February 18, 2009

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In This Issue

Featured Article: Accepting What Is

Announcements

Speaking Schedule

Daddy's Little Girls

Welcome to another issue of Appreciation in Action. I hope you and those around you are counting your blessings, appreciating all that you have, and acknowledging each other!

Thanks for being on my email list.  I am honored and grateful to get to connect with you this way every other week!

With Appreciation,

Accepting What Is

This week’s article definitely falls into the category of “we teach best what we most need to learn.”  For much of my life, and especially recently, I have struggled to accept certain things about myself, others, and life that I don’t like.  Being someone who is committed to change and transformation, the idea of “acceptance” has always seemed weak, wimpy, or like the admission of failure or powerlessness to me – although I have pretended to understand and believe in the power of acceptance for a long time.

The truth is, I have been scared to embrace acceptance – worrying that if I truly accept aspects of myself that I don’t like, things about others that bother me, or circumstances in my life and in the world that aren’t okay with me, then somehow I wouldn’t be motivated to change them in a positive way or, even worse, I would get resigned about them and they would always stay the way they are – which, of course, to me would be “bad” or “wrong.”

The famous quote by Carl Jung, which I have quoted in both of my books and find myself saying all the time comes to mind here, “What you resist, persists.”  It seems that I, and so many people I know, work with, and talk to, are constantly “resisting” (more like fighting against) the way things are in our lives.  Whether it’s with our body, our work, our spouse, our family members, our friends, our co-workers, our money, the state of the world and economy (especially these days), or many other things – we’re often arguing with reality instead of accepting it the way that it is.

Even though it can be scary and counter intuitive, acceptance is the first step in transformation.  It’s very difficult and quite stressful (as I know from a lifetime of experience) to try to change things from a place of non-acceptance.  Acceptance is not resignation or agreement; it is simply telling the truth and allowing things to be as they are.  When we accept ourselves, others, and life the way it is – we can create a real sense of peace and let go of much of our suffering.  And, from this place of peace and truth, we’re more able to not only appreciate life, but also to manifest the kind of circumstances, relationships, and outcomes we truly want.

Action:  What You Can Do

Make a list (in your mind, in your journal, or on a piece of paper) of some of the things in your life right now that are causing you the most stress, pain, or anxiety.  These things may have to do with people in your life, your work, money, health, things happening in the world, or anything else. 

As you think about or write these things down, ask yourself if you’re willing to “accept” them as they are right now.  You don’t have to like, agree with, or want them to be this way…but, if you can start to accept these things, people, and situations in a genuine way – your ability to be at peace with them (and your life) and ultimately to change them in a positive way will be enhanced significantly.

What can you do to accept things as they are in your life right now?  Share your thoughts on my blog here.

The Success Principles Workshop, by Jack Canfield
I just found out that my friend Jack Canfield, bestselling author of The Success Principles and co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books, is rolling out an all-new one-day training program in select cities around the country.  This practical, powerful, and life-altering workshop gives you access to the “best of the best” of Jack’s success principles – at a fraction of the price he normally charges for this type of training.  For more than thirty years Jack has been coaching and training individuals, entrepreneurs, educators and corporate leaders to accelerate the achievement of their personal and professional goals … live their dreams … and create more joy in their everyday lives.  For more information and to register, check out this link:
http://www.jackcanfield.com/cmd.php?Clk=2831062

Focus on the Good Stuff CD now available
I am very excited to announce that the CD version of my book, Focus on the Good Stuff, has been released and is now available!  The entire unabridged version of the book, read by me, is available in a four-disc set and can be purchased for a nice discount at Amazon.com by clicking here.

Where I’m Speaking:
Below is a list of where and when I’m speaking for the next few months.  Many of these events are for my corporate or organizational clients (i.e. not open to the public).  The ones in bold, however, are public events….many of which are connected with the launch of my new book, Be Yourself, Everyone Else is Already Taken, in April.  I hope to see you at one of these events!

For all upcoming public events, check out http://www.focusonthegoodstuff.com/publicevents.html.
If you live in any of the cities where I’ll be traveling and want to contact me about setting up a speaking engagement for your group or company while I’m in town, feel free to contact me. 

2/20/09 – San Francisco, CA

2/27/09 – San Francisco, CA

3/6/09 – San Francisco, CA

3/8/09 – San Francisco, CA (Unity Christ Church)

3/10/09 – San Francisco, CA

3/11/09 – San Francisco, CA

3/13/09 – San Francisco, CA

3/20/09 – Tucson, AZ

3/21/09 – Tucson, AZ

3/23/09 – Washington, DC

4/3/09 – Lake Tahoe, CA

4/8/09 – San Ramon, CA

4/13/09 – Walnut Creek, CA (Book Launch Event – Club Sport)

4/15/09 – San Francisco, CA (Books Inc.)

4/16/09 – Corte Madera, CA (Book Passage)

4/17/09 – Oakland, CA (A Great Good Place for Books)

4/21/09 – San Diego, CA

4/27/09 – Mountain View, CA (East West Books)

5/4/09 – Los Angeles, CA (Bodhi Tree Bookstore)

5/7/09 – Riverside, CA

5/15/09 – Santa Rosa, CA

Again, for a full list of my upcoming public events, check out: http://www.focusonthegoodstuff.com/publicevents.html.

“We appreciate each other…it’s fun being sisters!  And, we do our best to accept things as they are!”

- Samantha and Annarose Robbins