THE TEEN CREED

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The Bonnie Hunt's show on Friday was really interesting with Rosie O'Donnell as a guest. Rosie talked about her new movie "America" airing tonight on the Lifetime Channel and also about "Munny,"from KidRobot which is a new toy that helps children become more creative.

The most poignant part of the show was a retrospective of Bonnie's about when she was 12 years old and her mother (who often shows up on the show via web cam or Skype)gave all of her brothers and sisters a laminated copy of "The Teen Creed," which they had to memorize and recite each time they left home without their mother.

It's really funny how everything comes full circle. This is a great tool from when I was a teen, (I'm older than Bonnie, much older)and parents provided very specific guidelines for children, and instilled a sense of responsibility in them. In my home most of what we had to memorize were bible verses, but they were related to punishment, which in hindsight I now realize gave me a distorted sense of structured religion.

Even two parent homes seem to be having difficulty teaching their children about the consequences of their actions these days. And it is such a difficult time right now in the world, our children need to know how to handle much graver issues than we ever had to deal with. Below is a copy of "The Teen Creed" consider making a laminated copy for your child, have them memorize it, and also instill in them that you will love them unconditionally, and they only have to call you to pick them up when they are in trouble...NO QUESTIONS ASKED...and make sure to stand by that commitment, don't ask....unless they want or need to talk about the situation. Be proud of them for taking the right route. Calling home and removing themselves from bad situations, means they have the tools they need to make smart decisions, by knowing and understanding the consequences of their actions.

Bonnie including her mother as part of her show, and sharing experiences of her childhood with her mother's parenting skills, is a purely perfect move. Her mother ads a great dimension to the show. Her mother truly understands what loving "unconditionally " means.

HERE IS THE TEEN CREED from the Bonnie Hunt Show

1. Don’t let your parents down, they brought you up.
2. Be humble enough to obey, you may give orders someday.
3. Choose companions with care, you become who they are.
4. Guard your thoughts, what you think you are.
5. Choose only a date who would make a good mate.
6. Be a master of your habits or they will master you.
7. Don’t be a show off when you drive, drive with safety and arrive.
8. Don’t let the crowd pressure you.
9. Stand for something or you’ll fall for something.

LIFE IS A DREAM

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02-22-09

LIFE IS A DREAM

We live our lives looking for our dreams to come true, but what we are missing is that life is a dream. It began in utero, entered postpartum, puberty, adolescence, teen, adult, and then senior. Our life is the script that we write for ourselves. The play we are acting out everyday is the dream that we choose for our life. So life really is the “fake it til you make it,” mind set. What else is there? The poor me? My life sucks? I can’t help it? I tried but it didn’t work? What dream are you living, because you are living your dreams?

Hits you where it hurts doesn’t it? I was sitting at my computer this morning after a grueling few hours last night trying to put up a web page, (which, by the way is supposed to be very simple) but I ended in frustration, put it on hold and began fresh this morning. Well I still did not get it done. My friend James called and asked me if I got his email. I said “no, but what is it about?” he answered, “It will really help you out.” I asked, “help me out with what.” he replied, “with what you want to do.” Now I went to the website he showed me, and after spending the morning with the grueling….do this do that directions on how to build a web page, an auto responder, and an email list… this looked just like everything at that moment I hated. So I closed all of the windows on my desktop and sat with my head in my hands listening for the voice within.

Whenever I do that, my cat Pogo comes over to the table next to my computer desk and puts his paws on my shoulder. Some say he is responding to what he thinks is sadness but I always think he is looking for something, so I give him a treat and the nature of Pavlov’s Dog is now living before my very eyes in the shape of my cat. I “allowed” this behavior in him, and yet, even though there are times I am endeared by this gesture, most times I am sitting like that out of frustration and I snap at him. Funny thing about cats, they know everything, they have the best of everything because they demand it, and because it is a show of our love for them, we enable this behavior. Why don’t we think about our animals in the same way we do about our children. When our children develop bad behavior, we correct them to keep them safe. Whatever direction they are going in, we cannot control forever, eventually we have to let go of their behavior and let them live in whatever dream they are in, even when their dream to us, is a nightmare. But, it is our nightmare not theirs. Their dream is the reality they choose it to be, how they perceive it. We cannot perceive it, EVER, as they do. It is within.

When my father told me years ago that it was all in my head, (I heard it derogatorily) he was absolutely right…it is in my head, and in yours also. Our dreams, our reality, our life, is in our head and only we can control the outcome. No matter how much help and direction we are given by others, we must follow the dream in our head, because dreams do come true…when we make them. The next thing you hear from some people when they hear that is that you cannot reach your dreams without this action, or that action, and even that is true, but the action…is our dream…and the dream…is in our head. It is our own reality no matter what. NO MATTER WHAT! So I choose to do what the voice within tells me to do, to stay happy and balanced in my life, that is the dream I choose. What dream are you living? Does your life suck, are you in a state of poor me, are you living I can’t, I tried, I failed, because if you are just let this run through your head and see where it takes you…I am living my dream. If when you say that you are not happy, then change whatever you are doing and do what makes you happy. I know this is where everyone that is substance abusing, or being a martyr, or blaming others for the way they are living out their dream, says…”I can’t, I won’t, It’s not my fault,” and “you are nuts lady.” well, if I am nuts then I am loving every moment of it because this is my dream…the one I am living today and I am so grateful to be living this dream and planning my new dreams that nothing that comes my way is going to stop me from living it, unless it comes from within. UNLESS IT COMES FROM WITHIN, because “there is no new thing under the sun,” and “you are what you think about.” Be happy in your dream and your life will be happy.

My friend Dave Kenyon shares the most wonderful videos and this one seemed to hit home for me today, ENJOY:

The Four Agreements

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HOW DO YOU EVEN KNOW SCRIPTURE?

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I found myself in a conversation the other evening with my oldest son, quite by surprise, with him quoting scripture to me. Of course my first response after I stopped laughing was, how do you even know scripture?" as he reminded me that he spent 4 years in a Catholic High School. I was still surprised that any of it had rubbed off on him. I spent quite a few years after the end of my first marriage, the loss of both of my parents, and a 6 month old daughter, the end of my second marriage, and the birth of two more children to raise as a single parent rebelling against everything I had every believed about "religion." Not my belief in God, as much as my belief in the written word and how people individually interpreted, and lived it. Funny thing was my response to this scripture verse was, “well, of course nothing has changed.” And flashes of all my years in sales and management flashed before my eyes, as the voice of every motivational speaker I have ever heard, buzzed in my ears.

So many believe the state of the economy, the price of gas, the loss of resources , late mortgage payments, and any other negative turn in their life is the result of the above mentioned, totally ignoring….their own responsibility to make a difference in their life and in turn, the lives of others. The one thing that the difficult and sad things in my life have given me, are the experiences….that I can only consider blessings. I am blessed to have learned so long ago what “nothing under the sun is new,” means. Chaucer knew when he created "Canterbury Tales."

I know at this moment there are people reading this pondering that phrase, but they should try to remember…the scriptures we learned as children and the meaning they have had in our life when we quiet our mind and let the voice within, remind us…what our purpose here is. It has been scientifically proven that you are what you think about and if you are thinking, “my life is so miserable because….yada…yada…then your life “is” so miserable “as long as you think about it that way“, and it will continue to be just that….MISERABLE.

Why, when we know this, do we ever stray away from this mindset? There are hundreds of reasons, but I think the most outstanding one is that we have no idea what our purpose is… and we spend so much of our life looking for it (I’m speaking right here about myself), but if instead of in HINDSIGHT recognizing our place in the world, we can see it in FORESIGHT…we will be in DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE and searching will no longer be a vicious circle.

Everyone and everything that has been haled as great or completed, is predominantly thought of that way, but what is missing in that? The journey is the missing secret to the success of everyone and everything that has been haled as great or completed. Many people have said to me, your life has been so tragic and they are surprised when I chuckle about that and simply dismiss it, but what “they” are missing is that what is so wonderful about my life…is the sorrow and the tragedy…when I have acknowledged it and moved through it to the other side, to see the sun still shining, because “nothing under the sun is new.”

FINALLY, "Beyond The Secret" APRIL 2009

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The release of "Beyond the Secret is sceduled for release in April 2009. Check your local theaters for it's screening times. In the meantime watch this trailer and then focus on the idea of "Beyond The Secret," and imagine that there is actually so much more for us.


Beyond The Secret DVD - Get What You Want For Your Life - The top video clips of the week are here