Ever get a great idea out of the blue? Did you remember to say, “Thank you”?

I was reminded of this strategy the other day when my grandson asked me to listen to a piece of music he created. He said it just came to him from nowhere.

After listening to his creation, I told him that one of my teachers, Dr. Dave Dobson recommended that when unexpected gifts like that arrived, we were to thank the part of us that sent that gift along. Dave said saying “thank you” was a way of expressing appreciation and also a way of alerting that part of our mind to “keep those cards and letters coming.”

My grandson liked that idea and I thought you would too.

The practice is polite and procreative at the same time.

Does the practice work? I can’t tell you that it’s true; all I can say is this: I don’t always remember to say “thank you” but when I do, more gifts come to me from out of the blue.

All the best,

John

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The Grasshopper delivered this about a week ago: “Clues need to be interpreted, facts don’t.”

It seems that facts need to be assembled to get to a workable solution, but clues keep us clueless until they lead us to facts.

The difficulty, as I see it, is that we jump the gun by attempting to solve situations with clues before finding or verifying the facts. It’s called conjecture or, more to the point, hallucinating.

How often do we pretend to know about something without having the facts? Have you ever judged a book by its cover? You have pretended to know all the facts by just glancing at the clues.

If you only read the headlines, you’ll be topical but lack depth.

President Ronald Reagan left us with this memorable quote: “Trust but verify.”

Trust your instincts but validate their veracity before claiming to have the answer.

When you discover a tempting clue, don’t start writing you thesis; start asking questions. Dig deeper before claiming to have depth and breadth.

I love finding clues; they spur me on to solve the puzzle. Where we come up short, is claiming to know how the whole puzzle is put together when we only have a piece of blue sky.

“Get a clue” is a pejorative statement we may make to someone who’s oblivious to something, but we remain in the dark as well if we don’t take the next step and find the facts.

If the only clue you take from this is to find the facts, you been promoted to junior detective and you will solve more puzzles.

All the best,

John

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There is no bigger form of fear than feeling helpless. Helplessness neuters options and smothers hope leaving us with just unadulterated fear.

The good news is that helplessness too often has been misidentified.

When we mistakenly adjudge ourselves as being helpless, we give away any personal power we can muster to provide help.

How do we know we have misidentified helplessness? – When we offer a litany of excuses for not acting. Genuine helplessness doesn’t need an excuse.

Another way to know that we have manufactured helplessness is when we are aware that many others, in very similar circumstances, have successfully acted.

“Acting” and “Action” are the operative words.

Acting helpless is what we do when we know something can be done but we claim we can’t do it. Taking action is the cure for manufactured helplessness.

Action settles fear.

It’s only when action is not an option that helplessness is real.

Feeling helpless? Ask yourself this: Have others in the same circumstances successfully acted? If the answer is “yes,” you are acting helpless if you don’t act.

The antidote for the poison of acting helpless is taking action. You don’t have to climb the mountain in a day. You can take steps that take you to the foothills first and then work your way up.

You can certainly choose not to act in actionable circumstances, but you can no longer claim you are helpless.

This is more than semantics. Acting helpless gets the same result as genuine helplessness – Fear. Recognize that you have given undue power to the word “helpless” when you misuse it, and that you needlessly suffer.

Feeling helpless? If there is an action you can begin, begin it.

Again, action is the antidote for acting helpless. It removes manufactured fear and presents options to act on.

All the best,

John

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