Having A Lot Of Money Is Like Having A Lot Of Manure ...

... It Doesn't Smell Any Better The More You Pile It Up!

"There rarely is a conflict between a person’s strengths and the way that person performs. The two are complementary. But there is sometimes a conflict between a person’s values and that same person’s strengths. What one does well — even very well — and successfully may not fit with one’s value system... I, too, many years ago, had to decide between what I was doing well and successfully, and my values. I was doing extremely well as a young investment banker in London in the mid-1930s; it clearly fitted my strengths. Yet I did not see myself making a contribution as an asset manager of any kind. People, I realized, were my values. And I saw no point in being the richest man in the cemetery. I had no money, no other job in a deep Depression, and no prospects. But I quit — and it was the right thing. Values, in other words, are and should be the ultimate test.” –Peter F. Drucker

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." Thomas Edison

"Earning A Living" Guidelines to Abide By: 1) Everything is owned by God, not anything by us; 2) People are more important than things; so use things, not people; 3) Money is always subordinate to good; never let it rival God's foremost place in one's heart.

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have; for He has said "I will never leave you or forsake you"  Hebrews 13:5

Remember, All We Can See Is A Fragment At A Time ...

The Woodcutter's Wisdom
by Max Lucado

Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, for he owned a beautiful white horse. Even the king coveted his treasure. A horse like this had never been seen before—such was its splendor, its majesty, its strength.

People offered fabulous prices for the steed, but the old man always refused. "This horse is not a horse to me," he would tell them. "It is a person. How could you sell a person? He is a friend, not a possession. How could you sell a friend?" The man was poor and the temptation was great. But he never sold the horse.

One morning he found that the horse was not in the stable. All the village came to see him. "You old fool," they scoffed, "we told you that someone would steal your horse. We warned you that you would be robbed. You are so poor. How could you ever hope to protect such a valuable animal? It would have been better to have sold him. You could have gotten whatever price you wanted. No amount would have been too high. Now the horse is gone, and you've been cursed with misfortune."

The old man responded, "Don't speak too quickly. Say only that the horse is not in the stable. That is all we know; the rest is judgment. If I've been cursed or not, how can you know? How can you judge?"

The people contested, "Don't make us out to be fools! We may not be philosophers, but great philosophy is not needed. The simple fact that your horse is gone is a curse."

The old man spoke again. "All I know is that the stable is empty, and the horse is gone. The rest I don't know. Whether it be a curse or a blessing, I can't say. All we can see is a fragment. Who can say what will come next?"

The people of the village laughed. They thought that the man was crazy. They had always thought he was a fool; if he wasn't, he would have sold the horse and lived off the money. But instead, he was a poor woodcutter, an old man still cutting firewood and dragging it out of the forest and selling it. He lived hand to mouth in the misery of poverty. Now he had proven that he was, indeed, a fool.

After fifteen days, the horse returned. He hadn't been stolen; he had run away into the forest. Not only had he returned, he had brought a dozen wild horses with him. Once again the village people gathered around the woodcutter and spoke. "Old man, you were right and we were wrong. What we thought was a curse was a blessing. Please forgive us."

The man responded, "Once again, you go too far. Say only that the horse is back. State only that a dozen horses returned with him, but don't judge. How do you know if this is a blessing or not? You see only a fragment. Unless you know the whole story, how can you judge? You read only one page of a book. Can you judge the whole book? You read only one word of a phrase. Can you understand the entire phrase?

"Life is so vast, yet you judge all of life with one page or one word. All you have is a fragment! Don't say that this is a blessing. No one knows. I am content with what I know. I am not perturbed by what I don't."

"Maybe the old man is right," they said to one another. So they said little. But down deep, they knew he was wrong. They knew it was a blessing. Twelve wild horses had returned with one horse. With a little bit of work, the animals could be broken and trained and sold for much money.

The old man had a son, an only son. The young man began to break the wild horses. After a few days, he fell from one of the horses and broke both legs. Once again the villagers gathered around the old man and cast their judgments.

"You were right," they said. "You proved you were right. The dozen horses were not a blessing. They were a curse. Your only son has broken his legs, and now in your old age you have no one to help you. Now you are poorer than ever."

The old man spoke again. "You people are obsessed with judging. Don't go so far. Say only that my son broke his legs. Who knows if it is a blessing or a curse? No one knows. We only have a fragment. Life comes in fragments."

It so happened that a few weeks later the country engaged in war against a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded, because he was injured. Once again the people gathered around the old man, crying and screaming because their sons had been taken. There was little chance that they would return. The enemy was strong, and the war would be a losing struggle. They would never see their sons again.

"You were right, old man," they wept. "God knows you were right. This proves it. Your son's accident was a blessing. His legs may be broken, but at least he is with you. Our sons are gone forever."

The old man spoke again. "It is impossible to talk with you. You always draw conclusions. No one knows. Say only this: Your sons had to go to war, and mine did not. No one knows if it is a blessing or a curse. No one is wise enough to know. Only God knows."

The old man was right. We only have a fragment. Life's mishaps and horrors are only a page out of a grand book. We must be slow about drawing conclusions. We must reserve judgment on life's storms until we know the whole story.

I don't know where the woodcutter learned his patience. Perhaps from another woodcutter in Galilee. For it was the Carpenter who said it best:

"Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." (Matthew 6:34)

He should know. He is the Author of our story. And he has already written the final chapter.

THE INSPIRATION OF SPIRITUAL INITIATIVE

By Oswald Chambers
All initiative is not inspired. A man may say to you - "Buck up, take your disinclination by the throat, throw it overboard, and walk out into the thing!" That is ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes in and says, in effect, "Buck up," we find that the initiative is inspired.
We all have any number of visions and ideals when we are young, but sooner or later we find that we have no power to make them real. We cannot do the things we long to do, and we are apt to settle down to the visions and ideals as dead, and God has to come and say - "Arise from the dead." When the inspiration of God does come, it comes with such miraculous power that we are able to arise from the dead and do the impossible thing. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life comes after we do the "bucking up." God does not give us overcoming life; He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says - "Arise from the dead," we have to get up; God does not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand - "Stretch forth thy hand," and as soon as the man did so, his hand was healed, but he had to take the initiative. If we will do the overcoming, we shall find we are inspired of God because He gives life immediately.

Sometimes, Just Gotta Make Do With What You Have Left ...

Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City.

If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches. To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly, is a sight. He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he reaches his chair. Then he sits down, slowly, puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play.

By now, the audience is used to this ritual. They sit quietly while he makes his way across the stage to his chair. They remain reverently silent while he undoes the clasps on his legs. They wait until he is ready to play. But this time, something went wrong.

Just as he finished the first few bars, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it snap--it went off like gunfire across the room. There was no mistaking what that sound meant. There was no mistaking what he had to do.

People who were there that night thought to themselves: "We figured that he would have to get up, put on the clasps again, pick up the crutches and limp his way off stage - to either find another violin or else find another string for this one." But he didn't.

Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra began, and he played from where he had left off. And he played with such passion and such power and such purity as they had never heard before.

Of course, everyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. I know that, and you know that, but that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that.

You could see him modulating, changing, recomposing the piece in his head. At one point, it sounded like he was de-tuning the strings to get new sounds from them that they had never made before. When he finished, there was an awesome silence in the room.

And then people rose and cheered. There was an extraordinary outburst of applause from every corner of the auditorium. We were all on our feet, screaming and cheering, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.

He smiled, wiped the sweat from his brow, raised his bow to quiet us, and then he said, not boastfully, but in a quiet, pensive, reverent tone,"You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left."

What a powerful line that is. It has stayed in my mind ever since I heard it. And who knows? Perhaps that is the way of life - not just for artists but for all of us.

Here is a man who has prepared all his life to make music on a violin of four strings, who, all of a sudden, in the middle of a concert, finds himself with only three strings. So he makes music with three strings, and the music he made that night with just three strings was more beautiful, more sacred, more memorable, than any that he had ever made before, when he had four strings.

Our task in this shaky, fast-changing, bewildering world in which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then, when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left.

What A Small World We Live In

I just returned from Fairfield; a semi-small town located in southeast Iowa. I had been invited to go there this past weekend to train many other fellow laborers. We share in a common mission to effectively spread our personally experienced, compassionate message about how ionized, alkaline water can be truly health enabling for everyone. But what a delightful surprise was waiting for me!

When it came time for me to present, I began by sharing with my audience a thumbnail sketch of my story. About how I was initially very skeptical about ionized water, but fortunately remained open-minded. After witnessing what the water was doing for the health of several folks whom I personally knew, I had decided to take a closer look. When it came time for me to briefly mention to my listeners the personal impact that Dr. Ray Kurzweil's article about this water had on me, I heard a voice from the back of the room saying "this man personally knows Dr. Kurzweil". That surprised me, how could someone from this rural area be connected to a computer science "giant" like Dr. Kurzwel? Fortunately for me and everyone else in the audience, my presentation was followed up by this gentleman sitting in the back of the room coming forward - Dr. Jim Van Pelt.

So Dr. Jim, a wiry man in his early 70's, also shared his story with us. It turns out that my friend Phil, who hosted this meeting, first introduced the water to Dr. Jim; but frankly Jim didn't want to have anything to do with the water nor Phil for that matter. So as soon as Phil left, Jim poured the water out. Then Dr. Jim quickly found a website that justified his terse reaction, labelling folks like Phil as "scammers", pushing their quackery "pseudo-science" on unsuspecting others.

Thinking that this was all behind him, several months later Jim was surprised to greet Dennis at his home's front door. Dennis had something he wanted to share with Jim - yeah, you guess right, this water! But Dennis' attractive "genuineness" caught Jim and his wife's attention. Dennis shared with them his story, about how he was losing his battle with cancer until, after several rebuffs, he consented to try Phil's water and amazingly witnessed his body positively respond and restore itself to health. So this time when Dennis shared water with Jim, he did not pour it out because his wife insisted on trying it herself. But Dr. Jim was still reluctant to drink it himself.

After a few weeks went by, Jim's wife was very much enjoying the affects the water was having on her health. Dennis faithfully kept supplying her with fresh water twice weekly. Dr. Jim could not deny what was happening to his wife, so he went back to the internet to see if he could understand more about this water. Just like me, although quite skeptical, he opened his mind just enough to take a second look. And also just like me, he came across this very same Dr. Ray Kurzweil's article touting the legitimacy of the science behind this water. But, unlike me, Dr. Jim had an ace up his sleeve that he could play.

For you see, Dr. Jim personally knew Dr. Ray. In fact, Dr. Jim was Ray's first boss and mentor! Can you believe that? As a freshly minted PHD from MIT, Dr. Ray came to work at the National Science Foundation, where Dr. Jim, a dual PHD himself, was a managing director. Dr. Jim was launching a new research study at that time, exploring how computer technology could be harnessed to positively impact the deaf. Finding Dr. Ray both eager and available to join his team, their lifetime friendship and co-admiration was birthed.

So Dr. Jim picked up his phone and called Dr. Ray. "So this water is legitimate?" Jim asked. "Yes Jim, the science behind it is both sound and verifiable. I have personally verified all of it's properties, including it's molecular restructured property (micro-clustering) with an electron microscope. But Jim I know you well. Just trying and physically experiencing the benefits of this water for yourself will not fully satisfy your intellectually curiosity; so here are some scientific studies you can study".

Dr. Jim then proceeded to tell us how he joined his wife in drinking the water. Not only that, but how he then joined all of us over a year ago in "sharing" this water with others. Wow! At the conclusion of his talk, after praising what this water can do for everyone's health, he declared while waving his arms over his head and with a big grin on his face, that he felt 50 years old once again!

I must admit, this unexpected encounter was very refreshing for me. For you see, even veterans like myself in our quest to share the message about this water to everyone around us, get weary at times of others rolling their eyes at us upon hearing our message. But now having the image of Dr. Jim waving his arms in glee permanently imprinted in my mind along with so many experiences I have accumulated these past four years, gives me more fuel to press on in this mission to let others know how vital water is to our heath and that not all waters are created equal! I thank my God, my Provider for this encouraging "gift" from above.

Dr. Ray Kurzweil is one of the world’s leading inventors, thinkers, and futurists. He’s been awarded 19 honorary doctorates, honored by 3 US Presidents and is recipient of many of the nations highest awards for excellence. He has been called “the restless genius” by the Wall Street Journal and “the ultimate thinking machine” by Forbes magazine and PBS included him as one of 16 “revolutionaries who made America,” along with other inventors of the past two centuries. Time magazine writes, “Kurzweil’s eclectic career and propensity of combining science with practical—often humanitarian—applications have inspired comparisons with Thomas Edison”. Among Kurzweil’s many honors, he is the recipient of the $500,000 MIT-Lemelson Prize, the world’s largest for innovation. In 1999, he received the National Medal of Technology, the nation’s highest honor in technology, from President Clinton in a White House ceremony. And in 2002, he was inducted into the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame, established by the US Patent Office. Author of several books Dr. Kurzweil second book in 1993, The 10% Solution for a Healthy Life, How to Eliminate Virtually All Risk of Heart Disease and Cancer, was published by Crown Publishers. The book stemmed from Ray’s successfully curing himself of type II Diabetes through a nutritional program he had researched himself.

A Prayer For When Life Gets Heavy

Heavenly Father, I release to You the burdens that I have been carrying,

burdens that You never intended for me to carry.

I cast all my cares upon You—all my worries, all my fears.

You have told me not be anxious about anything,

but rather to bring everything to You in prayer with thankfulness.

Father, calm my restless spirit, quiet my anxious heart,

still my troubling thoughts with the assurance that You are in control.

I let go of my grip upon the things I have been hanging onto,

with opened hands I come to You.

I release to Your will all that I am trying to manipulate;
I release to Your authority all that I am trying to control;

I release to Your timing all that I have been striving to make happen.

I thank You for Your promise to sustain me, preserve me,

and guard all that I have entrusted to Your keeping.
Protect my heart and mind with Your peace,

the peace that passes all understanding.
Father, may Your will be done in my life, in Your time, and in Your way.

Enthusiasm ~ The "Special Sauce" For Living Life Abundantly!

Just finished reading Norman Vincent Peale's classic book "Enthusiasm Makes The Difference".

If you haven't read this book or its been a while since you did, do yourself a favor - read it soon! I believe you will be blessed and encouraged by it as I was. This book features great stories about real, enthusiastic people overcoming life's challenges. And Peale makes a compelling case for everyone lacking enthusiasm for life, for their work, etc.; that they can find and grow enthusiasm within themselves through simple, daily physical and mental exercises, such as meditating on God's word; thinking and speaking positive, affirming thoughts and words to others and one's self; brisk walking to exercise and clear out one's mind; focusing on other's welfare instead of excessively on one's own interest; starting each day asking for and expecting God's direction & favor, etc.; ending each day prayerfully reflecting on that day's activities with gratitude and repentance, leaving tomorrow's problems in His hands until then.

According to Peale enthusiasm is no pollyannish, sweet, fortuitous concept. Instead, it is a rugged, mental attitude that is hard to achieve, difficult to maintain, but so very powerful when exhibited 24-7. The word "enthusiasm" comes from the Greek word enthos, meaning "God in you, full of God". So to be enthusiastic means that one is actually living out life by:

~ dreaming God's dreams for oneself;

~ envisioning & pursuing God's plans, one's life's purpose;

~ harnessing God's wisdom, courage, hope & faith to overcome life's obstacles;

~ relying upon God's strength to persevere, stay the course;

~ finding God's peace & rest to rise above the stresses of life;

~ receiving God's blessings of achieving success and fulfillment of one's needs;

~ returning God's gift of gratitude back to Him with praise and thanksgiving; and

~ living and loving life abundantly through and in Him.

"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10:10

Success Is Just A Thought Away

Here's something we can all agree upon ~ now days the word "derivative" has most definitely taken on a very negative connotation. But I say that's not fair! After all, mankind has been "deriving" since the days of Adam & Eve by occasionally having a transformational thought; forming an idea about how to turn (evolve) something into something else thereby creating even greater worth.

For example, starting with God's personally created (i.e. derived) grape (Genesis 1 - which He thought and spoke into existence), an idea was later formed by man to turn that grape into grape juice, then into fermented wine, then into a vineyard business operation, and ultimately into a publicly-traded wine production & distribution company. Each derivation improved upon the overall value of what the grape offered for mankind's enjoyment. So just as God thought into creation our universe's raw materials, man in His created image can envision something new (e.g., products, services, systems, etc) by transforming from what already exists.

So the next time you feel "lacking", just stop and think - you're just a thought away from finding your success. The key is to rely on what He has already given you ~ an ability to ask for His blessing and then think and act yourself into a "state of plenty". He truly can give you that transforming idea to act upon in lieu of looking to others like employers and government officials to find your success. Just confidently ask and be expectantly ready to recieve!

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO ACHIEVE 100%???

"Let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us, confirming the work that we do. Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!" (Ps. 90:17)

CAUTION: One of the biggest threats to our faith in God is the idea that He is sure to lead us to success.

A Coincidence Is God Just Remaining Anonymous

Early this past week, I found myself asking my Father in Heaven to bring me another Merv, a business builder eager to go building with me as their partner. Why? Because I'm feeling ready to pour myself into such a new partnership. If you do not know about Merv yet, I told his story earlier in a previous post (Aug 18, 2009); about how he was an incredible gift to me as I became for him, perfectly orchestrated from on High!

A few days later, I learned about how one can search Twitter for tweets mentioning a specific word or phrase originating from within a specified mileage radius from where I live. But at that time, I did not attempt to try out what I just learned. Instead, it was the next day that I found myself thinking that I should search for the word "water", which I immediately did and discovered Greg.

It turns out, Greg who lives about 45 minutes from me, tweeted a few minutes before my search took place: "Drinking Plenty Of Water & Good Deep Breathing Will Give You Better Health, Concentration, & Confidence. It's Not Rocket Science!!" So here I go (as a complete stranger to Greg) taking the plunge and tweeting him back: "Especially when its the "right" water" to which he fortunately replied: "Ah yes! Good Water Is Essential! What Kind Of Water Do You Like?" So I'm now thinking "Thank you Lord, is this You orchestrating another Divine appointment for me? Naturally, I returned Greg's latest tweeted question with my tweeted answer "Alkaline, ionized water loaded with anti-oxidants". "So where do I find this water?" he tweets me back, giving me the opportunity to direct him to my "info" website and express my willingness to freely share my water with him.

Not sure where this will end up. Perhaps Greg is the answer to my prayer. I'm expectantly hoping he finds time this weekend to look over what I sent him and take me up on my offer soon. In the meantime, I found his website; learning that he's a real estate investor, really into health and having a positive outlook on life. When I noticed his Chuck Swindoll quote about "Attitude", I thought to myself that he might really be someone I could easily relate to.

It's really all about enjoying the journey when we go about doing this "work-stuff" we have been called to do. Isn't it? It's sooo much more enjoyable when we go about it like being on a treasure hunt, looking for God's special nuggets just for us to find; knowing that there are really no such things as coincidences when we have our eyes on and hopes in Him.

PS: It seemed so easy finding Greg's original tweet, so naturally I'm thinking there must be many more just like his to find. I'm so greedy sometimes! But to my surprise, nada. I mean ZILCH; nothing 24 hours prior to Greg's tweet, nor any since then (past 48 hours) which would be appropriate for me to respond to. I guess I really shouldn't be surprised by this discovery. Realizing now that it looks like God's fingerprints are all over this one-of-a-kind tweeted nugget, hidden so only I would find; just like a mother hiding an Easter egg and then carefully directing her child to gleefully discover.

"I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health." John 3:2

Triumph Over Tribulation

"God is able to make grace abound toward you, so that you may always have an abundance of His grace for every good work" ~2 Corinthians 9:8

Just finished listening to Keith's amazing testimony.

You just got to take time to also listen to this incredible story of redemption, of persevering in the most trying of circumstances; about Keith launching his severely curtailed marketing business activities against all odds, yet once again proving that our God's love for us has no limits and that there really are "no excuses" for us to just give in or give up! All we have to do, just like Keith did, is to turn back to Him by giving it all to Him before giving it our "all" through Him.

[You may encounter a brief startup delay as the podcast is downloaded]

When Life Gives You 100 Reasons To Cry ...

A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.

Then a man came walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words. Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were going for the boy. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"

The man answered, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way. I wrote "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it."

Now both signs told others that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second one told others that they were so fortunate that they were not blind. Should we really be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

So the moral of this story is ...

... whenever life gives you a 100 reasons to cry,

remind yourself that you have 1000 other reasons to smile!

Footnote: This story's author is unknown.

We're Just Wired To NEED A Constant Reminder ...

.. to just stay humble, honoring God rather than ourselves in all we do, including how we go about conducting our daily business activities.

Let me suggest you seriously consider contemplating a God-honoring Business Mission Statement like I have done recently for myself. Write it down and place it anywhere and everywhere to grab your constant attention (e.g., your bathroom mirror, your computer's desktop wallpaper, your car's dashboard, etc.).

Here's my Mission Statement:

"Enjoying my journey loving my Lord by serving others, persevering with gratitude; holding expectations loosely, while making needs known to my trusted heavenly Father through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior."

I really need to read and meditate on this statement throughout every day; otherwise, I'm prone to:

~ going alone, forgetting Who is really in charge;

~ being self-centered in both my thoughts and actions, not serving others;

~ taking sole credit for my successes, getting easily discouraged by my failures;

~ focusing too much on gaining the "prize" over and over again; while ...

~ missing out on enjoying my journey day by day.

Proverbs 3:9-10 implores us to honor God with one's wealth. So why not extrapolate this injunction by also honoring God with one's wealth producing activities? But even if extrapolating scripture is not your thing, then I think Proverbs 16:3 "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed" settles this for us. Proverbs 16:3

So how about it? If without a Mission Statement like I was, are you ready to get contemplating and meditating and living out your own personalized God-inspired and honoring Mission Statement? I hope so ...

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

The Difference Maker Is ...

Your ATTITUDE

"The last of the human freedoms is to choose your attitude in any given set of circumstances." ~Victor Frankl

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes." ~William James

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes."
~Chuck Swindoll

Talent Alone Cannot Guarantee Greatness...

Reinforcing that there is no such thing as "a-free-lunch" when it comes to achieving success, there is vast evidence that even the most accomplished people need around ten years of hard work before becoming world-class, a pattern so well established researchers call it the ten-year rule.

Read this awesome article "What it takes to be great" by Geoffrey Colvin

"Plan Purposefully ~ Prepare Prayerfully ~

Proceed Positively ~ Pursue Persistently"

William A. Howard's Formula for Successful Living

Sometimes ...

... just an extra degree of effort can make all the difference in the world.

"The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way." -Robert Kiyosaki

God uses small things to do BIG stuff ...

We can do no great things; only small things with great love" ... Mother Theresa.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to travel about 80 miles north to meet and share with other fellow "water sharers". It was a beautiful late summer morning when Cathi and I made that trip. Upon arrival, we immediately met our hostess Nanci and another lady who was quite excited to share her testimony with both us and the meeting's other attendees. This lady told us about her life-threatening health challenges she had suffered from over the past several years; about her recurring bouts of cancer which progressively got worse and worse until she found herself reaching the point of "no hope". But then this past spring, she was introduced to my friend Nanci who generously shared hope in the form of ionized water with her. And now fast-forwarding to this beautiful morning, she was telling us about how Nanci's small act of kindness turned into a BIG "no more cancer" victory for her body! Simply amazing!

While driving home after our meeting, I found myself reflecting about that lady's amazing testimony. It was then I realized something very personal, very humbling. I looked over to Cathi, saying "Do you realize that had we not decided 3 years ago to buy our ionizer and freely share our water with others, then most likely that lady we met this morning would have never been blessed with her BIG victory." {FYI: we shared with Martha, who shared with Ted & Merrie, who shared with Rocky and Karen, who then shared with Nanci} For me, this humbling realization was once again a dramatic proof-positive reminder about how our "heavenly anointed" action which at the time Cathi and I took seemed quite "isolated, small" yet by now has blossomed into a very large network of like-minded compassionate "sharers"; and even more incredibly how our Lord is continually blessing our team's collective "human-based marketing efforts" for His glory, to accomplish His BIG purposes HIS WAY!

"When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others." ... an old Chinese Proverb

I Hate Selling ....

Okay, I admit it. I hate selling. That's why I don't do it. But let me further clarify this for you. I don't sell the "worldy-way". So what does that mean you might ask? For me, it's all about someone being pushy, manipulative, selfish, and even at times deceitful so that they can chalk up their "win" at someone else's expense. I bet you have been on the receiving end of this kind of selling numerous times, right? Pretty distasteful, wasn't it?

For me, selling does not have to be done that way. First, find something that you can be passionate about; something you absolutely believe in and know without any doubt whatsoever that others can also truly benefit from. Then, your mission (i.e., selling) is to simply get others to also come to believe in and benefit from what you have for them; but always carried out in a thoughtful, compassionate way. Think of this kind of compassionate selling as being synonymous with "passionate caring", always triumphing over any "fear of rejection" you might harbor, empowering you to engage even with complete strangers, and knowing that only until someone realizes you really care for them will they be open to explore what you have for them.

Also very, very important, when pursuing your mission of selling, don't go it alone! Call on our Lord; asking that His favor go before you in the form of divine appointments, other's open-minded willingness, etc. And finally, don't be motivated by "living the good life"; instead aspire to "be the good life" for anyone He brings to you. This is a style of selling that resonates with me. In fact, now in my late 50's, I can visualize myself doing this kind of "selling" for another 25 years, just like my 85-year old friend and fellow teammate Rocky is doing along side me today!

"You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands has produced this wealth for me.' But remember the Lord our God, for it is He that gives you the ability to produce wealth." Deuteronomy 8:17-18

Artwork by my gifted "love of my life" Cathi.
     "Father God, I ask for a divine appointment from You today and that I have eyes to see it, ears to hear it, an open mind to grasp it, courage to act on it, and graditude in my heart to receive it; whether it be helping others, meeting someone new or reconnecting with another." 

Check Out This Book ....

Dr. Mu Shik Jhon’s "The Water Puzzle and the Hexagonal Key" is a must read if water is at all important to you. Dr. Jhon can make a significant contribution to your overall knowledge of water. His academic and professional credentials are impressive. He is an expert in the field of statistical liquid mechanics and in his book you will find comprehensive information on hexagonally-structured (i.e., ionized, reduced, restructured, alkaline) water which he considers to be the “water of life.” His research has identified this water as the preferred biological choice and his “Molecular Water Environment Theory” states that "replenishing the Hexagonal Water in our bodies can increase vitality, slow the aging process and prevent disease."

Having studied water for more than 40 years, Dr. Jhon believes that water awareness is in its infancy. He says that if we truly understood “its mysteries” we would be more aggressive in preserving its quality. Because, after all, the total amount of water on the earth is finite. Between the earth and the atmosphere, water on the planet has been calculated to be between 1.3 and 1.4 billion km and that total volume never changes. It only recycles.

Even A So-So Sales Guy Can ... (Part II)

[If you haven't done so already, I suggest that you first read my previous blog entry before reading this one.]

About 5 months into launching my water business/ministry, I decided to take a crack at conducting a direct mail advertising campaign. Using an attractive tri-fold 4-color glossy brochure, I mailed it to a little over 900 recipients who lived nearby, at a cost of about $1,300. I had surmised that these recipients were probably preventive health-oriented people since I had found them listed in an online database of people who consumed a high-end line of dietary supplements. So my hope was this this somewhat targeted campaign would do even better that the typical 1% response rate; that I would hopefully get 25 responses and 10 resulting sales, netting me around $10,000.

But in the final analysis, I only received about 10 responses, the latest occurring over 9 months following the campaign mailing date. But fortunately, 6 out of these 10 responses ended up purchasing their water ionizers. So my costs were covered and I even made about $5,000 from those 6 direct sales. Not what I had hoped for, but nevertheless satisfying. Yet incredibly fortunate for me (and for countless others as you will soon discover), the impact of my advertising campaign adventure didn't stop there.

For you see one of those people responding to my mailing was Merv. When he called me, he told me that my brochure really sparked his interest, particularly the part about "water loaded with antioxidants". But before too long into our conversation, he asked me how I got his name in the first place. So I told him I found him listed in a company's online database of their supplement product consumers. Merv's response was "I don't know who that company is?" leaving me speechless. After a several-second awkward pause during our phone conversation, Merv said "I know how you found me. Jesus Christ led you to me!" Needless to say, I was stunned; sensing that this was truly the beginning of a "divine appointment" arranged for both Merv and myself.

Fast forwarding to today (3 years later), Merv not only purchased his ionizer but with my training and encouragement and his energy, focus and personal contacts, his one sale has turned into over 1,000+ sales (and still growing!) which we have both financially and emotionally benefited from. Plus the physical lives of thousands of others have been positively impacted so far by our collective efforts. Just an incredible blessing from our Lord for both of us as well as for all of them!

It is so very true that when we "give freely, then we in turn will be blessed in good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over." Luke 6:38. Because we serve a God that "gives good gifts to those who ask Him!" Matthew 7:11

Artwork by my gifted "love of my life" Cathi.

Even A So-So Sales Guy Can Be Abundately Blessed!

If you have already been following my blog, you would know by now that I'm a so-so sales guy. I have and continue to break just about every Sales 101 rule in the book. I do this intentionally because I really want to solely rely on my Lord's grace, on His blessings, not on my own brute self-efforts and worldly sales techniques. For example, I never ask for a sale, I never fire-hose "benefits of my water" at prospects, etc. But what I do try to do is treat my prospects like I would want to be treated; being truly appreciative and respectful of other's opinions, reservations, timing, constraints, etc. as well as wait on His favor, His timing, honoring His injunction to "love thy neighbor as thyself" found throughout His Word.

Please don't misunderstand me, what I'm not saying is that I just sit around twiddling my fingers waiting for His blessings to be poured out upon my business. Instead, I stay busy, continually praying for His favor to go before me as I go about finding others interested in knowing about my water, then freely sharing my water with them and teaching them as I share. And of course, I also keep very busy helping others on my sales team "learn the business" and assisting them with their initial marketing efforts.

From one perspective, my personal experience of averaging 1.25 sale referrals per month during my initial 3 years is not too bad considering I'm wired as an analytical, introverted sort of guy. But from another perspective, lets say I was employed by someone as their sales guy, I would have probably been broke by now and/or lost my job a long time ago.

But fortunately for me, the referral compensation plan I have in place with my manufacturer acting as their sales rep compensates me in two ways: I earn commissions for my own sales referrals and well as earning overrides on the sales of my fellow-teammates whom I have recruited and trained over time. It's this second means of being compensated that has really resulted in the financial windfall I have enjoyed so far; truly allowing me to use my "real" giftings (administration, software development skills, teaching others) to achieve financial success in my business endeavors.

Stay tuned; in my next blog entry I going to tell you the story about my marketing campaign I conducted during the Spring of 2007. I believe this story will really shine the spotlight on the financial leverage (i.e., blessings) one can experience by attracting and training others who are like-minded, but not necessarily like-gifted. Just as it is said in Ecclesiates 4:9-10: "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work. If one falls down, his friend (e.g., fellow-laborer) can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!"