Vol 1 Iss 17

What an amazing vacation we had. The planning helped, but of course, we did what we wanted in the end. One evening, every campsite in Yellowstone filled before we arrived. We kept driving out of the northeast corner of the park and ended up on a short section of road in Montana. Those campgrounds were either full, or not accessible because of road construction.

Continuing to search, about half an hour before dark, we pulled off on a promising Forest Access road beside a river. Perfect. We had time to find some standing deadwood to use for a fire. I cooked dinner outdoors, star-gazed, listened to the river and, my favorite camping activity, roasted marshmallows. You just could not ask for a nicer evening. All because our plans and reality just didn't agree.

On another note, my daughter is back from Taiwan and is ready to launch off again for an around-the-world study abroad trip with the newly formed World Smart organization, previously Up With People. It's a trip of a lifetime that will include 19 weeks in 26 cities with 84 other amazing students.

They will be performing civic/humanitarian projects chosen by the host cities instead of a "show." All projects will be selected, organized, manned and executed by the students. For example, their first week in Denver, last week, involved reseeding 7 acres of the Haymen Fire devastation with seed and materials provided by a local non-profit. Imagine 85 energetic young people ready to put their energy to work for your community. What would you have them do?

I had a chance to meet many of them Saturday at a picnic for parents and local host families. Check out www.worldsmart.org for details on what they do.

If you have not yet heard of the movie "What the #$*! Do We Know?" (or, "What the Bleep" for short), then I encourage you to visit www.WhatTheBleep.com to find out where it will be playing in your neighborhood. If it's far away, then drive. Go see it.

This independent movie/documentary interviews 14 leading scientists and mystics and interweaves a dramatic narrative to explain how, truly, our minds create our reality.

I saw it Friday night at the Boulder opening where one of the directors was present to answer questions afterward. This movie has won several awards, including the Audience Choice Award for "Most Thought Provoking Film" at the Sedona International Film Festival. I was fascinated and will probably see it several more times, after I read up on the science. (Starting with Mind Into Matter by Fred Alan Wolf, Ph.D, a quantum physicist.)

So what does that have to do with changing your career? Everything. If, as this movie illustrates, your reality is controlled by your thoughts, then like Henry Ford said "If you think you can or you think you can't, you're right."

For more about creating your reality, see the Career Tips below.

As a Career Coach, I can be your partner through this process. Please contact me at debra@forwardmomentum.com for more information!

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting—

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

All I can say about creating your reality is to watch your thoughts! The single most important factor - above skills, aptitude, knowledge, desire, any of that - is your attitude.

An amazing illustration of how thoughts can influence reality is the work of Dr. Masaru Emoto. He discovered that the shape of water crystals can be influenced by thought. As the "What The Bleep" website explains:

"Essentially, Dr. Emoto captured water's 'expressions.' He developed a technique using a very powerful microscope in a very cold room along with high-speed photography, to photograph newly formed crystals of frozen water samples... By producing different focused intentions through written and spoken words and music and literally presenting it to the same water samples, the water appears to 'change its expression.'"

You can see the photographs of his work in his latest book, The Hidden Messages in Water, available through Beyond Words Publishing www.beyondword.com, as well as on the "What the Bleep" website.

If your thoughts can influence water in this dramatic way, imagine what it does to your life, and to your prospects for changing your career. For example, if you believe you are too old to change careers, then people who agree with that thought will be at the interview table. If you believe age doesn't matter (as I do), then, even if those same people are at the interview table, they won't think it applies to you. Your thoughts and beliefs about your reality will influence their reality. Serendipity abounds when your eyes are open.

As Mary Oliver said in the poem above, "The world offers itself to your imagination."

I challenge you to listen carefully to what you are telling yourself about your prospects for success. Write down the messages. Replay conversations and write down your side of the conversation. Listen! Carefully! What are you telling yourself?

The answer to that question is the answer to changing your life!

Let me know how it goes for you!

"Instead of absorbing an obsolete view of retirement, we should consider...a flexible life plan that provides for your financial, vocational, physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Unless you look at your future holistically, merely saving up a pile of money will be a meaningless act.

You can have a retirement that is fulfilling and meaningful, but you need to plan for it.

For the full listing of workshops, visit www.forwardmomentum.com.

You are free to use material from Moving Forward! in whole or in part, as long as you include complete attribution, including a live web site link. Please also notify me where the material will appear. The attribution should read:

"By Debra DeVilbiss, CPCC, of Forward Momentum, LLC. Please visit Debra's website at http://www.ForwardMomentum.com for additional articles and resources on creating your right livelihood."

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