Tag Archives: Appreciation

You Could Have Been An Onion!

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You Could Have Been An Onion.

You Could Have Been An Onion.

Stop!

Before you complain again about anything, appreciate the fact that YOU HIT THE CREATION JACKPOT.  You could have been an onion, slug, a roach, or a piece of sand. Instead you are blessed  to be human beings, to have the potential to mirror the attributes and qualities of God, and to be so valued and trusted as to be given consciousness, free will, and dominion over this world. Just think about the billions of  creations in this magnificent world of ours.  There are untold numbers of fruits, vegetables, plants, insects, birds, fish, organisms, and animals.  And yet, if you are reading this, you hit the creation jackpot because YOU GOT TO BE  A HUMAN.

“Humans have conscious thought and are aware of their consciousness. With this power, we can create or destroy, love or hate, believe or fear, take from others or serve them unselfishly. Circumstances may not be to our liking, but at least we have the capacity to change things and that’s the miracle and blessing of being a human.  Humans can create new reality.  Humans can make new and better choices.  Humans can willingly choose to change their circumstances through decisiveness, commitment, and focused action.”

Barbara Talley is a professional speaker, poet, and author.  Her presentations focus on vision, values, and virtues.  You can find more about her programs at www.ThePoetSpeaks.com

6 Ways to Be Happier and Nicer Right Now

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One of my daughters used to say, “Be nice, baby,” to everyone when she was about three years old.  I’m wishing the same for you, “Be nice, baby!” When people are nice to us, we are happier. When we make others happy, now that’s pure joy!  We habitually say, “Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary,  Happy Valentines Day, and “Happy Holidays.”  Why not “Happy Monday, Happy Tuesday, Happy Wednesday, etc?” And while you’re sending out that happy wish why not follow it up with nice thoughts, words, and actions.  Just like gloom is contagious, so is happiness. So go infect others with happiness, by wishing the best for them each day, not just on special days.

You can change your life by changing your words, nice matters.  We can all improve; to get started:

  1. Carry around a notebook the next few days and take note of how kind your words are.
  2. Are they forgiving or intolerant?
  3. Are they judgmental or complimentary?
  4. 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?
  5. Also notice the reactions to your words.
  6. Are they smiling or frowning?  Are they happy or sad?

Also check out this post on ‘5 Simple Ways to Stay Happy‘ by another blogger.

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 more about me, check out my promo sheet or visit  my website.

YOU can’t become rich without ENRICHING OTHERS.

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Enrich Others

[Note: Wealth isn’t just that green paper!]

True wealth is a feeling of being surrounded by love, joy, and completeness.

Just as true wealth is fullness; true poverty is emptiness. You can have all the money in the world and be poor and have very little financially and feel very rich. With God’s blessing, you can have BOTH but that can’t happen without enriching others.

So Many Have So Much And Yet Are Still So Poor

Don’t judge your own or any other person’s worth, value, or well-being by their bank account. True poverty is aloneness, incompleteness, dissatisfaction, and unhappiness. With all the blessings around them, the truly poor find it difficult to find anything to be joyous about. The truly rich are appreciative of everything no matter how small, their sight/hearing, their home, their last meal, their family, and maybe just the fact that they are alive to see another day with those they love.

You can have it all and feel like you have nothing, OR you can have nothing and still feel on top of the world.  But one fact is critically important to remember, if you want more wealth, what you do has to enrich others. Practice giving joyfully without expecting a pay back, otherwise it’s just a swap or exchange and doesn’t attract divine blessings to you. Take the example of parents as your guide. Their motives are so pure. Parents are natural enrichers; from the moment their children are born, their thoughts are focused on how they can enrich that child’s life. Their happiness is in seeing the child grow, prosper, and be happy. That’s the model we want to emulate. Now, go ahead and claim your real wealth. Begin by thinking about whose life can you enrich today.

I’m Barbara Talley, The Poet who speaks and inspires.   To find more about me, check out my promo sheet or visit  my website.

CHANGE IS IN THE AIR: GO WITH IT!

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ImageLife is about change.  You can’t escape it.  You’ve heard it said, “Change is inevitable, but growth is optional.”  The seasons change, people change, and WE change. It’s what we call living. All things that are alive continue to change. Change is part of the circle of life and is vitally necessary. Like the trees letting go of her leaves,  we’ve got to learn when to let go too, whether it is in our careers, relationships, or other pursuits.  We change and we can even outgrow our own puny dreams of the past. Other times it’s people; we don’t connect so well anymore with some because we are each growing at different speeds or we’re choosing to grow and they have chosen to not grow.  Now that doesn’t mean you don’t fight for the important relationships in your life for we don’t just throw away people. But it does mean that we are more discerning with your choices and we have to let others grow at their own pace and not invest so much time in changing THEM. Rather we must use that energy to change OURSELVES.

Embrace Change. Just like the earth, we are all changing seasons right now. And, as I watch how easily the leaves fall from the trees with a little wind, I wonder why we try so hard to hold onto what is, instead of welcoming what might be. I know that each of us (just like the trees) is just being prepared for our beautiful springtime that is assuredly ahead. So just as spring follows winter, each of our own individual harvests is inevitably just ahead. Like the trees, we’ve got to learn when to just let go. Fall is a beautiful time and the falling of the leaves has a purpose. The tree knows this instinctively.  And like the trees we must have faith that something better is awaiting each of us. And finally, with a heart full of joy and appreciation we must learn to greet each day knowing that blessings are on the way and thank God for them right now in advance.  Remember, a grateful heart attracts blessings.

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.

Are You Programmed for Poverty or Wealth?

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I remember in my early twenties reading a book called the ‘The Magic of Thinking Big,’ In my circles at the time thinking big was being able to pay the rent, buy a suede coat after saving up for months, or just having a job.  My limiting environmental programming had taught me that to want much more was greed, to ask for more than the basics was selfish.  I had to overcome this early programming in order to be successful.

A familiar phrase of the elders were, “The children in Africa are starving.” Their intent was “Be grateful,” for they had gone through much harder times and sacrificed for us to have what little we had. But, the message I heard was, “Don’t ask for much in life.”  Even the church was complicit, teaching that, “It is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get to heaven.”  Their intent was to teach us not to put wealth before God.  The message I got was that I had to choose between God and wealth because it is impossible to have both.

Even as a child I knew that it was impossible for a camel to get through the eye of a needle.  Fortunately I learned later in life that ‘The Eye of the Needle” is a difficult camel passage and a place and not a physical needle.  That changed the message entirely.  To complete the negative indoctrination regarding money, my father would comment regularly when seeing rich people that they were crooks.  I’m sure that was probably his personal experience doing migrant work and growing up in the South.  However the takeaway message confirmed the church’s message, “If you choose wealth, then you are going against God and salvation.”

Who says you can’t have both?  There are so many spiritual teachings that teach us of our power and greatness.  Abundance is also an attribute of God and as spiritual heirs, wealth is ours.  The importance determinant is what we do with that wealth. Do we serve, remain moral and upright, and are we grateful to the point of sharing?  That’s how we measure the value of wealth.

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.