Archive for the 'Inspiring Stories' Category

Obama Girl, Eat Your Heart Out!

Posted July 14, 2008 * Comments(0)

Barack Obama was coming to my hometown, Colorado Springs, Colorado. It had only been two days earlier that I learned he was here to do fundraising and talk to an invitation-only crowd of people in a city that is known for its conservatism, large military presence, and fundamental Christian population. I told myself I had 48 hours to find an invitation. My efforts to contact people began instantly. My tenacity was relentless, but no amount of persistence seemed to change the responses I was getting, which were, “I’m sorry, I want to help but I simply can’t”…

The day of the event arrived and I still did not have an invitation to the event. That particular day of work, my boss told me to dress down because we’d be getting carpets ready for cleaning.

Readying my hair, I looked at myself in the mirror, and that’s when the conversation with myself began. “Dianne, you aren’t giving up now, are you?!”

“Why in God’s name should I have any hope left at all? Today’s the day of the event, I don’t even know what time he’s speaking, I don’t have an invitation, and anyone who’s connected with the event is certainly not sitting at a desk thinking about contacting me!” I shouted back at myself.

“Dianne…has Barack taught you nothing at all about hope?” I retorted.

So, without a reason for hoping, I began to once again. I decided I better take to work with me a nice dress, shoes and jewelry, just in case. I then called for my girls. “Girls! Guess what? I’m going to see Barack Obama today!”

I must have been quite convincing because my 10-year-old said, “Oh my gosh, Mom! When did you get a invitation!”

I enthusiastically said, “I didn’t!” Her face fell.

“Thennnn, how are you going to see him today?” she asked.

I told them, “Because I just am, that’s how!” Oh, how the grins returned to their faces, for they knew what Mommy was up to. “Now I want you to say,’ Mommy is going to see Barack Obama today!’ three times.”

They said, “Mommy is going to see Barack Obama today. Mommy is going to see Barack Obama today. MOMMY IS GOING TO SEE BARACK OBAMA TODAY.”

It was TRIPLE stamped!

I drove to work, with my dress confidently riding in back, and arrived in Manitou Springs at 9 a.m.

My boss knew how disappointed I was to not be attending the event, so she began to console me by telling me about the other times I might be able to see him. I tried to remain upbeat as the minutes ticked by. By 10 a.m. and no miracle in sight, I admit, I was even worrying about the triple stamp.

But then….

A call came in at 10:15. a.m. It was a woman whom I had been e-mailing back and forth about the event. She had been so very kind and helpful to me, even though getting me an invitation was beyond her abilities. She simply said, “Dianne, here’s the deal. He’s speaking at UCCS at 11 a.m. When you get there, you can try to get in on a stand by basis (there is only room for 400). But you better go right now.” I thanked her profusely and then did a “Superman” quick change and was out the door.

I got to UCCS, they showed me where to park, I walked right toward where the event was and told the security I was on stand by. With no hassle, they gave me a ticket to fill out. It was totally surreal. My hands were trembling. Security wanded me over and then said, “Go right on in, Miss.”

It just couldn’t be true, but there I was, at the event. I found one lone seat in the far back. When he came out, my entire body got goose bumps. His speech was outstanding. My eyes and ears drank in every precious moment.

Afterwards, he moved to the inner circle of the crowd. I’m not really sure how I did this, but I snaked my way near the front where he was shaking people’s hands.
I think it was my height that helped me out. As he got nearer to me, I stretched out my hand as far as it could go. He saw my arm first, then me. Then he took my hand and shook it. I looked him straight in the eye and said “Hello, I’m Dianne Perea.”

He said, “It’s nice to meet you, Dianne,” and off he went.

I shouted out, “Are you going to the top of Pikes Peak?” His eyes twinkled, but he stayed focused on who he was meeting and on his momentum toward others.

Seeing Obama and shaking his hand was the most exhilarating experience of my life. He is bright, warm, magnetic, inspirational, and has those eyes that say, “I really want to be here, I really want to engage with you, I really want to help all of you.” There is nothing “politician-like” about him.

I can see why he is so good at community organization. He draws you in and instantly ignites a passion inside you to be a part of something larger than you, something that seems impossible, but made probable because of the efforts of the people. He makes you want to be a part of a movement that is changing the world for the better. He makes you want to be the best you you can be.

July 2 will be forever known as “Barack Obama Day” for me. When I talk to my kids about this, I tell them the moral of the story is treat everyone kindly, no matter what, because that’s just the right thing to do. And never give up your hopes and dreams.

To the forces and the people that made this happen, I thank you a thousand times.

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Magical Mother’s Day Reminder #2 - Mother’s Day Flowers, Mother’s Day Cards, and Other Mother’s Day Gifts Are Not the True Essence of Mother’s Day

Posted May 9, 2008 * Comments(0)

Anna May Jarvis - Mothers Day Image

Photo of Anna May Jarvis - Founder of Mother’s Day

As much as I loved my mother Violet Zelinski, it will come as a surprise to some people that over the years I didn’t buy her Mother’s Day flowers, Mother’s Day cards, or Mother’s Day candy for Mother’s Day. I did buy her dinner, however, and spent quality time with her every Mother’s Day. Perhaps you should do likewise every Mother’s Day. 

Truth be known, you don’t have to feel guilty about not buying Mother’s Day gifts, Mother’s Day flowers, or Mother’s Day cards to help your mother celebrate Mother’s Day. Not buying your mother cards, flowers, or candy to help her celebrate this special event is not about being stingy and saving yourself a few bucks, however. There is a much better reason. We have to go back to the origins of Mother’s Day to place this in proper perspective.

Anna May Jarvis was just two weeks shy of forty-two, working for a life insurance company in Philadelphia, when her mother (Mrs. Anna Reese Jarvis) died on May 9, 1905. It was the second Sunday of the month. The next year Anna May Jarvis made her life goal to see her mother and motherhood honored annually throughout the world. Jarvis felt children often neglected to appreciate their mother enough while she was still alive. She hoped Mother’s Day would increase respect for parents and strengthen family bonds.

Two years after her mother’s death, Anna Jarvis and her friends began a letter-writing campaign to gain the support of influential ministers, businessmen, and congressmen in declaring a national Mother’s Day holiday. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation from the U.S. Congress to establish the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day forevermore.

Ironically, the commercialization of the day she had founded in honor of motherhood - today it is the biggest business day of the year for U.S. restaurants and flower shops - was not what Anna May Jarvis had envisioned. Jarvis wanted people to spend a lot of quality time with their mothers and let their mothers know how special they were.

Sadly, Jarvis, who never married and was never a mother herself, retired from her job at the insurance company to spend her remaining thirty-four years, and her entire fortune of over $100,000, campaigning against the commercialization of Mother’s Day.

Whenever she could, Anna May Jarvis would speak out. She was known to crash florists’ conventions to express her distaste for their “profiteering” from Mother’s Day. Eventually too old to continue her campaign, she ended up deaf and blind - not to mention penniless - in a West Chester, Pennsylvania, sanitarium, where she died in November 1948 at the age of eighty-four.

“Why not give your mother Mother’s Day flowers, Mother’s Day cards, or Mother’s Day candy?” you may ask. “Flowers,” declared Jarvis, “are about half dead by the time they’re delivered.” As for candy, Jarvis advised, “Mother’s Day has nothing to do with candy. Candy is junk. You give your mother a box of candy and then go home and eat most of it yourself.”

“Then what’s wrong with Mother’s Day cards?” you may add. Jarvis felt that “a maudlin, insincere printed card or a ready-made telegram means nothing except that you’re too lazy to write to the woman who has done more for you than anyone else in the world.”

Tell your mother the truth about Mother’s Day and you won’t have to spend money on Mother’s Day flowers, Mother’s Day candy, or Mother’s Day cards to help her celebrate her special event of the year. Heck, you don’t even have to buy her a copy of one of my books as a Mother’s Day gift. You should, however, make her a special gourmet dinner or take her out to a fine restaurant. Don’t cheap out!

Most important, you should spend a lot of quality time with your mother on Mother’s Day. She will appreciate this immensely. What’s more, if she were still living today, Anna May Jarvis would be so pleased that you celebrate the second Sunday of May with your mother in the essence and the true spirit of Mother’s Day!

Some Statistics Regarding Mother’s Day - Why Mothers Day Needs Rethinking

  • In the United States, there are about 82.5 million mothers. (source: US Census Bureau)
  • According to Hallmark, about 96 percnet of American consumers take part in some way in Mother’s Day.
  • Mother’s Day is one of the most commercially successful U.S. occasions.
  • According to the National Restaurant Association, Mother’s Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out at a restaurant in the United States.
  • Retailers report that Mother’s Day is the second highest gift-giving holiday in the United States (Christmas is the highest).
  • Different countries celebrate Mother’s Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins.
  • In most countries, Mother’s Day is a new concept copied from western civilization.
  • Nine years after the first official Mother’s Day, commercialization of the U.S. holiday became so rampant that Anna Jarvis - who was most instrumental in the founding of Mother’s Day - herself became a major opponent of Mother’s Day Flowers, Mother’s Day Candy, Mother’s Day Cards, and Mother’s Day Gifts.
NOTE: The above article is adapted from the chapter called Flowers, Cards, and Candy Are Not the Essence of Mother’s Day! in the book 101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting (Vipbooks, 2007) by Ernie Zelinski. The book is dedicated to Ernie’s mother Violet Zelinski (Waselyna Gordychuk) who passed away while Ernie was writing the latest edition of the book. 

Following are four photos of Ernie’s mother Violet Zelinski:

Mother's Day Image - Violet Zelinski

Mothers Day Image of Violet Zelinski

Mother's Day Violet Zelinski

Violet Zelinski 

    #1 of Top-Ten Quotes about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day 

    Hundreds of dewdrops to greet the dawn,
    Hundreds of bees in the purple clover,
    Hundreds of butterflies on the lawn,
    But only one mother the wide world over.
    - George Cooper

    #2 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day

    A mother’s happiness is like a beacon, lighting up the future but reflected also on the past in the guise of fond memories.
    - Honoré de Balzac

    #3 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day

    A father may turn his back on his child, brothers and sisters may become inveterate enemies, husbands may desert their wives, wives their husbands. But a mother’s love endures through all.
    - Washington Irving

    #4 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day

    My mother is a poem
    I’ll never be able to write,
    though everything I write
    is a poem to my mother.
    - Sharon Doubiago

    #5 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day

    One good mother is worth a hundred schoolmasters.
    - George Herbert

    #6 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day

    There’s nothing like a mama-hug.
    - Adabella Radici

    #7 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day

    Who ran to help me when I fell,
    And would some pretty story tell,
    Or kiss the place to make it well?
    My mother.
    - Ann Taylor

    #8 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day

    Mother - that was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries.
    - T. DeWitt Talmage

    #9 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day

    Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.
    - William Makepeace Thackeray

    #10 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day

    I miss thee, my Mother! Thy image is still
    The deepest impressed on my heart.
    - Eliza Cook

Also See The True Spirit of Mother’s Day and Thank Your Mother a Lot While She Is Still Alive!

Download the Free E-book of 101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting with 17 free chapters at Ernie Zelinski’s Creative Free E-Books Website.

Mothers Day Gift Image

Purchase 101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting (Vipbooks) at:

or:

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Magical Mothers Day Reminder - Thank Your Mother a Lot While She Is Still Alive!

Posted May 9, 2008 * Comments(0)
Regardless of their age, the large majority of mothers care for their children in a thousand little ways that their children tend to take for granted. Unfortunately, most of us don’t realize how much our mothers mean to us until they are no longer around. We may thank them on Mother’s Day with a card and some Mother’s Day flowers and that is about all. Of course, there are many people who truly appreciate their mothers and express their gratitude for them.   

Given that my mother Violet Zelinski passed away while I was writing 101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting (Vipbooks, 2007), from which this article is excerpted, allow me to share how I never got to express my love and appreciation for her as much as I would have liked. On the first Sunday of February 2007 I was contemplating whether I should go to a musical performance at our local jazz club. I gave consideration to the fact that on the previous Sunday I had not visited my mother, which I had done virtually every Sunday for almost twenty years. Thus, I decided to skip the musical performance.

I picked up some items from a local supermarket deli and headed over to my mother’s apartment. This particular Sunday my sister, Elaine, and her husband, Lorne, also showed up and we had an enjoyable dinner together. Later I noticed that my mother was wheezing after she climbed a flight of stairs. She also complained about how her legs had gotten really stiff lately.

Even so, I would later find out that my mother told others that she had a great day, because my sister, my brother-in-law, and I had visited her. What’s more, earlier in the day, just as my mother was about to call my brother, Kenny, she received a call from him. The call was special to my mother because my brother lives outside the city and only visted her once or twice a year.

As it turned out, this was the last Sunday dinner that I enjoyed with my mother. You can imagine how fortunate I felt that I had skipped the musical performance. Two days later I called my mother to ask her how she was doing. She complained of severe headaches that wouldn’t respond to Tylenol. Later in the evening my sister and her husband drove my mother to the hospital. The doctors decided to keep her for two or three days because of her low oxygen level but they didn’t think it was anything serious.

On Wednesday afternoon when I visited my mother at the hospital, I was stunned to find out that the doctors had diagnosed her with acute leukemia. The head doctor indicated that she could live for several months if they gave her blood transfusions and chemo drugs along with morphine. Needless to say, I left the hospital in somewhat of a daze.

That evening I decided that I would visit my mother at least once every day until she passed away. I also decided to get a nice black book in which I would write down all the special things that I wanted to thank her for. I was also going to encourage other people to write in the black book all the things that they liked about my mother.

As fate would have it, the next day my mother took a turn for the worse. The doctor phoned early in the morning and indicated she had only a few days left with her likely losing mental capabilities in a day or two. Soon after I got to the hospital, I decided that I should bring my mother’s best friend, Mary Leshchyshyn, to see my mother one last time while she still had her mental capabilities. After I brought Mary to the hospital, she and my mother were able to spend half an hour together while the rest of us went for coffee.

When we got back to my mother’s hospital room, I noticed that my mother had gotten worse and was gasping for oxygen. At this point I felt that she might not last more than a day. So I immediately thanked my mother for two or three important things that she had done for me. She responded - as she struggled for oxygen - by thanking me specifically for having come over every Sunday. (At this point I truly realized how much my weekly visits meant to her.) I also told my mother that the reason that I had never married was that I had never met a wonderful woman like her.

Shortly after, my mother’s best friend, Mary, stated that my mother looked really tired and that she should go home to let my mother rest. My mother was able to say a few more words to Mary including “Don’t get what I got.” Mary’s last words to my mother were “See you later.” I would find out soon after from my sister that my mother whispered, “Oh no, you won’t.” But Mary didn’t hear these words.

Sadly, while I was driving Mary back to her apartment, my mother passed away. My sister, Elaine, and her husband, Lorne; my cousin, Jerry, and his wife, Lil; and the hospital chaplain, Blaine Allan, were there with her and said a prayer while she passed away. Surprisingly, my mother at eighty-five had her mental capabilities and even a great memory right until her last minutes, given that she was giving instructions to my sister about the funeral, including the dress she wanted to be wearing and how she wanted her head tilted just a bit in the coffin instead of straight up.

Later that morning, when my sister arrived, my mother told her, “I’m done.” My sister responded, “What are you talking about?” My mother replied, “I lost the stone from my family ring. It’s gone so that means that I am gone too.” My mother was so sweet and so strong during her last hours. Even the hospital staff talked about the deep affection they had developed for her during her short stay in the hospital.

As hard as my mother’s death was on me, there was something remarkably spiritual about it. There were also a few things for which I had to feel grateful. My mother did not have to suffer for a long time like so many people do in their later years. I was thankful that Elaine, Lorne, Jerry, Lil, and Blaine were there with her to say a prayer when she passed away. I also felt relieved that%u2008I had brought Mary to the hospital so that she and my mother got to spend half an hour together before my mother left us rather unexpectedly that day.

After I left the hospital that fateful afternoon, I felt blessed that I was able to see my mother her last day and thank her for at least two or three special things that she had done for me. But I was also terribly saddened that I did not get to give her a hundred more reasons why she had meant so much to me. So I wrote a letter to my mother, which follows this photo of her in her twenties:

Mothers Day Image

    February 8, 2007   

    Dear Mom:

    I am so saddened that you left us rather suddenly while knowing that in many ways it was the right thing for you to do. I am sorry that I was not there when you passed on but I know that you appreciate that I brought your best friend Mary to see you one last time and I know that Mary appreciated having the chance to see you one last time. Unfortunately, while I was driving Mary back to her home, you left us but Elaine, Lorne, Lil, Jerry, and Blaine were there with you.

    I will miss you. I hope that we meet in Heaven. I know that from the way you treated me and the way you treated others - and how much they held you in great esteem and admiration - that you have an outstanding chance of entering Heaven - far greater than me, that’s for sure. But I will remember the great things that people loved about you and try to instill as many of your great qualities in myself as I can from now on. Perhaps I will get into Heaven as easily as you.

    Because you left rather suddenly, there are so many things that I wanted to thank you for but didn’t get a chance. Here are just some of the things I wanted to thank you for:

    • Thank you for having stuck by my side so many times and gotten yourself in trouble with Dad when he thought I should be doing something else with my life.
    • Thank you for lending me the money to publish my first book although, as you said when I was paying you back, you thought you would never see the money again.
    • Thank you for making a prompt decision around eight years ago to sell your house and move into the St Andrew’s Retirement Complex - I know that your living in the apartment complex rather than continuing living isolated in the house added several years to your life - and of course joy in other people’s lives.
    • Thank you for still making the great cabbage rolls this last Christmas that you made all these years even though you had been quite ill just before the holidays.
    • Thank you for having taken care of your best friend Mary by buying groceries for her when she couldn’t make it out on her own due to her low energy level.
    • Thank you for having had the ability to always be so pleasant with everyone that you met.
    • Thank you for your appreciation of other people - I can’t recall your ever having said a bad word about anyone.

    I could go on forever about the things that I would like to thank you for, but I just want to wrap it up by saying I am somewhat mystified - but nevertheless proud of you - for being able to live to the age of eighty-five in generally good health and then make a fairly rapid exit from this planet without having to suffer like so many people do. Great work, Mom!

    But I am going to miss you a great deal. Not having the regular Sunday dinners as we have for so many years and not having someone special to phone every day or two are going to be hard on me.
    I promise to think of you as I live the rest of my life. I will give much thought every day about the types of things you would have wanted me to do and how you would have liked me to treat other people. I know that this will make me a much better person and I hope that I will have as many great people mourn my paspassing from this planet as will come to mourn yours.

    Thank you, Mom

    With all my love

    Ernie

I placed this letter under my mother’s arm in the coffin when members of my close family and I visited the funeral home to pay our respects the day before the funeral. The next day, after I read a copy of the letter as the eulogy during the funeral service conducted by Father Don Bodnar, a good friend of mine commented that this is the type of letter we should all write to our mothers while they are still living.

To be sure, you should thank your mother a lot for all that she means to you while she is still alive - not only with letters but also with thoughtful comments every time you see her. Clearly, your mother deserves much more than a card, flowers, or candy once a year on Mother’s Day. Why not send her a handwritten letter at least once a month? Start today because you never know when she may lose her life suddenly.

“All that I am or ever hope to be,” remarked Abraham Lincoln, “I owe to my angel Mother.” George Washington declared, “I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual, and physical education which I received from my mother.” Jewish people have a proverb about mothers that is even more eloquent: “God could not be everywhere and therefore He made mothers.”

Here are a few words from Washington Irving to remind us a little more about how important mothers are to us: “A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”

I was fortunate that I saw my mother fifteen to twenty minutes before she passed away and was able to at least thank her for a few things. I am also blessed that I get to dedicate this book to her and will have her name live on at least in some small spiritual way due to me - and, of course, due to the great person that she was. You may not get these same opportunities. So again, thank your mother a lot while she is still alive - and not only on Mother’s Day. Trust me - you will deeply regret it later if you don’t.

    #1 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day  

    A little girl, asked where her home was, replied, “where mother is.”
    - Keith L. Brooks

    #2 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day

    Youth fades; love droops; the leaves of friendship fall; A mother’s secret hope outlives them all.
    - Oliver Wendell Holmes

    #3 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day

    Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, comrades and friends - but only one mother in the whole world.
    - Kate Douglas Wiggin

    #4 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day

    If I was damned of body and soul,
    I know whose prayers would make me whole,
    Mother o’ mine, O mother o’mine.
    - Rudyard Kipling

    #5 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day

    My mother had a slender, small body, but a large heart - a heart so large that everybody’s joys found welcome in it, and hospitable accommodation.
    - Mark Twain

    #6 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day

    No painter’s brush, nor poet’s pen
    In justice to her fame
    Has ever reached half high enough
    To write a mother’s name.
    - Author Unknown

    #7 Quote about Moms and Mothers for Mother’s Day

    No one in the world can take the place of your mother. Right or wrong, from her viewpoint you are always right. She may scold you for little things, but never for the big ones.
    - Harry Truman
     

 

NOTE: The above article is adapted from the chapter called Thank Your Mother a Lot While She Is Still Alive! in the book 101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting (Vipbooks)by Ernie Zelinski. The book is dedicated to Ernie’s mother Violet Zelinski (Waselyna Gordychuk) who passed away while Ernie was writing the latest edition of the book.

Following is a photo of Ernie’s mother Violet Zelinski (on right) with her best friend Mary Leshchyshyn:

Mothers Day Image of Violet Zelinski and Mary Leschyshyn

About the Author   

Ernie J. Zelinski is a leading authority on early retirement and solo-entrepreneurship. He is the author of the international bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free (Retirement Wisdom That You Won’t Get from Your Financial Advisor), which has sold over 90,000 copies sold and has been published in 7 foreign languages.

Ernie is also author of the unconventional Real Success Without a Real Job (The Career Book for People Too Smart to Work in Corporations). His latest work is 101 Really Important Things You Already Know, But Keep Forgetting.

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Unemployment Is Good for You - Sometimes, the More the Better

Posted April 16, 2008 * Comments(0)

If You Recently Got Laid Off or Fired from Your Job, Your Good Luck Has Just Begun! 

Whenever friends or acquaintances tell me that they have either got fired or quit their conventional jobs, my response is, “Congratulations.” After I said this to a friend who quit his job during an economic recession not so long ago, his face lit up, before he started laughing and remarked, “You are the only one who has said this to me. Everyone else is asking me things like ‘How could you during a recession? Jobs are so hard to come by!’ or ‘How are you going to survive?’ ”

I congratulate people who have quit or lost their jobs because I know that for people who want real success in their lives, unemployment is an opportunity for them to go on to something better. In fact, if you have been in the workforce for over twenty years and have never gotten fired and experienced unemployment, you are likely not a risk taker or all that creative.

Indeed, some of the most creative and famous people in the world have got fired. In 1978 Lee Iacocca was fired from his job as president of Ford Motor Company by Henry Ford II, who told Iacocca, “I just don’t like you.” Soon after, Iacocca became the chief of bankrupt Chrysler Corporation and made it profitable for years.

No doubt, getting fired and being faced with unemployment can be distressing, as it was for me when I got axed from my engineering position over two and a half decades ago. But it wouldn’t have been distressing at all if I had known at the time that I was destined for much greater things. Indeed, if I had known where I would be twenty-five years later — experiencing career success without a real job — I would have been profusely thanking my boss the second he fired me. What’s more, I would have had a celebration that day as expensive and as big as I had twenty-five years later in honor of my twenty-five years without a real job.

As an author and occasional professional speaker specializing in helping people be happy away from the traditional workplace, I have had an interest in good quotations about work and the workplace. It naturally follows that interesting anonymous comments about the workplace in the form of graffiti also get my attention. Thus, I put together a collection called Graffiti for the Employee’s Soul. (It’s free — just like all the other best things in life! You can download the e-book in PDF format at Creative Free E-books ) The following twelve items come from the e-book:

Workplace Graffiti to Remind You of the Typical Workplace
  • Working here is a nightmare. You want to wake up and leave but you need the sleep.
  • I owe. I owe. And off to work I go.
  • The thought of suicide has helped me get through many days at work.
  • Teamwork magically inspires our group to come up with solutions that are consistently and considerably dumber than any one of us.
  • My job is a big secret. Even I don’t know what I am doing.
  • As long as we continue to work here, happiness is just an idea.
  • Can I trade this job for what’s behind door Number 2?
  • I’m just working here till a good fast-food job opens up.
  • Like to meet new people? Like a change? Like excitement? Like a new job? Then screw up
    just one more time!
  • Around here, “progress” is everything getting worse at a slower rate than it used to.
  • I just took a self-improvement course and discovered I no longer need to punish, deceive, or compromise myself — unless I want to keep my job.
  • My work cubicle is just a padded cell without a door. I want my freedom and I want it now.

If you have just been fired from your job and are considering another job like it, the above comments may motivate you to consider something different that will lead to real career fulfillment. Whenever you catch yourself yearning for the benefits that your old job provided, it’s best to look at the other side of the coin. It’s like reminiscing about an old love affair. We tend to remember the good things much more so than the bad ones. So when you feel a little dejected because you miss the routine of your old job, consider all the things that you didn’t like about the job.

The reality is that many hugely successful people have been fired at one time or another — sometimes several times — and gone on to better things. Most of these people admit that getting the ax placed them on a fast track toward career fulfillment. Indeed, it was the best thing that ever happened to them. For some, losing a job was the incentive they needed to open their own shop so that they didn’t need to work at a job they hate ever again.

Years after working at an occupation that he hated, Leonard Lee, owner of Ottawa-based Lee Valley Tools and Algrove Publishing, told a reporter with The Globe and Mail, “No amount of money is worth doing a job you hate. It rots your soul. It destroys you.” So why do so many work at a job they hate if it destroys their souls? Who knows? Perhaps they don’t value their souls.

Many people do value their souls, however, and are not willing to sell out to the corporate world ever again once they get fired. Instead, they pass up even the most prestigious and high-paid positions, often for much less prestigious unreal jobs and lower pay, so that they can avoid working for a corporation.

Getting fired along with unemployment, as I found out, is the universe’s way of telling you that you were in the wrong job in the first place. It is also the universe’s way of testing you to see whether you can take advantage of the adversity that comes with unemployment and create some opportunity out of it, such as starting your own business. Put another way, unemployment is an opportunity to develop real character and true wealth.

If you are up to the universe’s challenge, miracles will come your way. Money isn’t as important as you may think it is. Many multimillion dollar businesses were started on kitchen tables. Passion, purpose, and dedication will take you places where money won’t.

The reality is that great corporate jobs are hard to come by in today’s world anyway. “The traditional admonition of one generation to the next, ‘get a job,’ has been replaced with a more complex mandate: ‘Go out and create a job for yourself,’ ” George Gendron, editor of Inc. magazine, recently told Publisher’s Weekly.

Being fired is an opportunity to create a job for yourself instead of finding another corporation that has a ready-made job for you, from which you can be just as easily fired some time in the future. A corporation can take away your job and your job title but it can’t take away your talent and creativity. By firing you, the corporation may be doing you a great favor inasmuch as you now have an opportunity to fully utilize your creativity and talent.

Getting fired is a great opportunity to rethink where you are, what your priorities are, what’s important to you, and whether or not you are in the right career. Getting another corporate job may only result in treating the symptoms — damage control, in other words. It has been my experience that the best way to fully utilize one’s creativity and talent is to shun a real job and create one’s own unreal job. If you can be successful at an unconventional job that involves self-employment, you won’t get fired ever again because you are the boss. Above all, getting fired is a great opportunity to pursue the unreal job that you have dreamed about pursuing for some time.

So again, don’t look at unemployment as all that bad of a thing. Your good luck may have just begun, particularly if you decide to make the great escape from the corporate world to pursue something totally unrelated to the field in which you were. You may feel that you have touched bottom, when, in fact, you are already headed upward. In the words of motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, “See you at the top.”

Note: This article is adapted from the book: Real Success Without a Real Job: The Career Book for People Too Smart to Work in Corporations by Ernie Zelinski

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Purchase this book at: Real Success Without a Real Job on Amazon.com 

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Plus size Model Nancy Hayssen … bares it all

Posted February 20, 2008 * Comments(0)

In a world where size zero is the expected norm… it is nice to see a “plus size model” become successful. Nancy Hayssen, is one of those models, and she is beautiful and is trying to help change the modeling industry, especially after the publication of a very “anorexic” looking model in Europe.

According to statistics, 6 out of every 10 North American women are considered “plus size”. Plus size is considered size 14 and up. This means that more than 1/2 of the female population will be buying the latest fashions and styles in a size 14 and up.

Then why do they insist on displaying size zero models?. Why not show your fashion designs on a “average size” woman and help the self esteem of many young girls.

Young teenage girls want to fit in, and will aspire to become like these models. The problem is, that if your frame is larger, you are never going to be a size zero no matter what diet you try. But there are many young girls damaging their health trying to maintain this image.

In the last few years, stores have sprung up that cater to the plus size girl and women, but they are separate from the main stream stores, which further alienates a young girl. I personally am considered a “plus size”, at size 14-16, and after seeing a style in the window of a popular store, I went in, only to be told “my size is in the back”… like I had a disease or something. The front of the store only had size zero to 8.

Lately though, I have noticed a few more stores catering to all the sizes, and as long as we have beautiful “plus size models”, like Nancy Hayssen, then we should start seeing more styles and fashions for the 6 out of 10 women in North America that fit into the “plus size” label. Who came up with that term anyway?

Nancy Hayssen, is also a great author, and has written a book “You can be sexy at any size”.. she also is in a small film clip where she talks about her modeling career as a plus size model, and she is comfortable enough with her body to pose naked for the camera, (tastefully of course). This is a real plus for us larger girls. The short film gets the point across quite well…

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7 Steps to Unleash Dynamic Energy

Posted August 28, 2007 * Comments(2)

Do these Things to Release Dynamic Energy:

1. Set some goal for yourself that you are trying to achieve.

Make that goal big enough so that it will excite your imagination and arouse tremendous interest. Your energies will rise in proportion to the needs you have. If you have a goal to make only fifty dollars a week, it is not a very inspiring goal. If you push that goal and set a figure such as two hundred and fifty dollars a week, instantly your subconscious mind will release the dynamic energy and the dynamic ideas to make it possible to achieve the larger sum.

2. Have some person or persons in your life that you are trying to help. This can be your own mate, your children, your mother and father; whatever it is that you are trying to do for others unselfishly will automatically give you greater energy and more stamina to endure and persist. If you live just for yourself, it is unlikely that you will have more than just enough life-force to exist. Florence Nightingale was the first woman in history to go out into battle to help nurse soldiers. She freed womankind from the restrictions of their sex, and created a new and honorable profession for women. This frail woman was so inspired by her desire to help the sick, that it gave her tremendous energy and vitality.

3. Find work that you really enjoy doing.And if you happen to be in work you despise get out of it as soon as possible. Nothing will so quickly lower the curve of energy as being in work you detest. It has even been known to make some people chronically sick because they are constantly frustrated. This restricts the glandular action of the body and depresses the body organs. But if you are in work you love, your body cells sing with joy and health and energy, they are stimulated, so that you constantly feel good.

4. Have hobbies that give you pleasure as well as relaxation. Dynamic energy is created when your mind is interested in doing something. It is vitally important that you have avocations as well as a vocation. The moments you give to painting, writing poetry or stories, modeling in clay, stamp collecting, rug weaving or whatever hobby you indulge, are moments well spent, for they will serve to release energy which will make your regular work easier and less boring.

5. If you are not already in love with someone, fall in love as quickly as you can.Nothing helps release dynamic energy so quickly and potently as being in love. Science is now aware of the importance of this powerful emotion in our lives. Children thrive and are healthy when loved. When denied love they are sickly and lacking in energy and interest.

6. Set daily goals for yourself that you are trying to achieve.

If you are a salesman, set a certain number of sales. If an author, set a certain number of pages you wish to write. If a student, a certain course of study which you do regularly. It has been found that the mind responds to the challenge of direct suggestion. If you know you are going to play eighteen holes of golf, the body and brain see to it that the necessary energy and drive are created to carry you through that course. If a prize fighter builds himself up mentally to take on a certain opponent, his body will release the energy to carry him into that ring facing formidable opposition. As you achieve these small goals at first, keep raising the level of your goal, until you have reached a high peak of energy and achievement.

7. Each day, when you start your activities, say a series of suggestions that will be energy-boosters to your subconscious mind.

Here are a few you might memorize and repeat every day when you feel the need of inspiration or greater mental or physical energy.

  • I am strong and healthy.
  • I can accomplish anything I desire.
  • I am young and vital, and my body now responds with new energy and vitality to do all my tasks today.
  • I am happy, happy, happy.
  • I find joy in my work and my life sparkles with interest and happiness.
  • I have faith in myself, my work and my destiny.
  • I now extend this faith to the entire world.
  • I am successful, well-liked, and attract friends to myself.
  • I now radiate confidence, poise and inner power.
  • I love everyone I meet, and they will in turn love me.
  • I am rich as any millionaire; with gifts of mental and physical health, free estates of parks, and the golden gifts of friendship, love, peace, happiness and beauty.

Whenever you feel tired or discouraged, or your energy is low, just stop whatever you are doing, breathe deeply for ten or fifteen times, say all of the above energy-boosters, and really mean them, then you will see how quickly your mind recovers its sharpness, and your body becomes filled with new energy and vitality.

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An Ultimate Lifestyle Secret - Reading Tips for Parents of Preschoolers

Posted March 22, 2007 * Comments(0)

When I was a small child living in British Columbia, Canada, each evening before bed, my father would gather my brother and me and place us on chairs in front of the open oven door of the kitchen wood stove on cool evenings and on warm ones we’d gather at the kitchen table. Once we were settled with our before bed snack, he would read us a chapter of a Thornton W. Burgess bedtime story. It was a time that I will never forget. As well as entertaining, it taught both of us the value of a good book. So many wonderful, entertaining and educational things can be learned from books. I believe that my love of reading and writing was fostered in these early years of my life.

Inspiring your child to read could be the single most important thing you can do to help him or her succeed in school. Stories are an excellent way to stimulate the mind and expand the imagination, for all of us.

Starting early with your child is the key to a lifelong passion for the written word. Use the tips below and watch your child develop into a proficient reader.

Read Together Every Day

Read to your child every day with different voice tones. Sometimes you can be fun, crazy, and exciting, other times be serious and intriguing. Even if your child does not understand all the words, you are making reading fun and interesting!

Have Your Child Read to You

Make this a warm loving time where your child feels safe to make mistakes. Have your child repeat after you. Start with simple phrases and words and move forward as your child progresses.

Show How Much You Love to Read

Tell your child that you need a certain amount of time every day to read by yourself. “This is my time,” tell her. This shows how much you enjoy reading. Research shows that 55% of communication is body language, 38% tone of voice, and only 7% the content. If you are reading and enjoying it, your child is more likely to model that behavior. You may even find your child picking up your books and pretending to read.

Get Excited About Reading With Your Child

Throughout the day tell your child how much you are looking forward to “Story Time!” Remember the percentages of communication above.

Know When to Stop

Little by little is the key. Reading should be fun time. If your child is losing interest, put the book away for a while. If reading time is not surrounded by positive feelings then negative feelings will emerge. It is very difficult to reestablish the fun in reading when apprehension surfaces.

Talk About Writing

Ask your child what she thinks it would be like to write a book like the ones she loves. Mention to her how it’s interesting how we read from left to right and how the text is separated by spaces, commas, and paragraphs.

Point Out Words Everywhere

Talk about written words you see in your community: road signs, advertisements, bumper stickers, grocery stores. Challenge your child to find at least two new words on each outing. Then celebrate her discoveries with positive body language, exciting tones of voice, and positive words of encouragement.

Follow the above tips and watch your child develop a strong vocabulary and passion for the written word. The importance of reading with your children cannot be over emphasized.

Reading is a wonderful way to bond with your children and provides memories they will carry with them all their lives. Proficiency in reading, more than any other skill, increases their potential for success in school and as an adult.

In short, reading with your children is a gift that gives for a lifetime.

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How To Beat The Internet Blues

Posted March 5, 2007 * Comments(1)

In experiencing the Internet and trying to do business there, I have learned a lot of things. I have learned terminology, HTML, coding (just a bit) and my favorite, Internet Marketing. By no means am I finished learning, I have just begun.

Even though I have been using the net and learning on the net for over a decade I am still a newbie. I have recently begun and slashed business ideas and formats because of what I call the ‘Internet Blues’.

The Internet Blues comes from working hard, learning hard and basically having a hard time dealing with a lack of immediate results. Like a lot of people in my sphere of influence, I am impatient. I am used to dealing with the real world per se and can do business there just fine. The Internet however is a completely different animal even if it shares similar dynamics. What I have learned here could fill several books on what and what not to do and yet I often feel as if I know nothing.

I have found that for me, this feeling of stupidity comes from being or allowing myself to be overwhelmed. Remember, even though the Internet may be fun, it is also a vast resource and a tool with power that has changed society, for the better I believe.

Currently I am writing about my love of Internet Marketing and have found myself to be less than enthusiastic at times due to my lack of immediate traffic. I also would like to make money but that comes as a result of being good and informative in my writing. To be honest, I know better because no real time has passed but the Internet Blues does not care. I have determined that I will stay the course with my current venture because it will succeed. All I have to do is keep learning and keep trying.

Along with this affirmation comes some tools and affirmations that I have begun to use daily in order to fight off the Internet Blues, If you ever find your self in this predicament, I hope you use them and that they come in handy.

Affirmation #1

I can achieve my goals because I have the ability to achieve them.

Tool #1

Look at what has been accomplished and not at what has failed, then relish them for what they are and move on.

Affirmation #2

I am not alone in my endeavors, there is help to be had.

Tool #2

Talk about what is going on with like minded people who can help and not criticize.

Affirmation #3

Everything takes time.

Tool #3

Work on patience, this also takes time. Eventually you will get better.

Affirmation #4

I will not give up no matter what.

Tool #4

Persistence. Try again. Modify what you have tried until it works.

Power Affirmation

I am the King.

Power Tool

Strut your stuff. This is intended to make light of the situation. Levity and laughter can break the foulest moods.

So there you have it, my way to break the cycle of the Internet Blues. It works for me the majority of the time and it might work for you. You should come up with some affirmations and tools of your own. If they don’t work combine your affirmations and tools with something you love and a little bit of time. I like to write hence this article. This reminds me of my tools and affirmations and also gives me a venue to express myself honesty.

In the time it took me to write this short article/essay, I have learned more about myself that will help me achieve my goals and demand more realistically of myself. If you come up with some great universal affirmations and tools, I would sure like to know about them, we Internet Blues’ers need all the help we can get.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrew Witherspoon is a freelance writer, professional logger an Internet Entrepreneur and a staff writer for Literafeelya Magazine.

Did you find this article helpful?

This article may be reprinted provided that: It is not altered in any way and the author is credited. For related articles and content, visit: Mega Product Marketing And Review or contact the author at andrewwitherspoon@hotmail.com.

Copyright 2007 by WebMarPro, publisher of
http://www.megaproducts.blogspot.com All Rights Reserved.

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