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Finding Diamonds in the Rubble

Finding Diamonds in the Rubble

I stood in the foyer of my father's office at the outplacement firm. He had retired from the ministry and decided he could be useful helping displaced people find their next jobs, their next life mission. As someone who had just gone down that road, he was uniquely qualified to mentor those who were recently let go, or who had decided it was time to move on.

I waited outside his office for our lunch appointment. Inside I could hear him counseling a man who was desperate for a job, any job. He had mouths to feed. He had bills to pay. He was willing to do anything. And he was ashamed that it had come to this. "I should be more. I should have more. I should have planned better. I should have known better." On and on the man wailed.

My dad stopped him. Told him to "stop should-ing on himself."

Then he said, "Remember, they don't find diamonds all ready to be put into necklaces and rings. And the best ones are not lying around on the ground waiting to be picked up. First, they turn the mine shaft or the riverbed into rubble. Then they take all that rubble back to a safe place and sort it out. The rough diamonds are carefully cut and polished into something useful. You are like that."

The man stopped wailing. I moved in a little closer to eavesdrop. I needed to hear this, too.

"Look. Your life is rubble right now. You're doing the right thing. You're facing it. And the good news is, there are diamonds in your rubble. Diamonds you can sort out, polish, and use in a good way to help yourself and help your family. So, let's stop all this recrimination, and let's get to work. You're better than that."

As I watch all the mayhem this meltdown has created in our world, I think about that conversation a lot. We can't have diamonds without rubble. We can't find oil without digging for it. We can't find a well by standing around and crying that we're thirsty.

Everyone has rubble right now. Some more than others. Some more delayed than others. Some easier to handle. There is NOT ONE PERSON who is NOT affected by this current state of affairs.

Instead of wailing about the rubble, start looking for the rough diamonds. What can you polish? What can you toss? What can you do right now to sort things out? We will get there. We will all be forever changed by what has happened to our world. My late father's message still resonates in my brain: "Let's stop all the recrimination and let's get to work. We're better than that."

Blessings to you and yours during this interesting journey,
Beth

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Quote This!

You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world. You impoverish yourself if you forget this errand.
~Woodrow Wilson (1856 - 1924)

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Announcements!

• Follow Beth on Twitter! She promises she puts useful links, interesting tidbits, and practical ideas on there. No fluff. Her Twitter address is BTSpeaker If you don't know what Twitter is, go check it out: Twitter.com: BTspeaker
• Beth will be in Hawaii March 9-14, and has trips planned to Washington DC, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego, and Nashville over the next few months. Beth is a dynamic speaker with a message that needs heard in these tough times. Groups that invite Beth to speak for their organization find an inner peace, a better outlook on tomorrow and the energy to tackle the tough issues. Contact Beth and find out how easy she is to work with, and get your organizatio moving forward!
• We want you to have a gift for that special event! Beth's books are great for moms, dads, grads, brides, newlyweds, people dealing with loss and change. Buy 2 copies of "101 Ways to Make Your Life Easier" first editions now and get free shipping! You can keep them on hand for last minute gifts!
• Coming Soon: Beth's e-booklet on "99 Best Speaker Tips. Want one of the first copies? Contact Beth and let her know!

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If you are interested in Social Bookmarking (a way to let people know about wonderful sites you have found on the web) try signing up for OneWire.com [make this a link, please] and you can easily send, store, and organize the websites you find.

This just in from my intrepid Web Consultant, Grant Holmes: A great video on Perspective from YouTube.

Thanks to my buddy Dave Livingston for this very cool link. http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/ You can read today's front page from major cities all over the world.

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Fan Mail from Friends!

"Beth, You are amazing! Thank you again for the vast information, and for your truly generous spirit of sharing. I really appreciate it. "
Gilat Ben-Dor, MBA, CSW
Director, Renaissance Wine Academy
Certified Specialist of Wine
www.RenaissanceWineAcademy.com
National Winner (Southwest), 2008 Wine Australia Competition

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The Word From Xena!

All right you two leggeds, sit up straight and pay attention. You have so many chances to do something different! You have so many choices! You can do anything you want! You are tall! You are upright! You have thumbs! You can dial phones! You can make decisions to advance or go sideways, or get on airplanes, or move to another town!

I am so happy that Beth has turned off the TV. We didn't watch it all that much, except for the shows with lots of animals on it. Some of those news shows though… Arf! they made me want to go hide under the bed. So I did! (Feel free to join me!)

So, don't take your abilities and your choices for granted. You're the only mammals on the planet that really have all those choices. Use them wisely! A lot of us wish we had them. But instead, we have to rely on our two-leggeds. So please keep us in mind when you make all those decisions. We kind of have gotten used to food and stuff.

Here's a little perspective from my old boyfriend Snoopy (well, a girl can dream…) "Yesterday I was a dog. Today I'm a dog. Tomorrow I'll probably still be a dog. Sigh! There's so little hope for advancement." Charles M. Schulz (1922 - 2000), for Snoopy

You haven't emailed me lately, have you? Or maybe your pet has a note for me??? [Email Xena here].

Now, go make a choice to be different!
Xena

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