Reveille -- set the tone for your day

This morning I awoke to the sound of Reveille being played at nearby Fort Devens. Why I haven't noticed it before I can't say, except that Devens, as it is now called, is no longer primarily an Army base. In fact, about 10 years ago my daughter and I ran our business from a building overlooking the beautiful parade grounds when Fort Devens was being transitioned to civilian use. The Army still maintains a presence, however, and they must be training Army Reserve personnel.

Not being in the military myself, I probably wouldn't choose Reveille as my personal wake up call. For military personnel it may be just the way to start a perfectly orderly day.

We all know from experience that starting our day out well influences how the rest of the day goes. That is to say, getting into the flow of life is way easier than pushing against it. And our assumptions about the day, right from the beginning, whether they are positive or negative, conscious or unconscious, harden into fact because that's what we project out into the day. Always. It can't be otherwise.

So take time when you are falling asleep at night to affirm peaceful, restful sleep and a gentle awakening in the morning. And when you wake up, consciously choose the highest outcome for your day. Get up in plenty of time to allow time for a morning ritual that supports your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well being throughout the day. (And remember that if you get off track during the day you can choose at any moment to start your day over.)

I like this bit about "How to raise the odds that it's going to be a fantastic day." Very useful.

Oh, and by the way, back to Devens, if you're a golfer you'll be glad to know that the Red Tail Golf Course at Devens is #1 in Massachusetts according to GolfBoston Magazine. Set the intention to have some fun today!

The best is yet to be

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in his hand
Who saith, ``A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!"

Robert Browning, "Rabbi Ben Ezra"

My assumption is that every age has its beauty. Life's adventure continues as long as we are breathing, so let's enjoy every stage and every phase.

I also assume that everything is here to bless me. It's all an opportunity to live, love, and laugh.

So when I had lunch with a friend the other day who lamented that her husband (aka "hub") isn't available to do things with her as much as she'd like him to, I thought, "Oh, she thinks he should spend more time with her and be her playmate." Isn't that interesting. She's waiting for him to do things with her instead of finding things that she could do to please herself. She's holding back on developing her own interests and using him as the excuse not to live, love, and laugh. She's limiting her possibilities for living joyfully because she thinks he should be part of the picture.

But the best is yet to be! There's another whole dimension she could explore with a simple shift in her assumptions: the opportunity to find happiness doing things by herself and/or with others.

Benefits for her: The joy and upliftment of being engaged in something she finds truly pleasing. The healthful release of resentment that hub isn't doing things according to her expectations. (I know for myself that the times I get into the biggest jams is when I think people should do things according to "Queen Christine.")

Benefit for him: He's sure to appreciate the release of pressure on him to change according to her plan. What a relief!

Added bonus: Who knows? He might just find her absolutely irresistible because of her energy and enthusiasm for a particular topic or focus. After all, there's something mighty attractive about people who are happy.

Strategy #1: Vegetables Center Stage

Welcome to the Church of the Holy Cabbage. Lettuce pray. ~Author Unknown

Little did I know that rising food prices would be such a super hot topic. Recently I said, "Change your assumptions, learn some new things about food, and I'll bet you'll be surprised at how easy it is to hold costs in line, expand your menus, and eat really well." Numerous people challenged me, saying, "Show me!"

So I'm going to start offering up some ideas for you to try. Test my assumption!

Strategy #1: Shift the focus of your meals to vegetables. Make them the main event. Of course this goes without saying if you are a vegetarian. For those of us who are omnivores, however, this strategy is both healthful and a budget pleaser.

And it's surprisingly easy to move in this direction. You can even do it gradually.

You can also start introducing tasty variations on some old themes to kind of spice things up.

For instance, cabbage is a terrific value. It's inexpensive, versatile, low-cal, and readily available.

According to www.nutritiondata.com, "This food is very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Vitamin A, Thiamin, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Iron and Magnesium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Folate, Potassium and Manganese."

Here is a very simple, crowd-pleasing variation on the venerable coleslaw.

Fresh Cabbage Slaw
4-5 C shredded cabbage (one medium-sized cabbage)
1/4 C seasoned rice wine vinegar
1 TBS smoky sesame oil
1 tsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos (instead of salt)

Prep hint: use a mandoline or a nice big Chinese cleaver to cut the cabbage by hand. It's simple, it's easy, and you'll like the results. Just watch your fingers. Blood tends to spoil the slaw.

Prep hint: Keep the proportions basically the same and this recipe will scale up or down very easily.

Serving hint: Line a big bowl with a bed of red leaf lettuce and lay the slaw on it. Garnish if you like with a few edible flowers if you have them, or with a bit of parsley.

Accompaniment hint: It goes well with all kinds of grilled meats.

Added bonus: Because there's no mayonnaise, it keeps well outdoors at picnics and tailgaiting events.

Test this assumption: I'll feel deprived

"I am blessed as the creator of my world. " Bijan

Recently a woman I know was complaining about rising food prices, and how much more it costs now to feed her family of four. She's upset and frustrated by having to pay so much at the checkout for her regular weekly groceries. I asked her a little about what she typically buys and what kinds of adjustments she's making to hold her budget in line with her family's plan. She gave some examples, such as buying less expensive cuts of meat. I said I thought I could cut her spending in half. "But I don't want to feel deprived!" she wailed.

"How interesting," I thought. She assumes that if she can't eat the way she currently does that she'll feel deprived. That's her truth. I told her that it's possible that she would never feel deprived. Just by expanding her sense of what's good and pleasing she could slash her grocery budget. And expanding her horizons to offer new experiences to her family could be a delightful pleasure for all of them.

Now, I acknowledge that if we compare food prices today to those of just a year ago we'll see the fact that food prices have risen. All I'm saying is that that's one of many bits of information in a much larger context. How about that idea this could be a fabulous opening into understanding that what we experience is directly related to our assumptions?

Imagine the joy of being a food adventurer!

Personally, I know that I can create delicious, appealing, nourishing, healthful meals for a fraction of what most people spend. And I never feel deprived! Neither do the people who eat meals I serve.

What's my secret? For starters, I assume that there is a great abundance of pleasing choices and that I will make something wonderful with them. I put great emphasis on fresh, colorful vegetables and delicious ways to flavor them -- and beautiful ways to present them. I love and appreciate food and the dining experience.

I also realize that I have a "kitchen orientation" by choice, and that I have thought about it and played with food for more than 30 years.

Many people, like my struggling friend, have not chosen this kitchen orientation. They've focused on other things. That's great! We live in an era in which we have tremendous freedom to choose.

And, as always, whenever we face a new challenge, we can be sure that it's a golden opportunity to change assumptions about how things have to be in order to thrive -- or even just to be okay.

Struggle you may, but you don't have to push against rising food prices. Change your assumptions, learn some new things about food, and I'll bet you'll be surprised at how easy it is to hold costs in line, expand your menus, and eat really well. Try it. See how much fun it can be!

You ARE blessed as the creator of your world.

Check your assumptions

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7: 7-8

What have you been asking for? Consciously or unconsciously we're all asking all the time. What's showing up in your life is exactly what you've been asking for. Always. You're responsible. If you like it, great. If you don't, the good news is that you can change your assumptions and ask for something different.

Check your assumptions. It's easy.

If you don't like your job, you're responsible.
If you don't like your marriage, you're responsible.
If you don't like your bank balance, you're responsible.
If you don't like how people treat you, you're responsible.

Check your assumptions now. What are you calling forth?

You're responsible.

No more "push mode"

"I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." Genesis 32:26

Your good already exists -- and it is just a shift in knowing that will reveal it. As hard as you try you cannot force it. All you can do is allow it. Allow it to be revealed to you. And receive it.

Several years ago when I was struggling to expand sales in my business, I consulted with a terrific coach in Albuquerque named Judy Katz. She gently coaxed me down off the wall I was climbing and asked me to consider an alternative to working more and working harder.

What? What about a strong work ethic? What about harder, faster, more-more-more? What about intense focus and burning the midnight oil? What about "no pain no gain"?

What she showed me was that I could stop pushing and start letting my good pull me through to it. How do we do this? Imagine the desired state or circumstance and assume the feeling of having already achieved it. This shift in perspective opens the way where there was no way. It guides the actions we take and pulls us through to our desired end state.

Actually, we do this all the time without realizing it. It's our assumptions that bring us all of our life experiences, without exception.

Recognize that it's easy to assume what those around us assume unless we consciously choose otherwise. It's easy to slip back into the push-hard-in-order-to-achieve framework. In fact, it's often quite challenging to choose a different direction from the rest of the world. But the funny thing is that when we release our grip on push mode and choose to allow ourselves to be pulled through, we find that we get right into the flow of our own good.

It's easy and it's way more fun! I know the truth of this now from personal experience.

As Law of Attraction Coach Andrea Conway says, this isn't about just sitting back practicing wishful thinking. Action is required. It's just that it's guided action

The hardest work, after choosing what you really want, is holding your vision in your imagination. Let Jacob be your model of persistence. He wouldn't let go until he received a blessing from God. Hold fast to the assumption of your desired state .