Can't Is Not An Option

There is a story in Alvin Law's book: Alvin's Laws of Life where he is a frustrated kid who was accompanied by his therapist to a Canadian Football League game. Not his favorite team, but he was thrilled to be able to attend a live event.

Alvin was annoyed because doctors and therapist had been trying to "normalize" him to fit in for years. Born without arms, he had actually learned how to use his feet for hands, and quite well, at that. Meanwhile, the medical experts were forcing him to wear prosthetic arms, which in those days were uncomfortable, heavy, and cumbersome.

To play along with his therapist, he used these arms to pick up a cup of soda, but as the cup got closer to his face, the arms stopped working. They were stuck. So instead, he took off his shoes and picked up the cup from the security of the prosthetic arms and finally took his drink.

I love this story. To read how he tells it is has me rolling off the chair laughing every time.

But this story is a symbol.

If everyone conformed to society norms, then there would be no inventions, technology would not have evolved, we would not have a lot of the comforts we take for granted today.

Sometimes, you need to make up your own rules, as long as they are not hurtful to others.

I encourage you to visit Alvin's website to get a copy of his book. It's a good read and it will inspire you, no matter what types of challenges you face.

Perception and the Fight Club Rules

I've never met Kevin Trudeau. I cannot tell you first-hand if he kicks puppies or snuffs out butterflies. What I can tell you is he has been one of the single-most positive influences in my life for the past year and three months.

There is no doubt he can be controversial, off the wall, and just plain out there. So when I saw the ABC News piece about Kevin, it kind of made me smile. It just goes to show that no matter what side of a fence one sits on, everyone is in good company.

December 2011, I was introduced to the 14-CD package Your Wish is Your Command. It was everything I was looking for at the time. It was the missing key to all the motivational puzzles. It took over where Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich left off.

Money was tight, but I joined the Global Information Network. I never really looked at it from the multi-level marketing aspect that many people do. I looked at it for the value that the audios had brought to the table and how they impacted my thinking...which for everyone is a constant challenge. The bathroom mirror is not unlike a vehicle side mirror: outward confidence and togetherness is not always as it appears.

I listen to one or more of the GIN audios over and over again nearly every day. I listen to them when awake and many times play them when I go to sleep so they stick to the subconscious brain. They have been my lifeline.

From outward appearance, some of my choices and ventures may look as unconventional and crazy as Kevin's do to the haters. Sometimes I question my own choices, but hindsight means you have to live with them and work through them accordingly. That said, what has happened since GIN and KT have come into my life is that a dream project materialized. This is where the craziness steps in. This project is out of my normal genre, but it also includes an element of it. When it finally launches, it will allow me to work in a way I've always dreamed of: tapping into extreme creativeness, using every form of media known to man, and seeing final products that entertain, inspire, and even create a few jobs in the process. 

The sacrifices made (shelter, belongings, time, lots of debt) have been extremely personal, but will be worth it in the end. All the dogs will be sent to the pound and a new beginning means working at something that is way bigger than me or anyone else involved. I knew I had to risk everything to do my part to see it through. So while things like this do not happen overnight, the challenge is to keep the focus while juggling the back end of survival. I know I am not alone. Any project worthwhile demands the same sacrifices. Just look at Walt Disney and Milton S. Hershey who went bankrupt several times over before their existing companies came to being.

The Global Information Network may indeed feel like a scam to the people in the ABC piece, and KT may seem like he is too good to be true. It all boils down to the messages in the GIN audios. It's about every one of us as individuals. The hardest thing in the world to do when other aspects of your life are crashing around you is this: BELIEVE. Without belief, nothing will manifest except the belief you hold that it won't happen. 

There is a close friend of mine who has had similar challenges. Knowing that has been comforting and encouraging, especially as I watch him now on his upward swing. Pointing a finger and judging him would mean my life is perfect and that I have never made a bad decision.

We are all the sum of our choices, for sure. They may not always be the best ones, and sometimes the decisions lead to a venture really worthwhile, which allows you to go back and make good on all those other choices. The one thread that binds it together is belief. 

Presentation Helps, But Connections Are Everything

I did something I don't normally do on a Sunday morning, I attended a real church service at the Victory Outreach in West Phoenix.

Most of the time, and perhaps it's negative influence of religion in politics and media, and that most services I've attended in Alberta, Canada--whether it was a Sunday service, funeral or wedding, I was not inspired by a sermon. 

You could call me Christian, but I really don't have a denomination. My thought is that God lives inside of our hearts, not a building.

Today, I saw a building -- not a traditional stand-alone church -- but a corner of an industrial building that housed the most uplifting service I had ever experienced. Don't let the outside fool you. The inside was staged professionally with all the trimmings technology can provide. 

The gospel choir was culled from audience members, not robed singers in the background.

Latinos and African Americans made up 95% of the congregation, mixed in ages.

The messages connected because many doing the preaching had lived the same life as some of their audience. For some reason, for me, that made the sermon carry more weight.  

"God did not design you to fit in, He designed you to stand out. You were not an accident. You were created for a purpose." "Do you ever feel like no one understands you?"

Preaching is an art form. It is about presentation, but it is more than that. The preacher interprets a passage in the Bible and finds a real-life example to hone the message. How that is presented is the difference between the audience "getting it" or falling asleep in the pews.

Try and sleep to this guy. He's pretty inspiring.