It seems to me that every day can be our birthday. It just depends on how open we are to letting something new come through.
Let’s pretend the following statement is true: There’s a bundle of joy waiting to be born every minute.
How open are you to letting it through?
Happy Birthday!
John
VIRTUAL MASSAGE
I love birthdays. I love remembering them and celebrating them, especially the ones of people close to me. I will admit that I even get a warm fuzzy when the waiters and waitresses sing happy birthday to a total stranger in a restaurant.
I’m sure I’ve explained it before but birthdays seem to be a day to celebrate the uniqueness you or someone else has developed in this lifetime – your special brand of light.
Am I alone in remembering birthdays? Reminds me of a story . . .
About 20 years ago, my friend, Paul was interviewing 50s-60s teen idol, Bobby Rydell. I forget how it came up but Bobby was talking about a kid he knew in high school who had a knack for remembering his classmates’ birthdays. The amusing part of the story is that’s how this fellow would greet you. He would say, “Hi 9-28” or “Good morning 4-16.” That’s when I knew I wasn’t alone.
Birthdays are a celebration of the first time we were treated to you. They point to a special day where someone fresh and new came into our world. Celebrate that freshness as often as you can, and certainly on your or someone else’s special day.
Today is my youngest son’s birthday. Although, as my mother would have lovingly said, “He’s big and ugly now,” his birthday reminds me of the special light he brought into this world with him. It’s such a pleasure and joy to watch that light shine.
I invite you to investigate a new angle of view about birthdays. Remember to celebrate the special brand of light shone by the birthday boy or girl, no matter what their age. Allow the candles on the cake to remind you of the special brand of light that’s always present within them and you.
Happy Birthday 9-28. My birthday wish for you is that you get to see the same light as I do in you.
All the best,
John
ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING
LOSE WEIGHT & KEEP IT OFF
STOP SMOKING FOREVER
SLEEP THROUGH THE NIGHT EVERY NIGHT
IMPROVE YOUR SELF CONFIDENCE
I LOVE MY BODY
RELAX IN 2 MINUTES
FEEL FOREVER YOUNG
VIRTUAL MASSAGE
There used to be a show on TV called “The Rifleman.” It starred Chuck Conners and Johnny Crawford as a father and son in the old west. Johnny took advantage of his role on the show and launched a brief singing career. One of the songs he released is Cindy’s Birthday. It’s an awful song but it reminds me of a special person – my sister Cindy.
Today is Cindy’s birthday. I called her at work this morning to wish her birthday greetings. Cindy’s a nurse. After giving her grief for working on her birthday, (a mortal sin in my world), I got to thinking how lucky her patients are to have her.
Cindy is the antithesis of a line I remember from a Law & Order episode. A prison guard was describing a despicable inmate who was just murdered. He said, “Throw some dirt on him and pretend he never lived.”
Cindy, on the other hand, is the type of person you are glad is in the world. She brings light to so many people, many in their darkest hour. I hope the candles on her cake remind her of how special she and her light are.
On Cindy’s birthday, I encourage you to celebrate the people who bring light to your life. They are truly special and deserving of your acknowledgement.
Happy Birthday to all the Cindys of the world and a special shout out to my sister, Cindy who’s spreading her Tinkerbelle light to everyone.
All the best,
John
http://cdbaby.com/cd/johnmorgan
Ever hire a magician for a child’s birthday party? He entertains the party participants with his sleight of hand tricks and an entrancing performance. The Oohs and Aahs are everywhere and it’s fun to watch and wonder.
Somewhere along the line, the underlying notion that the birthday show was all illusion with no real magic enters our awareness. This is truly a birthday gift.
The magician called “conditioning” has us focus on the number of candles on the cake while we miss what he’s really doing – pulling the tablecloth over our eyes.
His sleight of hand is that our life is determined by the number of years the candles indicate. The magic seems real for most.
Side Note: This is not a “you’re as young as you feel” lecture. You can get all of that you need by watching a “Juiceman” commercial.
This is more of a shift in perspective so that you can get a glimpse of the part of you that isn’t limited by the form it inhabits.
When we focus on our form, we are paying attention to the temporary light of the candles, rather than the ever present light that shines through us. This is the light that allows us to participate in life no matter if there is a bonfire on our cake. This light has inexhaustible candle power and will shine brightly our entire lives.
Find that light. Stop paying attention to the magician and the illusion. Find the real birthday magic – the one gift that will keep on giving – the light that shines through you. It will illuminate you and those around you and the warmth it provides will keep you cozy your entire life.
I am beginning a new birthday tradition today – putting one candle on my cake. It will remind me of the one light that shines through us all – the light of life.
Happy Birthday!
John
Today is Snuffy’s birthday. Snuffy is our beagle and today he is 4 years old. You don’t even have to be a dog lover to appreciate the specialness of birthdays.
Birthdays are a big deal at our house and I must admit I’m the instigator. My approach to birthdays is that it’s an opportunity to celebrate the uniqueness that you have developed over the years. We all come from the same source material – the one source – yet we all have that snowflake quality about us.
If you aren’t feeling especially special, here is a Hybrid Haiku to focus on:
If you ever get blue
Here’s something to celebrate
God chose YOU to imbue
All the best,
John
P.S. Happy Birthday!
The Grasshopper chimed in during a phone conversation I was having yesterday and he said, “You can get more of what you want if you give them more of what they need.”
Whatever the “wants” and “needs” are, this formula seems to work time and time again.
Our politicians could benefit greatly if they followed this formula more often, and so can you.
You know what you want, so now it’s time to find out what they need and provide it as best you can.
Focus on the needs of others and provide the product, service, or TLC that they need, and watch your wants get satisfied.
The old adage “give a little, get a little” comes to mind. We seem to forget that message when we start pursuing what we want without regard to others. Getting what we want usually involves other people, and knowing and fulfilling what they need needs to come first in order for us to be able to slake our wanting thirst.
Reminds me of a story from the late Dr.Dave Dobson. He taught us that if you’re curious about someone’s age, don’t outright ask them. Offer up your age first and then it’s easier for them to follow suit. Say something like this: “On my next birthday, I’m going to be 55. I’m wondering how many candles will be on your next birthday cake.”
Here’s one of life’s little shortcuts: If you can remember that needs come before wants, what you want will happen much quicker.
All the best,
John
Listen to the recorded version.
Make sure to download a FREE copy of my ebook: INTER RUPTION: The Magic Key To Lasting Change here.
There was snow in the forecast in my area for this past Monday. As a precaution, I lifted the wiper blades on my car so they wouldn’t get snowed under and frozen to the windshield. As it turned out, it didn’t snow and I lowered the blades yesterday. This morning I woke up to unexpected snow with my wiper blades covered over.
I had the right idea, just on the wrong day. It got me curious about what other ideas get implemented either too soon or, more importantly, too late.
I remember when I turned 50. My dad was still alive and called me to wish me “Happy Birthday.” I remember asking him this: “Dad, you were 50 once, what would you have done differently knowing what you know now?” His answer was immediate: “Save more money.”
Hindsight in 2020 is no more useful than it was in any previous year. I am reminded about a technique I learned years ago that we could all use a bit more. It’s called “Future Pacing.” In short, thinking or planning ahead but with one addition – putting yourself in the picture.
Picture yourself in a future scenario that will come about if you stay on the errant path you’re on. Actually see, hear, and feel what it will be like. Then do the opposite: see, hear, and feel what it will be like if you shift gears now. The feeling you get from either can serve as the catalyst to move you forward.
English sales trainer Phil M. Jones has three questions he asks a client he is “future pacing”:
1. Do you believe this time next year that you’ll be in a better situation than you are today?
2. How are you going to feel when you get there? (evoke emotion)
3. What are the consequences of this not working out?
The wrong day is always tomorrow. Don’t believe me, consult the wisdom of Benjamin Franklin.
The most opportune time to envision your future is always now. What you envision and act on now increases your odds of arriving there. Vowing to act tomorrow only creates more yesterdays.
The right idea and the right day is today. Are you going to act on it or let it slip away?
All the best,
John
As I get older, I find myself asking, “How does this movie end?”
The focus is not so much on my ending but, more so, on what will happen with the people I leave behind.
There’s really no way to tell, but it doesn’t keep me from wondering.
How will my children and grandchildren fare? How will my surviving friends and other family members make out? Does the “Law & Order” TV franchise ever end?
I want to leave them something, something other than tangible things. I heard Katie Cassidy the daughter of the late, teen star David Cassidy quote her father’s last words: “So much wasted time.”
She took her dad’s message to heart and vowed to make the most of her time. Her father left her with a guidepost.
I remember when I turned 50. My father called to wish me happy birthday and I asked him a question. I said, “Dad, you’ve already been 50. If you were 50 again, what would you do differently? He didn’t hesitate and replied, ‘save more money.'”
He gave me a great birthday present.
I sure hope I’m acting in an epic movie that goes on for a long time but every movie ends. So what can I leave to those near and dear when I leave the theatre?
I’d like to leave them the gift of response.
So much of our lives are about patterned reactions which become stale over time and stultify life. Nothing new comes to us when we’re in reaction mode, which is almost always.
The gift I want to give to my family and friends is to let them know that they always have the ability to respond rather than react. Just becoming aware of your ability to respond brings more freshness to your life. Acting on that awareness and choosing a response brings a lifetime of options – options that would have remained hidden in the shadows of a reaction.
Each time you see the credits rolling at the end of a movie or TV show, let them serve as a reminder that you’re more than a pat answer. You’re a creator of responses – ones that direct your own version of “It’s A Wonderful Life.”
All the best,
John
Here’s a Grasshopper musing from not too long ago:
“Celebrate even when the skies are cloudy.”
Anyone seeking perpetual blue skies is caught in a marketer’s daydream.
Think of life as a case of clouds forming and clouds dissipating with an occasional period of pure blue sky. Anyone selling blue sky as the norm wants your dollars to keep them warm.
This “temporary blue sky” perspective has nothing to do with glasses being half full or empty. It’s a matter of how reality happens.
Whether you heed the words of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow or spiritual writer Eckhart Tolle, the message is the same. Longfellow notes that “into each life some rain must fall” and Tolle says, “It is the nature of the world of form that nothing stays fixed for very long – and so it starts to fall apart again. Forms dissolve; new forms arise. Watch the clouds. They will teach you about the world of form.”
It seems the imbedded message is: don’t wait to celebrate.
“When the kids are older,” “when I retire,” “when I hit the lottery” are all symptoms of waiting for blue skies.
There is something to celebrate in each moment. We just have to take the time to notice regardless of the metaphorical weather.
To my eyes, celebration seems absent in most peoples’ lives, except for scheduled merriments that show up on a calendar: birthdays, holidays etc. If that’s you, you’re living under a self-imposed cloud or you live in Ithaca, NY (one of the more cloudy spots in the USA).
Take time to celebrate every day. It doesn’t have to be a monumental event. It could be as minor as removing a smudge from a mirror. “Damn that looks good!”
One celebration builds on another and before too long you’re in the habit of celebrating.
If you’re blue, find something to celebrate. It will bring a patch of blue sky to a gray day.
All the best,
John
Here’s a “Blast from the Past” from The Grasshopper:
“Leave Magical Thinking At The Children’s Birthday Party.”
Magical thinking is the brand of pap that suggests all you have to do is “Conceive it and Believe it” to make it happen.
Seems no one got the abacus out and did the arithmetic on the rate of failure that belief system delivers.
I have no quarrel with conceiving and believing. They are great catalysts to start the ball rolling. The problem I have with “magical thinkers” is that’s all they think they have to do. Action is absent from their “abracadabra” ideas.
There are many who believe if you say it often enough or believe it fervently enough that will make it happen. The harsh reality is that’s never enough. I’m reminded of an old blonde joke . . .
God Loves Blondes
A blonde finds herself in serious trouble.
Her business has gone bust and she’s in dire financial straits.
She’s desperate so she decides to ask God for help.
She begins to pray . . . “God, please help me. I’ve lost my business and if I don’t get some money, I’m going to lose my house as well. Please let me win the lottery.”Lottery night comes, and somebody else wins.
She again prays . . .”God, please let me win the lottery! I’ve lost my business, my house and I’m going to lose my car as well.”
Lottery night comes and she still has no luck.
Once again, she prays . . . “My God, why have you forsaken me? I’ve lost my business, my house, and my car. My children are starving.
I don’t often ask You for help, and I’ve always been a good servant to You. PLEASE let me win the lottery just this one time so I can get my life back in order.”
Suddenly there is a blinding flash of light as the heavens open.
The blonde is overwhelmed by the Voice of God, Himself . . . “Sweetheart, work with Me on this…. Buy a ticket.”
Magical Thinking is not gender specific nor isolated to a specific culture. It’s a worldwide epidemic and there is only one cure – Action!
Conceive and believe ‘till your heart’s content but don’t expect any results until you put your magic wand away and go out there and seize the day. That’s the magic formula for making hay.
All the best,
John