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Evict Negativity

After watching the news, I felt awful. I was overwhelmed with how bad everything seemed. What's going on? How did we get here? How can we get back to sanity?

I don't like that feeling. Psychologists say discomfort and disgust are good ways to motivate anyone to action, but I don't like those thoughts hanging out in my head for very long. It's just too easy to curl up on the couch, eat chocolate, and whine without doing anything useful.

Looking for a way past it, I picked up a favorite meditation book Letters of the Scattered Brotherhood compiled by Mary Strong during the horrific years between 1941 and 1948. It's a collection of ancient wisdom that always gives me a new perspective.

So I closed my eyes and flipped through the pages, letting the book open itself. And there was the answer:
"Evict those beggar thoughts."

What a wonderful visual. A philosopher more than 2,000 years ago struggled with the same issue. "Beggar Thoughts" conjures up the notion of negative, victim thoughts that drag you down and put your focus on hopelessness rather than potential and possibility.

It was true! "Beggars" in my head were making it hard for me to focus on my well being, and on my business.

Negative thinking drops us to our lowest level: we think life is falling apart. We begin believing the negative predictions playing out around us. We focus on loss and fear, not solution and forward movement.

There are predators in the world, and they are preying on our hearts and minds. They attach themselves to the fear floating in the air like so much smog. Don't breathe it in, don't buy into it. Don't let them squat in your head. Evict those beggar thoughts and make some new, healthy choices.

Focus on Solutions:

• Where do I want to commit my energy today?
• How can I find solutions for today's challenges?
• What can I do to move forward, if even just an inch or a foot?
• Can I trade, barter, be more efficient, be more productive?
• Is there someone worse off than me who needs my support?
• Is there a way to collaborate with others to solve this for all of us?

I'm finding I need these reminders regularly. Make sure you are filling that space in your head with positive thoughts to counteract the negative input. Crazy times can pull the best out of us, or drag us down. My hope is you find strength within that you didn't know existed.

Keep the faith, and let me know if I can help.
All the best,
Beth

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Quote This!

"All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts." James Allen, As A Man Thinketh

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Announcements!

• We have had a wonderful response to our first ebooks. You may still download them at no charge. They give you great ways to get yourself and your teams away from the negative watercooler conversations and back to being productive. Get your 2009 gift today!
• And our friends Andrea Gold and Gary Yamamoto have put together a wonderful book on being successful in the speaking business called The Business of Speaking. It is jam packed with everything you want to know to create a success in the meetings industry no matter what the economy is doing. Worth 20 times what they are charging.
• Beth will be in San Antonio, San Diego, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Washington DC, Hawaii, and Monterey over the next several months. Email Beth today if you want to get on her calendar.

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Cool Links

Over the past several months I've become acquainted with Caring Bridge, a wonderful site that allowed us to keep up to date every day with my friend Jean McFarland's progress. I first found it when my friend Kathy Marcil began posting on it last Fall about her challenges with chemo. It's been a source of comfort for all of Kathy's friends to read her story and see how well she is doing with her challenges. With both Jean and Kathy, it allowed all of us to send messages of support to them and to their families. Highly recommend it.

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Fan Mail from Friends!

Perhaps one of the most wonderful things about my job is that I get to meet great people all over the world. And sometimes they come unexpectedly back into my life. In Honolulu this month, I was pleased to see one of my former clients in the audience. And here is her note to me afterwards. Thank you Patty!

Aloha Beth,
"I enjoyed your talk on RESILIENCE recently at the Outrigger. First of all it was wonderful to see you after all these years. What I have learned and has helped me most in these past few weeks is your lesson on managing. That a manager's job is to be interrupted and if you plan for them and not take them as a bother you will find life works. And it certainly does. I am so relieved. Thank you."
Patty Sherman

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The Word From Xena!

Sometimes I wish I could go with Beth on her speaking trips. I know I could help a lot of people stop thinking negative thoughts just by hugging them. I read in one of Beth's Discover Magazines (she leaves them on the floor when they come in the mail, don't tell her I read them first!) anyway - I read that some hospitals and nursing homes use dogs to make people smile. I could do that!

Plus, Beth has a big job, and I think she could use my help on the road, don't you? I'll bet her computer wouldn't have crashed in Hawaii on this last trip if I was there protecting it. But, I guess some two-leggeds get nervous around dogs, so what would she do with me when she's on stage? (hint - take me out there with her!!)

Michael Vasper wrote me a cool letter about how his neighborhood kids were nervous around some dogs until they met a really wonderful one (prob'ly had MY cute personality) who came visiting in their neighborhood. That dog evicted their negative thoughts for the whole rest of the day, and they were all happy ever after. You could be too, just go hug a dog! Or better,

Write to me and tell me what you think about this newsletter!

Hope 2009 is still going GREAT for you! Love, Xena

Now, go make a choice to be different!
Xena

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In Memorium

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The legal goods...

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