Peace Begins With Me
   Ideas and Inspiration
June 2011
Issue #42

Greetings!

 

Welcome to the June 2011 edition of 'Peace Begins With Me - Ideas and Inspiration'.

Every once in a while some one or some thing shows up in my life to remind me how magical life can be. Michael is one of those individuals who's story is a powerful testament that all is not as it appears. I hope you enjoy hearing about Michael's lucky day.


Those who would like to add comments and reflections to my writings, feel free to join my blog at:  Peace Begins With Me - blog

 

Namaste

Ted

 

This Is My Lucky Day!
The Magic of Life

Ted standing

Michael was feeling pretty beaten up.  Life was not going according to plan and, in spite of his best efforts to remain positive, the challenges confronting Michael had gotten the better of him. In his despair Michael gave me a call. "Ted, I need your help. I can't seem to keep my head above water. I feel like I'm drowning. Everything I touch turns bad."

 

This wasn't true. Michael had a long history of overcoming adversity. Michael's father left when he was still an infant leaving he and his mother in a state of poverty. Michael and his mother spent time homeless, then living in temporary shelters, and eventually government-supported housing.

 

Michael started working at age thirteen. He knew even then that he needed to take responsibility for his future. Michael set incredibly high expectations for himself. He graduated from high school, attended university, and while there earned three degrees and the respect of many. Michael was determined to be a multi-millionaire by the time he was fourty.

 

Michael achieved much by the time he reached his fortieth birthday including starting up numerous businesses and receiving high returns on his investment of time, energy and money. But Michael also insisted on playing life as a high risk - high reward game and currently his life was in a down turn. His businesses were struggling, his debts mounting, and his despair growing.

 

I spent time listening to Michael as he shared his story of despair. When I attempted to shift Michael to a more positive and proactive frame of mind he was having nothing of it. Regardless the words and suggestions I offered Michael was unable to shift his perspective. He kept repeating his mantra over and over again - "I'm a failure. I'm unlucky. I don't deserve."

 

During our session last week I tried something different. I invited Michael to participate in an experiment with me. I asked if he would be willing to consider changing his story. Would he be willing to explore how life might respond to him if he told a different story, presented a different persona, and held a different emotion? I invited Michael to wake up each day for one week and declare to the universe - "Today is my lucky day." In his desperation Michael decided to give this a try.

 

Yesterday I received a telephone call from Michael. He was ecstatic. The joy rippled through the telephone line like a tsunami. "Ted, you won't believe what's happening to me!" He then paused and said, "Well, maybe you will." Then Michael shared what had occurred since I last spoke with him. "I did what you asked me to do. Even though I woke up the next day with my normal state of despair and desperation I began our little experiment. I told myself - 'Michael, this is your lucky day'. I have to admit I wasn't feeling lucky but I repeated the phrase over and over again in my mind. I must have repeated it more than one hundred times as I got dressed, ate my breakfast and drove into the office."

 

"When I arrived at the office the telephones were ringing off the hook. My email box was stuffed with emails. My staff were all running around like crazy. 'What's going on?'" I asked. "We don't know." they said. "It's been like this all morning." "Ted, I discovered that a reporter had done a very positive article on my company and people were calling from around the world wanting more information." Michael gushed with enthusiasm. "Its amazing. I didn't even know the article was being written."

 

"Congratulations Michael." I said.  

 

But Michael wasn't finished. Michael proceeded to tell me that he was scheduled to do a noon hour presentation on his company that same day. After the presentation a gentleman approached him with a check. "Ted, he put the check in my hand and said he was interested in investing in my company. It was the second biggest check I've seen in my life."

 

"Wow Michael! That's amazing."

 

"Ted, I'm not done. On my way home I received a phone call from my realtor. He was calling about a building I had bought as an investment a few years ago. The building turned out to be a bad decision and I was loosing money on it. I figured it would take years for me to break even on the investment. It was another example of how I figured I had failed. The realtor was calling to let me know the value of the building had been re-assessed and was now worth 1.1 million dollars more than I paid for it."

 

"Ted, this has been the luckiest day of my life!" exclaimed Michael. "Thank you for your assistance."

 

"No, Michael, thank you. You have reminded me once again that amazing things can and do happen in life; that the world doesn't follow a linear progression from A to B to C. Magic can and does happen." We both laughed, then Michael said, "I've got to go. I've lots to do."

 

May you have an abundance of magic in your life and may today be your lucky day! 

 

Namaste

Ted  

Words of Wisdom

"You can have all the fairies you like  

in your back garden.

Just as long as you know

that you put them there."

 

Ray Woollam, On Choosing With A Quiet Mind 

Thank you for sharing these few moments with me. I hope they offer you inspiration, heart, and hope for the future. Together, we can make our world more peaceful.

If you have questions or comments, I would be delighted to hear from you. You can email me at [email protected]

 Sincerely,
 
Ted Kuntz
Author, Peace Begins With Me
In This Issue
This Is My Lucky Day!
Words of Wisdom
Quick Links

Give the gift of peace.




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