We just launched our latest collaborative book, 365 Soulful Messages: The Right Guidance at the Right Time, so I’ve been swimming in a sea of powerful messages, amazing stories, and soulful authors.

I’m so grateful to everyone who came together to make this book (the fifth and final volume of our 365 Book Series) so special, making it a #1 bestseller, and letting me share these life-changing experiences.

Although all of this book’s stories and messages are ultimately uplifting and inspiring, many of them grew out of difficult situations. This was the case with the story I contributed, which I’d like to share with you here:

…

On April 26, 2011, we found Elsie in a vacant lot near our house. After Jodi lured her over with a can of cat food, our new friend was more than happy to be carried home. A trip to the vet revealed that she had been spayed and seemed young (about one year old), healthy, and well cared for – so we were surprised that no one responded to the “Found Cat” posters we put up around the neighborhood and online.

Our tabby “foundling” quickly became an integral part of our family – a daughter, a friend, and also a teacher who modeled how to live with joy, love, and appreciation. She took pleasure in every little thing: a soft bed, a cardboard box to sit on (or in), a patch of sunlight (which she always managed to find), a few minutes of playing with a toy, and (as we already knew) a plate of canned food. Most of all, she seemed to appreciate just being around us. Because she followed Jodi wherever she went, we called her “Mama’s little duckling.”

She and I also developed a special bond. She loved sitting on my lap and kneading my stomach as I read, lying in my fuzzy guitar case as I played, and connecting each morning during our “sunshine perch” ritual, when I’d put her on top of her kitty condo, rub our heads together, and tell her how much I love her.

Sadly, on February 10, 2019, she suffered a massive stroke and passed away shortly thereafter – with Jodi and I petting her head and telling her how much we love her…forever.

Shocked and devastated, we wanted to hold on to our memories of her, which we decided to write down. We had many notebooks (which we use in our business), so we got to take our pick from a number of possibilities. We considered one that was covered in hearts (fitting because of how much we love her) and one with a butterfly on the front (also fitting, albeit bittersweet, given her recent transition). But the one we decided to use felt just right because of the three simple words on the cover, which perfectly encapsulate Elsie’s ongoing message for us: “Enjoy every moment.”

…

P.S. If you’d like to read 364 other stories of loving guidance, soulful signs, and inspiring messages, please visit www.365soulfulmessages.com to learn all about our new book and the 35+ bonus gifts you’ll receive if you order now (meditations, ebooks, videos, and more – all contributed by the co-authors).

Also, if you’d like to read more by authors on our blog tour, you can check out these posts from yesterday and today (and come back tomorrow for the ones scheduled for 11/21):

• Jodi Chapman – http://www.jodichapman.com
• Mimi Quick – http://www.mimiquick.com
• Lore Raymond – www.LoreRaymond.com
• Chanin Zellner – www.thelightvessel.com
• Mohamed Rachadi – www.morachadi.com

• Janet Nestor – http://www.mindfulpathways.com
• Karen Stillman – https://www.facebook.com/karen.kieke

• Debbie Labinski – www.debbielabinski.com
• Joy Resor – https://joyonyourshoulders.com
• Melissa Monroe – www.melissa-monroe.com

…

I hope you’ll order the book for yourself and/or others (it makes a great holiday gift!) — and, above all, that you’ll feel uplifted, inspired, and on the lookout for the soulful messages in your own life!

Around Halloween, you have to be careful flipping through the channels, or you might end up unexpectedly landing on a horror movie — no fun at all…unless you like to be scared.

I don’t.

I hate it. Which is why I’ve only watched a handful of horror movies in my entire life — a few when I was a kid (usually at a friend’s house on Halloween) and once when I got dragged to the theater for The Blair Witch Project — and none at all for the last 20 years.

Fortunately, I don’t remember much from this small sampling, but there is one horror movie that has stuck in my mind for over two decades: Cube, a low-budget 1997 Canadian film that follows six people trapped inside a giant cube with thousands of rooms. (Some people might consider it more of a psychological thriller or simply sci-fi, but by my tame standards, it definitely qualifies as horror.)

If you share my horror for horror, don’t worry — this post doesn’t go into any gory details (although it does contain a spoiler). But I do want to explore one scene that still scares me on a deep level:

At the end of the film, several characters manage to find the exit to this nightmarish 3D labyrinth — quite a feat, given that the rooms frequently move (sort of like a giant, hollowed-out Rubik’s cube being turned by an invisible hand). However, one of the characters hesitates in front of the exit; another one encourages him to get out while they have the chance. Suffice to say, neither of them makes it out. (One does though: the movie ends with him stepping into the bright light of the world beyond the cube).

So, why does this scene scare me so much? It’s not because I ever expect to be in a life-or-death situation where time is of the essence (such as having mere moments to jump from a sinking ship onto a lifeboat — or escape from a giant mechanical cube) but because it resonates with a psychological truth I feel on a deep level: Open windows don’t stay open forever.

It reminds me of an old Zen saying (or “gatha“):

Let me respectfully remind you,
Life and death are of supreme importance.
Time swiftly passes by, and opportunity is lost.
Each of us should strive to awaken…
Awaken! Take heed. Do not squander your life.

I first heard these words after a meditation session at Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, NY. It sent chills down my spine (and still does), especially the line “Time swiftly passes by, and opportunity is lost.”

Yes, I know the feel-good aphorisms: “One door closes, and another one opens. God never closes a door without opening a window. It’s never too late to pursue your dreams.” But sometimes it is too late to pursue certain dreams (e.g., a teenage gymnast probably can’t set aside her Olympic ambitions until middle age). Life changes. The cube moves. Doors close. Yes, new ones open — but certain doors remain closed forever. Certain once-in-a-lifetime opportunities truly are once in a lifetime.

Fortunately, most of these situations are not a matter of literal life and death, as it was in Cube. Oftentimes, however, it is a matter of life and death for a dream. When you miss these opportunities, dreams die. Or, worse yet, they don’t die — they remain dreams, forever trapped inside you instead of breaking out into external reality (like the lone escaper of the cube). They haunt you — worse than any horror movie could do.

So, rather than simply losing sleep over this grim closing scene, I choose to see it as a motivational cautionary tale — reminding me (in the words of Steve Winwood’s 1980 ditty), “While you see a chance, take it.” Yes, there will be other chances in your life — perhaps even more chances to pursue this particular opportunity.

But perhaps not.

So, please don’t find yourself near the end of your life (or at any point in your life), looking back with regret over chances not taken, opportunities not pursued while you had the chance, desirable doors that closed before you walked through them. If you’re feeling called to pursue a dream and you have the opportunity to do so, please do it — now, while the window is open.

Live.

It’s one thing to pay lip service to the warm-fuzzy aphorism “When the world gives you lemons, make lemonade”; it’s quite another to put this sentiment into action, but that’s what our local library did last month. Here’s what happened–and what I took away from it:

The Lemons

Last month, someone smashed eight windows in our local public library. I happened to go to the library later that day and saw the broken windows as well as glass all over the sidewalk, which made it dangerous to walk into the library. There was also glass inside the library, forcing them to close off several aisles–including my favorite nonfiction area with all the positive psychology books, which is what I’d gone to the library hoping to check out!

Later that day, the library staff put up some plywood, which was an eyesore, but at least it protected the library from the cold and rain. A few weeks later, they closed the library for a day and replaced the windows.

Crimes like this almost never happen in our quiet little town, which is populated mainly by beach-loving retirees, so I was shocked, saddened, and  perplexed by the vandalism–especially when I learned that it  wasn’t the work of a teenage troublemaker but an adult. Although I consider myself a fairly creative person, I simply couldn’t imagine why anyone would turn their destructive wrath against–of all places–the public library.

(I later learned that the vandal was a disgruntled patron who’d been banned from the library for inappropriate behavior, so they broke the windows as revenge–thereby proving that the library had been correct in their judgment.)

Anyway, on to the positive side of the story:

The Lemonade

While waiting for the windows to be repaired, the community wanted to cover the broken windows not just with plywood but also with something uplifting. So the library set up a selection of pens, paints, crayons, and other markers next to eight large panels (the size of the windows), each with a question for people to respond to, such as:

• What makes you laugh?
• What is your favorite book, character, or author?
• What do you love about where you live?
• What do you want to share with the world?

Community members of all ages soon filled these panels with uplifting pictures and words. For instance, here are a few responses to the last question:

• Hope
• Love
• Animals are awesome!
• Don’t judge somebody just because they’re small.
• I’m already sharing my amazing kids who contribute so much to their community.
• That wonderful feeling of peace when the first thought of the day is “Thank you.”
• Purple is the best color ever!

The panels stayed up for several weeks–filling with more and more positive pictures and uplifting artwork–until the new windows were installed.

The Takeaway

It may sound trite, but this experience really did remind me that even an act of senseless destruction can lead to something extremely positive. I know that, unfortunately, there will always be idiots–whether it’s a small group of hate-filled extremists or a single deranged individual carrying out a personal vendetta. And yes, they can cause damage. They can create a dangerous environment. And they can even cause a temporary shut-down of positive services (such as a library providing free books, art, and education).

But in the end, positivity wins. Hope wins. Goodness wins. Laughter and joy and learning and growth and art and creativity win. Love wins.

In this case (and many other cases), the spirit of positivity didn’t just balance out the destruction–it overwhelmed it! One act of destruction led to hundreds of positive messages seen by thousands of people. And this is the spirit that’s going to live on–long after the windows are replaced and the messages are moved. This is what prevails. This is what lasts. And, ultimately, this is what matters.

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a wonderful time celebrating the end of 2018 and the start of 2019!

Even though 2019 has just arrived, I’m already thinking about 2020…and it’s all Cat Deeley’s fault!

You see, last year I watched her show, This Time Next Year, in which people declared their intentions for what they wanted to accomplish over the course of the year…and immediately revealed whether or not they reached these goals.

In the show’s first segment, Cat interviewed them about their current life and what they’d like to be different in a year. Then the resolution-makers walked backstage and, mere moments later (for the TV audience), reemerged after a year had gone by (for them) — an apparent miracle of time travel (which I assume was an illusion created by filming the show’s first half and second half a year apart — although, with technology being what it is these days, you never know)! 😉

Regardless of the time-travel “miracle” (or post-production illusion), the real miracle was the transformation that so many of the participants made in their lives — from overcoming major physical challenges to gaining confidence and independence thanks to the help of a seeing-eye dog.

And, as the show’s producers undoubtedly intended, these transformations got me thinking about my own life, asking:

• Where do I want to be this time next year?
• What do I want my life to look like and feel like in a year?
• How do I want to be different?

When I imagine being on this show, I see myself emerging from the “Next Year”  entrance holding two books that I’ve written: one recently published book plus a completed manuscript of a new one.

More than the tangible results of the year, however, I see (and feel) myself radiating health, happiness, ease, and confidence. I’m smiling authentically, speaking and listening from the heart, and connecting meaningfully with others. I’m living in the moment, comfortable in my life. I’m appreciating what is and feeling eager for what’s to come.

(I’ve also got a healthy glow thanks to spending lots of time at the beach!) 🙂

Yes, it’s nice to imagine myself glowing with vitality while holding my two new books, but honestly, if I’ve got the inner part of the equation, the rest is gravy.

How about you? What would you say if you were on this show? If Cat Deeley asked you to describe your life right now — as well as the life you’d like to be living this time next year — what would you tell her? And, if all went well, how do you imagine yourself during the “Next Year” portion of the show? What would you tell Cat about your situation in early 2020? What’s different about your life? What have you accomplished? How do you look and feel? What is it like to be future-you living this future-life?

When you imagine this best-case scenario, see if you can visualize it in your mind’s eye and experience the emotions right now. And then ask yourself these questions:

• How did I do it?
• How did I get from where I was at the beginning of 2019 to this great place where I am right “now” (in early 2020, that is)?
• Who helped me in this journey of transformation?
• What steps did I take?
• What made the biggest difference?
• What was the first step I took to begin this transformation?

And then, after you’ve taken some time to bask in the joy of your triumphant transformation, go and take that first step.