer is always the same, they want to be happy. It is simple really, especially when the choice is yours!

People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. ~Abraham Lincoln~

I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime. ~ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross ~

How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours. ~Wayne Dyer~

I cannot always control what goes on outside. But I can always control what goes on inside. ~Wayne Dyer~

There are only two ways to live your life.

One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as though everything is a miracle.

~Albert Einstein~

If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. ~Wayne Dyer~