Smart Money

Giving Thanks

Dear Reader,

We’re quickly approaching Thanksgiving Day - that time of year in which, via a national holiday, we’re reminded of the value of gratitude.

But what about The Power of Gratitude - The Power of Giving Thanks. Not just on Thanksgiving - but every day of our lives.

Recently I was listening to a conversation between two American women. One was telling the other about doing a Gratitude visualization or meditation each day.

“I have a friend back home who has been doing this every night for the past few weeks,” she said. “And the positive things coming her way are nothing short of miraculous.”

I don’t doubt this woman’s story for a single moment.

When you express gratitude for what you have - and really, really mean it, the energy from this helps to increase the flow of good into your life. Nature favorably responds to those who recall, remember and re-celebrate the good things in life.

There are always more good things than you can imagine - but most people rarely give any thought to what is working, what is good and what worked in the past.

If you want to get yourself into a truly positive frame of mind, sit in a chair and mentally picture everything in your life that you are truly grateful for.

Your body.
Your health.
Your friends and/or family.
Your home.
Your clothes.
Your food.
Your water.
Your transportation.
Your library.
And so on.

If you really take some time to honestly evaluate all the good out there and in there - it’s not possible for this exercise to last less than 15 minutes.

I am reminded of the young lady, Teresa, whom I trained many years ago when I had a personal training studio in California.

Teresa was a knockout. A perfect 10 by most peoples’ standards.  Long blonde hair, stunning blue eyes, long slender legs - and so on.

Yet, she didn’t see anything good about how she looked. When I asked her what she was thankful for about her body and looks, she immediately began attacking herself with her index finger.

“I have this mole on my face. And I have this spot on my neck.  And my skin is too dry. And my hair doesn’t set right - and I’m just getting warmed up here,” she said. “I can go on and
on. Are you sure you want me to continue.”

“You’ve had a lot of practice with this fault finding, haven’t you,” I said. “And do you realize you have not answered my question. I asked what you were thankful for - not your long list of flaws and faults.”

“Well I cannot give you anything on that list,” she said.

“Really,” I said. “Well, let me get clarity on this. Do you like your legs.”

“No, I hate my legs.”

“So you’d rather have them amputated. You’d rather go without.”

“NO,” I wouldn’t want that.

“Okay, so you are somewhat grateful for your legs then.”

“Yes.”

“Alright, how about your arms.”

“Oh gawd, I hate my arms.”

“So you want them removed, too,” I said.

“No.”

“You mean you want to keep them. Well, if that’s the case, you must be glad to have them.”

“And how about the skin on your face - should I have that removed for you as well.”

“That would be scary.”

“Okay, so you want to keep your face, moles and all,” I said.

“Yes.”

“And what about that hair. Why don’t we shave it all off,” I smiled.

“No way. I wouldn’t want to be bald.”

“Oh, so you do like your hair.”

“Compared to being bald, yes.”

“I’m the exact opposite,” I said. “I’m so grateful I lost part of my hair that I removed what was left. Not only that, I really, really like my cauliflower ears. They’re big and gnarly, but
man they are cool. I consider them a trademark for a job well done.”

She began to laugh.

By the time we finished Teresa had a much deeper appreciation of her body than any other time in her life.

But that was only one day of gratitude. It wasn’t yet a habit.  If she reviewed the list each day for a month, it would take hold of her and improve her life in seen and unseen ways.

You may not think this is so. You may think what I’m saying is some sort of mystical or esoteric teaching. If you think such a thing, you may be surprised to discover that the above is a  very basic and fundamental truth. But you cannot and will not discover it unless you apply it.

Start your gratitude visualization today. Carry it out again during Thanksgiving - and afterward. Give yourself 30 days - minimum - and if you don’t notice any improvement - then delete this email - which was sent to you at no charge.

That’s it for today’s tip - which I’m giving to you in a state of gratitude to thank you for being on this earthly journey with me.

Happy Thanksgiving,

Matt Furey

“It doesn’t matter which side of the fence you get off on sometimes. What matters most is getting off. You cannot make progress without making decisions.”

Jim Rohn
Author and Speaker

Pigs at the trough
November 10th, 2008

It’s almost too much to digest at once, the new revelations over how various aspects of the sundry bailouts came about. The information is too much, the outrage is too much. But let’s try.

First comes word that Hank Paulson rewrote tax law without Congress’s say-so, giving the banks a $140 billion tax windfall. Now one could argue the tax law Paulson circumvented was a dumb idea, but even mainstream analysts who don’t fuss over the plain language of the Constitution say Treasury overstepped its bounds here. I hope conservatives who hailed the “unitary executive” philosophy of Team Bush might be rethinking things by now… but I doubt it.

Meanwhile, Paulson and Ben Bernanke have gone back on their promise to disclose just who’s benefiting from all the Fed’s emergency loans. $2 trillion, no transparency. To its credit, Bloomberg News has filed a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act to bring this out into the open. (What if the Fed pleads it doesn’t have to comply because it’s not a government entity? No, I don’t really want to go there on a Monday morning…)

While the Bloomberg folks are at it, they might want to get their hands on Hank Paulson’s phone records. Over the weekend, one of the Seattle papers reported this: Two months before Washington Mutual collapsed, Paulson told WaMu’s CEO he ought to sell out to JPMorgan Chase because his company was in such poor shape.

So Big Hank knew bad things were going down. It’s enough to make me rethink the notion that Paulson and Bernanke were just making it all up as they went along. Maybe in fact the bailout bill was sitting on the shelf, waiting for the right moment to be rammed through Congress, just like the Patriot Act.

And to add insult to injury, AIG just got a do-over on its bailout. Neat trick. How many of us can consolidate two loans we took out barely two months before? And up the amount of the loan by 22 percent?

Had enough for one morning? Yeah, me too. Meanwhile the media will be fixated today on the face-to-face between the incoming president and the outgoing one, and what kind of body language the incoming and outgoing first ladies will demonstrate.

Can I just crawl into a hole for the next 15 years or so?

Desidooru Saloon