“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said,” “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.”- Gerald R. Ford

At a recent poetry evening I saw young teenagers, adults and older members of the audience share a common stage in our family of humanness.  The common thread of unity was their love of literature and their fear of public speaking.  Each person stood up and recited their poetry, each at times nervous, unsure of how their peers and general audience would receive their efforts and each thrilled to return to their seats when finished.  Red anxious faces accompanied at times with slight tremoring hands relaxed into happy relieved smiles.  Each participant glowing in the knowledge that they had accomplished a major personal milestone on their ladder of achievement and success.

It is universally acknowledged that the fear of public speaking is our number one fear.  Last Friday night in an atmosphere of mutual respect and co operation many young and older people of both participants and audience recognised that age, youth, experience or novice is no cushion to a vulnerability that unites us all in our human family.

“Be sincere; be brief; be seated” Franklin D. Roosevelt

I salute all who put their personal fears aside, who grab courage and faith by the hand and step up to their personal challenges.

At whatever stage you are at in your life, dig down deep, have faith and courage and take a jump into the waters of life.  You may never know what you are truly capable of or what rewards await you if you continue to play small.  It serves no one least of all yourself.

This week, find one thing, anything, that puts you out of your comfort zone and keep doing it until you achieve it.  It may be the start of a whole new You.

“According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.” (Jerry Seinfeld)

This week I want to share a wonderful letter with you all, you may have come across it before, and if so I hope you enjoy it again.  I look forward to hearing your thoughts and observations about it and please share it with your family and friends 

PARADOX OF OUR TIME IN HISTORY

We have taller buildings but shorter tempers,
Wider freeways but narrower viewpoints,
We spend more but have less,
We buy more but enjoy less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families,

More convenience but less time.
We have bigger degrees but less sense
More knowledge but less judgement,
More experts, yet more problems,
More medicine but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much,
Spend too recklessly, laugh too little.
Drive too fast, get too angry, 
Stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little,
Watch too much TV and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions but reduced their value.
We talk too much, love to seldom and hate too often.
We’ve learned how to make a living but not a life,
We added years to life, not life to years.
We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, 
But have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbour.

We conquered outer space but not inner space.
We’ve done larger things but not better things.
We’ve cleaned up the air but polluted the Soul,
We’ve conquered the atom but not our prejudices.
We write more but learn less,
We plan more but accomplish less,
We’ve learned to rush but not to wait,
We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever 
But we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast food and slow digestion, big men and small character,
Steep profits and shallow relationships.
These are the days of two incomes but more divorces; fancier houses but broken homes.
These are the days of quick trips, disposable nappies, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies and medical pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose whether to share this insight, or just forget about it..........

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.

Author Unknown

Mary Jo 

According to Dr J Murphy, affirm life not death and one of the powerful ways of doing this is by visualisation.
"Get a vision of yourself as happy, radiant, successful, serene and powerful."  Visualisation is literally a technique of seeing an idea in your mind's eye, as if it is alive, a living image: picture your idea as a mental image or mental movie in your imagination.  This way of thinking is highly receptive and suggestive to your mind.  These impressions if constantly repeated manifest themselves into reality. 

You begin by setting your expectation, clarifying what you want to accomplish.  Specify what your life will look like, what your life will sound like, what your life will feel like when you have accomplished this.  When you clearly specify the end results that you intend to create like success, inner peace, you establish a positive orientation that is easiest for your mind to achieve.  

Step One is to prepare yourself.  Ideally be in a quiet space, where you can relax and not be interrupted for 10 minutes or more. If possible the best time is before going to bed. 

Step Two.  Release any stress that you are presently experiencing, bring your awareness and intention to what you want to create.  It must always be for your and others highest good with blessings for everyone.  

Make a clear declaration to your mind of exactly what is going to occur to you during your visualisation, for example you can say for the next 10 minutes I'm going to relax and during this time my body will become refreshed, revitalised, my mind will be clearer, calmer and when I return I will be charged up and ready to enjoy accomplishing my goal with focus, energy and creativity.  

Then state what goal you are going to be accomplishing in full detail.  Picture it as completely as possible with colour, texture, motion, energy and feeling - you must feel the emotion of it.  Play it across the theatre of your mind like a movie, with sound, vision, action in all the detail that you want this to manifest in your life.  Then repeat this process as many times as you can and believe totally in its reality and give thanks when it appears in your life.

Best wishes 

Mary Jo xx