The past few weeks I have been in a little bit of limbo. Making some decisions on the direction that I wist to take moving forward. Life can be like that and having a good group of coaches as friends always helps pull one out of the pit. On Friday while I was in the thick of the pit that was my life,  Shaun Proulx posted his usual Friday question on his radio show and on Facebook:

What are you appreciating on this Friday afternoon?

and over on his blog, HIMBO! Shaun also does his weekly Feel good Friday’s

My response on Shaun’s wall was what I thought was a simple reply:

This hit me like a tone of bricks.

I am not appreciating all the little things in my life. Especially not the tiny things.

For it is the sum of all the good little things that totally out weigh the few grand experiences. In my coaching I often have to stop and remind my clients of exactly what they have accomplished over the course of our sessions. I detail every success and movement forward.

Thinking this through helped me see that I have not been telling myself all the good that had taken place in my life, all the things I come across in my daily life that just bring a simple smile to my face.

I needed this reminder. I took focusing on the small things in my life on as a challenge and started a new blog called thetinythings.com where I capture in realtime all the tiny things that make me smile.

I hope you enjoy. I hope you take the time to recount the great things that happen to you over the course of this week, and if you find yourself feeling a little down and out with the winter blues, take a piece of paper and start  writing down all the things that make you feel good, bring a smile to your face or are just plain worth remembering.

Many of us reflect on the old metaphor of, “is the glass half empty or is the glass half full?” when thing go wrong or not as planned. This is an exercise in attitude and perspective.

The question really is:  Do you see things as optimistic as in “at least I have half of what I want” and “I do still have a glass”, or pessimistic as in: “I only have half of what I want.”

Have we actually stopped to think that the glass is actually not empty at all? That we actually are, even if we see the glass as half full, missing the reality of the situation and never actually see reality for what it is. After all the question is:

“Is the glass half empty or half full?”

You see what your looking for. Most of us pay attention to the liquid in the glass as we see this as the substance that we need from it. Far too often we are quick to discount the air and light that fill the glass, even when it’s totally empty. In this case the glass is never empty but rather it was a choice for you to see it that way.

Clean your messes!

Have you ever tried to accomplish something only to find that something in the past is coming back to haunt you? Your going through life knocking off your dreams on your ‘dream list’ but along comes that one small thing at the absolute worst time. It seem to rear it’s ugly head and screams NO!  STOP! Life stops. We all have experienced this at one time or another.

I once had a roommate who loved to clean he would clean all day. I loved watching him clean, it made me smile. He had a small apartment maybe 800 square feet. He would be in a flurry of activity cleaning in front but the interesting thing is, that he would leave a mess behind him. Dirty towels that just got moved from one spot to behind him you know it looks good when you can’ t see it.  The garbage bag that he started in the kitchen and the one he got for the bathroom and the one for the bed room. The piles of laundry in every room always sorted but never actually in one pile in one location. He would go round and round in circles around the apartment. It never seemed to end.  At the same time that which was directly in frount of him was alway tidily.

When I first set out to be come a Life Coach I created a list of all the things that could prevent me from achieving my goal.  I called this list my mess list. These were things like clearing my credit, Fixing that relationship that may stop me from doing what I need to do.  Clearing up the messes that happen when we accomplish our goals should be as much of a ‘dream’ as the dreams on your dream list. So what have you forgotten about? What mess have you left behind that may come back to haunt you?

Lying in bed and thinking about a dream I had last night. I hope my dream helps you with your dreams.

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One of my biggest pet peeves is explored in this episode of Step 2:. Are you guilty of saying this in your life and can you determine which side of the fence you will sit on? I urge you to make a decision today!!!!!Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Blip.tv video.

GayGuideToronto.com and Life Coach Brandon Williams are pleased to present an opportunity to attend a social media tele-class with Social Media Coach Staci J. Sheldon. This 1 1/2 hour tele-class will answer all your social media questions and more as well as raise valuable funds for the AIDS Committee of Toronto. Enter today below!!!!Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Blip.tv video.

Staci’s Website

Staci’s Blog

In a interview with Byron Katie we learn every thought you ever had was a lie. What were you thinking while writing your dreams list? Perhaps things like, “this will never happen”, “It’s impossible!” appeared in your head? Katie explains what is “The Work” and what purpose our thoughts serve us. If you find yourself having thoughts that don’t serve you and you would like to perhaps see things from another perspective please drop me a line at [email protected] Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Blip.tv video.

Please also see:

What do you really want? (the Dream List Instructions)

What are you saying to yourself?

I have a dream

I love to read and I find myself doing it all day long. I was talking the other day about the beliefs you hold about yourself.  Here are several of my favorite books on the subject. They all speak from different perspectives. Some are Psychology, some spirituality and finally some are from the business community. Please let me know your thoughts on any of these book and don’t hesitate to order right from the GayGuideToronto.com site.

We are constantly chattering to ourselves all day long. Have you ever stoped to think about what it is that your saying. The thoughts you think have a direct effect apon your life experiances. What are you saying to yourself?

Taking Brandon Williams’ 100 Dream List challenge. First I tried not to read anyone else’s because my fear of judgment would have kicked in and I’d want mine to fall within what others where doing.  Where there is humour there is truth, so think of that when I start to joke around a bit.

In the year 2002 I was very depressed. The partying, travel and sex had been extreme and through out that time I felt as if I lost my soul.   At the age of 19, while living in the south of France, I used to go and sit on a bench in the old port of Marseilles.  This was the perfect place to head back to in contemplation of what was going on, or wasn’t.

At that time, I fell into my Peggy Lee moment of, “Is that all that there is?” while metaphorically smoking an imaginary cigarette.  I wrote a journal on the beaches of Nice instead of Marseilles – it’s too long of a story to explan that.

At the time I came up with four or five things.  I still remember the date October 22, 2002. I wanted to get out of escorting, pursue my love of language, go to the Canterbury and stop the drugs and partying, and simply work on being happy.

Things have come a long way since then. This list reminded me of those days. I wouldn’t have been able to come up with 100 things, serious, realistic, or not.

Here are my 100. Read the full story