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Welcome to AYD, and may this be the start of great things to come.
Pierre

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"What can we do, starting today, to build lasting success?"...."We all want to be part of something. We all want to feel great about the choices we make."

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Awaken Your Day - Aug 17, 2011 - Challenge the Doom and Gloom

" You will find yourself refreshed by the presence of cheerful people. Why not make earnest effort to confer that pleasure on others? Half the battle is gained if you never allow yourself to say anything gloomy."
- Lydia M. Child

I came by this in an email today.  And I almost turned and ran.  Then logic set in, and I saw a challenge for what it was worth.  If I could go a day and not allow gloom to enter into my itinerary...that would be a really nice accomplishment.  No gloom - not by my own creation nor to allow it thru outside influence.

"I think I can! I think I can!"
All Aaabbboooard.

Let's try.  Just like your body, if you feed it with all good foods and vitamins and minerals your whole system including your mind, operates much more efficiently and effortlessly.  Energy grows.  So, logic states that if we do the same with our mind and emotions...we will also think and operate with less toxins in our system that will only slow us down.

So...Challenge.  We need, for one day, to reduce our Gloom intake and our Waste output.   Do not absorb negativity around you.  Do not buy into and contribute to gossip.  Try not to complain about little details.  Do not be eager to add two cents to a rant in the lunchroom. 

And ... while you are focussing on reducing your wasted energy thru leaky gloom...we cannot just think about problems, we must also factor in some growth time.  So part two is a continuation of Monday...should something occur that is a difficult moment today, try to think of the good that can come out of it. 

One day.  One hour at a time.  If it helps, break it out into 15 min intervals; this will keep your mind on the task, and will give you little steps that will feel like building success with each progressive one.

May i predict that as you gain each 15min segment...you will pick up momentum in your thoughts and you may even hitch a ride on that new energy.

Blow out the carbon...give me a day of attentive effort to stop the spread of gloom.

Pierre Couturier
Father, Daddy, Author and Challenger

Monday, August 15, 2011

Awaken Your Day - Aug 1, 2011 - Just a Nice Thought

" I think that when you invite people to your home, you invite them to yourself. "
- Oprah Winfrey

That's a nice thought.  Your home is an expression of you in many ways, even more so than we may realize.

Life is busy and full of distractions. Sadly, one of the things we are easily distracted away from is our most familiar environment, home.  And by distracted, I mean that we do not often walk thru the stories that built the home. 

Remembering the markings on the door as our children grew taller. 
The tale of why that wall just had to be painted that color. 
The day the garage was finally finished. 
That signature planter out there on the deck that you found at the flea market.
How family always sleeps so well on that cheap mattress in the basement.
That first summer when you laid sod with the neighbors and got caught in the rain and mud getting home.
The day we met the builder for the final inspection ... and called this house, our home.

In a moment of no distractions, I find it sometimes fun to invite myself into our home.
It is refreshing to take the grand tour.

If these walls could talk...they would have so much to say.
And my wife and I can proudly say that it would start with,  "Welcome.  Let me show you around."

On your way out the door this morning, or just after you get your coffee, but before you sit down... just pause for a moment and find a part of you, in a reminding reflection from one of the many "Home" moments around you.

Invite you to gaze upon a reflection, of you.

Good Morning
Pierre Couturier
Husband, Daddy, Author





Sunday, August 14, 2011

Awaken Your Day - August 15, 2011 - Profit from Hard Moments

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues."
- Duke Ellington, 1899-1974

A difficult moment crosses your path.  You live it once then in that moment.
You live it again when you stop your life, to tell the tale, again to ask "Why Me?", again when you choose to tell the tale again, and then to question how ... all the while, watching the difficult moment continue to get further away in time.  But reliving the moment, over and over, you keep the picture and the feeling alive and clear .

You can sacrifice more time, making yourself late for the living that was offered to you this morning, or you can recognize what it is and was... and roll it forward.  Don't stare difficulty in the back, calling out for it to come back and help you relive the harshness - again. 

Say "Thanks for coming! You taught me something today."  And then make the moment work for you. 


Turn that frown upside down.
When life hand you lemons, make lemonade.

Cliches can be annoying in a moment of difficulty...so just focus on the truth.
Every situation, good and bad, has a positive for you to collect and grow with.
How you respond to a situation will tell you how hard you looked for that positive.

"Look behind that cloud that hides it.... and you will see the sun is still shining." - Pierre

Good morning.
Pierre Couturier
 Husband, Daddy, Author and Life Student