Category Archives: Positive Thinking

Are Your Words More Like Honey Or Acid?

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Why do you think our wisest teachers have taught us, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything?”

Before you answer, think about the people you trust, admire, and respect the most.  Are their words nice and sweet like honey or caustic and bitter like acid?  All humans have a natural intrinsic need to connect, to be liked, to be accepted, and more importantly, to be needed and valued.  One of the quickest ways to make that connection is by using nice (kind, pleasant, and polite) words in our speech.

It is through our words that we connect or divide and it is that connectedness that makes us truly human and attractive.

The question each of us must answer is, “Are we more likely to get our needs met being nasty or nice?” Our humanity is demonstrated through our compassion, sympathy, and kindness to one another, for there is an emotional component attached to our words which is communicated non-verbally.  One of the most powerful gifts that a human being possesses is speech. Each syllable and sound is infused with potential meaning and influence.  That is why we must always choose our words so carefully.  Unless we are being disingenuous, our emotions will also match our words and vice versa.  Nice people tend to say nice things; nasty people are likely to say nasty things.  You can’t completely separate who you really are from what comes out of your mouth.

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.

Honor Your Sight and Insight

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When you can’t see, it makes you realize how important sight is.  I probably wouldn’t have even been thinking about my sight this morning had I not misplaced my glasses.  Now I am thinking how grateful I am to be able to see (even if I need glasses for reading.)  Sight is such a wonderful gift.  I’m now thinking about how many other wonderful things are before me that I’ve taken for granted and not expressly been thankful for.

Fortunately I located my glasses before long, but the lesson was still strikingly clear.

Sight is an extremely gift.

We must honor it,  protect it, appreciate it, and make use of it. It is through sight that we learn new things, acknowledge what is before us, and connect with our world.  And while sight is critical, insight is just as important.  We must learn to connect with those things that physical sight can not see.  Insight is being able to envision things, that is, to imagine, dream, and create new realities.  Each of us has marvelous powers that can not only transform our individual worlds, but also has the power to change and recreate the world around us.  Both our physical sight and insight require our focused attention and dramatically affect the quality of our lives.  We have to take the time to focus our sight because where our sight goes, our thoughts go.  Where our thoughts go, our attention, emotions, and energy goes.  And our emotional state and where we focus of our attention and energy determines what manifests in our lives.   We’ve got to take the time to see, reflect, imagine, and create the life of our dreams.  You have the power, use it!  Remember sight is a gift, honor it!

Be Thankful for Your Sight

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This morning when I awoke as my brain was transitioning to the theta brain wave state, I starting thinking about all the things I had to be grateful for.  First of all I was grateful that I had a morning that I could just sleep in late, with no deadlines and stresses on the immediate horizon.  I thanked God for my family, my home, my children, and so on.  I thought about my step-mom who had recently passed and thanked God for her 85 years. I offered thanks for my recent work opportunities and for the people in my  life, like Gina Watkins of Constant Contact.  She had invited me to be her guest at a wonderful gala put on by SCORE, Service Core of Retired Executives.

The more I thanked, the more I remembered to be thankful for.

I decided to read some spiritual text but realized that I couldn’t find my glasses.  I can see pretty well, but some things are blurry, like text in a book or  the numbers on a phone.  Then I realized something else to be thankful for, my sight.  I looked at all the books I’d recently purchased at the Borders ‘Going Out of Business’ sale and realized that without sight, I couldn’t access this new oasis of knowledge.  After each blurry encounter while looking for my glasses, I was powerfully reminded of how important sight is.  I thought about how my day would go if I didn’t find my glasses.  It would be very different from the relaxed one I had planned.  Life presents us lessons all the time and by different methods.  My glasses just happened to be the medium of my lesson this morning.  So instead of being frustrated about not finding my glasses, I decided to just appreciate the sight I had and to be grateful for all the other senses I had. Why is it that we have to lose something before we really appreciate it?  So, think about what lesson life is presenting you today and appreciate the medium that gives you the opportunity to grow!

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.

This Is Your Sign to GO!

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go after your dreamsOn the crowded highway of life, you’ll get run over if you just stand still on the freeway. Sure you can move off onto the shoulder where the disabled cars are, but you can’t stay there forever and expect to reach your desired destination. If you stay on the shoulder too long, you’ll get ticketed, towed, or vandalized.

And, so it is in life. You’ve got to keep moving to keep growing, for to stop growing is to die.   I’m not saying to not take time to pray, meditate, plan, and be guided. That’s should be a habit.  I’ve pulled off on the shoulder of the highway of life many times to regroup and get my reference points clear, but then you’ve got to get back in the driver’s seat and get moving.  Don’t worry about how far off your destination is.  Don’t spend time worrying about how you will get there or what detours or roadblocks you might encounter.  Just have faith and get moving.   Do not despise your humble beginnings or small steps.  Remember, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step,” or in our analogy, one mile.

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.

The Power of A Date

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Want to achieve a specific goal by a specific time? Then put a date on it.  The more urgent the date, the greater chances that you will achieve it. Most of you are aware of my desire to have my own television show.  Since the Oprah competition last year, I have been taking classes in field production, studio technician, Finalcut Pro Editing,  and studio production.  After the competition ended, I immediately signed up for the next class and have been taking them for the past year.  I decided that I wanted to launch my show in September.  Deciding to do something is not enough.  I had decided last year, but just yesterday I filled out the final paperwork,  and selected a date for my first show on the local cable MCM Channel 19.  The date is September 24, 2011.  Although I had been preparing for years, it finally felt real when I set the date.  I told them that when the Oprah people call, I’ll have to bow out.  So, even though I’m on hold for a part on OWN network, I’m proceeding on with my own plan.

Go on, Commit and Set A Date.

So what do you want to accomplish? Is it important?  Does it excite you?  You can keep hoping and wishing or you can set a date.  Just setting the date gets the juices going.  So, get busy now realizing your goals.  You’re probably familiar with the adage, “If you want something done, give it to a busy person.”  Busy people get things done because they HAVE to schedule their time.  I was busy yesterday and had plans for today.   But then, I got a request from a client last night to put together some training for teaching a course in Hawaii in August.  The request had everything it needed to peak my  interest. The only challenge was that I had to put the info together in less than 24 hours.  It was clearly an urgent request.  Did I get it done? You betcha!  Click to read about 10 Tips I Learned About Getting Things Done!

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.