Message 341

“Whatever you’re meant to do, do it now. The conditions are always impossible.”
DORIS LESSING

This is kind of funny if you think about it. The conditions really always are impossible….or you wouldn’t even be thinking about it. You’d have already done whatever it is you’re trying to rationalize away.

Don’t wait til you lose weight to start interacting with others more. Don’t wait until you’re rich before you have fun. Don’t wait for anything.

Find a way to do what you want to do now.

Figure out what you’re meant to do, even if it’s just what you’re meant to do TODAY and not for the rest of the world.

We all listen to Dr Gilbert and we know that it’s not just what you want, but it’s what you REALLY want that matters. Once you know that, then you have begun your life’s purpose process. (I did that alliteration intentionally)

But what if you haven’t figured that out yet? Should you just hang out and not do anything?

Should you pray for the “right conditions”? Do you even know what the right conditions are? I’ve given you examples of how I or someone else thought they knew the plan, the way to get from point A to B, thinking they had plotted the shortest route. Only to be “fooled” by the universe and taken to point B via points D, R, M and T on the way. What the heck?

Thats what this quote means when it says the conditions are always impossible.

If you do something NOW, you have a better chance of finding out what you’re meant to do. Everything in life and I mean everything is comprised of baby steps, including what you think your ultimate purpose is. You may be surprised to find out later that getting to point B was not what you were meant to do at all. It was something else. While you’re doing something, the other pieces will fall into place.

Con you be someone else’s Thomas Edison?

Maybe you’re meant to have coffee with someone who’s lonely or had a recent loss.

That’s not curing cancer for the world but it’s being Thomas Edison in that person’s life. You brought light into their life. And with that light came hope.

What are you meant to do today and who are you going to be Thomas Edison for today?

message 340

Brian Cain made me laugh.

You’ve reached Talking with Dr Terrie – 180 seconds to a better you message number 340 snd I’m Dr Terrie Wurzbacher

Brian’s message Wednesday morning was that you should explain things so a 5 year old could understand it. That made me laugh since 4 year olds understand a heck of a lot more than I do.

But it got me to thinking about communication. That message and a package I received from Amazon. I was looking for lights to hang in my van for when I go on trips for some of my races like I will over Christmas and new years.

I opened the package and wondered how the heck you were supposed to connect them. There were wires sticking out but no connection and no power source. I went back to the site and after scrutinizing the pictures and the description I realized that I was supposed to intuit that you had to have some electrical knowledge to use these things.

In the past I would have thought I was stupid for making this mistake. But today I just shook my head and mumbled. “Lesson learned”.

But is it a lesson learned?

I searched for how to read and understand Amazon reviews. There are articles and videos on the subject and of course forums like Reddit.

Don’t worry this isn’t a message on how to read reviews but it is a message on how to choose your method or methods of communication.

Disclaimer. I am not an expert on any of this.

I have had discussions (that’s a code word we use for when talking with someone almost but not quite ended up as an argument) with a friend about reading vs watching videos. He’s not a reader for various legitimate reasons but he also maintains videos are faster.

I, on the other hand, prefer reading. But there is definitely a place for videos. I can read through something much more quickly than sitting listening to people talk about themselves and why they are doing this video and who’s the sponsor and “oh yeah you wanted to know how to do something?”

But many people get that dopamine hit simply from the visual aspect of watching something on a screen. I maintain that they also get a sense of control because they push that fancy button that says “play” – why does it have to be fancy? It does one thing. But these people can control that person on the screen. They can start and stop them talking and they can pause it to coincide with their attention span. They can skip ahead of stuff when they are bored. You can’t do that in a real conversation even though you can in a book.

When I was growing up we conveyed messages via the written word and the spoken word. Presenters had to hone their tone and inflection and all the other skills associated with projecting their voices. Dr Gilbert talks about that when he explains how to tell a story. We were always glued to the radio. I listened to every single Yankees game on the radio. And you have to be good to put that visual in someone’s head.

Learning the art of the Written word was just as important. Newspaper headlines had one chance to catch attention. They couldn’t rely on the dramatic effects of video. They had to create their own drama in readers minds.

We had movies and later we had tv.

I believe that tv and YouTube and tik tok has made people lazy. Those media only serve to feed the bright shiny object syndrome afflicting so many people

The point is that to get a message across, you have to cater to all forms of communication or you will
Miss people. But if you start by using the written word to convey what you are seeing in your mind, you’ll be able to bring those internal visualizations out of your head and to the masses. Your message will be vivid and that’s what will sway people.

Go to YouTube and listen to Earl Nightingale, Napoleon hill. Zig ziglar and any of the other old masters. If you can talk like them, any modalities you choose will be successful.

Message 339

“Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open.”
JOHN BARRYMORE

I may have talked about this before but in reviewing the year, I ran across this concept again.

I hope that you copy this quote and put it somewhere that’s easily accessible. read it every day.

All too often we’re feeling despair when something isn’t going the way we want it to. We have blinders on and can’t see anything but the discouraging event and “possible” consequences. I put possible in quotes because they are really imagined consequences because they haven’t happened yet.

Because of the blinders, we don’t look around the room (at the rest of our life) to see the good things that are there right in front of us – if we took the blinders off.

Nothing is all bad.

Here’s what I could have focused on the race in Tennessee which ended up with a fractured clavicle:

I had to stop the race so I didn’t finish it.

I am a failure for not finishing.

I am too old or I wouldn’t have tripped on that asphalt lip.

I shouldn’t ever do any races again.

I had to give in and go to an ER (gasp).

I won’t going to be able to do anything with my right arm for at least 6 weeks.

I can’t continue writing my book or doing my podcast interviews.

And on and on.

So, what was hiding in the corners beyond where I could see if I kept the blinders on?

The love and concern other people showed me.

The true friendship of someone who gave up 3-4 days of his life to come drive me home.

The fun I had conquering doing everything with my left arm.

The rest I’m was going to get since I couldn’t do much else.

Enjoying watching the healing process which is fascinating.

Reading more since I had more time.

Those things that crept in through the door I left open far outweighed the “bad” things I could only see if I kept my blinders on. I’m sure you have similar examples in your life IF you’d simply look for the breadcrumbs leading to the door you left open.

Why don’t you try to follow the clues and let us know.