Subject: Tip Nine: The Present Is Perfect…Even When It Isn’t
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Welcome to Celebrating the Journey!
Wednesday, October 3, 2001
Issue #72

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Welcome Notes
2. Tip Nine: The Present Is Perfect…Even When It’s
Not
3. Coaching: Resistance Is Persistence
4. Quotes
5. Celebrating Out Loud!
6. Reading for the Journey
7. Resources for the Journey
8. Humor: Inner Strength
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1. Welcome Notes

Welcome to our new subscribers! A mention in another
e-zine has peaked the curiosity of many this week. Thank
you to Phil Humbert (whose TIP’s e-zine continues to be
one of the best available. Check it out at
http://www.philiphumbert.com) for the mention and to
all who have joined the CTJ family. We hope you’ll stay.

My desire for CTJ is that it be a valuable resource on your
journey of living the life you REALLY want. To that end, I
ask that you let me know how I’m doing at reaching that
goal. Just click mailto:readers@tothesummit.com to send
us your feedback, positive or negative (be gentle, please!).
What do you like? What don’t you like? How can CTJ be
an even better resource? Thanks in advance for helping
us out.

I’ve had the joy of sharing many celebrations with friends
this past week: theirs and mine both. It reminds me of the
geometric progression of joy that happens when we share
the pleasure and delights of our lives.

The celebration out loud of this journey called life we’re
all on enhances, deepens, and enriches our experience. By
now we’ve all heard how making a daily Gratitude List
changes peoples’ lives. (If you’re not making one, start
now! It really will change your life.) Taking that gratitude
a step further and celebrating the events of our lives with
others fires the gratitude like a kiln does a clay sculpture,
and the resulting joy becomes permanent.

Celebrate the events of your lives with this CTJ family.
We are all people on the path of living the lives we
REALLY want, and reading about the celebrations of
others motivates us when we’re tired, brightens up our
dark times, and deepens the bright ones. Just click
mailto:celebrations@tothesummit.com to send the details
of your anniversary or birthday, of a win or shift or aha, of
a rainbow after a storm or a moment of peace watching a
sunset. Your own joy will give to others in ways you
cannot imagine.

If you missed the CTJ which gave the Top Ten Tips for
Having the Life You REALLY Want which is the
foundation for this issue, the previous eight, and the next
one, you can find it on my website at
https://www.tothesummit.com/archive.

For a formatted, color, hard copy version of the Top Ten
Tips e-mail your snail mail address (where you get your
regular mail) to mailto:TopTenTips@tothesummit.com.

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2. The Present Is Perfect…Even When It’s Not

Most of us define the word perfect as, “being exactly the
way I think it should be or I want it to be.” Well, Lenny
Bruce was right: there is no “should be.” There is only
what is. Getting that the present truly is perfect requires a
redefinition of perfect.

In this context perfect doesn’t mean our way. It doesn’t
even mean desirable or fair or just or preferred. In this
context perfect means that, in the greater scheme of
things, there’s a perfect explanation for why things are the
way they are. Even when we can’t see it at the moment.

One of the most challenging pieces in the puzzle of
accepting that the present is perfect is surrendering to the
idea that God (whatever your definition of God is) knows
way more than we do. If things aren’t going our way or
aren’t fair or are even horrific, perhaps we need to look at
what the reasons and lessons are rather than simply
being irate.

Understanding that the present is perfect is merely
acceptance taken a couple of steps further. Being angry
and stomping our feet about what shows up in our lives
takes a whole lot of energy and achieves nothing in the
way of change. It’s only when we acknowledge and accept
that the way it is is the way it is supposed to be, that we
can move forward and create the life we REALLY want.

When we accept the perfection of what we’ve been given,
what we’ve been given no longer controls us.

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3. Coaching: Resistance is Persistence

Two weeks ago I wrote about the distinction between
acceptance and resignation. You can read that issue at
https://www.tothesummit.com/archive in Expand Your
Limits.

Resistance is the opposite end of the acceptance scale from
resignation. Resignation is about giving up and not taking
action; resistance is about being mad and not taking
action. Both result is staying stuck where we are.
Accepting that the present is perfect is about living in the
now and taking action.

Dick Sutphen summed up the teachings of Buddha
thusly: “All of your pain and suffering comes from your
resistance to what is.” Whether we’re Buddhist or not, the
truth is the truth. The Big Book of Alcoholics
Anonymous says it this way: “Acceptance is the answer to
ALL my problems today.”

When we resist what is, we are concentrating on what
needs to be changed in the world rather than on what
needs to be changed in us. The reality is that we change
the world only by changing ourselves.

In the context of what’s up in our world today, staying
angry at the horror of what happened in New York and
Washington does not move us toward a peaceful world.
Complaining about what our government has or hasn’t
done, does not add to the energy of peace on our planet.
Getting the perfection of where we are (see the essay in the
Resources section), invites and demands that we look at
how we, as individuals, express prejudice or hatred in our
lives and that we CHANGE those behaviors and attitudes.
And that is how we change the world.

What we resist, persists. In ourselves and in the world.
Get that it’s all perfect, and change begins.

What are your resisting in your life that is keeping you
stuck?

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4. Quotes

Be grateful for whoever comes,
Because each has been sent
As a guide from beyond
Rumi

After accepting our present circumstances, no matter what
they are, we must learn to bless them, through gritted
teeth if necessary. This blessing is the spiritual surrender
that changes even troublesome situations for the better.
Sarah Ban Breathnach

The “what should be” never did exist, but people kept
trying to live up to it. There is no “what should be,” there
is only what is.
Lenny Bruce

Being in sync (and in love) with your present is just about
the best way to optimize your future.
Thomas Leonard

Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens in God’s world by
mistake.
Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous

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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

I celebrate the aha I had last Saturday when I realized that
sharing a climb of my favorite local mountain with one of
my favorite friends, meant far more than standing on the
top of Mt. Everest would have. Many of you know that I
had wanted to stand on the summit of Mt. Everest more
than I had ever wanted anything in my life. Two
summitless attempts left me enormously grateful for
living the dream and also deeply disappointed. My values
are different today, and it is sharing what I love with the
people I love that is my fondest dream.

Know someone who’s celebrating a great occasion? Or a
small one? What better gift than to forward them a copy
of Celebrating the Journey with a celebratory wish in it.

Let’s spread the joy!

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6. Reading for the Journey

To the Summit: A Woman’s Journey into the Mountains
to Find Her Soul by Margo Chisholm

This is the story of my journey toward my own impossible
dreams. I had some very big dreams, and some equally big
doubts and fears. My story is a clear example of the
miracles that happen when we take that first step, and
then the next, and then the next, in the direction of our
dreams. We ordinary people can do extraordinary things,
and it all happens one step at a time.

This book is out of print, and I have a few copies available
for sale for $23 including shipping and handling. E-mail
mailto:ToTheSummit@tothesummit.com for ordering
instructions.

To The Summit is also available in German and
Norwegian for the same price.

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7. Resources for the Journey

If the present is perfect, why was there Hitler? by Pat
Williams, PhD. Pat is a fabulous coach whose website is
http://www.doccoach.com.

The present is perfect because it is the culmination of all
that has been thought, expected, chosen, accomplished,
experienced, intended, allowed, and acted upon.

The present is a point of reference in a system that works
perfectly, whether it is KARMA, “what you sow, you
reap”, or “you will get what you deserve”. The existence
and impact of a Hitler occurred because of the
circumstances in millions of person’s PRESENT(s) and a
global, sociological, systemic culmination of events that
allowed and even “needed” a Hitler or it would not have
happened.

It is crucial that we understand that the present is perfect
even if it is not desirable or healthy. We have partial
responsibility because “if we are not part of the solution,
then we are part of the problem.” We have only to look at
today to see that another Hitler could exist but would not
achieve such power as he did IF we are more conscious of
people before results, right living, Golden Rule, karma,
and other spiritual and common sense edicts.

The present we desire comes from a completed and
uncluttered past (hence the importance of learning from
history), a vision of an ideal future (or target. Like the
follow through in golf, it occurs after the shot yet
determines how good the shot or PRESENT will be).
Hitler evolved because a society allowed him to be a
leader, blindly following him to do things that his
underlings made themselves believe were right because of
their inability to see the TRUTH.

Man’s inhumanity to man will never be the right choice.
But it is the choice that has manifested itself throughout
history. As more individual’s visions of a future without
blatant prejudice, hatred, murder, etc. are manifested,
society will more likely exhibit such a future, and present
moments and experiences will be more often like we
really desire them to be: peaceful, loving, rewarding, and
awe-inspiring.

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8. Humor: Inner Strength

Another goodie from my sister Barb.

INNER STRENGTH

If you can start the day without caffeine or pep pills,

If you can be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your
troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for
it,

If you can understand when loved ones are too busy to
give you time,

If you can overlook when people take things out on you
when, through no fault of yours, something goes wrong,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,

If you can face the world without lies and deceit,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

Then you are probably a dog.

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Give yourself the gift of accepting the perfection of
everything that shows up in your life 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, “My life is good, but…” to “I have a
great 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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If you received this copy of Celebrating the Journey from
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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 © 2001, all rights reserved, by Margo
Chisholm

I invite you to share Celebrating the Journey with your
mailing list, friends, and associates. We ask only 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.

—
“Until he extends his circle of compassion to include
all living things, man will not himself find peace.”
Albert Schweitzer

Margo Chisholm
Coach, Speaker, Author, Therapist
Partnering you in having success,
freedom and joy in all areas of your life
970-704-9336 fax 970-704-9346
margo@tothesummit.com

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