Are You Listening?

We’ve all heard that listening is the greatest compliment we can show to another person. Yet we are all constantly guilty of what Steven Covey called “autobiographical listening.” That’s listening with only half an ear, while in our heads we are busy preparing what to say next.

It is said that Franklin Delano Roosevelt, US President, so despised this, that he devised a test. When a petitioner asked how he was doing, he would say, “I murdered my grandmother this morning.” Most of the time he got a noncommittal response, proving the other person was probably rehearsing what to say next. (Although, one person trumped him by saying, “I’m sure she had it coming to her.”) read more

What If You Had One Year?

What would you do if you only had one year to live? The novelist Anthony Burgess found out when he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor at age 40.

Burgess was working as a teacher in Brunei and had already published several novels. But when he got the devastating news and was sent back to England, he had to decide how he would provide for his wife after his death. His answer: Become a full-time writer.

During the last year of his life, he wrote five and a half novels, so one story goes. Ultimately he received some good news: His cancer had gone into remission. Instead of dying, he embarked on a lifelong career as a novelist, winning multiple awards and earning great fame for his book A Clockwork Orange, which was turned into a movie by legendary director Stanley Kubrick. He did eventually die…in 1993 at the age of 76 of lung cancer. read more

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Do you have the courage—and creativity—to really follow your dreams? Career coach Laura Simms once decided she really wanted to meet Aaron Sorkin, the writer behind the TV show The West Wing and the movie The Social Network, among others. Reaching him personally would be difficult, if not impossible, so she took an unconventional approach.

Now, many people say things like, “I’d like to meet this famous person.” But most people would not then go about making it happen.

But Laura believed in the impossible. She started a blog called “Letters to Aaron Sorkin,” and she posted short letters there every few days. Eventually Sorkin heard about the blog and emailed her personally. In the meantime, her friends rallied around her, and someone got her tickets to a screening of one of Sorkin’s films where the screenwriter addressed the audience afterward and they spoke in person. Not only did she achieve her goal, she had lots of fun along the way. Most of us would say to ourselves, “Oh, I can’t do something like that. It’s like stalking, or begging.” But Laura just saw it differently. And because she saw it differently, it was different. The experience she had was different, and the experience others had of her was different. When it comes to creating your dreams, how do you see things? Sincerely, Melanie Bowers  Your Consultant For Life

P.S. Please stay in touch and let me know about great things happening in your life.  If you need real estate help, you can reach me at melaniebowers@gmail.com or by calling me at 801-910-7436. read more

The More Precious Gift

In a recent report by Oxfam (January 2014), a researcher pointed out a startling conclusion about wealth. He did a simple calculation. He totaled the income of the poorest half of the world—all 3.5 billion people. Then he looked at the world’s wealthiest people one by one.

Starting at the top, he added their income until it equaled the income of the poorest half of our population. The number of wealthy people required to equal the income of 3.5 billion people? Just 85. Oxfam ranks widening income disparities as the second greatest worldwide risk in the coming 12 to 18 months. read more

Gratitude

   Often in the pressure of the daily grind, we take many of life’s blessings for granted. We accept the teaching of our teachers, the ministry of our ministers, the leadership of our leaders, and the friendship of our friends. Each of these people has contributed to us being who we are, but we often accept their contributions without noticing.    This spring, along with our sense of renewal, hope, and promise, let us also remember that one of the greatest gifts we can give is to acknowledge someone’s contribution to us. The following story is a reminder of how powerful that gift can be.    A university professor began reflecting on the people who’d had a positive impact on his life.    In particular he remembered a schoolteacher who’d gone out of her way to instill in him a love of poetry. He hadn’t seen or spoken to her in many years, but he located her address and sent her a letter of thanks. A short time later, he received this reply: My dear Willie,     

I cannot tell you how much your note meant to me. I am in my eighties, living alone in a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely, and, like the last leaf of autumn, lingering behind. You will be interested to know that I taught school for 50 years and yours is the first note of appreciation I ever received. It came on a blue-cold morning, and it cheered me as    nothing has in many years. read more

One More Day… 

Author Mitch Albom says that for his book For One More Day, he became fascinated by how people answer this question: If they could spend one more day with a loved one already departed, how would they spend it? What would they do?

Albom says in a piece for Parade, that he found time and again that people wanted to spend an ordinary day doing ordinary things with the people they had loved. Almost everyone, he says wanted to tell the person that they loved him or her one more time. Some said they wanted to do the habitual things they always did with the person, such as head to the racetrack, or eat in a favorite hamburger joint and talk about old times. read more

Things I’ve Learned…

As we think about the coming year, here’s a reminder of some of the important lessons in life. This is the first part of a wonderful article making its way around the internet, by Omer B. Washington. See the full poem on YouTube.

• I’ve learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.
• I’ve learned that no matter how much I care, some people just don’t care back. And it’s not the end of the world.
• I’ve learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.
• I’ve learned that it’s not what you have in your life, but who you have in your life that counts.
• I’ve learned that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you’d better know something.
• I’ve learned that you shouldn’t compare yourself to the best others can do, but to the best you can do.
• I’ve learned that it’s not what happens to people, It’s what they do about it.
• I’ve learned that no matter how thin you slice it, there are always two sides.
• I’ve learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
• I’ve learned that you can keep going long after you think you can’t.

And we keep on learning. Don’t forget to checkout the rest of this wonderful poem on YouTube.

Sincerely,

Melanie Bowers
Your Consultant For Life

P.S. I’ve learned that providing exceptional service makes me feel great. If you need real estate help, you can reach me at melaniebowers@gmail.com or by calling me at 801-910-7436. read more