Insights – Melannie Thomas

Archive for the ‘Coaching Tips’ Category

“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, until it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”

~Harriet Beecher Stowe

“Interruptions can be viewed as sources of irritation or opportunities for service, as moments lost or experience gained, as time wasted or horizons widened.  They can annoy us or enrich us, get under our skin or give us a shot in the arm.  Monopolize our minutes or spice our schedules, depending on our attitude toward them.”

~William Arthur Ward

Certainly a perspective worth entertaining!  Enjoy your week.

“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: ‘I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today.  I can choose which it shall be.  Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet.  I have just one day, today, and I am going to be happy in it.'”

~Groucho Marx

“A farmer who had a quarrelsome family called his sons and told them to lay a bunch of sticks before him.  Then, after laying the sticks parallel to one another and binding them, he challenged his sons, one after one, to pick up the bundle and break it.  They all tried, but in vain.  Then, untying the bundle, he gave them the sticks to break one by one.  This they did with greatest ease.  Then said the father, ‘Thus my sons, as long as you remain united, you are a match for anything, but differ and separate, and you are undone.'”

~Aesop

“Oh what a catastrophe for man when he cut himself off from the rhythm of the year, from his unison with the sun and the earth.  Oh, what a catastrophe, what a maiming of love when it was personal, merely personal feeling, taken away from the rising and the setting of the sun, and cut off from the magic connection of the solstice and the equinox.”

D.H. Lawrence

The Fall Equinox occurs at 7:29 PST Monday evening.  I invite you to connect with the magic.

“Intuition requires courage in every moment, because it leads you to take risks, to act entirely on faith.”  – Simone Wright

Use it or lose it….

“Nothing is black or white, nothing’s ‘us or them.’ But then there are magical, beautiful things in the world.  There’s incredible acts of kindness and bravery, and in the most unlikely places, and it gives you hope.”   Dave Matthews

“Courage doesn’t always roar.  Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”  Mary Anne Radmacher

I am very impressed by the bravery and courage I have witnessed these past few weeks.  Clients, family and friends facing the adversity and challenge of a radically shifting world with determination and stamina, strength and grace.  Powerful and inspiring.

It is time for me to transition.  I have been writing this Blog weekly for 4 years.  It is time to move on.  A ‘Word of the Week’ will still be published every Monday morning, but my commentary will be replaced by a saying, a quote, an adage, relevant to the weekly word.  My goal is to inspire and uplift, to encourage and support.

My deep gratitude to all of you for your on-going support and wonderful feedback!

“Times of transition are strenuous, but I love them.  They are an opportunity to purge, rethink priorities, and be intentional about new habits.  We can make our new normal any way we want.”  Kristen Armstrong

Addendum: An especially thankful moment as all of my family; children, nieces, nephews and cousins in Napa and St. Helena  are safe, except for my Aunt Gene’s sister who suffered a back injury.  Thank you all for your prayers!

I am dazed and numb; my middle son has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.   Why…?

That crisp, sunny February afternoon seven years ago surges to the forefront of consciousness with the death of Robin Williams.  It is impossible to avoid some of the commentary that so disturbs me.  It seems so easy for some to judge so harshly.  I am stung by the comments of cowardice.  My son was not a coward.  His toxicology showed no illegal drugs or alcohol.  His medications were all within prescribed limits.  He was deeply depressed.

There are no easy answers to the ‘why?’  But there is  the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, www.afsp.org.  Coincidentally, a very special person in my life lost her nephew, Seth Ordway,  to suicide.  In Seth’s memory, Cindy Young will be doing an ‘Out of Darkness‘ walk in Sacramento, on October 4th. (For those who may be interested in participating locally, there will be an ‘Out of Darkness‘ walk in Santa Rosa on October 11.) You may visit Cindy’s personal page by clicking here. I  proudly sponsor her fund-raising efforts for this amazing organization.

If you would like to join me, I would be honored if your donation was made acknowledging my son, Brian Thomas.

How secure are you feeling these days?  Given the ongoing shift in global economy; the 22 plus armed conflicts happening around the world; the latest internet hack attack;  food supply and water quality threats; viruses, diseases, hospital safety: crime….  The list could go on and on.

Part of the very definition of security is…’freedom from fear or anxiety’.  Humans want, indeed need, to feel secure.  In a world suffering through  cataclysmic change, where do you find security?

I believe peace of mind and a strong sense of security  is found in our personal belief system, our faith.

This week I invite you to plow deeply into your spiritual beliefs.  The act of living our faith leads to spiritual maturity and a greater sense of inner peace; confidence in a positive future outcome, in spite of the growing darkness.  Security can be found in the omniscience of Divine Intelligence.