Mike Robbins' Appreciation in Action

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Inspiration:

"I wake up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes, this makes planning the day a little difficult."

-EB White

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July 8, 2008

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In This Issue

Featured Article: Have Fun!

Announcements

Speaking Schedule

Samantha's Corner

Greetings!

Welcome to another issue of Appreciation in Action. Again, we hope you like the new and improved format of the e-zine... I’m pretty excited about it! And, you may notice that you’re receiving this issue just two weeks after you got the last one. It’s my intention to send out a new issue every other Tuesday moving forward. Enjoy…

Thanks for being on my newsletter list; it’s such an honor for me to connect with you this way. I hope you and those around you are focusing on the good stuff and appreciating life!

With Appreciation,

PS... We've also updated my blog. Check it out and let me know your thoughts. It's my intention to use the blog as a place for you and I to interact on a more regular basis as I share random thoughts throughout each week.

Have Fun!

Sometimes in the course of daily living we have a tendency to get very "serious," have you noticed? It’s easy to get caught up in the perceived stresses of our lives, the things we worry about, the stuff we want to change, and the things (and people) that get on our nerves.

What if we had more fun? What if we made a commitment each day to find the good, to laugh as often as possible, and to have a great time doing whatever it is we’re doing? Regardless of what we do, we always have a choice about our attitude about it.

We don’t have to take ourselves or our lives too seriously. And, we can still remain committed to our families, our work, and all of the important things in our life that we’re passionate about. Bringing a sense of lightness and fun to what we do, our relationships, and all the aspects of our lives gives us energy, perspective, and freedom.

Things are not inherently "fun," “stressful,” or "boring," they are whatever we make them! Even when and if we’re dealing with some serious circumstances or situations in our lives, we can still bring a sense of genuine lightness and perspective to them, which almost always make them easier for us to deal with.

When we remember that the “fun” in our life is generated by us, not by others or even the specific activities we engage in, we’re empowered to make any situation, relationship, or activity enjoyable – if we choose to do so.

Enjoy this day and see if you can find different and creative ways to have fun. It’s up to you and if you make a conscious choice today (and any day) to have fun, it’s a pretty good bet you’ll have a good one!

Action: What You Can Do

Make a list (on paper or in your head) of some of the most “boring” or “stressful” aspects of your life or work right now. As you consider this list, see if you can find some aspects of these things that you can choose to have fun with. Challenge yourself to find and focus on the fun stuff in your life and see if you can actually have more fun doing these things.

> Interact - Share your thoughts on this article at my blog.

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Book Recommendation:

Fifteen Minutes of Shame,by Lisa Daily

My friend, Lisa Daily, has written a hilarious new novel called Fifteen Minutes of Shame. It’s a romantic comedy about what happens when America’s favorite TV love guru finds out her husband is cheating live, on national television. If she breaks her own zero-tolerance policy for cheaters and takes her philandering husband back, her career will be over. If she sticks to her own rules, she’ll lose the only man she’s ever loved.

I normally recommend non-fiction, self-help type books, but this one is really funny and a great read! To get the free $500 goodie bag that Lisa has put together, which includes, free mineral makeup, a free exercise video download, a one-month subscription to an online dating site, sneak peek chapters of not-yet-released books, audio downloads, and lots of other goodies, purchase Fifteen Minutes of Shame at Amazon.com where it’s currently bargain-priced under $10) and email your receipt to swagbag@lisadaily.com

International Happiness Day - July 10th
This Thursday, 7/10/08, is the first annual International Happiness Day! My friends and colleagues Jeanna Gabellini and Eva Gregory are the US Ambassadors for this day and are on a mission to have 1,000,000 people all focused on happiness on this day. Check out the link below to view a video with more information about this – it’s inspiring!

http://internationalhappinessday.com/

The Peace Alliance - Creating a Culture of Peace
I am the President of the Board of an incredible organization called The Peace Alliance. The mission of the Peace Alliance, which was founded by author Marianne Williamson, is to empower civic activism to create a culture of peace – here in the United States and around the world. Our current focus is a campaign to create cabinet-level U.S. Department of Peace within the federal government. It is inspiring and humbling to be a part of this incredible organization and mission. If you live in California or anywhere on the west coast and would like to attend out California Regional Conference, “A World Beyond Violence,” it’s coming up at the beginning of August (8/1 – 8/3) on the campus of UC Berkeley. For information about the conference, click on http://www.afdop.org/conference/

For those of you who can’t attend the conference or live in other parts of the country or the world, you can find out more about the inspiring work of The Peace Alliance and how you can get involved at:
http://www.thepeacealliance.org/

Below is a list of where I’m speaking for the next few months. Most of these events are for my corporate or organizational clients (i.e. not open to the public). The events listed in bold text below are at bookstores, churches, and other public venues which anyone can attend. I would love to see you or people you know at one of my public events. And, if you live in any of the cities where I will be traveling and want to contact me about setting up a speaking engagement for your group while I’m in town, feel free to contact me. Thanks! For more detailed information about my public events, feel free to visit:

www.focusonthegoodstuff.com/publicevents.html

7/9/08 – San Francisco, CA

7/10/08 – Concord, CA

7/16/08 – Salt Lake City, UT

7/17/08 – Salt Lake City, UT

7/23/08 – Concord, CA

7/24/08 – South San Francisco, CA

8/14/08 – San Francisco, CA

8/15/08 – San Francisco, CA

8/21/08 – San Francisco, CA

9/9/08 – Los Angeles, CA

9/11/08 – San Francisco, CA