Category Archives: Positive Thinking

Stop, Slow Down, or Go?

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STOP! Look, and Listen

Have you ever wondered why there are three settings on a stop light?  It’s because all three are necessary. Everyone needs to stop sometime.  You can’t keep going and going like the Energizer Bunny.  You’ve got to take time out to pause, reflect, plan, relax, and regenerate.

Green Lights Mean Go!

Now some of you have the opposite challenge.  You can’t seem to get moving, to get motivated, to get on track, on fire, and on purpose.  You are simply stuck.  Some of you are moving so slow that you’d have to speed up to just stop.  And, some people are sitting there with no plans while others with detailed plans are doing nothing with them.

What are you waiting for?

If you’ve gotten the green light in life, GO!  Is there an opportunity in your lap right now?  Are you procrastinating, doubtful and worried about failure.  No risk, no gain! Get going. You can’t stay in limbo forever if you wish to reach your goals.

“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.”  Zig Ziglar

Remember we are not PROMISED tomorrow even though so far each day we awaken to the gift of another 24 beautiful hours.  Show that you value that gift each day by slowing down long enough to show your gratitude, by stopping to smell the roses, and by getting going to make the most of every single moment.

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.
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Seize the Merry and Miserable Moments

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Whether your current moment is merry or miserable, you must let go of it if you are to move on to the next.   The miserable moments are only that when we label them that way. The merry moments are only that way because we decided that they were.  This morning I was reflecting on last December and the changes that have occurred since last year this time.  There have been so many.  For one, there were people in my life last year that are gone this year.  Last year at this time, we were mourning my nephew’s tragic and untimely demise at age 32.  Everyone was wishing that they’d spent more time with him and said and done things to let him know how much he was loved.  This year it is my step-mother who passed in July. She lived to be 85-years old.  This morning I was reflecting on how she did not spend the holidays with us last year.  There were many reasons, but mainly our collective somber mood and the weather.  Little did I know that we would not have another opportunity.

“Getting over a painful experience is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.” -C.S. Lewis

While there has been significant loss, at the same time there has been significant gain.  I am not the same person I was last year. Last year this time there was a fear and hopelessness that has now been replaced by faith and expectation.  I have new relationships, new opportunities, and a new sense of valuing life’s little moments.  I am better, mainly because I chose to be better.  I know from my more than a half century of living that we must seize every moment.  We don’t love, laugh, and enrich the world in the past or the present, we do it ONLY in the current moment.  So seize it.

“It’s not life’s big planned events that make the big difference, it is the simple, intimate, and sometimes spontaneous things we do for each other.” Barbara Talley

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.
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Change Is Part of The Master Plan

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It is December, the time of holiday spirits, year-end reflections, and the anticipation or regret of the approaching winter weather. If there is one thing that I know for sure, it is that things WILL change.  All you have to do is open your eyes to see change all around you.  There is new construction where once there were trees or abandoned property. Houses once filled with familiar voices and laughter are now empty or new occupants have staked their claims. The trees which once were spectacularly clothed by nature now stand naked and barren, while simple houses are lit and dressed in their best holiday finery.  Even relationships that we had last year have perhaps changed, some for the better, others for the worse.  And if we are fortunate, we too will  have changed! Remember, it’s not the strongest or wisest that survive, but the one most adaptable to change.

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” -George Bernard Shaw

“Someone was hurt before you, wronged before you, hungry before you, frightened before you, beaten before you, humiliated before you, raped before you… yet, someone survived… You can do anything you choose to do.” –Maya Angelou

Change is part of the master plan and is inevitable.    Life will happen, with or without our permission, engagement, or opinion. Our only choice is to decide whether we will grow from the change or not AND whether we will drive the change or let it drive us.  You  can fight it, shape it, or embrace it.  So, why not decide to grow, to improve, to be happier, to be financially secure, to become smarter, to become more virtuous and loving, and to make your mark and make a difference.

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Give Yourself a Gift Right Now

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“What we give to others, we give to ourselves. What we withhold from others, we withhold from ourselves.” Marianne Williamson

Get it?  We’re all connected.  We are one.  So what is it that you feel you are lacking right now:  love, opportunity… encouragement?  Want to experience significant change right now?  You can,  if you just realize that all change happens only in the current moment.  Master the current moment and master your life.  All you have to do is think, say, and do the right thing in this moment, and the next, and the next.  And guess what, you’ll be different and things will be different!  You can make change right now by doing the following exercise.

Do this exercise right now.

  1. Think of something that you wish to experience or receive more of in your life right now.   Don’t worry; it’s okay to ask.   That’s the only way you will receive and anyway, you deserve it! We live in an abundant, loving, and harmonious universe.  It’s important to see the universe as abundant if you wish to receive from it.  If you see it as limited, shrinking, and hostile, this won’t work for you.  Okay, have something in mind?  Great!
  2. Now think of how you can assist someone else in getting that same thing.  Thought of a person?
  3. Write down their name and prayerfully think of some way to assist that person in some meaningful way.
  4.  NOW DO IT!
  5. Then report back later and share the wonderful results you are destined to experience.

Choice Words Change Lives

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Choosing to be nicer not only makes us attractive to others, but it also makes us more productive, healthier, and stronger.  Experts like Losada, Emoto, and Hawkins advocate the importance of being in the positive  or nice zone.  At work, Losada teaches that we need at least 3 (actually 2.97) positive interactions to one negative interaction to be productive.  Masuru Emoto, in ‘Hidden Messages in Water’ proves in his research that our cellular structures are actually changed by the words we use and the thoughts we think.  And finally David Hawkins in ‘Power versus Force’ teaches that there is a different energy frequency associated with our words and emotions.  The “nicer” words and qualities give us power, while the nastier qualities make us weaker.   It could even save your marriage!  Gottman’s research discovered that couples who had a ratio of five or more positive interactions to one negative interaction stayed together after his 10-year research while other marriages were in trouble.

Nice Matters

You can change your life by changing your words, nice matters.  We can all improve; to get started carry around a notebook the next few days and take note of how kind your words are.  Are they forgiving or intolerant?  Are they judgmental or complimentary? Do they uplift or dishearten?  Do they encourage or dampen the other person’s spirit?  In short, do your words soothe and inspire the soul of the person hearing them?  Also notice the reactions to your words.  Are they smiling or frowning?  Are they happy or sad?  In closing, we’ll get more of our needs met by being nice and we’ll also like that person in the mirror a whole lot more.  With so many things that are out of our control, isn’t it heartwarming to know that some things still are?

I’m Barbara Talley, the poet who speaks and inspires.  To find out more about me check out: What Does Barbara Do? or visit  my website.