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By Alan Cohen
“Not at all,” he shook his head. “It just means you’re not supposed to settle for less than what you really want.” “So what do you do if you are stuck in some gnarly situation you can’t get out of?” “You find ways to take care of yourself. I know a woman in Greece who was married for a long time to a nasty guy. When she asked him for a divorce, he refused. So she decided that if she had to stay, she would give herself the love she had been missing from him. Everyday she wrote herself a love letter, like ‘Dear Georgia, You are a beautiful, wise, precious, sensual goddess. I love you with all my heart and cherish you always.’ And on and on like that, for weeks.” “So where did that get her?” I asked sarcastically. “One day her husband found one of the letters. Since it was unsigned, he assumed it was from another man. He waved the letter in her face and told her, ‘I can’t compete with this…you can have your divorce!’” Well, that would put a lot of divorce lawyers out of work right there. “That woman literally loved herself out of a bad marriage,” he added. “When she began to source her own happiness, everything around her followed. Upgrading your life is an inside job. If you make cosmetic changes only, you’re just rearranging chairs on the deck of a sinking ship.” What I learned from Mr. Everit: • I can make anything out of anything. • If I can’t change a situation, I can reframe it in my mind so it feels better. • No single person or company is the source of my good. My source is infinite, and can find me in ways I haven’t even thought of. Other stuff he said: • When the defining moment comes along, you define the moment or the moment defines you. (from the movie, Tin Cup) • Struggle to get, struggle to keep. • For a web begun, God provides the thread. (inscribed on the ceiling of the U.S. Library of Congress.) What I did: • Put pictures of my favorite people and scenes on the walls of my office. • Wrote a love letter to myself. (at least I have one fan.) • Wrote a letter to my real dad, wherever he is in the universe, and hoped he would hear my thoughts. Alan Cohen is the author of the best-selling, The
Dragon Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, the award-winning, A Deep Breath of Life,
and the acclaimed, Why Your Life Sucks and What You Can Do About It. This August
join Alan in Maui for his life-transforming Mastery Training. For information on
this seminar and a free catalog of Alan’s books, tapes, and seminars, phone
1-800-568-3079, visit www.alancohen.com,
email admin@alancohen.com , or write P.O. Box 835, Haiku, HI 96708. |
Take What You Have and Make What You Want