Crystle Stewart, Miss USA 2008, the USA entrant in to the 2008 Miss Universe pageant, provides an excellent example of turning a problem into an Opportunity.  She tripped over some beads on her dress during the judging process which would be considered by most as a very embarrassing and unfortunate event.

 Imagine working for months and maybe years to get to a very important time and event and then something goes terribly wrong in front of millions of viewers!  Well let’s consider how Miss USA handled it.

She is a motivational speaker and gives a character education program in a New York City school.  She said she plans to turn her mishap into a lesson.

“I’ll be talking to my students about it when I get back,” she said. “Sometimes you fall in life, not just in the pageant but financially or emotionally. It’s not about the fall but how you pick yourself up.”  How true! She is determined not to let the bad situation or ridicule bring her down.  She will use this as an opportunity to help others. 

Later she said:“I know I’ll get through it and that there are bigger and better things to come.” Those bigger and better things might very well come from the grace and generosity with which she handled this problem.  But even if nothing else comes of that she has honored her loved ones and all of us by the way she handled herself. 

Thank you Miss USA for a sparkling example!

Jerry W. Willis

www.jerrywwillis.com

Tim Russert Died

by Jerry W. Willis

6/14/08

The best tribute I can pay to anyone is to say that he was the type of person that I would like to be remembered as being.  Tim Russert was one of those type people for me.

He exemplified the values that I am writing about in my book.  His life exemplifies the type of life that I aspire to and hope that my friends and family aspire to.   Not the fame and fortune but the type of person, the type of love, the type of family and the type of family pride that he advanced with his life. 

He loved his family history, his parents, his wife and son and honored them by being the best that he could be in the type of work he loved best.  He was widely admired and respected for his integrity, fairness, good humor, humility and perspective on life and for his work of reporting on politics.  He was excellent at his work because of his love for his job and career and because of the solid foundation of those family values that he learned from his parents.

Tim honored his Dad immensely by his book, Big Russ and Me and the success of that act of honesty and love gave him the opportunity to honor millions of other families in the follow-up book, The Wisdom of Our Fathers. 

Tim told the story that after the first book was published, he learned that his son, Luke, had gotten a tattoo, and he immediately expressed his disappointment in his son for getting a tattoo without first discussing it with him.  Luke raised his arm and showed the initials of his Dad and Granddad, TJR, tattooed on his side, then told him “I just wanted to have you and Granddad on my side.”  Honor, respect, love and pride demonstrated so clearly in so few words and in the pure intentions of his act.

I will miss Tim Russert.  He was one of my favorite people on the Sunday morning talk shows that I enjoy so much because I get to listen to such sharp people.  And he was one of the sharpest.

Luke, I know that you will miss him terribly but I know that you will honor him and your family by the way you live your life.  You have a father and a family to be very proud of.  The fact that he died so close to Father’s Day will keep him even closer to you and your family and remind you of the way he would want all of you to live your lives.

Love,

Jerry W. Willis

www.jerrywwillis.com

http://thelifeofyourdreamsbooks.com

We all feel disappointments in our lives from time to time.  The reaction we get from others about things that are important to us is disappointing, sometimes even when it is very positive.  But because it did not fulfill our expectations it resulted in disappointment or we lose our enthusiasm for a bit.

This kind of thing happens when we are thinking in terms of expectations instead of possibilities.  So what if someone didn’t react the way you were expecting and hoping?  Things like that are going to happen in your life over and over.  But if your goals are understood to be only a possibility for another higher purpose then you can easily bounce back and get back on track. 

When things like that happen get away from it all maybe by just taking a comfortable drive alone in your car.  Go back to your dream of the legacy of your life.  How does this disappointment affect that legacy? 

Actually it does it no harm at all!  In fact it is an opportunity to enhance that legacy by your example to your loved ones of how you handled disappointments and turned them around into positive possibilities.

Then review the situation objectively without any of the disappointment thinking.  What are the cold hard facts and realities?  Did you do something with the wrong intentions or did you have unrealistic expectations?  What are all the positive results that came from that unexpected reaction and situation? 

Make a list of all the positive possibilities of how you could turn this situation into something powerful for yourself and your loved ones.  What are all of the positive ways that you can think of that will enhance the big possibility of the legacy of your life and help your loved ones and others?

Now begin to select the best ones of these and focus on what you can start doing right now to make that possibility come to life, to be exciting and powerful and fun.  That is an example of how to use the ideas toward the life of your dreams in everyday life when you feel disappointments. Visit this site regularly for more blogs about how these ideas can be used in your life. 

And, go to the following link, fill in your name and email address and click the submit button and you’ll receive a link to download our free e-workbook immediately. It will help you start thinking in terms of exciting new possibilities for your life, which is the first step in believing you “can” do and have what you want out of life.  

Go to:  http://jerrywwillis.com/_mgxroot/page_10744.html and submit your information to receive a free E-Workbook to start the journey to the Life of Your Dreams.  While you are there review the www.jerrywwillis.com website to learn how to order the book explaining “A PIL for Happier Kids (and Parents) - A Purpose in Life that makes sense to people like me”.

Love,

Jerry W. Willis

www.jerrywwillis.com

http://thelifeofyourdreamsbooks.com

I have a brother-in-law I love. He has a wonderful sense of humor and a very strong interest in the political issues of our country. He obviously has a lot of time on his hands because he is retired. But what does he do? He works like mad to send out humor about political issues of the day to his family and friends. I’ll bet he is just like me in that he ‘works’ longer hours now than when he had a job, yet he loves every minute of it. Life is good when you are doing what you love!

One of the key ideas in my new book is that it is part of everyone’s Purpose in Life to help their loved ones and others in the world realize their potential. So I have suggested to my brother-in-law the possibility of setting up a website/blogsite/newsletter like mine, where he can share his great humor and political ideas and love with many more people. And I will do my best to help him every step of the way.

Now think about the implications if he were to follow through and bring these possibilities into being.

He would:

1. Find great energy and excitement in being able to share his ideas with more people.

2. See new possibilities open up. For example, later he might write a book to share his ideas with even more people.

3. Have the possibility of making a lot of money while doing what he loves and does for free right now.

4. Develop new ways (possibilities) to impact our country by his influence – making a positive and powerful difference for his loved ones and others!

5. Possibly help all of his loved ones realize their potential by his example and by sharing with them some of the money he made.

6. Be living the life of his dreams!

That’s what these ideas offer as a possibility to all of us.

To learn more about possibility thinking and how it is just one step in building a life and career around the things you love most, receive our new free e-workbook, Starting the Journey to the Life of Your Dreams.  

Go to:  http://jerrywwillis.com/_mgxroot/page_10744.html and submit your information to receive a free E-Workbook to start the journey to the Life of Your Dreams.  While you are there review the www.jerrywwillis.com website to learn how to order the book explaining “A PIL for Happier Kids (and Parents) - A Purpose in Life that makes sense to people like me”.

Many people want to change their lives, yet they just don’t know how. Here’s a reader who wants to make a BIG life change:

I need to change my life! Currently I work as a restaurant supervisor at a large hotel here in California. I have this dream to work in London. I don’t have any savings at this point. How can I make this dream a reality? I am 52 years young. Thanks!

Wow! It’s good to see that you know what you want, and you are fairly specific about this. You want to live and work in London. If you work as a restaurant supervisor at a large hotel in California, it should be “doable” to find a similar job in London, if that is what you want. However, you need to start doing your homework right now.

You don’t mention whether or not you have ever been to London. If you haven’t actually traveled there, you might first start saving for a trip to London to see if it really is the place you’ve been dreaming about. Then, once you’re there, you can do some investigating. Find out what you need to do in order to move to England and work there. If you travel there, it will be easier to find out this information.

No doubt, you will need some sort of work permit and you might need to actually have a job set up in England first in order to get this permit. But you might be able to get a permit once you get there and start searching for a job. Either way, you need to know this before you can make other plans. So, either make plans to travel there to get more information or use the Internet to find out as much as you can about what is required to live and work in London.

Next, do you work for a chain of hotels? If so, could you be transferred to their London hotel and work in the restaurant there? Find out.

You don’t say whether you want to stay in the same line of work that you’re in now. So maybe you would like to do other work in London. Figure out what type of work you really, really want to do in London. Then, start searching for that type of work on the internet. There are all sorts of job boards. Just scout around on them to see what types of positions are available.

You might also find an online forum with members who live in London. Is there a forum where people talk about the best restaurants, hotels, etc. in London? If so, join it and just “listen” to the conversations there for a few weeks. Eventually, introduce yourself and tell people about your plan to move to London without giving them too much personal information. You might be surprised at how helpful people can and will be.

Any kind of move will require money. Figure out what it will cost to move to London. You don’t say whether you will have household items and furniture to take with you or whether you’d be happy renting a room in someone’s home or you hope to find a furnished apartment. Consider all the possibilities, then see which is the most “doable” option for you at this point. It might not be the ideal housing arrangement at first. But if it will allow you to live in London (which is your dream), once you have worked there for a few months and have accumulated some cash, you can find other options.

You might also look for other online forums related to relocating, then you can find out how other people decided to make a big life change by moving to another country.

Everyone has dreams. But to make those dreams come true you have to start taking action. But taking action can be fun! And, once you start to take action to make your dreams come true, you’ll be suprised at all the assistance that seems to start coming your way.

In my new book, The Life of Your Dreams - Building Your Life and Career Around the Things You Love Most - you’ll find out how realizing your life’s purpose can help you attain the life of your dreams - whether that life is in California or England. The book will be available in 2008, so we hope you’ll read it.

Good Luck!

Go to:  http://jerrywwillis.com/_mgxroot/page_10744.html and submit your information to receive a free E-Workbook to start the journey to the Life of Your Dreams.  While you are there review the www.jerrywwillis.com website to learn how to order the book explaining “A PIL for Happier Kids (and Parents) - A Purpose in Life that makes sense to people like me”.

The other day my wife, Nanette, and I were talking. I said something I want to share here because it is part of my message of living the life of your dreams.

Nanette loves decorating and designing. And me - well not so much. I love money and the ideas I am sharing in my book. And Nanette - well, not so much.

I said something like this: “Nanette, you know how you love decorating and designing things? When you wake up in the morning the first thing you do is look around the room and see things you would like to do and change. When you see me, the first thing you think about is whether my clothes match or not ( which they sometimes don’t). Well, that’s the way I am about the ideas in my new book and about money. These ideas are just part of me, like the way you feel about decorating and designing things is part of you.”

Now, here’s what I’d like to share with you who are reading this right now. I realize I will never become that interested in decorating or designing things. And Nanette will never be as interested in writing and money the way I am. But the beauty of our relationship is that we accept and celebrate our uniqueness, the things that make both of us who we are, even though we are very different in many ways.

The first thing I think of when I wake up is my new book and how I hope to get my message across to people everywhere. I used to wake up and the first thing I thought of was something about money and savings, but this new message has taken its place because it brings together all the things I’ve thought and wondered about my entire life.

Each of us is born with certain unique interests and we just naturally think of them. We haven’t chosen them over people and other things in our lives. They just are. When these thoughts and ideas are accepted and encouraged it makes us even happier.

The Bible calls them “talents.” Best-selling author Barbara Sher has the same message - that we are each to bring out those interests and find our work related to them. She isn’t advocating changing your spouse, just how you spend more of your time. It is motivating and energizing and fun!

My message is the same. We are to find and recognize those talents, our unique potentials, and bring them forth because that is where happiness lives for us. In my mind at least, my message extends the concept that we are to do the things we love but to do them with the purpose of being “in service to” our loved ones. I am to think how bringing forth my best potential at this time is, and can also be, a blessing to my loved ones. Then I am to help them do the same, which means to help them bring forth their talents in service to their loved ones. That is Love (the verb), and it is part of the never ending Circle of Love.

That’s also the Christmas message, which sometimes gets lost in the process of the cultural ritual of buying and giving gifts. The purpose of gifts is to make the person happy. But we all have so many material things. What will make us happiest is acceptance and support as we find and bring forth our potentials.

Happy holidays,

Jerry W. Willis

Go to:  http://jerrywwillis.com/_mgxroot/page_10744.html and submit your information to receive a free E-Workbook to start the journey to the Life of Your Dreams.  While you are there review the www.jerrywwillis.com website to learn how to order the book explaining “A PIL for Happier Kids (and Parents) - A Purpose in Life that makes sense to people like me”.

Love,

Jerry W. Willis

www.jerrywwillis.com

http://thelifeofyourdreamsbooks.com