In my last post I included a quote from John Assaraf as part of a call for you to ask yourself if you are living or just existing. Since that post I learned that Assaraf and other teachers featured in The Secret have been associated with scams as people say that their claims and ideas did not produce what was promised and expected. Assaraf has built his brand on the concept of “mind retraining” and his company offers services designed to help people think themselves into a better life. As with any debate about positive thinking, the same question comes up again and again, “Can you THINK your life better?”

If you follow this blog you already know my opinion on this issue…OF COURSE YOU CAN! Not just because someone told me or because I’ve read scientific studies finding evidence to support the claim (which I have), but purely because I have experienced it myself. This, however, begs the question of what one considers to be a better life. Has positive thinking given me more money? No. Has positive thinking got me a better job? No. Has positive thinking caused all my dreams to suddenly come true in some cosmic explosion of good fortune? No. But, positive thinking has completely changed the way I approach life and its challenges. My purposeful effort to consider the benefit of even the worse situations helps me manage life much more effectively. Do I get disappointed? Yes. Do I feel down from time to time? Absolutely. Is every thought that ever passes through my mind one of awesomeness and great things? Of course not, I’m human. The idea is that I have learned not to allow those negative thoughts to overtake me. I won’t allow them to dictate my mood or to fester and grow into a mindset that produces defeat. NO! The mind is the greatest tool we have yet somehow we willingly use it to destroy our very own lives by choosing to think only on things contrary to what we want in our lives.

So, do I think people have been scammed? Do I still believe in The Secret even in the midst of scandal? What I believe is simple. Making the decision to “retrain” your mind (or thoughts) is a decision that anyone can make at any time. If someone feels they need to purchase a book, service, or other product to help them with that effort who am I to say otherwise. For me, positive thinking resonates with everything I have learned about faith and has helped propel my spiritual growth. It hasn’t been easy and it’s required that I block out the comments and opinions of others, some of whom I love very dearly, to have an impact. So, if someone purchased a book/service/product in the hopes that it would help to retrain their thinking, the success or failure of that purchase lies in the very thing it was designed to change.

Think Legacy.  

An ongoing argument between my mother and I is my lack of reproducing grandchildren for her. Her side of the argument is always "God commanded us to be fruitful and multiply" referencing a Bible verse from Genesis. My response is always and effort to define the word "fruitful" beyond just having children.

This story lends to a question about the purpose of life. What does it really mean to "live"? Is it merely just existing and completing day-to-day tasks with moments when something special happens? I surely hope not! To me living is an active process in which you are striving towards a goal and enjoying the rollercoaster as you go along. John Assaraf, one of the contributors to the book The Secret, put it best in a life tool published by his company, Neurogym, called My Exceptional Life Blueprint. Here is Assaraf's life purpose:

"The purpose of my life is to live and authentically experience it as fully as possible and to consistently learn, grow and become all that I can become. It's to grow spiritually, to love deeply, to give immensely and to serve and love others to the best of my abilities. It's to use all the gifts God has bestowed upon me to make the biggest most positive impact on our beautiful planet and universe."

I think that just about sums up everything I could imagine in one eloquently written statement. Are you living life or just existing? Is the extent of your contribution to the world merely the children you've created or have you made your mark in other ways as well? After all, this blog is about legacy, right? When was the last time you considered yours?

At the end of the day, while I haven't yet brought any children into this world I do believe I've been fruitful in my life. This blog itself is a testament of the legacy I am building and my effort to make an impact on the world around me. You can't reach the whole world but you can make a positive influence on your world.  Start being fruitful today!

"Thinkers" are quotes that challenge your mind by giving new perspective.
A good quote can inspire you, it can motivate you, and it can slap you in the face and make you get up and do something. Think on these words as you journey to legacy...

Have you heard the saying "When it rains it pours"?  I think we've all heard that saying at some time or another when it seemed like a lot of bad things were happening all at once. Like everything that could go wrong did go wrong and you were left to just deal with life's blows as they came. You could say the last few months have been that way for me. To be really honest, the last few years. But today I was reminded of the power of positive thinking and having a renewed outlook on life. 

I'm a goal-setter by nature and like any other year I had some specific goals I had set at the start of 2016. One of my goals for the first quarter of the year was to use my tax refund to pay off my car; that would free up enough cash each month to have me free from all debt except mortgage and student loans by summer. That goal was delayed last month after I learned that someone had tried using my social security number to file their tax return and that it could take up to 180 days (six months) for the IRS to resolve the issue and release my funds. Somehow I was more overwhelmed by all the calls I had to make reporting identify theft than I was upset about the situation. Ultimately I was more concerned about getting things secured than not getting my money right away. Fast-forward a few weeks to this past Saturday when I received a check in the mail with my state refund. I was surprised and happy to know that my federal refund was on the way, I could still meet my first quarter goal! Today I received a letter from the IRS saying that all of my federal refund was applied to my federal student loans, I would not be getting any money. Immediately instead of sulking or being upset my mind went to optimistic thoughts about how my goal would be reached. I blocked any negative thought that tried to enter my mind and willed myself into getting excited to see the amazing way God would honor my desire to be debt-free. After all, my primary goal for the year is to reduce debt, isn't having my refund applied to student loans still on the road to financial freedom?  I'm proud of myself today, I'm actually walking what I talk on this blog!

You may think this is all bogus and there's no way to "think" your life better but I challenge you to give it a try and see how much your life changes. It starts and ends with you, why not take action?

Positive Thinking takes conscious effort as you retrain your mind to minimize negativity. Trying to see good in everything and everyone can be a struggle some days so I want to highlight small moments of positivity that I see as I live day to day. These moments are featured as "Heart Smiles".





My regular 9-5 job is as a trainer for behavioral health agencies, I teach on a variety of topics from understanding autism to performance management. One of my most requested classes are those on basic computer skills as many of the staff at my primary facility have little or no computer knowledge. These classes always make me smile as I watch people start out so intimidated by computers that they barely want to touch the mouse then they leave a few classes later smiling happily after they've sent their first email. Of all the training courses I've taught over the past 10+ years these computer classes have yielded the most immediate results of any other. When I think about the things they will be able to do just by learning how to use computers it makes me so excited for them. Now, people who were previously limited to their surroundings have the whole world at their fingertips. So my heart smiles...

"Thinkers" are quotes that challenge your mind by giving new perspective.
A good quote can inspire you, it can motivate you, and it can slap you in the face and make you get up and do something. Think on these words as you journey to legacy...

For this month's reading I'm returning to a book I heard of some years ago after watching a movie about it at a women's group. When I purchased the book I found it was an easy-to-read guide on how to apply one of the most basic yet challenging principles known to man: The Law of Attraction.

The Law of Attraction is based on the Biblical principle "Ask, Believe, Receive" (Matthew 21:22, Mark 11:24) and the book The Secret shares testimonies from people who have mastered the Law of Attraction and their suggestions for how to use it. Be not confused, the book is by no means religious. It is simply about a divine principle that can be used by anyone, regardless of their religious beliefs. The book breaks down how to apply the Law of Attraction in money, relationships, health, the world, and in your overall life. One guy even says that he uses it to get good parking spaces when he shops. Ultimately I see The Secret as a useful guide to positive thinking. I'm reading it again as I embark on new challenges in my life and career so I can be reminded of the importance of keeping my mind in the right state and not allowing doubt to enter in. If you haven't read it before I highly recommend it, especially if you are still struggling with maintaining positive thoughts.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

We all have a default greeting response. This is the response you naturally give when people ask you how you are when they great you. Typically it goes something like this: Person 1, “Hello! How are you?” Person 2, “Hi, I'm fine. How are you?” Person 1, "Good"; the “I'm fine” and "Good" are default greeting responses. We usually don't put any thought into them, saying them is simply habit.

Years ago I set out to change my default greeting response. I learned the importance of speaking positive things over my life, even when I didn’t feel positive, so I consciously changed my default greeting response from “good” to “great”. Whenever someone asked me how I was doing my response was always “Great!” Over time this became habit and “great” is now my default, it comes out naturally because I practiced it. Most people have gotten used to it but every now and then someone is surprised by my “Great!” because they are so used to hearing responses like “good”, “fine” and “ok”.

Now that my default is “great” and I’ve maintained it for a few years I’m looking to take things up a notch. For about a year I’ve been testing out other words I can say and the reactions that they prompt. I’ve tried “wonderful”, “outstanding”, “awesome”, “fantastic” and “excellent”, almost all of them result in a surprised reaction from others. In some cases I’ve even had to explain why I gave such a dynamic response to such as basic question and, after my explanation, people usually become intrigued by the idea of changing their default greeting response. I’m not yet sure which word I will start using but rest assured very soon my new response will be one that makes you smile.

What’s your default greeting? Don’t like it? CHANGE IT!

Positive Thinking takes conscious effort as you retrain your mind to minimize negativity. Trying to see good in everything and everyone can be a struggle some days so I want to highlight small moments of positivity that I see as I live day to day. These moments are featured as "Heart Smiles".




The folks in my department are a pretty close bunch. Most of them have worked at the facility over 20 years and have worked in the same department together over 10 years. Because of these relationships they freely share triumphs and trials with one another. When I joined the department in May 2014 I fell right into place with the group and we're all pretty close.

My coworker's mother has had a rough time this past year. The passing of her ex-husband (my coworker's father) with whom she still had a very positive relationship, being blindsided by a divorce filing by her current husband of 16 years, and decreasing physical health have all taken a toll on her psychological state. This morning my coworker shared with us that he had accompanied his mother to a meeting regarding the divorce proceedings; it was very grim occasion inclusive of a battle for the shared home where his mother currently lives and his step-father had abandoned when he left. His mother was refusing to leave the home despite living at least an hour away from family members and having no assistance with her deteriorating health. His step-father suggested charging his mother rent to remain in the home even though they own the home together. After hearing about the meeting I offered to say a prayer for my coworker and his mother regarding the situation; he was sincerely thankful for the gesture.

Less than three hours after sharing his experience my coworker came to my office proclaiming that God is good. He excitedly told me that his mother called saying she had thought about the situation and that she wanted to move out of the house to be closer to family, her husband could buy her out of the home. The look on my coworker's face and the excitement in his voice made my heart both jump and smile. There is nothing that God can't do if we just believe.