An amazing inspiration to all

No more words ...you are a great man you should be proud of yourself because we learned many lessons from your video

Stess is a choice

An excerpt from Stress is a Choice by David Zerfoss

Several years ago while listening to my pastor give a Sunday sermon, he spoke about how life is made up of a series of choices. It made me realize that my hectic professional and personal life was of my choosing. Therefore, a life of stress had become my choice. Many of us hurry through life going from one place to the next, focused on conquering the next mountain, making the next deal, running the next errand, and believing we will never have enough time to do all the things we need to get done. Yet, there is all the time in the world if we just realize that we are the creators of this life we choose to live. That's right. Life is a series of choices and being free from stress is one of those choices. Whether your business life is overly complicated or your personal life (or both), you have chosen this current system of chaos. The world is a tantalizing swirl of getting the next "fix," tempting us to fit more and more things, people and processes into our lives, personally and professionally. And because we are so busy being busy, it's easy to be lured into the fray, with our lengthy to-do lists. Yet, the greatest achievements have often come from the simplest of ideas and in the simplest forms. To experience a simplified life, we first have to learn to slow down long enough to see through all the clutter. We need to realize that we are powerful magnets that attracted this life to ourselves—no matter what—good or bad. My wish for you is that you commit to simplify and enroll others for support. Take out a blank sheet of paper and create the life you truly want to live—with less stress and complexity—one that is anchored by a clear sense of your unique and simple purpose.

In Honor on Nelson Mandela - Leave your prison behind

As of the time I'm writing this, former President Nelson Mandela remains in critical but stable condition.

Several people from South Africa have written me personally to share how so many hearts in their country are immensely torn. And sadly, now there's great discontent within many generations of the Mandela family over several matters that range from politics and business, to spiritual and ancestral.

It's not an easy time, and there are millions of people around the world praying for Nelson, his family, and the country of South Africa. He has been a true inspirational leader.

And in honor of his life and experiences I thought I'd share this touching story from former US President Bill Clinton that we can all benefit from:

"That was pretty smart of you to have your jailers come to the Inauguration and all of that, but let me ask you something." I said, "Didn't you really hate them for what they did?"

He said, "Oh, yeah, I hated them for a long time." He said, "I stayed alive on hate for 12 years. I broke rocks every day, and I stayed alive on hate." And he said, "They took a lot away from me. They took me away from my wife, and it subsequently destroyed my marriage. They took me away from seeing my children grow up. They abused me mentally and physically. And one day," he said, "I realized they could take it all except my mind and my heart."

He said, "Those things I would have to give to them, and I simply decided not to give them away."

And so – so I said to him, I said, "Well, what about when you were getting out of prison?" I said, "The day you got out of prison in 1990, it was Sunday morning, and I got my daughter up early in the morning, and I took her down to the kitchen, and I turned on the television, and she was just a little girl then, and I sat her up on the kitchen counter. And I said, 'Chelsea, I want you to watch this. This is one of the most important things you'll ever see in your life.' "

And I said, "I watched you walk down that dirt road to freedom." I said, "Now, when you were walking down there, and you realized how long you had been in their prison, didn't you hate them then? Didn't you feel some hatred?" He said, "Yes, I did a little bit." He said, "I felt that." And he said, "Frankly, I was kind of afraid, too, because I hadn't been free in so long."

But he said, "As I felt the anger rising up, I thought to myself, 'They have already had you for 27 years. And if you keep hating them, they'll have you again.' And I said, 'I want to be free. And so I let it go. I let it go."

Your Partner In Letting Go,
Chris Cade

God Bless America

The link below will take you to a video showing the very first public singing of "GOD BLESS AMERICA".  But before you watch, you should also know the story of the song.

 

The time was 1938. America was still in a terrible economic depression.  Hitler was taking over Europe and Americans were afraid we'd have to go to war.  It was a time of hardship and worry for most Americans.

This was the era just before TV, when radio shows were HUGE, and American families sat around their radios in the evenings, listening to their favorite entertainers, and no entertainer of that era was bigger than Kate Smith.

 

Kate was also large in size, and the popular phrase still used today is in deference to her, "Ain't over till the fat lady sings".  Kate Smith might not have made it big in the age of TV, but with her voice coming over the radio, she was the biggest star of her time.

Kate was also very patriotic.  It hurt her to see Americans so depressed and afraid of what the next day would bring.  She had hope for America , and faith in her fellow Americans.  She wanted to do something to cheer them up, so she went to the famous American song-writer, Irving Berlin (who also wrote "White Christmas")

and asked him to write a song that would make Americans feel good again about their country.

 

When she described what she was looking for, he said he had just the song for her.  He went to his files and found a song that he had written, but never published, 21 years before - way back in 1917.   He gave it to Kate Smith and she worked on it with her studio orchestra.  She and Irving Berlin were not sure how the song would

be received by the public, but both agreed they would not take any profits from God Bless America .  Any profits would go to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America.  Over the years, they have received over ten million dollars in royalties from this song.

This video starts out with Kate Smith coming into the radio studio with the orchestra and an audience.  She introduces the new song for the very first time, and starts singing.  After the first couple of verses, with her voice in the background still singing, scenes are shown from the 1940 movie, "You're In The Army Now."  At the 4:20 mark of the video you see a young actor in the movie, sitting in an office, reading a paper.  It is Ronald Reagan.

 

Frank Sinatra considered Kate Smith the best singer of her time, and said when he and a million other guys first heard her sing "God Bless America " on the radio, they all pretended to have dust in their eyes as they wiped away a tear or two.

To this day, God Bless America stirs our patriotic feelings and pride in our country.  Back in 1940, when Kate Smith went looking for a song to raise the spirits of her fellow Americans, I doubt she realized just how successful the results would be for her fellow Americans during those years of hardship and worry, and for many generations of Americans to follow. 

 

NOW HERE IS HOW "GOD BLESS AMERICA " SHOULD BE SUNG!

 

What I learned about LIFE

This is one of those things that changes your life perspective

No glass ceilings, just blue sky

If you need a "shot of inspiration" just watch this beautiful 3 minute movie that shares some of Marcy’s secrets to success. You’ll love the music, the beautiful photographs and, the ideas will speak to your heart.

Our deepest Fear...

Jaime Lozano, Luis Salgado (In The Heights, Women On The Verge Of A Breakdown) and latin jazz musician William Cepeda create music for Marianne Williamson's poem "Our Deepest Fear" for the R.Evolución Latina's Album "Dare To Go Beyond".

The piece was performed for the Broadway's Easter Bonnet at the Minskoff Theatre (Lion King's home.) Directed and choreographed by Luis Salgado.

Performed by R.Evolución Latina's kids from its Summer Camp, BombaYo group, Broadway performers and featuring Hollywood actor Corbin Bleu, Puertorrican Jazz master William Cepeda and Jaime Lozano at the piano. (Note: the piano on the recording is performed by Zachary Dietz.)