And Sometimes the Answer is...

GOOD NEWS!!!

That was the subject line of an email I received last November.

I knew who sent it, and I knew what it was about, but I could barely open it.

It seemed a bit surreal.

After all, I’d waited for this particular moment for a while.

Okay, a long time.

The picture book in question had gone through about 10 months of revision with my acquiring editor.

But that’s not what I mean by “long time.”

The truth is, I’m pretty sure this entire process began when I was 10. That’s when I wrote and illustrated my very first “picture book.”

Alas, the writing was wanting and the plot was thin.

And then there were illustration issues. 

The turtle character I could handle. A rock with appendages — piece of cake. But the frog dude? Now, that was a lot of leg to deal with.

Trust me, you can only hide your amphibian behind a leaf so many times before even a 10-year-old realizes that a book is DOA.

The project was abandoned. And from then on, I left the illustrations to the professionals.

Fast-forward another decade or so, and I was starting to submit manuscripts in earnest.

But the YES did not arrive.

Sure, the stories were likely lacking. But I’m pretty certain that the main reason for all of that rejection was the sad fact that my acquiring editor hadn’t been born yet.

And then he was.

Of course he had to navigate through teething and walking, reading and writing, and all the rest.

He did it with flying colors — especially that reading and writing part.

Then he spent 10 months helping me make my little book the best that it could be so that he could take it to an acquisitions meeting.

And only then...

after all of that...

could he type the words I’d been waiting for:

GOOD NEWS!!!

Yeah, it took a long time...

But not quite as long as the Cubs.

And YES! It was worth the wait.

PROMPT:                         “Never, never, never give up.”

~Winston Churchill

The POWER of Positive!

Sara Blakely is the creator of Spanx. Yeah, she’s the one who created herself into the world’s youngest female billionaire.

Well, I recently listened to an interview of Miss Blakely, and WOW! It was chock-full of positive news that you might want to use.

When asked about the secret to her amazing success, Sara said that when she was 16 years old, her dad gave her a set of Wayne Dyer tapes (audio, not duct — for those of you younger than dirt) called How to Be a No-Limit Person.

Sara reports that she listened to those recordings until she had ALL TEN TAPES memorized. She said that she ALWAYS had the tapes going as she drove. In fact, her friends refused to ride with her because they couldn't 

bear to hear Wayne’s No-Limit yammering over and over and over again.

Hmmm… I wonder if they’d ride with her now.

Anyway, Sara said that all of those positive recordings retrained her brain.

Through them she learned how to deal with any and all of life’s obstacles by asking two questions —

Where is the blessing in this?

Where is the opportunity?

Fast-forward about 10 years, and Miss Blakely found herself cutting the feet off of a pair of pantyhose so that she could make her butt look smaller under her jeans…

POP QUIZ TIME!

At that moment, did Miss Blakely ask —

Will a new ThighMaster help me get rid of this butt?

Or

Will the papaya diet help me get rid of this butt?

Or

Should I break down and just buy bigger jeans made to fit this bigger butt?

No, no, and NO!

She asked —

Where is the blessing?

To which she probably answered —

There is absolutely, positively NOTHING blessed about a big butt.

But then she asked —

Where is the opportunity?

To which she answered —

I bet other women have the very same big butt bind.

You got that right, Sister!

The rest is billionaire history.

Now, if you've been around the sun a few times, you know that every single day of the year comes complete with at least one obstacle. What wonderful things might happen in your life, if you embraced those Sara Blakely questions?

I mean, come on! If those questions can defeat a big butt —

They can do ANYTHING!

PROMPT: Test out those questions with some of the obstacles that get tossed your way today. And while you’re at it, start feeding your brain some positive messages the way Sara did back when she was a wicked-smart teen. Some folks go for the almighty affirmation, some use visualization, and some look to books or recordings for inspiration. Whatever gives you a positive hit – try to fit it into each and every day. And if your first thoughts of “positive” involve the words “evening news” or “reality” TV — WE NEED TO TALK.

Grump-Be-Gone Gets Results!

"Success is not the key to happiness.

Happiness is the key to success.

If you love what you are doing, you'll be a success."

— Albert Schweitzer

Yesterday’s Grump Out Day definitely needed a follow-up. And Albert Schweitzer is just the man for the job.

Albert was one of the “leaper colony” folks I wrote about way back on our last leap year. He’s the guy who became a world-famous organist, then chucked it all at the age of 30 to go to medical school. The rest is more “world-famous” history. He saved patients, started hospitals, and wrote lots of books, yet still managed to find the time to pick up his Nobel Peace Prize in 1952.

What a guy.

What a deliriously happy guy.

For the sake of comparison, let’s consider another quote. I’ll tell you right now that this dude did not become a world-class organist, physician, or Nobel Peace Prize recipient. In fact, I don’t think he managed to make it through the first grade — and I think you’ll see why…

"Good morning, Pooh Bear," said Eeyore gloomily. "If it is a good morning," he said. "Which I doubt," said he.

—Eeyore

(from The Complete Tales of Winnie-The-Pooh by A. A. Milne)

Unless they’re handing out Ph.D.s in gloom, this guy’s going nowhere.

But sadly, there are an awful lot of Eeyores out there clinging to the belief that they will be happy just as soon as they get some success.

Oh, if only that were true.

Tough break, Cupcake — if your wish is to be successful, you’re going to have to get yourself some happy first.

Because it turns out that Albert was right. (I guess we can add world-class psychologist to his “success even after death” resume.)

Psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California says, “Previous research often assumed that success and accomplishments bring happiness, but we found that this isn't the case.”

Her studies demonstrated that “When people feel happy, they tend to feel confident, optimistic, and energetic and others find them likable and sociable…”

Which, of course, leads to more of what we call “success.”

Happiness first, Cupcake.

Happiness first.

PROMPT: Get yourself some happy today! Studies show that some of the keys to wear on your happiness tool belt include gratitude, physical activity, positive thinking, and (great news!) creative endeavors — like writing!

This writing business. Pencils and what-not.

Over-rated, if you ask me.

Silly stuff. Nothing in it.
~Eeyore

Yeah. Rock on, Eeyore… Best of luck handling all of your success.

Grump-Be-Gone

Be happy for this moment.

This moment is your life.

—Omar Khayyam

Get lost, Grumpy! Happy's the only dwarf we want to deal with right now…

Because today is the Great American Grump Out!

That’s right.

And that means for the next 24 hours there is to be no—

whining, frowning, fussing, bellyaching, grousing, grumbling, lamenting, screeching, crabbing, sulking, griping, scowling, glowering, or even eye-rolling.

Yep, all across the fruited plain.

We must refrain from the complain.

And yeah, that means you even have to endure bad poetry without groaning.

But hey, I've got some great stuff that can get you through…

We’ll start with the obvious — some Happy.

Got work to do?

Then this is what you want.

Still need a convincer that happy is the only way to be?

Shawn Achor’s TED talk will set you straight.

Face it, every day is Grump Out Day on the good ship Elbow.

PROMPT: Get rid of the grump, and get on board with these American Authors. This could be the best day of your life!

Seuss on the Loose!

Horton: The Early Years

All I ever need to know, I learned from Dr. Seuss –

1. Fun is good.

2. The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.

3. A person's a person, no matter how small.

4. Don't grumble! Don't stew! Some critters are much-much, oh, ever so much-much so muchly much-much more unlucky than you!

5. Step with care and great tact. Remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act.

6. Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.

7. From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!

8. You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose.

9. Why fit in when you were born to stand out?

10. Will you succeed? Yes! You will, indeed! (98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

PROMPT: Yesterday was Theodor Seuss Geisel’s 110^th birthday — but it’s never too late to celebrate! So…

Plan a party – bring the cats,

without or with their stripy hats.

Then make and serve some tasty schlopp.

But be a love – don’t hop on pop.

Ponder the Possibilities

The last weekend of December is one of my favorites.

Why?

Because I’m a complete sucker for the New Year.

It’s so chock-full of sunshiny New Possibilities — the perfect antidote for this cold, dark, and dreary time of the year.

But before I sit down to write resolutions or goals, I spend a couple of days just dreaming.

Here are some of the mind openers I like to use —

If I could create anything, I’d write, paint, sculpt, compose…

If I could go anywhere, I’d go…

If I had a billion dollars, I would…

If I could fully fund any charity, I’d fund…

If I could meet anyone, I’d love to fist bump…

If I could be the BEST at something, I’d choose…

Wouldn’t it be cool if…?

By the way, I believe that last one is a little magical. Once upon a time, I asked that question during a meeting. Two years later, following some wild, crazy, and completely unexpected circumstances, I ended up here —

Yes, my friends, it was cool.

PROMPT: Today’s a great day to use that beautiful, bendable mind’s elbow of yours to start creating a wonderful life.

Teller Tale

I saw these signs over many a beam and doorway in England last year. 

They are there to remind you not to include a concussive event while partying in a 500-year-old pub or rushing off to class in a building as old as, say, Jesus. Obviously people were a lot shorter before Power Bars and Red Bull.

I like the message.

In fact, I think these signs should be hung EVERYWHERE to serve as friendly reminders to care for those creative thinker thingies in our craniums.

Sadly, many folks do not mind their heads.

I ran smack into this bit of reality at my bank a while ago.

I was making a deposit when I noticed a stack of coins on the shelf between me and the teller. And because I am curious, and quite possibly nosy, I asked him why they were there.

“Somebody threw those at me,” said Mr. Teller.

“Somebody threw those at you?” I was horrified. “That’s terrible!”

Mr. Teller shrugged.

I was still in shock. “I am so sorry that happened to you,” I said and then looked at my watch. “Good GOD, it’s only 10:00 AM!” I felt HORRIBLE for this guy. “Well, I guess the good news is that your day can only get better from here.”

“Oh, it didn't happen today,” said Mr. Teller.

“Excuse me?”

“It happened weeks ago,” said Mr. Teller.

Let me interject here that the older I get, the less inclined I am to keep my opinions to myself. Yeah, I’m pretty much a gravity-fed gumball machine of thought. And yeah, I probably need a Mind Your Mouth sign. Anyway…

“Wait a minute,” I said — no longer feeling HORRIBLE. In fact, I was on the express train to ANNOYED. “You’re saying that someone threw these coins at you WEEKS ago…

He nodded.

“And when you start your shift, you actually take the time to stack them up here?”

His nodding slowed.

“WELL, you MUST be doing that because of all the… uh, POSITIVE feelings it generates for you!” I smiled.

Mr. Teller shrugged.

“Well, good luck with THAT.”

I mean, I know life doesn't come with a little instruction book, but really?

PROMPT: Mind Your Head this week. Grey and white matter matters, so spend a little time exploring what keeps you at your creative best. Then eliminate the stuff that doesn't work.

But hey, if you've ever experienced a really bad customer, client, or job then you've got some good material for a really great story. Don’t just 

stew — create something new!

Scott Adams took a bad job and turned it into a fortune by creating the comic strip Dilbert. By the way, Scott went into management after being held at gunpoint twice in four months while working as a TELLER. Hmmm….