Dancing In The Rain, By Kelly K. Brown

A rainy day at the 3 Rivers Gorge Dam in China



"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass... it's about learning to dance in the rain!" ---Nancy Salmon

This is such an incredible quote and a true understanding of its message could make all the difference in the world---LITERALLY to the entire world!

I know that sounds strange, so go with me here for a moment...

The one thing we know for certain about life is that it happens! The good and the bad (which I prefer to think of only as ‘contrast’)—and regardless… it happens.

Death, birth, illness, well-being, shortage of money, extravagant surplus of money, starvation and obesity, economic fluctuations in any direction, those who live to serve, and those who live seemingly to take advantage---all exist in this world we call our ‘home’.

So why are we surprised when anything happens, good or bad?

We know (yes, we know!) from pretty much the moment we have an awareness of life at all, that each and every one of us will one day physically die. I mean, have you ever met anyone who didn’t… at some point… die? Or get ill or recover, or celebrate through an up time or suffer in a down time? Bemoan it if you wish, but this is the truth of LIFE! Stuff happens!

So again I ask you, why the surprise when some unfortunate incident occurs? Or why the surprise when some incredible good fortune comes your way?

For me, my initiation into awareness of this major life lesson came at a very early age… when I was a mere 5 years old. Through an incredible circumstance, both of my legs were cut off by a lawnmower even though I was physically nowhere near it.

My Dad was mowing the lawn at our home in Illinois with a push mower when the one bolt mechanism that held the blade in place broke off and the entire blade flew out from under the mower, through our rather large yard and hit me across the shin area of both legs and flew beyond me into a field.

Stop for a second and imagine that! Imagine being my Dad who was mowing the lawn! Imagine being my sisters who were standing less than 2 feet away! Imagine being ME! That blade could have gone in any direction, hit anyone, anything or nothing all. But the truth of what happened is this: the blade HIT ME---and in less than an instant, my legs were gone.

I can remember for years after the accident, people asking me how I felt about it and did I ever wonder why it happened to me… and the truth is I never really gave it a thought. In fact, after they’d ask the question, I would more often wonder, “Why NOT me? Why NOT you? Should it have been someone else?”

The point I’m making is that through the ‘circumstance’ of an accident I was given a special insight most people do not learn until they are much older (if indeed they ever learn it at all).

Every time I went to a hospital, a clinic or to physical therapy, I’d see other people like myself or others in much worse condition---and ‘WHY ME?’ became a concept without valid meaning. I would often wonder “WHY ANY of these wonderful children, adults or people?”

My positive mindset and compassion for others (instead of a ‘poor me’ mentality) allowed me to easily overcome my physical condition ‘mentally’ by achieving a very good (and very valid) perspective about life!

At an incredibly young age, I understood something very important about life, I understood that:

Life wasn’t ‘for’ or ‘against’ me based on some random accident (or other life circumstance). My Life is WHAT I CREATE it to be through my own interpretation and perspectives about EVERYTHING! My inner joy came about through my understanding of what that MEANT about life in general.

That is what the quote above is all about. Storms will come and go, but it’s the learning how to dance in the rain that makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE! HOW you focus YOUR thoughts and feelings through the storm WHILE YOU ARE IN IT, determines WHAT and HOW the next circumstance of your life will be. (Keeping in mind how the Law of Attraction works, but of course!)

Think for a moment about Nelson Mandela! I can vividly remember what I was thinking the first time I heard about his positive mindset after all those years of imprisonment. Internally, I was screaming, “There is no way I’d come out of prison speaking love, forgiveness and healing… NO WAY!” And yet, that is exactly what he CHOSE to do and his very thoughts changed the course of HIS LIFE and an entire country’s history in the making!

These are extreme examples and most people will not have to be imprisoned or have their legs amputated to prove the point I’m making. Most people (when reminded) know that they have the power to ‘create their life’ in any situation—it is completely up to them based on the thoughts they choose to think!

Every single day we CHOOSE our thoughts and our focus. From the moment we wake up, we have the FREE WILL to CHOOSE any perspective about the circumstances of life we are living. Choosing the best perspective possible, makes us feel better and allows us to move forward in life with complete and utter joy… It is completely up to us! Remember:

There is no circumstance in life that a better perspective cannot turn the tide and begin attracting something far better than you ever imagined!

So, did having a good perspective bring my legs back? Did focusing on forgiveness and love get back all the years Mandela lost in prison? Not at all! BUT understanding... accepting and allowing that ‘what is’ IS ‘what is’, and then choosing the best thoughts and perspectives about all you DO have and all you CAN DO, creates all the difference in the world not only for you in the moment you do it, but for every single life you are fortunate enough to touch.

Thoughts do become things indeed, and finding ways to choose a ‘better’ perspective about any situation you are currently in will only create better future circumstances in your life.

Today, I challenge you to listen to your thoughts! What are your thoughts telling you about your future? Are they saying, “Poor me, why does this always happen to me?” which only brings more of the same. Or are they saying, “Wow, this was unexpected; how can I now think about this experience in a way that will help me feel better?” Or, How can I use this experience to help someone else, uplift another or encourage someone in need?”

In the meantime, should a storm of life catch you by surprise, you can choose to face it by opening with a brand new thought...

“Let the Dance Begin!”

Always dancing in mind, body and spirit…

Kelly

To alleviate any confusion, please note: through a series of surgeries my legs were re-attached at the time of the original accident, however, gangrene very quickly set into my right leg and it was later re-amputated. I am wonderfully blessed to be incredibly athletic (strangers are always completely surprised when they discover that one of my legs is artificial). I roller skate, water ski, snow ski, have worked out since I was 19 years old and in fact, taught high impact aerobics for 8 years. I took up weight training 5 years ago and currently DANCE anywhere from 2 to 4 nights a week.

Plugging into only Positive Stuff.. Still! by Mary

Oh my gosh.. I just wrote a whole blog and then my BATTERY Died! Yep.. right before I was SAVING it! So… now it’s 10 34, and way past my bed time so in a nut shell.. here it is!!!

Great call today with the BTS gals. On weight and health.. check us out.. you’ll totally learn and get pumped!!!

I’m keeping things positive and cool things are happening. People are asking me who I’m reading (http://www.beyondthestuff.com/!!!) and what they can do to stay the same way. Very cool.

Another gal who is in the hospital shared that my message was the ONLY positive thing she’d heard all week long.. and she thanked me.. that was really a great experience for sure!

I’m twittering lots of positive stuff, and taking OFF anyone who is reporting on the news. I don’t want to know about companies closings and lay offs. I’d rather talk about NEW opportunities for those people and how their lives are about to change.. ultimately for good!

Many “services” have been offered to me to help me with my upcoming book on our journey with SPD, ADHD and Atypical Autism. So when I mentioned last week I’m praying for financial abundance, I’m getting it, although not in cash at this point, but definitely lots of value!

Kelly reengineered my “talk” from “I need to pay bills” to “my bills will be paid on time and will get paid!” It’s much more empowering to claim with all certainty that the bills WILL get paid!! “My bills WILL get paid. My bills WILL get paid. My bills WILL Get paid”. I don’t have to know how or when or where, but they WILL get paid! Kelly is certain of it!

I’m starting a 30 day test of faith for a healing from ADHD in our home. My son is still having challenges so for the next 30 days, we’re reading healing scriptures and applying the same talk to Jeremy that is about him being a FOCUSED, OBEDIENT, compliant and an outstanding student with great behavior. We’ll start those affirmations in the morning and I will be recording the outcome.

So that’s what’s going on in a nutshell. I’ve been getting to bed earlier and waking up earlier which has been nice. I’m still plugging away at the gym and am still doing pretty well there. I’m grateful for the peace that I feel and have had in my home and am grateful that I’m so abundantly blessed with friends!!!

I will report next week on the updates of what I hope will be miracles that have taken place!!! Please send me your positive energy, and your prayers.. and I’ll send you mine!

When to Sweat the Small Stuff - By LIimu

So, when should you sweat the small stuff? When the small stuff is keeping you from your goal. In my case, it's a bite of this, a nibble of that. Small missteps that have led to big delays in my achievement of my dreams.

Another sloppy weekend. I have a confession (which I have made privately in life, but I am willing to make here), which is that I am a compulsive overeater. You already know that I have been in recovery from other addictions for nearly 14 years (my anniversary is March 7). I know that I need to develop the same willingness and the same humility around this aspect of my addictedness.

Morning meditations are such a wonderful thing in my life, because they almost always hit exactly whatever it is I am going through. So it was no surprise that one of my meditations was all about how we play with our recovery. It suggested an interesting exercise, which I will share with you. What it suggested was that we list ways we work our Program, and ways we play with it, and then focus on the first list throughout the day. (This can also work with any other fitness or diet program you might follow, by the way.)

Here's my list of how I work the program:

Call my sponsor
Make a plan
Write down my plan
Follow my plan
Go to a meeting
Practice mindful meditation
Eat consciously
Pray before eating
Work the steps
Avoid people, places and things
Don't take the first compulsive bite NO MATTER WHAT

I printed that out and put it on my fridge, in my purse, in my car and on my wall.

In case you're morbidly curious, here's my list of the ways I was playing with my program:

Telling myself, "I'll remember it,,," or "One nibble won't hurt..."
Forgetting what I eat
Going to a party without being prepared
Futurizing (my word for idealizing about the future)
Thinking negatively
Missing meetings
Neglecting to call or email my sponsor
Skipping steps

This post is all about casting positive thoughts into the Universe about how I intend to recreate myself as an elite athlete. One of my meditations talked about nothing more than how close I am to realizing my goals. Very, very, very close, it said. My online personal trainer has a vision of me being on magazine covers. I LOVE that. I need to become it. I am very close. I will weigh 140 by the end of this year. I will be ripped and toned. I will not let my demons take this dream from me anymore than I would have let them take my family and children - and they would have if I had kept drinking.

These dreams are mine and I fully intend to claim them.

Sleep Stuff - By Robin Gorman Newman

I am weary this week.

It's snowy in New York, and I'm tired from it....among other things.

Seth, my son, was off on Tuesday from school for administrative reasons, and we ran around and did errands, he went to the eye doctor (which was a whole drama for him) and we had a playdate with a little girl in his kindergarten class. They're cute together. A budding romance with five year olds....very sweet.

The next day, I spent the afternoon with a friend who is launching a cool business and needs guidance on the PR front. I am media training her so she will be comfortable doing press interviews, especially television. It feels like a trip down memory lane, taking me back to my days as a VP with a NYC Public Relations firm. Was that another life? No....me.....only younger....and pre-motherhood. I kinda miss those days sometimes, as much as I love my son. Parenting does wear me out some days.

Today I was on the Forum for my site http://www.motherhoodlater.com/ and got upset because there was some spam on it. I realized that it needs to be better controlled, and that hadn't occurred to me. Who would bother to visit a moms site and post gibberish and other appropriate content?!

I just feel like I've been jumping from project to project this week.

And, I'm not sleeping well. I hate that. And, I'm not a napper, so I don't make up for it. It's like I have an automatic alarm in me and I get up around 4AM almost nightly. I stumble into the bathroom, where I often check my Blackberry (yes....I'm an email addict), and then make an attempt to go back to sleep. Then, before I know it, the alarm goes off and I rush to get Seth off to school. Next I debate about going back to sleep, which I never do. I figure I'll wake up eventually even if I spend much of the day being a bit out of sorts and irritable from insufficient sleep.

What is this waking up about? Maybe my mind isn't quiet enough? Maybe it's hormones? Maybe a combination?

Tonight Marc (my husband) is out at a work function. I put Seth to sleep. He was wiped too. (Sometimes I find his sentiments echo mine.. interesting.) And, I'm going to crawl into bed early and hope that I can doze off and make it through the night and wake up refreshed. What would that feel like?! (One can only hope, and plant the seed for sleep success.) I so need that!!

Sweet dreams to you!!

Who You Really Are! By Kelly K. Brown

Standing in the light of the Pantheon, Rome, Italy

I wrote the email (highlighted below) for a dear friend who is going through what most would deem a serious life struggle. Upset people, forceful opinions… everyone strongly set in their ways, their point of view the ONLY right point of view according to them. Condemnation, judgment, and anger are being given free reign in this particular life situation.

At times like this, it is easy to be tempted to be judgmental. (As my friend was telling me the story, it was amazing how quickly I felt it rising in me!) It is easy to forget ‘who we really are’, and want to lash out at others in our ‘expectation’ of how they should behave. It is interesting how when we do that, we find ourselves behaving (even if only mentally) exactly as those we condemn who are themselves throwing judgment all around.

And you feel just miserable when you do that… don’t you?

On my own personal journey, I discovered something wonderful about who I really am and how acting from that knowledge not only makes me feel wonderful, it literally ‘moves mountains’, creates miracles and makes my life ‘EASY!’. When I purposely take control of my thoughts and focus on the true essence of my being, when I find myself coming only from that which we all truly are on the inside… I find I have nothing to give beyond Pure Unconditional Love!

Love for myself and extraordinary love for others. Compassion, understanding and a knowing we are all one fills my heart and mind and any judgment I was holding onto disappears and I again find the way to shine my light so others who are watching might catch a glimpse of what they also forgot--- WHO THEY REALLY ARE!

My daughter, DeeDee and I enjoying the architectural structure and what the light represents to us!

The thing that will boggle your mind most, is when we access our unconditional love and allow it to be our guide, LOVE does all the work! Walls come down, opinions change, and enemies quickly become allies… and it all begins with being Who You Truly Are… A Source of Unconditional Love!

From this perspective, you will find you are no longer waging ‘wars’ against anything---not people, countries, the economy, illnesses—you will find you are living in a state of being ‘FOR’ what you desire most. Things like peace, well being, love, harmony, joy, and prosperity. And best of all… you will have all those things in an abundance you never dreamed possible!

A joyful reminder of Who You Really Are:

YOU ARE:

The Calm in any storm
The Light in a darkened world
The Voice of Reason in calamity
The Joy of Love expressed
The Hope others need to see
The Peace in strife-filled situations
The Harmony of life
You Are Unconditional Love...

All of these… You Are!!!

These items are not only in you... and they aren’t something outside of you to strive for…

Peace, love, light, joy, harmony, well-being... These ARE YOU!

At Your Core, Your Very ‘Being’, You Are All These Things! WE are all these things!

Allow me to share two strategies to keep you on path regardless of any circumstance you may currently be living:

1) Remember Who You Really Are (all those listed above and more!)

2) Listen to the voice of your inner guidance (those inner gems of wisdom we all have) that in moments of stress are often harder to hear. You do that by first and foremost seeking relief for you! Look FIRST for ways that YOU can feel good no matter what the current external situation is that you are facing! This will bring you back into alignment through the wonderful feelings of relief.

That is the most important thing you can do to resolve ANY life issue--- find new perspectives and thoughts that bring relief and then make you (YES YOU!) feel good!!!

Feeling even a little better is a HUGE step in the right direction!

When you feel that relief, and remember Who You Really Are---unconditional love, peace, joy, harmony, and well-being--- all that is YOU will then flow to others perfectly; with great ease, right on cue!

You will influence everyone around you for good with little or no effort (no pushing, no force or anxiety required) ---and you will create incredible miracles in every situation of life in which you are involved.

Who You Really Are? Pure Unconditional Love!

The Power of Positive Friends & Stuff! by Mary

Today was the podcast of our BTS gals, and as usual, it was full of great conversation and excitement for each others’ projects and for all of the amazing miracles that continue to happen in all of our lives. Although Robin is ready for the snow to be over in NY, Leslie was ready to get out and make snow angles once again and is having fun playing in it. Liimu was running her kids to school late because of the snow in Philly, and Kelly was joyful as usual… so all of us had our “thing” that we chatted about today. I was thrilled because I had a big “share” that has taken place over the past week, and it’s very, very cool to think about how awesome the power of intention is coupled with belief, for what you want!

Leslie shared an amazing letter from a very close relative that described the power of synchronicity and how she had been used in this person’s life. They wrote a very eloquent letter that described little hunches they got or messages they kept receiving to follow on a particular path. What an incredible story, and it made us realize, that all of us, if we just followed our heart and our hunches, would get along a lot better and we can do it without all of the worry that seems to develop when we’re unsure of what to do. Each one of us then talked about events in our life and whether or not we should push or NOT push, and ultimately, it all came down to – if you get an idea.. you should really LISTEN to it and follow through if it makes sense, and then when its time to take ACTION, you can’t sit idly by and not take action, you’ve got to do what you have to do.

I shared with the group that I’m using TEXTING to plug into Kelly’s positive energy whenever I need to. Its been very cool because she helps to keep me focused during the day when about 100 things are flying at me from every direction, and I’ve been able to bounce things off of her and get her read on the situation.

Within the past week, I’ve decided to intentionally pray for and visualize and believe for a money miracle, and so I literally just “cast the financial burden away” and let my spirits be lifted by KNOWING, that I would be taken care of. I also realized, in no uncertain terms that I’ve certainly been through many difficult times, financially or otherwise, and that no matter what happened, that I would be fine. That thought alone gave me a lift.

So within the past week, three individuals have been in touch with me to promote them on the lecture circuit.. a profession that I have not been in full time for about 15 years! How bizarre is that? And not only that, they’re very cool and different types of performers. One is a Barak Obama one man show, and one is a Sarah Palin impersonator, who I loved The Black actor has been a long time friend and former client- Darryl Van Leer, and the Sarah impersonator is a new friend, but a soul sister of sorts! We hit it off immediately and I just would love to spend more time with her and hopefully we’ll be working together. The other speaker has material on the way and I’m not sure how to describe him yet. The other thing that happened is that I have a potential new client.. from the UK. This person found me today on the WEB.. so I was pretty psyched about that.

So now I’m facing an uncertain future about WHAT I’ll be doing, only that I will be doing promotion of some kind. I’ve realized that I get a charge out of promotion and my brain becomes overrun with exciting ideas for the programs or products that I’m promoting. I’m not “attached” to the what or the how.. just that there WILL be money flowing in – in new directions.

One of my best friends has offered to treat me to a weekend in New Orleans for Marti Gras, so that’s another “gift”… and I’m just still believing that more is going to continue to filter in. It’s pretty cool to live this way, and to be able to just have the faith that it all will work out.

I was mentioning plugging into Kelly during the day to get her read on the situation. She’s very well versed on the law of attraction and watching it in her life. I’ve definitely seen the results of it in my life, but because I’m not always able to keep my brain in a positive state due to home pressures like getting ready for school and being crunched on time, but recently, by being able to plug into Kelly, I’ve been more able to stay positive when uncertainty or stressful situations hit.

This is also what the BTS gals do for me, and I’m certain, that over time, that these women will be a source of strength for many, many people. I’m happy to be united with this team of strong women, and hope that this message of unity and positive strength can be carried out into the world through us.

I’m feeling powerful today. Not because I’m powerful, but because God created a universe where there are certain laws, that if we abide by them, can work in our lives to create a life that is seamless and effortless. That’s the goal, and that’s what I hope to achieve, by getting, beyond my stuff!

Watch What You Wish For - by Liimu

Last year, when I was juggling several different clients, working 70-80 hours per week, I begged the Universe for some much needed time off. I begged the Universe to give me space in my life so I could breathe, meditate, exercise, nap, relax.

So, here I am - several months later - gifted by the Universe with exactly that. Most people would probably be terrified to be in my situation - an independent consultant with no active projects. I'm THRILLED. The Universe has been so good to me, I can only believe that this current situation is no exception.

Now this doesn't mean I'm sitting around on my couch eating organic bon bons. I'm working on my gospel demo and helping get my wedding band back up and running, I'm working on finishing and starting several writing projects, I'm launching my own coaching business, and I'm kicking off the Spring season of my running group Philadelphia Moms in Motion. And of course, I'm continuing to get together and network with people in my industry in the hopes of shaking some of those apples out of the trees so my family can eat some good ole fashioned American apple pie! But did you notice something all these things have in common? Well, I did. They are all SUPER FUN! I love to sing! I love to write! I love to help people! I love to run!

Life is good when you're in the flow of it. The Universe always seems to serve up if not exactly what I ask for, exactly what I need. And this month, it's a WHOLE lot of free time.

Yay, me! Got what I wished for!