A View from the wing…

I’m happy to share with you this guest blog, written by my wife and wingmate, about finding angels and wingmen in the unlikeliest of places.

Imagining how the US Postal Service even begins to organize, manage and distribute all of its millions of letters, packages and boxes and actually sees to their accurate delivery is for me akin to understanding how airplanes fly. I know there is a science to it, but I figure there must be some divine intervention at play as well. And so, as I made my way to my town’s Post Office with a package for my daughter addressed to some strange sounding place in Kathmandu, Nepal, my confidence level wasn’t high.

At the counter the harried clerk asked me the destination of the package as she gave me the customs form and instructed me on how to fill it out. “What’s in the box?” she queried. I made a mental list: Airborne and Pepto Bismol, shampoo and lotion, probiotics and vitamin D, anything from the drug store that might keep her safe and healthy, there was her favorite childhood storybook in case a sad and lonely night ever surfaced, a pair of earrings, and some games and toys for the children she is working with in an orphanage in Kathmandu. And cards, birthday cards from me and my husband, “I miss you cards” and little love notes. “What’s in the box?” she asked again. “My heart”, I blurted out. The clerk, the harried, busy, overworked, clerk, stopped and peered at me over her glasses. “Is she your only one” she asked, I replied” Well, I have two step- kids as well”. She looked at me squarely. “So she’s your heart.”

This woman behind the counter, this stranger proceeded to tell me how she was an only child, an only daughter and when her mother was sick and dying she stopped everything to care for her round the clock. “I didn’t care about anything else, “she said, “the job, my routine, my life, nothing mattered but being able to care for my mother”. In awe, I replied, “She was so blessed to have you.” She smiled, “I was blessed to have her.”

She took my box then and taped and re-taped the seams, she covered the address so it wouldn’t smear, she marveled at the faraway journey my daughter was on. I asked her, “What are the chances this package will make it to her?” having been made doubtful by my on- line investigation of the Nepalese mail system. “I’d say 85%”, she offered, “but we are going to have faith and believe it will make it”.

So, there is a package out there moving toward a faraway place, held aloft by the USPS, the hands of strangers, airplanes, delivery trucks, and magic and faith. Kind of how we walk through life, how we send our kids out there into the universe. Just like that package, we tape it carefully, insure it fully, track its journey online as far as we can, and then pray. Pray that the box doesn’t break, doesn’t get lost or into the wrong hands. That it makes it to where it is heading, helped along by unlikely angels, who are all around us, even disguised as postal workers at the local post office.

A One Minute Practice…

For this morning’s practice I pretended the situation I can’t get out of my mind and is causing me stress, happened for a good reason.
Again, it’s only for one minute.
Perhaps there’s a lesson I’m to learn.

The practice… is to find it.
Think about what positives can come from it.
I knew when I hit on it, for it gave me a bit of relief, actually even felt good.
Try it if you’re stressing about something. It will help raise your vibration and give you some momentum towards feeling better and accomplishing more.

It certainly helped me this morning.

In Appreciation,
Michael

Much to be Thankful for…

I hope you have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.

As I think back one year, to last Thanksgiving, I am thrilled with how much I have to be thankful for. While the health and happiness of loved ones and friends certainly tops the list, equally as important is my belief that I have truly taken control of my own life, my own experience.

Is it really as easy as one minute per day? For me it has been, for since putting it out there, and actually practicing what I preach, I look back at what has been a very exciting year for me.
It began with my car breaking down last Thanksgiving morning and asking my wingman (who happens to be myself), what I should do?
I shot back, “Practice what you preach, find the positive.”

What are you working on?

That day, I started working on me.
By being consistent and practicing for 1 minute each morning, doing something fun which helped me feel just a little bit better, my energy started to become more positive.

There were days I didn’t practice, although as I built up some consistency it got easier, the down times less frequent. Once I learned how much it helped, how much better I felt and how much more productive I was when feeling better, I embraced it.

I began looking forward to my one minute practices.

Could I really improve my situation that easily?
Would I really be able to feel better, have more enthusiasm and be more helpful just by doing one of my practices for one minute?

I’m happy to report I’ve been able to. And not just me,  Others I’ve been honored to have assisted, who’ve allowed me to do what I love, which is be a Wingman to them, have reported the same findings.

Simply by practicing for one minute each day, they’ve created more success in their lives.

If you would like to receive the one minute practice I’ll be working on each morning, please send me an email, or click here to follow on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/BeYourOwnWingman#. 

Of course, please try the practice for one minute. If it resonates for you, you’ll be well on your way to better peace of mind, improved clarity and a greater sense of thankfulness at next year’s Thanksgiving.

Hoping you find much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving,
Your Wingman, Michael

“May I clean your windshield”?

This past Friday, I stopped to fill my car up with gasoline and had the opportunity to be served by a young man who clearly makes it a practice of “Going the Extra Mile”.

Not only did he do his job of filling my gas tank, but he did it promptly, with courtesy and a smile. In today’s society, that in and of itself, would be considered going the extra mile. When he asked if he could clean my windshield, I was so surprised, I did not answer him immediately. When I finally said yes, he did so with a cheerfulness that had my wife and I discussing long after we got on the road.

It got me thinking of how often in my life I haven’t gone the extra mile, and how I felt those times I did. Talk about us all being connected. Not only did the person I was serving feel they were being well taken care of, but equally as important was how I felt about myself at those times. I never felt taken advantage of, quite the contrary, I always felt pleased with myself, satisfied and full of pride.

Interestingly, on Saturday, having returned home from an all day conference, I naturally asked my wife about her day. “I had a really great day” she smiled. “You know how we discussed going the extra mile? I got to do it today”. She was beaming and I couldn’t wait to hear more. She described being at the drive up window at the bank when an elderly man pulled into the parking lot, got out of his car and proceeded to ask people how to get to a particular address in our town. No one, including my wife knew where it was. “He looked so forlorn” my wife said, “and I realized I have a GPS and could look it up. As I started telling him how to get there I could tell he was confused. So I offered to drive there and he could follow me”. My wife’s grin was now spreading wide across her face. “He was so appreciative. It made me feel so great.”

And so, by driving a couple miles out of her way, my wife turned an ordinary Saturday into an exceptional feeling. It is an attitude worth developing.

Napoleon Hill said it best with his Extra Mile Formula.

“Render more and better service than you are paid for, and sooner or later you will receive compound interest from your investment. It is inevitable that every seed of useful service you sow will sprout and reward you with an abundant harvest.

Going the extra mile is not the sort of principle that can be put into practice in a few easy steps. Instead it is a state of mind that you must develop, so that it is a part of everything you do. There is a subtle, but powerful, mental attitude connected with it. Remember, your best recommendation is the one you give yourself by rendering superior service in the right mental attitude.

My new practice is easily defined. At least once each day I am going to look for an opportunity to be of service to someone, to do so with a smile on my face and in my heart. I can’t imagine a better technique on my path to being my own wingman.

Therefore, I’m honored to offer my wingman of the week award to Jimmy, the gas station attendant who reminded me of a forgotten, but surefire method for staying upbeat, and keeping a positive and confident outlook as we go about our day.

Thanks for allowing me to be your wingman today.

In Appreciation,
Michael

A Buddhist Monk

So the other day my wife and I were doing some cleaning up in our garden, removing some bushes and cutting down some small trees. I actually like working in the garden, although you might not have known it from the amount of complaining I was doing.
Especially when I had to cut the wood and carry it to the front of the house.
It was at that moment my wife calmly reminded me (laughingly I may add) of the Zen proverb,

"Before enlightenment, chop wood carry water, after enlightenment, chop wood carry water".

I'm not sure how far along the path of enlightenment I am, but I do know, once again, my wife knew how to get me back on track. And so, it came to be, after a long afternoon of work, there along the curb sat the fruits of our labor, piles of not so neatly stacked wood, tree branches, weeds and bushes. I must say I was feeling pretty good about a job well done.

A couple hours and a shower later we were heading out for an evening with friends. Imagine my surprise, at the exact moment we were leaving, a van pulled up to the front of our house and out stepped two Buddhist monks. Just to remind you, we live in Haddonfield, NJ, not Burma or Nepal.

Was this a sign? Was the universe showing me a new path?
I certainly took it as one.

As they silently asked if it was ok for them to take the wood, I (not so silently) asked if I may call upon them to learn more of their practices.
Brother Michio granted my request and gave me his phone number.
I called, and yesterday went to his home and enjoyed 3 hours speaking dharma and truth, religion and spirituality, of the natural laws of the universe and of how we each create our own life. We sat legs folded (ok, I admit, he sat legs folded, I was unable to after 10 minutes) and talked about having desires and being desireless, of things that are good and of things that are bad. He showed me his garden, from which he eats most of his meals, and explained much about how our egos can so often control us. The more we spoke, the more I realized how much further I have on my path to enlightenment. He seemed to enjoy my one minute practices and my Be Your Own Wingman philosophy. Each time I asked how, or what I could do to further my understanding, he would smile and say, “one minute at a time”.

And so, once again my path was affirmed. For my one minute practices that I’ve been sharing with you, are, just as Brother Michio said, one minute steps towards more peace, more contentment, more understanding, and in his words, more realization.

Isn’t it amazing what an afternoon of gardening can bring about? (Although please don’t tell my wife).

Thanks for allowing me to be your wingman today.
In Appreciation,

Michael

I love how everything always works out for me.

I love when I come up with a new practice that sticks.
The other day, I saw the movie, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and there’s a scene where Dev Patel says,
“Here we have a saying, everything will be all right in the end, so if it is not all right, it is not the end”.

It got me thinking, which led me to my new, one minute practice.

“I love when everything works out for me.”
I started saying that on Monday and it felt great. So I continued each morning this week.

Take one minute and say to yourself,
“Everything always seems to work out for me.”

I recorded myself this morning and this is what I said.

“It’s so cool how everything always works out for me.
Oh Wow! This will be so interesting to see how this (situation) will work out for me.
It doesn’t seem possible but I know this will work out for me because everything always works out for me.
I am so lucky that everything always works out for me.
I don’t know how this will work out for me, but I know it will, and I can’t wait to find out how. It will really be interesting.
What an interesting and fascinating day this will be, I am so excited for it.
It is so awesome how everything always works out for me.

What a great feeling it is to know this will work out.
How do I know? Because everything always works out for me!
There have been so many times that things did not seem to be going my way, but yet they always work out.
It’s been so cool to see how the universe unfolds, and to see how things end up working out for me.

It is so exciting to look back and see how things ended up working out so well.
I’m having so much fun.
And to think I used to worry whether things would work out.
It’s so funny to look back and see how they worked out, for they always do.

OMG, I can’t believe how everything worked out.
I’m so fortunate that everything always works out for me.
It’s really interesting when things seem to not be working out and how it challenges me.
When I think about how things always work out for me I feel GREAT!
So often, I’m in a situation where it doesn’t seem possible that it could work out to my liking, yet it always does. I’m really lucky in that respect.
Things do seem to always work out for me.

Sometimes it seems so impossible, that my logical mind can’t even imagine.
Those are the times I just sit back and let the universe work it out for me. It always does.
When I just relax and let the universe handle it, things always work out for me.

What an amazing feeling.

I love practicing this feeling, and I love when I can let the How’s and the Why’s go and just allow things to work out.
It is so amazing and so much fun, when I can just let it go. When those “issues” work out, those are the times I really enjoy and appreciate life.
I don’t know how it always happens, but everything always works out for me.”

Please try it, and hopefully it will work as well for you.

Thanks for letting me be your wingman today.
In Appreciation,

Michael

My New Favorite Practice

Back in February I wrote about being introduced to the practice of saying thank you. I’m happy to say this practice has become one of my favorites, meaning I practice it often.

I have found the more I say thank you, the more I find to say thank you about. Try it, it’s easy, I put the timer on my phone for one minute (sometimes more) and start saying thank you as if I’m standing at the Academy awards, just saying thank you to a mass of strangers without any real reason.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you so much, thank you. “

I then start thinking of reasons I have to be thankful.

Thank you for reading this.

Thank you for helping me create a synergy amongst all of us.

Thank you for helping me help people bring positive energy into their lives.

Thank you for helping me to practice what I preach.

Thank you for helping me help myself. I appreciate it greatly.

Thank you for finding love in all the right places.

Thank you for the air that I breathe.

Thank you for the walk through the woods I take every morning.

Thank you for the clothes that I wear.

Thank you for the sun that shines down on me.

Thank you for the rain that helps nurture my world.

Thank you for the car that I drive.

Thank you for my job.

Thank you for the opportunity to earn money.

Thank you for my being me.

Give yourself a hug and thank yourself for who you are and where you are right now.

Thank you for this exciting adventure I’m on.

Thank you for reminding me of the divine being I am.

Thank you for helping me remember I’m in charge of my life.

Thank you for my ability to reason and understand.

Thank you for the brain in my head.

Thank you for the energy that is all around me.

Thank you for helping me attract positive energy.

Thank you for my thought process that I now know I can change in 60 seconds by consciously practicing finding the positive.

Thank you for the mystery that is me.

Thank you for my family.

Thank you for my friends.

Thank you for my understanding that I can create anything I want, just by thinking of it.

Thank you for allowing me to be your wingman today.

In Appreciation,

Michael