Glen Of Scotland

Fall

It's just beginning the next 3 weeks are going to be spectacular, here is an early preview. Are you out enjoying the change in seasons?

Yes, the sky is this blue most of the time in Colorado

The very wealthy

Most people who don't have much money, often think that having more will bring them happiness, see last weeks quote for more on that.

The very wealthy are not immune to all the fluctuations in the stock market, they often lose, at least on paper like everyone else. The Wall Street Journal published an article on lessons on investing from America's richest family, the article is here.

The 5 points in the article are that the very wealthy, have a plan, live below their means, value cash flow, focus on risk not return and hang on. I would add to that, that the very wealthy are diversified in their investments, are emotionally detached from what they invest in and they accept that there will be losses which they try to minimize.

I'm writing about this as I see and hear about people getting caught out by the fluctuations in the markets, they have all their money in stocks or all of it in gold and torture themselves if their investment drops. Or they are addicted to CNBC or their cell phone quotes, checking them every five minutes.

If you are like that, then you may want to consider if you should be invested to begin with, take some money off the table so that you are comfortable and when it comes to buy or sell you can make a decision based on fact rather than emotion. I promise you when you are checking the price movements every 5 minutes your decision will be emotional and often not the best one.

Look at how your investing track record has been in the past, have you been caught up in all the "hot" investments that suddenly and quickly went cold and lost your money? Do you put all of your money in one thing? How comfortable are you if your investment loses 10%, 20% 30%?

There is nothing wrong with being in cash until the right opportunity that you feel good about comes along that fits your plan. There will always be opportunities no matter what is going on, if you are patient you will see them and when to get out of them too. If someone pitches you to get in before it's too late, then usually it's already too late.

 

Getting along 2

Here area  couple more in the getting along series, first up a baby deer, dog and cat and there is more here

Next we have a owl and a cat, with a cool video here

Finally, this is just too cool, you can read more about it here

Quote

"Conventional wisdom holds that if we work hard we will be more successful, and if we are more successful,then we’ll be happy. If we can just find that great job, win that next promotion, lose those five pounds, happiness will follow. But recent discoveries in the field of positive psychology have shown that this formula is actually backward: Happiness fuels success, not the other way around. When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive at work. This isn’t just an empty mantra. This discovery has been repeatedly borne out by rigorous research in psychology and neuroscience, management studies, and the bottom lines of organizations around the globe".

Shawn Achor the Happiness Advantage

Getting Along

The last time I posted differfent animals getting along, it proved to be very popular, so here is a brand new collection. Hopefully those who don't get along might be inspired to make a change.

First we have the orangutan and the dog, you can se more here:

Now we have the bloodhound and the lion cub, you can see more here

How cute is this, a chimp and a tiger cub, even more here

 

Answers

Last time when I talked about worries, I mentioned that answers and solutions rarely come if at all when we are focused on the worry. We get locked in to the worry or problem and cannot see the answer. How often have you stepped away from the problem, gone for a walk, sat down and there it is, right there, the solution!

I don't get attached to when and how the answer comes, I just let go and get on with life. Things just work out even when it seems as they are not. It takes a bit of trust that it will work out, again look back and see how things have been in your experience. Forget the drama and time frame, did they work out?

The other fun thing about answers, is you can find them everywhere, could be from the person sitting next to you on the plane, or in line for something. My favorite is when it comes from nature, these creatures out there all have messages too. It's the odd things like when I first moved to Colorado and there was a rabbit right outside the front door, not a normal occurrence. A good book that helps decode in the beginning what is going on with nature  is a book by Ted Andrews called Animal Speak.

I would like to share a morning hike I was on and the visitors from nature that showed up that morning. It all started quickly, a butterfly, flying around me then posing for a photograph.

Then not five minutes later another one doing the same thing, I had better pay attention here

As I continued on what was a truly spectacular hike, my first time here, something I had never seen before, a wild hare, which then stayed on the path for several minutes.

Later I heard the cricket and next thing I know it has jumped out on to the rock

As I was climbing up the trail, 3 horse with riders were coming down, so I stepped to the side to let them move down. The third horse stopped and turned and looked at me and we were checking each other out. There was a connection between us that wasn't animal and human, it was a oneness connection that was deep and felt like it was long in duration. In reality though, enough time passed that there was about 6 horse lengths of a gap so it wasn't very long. The rider said he must like your shirt, I just said it wasn't that, it was beautiful though. I could have taken a photo, it would have spoiled the moment though and I wouldn't have had that connection.

Next to come along was a marmot, who wasn't keep to be photographed, you can just see it in the grass.

Then finally a beaver came along made it's presence felt and was off just as fast.

What does it all mean, well some might argue I was out in nature what do you expect, or it's a coincidence, or for me there were enough special and different as well as new moments that it was meaningful, it was time to move forward with a project that information has been flowing for a little while.

It's fun when it unfolds like this, the project will turn out well even as it takes time to do. Interestingly enough someone had been in town the prior week to work on a project with me and it flowed well, really well in fact and that didn't go unnoticed either at the time, especially as a rainbow appeared on the first and last days.

There is always a solution or an answer for every situation, the answer doesn't need to be there straight away, it will come when we are best place to receive it.

Does that allow you to worry less? Do you really need to have an answer straight away? Really?

The same but different

Things are always changing, that's just nature, yet people think it's the same old, over and over when they go to places. Sometimes the changes are subtle and not easy to spot. Here is Hanging Lake this year and 2 years ago:

Worries

A lot of people take on the worries of the world in addition to their own worries. Given that there is always change, it means they don't get much relief from the worried state of mind, if you are not that type of person then the odds are you know someone who is that way.

In time, the worry takes a toll on the person, it's like they are carrying the weight of the world around on their shoulders. Just like this small boulder.

In time all this pressure takes a toll on the human body, either from the stress or worry, it can manifest as pain or disease, or things that tear and break and require surgery. The same is true of a rock, a smaller rock will eventually break as the wind, rain, heat, cold causes expansion and contraction the rock will break apart, especially if there is something heavier on top of it. This is what it would look like, with the body being no different, something has to give.

A worry is really something about which we don't know the answer, or about what will happen about a certain situation that is interesting or important to us. When we get to the worry stage we are running thoughts about a number of hypotheticals about the situation that usually have a negative theme to them. For example someone worried about money, might worry about what they will lose, what they will have to give up, where they will have to move, what will happen if they go into bankruptcy etc. It would be rare for someone to start thinking of all the places they could get money, we are conditioned into the negative especially in this worry stage.

What can do that would ease all this worry and move forward. One thing I learned is a solution never came to me when I was in the worry stage, all that came was more worry! I learned to write down what the issue was, then determine who was in or had the control of the situation, then I wrote down what it is that I wanted from the situation. I then focused on what was in my control and what I wanted so I was clear on that.

To illustrate this, here is a small example, I was away last week and had to return early due to the hurricane, my hotel was prepaid and I would like a refund of the 1 day stay. The hotel has control over whether I get that or not and not me, the person is not available at the moment so I have no control over the situation. I do want a refund though.

To keep it away from the worry stage, that is where I would focus, if it were to come up in my mind, not allowing any hypotheticals to come in at all. It's simple the hotel will let me know soon and I want a refund. There is nothing there for my mind to attach to, so I have peace of mind if I choose, I can choose to run hypotheticals if I want, which would just run amok in my head, such as if they say no etc. This part I have control of, especially as I focus on what I want.

That example might not cover some scenarios for some, for those scenarios I suggest, identifying who has control, know what it is you want and then let go, I know easier said than done, and wait for the answers.

I mentioned before that I never received and answer or a solution when I was caught up in the worry stage, have you? What percentage of the time do you receive the answer this way?

Next week I will cover answers.

 

Hanging Lake 2011 part 5

Behind Hanging Lake is Spouting Rock, to get there I passed this:

 

Then Spouting Rock which was spouting more than ever before

The view from behind, got a bit wet in the process