Daily Awareness

Lorraine Lawson - In my youth I knew she would make a difference

Recently I posted this to my blog… to live your life to the fullest you must honor that which you are called to be.

A major aspect of living your life to the fullest is to honor your God-given talent and be willing to express this whenever possible. Many people have so many strings attached to the expression and are so fearful of not succeeding at something they never take the first step toward honoring the gifts they have been blessed with. They truly live a life of quiet desperation.

Others have no choice but to pursue their passion knowing that their spirit will die if they don’t.

One person who is living her passion is artist, Lorraine Lawson. Lorraine is the owner of Lorraine Lawson Fine Arts gallery located in downtown Campbell, California.

I have known Lorraine for over five decades. That’s right, five decades. You see, Lorraine is my sister. Lorraine is one who has been blessed with a talent that daily she expresses.

I remember as a child Lorraine would create amazing pieces of artwork from virtually nothing. She could take the most mundane thing and make a masterpiece out of it. Whether it was an old cardboard box, a piece of paper and a pencil, an old piece of clothing, it didn’t matter; Lorraine has a gift for creating a beautiful piece where none existed.

As Lorraine tapped further and further into her passion she did what many do…got caught up in life and raising a family. With family her priority her passion for for art has never dimmed. 

Now that her daughters are grown with families of their own, Lorraine enjoys life as a grandmother as well as her passion for art.

You see, the desire never left nor did the gift of her amazing talent.

Several years ago, Lorraine decided that she could no longer put her passion on the back burner. She took a leap of faith and opened her gallery with her commitment to staying the course of her calling.

Today, during times of uncertainty for many, Lorraine’s clarity and gift have emerged to a level many only dream of. She now pursues her passion of art full time, owns an art gallery, paints for a living and is commissioned by people around the globe for custom pieces that hang in corporate installations, homes, galleries and businesses.

When people look at her level of success they often say, “You are so lucky!”

I daresay luck has very little to do with it. Rather, her unwillingness to settle for a life of mediocrity and her willingness to live her passion and express her gifts.

In Lorraine’s local area, The San Jose Mercury is running a Best of Silicon Valley event. I know Lorraine’s art gallery is truly the best.

If you live in the area, have visited Lorraine’s gallery and would like to vote for her, please visit http://www.mercurynews.com/bestofsv

Even if you don’t live in the area, but have visited her gallery or live in an outlying area and appreciate great art, please take the time to vote. It’s simple and only takes a few minutes. 

Add to the Best Art Gallery section the name Lorraine Lawson Fine Arts gallery.

To access Lorraine's website go to http://onefineartist.com

How can you say that selling is spiritual service?

There are two distinct opinions on whether or not selling is spiritual. Some would say, "Absolutely NOT!" while others will say, "Absolutely!"

Two very clear people on the top of selling being  a spiritual service are Judith Sherven, PhD and Jim Sniechowski, PhD. Below is an excerpt from their newly released book, The Heart of Marketing.

Why not decide for yourself what the truth is.....

Earlier we shared with you how Jim discovered the idea that selling is spiritual service. But that concept may seem foreign to you, even impossible. So what we've said bears repeating. Now we go more deeply into what we mean by Selling Is Spiritual Service.

This perspective on selling is based on the profound reality that we are all connected. We are all one interconnected web of consciousness. We all create together the experience of being alive, so we all need each other. That's a simple and profound fact of life.

As John Donne wrote in the seventeenth century, "No man is an island."

When someone has a problem they can't solve by themselves-and you have a solution in the form of a product or service-you have an ethical, even moral obligation to make your solution available to as many people as you can.

If you don't, you shortchange your own creative spirit as well as your business. You shortchange all the people who need what you provide. And you shortchange Spirit or God, or whatever it is you deem to be The Source of All.

This point of view is fundamental to your larger success as a soft sell marketer, and The Heart of Marketing is devoted to supporting you and the growth and expansion of your heart-based marketing.

So let's look at this more closely.

What Is Selling?

Selling is the process of converting someone from being a looker, a seeker, a searcher, a prospector into becoming a Customer.

It's the art and skill of helping your reader make the decision they know they need and want to make in order to solve the problem they're wrestling with. The selling process guides them to that decision for the benefit of both of you.

As a soft sell marketer, when you add the commitment to sell with respect and care, your priority becomes the well-being of the relationship between you and your buyer, which also includes the sale.

What Is Spiritual?

At the core, practical spirituality takes us to the fundamental connectedness that permeates and creates this world and the need we all have of one another. When you take in the emotional truth of our interdependence-and let it guide your business dealings-you begin to market and sell with consciousness and conscience.

Consciousness-with awareness of the co-creative life that joins us all together, the customer becomes not just someone who will buy, but a necessary partner in determining the best outcome for both you and your buyer.

Conscience-reflects the care and respect for ourselves and our customers as feeling-filled human beings, not just walking wallets.

Doing business with consciousness and conscience you advance the experience of being alive by recognizing and supporting the well-being of the whole-the whole of life on this planet through the whole transaction-that is, your awareness of both the seller and the buyer.

When you participate in a spiritually motivated sale you recognize the gifts you, the seller, bring to the marketplace as well as the need brought by your buyer. There is a unity of purpose and respect that is expressed through and manifested in a value-for-value exchange.

What Is Service?

Service is the assistance you offer as you put yourself forward to support and advance your prospective customer's buying experience. When in service, you contribute to the well-being of your prospective customer even if they never become a buyer.

However, when you come from service, you must avoid martyring yourself. To fully participate in the buyer/seller partnership you must make sure to serve your own self-expression, your own personal value, and your own economic well-being. Otherwise you negate the partnership and are thrust back into the every-man-for-himself mindset. It's essential that you respect and support both you and your customer.

When you take to heart that Selling Is Spiritual Service you are on your way to release from fear, shyness, embarrassment, guilt and any other internal millstone holding you back from marketing with passionate commitment. You are emboldened to use your marketing to educate your readers about what you know, what you've created for them, and you invite and encourage them to make the decision they already know they want to make.

You share your story, you outline the many benefits they can enjoy, and you provide testimonials from satisfied customers so that your readers know, truly know they are in the right place. Then when they buy, when they put money in your bank, their payment is a form of appreciation and gratitude.

That's the power of Selling As Spiritual Service.

The Heart of Marketing is a great resource for anyone looking for solid marketing strategies and tactics with a Soft Sell, heart-based approach to create real profit and long-term customer relationships. Order your own copy of The Heart of Marketing within the next 24 hours and receive over $8,400 in bonus gifts from experts around the globe. Go to
http://www.theheartofmarketing.com

Will you bring forth that which is within you?

"If you bring forth that which is in you, that which is in you will save you. If you do not bring forth that which is within you, that which is in you will destroy you."

Simply put, to live your life to the fullest you must honor that which you are called to be. Each of us has something inside that is calling to us. Sadly, most people are not even aware of what they are being called to be due to trying to survive day in and day out.

Our calling can come in the most subtle ways. So subtle in fact, we often miss what we are being shown. So subtle that we let insignificant things take the forefront of our daily activities.

I am not referring to something such as becoming a famous rock star or a Nobel Laureate. I am talking about the little things in life that give more meaning to us and those around us.

Last evening I was watching a program in which communities across the United States are implementing food drives to help others be able to have food on their table. The programs are set up in such a way where people are working together to make a significant difference for countless others.

The joy that these groups of people expressed in their ability to help others was contagious. The joy is also a representation of their calling.

How often do we see something that needs our attention and yet we might whisper to ourselves or comment to anyone within earshot, "You know, I should do something about that." But then we get caught up with our own day to day grind quickly putting that calling on the back burner of our life.

Daily we are being called to do that which is in us; which is to be of service to others. And yet, in a flash we find reasons why we can't answer that calling, thus letting that which is in us chip away at our joy.

Fulfilling that which is within us is as close as our morning newspaper, daily news or a conversation with a neighbor. Fulfilling that which is within us is as visible as we choose it to be. Fulfilling that which is within us is as close as the person who has little for which we can give much. Fulfilling that which is within us is as close as the family member who recently lost their job and simply needs a loving shoulder to lean on. Fulfilling that which is in us is our choice to either acknowledge or ignore. The choice is ours. Which will you choose today?

What one believes to be true either is true or becomes true

“In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true either is true or becomes true.” Fortune cookie.

Yes, the above line was my “surprise” message from a fortune cookie. I have to say, this is very different than some of the useless messages I have gotten in some cookies. This literally gave me food for thought.

What we believe to be true will somehow manifest itself to become our experience.

I remember the first time I read something that even remotely resembled new thought or Law of Attraction like it was yesterday. Even though it was over thirty years ago, it left that much of an impression on me.  

I picked up a copy of The Magic of Believing from a garage sale. The simplicity of the message was just that, too simple for me to believe it could work.

Your thoughts become things. How you feel about a situation creates more of that experience. What you focus on… you attract.

Can it really be that simple? Absolutely!

Then why is it, you might wonder, that many people who claim to subscribe to Law of Attraction and other new thought – ancient wisdom philosophy can’t seem to hit the target when it comes to manifestation?

There are a few reasons. One, they are thinking about what they want, but have not put much effort into “feeling” the feeling of what having what they want would be like. Yes, you must feel the feeling.

Secondly, for their highest good and often what they are meant to be and become, life has a different plan than what they could ever imagine.

Oh yes, dear reader, sometimes what our destiny is meant to be is not at all what we thought it would be. And yet, if we get out of our own way, we may be amazed at what life has in store.

The greatest secret to living a life of abundance is to be grateful to your very core for the blessings in your life. For some, this is difficult to swallow.

Many years ago it was extremely difficult for me to understand the power of gratitude. During a time when I had no home, no car, no money and no direction, I had a very hard time with gratitude.  I couldn’t see past my current situation to what might be possible.

It wasn’t until a kind mentor explained that it is in our expression of the smallest things we are grateful for that we actually attract more to be grateful for.

As I look at the journey of the last 30 plus years and where my journey has taken me and will take me, I know the key to true happiness, abundance and joy is gratitude.

It’s as simple as that.

My evidence that this is true is as near as the roof over my head, the food in my refrigerator, my beautiful flower garden and the person I share my life with. Abundance is created first in the mind and then in the experience.