The Journey of Gus and Sam

Last weekend we had an incredibly full day. It was off to Nashville for a fun-filled day for all.

It started with the Nashville Zoo. We saw warthogs, giraffe, monkeys, elephants, spiders, snakes, a sloth, birds and many, many other members of God's creatures. My favorite were probably the meerkats - very clever little buggers.

Samantha and Sydney weren't too excited about the bird sanctuary... this was a place you could actually feed and touch some specific birds. The caretaker told me that some of the birds actually enjoy freaking people out. Samantha was no exception as one prodeeded to fly right on top of her head and started to gnaw on her sunglasses. Just when she had gotten confident enough to feed them and began feeling comfortable, this fella had to get her squeeling and nervously giggling. Poor Samantha became great entertainment to many. ; )





Of Course my camera was not far away to capture the scene.




Later that day, we headed off to the John Mayer and Sheryl Crow concert. We had decent seats near the front of the grassy hill and remebered to bring extra blankets for the chilly evening. Mayer was amazing, as usual, belting out some fantastic blues numbers.

Sheryl Crow was not what I had expect though... I really didn't care to see her. But that changed when she put on a really classy show, plucked away on the bass guitar and then brought out hearthrob KEITH URBAN - the ladies went wild!!!!

They sang the duet made famous by Tom Petty & Stevie Nix, "Stop Dragging My Heart Around"... It was a very amazing.

I love live music... I don't know what it is, but I love it.

So I'm really interested in getting into the whole "motivational speaking" gig... so I've been scouring the internet learning what others are doing. I found this guy, James Ray, from the DVD "The Secret". He's a new-ager/mystic from a theological perspective yet some of his stuff is really incredible. This is a thought on forgivenesss.

James Ray:

"I just got back from Quantum Leap (one of my 3-day programs) in Las Vegas, and at the event, I was asked about the tragic shooting at the Amish schoolhouse last week. I'm glad it was asked because I saw a very important principle put into action by the Amish community...

The next day after the shooting, the Amish community of Lancaster County told the killer's family that they forgave him for what he'd done.

That's right. They forgave him...

You may be thinking "But James, how could they?" Well, here's the deal... You don't forgive for the other person. You forgive for yourself. Now I'll ask you, "How could they not forgive him?"

They forgave him... Have you?

You see, lack of forgiveness is an incredibly toxic vibration that harms you, and not the person you neglect to forgive. No one has ever died from a snake bite. When a snake bites, it stings. Death only comes from neglecting to remove the venom that courses through your veins.

Refusing to forgive is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. Snake bites and challenges are a part of life, and to think otherwise is illusion. Don't wish for a problem-free, easier life... that's illusion. Instead, wish for greater capability and greater capacity to ease elegantly through life's challenges.

In challenging situations, we must ask, "How does this serve me?" and "What can I learn?" There is always a lesson to be learned, and in every challenging situation, there's an opportunity for goodness.

I travel all over the world, and people think they want an easier life... but they really don't. There's a law in our universe that states, "If you're not growing, you're dying." Life's challenges are how we grow. Like I mentioned before:

Wish for greater capability and greater capacity to ease elegantly through life's challenges.

Your self-worth, image and confidence depend upon your ability to easy elegantly through the challenges that life throws our way.

With that, I'd like to leave you with a quote from the venerable Martin Luther King, Jr. Although it was written referring to another period in our history, truth is timeless.

"[Violence] is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys a community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers."

James Arthur Ray
President/CEO
James Ray International