Then I was asked if I pray. Okay, I thought this was a trick question… so my natural response was to answer with a question: If a person looked upon a tree with blessing and inspiration and imbued love and gratitude upon that moment versus a person grabbing a prayer book and reading route… who is truly praying?

The next question I was asked was if I prayed for material things? Realizing the abundance we are offered on this planet earth I pray for more Love, Wisdom, Peace, Health, Serenity, Joy and things like that. Realizing that they exist and asking for more is what I find wonderful. The material things in life is all about the ‘getting’.

Do you know that ‘getting what you want’ is all about the ‘getting’?

When you visit your local food store let’s say to buy ingredients for a special meal, well, …you don’t go down the ‘health and beauty’ isle for ingredients. For the most part we go down the isle where we can find our ingredients and of course pay for them and leave.

Most of us would agree that here upon planet earth, void of our own limitations, the planet has many natural and man made wonders that we can experience — all for the taking. It is my opinion that when we want to get material things, we need to ‘get ready for the getting’ and go about getting it.

Daisy Says: Go get it!

Deep within
High above.

Travel light
Hold you back.

Fleeting star
Palpable mountain.

Your thoughts take hold
Your thoughts be bold.

Your thoughts have wings
Your thoughts become things.

~Daisy

What power you hold within one thought!!

Many of us go through life without harnessing that one gift, living recklessly on the whim of every thought. Up and down allowing the thoughts to control our every emotion.

Could you imagine how different your life could be if you observed your thoughts? Not giving in to the emotion, but just observe them? As the thought comes in, question the thought.

John Maxwell in his book Thinking For A Change, wrote: “I found a kind of formula that can help you stretch your thoughts. It says – The Right Thought plus the Right People in the Right Environment at the Right Time for the Right Reason = the Right Result.”

The quality of our thoughts and intentions affect the quality of our lives. “Intentions rooted in love and appreciation bring about positive changes—both to a person’s health and their life circumstances.” – Sandy Newbigging, The Power of Appreciation

The labels we have given our thoughts whether good or bad affect the decisions we make. Design a positive world for yourself and change your labels on your thoughts and you will begin to change your world.

Anyone can become a great thinker.

Daisy Says: Let your thoughts take flight, be free.

There is one thing that I dread more than a dentist chair, going to a car dealer. For some time now we’ve been thinking of getting another car that we can pass over to our teenage son. Once the idea was agreed upon George went on an internet shopping spree to find the best mileage and car value.

Before I met George, I thought that a car was something you bought and kept for a very long time. I had my Jaguar for 8 years.. and then I met George who treats cars like if they were shoes. Let’s see: 3 Lincolns, 2 BMW’s, Jeep, King Ranch, Ford Taurus, Grand Am, Nissan Truck, 2 Mercedez. So when it comes to ‘dealing’ with car salesmen I would say George is very qualified.

I must say that so far the best experience I had at a car dealer came from the Mercedez dealership, they made they buying experience painless and pleasant. Most of it was done over the phone all I had to do was show up, sign and drive away.

Then I got to thinking about the whole car salesmen thing. Do you have to work for a top car brand to give people top service? The best training in salesmanship are learned by working as a car salesman plus as a career it pays big money. Like in most careers, these two benefits won’t come without paying your dues.

The sad thing for these salespeople is that they never put in the effort required to be successful enough to reap the benefits. They never look at the job as a career. Instead of taking advantage of the money they could be making by properly learning the skills of the job, they do just enough to hold on until their ready to move on. (Which could be said of many people in their current jobs… they only do enough to hang on).

Here is a great site for people in car sales: http://www.carsalesmansguide.com/

Now I can’t sign off without talking about Quan Loc, the salesman at the Orlando Hyundai; as the front line of the sales process he was very personable and informative. He had all his paper work lined up and his team ready which made the 90 minute experience light and airy. Then I got to thinking as I was watching three other salesmen huddling by a table.. what do car salesmen do when there are no customers?

FOR INSIDER’S TIP http://beatthecarsalesman.com/secrets.html:
If your car salesman likes you, then you’re more likely to get the good car-buying deal and service that you want. (That’s just a fact of human nature.) So be nice and friendly to your salesman. It pays to treat him with respect.

What was the worst car dealer experience you had?

Daisy Says: Don’t ever be rushed into anything.

I felt anxiety rising though my chest. The tension was building up through me… slowly I began connecting with the tension and started looking around me, there were unfamiliar people around me as I was walked down the streets of an old town. I felt a sense of panic but couldn’t connect to the ‘why’ I was feeling the sensation.

I looked up at the sky above me, trying to determine the time of day. By the position of the sun it seemed to be a couple hours past noon. I made mental note… ‘yes, I could still make it home before night fall’. For no apparent reason, I headed towards the direction of the descending sun but after walking several miles the landscape became more unfamiliar and again I sensed the anxiety rising within me.

I spotted what appeared to be a bus stop and noticed there were several people sitting at the bench so I headed that way. I asked if the bus would go to Bonao and the lady smiled and said..”the bus does not stop here, we come here to celebrate the arrival of the Queen of Harvest”. I thought to myself, that’s not the answer I wanted to hear…and who’d want to celebrate harvest on such a barren land? The man sitting next to her gave me an uncomfortable smirk… and I quickly realized it’s time for me to go, because now I knew why I was having the anxiety sensation.

I felt like I was lost.

The phone in my purse was ringing.. that was the oddest thing… since when did I begin carrying a purse? After my years of police work I felt I no longer needed a purse – I only used it to carry my gun, but now I looked inside and I had three phones. There were two cell phones and a house phone.. that was odd, what good is a house phone in my purse? I reached for the cell phone that was ringing and it was my son on the other side… I tried to keep the smooth calm in my voice but he picked up that something was wrong. I told him that I was lost but that I’d find my way, I asked him not to worry…and he was so sweet he wanted to stay on the line until I made it home safely.

It seemed that I walked for hours and made no progress; I also felt uncomfortable being out on the streets alone… I felt like a field mice and the hawks were just waiting for the right time to feast. I clearly could feel the fear of being lost in a town or place that I was not familiar… I did not like it one bit.

Then something odd happened, I shifted from the streets… to the safe zone of my bedroom, I could feel the warm sheets on my bare skin… and I made a mental note and took a deep breath.

I’M GOING IN! (It’s not going to end this way!)

Once back on the busy streets I spotted two officers with maps in their hands, I approached them and asked if they could show me how to get to the town of Bonao. With the map in hand I could see I veered totally off course in the opposite direction. I thanked them and prayed they stay safe…as I made my way back into the busy streets. The sun was way past the horizon and now instead of walking towards it I was walking away from it. The streets seemed to have a different breed of people and the eyes looking back at me appeared hungry, but this time I paid no mind. I knew where I was going.. and I inteded to get there.

I woke up from my dream and contemplated on the whole illusion. Dreams can help us make sense of current situations in our waking world.

The fear and anxiety were real. I began connecting it with my present day situation and connected the pieces to the puzzle. I am venturing into new territory with our nonprofit foundation: The Helpful Hands Foundation and this time I have no guiding post or mentor. I understand clearly now to trust my inner sense of direction. My dream confirmed that I must continue to seek the right people and follow the course and not give up… we will arrive at the right destination.

Tell me about the sleeping dream that helped you make sense of things in your waking world?

Daisy Says: All that is seen and unseen makes life complete.

Some people think that optimism is about living in a fantasy world where everything is nice and nothing bad ever happens.

I’m here to shed some light. When it comes to ‘optimism’ most people that meet me say that I am a very optimistic person and I will personally tell you that being optimistic takes courage.

If you have been following my blogs for the last 3 years you may gather that I am pretty optimistic. Police work can jade you, divorce can embitter you, the mortgage industry can depress you and people can constantly without fail – let you down. Yet through all that, I can tell you that optimism is a DECISION. Optimism is a choice. Optimism is an effort from the deepest recesses of the soul to accept ones current plight and make the best out of a difficult and trying situation.

Every day we are being tested. Every day new challenges arise. People change, situations change, economy changes, and our ability to remain optimistic will definitely be challenged against that which we fear: the unknown.

It takes courage to be optimistic. It takes fortitude to find the one aspect of a human being or situation that in that moment augments all that is ugly and negative. Yet it is in that moment where I challenge myself to find that ONE goodness in that person or that ONE goodness in what on the surface appears to be a bad situation. If you focus on the bad, you will see all of the bad. …and the opposite is true: look for good and you will find good.

There is a story about how optimistic people look at situations differently it goes like this: Two researchers were independently dispatched to one of the world’s least developed countries by a large shoe manufacturer. Their task: to assess the business possibilities within that country.

The first researcher came back to the manufacturer’s headquarters with his report: “No market here. Nobody wears shoes!” A few days later, the second researcher came back with his report – it read: “Great market here. Nobody wears shoes!”

If you find yourself down on the world and things aren’t going your way, I challenge you for a few minutes and seriously stop your foolishness (even for just a minute) and jot down 2 things that are good about the bad that is happening. If you are not used to this, it may take you a while to get over the negative wave but it’s okay if it takes longer, you must try and resist the urge to sulk and gloom. Focus on the good and you will notice something interesting will happen in your brain, like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day; you will shift into the zone of possibilities and hope.

Daisy Says: Look for good and you will find it.