Have the Courage not to Judge

Those who judge the most, trust the least.

~~~ Debra Oakland

Living in Courage Online

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Use Courage and Wisdom to Live a Happier Life

It is through experience that knowledge becomes wisdom.  Wisdom is a great gift.  When used properly, wisdom can assist us to live a life of peace.  What do you search and strive for in your life?  For each one of us it appears in different forms.  Hopefully at some point we become wise enough to see the walls we have built around ourselves that limit us.  Allowing ourselves to release and let go of all that does not work in our life any longer takes courage and inner strength.  These walls of resistance are sometimes invisible even to our own eyes.  It is so easy to look at someone else’s life and see why things are not working out for them.  Yet when we look at ourselves, we often miss what limits us.  I know I want to be a happy little miracle maker.  How about you?  I think we all feel that way.  Some serious contemplation and examination may be necessary (when you are ready) to make profound shifts in your life.  There are millions of books on the subject of living a better, happier, healthier life.  Why then is the world not filled with happy, healthy, successful, peaceful, fulfilled people?  It is sometimes even hard to find people that are filled with true joy.

Our world seems to have sped up at a pace no one can keep up with.  Everyone is busy, busy, busy.  No time is the mantra everyone hears from each other.  People want and need more time just to get through the day and accomplish tasks, just to keep up.

It is time to take the journey back to self, back to love.  Living in the past will only complicate your life and do nothing to build a better brighter future for yourself and your family.  The future does not exist yet.  The moment you are in right now creates your next moments, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years.  This is so simple, that we just don’t get it.  The few who do live happy lives.  How do you feel right now?  Think about this, because it is all that exits.  Imagine a tightrope.  You are standing on the tightrope, which represents NOW.  On one side is the past and the other is the future.  Do you notice there is nothing there? Absolutely nothing.  The past is gone as soon as the moment passes.  The only thing that keeps it alive is your mind or a memory, that’s it.  Imagine the things people could let go of if the past is released into the nothingness that it is.

Embrace the NOW moment.  What do you want?  In the fullness of this moment happening NOW, you get to decide.  Your moments gain momentum and appear in the physical for you to experience.  So, if you get to choose, wouldn’t you want something wonderful in your life?  Every moment you stay peaceful, joyful, productive and take action towards your dreams, you take a step closer to the life you want to live. I want this life for myself and work towards it daily.  Old patterns and habits are exactly that – old, and keep us stuck in a continual rut.  I want out and am climbing that ladder one step at a time, one day at a time by practicing the art of living in the NOW moment.  The more you can stay present, miracles do start happening.  The phone rings, connections are made, people supply you with information or bring you something you needed (without having to ask.) Synchronicity is happening all around you.  Oops! then we forget and go back to old patterns and get old results.

Remember to pull yourself back to NOW as often as you can, until it becomes a great new habit that will reshape your life.  I did not say it would be easy in the beginning.  Just get your foot in the door, use courage, and please trust that things will shift for you when you let go of the judgments and move into joy.  What I wish and dream of for myself, I wish for and dream of for everyone everywhere.  I send you love and support in your best life lived in the courage each of you represent to me.

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online

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Courage For Today

Use Courage today.  When you think of a nice thing to do for someone today, don’t think it over, just do it.

When you admire something a person has said or done, perhaps something that you see as courageous, speak up and say you admire or appreciate them.  It will make your day and the other persons much richer.

Bring kind thoughts to life.  Put them into action by expressing how you feel.  People need to be appreciated and given a pat on the back now and then.

Be interested in others, their families and life pursuits.

Part of courage is keeping an open mind.  This is a great way to learn and step out of the boxes we sometimes place around ourselves.

Gossip is something to discourage, along with negativity, as they are destructive to you and others.

Send your friends to Living in Courage Online to visit often.  I love your comments and appreciate you visiting me here.

Debra Oakland @ Living in Courage Online

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1988 Paul Hunt Comedy Routine on the Balance Beam

Not that the incredible 2008 Olympics in Beijing are finally over, I thought it would be fun to share a little humor with you. This is an old video, but so much fun to watch. We all need a little humor in our day and I hope this provides you with a healthy dose. Enjoy as Paul Hunt exhibits his wonderful persona.
Have a wonderful day filled with love and humor.

Debra Oakland@LivinginCourageOnline

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Feel Your Joy by Andy Dooley

Feel your love, feel your joy.

Be the change you want to see.

Celebrate today, and feel your power now!

It’s always more FUN to give than receive!

Andy Dooley

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Are You Happy?

What makes one person happy and not another?  Many years ago the Sociology Department at Duke University did a study on “Peace of Mind”.  After studying hundreds of people, both happy and unhappy, nine factors were found to contribute to emotional and mental stability.

l.  The absence of suspicion and resentment.  Holding a grudge was the major factor in unhappiness

2.  Living in the present and the future. Much unhappiness stems from an unwholesome preoccupation with past mistakes and failures.

3.  Not wasting time and energy fighting conditions you cannot change.

4.  Cooperating with life, instead of trying to either demolish it or run away from it.

5.  Forcing yourself to be outgoing with others-instead of retreating within-during times of emotional  stress.

6.  Refusing to pity yourself or seek self-justification in easy alibis that make you appear “noble” to yourself   and others.

7.  Cultivating the old-fashioned virtues of love, honor, loyalty, thrift.  ( We add courage to the list at Living in  Courage.)

8.  Not putting too much pressure on yourself.  When there is a wide gap between the standards you set for yourself and your actual achievement, unhappiness if inevitable.  If you cannot improve your performance, try lowering the demand instead.

9.  Finding something bigger than yourself in which to believe. Self–centered, egotistical, materialistic people score lowest of all in any test measured for happiness.

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Courage Turns Challenges Into Opportunities

Vince Lombardi (football coach) talks about challenges.  We all have challenges in our lives.  What I see as the difference in the outcome of the challenge is how we handle it going in.  You get to make a choice every time something comes up and seems out of your control.  These challenges build courage and character, teaching us about ourselves, others, and the the world around us.  There is always more than one solution to anything you face, always, even if you don’t see it right away.  Be open to possibilities.  Reach deep inside and use courage to embrace any challenge.  There is not a single person who rose to greatness, that did not have challenges.  Some people let a challenge defeat them, some rise to great heights.  What will you do?

It is time for us all to stand and cheer for the doer, the achiever – the one who recognizes the challenges and does something about it.

Vince Lombardi

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Jenny Mannion’s Courage to Heal

I have a friend Jenny who found the courage to heal herself of chronic pain. Here is a small bio on Jenny and  an article from Jenny’s website that I know you will enjoy, about a blind boy who can see, in some ways better than you and I.  Jenny represents Living in Courage to me, so I am excited and grateful to share her blog, Heal Pain Naturally with you.

Thank you Jenny for sharing with us here.

Debra Oakland@LivinginCourage

Jenny Mannion, after having chronic pain for 5 years and being diagnosed with several diseases was told she would always be ill and to prepare for feeling worse. She did not want to be on pain medications at 35 for the rest of her life with 2 young children to take care of. When she saw the movie, “The Secret” her life changed. She learned all she could about the Law of Attraction and the mind/body connection and healed herself of all illnesses and pain. Jenny wrote an e-book on the methods she adopted to heal and maintains a blog on natural ways to heal emotional and physical pain. She is a mind/body mentor and believes everyone can find powers within to heal parts if not all of their life.

Here is an article with a video of Ben Underwood’s amazing journey. Ben and his family are people who Live in Courage, and they encourage all of us to reach deep inside to find and use the full potential and courage of who we are in our every day lives.

Video Continues:

Ben Underwood’s mother is a perfect example of how to encourage your children and I am sure a big part of the reason Ben developed his incredible gift. She told him he could see. She told him he was normal. She did not let him see her upset or ever feel sorry for him. One year after his eyes were removed Ben could see (some might say better than the rest of us with eyes).

I healed myself of some very bad illnesses so I KNOW how strong the mind is. Nevertheless this story amazed me and proved further what I already knew. “Your thoughts become things” and “You need to believe to achieve” — Ben was told repeatedly he could see, believed it and MADE seeing possible. This showed me again how important it is to share these messages with your children.

When I showed the video to my 8 year old son I prefaced it with, “this shows you can do anything you set your mind to.” He is currently studying sound at school and sat utterly shocked as he watched Ben “see” with his ears, much the way dolphins do with echolocation. I could tell it helped him that day as he was about to set out on ice skates for the first time. He is usually cautious and instead was looking forward to it tremendously and he KNEW he would be able to do it. He did in fact discover a new love and I have reaffirmed the power of inspiration.

There are a few books I use to teach my children about the Law of Attraction and to know no limits that are VERY valuable. “Incredible You” and “Unstoppable Me” by Wayne Dyer and “How to Talk to Your Kids about the Law of Attraction E-book” by Robin Hoch with Rich German. “Incredible You” is my children’s favorite bedtime story and the first time I read it my son said to me, “You know mommy — this guy thinks a lot like you — you should call him”. WHAT a compliment — and I am so grateful my children now see me AS thinking like the great Dr. Dyer because for the first 6 years of my son’s life I definitely did not.

Share stories of inspiration with your children and tell them there are no limits to what they can achieve. Can you imagine how great a world it would be if all kids grew up KNOWING this?!

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Gratitude @ Living In Courage

Gratitude is such a big part of our receiving. This wonderful quote reminded me that when we do our own personal gardening of the soul by pulling weeds of negativity and planting seeds of positivity, we become charming gardeners.  Have a wonderful week and I am grateful to you who visit me here at Living in Courage.

“Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

Marcel Proust

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Use Courage to Motivate Yourself

I enjoyed this video on Daily Motivation ( click on read more below to see video.)

The message on this video is that every problem has an opportunity in it. When you have the courage to motivate yourself into action, it is easier to see the solutions.

* Think big. When a challenge arrives, turn it into a possibility. See the potential in front of you. If you think small, you will get small results. Step up to the plate with the intention of winning. Study successful people you admire. If you need a mentor or coach, find one that you enjoy working with.

* Create new habits for your home based business. Take a bigger bite. Act as if. Conduct yourself with the confidence people will expect when doing business with you. Participate, read, talk, learn and grow. Study the habits of highly successful people.

* Expand your consciousness. Think outside the box. Find new and exciting ways to expand your mind and the ideas you have for your business. Look at the tried and true, then add a twist or new spin that works for you and your customers.

* Stop the practice of procrastination. This will make you less productive. Understand what stops you and eliminate it. Learn to manage your time, as this will cut down dramatically on stress, freeing you up to be more productive. Self-discipline is key to success.

* Set goals that you can reach. Think big, but make sure it does not overwhelm you. Each time you step further than before, will assure your growth, expansion and confidence. No one can more forward while they are standing still. That is a good way to get run over!

* Improve your people skills. Communication with your customers plays a very important part of any business relationship. Make sure they know, like and trust you.

* Keep growing and never stagnate. Keep your interest in your business alive and fresh. Motivation is hard to achieve if you are not excited about what you are doing. When people can feel your excitement, they may want to get involved or contribute to your business in some way. Your excitement and belief in what you do will make all the difference in your success. Do something new and unfamiliar.

* Contribute to others. This is a great way to feel good about yourself and your business. It is also way to give back for all the help others have given you. Pay it forward. You will be rewarded in ways you can’t imagine. What would our world be like if no one had thought and acted BIG? The big thinkers have paved the way and delivered great things to the world. They were motivated and took action, many in the face of all odds. We should all challenge each other to think bigger, act bigger, dream bigger. Unlock your dreams and let’s see all you have to offer yourself and others.

Debra Oakland
Founder of www.livingincourageonline.com

www.livingincourageonline.com – Please visit to collect your Free Gift

Free E- Book & Debra Oakland’s Chapter on “Being Balanced – Why Courage is Key” at www.guidetohomebasedbusiness.com.

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