Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading - "The Journey: A Calendar Book"

Calendar Books by Allen James reading for June 11th from "The Journey: A Calendar Book"..."Don't ignore that child you were, He/she's still there and needs love".

All of us recognize this down deep in our beings. We often yearn to be the child we once were but realize the adult world puts too much responsibility upon us for us to allow our child self any time.

In my private practice I utilize a technique known as Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP); neuro meaning mind and linguistic meaning language. Within this technique those with whom I work and implement NLP are able to reprogram their brains to make more appropriate choices in their lives. I've seen it benefit a multitude of individuals in making better grades, ceasing smoking, losing weight and overcoming phobias.

One aspect of the NLP allows patients to see their child self clearly and spending some quality time reacquainting themselves with this child self. It's comforting to watch the reunification of this "child" who defines so much of who we are as adults and embracing him/her again.

It's a highly held belief men never grow up; we remain forever entrenched in our adolescence. Why might this be? It's as well a well known fact boys mature 2-3 years behind girls. Could it be possible females like this attribute of males, until they lose communion with their child self, then they loose the connection as to why it was they loved in the first place?

Questions which will continue to go unanswered. Don't forget the child within.....he/she is still there and desperately needs your love.

Keep looking up. AJ

Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading - "A Graduate's Daily Guide to Success"

Our posting today is a quote by rock and roll icon, Janis Joplin, who certainly knew the real significance of these words, "Don't compromise yourself. You are all you've got".

Janis Joplin was a tragic hero to be sure. Quickly running from an adolescence filled with bullying and mockery, ironically, upon returning to her 10 year high school class reunion determined to prove herself, she found no matter how famous one becomes, there are some boundaries which cannot be crossed without pain and anguish.

Dead at only 27 due to a heroin overdose in 1970, Joplin had fought compromise on every front, truly having only herself in the end. "Janis Joplin has passed into the realm of legend: an outwardly brash yet inwardly vulnerable and troubled personality who possessed one of the most passionate voices in rock history. It could be argued that her legacy has as much to do with her persona as her singing. Music journalist Ellen Wills asserted that 'Joplin belonged to that select group of pop figures who mattered as much for themselves as for their music. Among American rock performers, she was second only to Bob Dylan in importance as a creator-recorder-embodiment of her generation’s mythology'"(rockhall.com).

Compromising "self" is giving up on all OUR needs and desires and to be sure, when we compromise "self" we find unhappiness. As unique individuals, how unfortunate to spend this uniqueness miserable. We are too precious to waste our life on anything other than enjoying what we have to offer the world; our positivity and the personal successes which can inspire others.

Don't compromise who you are. Believe in who you CAN be by BEING who your are.

Keep looking up. : ) AJ

Calendar Books by Allen James' reading for June 9th...from our featured calendar book for 2014, "The Journey", "Sleep under the quilt your mother made by hand for you" (James, 2012).

Allen James' calendar books are intended to encourage positivity and to support the reader's journey to personal success, thus are to be interpreted in a personal manner by each reader.

I emphasize this because today's reading could easily get a response such as, "My mother never made a quilt for me". A personal interpretation would look at it from the point of view we should cherish those things significant others did for us out of love, whatever they be.

I recall when I was a child sleeping under a quilt my grandmother hand made for her grandchildren. I don't know when she gave them, whether as birthday presents, Christmas gifts, or just because she knew we needed warmth in the cold of Kentucky winters; but I certainly remember the warmth they provided.

People just don't quilt by hand much these days. Which is what makes today's reading even more special to me.

At 61 my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. She was given 6 months to live. For the year prior to her diagnosis she spent every evening sitting in "Momma's chair" piecing together material swatches and then quilting those swatches into quilts. No one knew she was ill, not even she. Yet it was as if instinctively Mom was aware her days were numbered.

That Christmas she gave as gifts quilts she had sewed by her own hands to each of her 6 children, as well as one for my girlfriend at the time.

What a gift. A mother's love. A symbol of the warmth she had always provided and the comfort she wished to provide even long after she was no longer with us.

When I sleep under Mom's quilt I can but imagine with each stitch her nimble fingers working diligently to complete each quilt for her beloved children.

She passed away the next March. This symbol of her compassion will bring me warmth and comfort for years to come. Over 20 years later I still sleep under the quilt my mother made by hand for me. Life truly does continue after death.

What's your special something which memorializes your loved one?

Keep looking up. AJ

Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading - "A Man's Daily Guide to Success"

What a beautiful day it is in Southeast Missouri. My hopes are you get the opportunity to get out in the bright sunshine and enjoy it some today before more storms arise.

Our reading for June 5th comes from "A Man's Daily Guide to Success"..."When you get an idea... in the middle of the night and you can't sleep, get up and write it down" (James, 2012).

Many of you are like I and had to learn the "hard" way the importance of getting up and writing down a "great" idea you've had in the middle of the night. Too many times when a "great" idea has awakened me I've made a mental note to write it down when I get up the next morning, yet when I get up I can't recall the specifics of my "great" idea.

However, many of my "great" ideas have come from such a situation. I finally began keeping pen/paper, then later a small recorder on the nightstand beside my bed; and now with the advancements of cell phones, I can just reach over and leave myself a audio text for the following day. When one of those "great" ideas awakens me through the night I can return to sleep knowing it's there to be worked with when I can take the time to do so.

Case in point, about 20 years ago I had a dream which I awoke from in the middle of the night which I could see as a children's book. I immediately sat up and reached for the pen/paper and wrote it down. The next day I developed the story and recruited an art student (I was a school counselor in Fredericktown, Missouri at the time) whom I knew was always up for a challenge, and asked him if he would like to draw the illustrations for the story. A few days later he returned with rough drawings of the characters for the children's book; they looked exactly as I had envisioned them in my dream (talk about a sign...I knew my dream was meant to become a published children's book).

Now, 20 years later my "great" idea, my dream, is about to become a reality as a published children's book entitled "Crystal the Condor Makes Friends", which I've posted a mock-up of the title page with on my webpage (I even found the student who completed the illustrations to get his approval to use his illustrations, which he graciously did).

"Twenty years later?" Remember, it's takes millions of years for a piece of coal to become the much sought after beauty of a diamond. Our "great" ideas, our dreams, are similar. Many times it takes years before we see them develop into the reality which we initially envisioned them.

Our personal success is built from these intermittent "great" ideas. Remaining committed to them and persevering to the point of their creation is the key.

So when you have an idea in the middle of the night which keeps you awake, get up and write it down...and as always...keep looking up. AJ

(More about "Crystal the Condor Makes Friends" to come.)

Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading - "The Journey: A Calendar Book"

Calendar Books by Allen James' reading for June 4th from "The Journey: A Calendar Book"..."Text the ones about whom you care about keeping in contact" (James, 2012).

Texting has, in many ways, made communication easier by helping people avoid long, unpl...easant phone conversations and making a quick “Hello” much easier. According to the Pew Research Center, 72% of teenagers text regularly, and one in three sends more than 100 texts per day. Clearly, texting is the preferred method of communication among young people, and the trend is moving upward toward adults, who are also texting much more frequently. While texting hasn’t been around long enough for researchers to study its long-term effects on communication, there is circumstantial evidence it is rapidly altering the ways people communicate with one another both via text and in person.

People keep talking about how little time they have and how they can’t live without their cell phones; but, if you simply watch people on the street, you’ll see cell phone calling and texting has become an addiction. How can you tell?

Consider the constant chatter – one call after another or the constant texting – an hour long trip in the passenger seat while on a extended trip is completely consumed by texting! Friends become like an estranged couple sitting in a restaurant, saying not a word throughout their meal. And it’s not just one person, it’s not only a certain age group – it’s amazing how one gadget which was suppose to save time is actually eating up people’s time at an incredible rate!

Is it connecting? Perhaps. At some level, it’s connecting; at another level it’s just another way to shut out the world. Gauge the reactions – if the cell phone dies, there are two reactions:

“I’m lost” look – what am I going to do with myself now?
Anger – a raging look appears on their faces and they become very agitated
It doesn’t take a psychiatrist or psychologist to understand the reaction.

Although texting is a useful form of communication, people are blatantly turning away from traditional means of communication and taking the simpler-less emotionally involved-route and choosing to send text rather than talk to a real person. A live interaction, where tone, diction, and rhetoric can be understood so much more than by a text. A teenage boy would much rather flirt and have a DTR over texting instead of in person. The same guy 20 years ago may not have had the luxury of texting would have had to learn to face his fears of rejection or failure and call up the girl and ask the difficult questions.

Texting takes away fear, and all you have left are those who perhaps may be more emotionally immature and overly confident in private, but severely lacking in the kind of self confidence it takes to talk to someone live. Taking the dating scenario out of the equation, people say things quicker without the reaction of the other person to give them emotional cues needed to re-evaluate what they are going to say before it comes out wrong. Texting cuts out nonverbal communication. Unfortunately. Texting curtails the human experience of reading people, of language, of existing in an authentic and genuine relationship. It will be interesting what texting will effect in the next 20 years as far as divorce rates. Those would be stats worth evaluating.

Text the ones about whom you care about keeping in contact....and watch your time texting diminish and your time in a worth while activity increase.

Keep looking up.  : )   AJ

Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading

   

Calendar Books by Allen James' reading for May 30th is a striking quote from American child and adult actor, Mickey Rooney..."You always pass failure on the way to success".

I had a failure today, however experiencing failure doesn't mean ...we aren't succeeding. Remember, personal success is success which WE deem as success...not necessarily success as the world defines it.

We all know the journey to personal success is not a simple journey. Our journey is filled with paths difficult to travel and many times are filled with potholes and rough terrain. Many times we find ourselves at roadblocks and fork in the road. It’s always easier to take the nearest exit and turn back. However I could not live with myself knowing I didn’t try my best and "keep on trucking".

When you just feel like giving up, always remember your goal and what it means to you. Motivate yourself by taking encouragement from others. Look to others who are well on their way to personal success. They as well have experienced similar roadblocks.

Always....keep looking up. See More

AJ

Calendar Books by Allen James - Daily Reading - "The Journey: A Calendar Book"

 

For June 2nd from "The Journey : A Calendar Book", our reading is "Go hiking when you can".

Although the premise continues to focus on getting out and experiencing life in whatever way best suits you, hiking is an ideal activity to "experience" life.

As I've written before, at 40 I was gifted an extreme hike into the mountains of Oregon. The experience invigorated me and opened my eyes to the transformation which can take place when we allow ourselves the opportunity.

I mentioned Lee's Bluff last weekend; a bluff which holds a beautiful view of the river winding around curves of wooded inlets, sand covered "beachlets", and ideal camping spots.

Atop the bluff one experiences the freedom which comes from standing and "taking it all in". On the "beachlet" below one realizes the comfort which comes while lying in a hammock strung between two Cypress or the comradeship squatting around a crackling campfire with friends can bring.

Although I don't get to experience these activities often, when I do I hold them as special times which bring positive outcomes and positive feelings; times which are vital components to personal success.

Go hiking when you can. Endulge yourself in your own experience.

Keep looking up.See More

AJ