One of my favorite movies, Bottle Shock, is about the then-nascent California wine industry and its victory over the French in a blind taste test celebrating the 1976 bicentennial.  The film is based on the true story of a man who ditched his legal career to pursue a dream of making the best wine possible. Jim Barrett put his life into Chateau Montelena; to do so was a huge risk, and he had to have unwavering faith in himself and trust in the process of such a delicate, complex and time-consuming task, whose results were not necessarily guaranteed.

As with any such journey, there were many twist and turns and ups and downs along the way, but in the end he triumphed not only because he beat the French at their proudest export, but also because in doing so, blew the field wide open for quality wine to be produced in countries around the globe, and the world has never been the same.

Orson Welles, in his famous  commercials would say, “ We will sell no wine before its time.”  It takes time for lasting success to develop, and there is no better activity than viticulture to demonstrate that. There are cycles of planting, pruning, harvesting, fermenting and numerous other magical, alchemical things that need to happen for that perfect glass to arrive at your table.  As I always say in my seminars, “Remember that grapes do not turn into wine overnight!”

With last week’s Solstice officially ushering in the summer, we are reminded that to Every Thing There is a Season.  The historic vote to legalize same-sex marriage in NY three days later was decades in the making; several societal changes and generations of progress had to occur in order to have the majority of the population now be “ripe” for its acceptance, and we are all stronger and better for having gone through the process.

Since we are halfway through the year, be sure you are working internally and externally towards whatever goals you set for yourself; know that as long as you consistently do things that you love and care about, you are fertilizing your life, making it as rich as possible. Focus your thoughts, words and deeds in the direction you want to be going, knowing that all will come to fruition with a perfect union of patience, persistence and perseverance – in time and on time.

You can’t put the cart before the horse, so if you’re feeling a little frustrated and impatient in pursuit of your passions, give me a buzz and I’ll be a future sommelier explaining the uniqueness and quality of your vintage, or the judge that casts the deciding vote to make your dream a reality!

(Today’s PGG was originally posted on June 28, 2011)

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If you like what I write, you’ll love what I have to say in person!   Click on above links for info about my coaching and speaking services and contact me today.

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CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE Personal Growth Gab (PGG) Volume One FROM AMAZON

FEELING STUCK IN YOUR CAREER? CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO!  

Last November I was one of the career experts featured in a panel discussion hosted by The Muse.  Here is the full length video where you can hear my thoughts on career transition, working with a coach, building confidence and handling emotions in the workplace.

Justice is what love looks like in public, just like tenderness is what love feels like in private. ~ Cornel West

Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~ Ian MacLaren

I’m a pretty even-keeled gal, and have become somewhat adept at managing/mitigating stress in my life, the techniques of which I share with others through my work.  Part of that strategy includes limiting/filtering my daily dose of news and media so as not to be overwhelmed by the gloom and doom that is the majority of what is broadcast.

But lately I’ve been feeling like the character in that famous scene from the 1976 movie Network : ” I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore.”  Just pick a topic, whether our broken political system, the war on women’s bodies, the global economic mess and decline of the middle class, or vigilantes and blatant attacks both here and abroad – including massacres and ethnic cleansing, both overt and subtle, of particular races, religions, sexual orientations and nations. There are so many things under siege in our culture, in society and around the world that it’s easy to get lulled into the feeling we can’t do anything. But we can take matters into our hands – in a responsible way.

Besides using our voice, signature and/or pocketbook to make a difference, we can check our egos at the door and let balanced emotions, not uncontrolled rage or fear, guide our actions.  There is plenty of wonkiness/intellectual and pseudo-intellectual approaches to go around and also, unfortunately, pure hatred and insanity as well to fuel many an action, so the question that we all need to answer is: How can we inject more love, understanding and compassion in order to effect the change we want?

A good place to begin is to think about how we can create more justice and peace in our own lives, starting with our relationships. Are you unfairly punishing, harshly judging or incorrectly perceiving people closest to you, whether family, friends or those you work with? Are the thoughts and actions towards yourself and others around you positive and constructive, or negative and destructive?  

It’s a good time to clean out our mental and emotional closets as well as our spiritual and physical ones, to let go of what no longer serves us, or holds us back from expressing the highest and best version of who we are and can be.  By making more of a commitment to create your own just and peaceful world, only then can we expect it of the world around us. ‘Cause guess what? That world is made of us!

Do what you can to activate love and compassion within yourself, scan reactions and prejudices, don’t throw stones, and stand up for those who can’t. Most of all, go easy on you! We’re often our own worst critics and judges, and we end up imprisoning ourselves and those around us because of it. Most people are doing the best as they can. As so eloquently stated in a TED Talk by Bryan Stevenson, remember that “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done” and “Our humanity depends on everyone’s humanity.”

Not quite sure where you need to balance the scales of justice in your life? Give me a buzz and I can be a softer, gentler version of Judge Judy , helping you to separate fact from fiction in your court of personal opinion so you can sp ring yourself from whatever slammer you’ve put yourself in!

(Today’s PGG was originally posted on March 20, 2012)

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If you like what I write, you’ll love what I have to say in person!   Click on above links for info about my coaching and speaking services and contact me today.

Join Mailing List
 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE Personal Growth Gab (PGG) Volume One FROM AMAZON

FEELING STUCK IN YOUR CAREER? CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO!  

Last November I was one of the career experts featured in a panel discussion hosted by The Muse.  Here is the full length video where you can hear my thoughts on career transition, working with a coach, building confidence and handling emotions in the workplace.

Over the weekend we lost a legendary soul, truly one of the greatest human beings in recent history and one of my heroes, Muhammad Ali. This is a post I published right after Maya Angelou passed away, but the sentiment could not be more fitting for The Champ as well.
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If a human being dreams a great dream, or dares to love someone…If a human being dares to be bigger than the condition into which he or she was born, it means so can you… I am a human being, nothing human can be alien to me. ~Maya Angelou

And what a human she was! Dr. Maya Angelou possessed and cultivated a creative and brilliant mind, a powerful and compassionate heart, a flair for the dramatic, a serious sense of humor, and a thorough appetite for all aspects of life. She was a phenomenal woman who spent every breath of her 86 years consciously striving to express the fullest embodiment of what it means to exist as a spiritual being in this physical world.

To me, this is her greatest legacy. Like my other six foot tall heroine Eleanor Roosevelt, she walked her talk, and therefore we all benefited. She served as an example for all she stood for and knew to be Universally true; she espoused the unity and dignity of people of every race and creed, recognizing that “we are more alike than we are unalike.”

And she was very aware that she was indeed human, and knew how dangerous it is to make people, like a Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, or Mother Teresa larger than life – they were all human beings and when we idolize or put them on a pedestal they become inaccessible and we think we can never be like them. Instead they should inspire us to be extraordinary in our own way.

In our youth-obsessed and advertising-driven culture, it is unfortunate that we give so little airtime to our elders like Dr. Angelou, Nelson Mandela or Grace Lee Boggs, because when we listen to the wisdom that nearly nine decades of being a person who has chosen to love, forgive, learn and grow, who allowed themselves to reflect, observe and evolve, they teach us how to live. They are lighthouses that remind us who we really are and where we should be going – and these days especially when one is extinguished it feels like an even bigger loss because they are rare gems and we wonder who is coming up the rear to replace them.

In my work I have the honor and privilege of helping you discover that no matter how old you are or where you are from, you have a unique way of leaving our planet a little better off than when you arrived – even if it is simply by virtue of your own healed life.

Some of my clients, as a result of our meeting, have already gone on as a result of our meeting to win Tonys and Fulbrights, or are on their way to becoming a media moguls, best-selling authors, cutting edge inventors, or warriors for justice; whether they have an Ivy League background, were formerly incarcerated or are a ninth-grade NYC public school student, every one of them has something to offer, an opportunity to improve their own world, a way to be the most human they can be.

Not quite convinced that you, too, can be a giant among us? Give me a buzz and I’ll show you how like those Redwoods of California, you are one of hundreds of special trees that make up a forest of awe-inspiring majesty and beauty, living in harmony with one another and Earth, and the very Nature of Life itself.

(Today’s PGG was originally posted on June 4, 2014)

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Click here for the core reason why Muhammad Ali was “The Greatest”:

If you haven’t see these documentaries, I highly recommend watching to learn more about this giant of a human being:

When We Were Kings
The Trials of Muhammad Ali

and check out his work and legacy through:

The Ali Center

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If you like what I write, you’ll love what I have to say in person!   Click on above links for info about my coaching and speaking services and contact me today.

Join Mailing List
 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE Personal Growth Gab (PGG) Volume One FROM AMAZON

FEELING STUCK IN YOUR CAREER? CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO!  

Last November I was one of the career experts featured in a panel discussion hosted by The Muse.  Here is the full length video where you can hear my thoughts on career transition, working with a coach, building confidence and handling emotions in the workplace.

When things aren’t quite going your way, it’s easy to fall into the grass-is-always-greener syndrome. But as the saying goes,before you judge a man (or covet his life), walk a mile in his shoes.

You don’t have to turn back the clock , eat a magical fortune cookie, ride in a souped up DeLorean or relieve yourself in an enchanted fountain to discover your life and relationships are exactly as they should be, or get the kick in the butt you need to make them better. The fact is, our lives are the sum total of all the choices we’ve ever made until this point – a combination unique unto ourselves. That means we have, on some level, created the situation we’ve wanted or needed in order to learn and grow on this journey called life.

So whatever your state of affairs, take full responsibility for it. The good news is that if you don’t like it, because you got yourself into it, you totally have the power to get out of it!

A lot of my clients right now are at the point of no return, where there’s no turning back or delaying the inevitable.  The only thing to do is to go through – there is no way around, there is no way back – they need to make a change or take action in a certain direction because at this point there’s no alternative, whether because of forced external realities or an internal malaise and dissatisfaction that they can no longer withstand.

Why changes haven’t been made up to now is a more complicated and varied topic for another time. Often it’s a stronger sense of obligation to others, what they want or would make them happy, that prevents us from moving forward to the beat of our own drum. But contrary to Hollywood plots, we are the ones who have to live in our bodies, so it’s up to us to do what needs to be done. It’s time to big or go home.

Not fully convinced you don’t have to go all topsy turvy or time-travelly to get it right? Give me a buzz and I’ll be the freaky fictional device that helps you wake up and smell the coffee. You’ll understand and appreciate where you’re at and what changes you can make in order to learn and experience whatever you need to be the best you can be Right Here, Right Now.

(Today’s PGG was originally posted on September 22,  2012)

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If you like what I write, you’ll love what I have to say in person!   Click on above links for info about my coaching and speaking services and contact me today.

Join Mailing List
 

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE Personal Growth Gab (PGG) Volume One FROM AMAZON

FEELING STUCK IN YOUR CAREER? CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO!  

Last November I was one of the career experts featured in a panel discussion hosted by The Muse.  Here is the full length video where you can hear my thoughts on career transition, working with a coach, building confidence and handling emotions in the workplace.