A quick apology for the prior e-mail that we sent a few minutes ago. Perhaps you can identify with our embarrassment at hitting the wrong button! Please accept our apology. Enjoy the eZine!

Technical Staff

Hello ,

Thanks to so many readers who while requesting the essay I offered by Clarissa Pinkola Estes gently correcting my referring to her as the author of “Dances with Wolves.” She actually did write “Women Who Run With the Wolves” so I at least had the mammal correct. Ahhhh the joys of communicating with thousands … who fortunately have a sense of humor!

Our feature article this month is on Gratitude and was sourced by the learning that one of my teachers and mentors for the past 30 plus years, Alexander Everett is in failing health. During a recent telephone conversation, I found myself taking a deep breath and then attempting to fully communicate my gratitude to Alexander. It turned out to be awkward and wonderful for both of us.

Later I “beat myself up” a bit and wondered why I hadn't done it earlier and why I don't do it more often with all of the people in my life who contribute so much to me. The results of that “beating” and some thought are included in the article.

As always I'll share some favorite quotes, some Balance Point news and a rave recommendation.

Be extraordinary!

Robert White

A Balance Point monthly eZine dedicated to assisting people in living extraordinary lives and creating extraordinary organizations.

We encourage you to forward this message to friends or colleagues who want to be more effective in working with people. They can subscribe to future issues and receive our free 23 page report “ Simple Truths and Enduring Values – The Eight Elements of Personal and Organizational Effectiveness,” at http://www.extraordinarypeople.com/ezine/subscribe.htm.

We have a very simple privacy policy: We do not share any information about any subscriber with anyone outside Balance Point for any reason or at any time. Period.

In this issue:

• Feature: Gratitude
• Extraordinary Wisdom Quotes of the Month
• The Living an Extraordinary Life Home Study Program
• Rave Recommendation from Balance Point
• Extraordinary Living Action Steps

Years ago while going through a personally challenging time in my life (that's meta talk for an unwanted divorce), a friend and coach asked me if I prayed. I replied yes and he said “what's the content and context of your prayers?” I don't remember my response but I clearly remember that his counsel was to shift my prayers to ones of gratitude, to thank God for my many gifts and for the additional gifts represented by my friends, family and colleagues.

Of course, he also told me to be grateful to my soon-to-be ex-wife and for the experience I was enduring – notice how I inserted that little victim role even after all these years?

It took me a while to be grateful for that last part; however the benefits of expressing gratitude began to show up in my life immediately.

David Berenson has done some really useful thinking and teaching about emotions. In his “Map,” he makes useful distinctions between what he labels as “moods” like blame, guilt, resentment and hostility; then a next higher level he labels “emotions” like anger, hurt and fear; and the highest level that he labels “textures or context” which includes love, joy, peace and...Gratitude.

He considers these textures or context as “states of grace,” as being uniformly positive and felt everywhere in our bodies. I agree. Gratitude to me is not just a feeling or even an expression but rather a context, a space within which a more fulfilling, more satisfying life of contribution can be chosen.

Robert Emmons of the University of California-Davis found that people who wrote down five things for which they were grateful in weekly or daily journals were not only more joyful; they were healthier, less stressed, more optimistic, and more likely to help others.

In the workplace, there's been considerable research that a major job satisfier is acknowledgement. When a direct supervisor or a peer or a subordinate simply and powerfully expresses gratitude, the results in pleasure and effectiveness for the receiver are immediate and substantial.

I don't know why it is so difficult for us to give and/or receive expressions of gratitude and perhaps it is less important to understand that quirk of human nature than it is to simply adopt an “attitude of gratitude” (also an Amy Grant song title.) and begin to “do it.”

Sooooooo... what are you thankful for?

Learn more below in our Extraordinary Living Action Steps.

Our theme this month is gratitude...

Are you looking for a way to “tune up” your personal effectiveness and better prepare yourself for an extraordinary life? Or are you shopping for a gift that “makes a difference” and launches a successful life for a loved one or colleague? A graduation gift? A source of inspiration for your staff?

Are you looking for greater understanding of what “works and doesn't work” in your own effectiveness with people and challenging life situations?

The answers to these questions and many more are contained within “Living an Extraordinary Life”, a Nightingale Conant home study program by Robert White and Dennis Becker.

Available in both CD ($109.95) and audio tape ($99.95) versions, these smartly packaged 16 unit programs include an Owners Manual to deepen and extend your learning, a bonus guided meditation recording, inspirational flash cards and a great wallet sized reminder of the importance of purpose, vision and the Eight Elements of Personal and Organizational Effectiveness in creating an extraordinary life.

FREE SHIPPING: On all orders placed with Balance Point online, we'll pay the shipping and handling charges!

Order online from our web site at:

http://www.BalancePointInternational.com/store/extraordinarylife.htm

Or call us at 425/803-0303 to order by phone.

This powerful program is perfect for that long commute or for some personal continuing education at home or at work.

Of course, your complete satisfaction is guaranteed – if the program is not what we promise, return it within 30 days for a full refund. Order now!

I've been a faithful and satisfied reader of “The Sun” for over twenty years. “The Sun” is a monthly literary magazine that publishes short stories, essays, interviews and poetry with absolutely no advertising.

The authors are mostly talented unknowns and speak with eloquence and candor about the human condition. While the progressive political bent of founder and editor Sy Safransky sometimes aggravates me … I still find myself eagerly awaiting every issue and sharing my copies with friends and relatives.

If you like great writing that consistently tugs at your heart while it expands your world, you'll love The Sun.

You can learn more and even subscribe at:

http://www.thesunmagazine.com

As always, these are simple and not always easy:

1. Writing down what you are grateful for helps to make them more concrete … plus you'll probably be surprised just how much you have to be grateful for.
    
2. Some areas of gratitude for you to consider:
    
   Teachers … past and present. Family … close and distant. Your friends and colleagues. Your various communities, local, national, vocational and spiritual. Your intimate relationships … past and present. Your own intelligence, wit, personality and well being. The natural world and especially those “special places” that mean so much to you.
    
3. Spend a few moments in prayer, meditation or contemplation being with the positive difference these “gratitudes” have made in your life and ask whether you need to take a “next step” and actually express your gratitude directly.
    
4. In these days of e mail and voice mail and instant messenging, consider a personal visit, a phone call or a hand written letter of gratitude. Form does matter and remember that many people struggle to accept praise and that you need to be OK with that.
    
5. Celebrate! How fortunate you are that you have so many sources of gratitude and the state of grace that this represents in your life.

And with a violation of my own advice in #4 by doing this in an e mail, please accept my gratitude for the positive difference you make in my life by being part of the world wide readership of Powered by Possibility. Your feedback and dialogue, your choosing to share these messages with your network and your support of my work is deeply appreciated.

And, e-mail me anything you learn about you and others in this process – your experiences inspire and motivate me.

Wishing you an Extraordinary Life and Extraordinary Organizations,

Robert

Robert White
Balance Point

P. O. Box 40405
Denver , CO 80204
Phone: 1-425-803-0303
E-mail: Robert@BalancePointInternational.com

http://www.BalancePointInternational.com

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We encourage you to forward this message to friends or colleagues who want to be more effective in working with people. They can subscribe to future issues and receive our free 23 page report “Simple Truths and Enduring Values – The Eight Elements of Personal and Organizational Effectiveness.”

Subscribe at:

http://www.extraordinarypeople.com/ezine/subscribe.htm
   

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Balance Point Privacy Policy:  We do not share any information about any subscriber with anyone outside Balance Point for any reason. Period.