Can we talk?
I'm Meg Davis & I have the best job in the world! I get to play in streams, hike in the woods & gaze out over gorgeous mountain vistas, while helping people from all over the world find the perfect mountain getaway. If you are looking for a place to take a breath, live a real life with soft breezes, mild winters & sensuous surroundings... come play in the mountains!!
I am going to use this page to give you some of my thoughts, my philosophy, and some humor! From time to time I will update this page so be sure to check it often.

The Pole-Dancing Bear! You have to see this:

FORGET ABOUT IT!!! Nothing new for many of us but a well timed reminder of how we should treat people all of the time.

The author is Dan Sullivan, of Strategic Coach.
In turbulent times, there are certain ways of thinking that work better than others:

1. Forget about yourself, focus on others.
Uncertainty can drive people into themselves, making them feel isolated and helpless. The best strategy here is to go in the opposite direction, expanding your connection with others Ñ focusing on helping them transform their negatives into positives. The more you contribute in this fashion, the less you will need to worry about your own situation. You will become a source of confidence for everyone else.

2. Forget about your commodity, focus on your relationships.
In uncertain times, people become frightened about the viability of their "commodities" Ñ the things they sell and the jobs they hold. A more strategic response here is to disregard your own commodity and focus on deepening the power and possibility of all your relationships Ñ with family, friends, team members, suppliers, clients, customers, and prospects. Every time you strengthen a relationship, the viability of your commodity will increase.
A strategic response is to take advantage of every resource that is immediately available in order to achieve as many small results and make as much daily progress as possible.

3. Forget about the sale, focus on creating value.
Most people don't like being sold at the best of times. When the future is less certain, they turn off, hang up, and slam shut. But what people want at all times is value creation Ñ that is, solutions that help them eliminate their dangers, capture their opportunities, and reinforce their strengths. When you focus on providing these three solutions, the sales will naturally follow.

4. Forget about your losses, focus on your opportunities.
Things you had and may have taken for granted sometimes disappear. Some people never get over this. They keep trying to replay their old games. A better strategy is to start an entirely new game Ñ using new ideas, new energies, new tools, and new resources. As the world changes, opportunities suddenly become available to achieve far more than you ever did in the past.

5. Forget about your difficulties, focus on your progress.
Because of some changes, things may not be as easy as they once were. New difficulties can either defeat you or reveal new strengths. Your body's muscles always get stronger from working against resistance. The same is true for the "muscles" in your mind, your spirit, and your character. Treat this whole period of challenge as a time when you can make your greatest progress as a human being.

6. Forget about the "future," focus on today.
The "future" is an abstraction. It doesn't exist except as an idea. The only future that has any reality is the one that you continually create for yourself through each day's contributions, achievements, and results. This is an excellent time to ignore all those experts who never saw the present circumstances coming. Focus on what you can do over the course of each 24 hours, and you'll be the only expert on the future you'll ever need.

7. Forget about who you were, focus on who you can be.
Many people define themselves by external circumstances. When these abruptly or unexpectedly change, they don't know who they are, so they keep trying to be who they used to be. From now on, take your cues from the inside Ñ from your dreams, ideals, values, and operating principles. These need never change, regardless of the circumstances. Take advantage of external confusion to become self-directed, self-managed, and self-motivated.

8. Forget about events, focus on your responses.
When things are going well, many people think they are actually in control of events. That's why they feel so defeated and depressed when things turn bad. They think they've lost some fundamental ability. The most consistently successful people in the world know they can't control events Ñ but continually work toward greater control over their creative responses to events. Any period when things are uncertain is an excellent time to focus all of your attention and energies on being creatively responsive to all of the unpredictable events that lie ahead.

9. Forget about what's missing, focus on what's available.
When things change for the worse, many desirable resources are inevitably missing Ñ including information, knowledge, tools, systems, personnel, and capabilities. These deficiencies can paralyze many people, who believe they can't make decisions and take action. A strategic response is to take advantage of every resource that is immediately available in order to achieve as many small results and make as much daily progress as possible. Work with every resource and opportunity at hand, and your confidence will continually grow.

10. Forget about your complaints, focus on your gratitude.
When times get tough, everyone has to make a fundamental decision: to complain or to be grateful. In an environment where negative sentiment is rampant, the consequences of this decision are much greater. Complaining only attracts negative thoughts and people. Gratitude, on the other hand, creates the opportunity for the best thinking, actions, and results to emerge. Focus on everything that you are grateful for, communicate this, and open yourself each day to the best possible consequences.

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To Realize The Value...

To realize the value of ten years:
Ask a newly divorced couple.

To realize the value of four years:
Ask a graduate.

To realize the value of one year:
Ask a student who has failed a final exam.

To realize the value of nine months:
Ask a mother who gave birth to a stillborn.

To realize the value of one month:
Ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby.

To realize the value of one week:
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize the value of one hour:
Ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.

To realize the value of one minute:
Ask a person who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize the value of one second:
Ask a person who has survived an accident.

To realize the value of one millisecond:
Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics.

To realize the value of a friend:
Lose one.

Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have. You will treasure It even more when you can share it with someone special.

Question: What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it's all about?

If Tomorrow Never Comes...

(A good friend sent this to me and I thought I would pass it along. A nice reminder to never leave anything unsaid.)

If Tomorrow Never Comes.
If I knew it would be the last time
That I'd see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in tighter
and pray Lthe Lord, your soul to keep.

If I knew it would be the last time
that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss
and call you back for one more.

If I knew it would be the last time
I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise,
I would video tape each action and word,
so I could play them back day after day.

If I knew it would be the last time,
I could spare an extra minute or two
to stop and say love you, I would.
Instead of assuming you would KNOW I do.

If I knew it would be the last time
I would be there to share your day,
well, I'm sure you'll have so many more
so I can let just this one slip away.
For surely there's always tomorrow
to make up for an oversight, and we always get a second chance to make up
for an mistake.

There will always be another day
to say our," I love you's,"
And certainly there's another chance
to say our, "Anything I can do's?"

But just in case I might be wrong,
and today is all I get. I'd like to say how much I love you and I hope
we never forget.
Tomorrow is not promised to anyone,
young or old alike.

And today may be the last chance
you oet to hold your loved one tight.
So if you're waiting for tomorrow,
why not do it today?
For if tomorrow never comes,
you'll surely regret the day,
That you didn't take that extra time
for a smile, a hug, or a kiss
and you were too busy to grant someone,
what turned out to be their one last wish.

So always hold them dear.
Take time to say "I'm sorry", "Please forgive
me", "Thank you", or "It's okay".
And if tomorrow never comes, you'll have no regrets about today.

Sometimes, Children Say It Best!

(The following was written by Danny Dutton, age 8, from Chula Vista, Califomia for his third grade homework assignment to "Explain God.")

EXPLAIN GOD
"One of God's main Jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die so there will be enough people to take care of things here on earth. He doesn't make grown-ups. Just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way, He doesn't have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk, He can just leave that to mothers and fathers. God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at other times besides bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV on account of this. Since He hears everything, not only prayers, there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless he has thought of a way to turn it off. God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere, which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting His time by going over your parent's head asking for something they said you couldn't have. Atheists are people who don"t believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church. Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified Him. But He was good and kind like His Father and He told His Father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K. His Dad (God) appreciated everything that he had done and all His hard work on earth so He told Him He didn't have to go out on the road anymore He could stay in Heaven. So He did. And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important, of course. You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to hear you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the time. You should always go to Church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God. Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun, like going to the beach. This is wrong! And besides, the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway. If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared in the dark or when you can't swim very good and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids. But you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases. And that's why I believe in God."

Tools To Live By

Tool: (noun) An Instrument that is used to help complete or finish a task; an implement. That which helps to make the completion of work easier.

There are stories of martial artists of bygone ages that could use the mere power of their kiai (spirit shout) to knock a bird out of the sky or blast a man off of his feet! These were men of true spirit and integrity and congruence. Is it possible that one could develop and hone the strength of one's words so powerfully, that the vibration of one's word alone, could cause massive results in our external world without any physical action on the part of the warrior? Absolutely. Let me bring this discussion more down to earth. Are you a man or woman of your word? Are you really? When you say something is going to be done, or you're going to get something done, or you're going to do it, do you follow through, every time? Can people count on the fact that when you say you are going to be there, or do something, without a doubt, you do?

You see, each time you say that something is going to get done and, for whatever the reason, it doesn't happen, you have taken a tiny piece of your own personal power away. You have chipped away a small part of your warrior heart. This is an age of a lack of integrity and worthless words? When you don't follow through or you make excuses, or wake promises you can't or don't keep, subtly, you have taught other people, and more important, taught your own heart that when you say something is true, it is not really the truth!

What if each time you made a new year's resolution, or a goal, or even a little promise you later forgot about, or let it slip into unawareness as many of us do, you were actually watering down the power of your spoken words??? And then when day after day, month after month, year after year of uttering words that meant nothing to others or yourself, or using words haphazardly, you finally decided that you were really, honestly, "this time it's for real, I swear!" going to accomplish a goal for yourself. How hard would it be to believe in your goal once you spoke it to others? How much support and belief would you get from others after so much cheap talk? How powerful would your word be in helping you accomplish your goal? Now let's approach this from another perspective. What if you began to treat your words like a tool, one that you could dull and chip and bend, or one that you could hone and polish to a razor sharp edge? What if from now on, each time you said you were going to be somewhere, do something or accomplish something, you absolutely made sure, each and every time, that you did make it happen, no matter what? no excuses, no could-a should-a. would-a? What if you started small, and built the power of your word to both to yourself and to others keeping just little promises first, and following through on small tasks you set for yourself and gradually built your momentum? As your word gathered more and more credibility both with yourself and the people around you, and you began to demand the same integrity from the people around you, do you think you could begin to make greater and greater results happen in your life with less and less physical action? What if your word was so powerful, that when you uttered a goal for your school, or yourself, everyone, including you, already "knew" that it was going to happen? and it did, because your words are only the truth?!

This is the power of walking your talk, or integrity.

You say what you do, and you do what you say.