Joyful Soaring Tips

By Coach Barbara Luther Of Wind Beneath Your Wings

Email: Barbara@coach2soar.com
Web Site: www.coach2soar.com
Phone: (314) 878-4044

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In This Issue:

1) Joy Juice
2) Nelson Mandela Speaks
3) Let's Ponder
4) Soaring Free
5) Play Time
6) Joy Supplies
7) Class Offerings

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Good Morning! I hope you enjoy this issue of Joyful Soaring Tips and find something that helps you have a Joy-Filled week!

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~~ 1) Joy Juice ~~
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Today I will accept all of me just as I am. I will set aside my judgments, and I will celebrate the miracle of my uniqueness.

Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; never desert your line of talent. Be what Nature intended you for and you will succeed. - Sydney Smith

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~~ 2) Nelson Mandela Speaks ~~
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Read this every morning when you awaken:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be
brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,
our presence automatically liberates others."
--Nelson Mandela, 1994 inaugural speech

With this call to responsibility, think about your goals and dreams. Puts things in a different light, doesn't it? It's time to get moving!

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~~ 3) Let's Ponder ~~
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We create our reality through the stories we tell ourselves and others. It is liberating to know that we are just one thought away from re-storying our lives by simply letting go of the story that is maintaining the problem state. - Dr. Jerry J. Welik

What stories do you tell yourself that hold you back? Is there another way of looking at that story today?

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~~ 4) Soaring Free ~~
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Here's a short but powerful story of our ability to dramatically shift when we see our selves or our situation in a new light:

Years ago I lived for a short while with a verbal abuser. One morning after the man had gone to work, I was sitting at the kitchen table trying to figure out how to leave, when I heard a pecking noise on the back patio. When I went outside I saw that a little bird was trapped inside a bird feeder. The feeder was completely enclosed except for the small opening at the bottom. The little bird pecked frantically on all the sides trying to free itself. I wiggled the feeder until the bird seed made an incline to the opening, thinking that the little bird would simply walk to the opening and get out. But not so. It kept pecking away becoming even more frightened.

Then an inner voice, as loud as thunder but as gentle as the sound of a warm, summer rain, said to me, "If you cover all the sides but one so that the Light comes from only ONE direction, the little bird will free itself." I carefully covered all the sides so light came from one direction. The little bird did indeed, in a matter of seconds, free itself. The struggle was over. The next morning I packed my things and left my relationship, never looking back.

Restoring ourselves to natural brilliance simply means following the only true light. We most certainly peck frantically at walls that imprison us with false beliefs and illusions but there is always a way to free ourselves. - Shaaryl M. Byrd

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~~ 5) Play Time ~~
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Do you remember playing with a Jacob's Ladder when you were a child? You know, it's a set of flat oblong wood pieces held together with pieces of ribbon. You held it in one hand and by moving your wrist back and forth, the pieces of wood tumble-flipped down the line. It was always such a mystery how this thing worked, but it was fascinating to keep it moving and listen to the steady clicking the pieces made.

Well, I have a couple different sizes of Jacob's Ladders in my personal toy box. One is brightly colored and makes very satisfying clicks as the pieces tumble-flip. I love it! It makes me smile, and it intrigues my friends. I'm surprised how many people aren't familiar with this simple toy.

Do you have a favorite childhood toy? Do you own one like it now? You'll be pleasantly surprised how much joy a few minutes with a little toy can bring you. I love my Jacob's Ladder. Pardon me while I go play a while . . . .

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~~ 6) Joy Supplies ~~~
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Today I'm sharing with you a book that never fails to give me deep belly-laughs. I'm sure there are tons of other books like this, but I'll stick to this one as my favorite.

It's titled Anguished English by Richard Lederer. The subtitle is An Anthology of Accidental Assaults Upon Our Language.

My favorite chapter is the second one, The World According to Student Bloopers. This is a history of the world taken from real student writings and submitted by teachers. Students were from 8th grade through college level. Here's a sample from the beginning:

Ancient Egypt was inhabited by mummies, and they all wrote in hydraulics. They lived in the Sarah Dessert and traveled by Camelot. The climate of the Sarah is such that the inhabitants have to live elsewhere, so certain areas of the dessert are cultivated by irritation.

See what I mean? You'll learn about King David's 300 wives and 700 porcupines and that Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100-foot clipper. If you're not laughing so hard that you're crying, you didn't read closely enough.

Don't miss this book!

NOTE: Barbara offers links to many of the resources referenced here from her web site, www.coach2soar.com. If you cannot find some resource mentioned, contact Barbara for help at Barbara@coach2soar.com.

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~~ 7) Class Offerings ~~
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OPEN INVITATION: Beginning on January 27th, Barbara is offering a free monthly Happy Hour Telebration for anyone who wants to come celebrate the miracles, shifts, wins, and overall happy things they've experienced during the past month. It's an open, drop-in time to visit and share life's good news with new and old friends. Put it on your calendar now! It's the last Thursday of every month at 5pm EST. Contact Barbara for the bridge number.

Beginning in February, Barbara will be offering some one-time and ongoing teleclasses and groups. Go to her web site for a complete listing. You'll find a monthly Clutter Buster group, a coaches' practice building intensive, and classes on identifying personal unique talents, developing your own motivation inventory, learning to recognize ADD traits, understanding Restless Leg Syndrome, and learning to get the most from attending a conference.

If any of the above sounds intriguing, check it out and join the fun! And if you're looking for some other topic, drop Barbara a note. You just might find your topic in her next listing of classes.

Copyright (C) 2000 by Barbara Luther. All rights reserved.

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To contact Wind Beneath Your Wings
Coach Barbara Luther:
Email: Barbara@coach2soar.com
Web Site: www.coach2soar.com
Phone: (314) 878-4044
(Central Time Zone)
FFax: (208) 988-2142
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o o o o o o o o Tired of Winging It Alone? o o o o o o o o

Call Barbara to discuss a coaching partnership today. Barbara Luther is a Master Certified Coach and a Certified Mentor Coach who specializes in working with successful professionals, tenure-track faculty, coaches, business owners, career types, creatives, and adults with Attention Deficit Disorder. She coaches via telephone and the internet, and in person for corporate teams.

Barbara is a graduate of Coach University, a virtual training organization, and the Optimal Functioning Institute, a virtual training organization for ADD coaches. She is also a member of the International Coach Federation and an ICF chapter host. She leads teleclasses for CoachU and Corporate CoachU, as well as teleclasses of her own. Prior to coaching, Barbara ran her own consulting business for 8 years, designing and developing online help and performance support systems for companies such as American Express, AAA of California, Bank One, Los Angeles County Employee Retirement Association, Wendy's, Pioneer, Utilicorp, Gap, and Bank of America. With a Master's in English, she has also taught college-level writing and worked in the corporate world as a technical writer, trainer, and project manager.

Along with Dr. Francena T. Hancock, Barbara is co-founder of the ADD Coach Group, an organization created to provide knowledge about the business-oriented positive qualities of adults with ADD, ways to identify employees who have ADD traits that impact their performance, and strategies and techniques to support to their specific needs. (Web site www.addcoachgroup.com coming soon.)

Barbara also hosts a coaching special interest group -- the GLBTQ SIG (Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender/Questioning), and she writes articles for their newsletter, Reaching for the Rainbow (To subscribe: send an email to: ReachingfortheRainbow-On@lists.webvalence.com)

Barbara says: My passion is assisting people in recognizing and embracing their power. My vision is a world where every person embraces their special talents and enjoys a life built around their passions. My mission is to assist people in identifying their special gifts and designing their lives to enjoy and share them. My life purpose is to provide a loving, safe space for self discovery.

Email: Barbara@coach2soar.com -=*=- Phone: (314) 878-4044