Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Working on the smallest parts is also working on the biggest whole.

Have you ever put your thumb up in front of your eye while looking at something in the distance? It blocks your view and seems SO MUCH BIGGER than the mountain, doesn't it?

Details are like that.

You've probably heard this saying a million times before too: 'Can't see the forest for the trees.'

Sometimes we get so caught up in the details that we lose sight that it's a part of the larger whole. One detail seems to be the main thing and there are so many other 'things' surrounding it that are the same size, so we start to question whether we're on the right track; whether what we're working on now is important, will it really make a difference?

The key is to keep checking the bigger whole picture, to make sure this small detail is still a part of it.

Then it becomes a matter of tending to it, with the same passion and purpose as the whole.

Persistence.

And patience.

Because the DIVINE is in the details too.

Keep the light on!
GuruStu

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Life has a lot of limitations, but you don't have to choose any of them.

Boy, oh boy. It is so easy to fail, isn't it? It doesn't take much... if you can't look around for an excuse, you can always just make one up.

Like a tiny pin to a balloon... Your big hopes and dreams can be POPPED in an instance!

Sounds dreary, doesn't it?

But how many of us live in a word of pins?

But what happens to a balloon that never encounters a pin?

It soars, right?

A big enough balloon, with no pin, can even lift you up to the sky!

And so it is with our thoughts.

They're tiny too...

But they get between us and our dreams and make us believe that we can't fly; that we don't deserve the sky.

Simply don't choose thoughts that limit you.

Thoughts have no form, no right or wrong, until we squeeze them through our brains... until we judge them, and act upon them.

We either look within us, or outside of us, and conclude that we're just not big enough to get over it.

Well tell that to a balloon.

Keep your light up high,
GuruStu

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Don't become so full of yourself that you can't become filled with yourself.

Being proud of yourself feels good doesn't it? That sense of accomplishment, that feeling of belonging; of rightness. It's just so stress-free and downright joyful.

It's great when it comes.

It stinks when we cling to it.

We wear it like armor when it's more like an old sweater. It won't protect us, and it won't last.

When we hold on to it longer than the moment, we miss the chance to do it again.

When we puff ourselves up with thoughts of superiority, we blind ourselves to opportunities that can make us so.

The key is to be true to ourselves, to do what we do best and just let Life in.

You're amazing... really, get to know that... just don't let that separate you from the amazingness of everyone else.

Keep that light on!
GuruStu

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Make sure your Afterthoughts don't leave an Aftertaste.

Y'know, I had a different opening but then I thought about it... and thought about it some more... then decided to go with this paragraph. Do you like it?

Do you ever find yourself tangled up in the web of afterthoughts? You know, the better comeback lines, the what ifs, the regrets, the second guesses.

Unless they offer you true insight or give you something that you can actually DO, afterthoughts are pretty useless. They belong in the past along with the original moment. They have no bearing on NOW.

So, really, give it up. Be grateful that you did the best you could, when you could, with what you had.

Then turn your attention to forethoughts for the future.

They're a far better use of your mind now and will taste a whole lot sweeter when tomorrow comes.

Keep the light on!
GuruStu

Monday, May 16, 2011

Not every label needs to stick.

You know those tags that they stick on your chest whenever you're at some event? They have your name in bold, and sometimes what you do or where you're from. It's good for breaking the ice. Even though it labels you, you don't mind (unless you hate your name).

Other labels are pretty good too... Husband/Wife, Mother/Father, Friend/Lover... or maybe being labeled by what you do... Rocket Scientist, World Renown Chef or Bohemian Artist.

They're okay because we put those labels on ourselves.

What's not okay is when other people put labels on us; especially without permission.

Labels can help when they bring understanding... but they can be devastatingly damaging when they separate us from each other.

You don't need to let them stick though.

Realize that EVERYONE is an outsider to your life. You look different to them than you do to yourself. So the best they can ever give you is a well-intended, love-supported perspective from their point of view.

Their labels of you only helps them define who they think you are; not who you really are.

So take the labels that fit you... and help you fit into a wonderful Life. Everything else can just fall off.

Why?

Because you're wonderful!

But that's just my well-intended, love-supported point of view.

Keep the light on!
GuruStu

Friday, May 13, 2011

If you don't look forward to looking forward, how will you ever get past your past?

You ever feel like Life is just hitting you on the back of the head?

That's probably because you're too busy walking backwards into the future.

I know that hindsight is 20/20 and the past has tons to teach us... but if we keep staring at it, we'll only know where we're going until after we've already been.

So what keeps us from looking forward?

Fear of the unknown, perhaps? Past hurts making us leary of being hurt again? Unfulfilled desires dying like rotting fruit on the vine?

(All of the above, right?)

Well... Stop it!

You'll turn your life around by turning around.

Stop fearing something that probably won't happen. Stop thinking that just because something has happened before that it has a right to happen again.

It's not that your best years are behind you. It's that the only years you KNOW are behind you. They'll only be the 'best' if you stop aiming for better.

Face forward fearlessly.

And keep the light on!
GuruStu

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

If you can't get there from here, get there from someplace else.

Sometimes the future seems so far away, doesn't it? Almost unreachable at times; especially when we compare where we are to where we want to be. It just doesn't seem possible that we can even get there from here.

Yeah, so?

Maybe you CAN'T get there from here... but doesn't mean you can't ever get there.

The key is to stop starting HERE, and start starting THERE instead.

Begin by imagining yourself there and step 'back'. As long as it's closer to here, it's a step in the right direction.

Can you get to that step from here? If not, step back again... and again... and again... Until you can get to THAT from here.

And yes, it might be A LOT of steps... Maybe there's education involved, or raising money, or building relationships that have to come before certain steps can take place.

Yeah, so... Go get 'em.

Remember the time it will take to do those steps is the same time it will take to do nothing.

So do you want to get there or not?

Step up!

And keep the light on!
GuruStu

Friday, May 06, 2011

It's better to live in the Now sooner rather than later.

Right now, this very moment, you're reading this sentence. Isn't that amazing?

And while that last sentence now fades into the past, here's another one right behind.

OK, so maybe just writing about writing about it isn't all that exciting, but it's nonetheless extraordinary.

Something really magically happens when you let the Now in. A huge exchange happens between you and Life. You become more aware of your surroundings, plus you can express yourself so much fuller... Just by being connected.

So why put that off? Why wait til the next moment becomes the last moment before you realize there's no moment left?

So if you can't be in the Now now, get ready... Another Now is coming up...

Now!!!

Did you get it?

Keep the light on, Now and Later!
GuruStu

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Not everything can, or will, be changed; so create something new instead.

Once upon a time, typewriters, phonographs and horse-drawn carriages ruled the world. Back then many people believed it couldn't get better than that.

And for a while, they were right.

Companies like Microsoft, Apple and Ford didn't intend to replace them. Instead, they focused on meeting the same need in a completely new way.

If they could change the world in such a big way, just think how much easier it is for you to change just YOUR world.

You see, when you look at your life like 'this is it' and 'this is all I've got' and 'I can't change it'... and... and... and...

You end up limiting yourself to what IS instead of reaching out to what CAN BE.

So don't focus on yourself, or your circumstance, or the idea that this is as good as it gets. Go back to your basic needs, and look around for the needs of others and seek out entirely new ways to fulfill them.

PS If you think about all the other industries that sprung up from those new ideas, like online bookstores and travel companies and games for your cellphones... There's no telling what new things lie in store for you when you start fresh.

Back to the drawing tablet!

Keep the lightbulb on!
GuruStu

Monday, May 02, 2011

Don't live a life that's smaller than you are.

How much time during your day do you spend being you?

Yeah, yeah, I know you just smiled and shouted '24 hours a day!' or some-such, but now let's go back and be honest with ourselves, shall we?

How much time during your day do you spend time doing what you do best, what you love, what exemplifies who you really are?

Ooohhhh, why didn't I saaaay so?

Sooooo...

How much time do you spend being you... or being what someone else wants you to be? Or what you think you ought to be? Or what you need to do so that 'someday' (maybe... hopefully) you can finally get to LIVE?

Do you remember what it was like when your dreams were as big as the world around you? When everything in front of you was ripe with unlimited possibilities?

You didn't fill it up with so much 'other stuff' that there's no room left for YOU... did you?

Well, don't worry. Life is more like a balloon than a bowl (cherries not withstanding). It expands the more you put into it.

So go ahead, fill your life up with YOU. Do more of what you love and love more of what you do. Your life can handle it.

It doesn't have to be a small world after all.

Keep the light on!
GuruStu