300!

I reached 300 fans today on my Facebook page.   I am especially thankful for those of my fans who are referring me to their friends.  Keep it up, and in celebration, here's a weekend brain squeeze.  Click the pic, print it and go for it.

My Audio Experiment...

Check out my experimental first audio posting.  I've decided to investigate joining the podcast crowd.  My first audio post is a brief biographical sketch and basic summary of my manifestation coaching approach.  Listen and let me know what you think!!  http://www.manifestationcoaching.com/html/audio.html 

The Unread Book...

I spent a lot of time in trouble during my early school years. Don’t misunderstand; I wasn’t a bad kid. But I was a troublesome kid. I talked too much, asked too many questions, came back with too many impertinent remarks, argued with my elders, and read too much (which basically means I was reading anything but the textbooks I was supposed to be reading. My passion has always been science fiction, and even in grammar school I found the genre more interesting than geography).

In fact, when I finally graduated from Immaculate Conception grammar school, I was given the seven books that had been confiscated from me during my four years there. Each one was taken for reading in class. I had good grades, but reading was an addiction for me very early in life.

Today, it is typical for me be reading three or four books concurrently. Out of economic necessity, I shop at a wonderful used bookstore in the San Fernando Valley called The Iliad. I start there on a Saturday morning with the bargain counter near the entrance. Tons of books under $5. I get all kinds of books I would have passed by before. I don’t want to risk $35 on a book I’m not sure about. But for $1 I’ll buy anything that looks intriguing. That bargain price has lured me into some fascinating reading. But most especially historical reading.

Recently, I’ve started reading another $2 book published in 1916. It’s called A Diplomat’s Wife in Mexico covering her diplomatic stay in Mexico around 1912. Written by Edith O’Shaughnessy as a series of letters back to the States, it presents a fascinating sometimes troubling picture of the American viewpoint at the turn of the century, and our relationship with Latin America.

As I reached near the halfway point of the book, I started having the cut many pages. For those not familiar with this, many times, older books would have pages that were not properly cut along the outside, preventing you from turning the page. In the day, it was typical to have a letter opener or some other knife-like tool handy when reading a book for the first time, to be able to “cut” the pages when needed.

I suddenly realized that if I was cutting pages, I was the first one to turn these pages. That meant this near 100-year old book had never been read all through until I did it myself this week. For almost 100 years, this book has lain fallow, its message locked between its covers just waiting from someone to cut the pages open and release the story.

For some reason, it made me sad. I wondered how many of us are like that book. It has a lovely dark green cover with the Mexican eagle emblem embossed in gold on the front, along with the title and a reproduction of Mrs. O’Shaughnessy’s signature. It’s quite a pretty book, actually, and still it’s never been opened.

So many of us put on our best face, dress up real nice for the world, and still end up standing at the edge of the dance floor, watching everyone else have fun – our book unopened.

But my little book had no choice. It couldn’t jump up and cry “read me!” and it couldn’t read itself. You and I have more going for us. We don’t have to wait for someone to find us finally on the bargain counter at The Iliad.

With a little bit of courage and a little bit of daring, we can speak up for ourselves, create our own readers, and tell our story to the world. Whether it’s creating a compelling resume, giving an Oscar-worthy job interview, or writing the next great novel, we have the power to create without waiting for permission.

I know doing the unfamiliar is scary and daunting. But after my bittersweet encounter with Mrs. O’Shaughnessy’s book, I have a new inspiration. Every time I think about giving up I’ll think about that poor little book just waiting, waiting, waiting, and I’ll know that nothing is scarier than that. No risk of failure is worse than the thought of being like that book, unread, unappreciated, just waiting.

Trying is better. Trying and failing is better. Anything is better than just sitting there.  And that's a great feeling.

Once you reach that point, you have found your power. Find your focus next and blast off. Don’t be that unread book!

http://www.manifestationcoaching.com/