Subject: Change Your Perspective and Change Your Life
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Welcome to Celebrating the Journey!
Friday, May 3, 2002
Issue #85

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Welcome Notes
2. It’s All in Your Perspective
3. Coaching: Choose a New Perspective and
Change Your Life
4. Quotes
5. Celebrating Out Loud!
6. Humor: Great Truths

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1. Welcome Notes

Thanks to all who sent topic ideas for CTJ. We have a
wealth of fascinating areas to address in the months
to come. You have my creative juices flowing! To all
you new subscribers, a hearty welcome and an
invitation to let us know what you’d like to see in
CTJ. Send your topic ideas to
mailto:topics@tothesummit.com.

I’m in Colorado this week, enjoying the burgeoning
green of spring and visiting old friends. My heart
always sings at being in the Rocky Mountains, and I
cherish the high altitude hiking I do here. Spring is a
time of such marvelous aliveness! How is that
aliveness manifesting in your life today?

Celebration is a wonderful way to choose a new
perspective. What exists in your life that you haven’t
celebrated yet? Share your celebration, big or small,
“important” or “trivial”, loud or soft with our CTJ
family by e-mailing
mailto:celebrations@tothesummit.com. It’s a simple
way to increase your own joy and give many others
the gift of that same joy. Celebrate Out Loud!

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2. It’s All In Your Perspective

I get a great deal of e-mail and tend to delete
forwarded messages without reading them. Every
now and then, however, I am drawn to read one, and
even more rarely, I find a gem.

What follows was sent to me by my good friend
Sarah Sterling who has had a year of challenges. I
have been impressed with her willingness to live in
gratitude rather than anger the vast majority of the
time. Keeping that perspective hasn’t made this year
easy for Sarah, and it has made it easier and much
more sane than it might have been.

And so I include it for you. The perspective we bring
to our lives has much more impact on the quality of
those lives than what is happening externally. I will
keep the following words around to remind me of
that. I encourage you to do the same.

I Am Thankful For:

The partner who hogs the covers every night,
because it means she/he is not out with someone
else.

The teenager who is watching TV instead of doing the
dishes, because it means she/he is at home and not
on the streets.

For the taxes that I pay, because it means that I am
employed.

For the mess to clean after a party, because it means
that I have been surrounded by friends.

For the clothes that fit a little too snug, because it
means I have enough to eat.

For my shadow that watches me work, because it
means I am in the sunshine.

For a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need
cleaning, and gutters that need fixing, because it
means I have a home.

For all the complaining I hear about the government,
because it means that we have freedom of speech.

For the parking spot I find at the far end of the
parking lot, because it means I am capable of walking
and that I have been blessed with transportation.

For my huge heating bill, because it means I am
warm.

For the lady behind me in church who sings off key,
because it means I can hear.

For the pile of laundry and ironing, because it means I
have clothes to wear.

For weariness and aching muscles at the end of the
day, because it means I have been capable of working
hard.

For the alarm that goes off in the early morning
hours, because it means I am alive. And finally…

For too much e-mail, because it means I have friends
who are thinking of me.

When you think your life is bad, read this again and
choose a new perspective.

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3. Coaching: Choose a New Perspective and Change
Your Life

Many “negative” events will happen in our lives over
which we have no control. Some of them are small
and annoying; some are life changing and
overpowering; most are somewhere in the middle.

It rains on the day of your daughter’s outdoor
wedding.
The grocery store is all out of your favorite food.
You are betrayed by a loved one.
Your beautiful hike in the woods gifts you with a
severe case of poison ivy.
Your child develops a life-threatening illness.
Your hard drive crashes, and you haven’t backed it
up in months.
A parent develops Alzheimer’s.
The phone wakes you in the middle of the night,
and it’s a wrong number.

No matter what the event, your perspective on and
attitude toward it will hugely impact its effect on you.
We cannot change what has happened; we can
absolutely choose how we respond to what has
happened.

By looking for the positive in a negative situation,
you can bring a profound sense of peace to your life.
Will it fix whatever isn’t working? Nope. But it will
imprint your soul with a new sense of peace. And in
my opinion, there is no greater gift than that.

Change your perspective. It will quite simply change
your life.

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4. Quotes

The difference between a mountain and a molehill is
your perspective.
Al Neuharth

The meaning of things lies not in the things
themselves, but in our attitude towards them.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t
change it, change your attitude.
Maya Angelou

A friend of mine has a great attitude: When
something doesn’t go his way, instead of crying over
spilt milk, he just milks another cow!
Alexander Lockhart

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5. Celebrating Out Loud

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more
there is in life to celebrate.
Oprah Winfrey

My good friend Frances Chaves celebrates the
miracle birth of Lukas Chaves Maloney on April 11.
Told by physicians that carrying a baby to term
would be virtually impossible for her, she and
Michael celebrate this great gift of the sacred. Send
your baby celebrations to mailto:ChavesF@aol.com.

Mary Ellen Holton celebrates her 24th year of
sobriety this month and reminded me of how much
we all need each other. Celebrate with Mary Ellen at
mailto:jhbvm@freeway.net

I just don’t think we celebrate enough in
this busy world of ours. What are you celebrating
today? Share it with us at
mailto:celebrations@tothesummit.com

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6. Humor: Great Truths

These come from my good friend Vicki Johnson.
Thanks for the giggles, Vicki!

Great Truth from Little Children

1. No matter how hard you try, you can’t baptize
cats.
2. When your mom is mad at your dad, don’t let her
brush your hair.
3. If your sister hits you, don’t hit her back. They
always catch the second person.
4. You can’t trust dogs to watch your food.
5. You can’t hid a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
6. Don’t wear polka-dot underwear under white
shorts.

Great Truths from Adults

1. Raising teenagers is like nailing Jell-O to a tree.
2. Wrinkles don’t hurt.
3. Families are like fudge…mostly sweet, with a few
nuts
4. Today’s mighty oak is just yesterday’s nut that
held its ground.
5. Laughing is good exercise. It’s like jogging on the
inside.
6. Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the
fiber, not the joy.

Great Truths about Growing Old

1. Growing old is mandatory; growing up is
optional.
2. Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives
I can get.
3. When you fall down, you wonder what else you
can do while you’re down there.
4. You’re getting old when you get the same
sensation from a rocking chair that you once got
from a roller coaster.
5. It’s frustrating when you know all the answers but
nobody bothers to ask you the questions.
6. Time may be a great healer, but it’s a lousy
beautician.

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Give yourself the gift of a new perspective this week.

Namaste, Margo

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Hiring a Life Coach is a great way to be supported in
taking the steps that will lead you to your own
dreams. Margo has a few slots open for motivated
clients who want to shift from, “I like my life, to, “I
love my life!!!” Visit our website at
https://www.tothesummit.com for additional
resources and tools. To schedule a consultation, send
an e-mail to mailto:margo@tothesummit.com

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My purpose in publishing Celebrating the Journey is
to provide you with resources, motivation,
inspiration and energy for YOUR journey of creating
success and freedom in all areas of your life. CTJ will
use stories from my life and others, coaching tips and
resources, quotes and humor to deliver a learning
experience that can enhance your life. I am always
looking for comments, ideas and ways to improve
CTJ. I welcome your e-mails at
mailto:margo@tothesummit.com.

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Copyright © 2002, all rights reserved, by Margo
Chisholm

I invite you to share Celebrating the Journey with
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that the entire e-mail with copyright and credits be
included. The author of this article is Margo
Chisholm. You may contact her at (970-704-9336) or
at mailto:margo@tothesummit.com.

—
Come to the edge, life said.
They said: We are afraid.
Come to the edge, life said.
They came.
It pushed them…
And they flew.
Gulliaume Apollinaire

Margo Chisholm
Life Coach, Life Counselor
Partnering you in having success, freedom, and
joy in all areas of your life.
970-704-9336
margo@tothesummit.com

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