Follow the Yellow Brick Road!

I've been thinking about "The Wizard of Oz" lately as a template for making good decisions. Dorothy represents your "wished for" outcome. Tinman is the "heartfelt", emotional aspect of your decision. Scarecrow represents the "pro's and con's" analysis. Lion symbolizes your awareness of the "unknown". The Wizard of Oz asks you "what is the wisest thing to do?" And the Wicked Witch of the West represents the thing you most need to overcome personally through this decision. What do you think?

How to Fake Authenticity!

What does it mean to be Authentic? Sure, I can be honest with myself and with others when life is going along swimmingly. But when I'm feeling out of my depth, or uncertain about the future, or when I want a particular outcome to occur, then I find my old "default" patterns coming back. I rationalize, I procrastinate, I disconnect. How "authentic" am I then? Perhaps authenticity is simply knowing what it's like to be fully human. And more importantly, letting go of the “don’t you know who I am!” pretentiousness, and beginning to really notice and pay attention to what’s happening for other people, even beneath their sometimes petty jealousies, sarcasms, negativity, and personal agendas.

Following in the Footsteps

Knowing where you've been is just as important as knowing where you're going. I've had cause to reflect on the notion of birthright and genetic heritage following my father's 80th Birthday last weekend. It's not so much a case of where do we come from as who do we come from! Tracing your family heritage is a fascinating insight into the threads of DNA that inform your perceptions and judgements today. It's inescapable. We are - all of us - locked in to a particular strata of time and space. But we are also linked to surprising treasures from the past, just as we have the capacity to weave our stories of tomorrow. There is a reflective wisdom in viewing yourself as the outcome of many lives lived by family ancestors, don't you think?

Star Trek

"It's a recession Jim, but not as we know it!' This low demand environment is not from another galaxy. It's probably the "new normal". So where to from here? I've been reflecting on intention lately. Everything starts with an intention and nothing can proceed without it. But intention carries both a force and a direction - it's a vector. For any decision we carry competing intentional vectors. The resultant vector dictates what actually happens rather than what we wish to happen. The key is to get very clear about your intentions, both positive and negative, so you can better align with what you choose. This will increase the probability of seeing the means to achieve that choice.