So just for fun, last night I commenced Ukulele lessons because in July this year the Uke Festival – an International Event is to be held right here in Cairns where I live. Wow, what fun that was, learning to play with around 30 other keen Uke fans.  Best play time that I have had in ages and I will be going back for more.

So, laugh, play, and enjoy your life my friends, I highly recommend it.

“When you are seeing the grand scheme,
the bigger picture of it all, you understand that
life is the funnest game you’ll ever get to play!
Seriousness is a disease to your soul.
Your overly serious self wants to be free,
so give yourself permission to have a big belly laugh today.
Let a little more lightness into your heart and drop whatever
weight you’ve been carrying on your shoulders right now.
Just take a glimpse of this infinite path your soul is on
and remember your only job is to enjoy your life.

A relaxed playful heart always serves as the best guide…”

reprinted from Enlightened Messages.

For those of you who would love to join us all here in Cairns for the Ukulele Festival, please get yourself a Uke and take some lessons because there is going to be a Guiness Book of Records attempt made for the largest group of Uke players. What a great time for laughing and playing that is going to be.

Some months ago I was reading a “Business Bullet” written by Andrew Griffiths and he said that we all need to get a daily fix of inspiration just as be do exercise and good nutrition. Well, I took his words to heart and started to be active about my daily fix.  And here it is, just arriving in my life.  Inspiration in the air, inspiration everywhere.

So here are 5 quick tips on how to get your daily dose of inspiration!!

• Keep your mind, ears and eyes tuned for it; look for it in the people you talk to, the mountains and plains around you, the birds and animals and your own thoughts.
• Read poetry again.  It is just amazing what poets write.
• Stop tuning in to the mainstream media and do something different like read blogs, get self improvement books out of the library, beg or borrow some cd’s and listen while you drive to work.  I just love “Conversations With God” and “Beyond Freedom“.
• Google some of your favourite gurus and read some of their web page or watch some of their YouTube.  Try the Dalai Lama, Deepak Chopra or Brian Tracy.
• Listen to some different music and step out of your comfort zone there.  Try some music from a different country or cultural group.  I am loving Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu right now; it just touches my soul.

No doubt you will come up with a list of 5 for yourself as well, just do it, because life is so much more exciting when you are getting your daily dose of inspiration!!

In the lead up to Christmas, do everything possible to experience enjoyment and happiness, no matter who you are with, what you are doing or where you are. Make your experience pleasurable rather than a grind.  Life is meant to be fun, watch out for fun and just enjoy each moment.

Start to think about what you want from life next year. Seriously, think about what you want, not what you have and get ready for 2010 with that in mind.  Ponder the prosperity that you want to achieve in your finances, relationships, physically, emotionally, lifestyle and time.  Prosperity is about more than money, it is about every part of your life.

And while you are having fun and shamelessly enjoying yourself, dream a little about what life could be like and get ready to make it happen.

M is for The Miracle, that you are.
M is for the Mystical light of a star.
M is for the Magic your heart can sing.
M is for the Manifestation that you bring.
M is for the Marvellous things you do.
M is for the Magnificence of you.

May you remember that you are The Miracle too!

Miracle Be!

This lovely inspirational quote has reinforced my belief in myself and shored up my confidence.

“Somehow I can’t believe that there are any heights that can’t be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarised in Four c’s.  They are curiosity, confidence, courage and constancy, and the greatest of these is confidence.  When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicity and unquestionably.”  Walt Disney

Such a simple statement and yet so supporting – my daily dose of inspiration.

So I am writing on Facebook about what I am grateful for every day until Christmas Day. And I would love it if you would join me and add your own gratitude list.  Lets create a few great vibrations for peace and goodwill on earth.

My thanks to whoever owns the blog, who had the good idea.

Every now and then, I take pity on the dog next door which is lonely and bring it over to spend the day with me and my elderly terrier.  The dog next door has had to learn to leave the lizards, frogs, birds and so on alone when she is here at my place, because they have right of way.  Our terrier just wanders around among them and every now and then there is a bit of a kerfuffle when she comes upon an unsuspecting bird, but they all know that she knows the rules.  No animal chasing in this backyard!  That is essential if you want to have a natural backyard.

Next thing to think about is a protective place to sleep and breed.  I have planted both natives and introduced plants so that there will be variety and plenty of food.  For birds it is essential to have dense, small and large plants, open plants that are taller for perching and watching and some grasses as well.  For lizards it is important to have a place for them to hide as well as safe sunny spots for warming up.  Any sort of bark, hay, mulch will work as will small pipes or logs, whichever is easy to come by.  Now frogs are a specialist matter and well beyond my capacity to advise however I will say that removing all poisons from use in your area will definitely see frogs returning.

Remember a natural habitat is a delicate balance between food for the wildlife and an excess of pests.  If you want to have wildlife to watch, you have to be prepared to let them have food to eat!  And this includes bugs.  If there are no bugs to eat, the wildlife do not come.  So be prepared to tolerate some bugs and just let the wildlife clean them all up.  In the midst of all of this, we grow vegetables and have very little concern about bugs.  Along with bugs, be prepared to tolerate some seeding weeds and overgrowth.  Wildlife love to have cover and they must have the full range of food, including seeds and all sorts of weeds produce seed which our native birds find very tasty.

Now this tip is a bit controversial, but I do put out some seed most days and we have a continuous parade of visitors coming to see what is on offer today.  Some people say that you should not do this because the birds become dependent, others say it is ok if you do not do it every day.  I have found that putting out a small amount seems to work as we have varying numbers of birds coming to the feed and also varying varieties.  And we do not feed every day.

Finally, provide water in shallow, open containers and be prepared to wait until the birds get used to them.  We have had one pot drainage tray sitting on a post for a long time and the birds used it all of the time.  We then introduced a large, deepish bird bath and I had to make it shallower, by adding stones, and wait for ages before the birds finally adopted it and now use it equally.  Water and birds are a delightful mix and as they are very relaxed in our yard, they bath for ages and some even just sit in it on a hot day.  I also spray the leaves of a few bushes in the afternoons for those birds that love to bath that way.  It is great fun to hold the hose while they come in close, however it is also important to be aware of water restrictions.  I hold onto this activity for really hot weather.

So just go for it, attracting the wildlife back into suburbia is both lots of fun and good for the planet.  Not to mention a great meditative experience watching to see who is coming to visit and what they do while there.  Meditation made easy!  Start out with what you can do and then add to it as you see what works in your area.  Experiment and have fun.

I have planted trees specifically for the purpose of feeding birds and butterflies and providing a bird friendly habitat. In the main these are native trees, however I have found through my reading that citrus trees and many non-natives work wonderfully as well.  I now tailor my gardening life to the birds that are resident or visitors.  For example I would never prune or trim the Justica’s during spring because all of the honey-eaters that are growing up their young and need as much food as possible.  My garden is a food factory for them.

You will also find in my garden, a couple of watering holes for the birds. Even though it took them a while, they eventually got used to them and now bathe and drink there throughout the day.  This makes it possible for me to be working in my home office and watching the birds come and go as they do.

The habitat it very important because all types of birds seek refuge for nesting and each seems to need something a little different. The sunbird pair need a sheltered place and a rope; the finches need a dense tree with a lookout nearby, the doves need a dense tree with peace and quiet and so on.  Over time, we have created two secret gardens to serve all of these purposes.  Additionally, our elderly terrier does her best to see any marauding cats off the premises!  Even so, cats managed to destroy the nest of a willy wagtail which was a sad loss to all of us here.  We were very excited to have this sweet little bird nesting on our deck.

So if you also love all things nature, and you live in town on an ordinary sized piece of land, you too can do your bit for the various species and create a wildlife refuge and habitat. Next time I will write about our animals and I am very happy to answer questions about how to create you own piece of heaven in your backyard.  In the meantime I am off to feel the joy – happiness really is birdwatching in my backyard.

It seems to me that a lot of you are “busy trying to master the Law of Attraction”.

You’re running through your daily affirmations.
You’re reminding yourself, “be positive, be positive”.
You’re asking yourself “how can I look on the bright side here?”.
You’re reading books, following advice, trying, trying, trying… while the rest of the world is running by you, laughing at you for staring in the mirror and reminding yourself how great you are, like you didn’t already know it.

It’s about this that I’d like to talk to you today.

Remember Why You Learned About LOA in the First Place

What is your goal? Stay focused. What is it that you want in your life?
Do you want to be able to tell everyone about how every little thought is creating and contributing to the Universe? Is that really the most pertinent thing in your life right now? Or do you want some money, so that you have the time to study the things that interest you?
Or do you want to lose 40 pounds, so you don’t have to worry about your heart failing while you read?

You’re Playing Your Cards All Wrong

What does LOA say?
What you focus on, you create.
When you focus on your “need to master the Law of Attraction”, you’re thinking about your lack of mastery of LOA. So really, while you’re sitting there thinking you need to do this and need to do that and “oh, why aren’t things manifesting in my life instantly already?”… you’re actually pushing yourself farther and farther away from this desired “mastery”. Truth is….

You’ve Already Mastered the Law of Attraction

That’s right. You already have LOA down, 100%. Everything you think about is being attracted to you, and if you’re thinking about how you WANT to master LOA… you’re really only thinking about things that you don’t have, simply because you’re telling yourself that you haven’t yet done it! Bizarre it is, but it’s the truth. You do not need to put any effort into mastering this fine art, as it’s a gift given to you at birth, something inherited, which you carry deep down inside of you.

The Solution

Rather than trying to master LOA, accept it as a fundamental truth, and move on with your life, knowing that you have this wisdom. Make a decision to go out, do the things you enjoy, make decision, decision, decision, take action, action, action, enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. Go out there and get the things you love. Hold on to the image of the things you want in life, and feel the feelings associated with having them.

The worst thing you can possibly do is get caught up in the “how”.
Don’t worry about “How do I change myself to make this work more in my favor”.
Rather, decide to make prompt and decisive decisions, and allow the “how” to come to you.
If you really believe in LOA, you know that you do not need to waste your time trying to learn it, rather just focus on what you want, and only then will you see how fast it’s actually working.

Nobody’s enjoying watching you sit there and wondering “how” to run.
Rather, we’re all cheering you on as you take the first step of that sprint…

Everyone who I’ve tagged in this note is familiar with LOA…
and isn’t wasting time tying his or her shoes!
Keep on running, my friends!

Much love,
Russell

p.s. Quit being so hard on yourself! There’s no need to repeat the mistakes of others! Have fun and do what you like, it’s what you’re here for!