Amy Collette

Three types of courage:

The swift courage of the horse,

The ancient courage of the salmon,

The noble courage of the stag.

~Celtic wisdom

I read a great quote today from James Altucher about his motivation for making money. “My only go with money is zero to do with buying things but everything to do with extending the runway to enjoy the other pursuits in my life.”

I love the runway metaphor. Making money for money’s sake is an empty endeavor. But living a full life is vital. Combined with your personal energy, money is the fuel for that life.

But think about all the baggage we carry around about money. The language we use: Mean green, money is the root of all evil, filthy rich, fat cats. Even the term “saving” money has a negative connotation. It implies denying yourself immediate gratification for your future good.

All that negative thinking about money is another way of giving your energy away. At the very least, these thoughts about money lower your frequency. Just try this experiment: instead of saving money, decide that you will “build wealth.” Does that feel different?

I played a trick on myself to change my thinking about money. Tom brought home a funky old traveling trunk and asked me if I wanted it. I was drawn to it, and knew exactly how I’d use it. My meditation space doubled as my office, and the trunk was the perfect filing cabinet/table. Pretty soon I began to think of the trunk as my treasure chest, holding all my important papers. Then I decided to make bill paying part of my gratitude practice. Yes, it was a stretch, being grateful to pay my bills every month. But really, I was grateful to have the money, since I had been through a very scarce time. I’d sit down by my trunk, light a candle, and say a little blessing for myself and the people  I was paying. I visualized the flow of money around the world, including through me.

Here’s to extending your runway.

In this time of grief and remembrance,
In this time of sadness and celebration
May you find a gift that lies deep within your loss.
That gift of gratitude for the love you have,
The times you shared,
The memories you made.

May Spirit help you keep your eyes and ears, and all your senses, open to a new connection.

It might come any moment-
In the shower, while you’re driving, or when you hear that certain song.
It’s a flower, or a smell, a butterfly, or a dragonfly or a bird.
And recognition gently reminds you.

Your love will always be.
Let it sustain you when sadness rises,
When grief wells up and overtakes you.

May you find healing and peace.

How about right now? That’s right, it takes just a moment, and you can do it any time at all.

This time of year can be filled with anxiety and stress, even though the ads on TV show happy shoppers and functional family get-togethers. When you focus on your stress, it tends to grow. So give yourself a break for a few moments to appreciate the positive in your life.

Take a deep breath and relax. Invite your mind to be open to gratitude. What drifts in?  Loved ones, pets, home, work, play? Now stay open to more – gratitude for your heart, goodness, love, humor, style, brains, talents and gifts. What else are you grateful for?

Notice how your body feels when you’re in gratitude. Breathe it in so you remember.

Repeat again soon. May it become your new habit.

* See more on gratitude.

Ok, I’ll start. Here’s my big confession: I locked my keys in the car the other day – while it was running. A simple mistake, really. I hit the lock button instead of the defrost button, then got out to brush off the snow.  When I closed the door it locked – Aagh! I felt really stupid.

I found myself “confessing” to everyone. Was it so I could get sympathy? Or hear their stories about how they did the same thing? Or just to share a funny story? I think it was all of the above. The first call I made (after the locksmith left) was to my husband, Tom. I was definitely looking for sympathy with that one, and fortunately he gave me the response I was looking for – care and concern. But when he said “poor baby” I realized that I may have overdone it.

Next I told a friend, with a little more drama in the story. She gasped when she realized I was locked out in the snow storm. Very satisfying response. I was beginning to have some fun with it. So the next time I related the story, it was to get a laugh.

As I watched myself, I wished I would just shut up about it already. So I started writing instead. And I realized what was happening.

I started out in victim mode. And that is not a loving place for me or for the people I told about it. What I wanted was to control their reaction to give me what I needed: sympathy. What else could they say? And that kind of sympathy just helps me stay in “victim.”

As I got more of a sense of humor about it, my energy changed to sharing a story. That kind of energy helps connect with other people  - we’ve all done something like that. It requires no particular type of response, but opens the door for another story or conversation. That energy is loving and respectful rather than negative and manipulative.

Now it’s your turn – what do you need to confess?

Yesterday I was listening to heartbreaking stories of remembrance on the radio, and I realized I had to turn it off for my own sanity. I felt a little guilty – maybe I “should” listen out of respect for those who died…

But there are countless ways to respect and remember.

Consider turning off the news and taking some time to reflect in a way that feels right.

I went out on a hike and found solace here:

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves. ~ Dalai Lama

By anticipation, I really mean worry. I was up all night with my heart pounding, rehearsing a difficult conversation. The hard part about that is – I could only have one side of the discussion!

I tried to anticipate (there’s that word again) what the other person would say. Of course none of my worries came true.

Heart pounding still, I confronted a colleague. He was completely unemotional, and listened respectfully to what I said. He even thanked me for the input, as he was unaware of the issues.

So why was I so worried? I realized in the middle of my sleepless night that it had nothing to do with him or our relationship. It has to do with confronting my fear of conflict.

Conflict is not just scary for me- it’s terrifying. I know from childhood experience that bad things can and do happen  – ranging from screaming to hitting to throwing things. Has this ever happened to me outside my family? No. But that fear of danger is so deep, it has kept me quiet- cowering in the corner when any argument breaks out.

So – it’s only natural that situations will continue to arise in my life that force me to face this fear. As I realized this in the dark last night, I felt the gratitude that comes with letting something go.

So does this mean that I’m no longer a conflict coward? Probably not – so I’m on the lookout for the next opportunity to confront it bravely. In the meantime, I need a nap… Zzzz

Audacity is my new favorite word. It implies a sassines – an outrageous willingness to try. It even hints of a daredevil attitude.

I recently attempted a physical feat I wasn’t sure I could handle. My friends and my husband have done it for years, but I had lots of excuses why I couldn’t. My fitness isn’t good enough, I don’t have the right bike, etc. what I really had was plenty of fear that I just wasn’t capable. There’s also some ego fear thrown in there – what would everybody think if I “wimped out?”

But I tried it- a 150-mile bike ride over two days. At the end of the first day, I had a crisis. The anxiety took over and convinced me that I couldn’t finish. I actually felt fine physically – I was just tired and couldn’t imagine doing it all over the next day.

A wise voice (my husband’s) finally said, “it’ll look different in the morning – get some sleep and decide then.” Fortunately, that advice got me through the night and the next day, I got on my bike again with fresh hope.

Finishing that ride taught me a lot. Mostly that if I had the audacity to try it, I just might make it. Here we are at the finish line:

Audacity is the instant answer to whatever you fear. I invite you to try something that stretches your idea of yourself. What if you try it? What if you fail? What if – gasp – you succeed? Either way, you’ll learn something.

Please share your story of audacity in the comments.

I’ll be “sitting in” for Kelly on her radio show with Jeff “Classic” Popka. We’ll be talking about intuition and the many ways you can access it. Jeff will also play some music, and I’ll do a short meditation about your own “crystal ball.”

You can join us for the live show at 9:00 Mountain time, 10:00 Central at:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/indieonair/2011/05/18/the-indie-spirit-w-kelly-ballard

Or you can listen to the recording later. See you there!