The Time for Gratitude is Now

In the past few days, it’s been very shocking to see in the news all the damage left by these huge storms we’ve had lately all over the world. The damage wasn’t what most people expected and so many didn’t see it coming but then it hit, quickly and so very powerfully that thousands of people lost their homes, businesses, and for some, sadly, their lives.

What we humans experience hits us at all different levels but sometimes what hits us the most is the loss of things we’ve taken for granted. It’s only then, after we lose them, that we realize we haven’t given much thought and appreciation for all that we have. Everything from small possessions to big things like a best friend or family member can be lost in an instant.

I have experienced this many times in my life. There were big losses, but I also lost many small things that I’ve felt kind of stupid for not being very grateful for when I had them. There are things, like being healthy,  that don’t seem like a big deal when you have it, but it can be devasting when you lose even small parts of it. I have been realizing that a lot lately, that great health is something we need to always be grateful for. We need to take notice every day and be thankful for our good health and well-being.

If you take a look at our lives here in the good ole USA, compared with most other countries in the world, wow, we have it so good here! We really ought to take time to notice all the good things we have in our lives right now and not wait until we lose them to appreciate them.

Recently it struck me hard that I have not taken enough time to appreciate so many things.  One of the big things that was taken away from me, that I realized I always took for granted, was my ability to play tennis.

I took up the sport when I was 35 years old and was given lessons by a former professional that had big time success and even played at Wimbledon, a tournament considered one of 4 greatest in the world. I was later in many big tourneys myself, receiving 2 gold medals at the annual Huntsman World Senior Games. I even met some of the game’s greatest and most famous players like Roger Federer and Andrew Agassi while hanging out in the player’s lounge at that tournament.

Then my time playing some pretty good tennis all changed when I had an unforeseeable accident, falling so hard that I was knocked out for over 15 minutes. Talk about things I took for granted! I didn’t really appreciate all those great games I got to play and all the tournaments I was able to win until I lost my ability to play. I could hardly hit the ball or even run.

Luckily, I have able to start playing again and I am loving it. Not being able to for a time made me realize how very important it is to take time to appreciate all the good things in life and do that before something hits you hard and changes everything, for the moment or even forever. In other words, let’s all appreciate the good things, big and small, when we have and do that before we lose it.

Another Kind of Reward

I certainly have had some very great rewards in my life from writing my books and posting my weekly blog. Now, I’m not talking about rewards of money, although I’ve had great monetary rewards along the way and have ended up with much, much more money than I ever dreamed of making. But there are many more rewards that have nothing to do with money.

So, what are these huge, non-monetary rewards? They are receiving letters, emails, or phone calls from people who have read my writings and, having followed those words, have cashed in big time. For some, the results have been huge.

One of the first notes I received was years ago when a guy who was going to college read my book and start putting some of the strategies, methods, and systems into practice. He soon began to make big bucks. Later this guy wrote me a letter to thank me for writing the book he’d read and for sharing with my readers how to make big bucks by following the formula that had made me a fortune, ensuring readers that anyone can do the same thing.

In the end, this guy made many millions more than I did and he gave me almost all the credit. Dell Loy Hansen is a billionaire now and is still going strong. He has some very huge office buildings and even owned a terrific professional soccer team for a while.

If you have read my book, The Next Step to Waking Up the Financial Genius Inside You, you may have seen that I copied the first letter he sent me in which he thanked me for helping him make a fortune. I love his postscript in the letter. It reads, “Thanks a Million — or more appropriately, ‘Thanks a Billion’.”

Dell is just one of many people that have thanked me and given me so much credit for helping them make tons of money. Helping people and getting lots of thanks and appreciation is a huge reward! It just makes you feel so, so good to know that you changed a person’s life in such a positive way.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I received a great heartwarming text from Scott Keller, another real estate expert and entrepreneur, who had just been interviewed by Jimmy Rex for his podcast. Here’s is what Scott wrote to me:

“I was interviewed by Jimmy Rex on his podcast today. Are you happy and all good? I hope you are well. Thank you for your great influence in my success. I exceeded the $1B mark, which had much to do with your early influence and book, Waking Up the Financial Genius Inside You.”

There was one more thing Scott said on The Jimmy Rex Show podcast that I would like to share. He said that he gave me a shout out. To be precise, he said, “I gave a shout out to you as the best financial book I read out of 12 books.” What a heartwarming shout out and what a great reward.

Our World in Perspective

One of my good, long-term friends, Richard Biasetti, sent me the following. I thought it was super great info, so I wanted to share it with you. I hope you like it as much as I did! Richard is a great guy I met many, many years ago when we both lived in Ankara, Turkey!

Earth’s Population Statistics in Perspective

The population of Earth is around 7.8 billion. For most people, this is a large figure. However, if you condensed 7.8 billion into 100 persons and then converted that into various statistics about where and how people live, the resulting analysis is much easier to comprehend. So, out of 100 people:

11 are in Europe
5 are in North America
9 are in South America
15 are in Africa
60 are in Asia

49 live in the countryside
51 live in cities

75 have mobile phones
25 do not

30 have internet access
70 do not have the availability to go online

7 received a university education
93 did not attend college

83 can read
17 are illiterate

33 are Christians
22 are Muslims
14 are Hindus
7 are Buddhists
12 are other religions
12 have no religious beliefs

26 will live less than 14 years
66 will die between 15 – 64 years of age
8 are over 65 years old

What do these statistics tell us?

Well, if you can read, have a mobile phone, can surf the internet, and have gone to college, you are in a minuscule privileged lot — in that less than 7% category. Those privileges are something to be truly grateful for.

Of our 100 persons in the world, only 8 will live or exceed the age of 65. If you are over 65 years old, if you did not leave this world before the age of 64 like 92 other people will, this knowledge this should help you be content & grateful. It tells us to cherish life, grasp the moment, for you are immensely blessed amongst mankind.

It often helps to look at our life from a relative perspective compared to what other people have and endure. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t all work to build the best life we can, but we also should take time to appreciate what we have.

A Healthy Appreciation

Wow, this was a very ironic coincidence. Last week I talked about health, how important it is in our lives, and what we can do to be healthier and to stay healthy, increasing our lifespan. Just after that blog posted, I received a call from my doctor. The results of some tests they had done on me a few days before had come back and it wasn’t very good news.

It all started when, recently, I noticed that I was tiring more readily, that my long walks each day left me out of breath. I needed to stop and rest about every 50 or 100 steps. Well, the tests showed that my heart, quite suddenly, was not pumping near enough blood. Ouch. That was scary to hear!

So, with this latest news, I certainly got a big wake-up call. I am determined to beat this health challenge and take more time to be grateful and appreciative of any and all good health. Plus, I am determined to work on everything I can to improve and fix all aspects of my health. This made me realize that I’ve been taking my good health and conditioning totally for granted. I really haven’t stopped to think about, and to be grateful for, the good health I have. Again, I was totally taking all this for granted.

In a few days, I’m scheduled to go to the hospital to have an angiogram. That test will tell me and the docs if there is a blockage in my veins. If there is, they will most likely put in a stent. The good news, which I’ve found from talking to a few people that have had this kind of procedure, is that, most of the time, the stent got their heart and life right back to normal.

Talk about greatly appreciating the doctors, researchers, and inventors who came up with the angiogram machines, tests, and stents that can solve the problem! I am double and triple impressed by what they’ve accomplished. I’ll never take those advancements, and the many other medical miracles happening every day, for granted again.

All of us humans need to, more regularly, take time to look at our lives and be grateful for all the great people and great ideas that have helped us. When we increase our gratitude and appreciation, it lifts our lives and makes us happier and helps us to help those friends and family around us. I certainly will be spending more time looking at my life and giving more and more thanks, appreciation, and gratitude for all that good stuff!

Before We Lose It

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how I had no idea how important the social aspect of my life was until the pandemic hit. That made me realize just how much I valued my face-to-face conversations and hanging out with my friends. It also hurt that our annual trip to Europe and other counties was gone. We’ve met so many wonderful people and made so many new friends on those trips as well.

Most of us take way too much for granted and don’t take the time to be as grateful as we should be for what we have. But when one of those great things in our lives is suddenly taken away… wow, we certainly notice how much we appreciate those things when they are gone. 

Something that I took for granted for far too long was my daily long walk and comparing my daily steps total to my previous daily steps. As I’ve written before, I have given myself a minimum goal of 20,000 steps a day, although I usually go well over that. I use a super great gift my wife gave me years ago, a Fitbit, that counts each step I take and gives me weekly totals. That little device enhanced and lifted my life. It’s helped me stay fit, even now as the ripe age of 80 approaches, less than 3 years away.

Well, that little device that pushed me to regularly walk my 20,000 plus steps a day was a big deal and I totally took for granted what it was pushing me to do until recently. I got hit in the head several months back, which laid me up for a while. 

Then, just this last week, I had a big trip and fall at 2:30 in the morning. I hit my right knee so hard that I could hardly walk the next day and for many days to follow. The few steps I did try to take were too painful, so I would find myself in bed or sitting in a chair all day long. Ugh. Even taking a pain pill didn’t help much. Double ugh! 

That is when it hit me like a brick that I’ve taken the ability to walk without pain totally for granted. I know this happens to many of us when we get injured, but shouldn’t we start to appreciate what we have before we lose it?

I think all of us should take time to consider all the great things in our lives that we are just taking for granted. I talked about that here on my blog before. Back then, I made a list of the many things that I was taking for granted, but perhaps it’s time for an update.

I suggest now, as I did then, that all of us consider making or updating a list of that kind so we have time to enjoy and appreciate what we have while we have it. Doing so has the potential to make us more content as we begin to truly recognize all the great things we have in our lives. 

You can look at my prior list to help you start building your own. It’s in my post from 4/16/2020. You might also want to read or re-read what I posted on 11/29/2020 for an additional reminder. 

Time to Appreciate

As I was walking down our very long driveway to pick up the garbage cans, I looked up at the same sky I see every day, but this time I focused in on the absolutely beautiful blueness and the great billowy white clouds. It almost took my breath away. 

Probably the biggest reason that I was so moved is because for the last few days we’ve had thick, ugly, smoke-filled air caused by the huge fires in the western part of Utah and from all the way over on the west coast. Seeing the beautiful blue sky I had missed over the previous days just made me really appreciate it.

While I admired our clear skies, the thought hit me that there are so many times in our lives that we just take things for granted. The truth is, we often don’t really appreciate them until they are taken away from us.

That was certainly the case for me when the pandemic restrictions started to be pulled back. The lock downs took away my social life and, as I wrote several posts back, the pandemic restrictions made me realize how very important my social life and friends are in my life.

So, up until the day all that dirty air and smoke hit our city and state, I took all that good clean air for granted. Ugh! But now, wow, I notice and totally appreciate our beautiful sky and clear air. 

After this mental breakthrough, I started making a list of the many things I love but don’t always take time to appreciate. Here’s part of that list. The first 6 are all good “F” words:

1. Family, especially my wife

2. Friends

3. Freedom

4. Finances

5. Fun

6. Future

7. Health

8. A brain that works fairly well. (Okay, my wife may dispute that one!)

9. Home

10. Country

11. Nature

12. Kindness

I think I need to make more and more lists and review those lists and on a regular basis. I am sure that will lift my spirts and my life. I would encourage and challenge you to do the same!

The Power of Gratitude

It looks like we are slowly getting this COVID thing fixed, or at least we are making some progress. I must admit, I’m a pretty lucky guy. Not only did all my family make it through with no super serious problems, but there were some great rewards and big payments that lifted my brain and heart.

There is one type of big payment that comes to me constantly that I am so very grateful for. And no, I’m not talking about financial payments but something much more rewarding and pleasing, something that lifts my brain to a higher level. I’m talking about the messages of gratitude that so many of my blog and book readers send to me because the things I shared in my writing helped their lives.

There’s not a lot of things more rewarding in this life than gratitude and love from friends, family, and followers. I just received a great letter from a guy who calls himself Fixer Jay DeCima who thanked me for helping him. He writes books and training programs on profiting in real estate. You can find them at www.fixerjay.com. Also, there is the super billionaire, Dell Loy Hansen, that gives me credit for him making a fortune. His letter crediting me is in the front of the latest edition of my book, The Next Step to… Waking up the Financial Genius inside You.

These notes of thanks and words of gratitude come in randomly and, yep, they certainly lift my mind, body, and soul. There is almost nothing like that feeling in the world, and it’s so much more important than money. If you have experienced helping other people and then receiving thanks and gratitude from them, you know what I mean.

Also, this darn COVID thing has taught me a lot of lessons about the power and mind lifting benefit of being social and, especially, giving your friends and loved ones big hugs. Our social life and these experiences with gratitude and love drive, in a good way, our existence here on planet earth.

Now I’m not one to say that I know what happens to us after we die. I don’t know whether there is a next life or if we will live again with family and friends, but I do know that only a fool wouldn’t at least hope for that. So, my challenge to myself, and you, is that we take more time to express our gratitude and appreciation for other people and remember that these things are so important for a happy and fulfilling life on this planet earth.

Of Gratitude and Appreciation

A few days ago, after returning from California where I had a wonderful, belated 75th birthday celebration with all my kids and grandkids, I was walking out in front of the airport looking for an Uber driver when suddenly, a lady walked right in front of me, pulling a suitcase on wheels that tripped me and smashed me onto the concrete.

Next thing I knew, I woke up, flat on my back and was looking up at a policeman, a security guard, and about 8 or 10 other people staring down at me asking if I was alright. I finally answered and said that I thought I was okay. They asked if they should call the paramedics, but I said, “No, I think I’m okay.” However, I wasn’t.

Throughout the day, the pain in my left arm and rib cage kept getting worse. So, my wife, Kimberly, drove me to a medical clinic and the x-rays showed a broken rib and severely damaged left shoulder. And to add to my misery, a few days later I had terrible stomach problems with even more pain so that I could hardly get out of bed.

So, what’s the point of this story? Bad things like this can be, and many times are, good lessons that we need to learn from. What is learned, if anything, in cases like this?  It’s fascinating to me that it often takes bad stuff happening to us humans to pound into our brains that thing called gratitude as well as an appreciation for all the good times we have had with few problems — everything from our good health, to our family, friends, finances, and freedom that we have in this great country.

After this latest accident and minor health setback I came across a list that I wrote in my journal on June 27th, 2013. My list was entitled “What I Am Grateful For”. From time to time I read down that list, and it lifts my spirits and my appreciation of what I have, big time.

Here is my list. I hope you also have written or will decide to write your own “Gratitude and appreciation list”. I highly recommend it and be sure to review if from time to time. You will see that it can lift your mind, your spirts and your life to a higher level, especially when you need it most.

I AM SO VERY GRATEFUL FOR …

• A wonderful, loving wife.
• A wonderful life.
• Great kids and grandkids.
• My beautiful view from our house of the valley and mountains.
• Super vacations and world travel.
• Warm and helpful friends.
• Financial stability.
• Incredible health … most of the time.
• A fairly clear-thinking brain.
• Discovery of the power of “self affirmations”.
• My super great mentors that helped me so much.
• The deer and coyotes we’ve seen in our yard.
• The moose I saw while hiking in the mountains.
• My wonderful work staff.
• My thoughts for writing my blog and the positive feedback I receive.
• A very warm and comfortable bed.
• Our beautiful Kauai home and time spent there in the winter.
• A cuddling, warm wife.
• The great Wimbledon tennis matches I’ve attended.
• My ex-wife’s love of Kimberly and vice versa.

Again, I hope you go make your own list if you haven’t already. Having boundless gratitude and appreciation, even for the little things in life truly does enhance a person’s life. Do it. You won’t be sorry.

 

A Beautiful Life Now

If someone is really rude and totally offends you but then later offers a very sincere apology, most of us would probably forgive that person and move on with our lives. However, when most of us human beings make a mistake or screw something up, in many cases we will not forgive ourselves and so we carry that guilt around for days or years and that can hurt us in so many ways.

Quoting from Pema Chodron’s Living Beautifully, a great book that I’ve quoted before, “Over time, as thinking minds begin to settle, we’ll start to see our patterns and habits far more clearly. This can be an experience. I can’t overestimate the importance of accepting ourselves exactly as we are right now, not as we wish we were or think we ought to be. By cultivating nonjudgmental openness to ourselves and to whatever arises, to our surprise and delight we will find ourselves genuinely welcoming the never-pin-downable quality of life, experiencing it as a friend, a teacher and a support and no longer as an enemy.”

Pema talks a lot about acceptance of ourselves and the world as it is and how we should appreciate it as it is now. She talks about what she calls the “third commitment”, which is key to this kind of acceptance and appreciation. (You need to read her book to find out what the first and second commitment are and how they can greatly improve a person’s life.) To quote her again, “The everyday practice is simply to develop a complete acceptance and openness to all situations and emotions, without mental reservations and blockages, so that one never withdraws or centralizes into oneself.” She goes on to add that, “The attitude of the third commitment is that we live in a world that is intrinsically good, intrinsically awake, and our path is to realize this. Simply put, the practice at this stage is to turn toward your experience, all of it, and never turn away.

Pema talks a lot about being kind to others especially to ourselves. She talks about the process of growing-up and working toward feeling totally relaxed and free. She says, “that process, that transition, is one of becoming comfortable with exactly what we’re feeling as we feel it. The key practice to support us in this is mindfulness–being fully present right here, right now. Meditation is one form of mindfulness, but mindfulness is called by many names: attentiveness, nowness, and presence are just a few.”

Pema Chodron further explains that we need to pay attention to all the details of our life. “The specific details of our lives will, of course, differ, but for all of us, wakefulness concerns everything from how we make dinner to how we speak to one another to how we take care of our clothes, our floors, our forks and spoons”.

I think the bottom line is, if we pay more attention to the details of our lives it will give us more ways to free ourselves and that can help us free ourselves from suffering. So, we need to accept ourselves, appreciate our life as it is now, and pay attention. And we need to do all that, right now.

Self-Interest That Helps the World

Last week I wrote about how giving to others can and does lift your life and brings more happiness, contentment, and even better health and a longer life. It must have motivated me to practice what I was preaching because later I found myself in my car driving to the high school that all my kids attended and going straight to the office where I made a pretty sizable donation. As I walked out of the building, I felt so good and happy in the center of my heart and brain that I headed for another school. I made a couple more donations that day and felt like I was on top of the world.

It’s very interesting that when I make donations, including all those $2 bills that I often give to kids, I always feel that I get much more out of it than the recipient. What a great feeling it gives me! As science has proved, there is a great connection between the brain and the body. This allows us humans to help and improve our entire physical being by what we run through our heads. Giving is one of those things that can set off a lot of good positive feelings in our bodies.

Most of us, when we talk about giving, tend to think primarily in terms of giving money. But there are so many other ways and things to give. With very little effort, I came up with this list of things we can give to others that can be a huge help to those people and, at the same time, can give a lift to our brains, souls, and bodies.

After you read through my list, see what other things you can think of that can be given to others. These gifts can be given to your kids, grand kids, other relatives, and friends as well as strangers. Then let’s all of us push ourselves to give more. Choose as many items on the list as you feel so inclined to give. Yes, we do need to push ourselves to do this especially on days we might be feeling a bit down. But on those down days it can be a great help to lift us up as we lift others.

Okay, let’s work on giving more of some or all of these:

1. Money $$$
2. Good Advice
3. Direction/Coaching
4. Mentoring
5. Appreciation
6. Encouragement
7. Praise
8. Complements
9. Attention
10. Friendship
11. Wisdom
12. Our time
13. Help
14. Service
15. Love

I’m sure I left off many things that we can give to others but at least this is a start. This list has been motivating me to give more of these gifts to others and now my mind pops up with sayings like: “Give, Give, Give and Live, Live, Live. Give a little, live a little, give a lot, and live a lot. Give big and live big”. I know all this may sound kind of selfish, but maybe it’s a good thing that our brains are designed that way, because doesn’t that type of self-interest help the world?

 

Next Page »