Direct Life Coaching

I just got back from being at Disney World for three days - where I have been surrounded by a whole lot of magic, dreams, and rediculously colorful costumes. I had a good time - but I am ready to blog :)

Last week on one of my runs I was thinking and praying about work and career, etc. As many of you know - this is a common thing for me. While on my runs I usually get inspired with different analogies that help me articulate the way I am trying to live my life - and here is another one.

In the Bible, Jesus gives a parable where he talks about the tares and the wheat. He warns about not trying to separate the tares from the wheat too early on - because in doing it is difficult to separate one from the other - thus destroying some wheat while trying to get rid of the tares. Instead, wait for the two to grow further apart - making it easier to separate. Yikes - did I just butcher that parable...and did I really use the word "thus"...whoah!

While I thinking about that story further - I equated some of the work and career ideas in my life as the wheat growing side by side with the tares. I even began to think about how often it is too difficult to tell the difference between the tares and the wheat - so figuring out which is good and which is bad can be tough.

That seems to be the case for me right now - knowing which is which. Let me explain that I don't think any of the work I am doing right now is negative work - I am just having a hard time figuring out which work really needs to continue to grow - and what work can be discarded.

So, the thought came to me - just let them grow.

Be patient.

I am probably not a real virtuous guy - because patience for me is TOUGH!!! I mean, as a kid, it took me all of 5 minutes to open all my Christmas gifts, play with each of them, tire with each of them, and then begin penning my list for the next year. Hey - maybe I'm just real efficient ;)

So, for me to work with the idea of patience - and letting an idea grow - this is new territory for me. Yet, that is what I have been doing for the past 18 months.

Seeds have been planted, some of these ideas are really beginning to sprout - yet it is still tough to know which will grow into tares, and which will grow into wheat. The important part for me though is that I am letting all of the ideas grow - and I am not banking on just one stalk to be the "chosen one"...(like that play on words?)

I know what impatience looks like and what it feels like. Impatience can lead us to reacting rashly and emotionally - which isn't always a great thing. It might make us start a new relationship just to get out of our current relationship - and it might make us take any job just because we don't like the one we have. I've been there on both.

Yet, planting ideas and making decisions based on our core values and purpose (Spirit) allows us to always make progressive steps - even when we don't know what those steps are (see Travis).

In Science and Health, there is relevant and helpful quote that works here. Eddy writes, "The devotion of thought to an honest achievement makes the achievement possible."

With all of the ideas and dreams I have been nourishing I am trying to stay honest to my work and honest to myself. This has been important. To be real honest with yourself can be difficult - but it often leads to new revelation. It also takes a lot of patience.

So, my ideas are growing taller - they are taking bloom - and I am patiently working to see which are the tares and which is the wheat.

Thus, that concludes this blog ;)

Much love everyone - and keep the e-mails coming :)

Travis

The holidays are quickly approaching - and it has dropped down into the frigid 60's here in Florida. The winter parkas and wool coats are in full swing in Paradise. It really didn't feel like the holiday season to me until being in St. Louis - when snow flurries began to set the season.

Stay with me today. A couple of ideas and images have been bouncing around in my head - and I think I can make some connections. Speaking of snowflakes - I have always loved the idea that no two snowflakes are the same. Isn't that awesome! So of course, like snowflakes - no two people are the same. Not even twins - not even clones - no two individuals are the same - thus the definition of individual ;) My question is - Have we ever really stopped to consider what that really means for us?

No one has your exact perspective. No one else represents the same collection of qualities that you embody. No one approaches life like the way you can. No one can duplicate you - because you are wholly unique!

Okay, hold that thought, I'll come back to it. This past weekend my church group sponsored a Spiritual Cinema event. We watched the film "Emmanuel's Gift," the documentary about Emmanuel Yeboah and his crusade to change the rights of the disabled in Ghana. Born disabled himself, Emmanuel's mother was encouraged to dispose of her child because disabled children are seen as a curse. For those who are not killed (10% of the population in Ghana are disabled) they are left with life of begging because they have no rights. So, born with one leg, Emmanuel perseveres - rides a mountain bike across his country for the rights of the disabled - and in doing so is slowly changing the rights and perceptions of an entire nation.

While watching the film, I kept thinking - what is Travis' gift? Now, I don't mean, "What am I good at?" I mean, what do I have to offer that is a gift to humanity - a gift to the world? That can be a humbling question - but it can also be powerful as well.


Let's tie these two ideas together now. You are unique - there is no one like you - and YOU have a gift for the world!! Have you found it yet? Do you know it?

Or...

Are you still trying to impress or imitate someone else's life? Are you letting someone else define your abilities and identity - and are you settling for a limited idea of yourself?

If so...

WAKE UP!!!!

Stop crying - stop making excuses - stop comparing yourself to others - stop complaining about the past - stop worrying about the future - stop listening to the experts - stop procrastinating - stop worrying about your house or car - stop counting the zeros on your paycheck - STOP LISTENING TO ALL OF THE OUTSIDE INFLUENCES TRYING TO DEFINE YOU!

You are you...special, unique, limitless, perfect, complete, dynamic, beautiful, talented, compassionate, creative, intelligent, wise, patient, gentle - and only you can express these qualities the way that you do!

What is your gift?

In Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy has the following definition for "man," MAN: God's spiritual idea, individual, perfect, eternal.

Individual, perfect, eternal. That is you - that is me- that is the woman sitting across from me here in the cafe. Does she know it? Do you know it?

Do you believe it?

If you are having a tough time realizing your gift - just drop me an e-mail and I would be happy to help you out. I don't need to know you to "see" you :)

Before I forget - Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am so grateful for so much in my life - my wife, kids, family, friends, infinite opportunities, abundance - and for every single one of you who takes the time to listen to my ramblings.

Much love!

Travis

I just got home tonight after being in St. Louis for the past week. I got to stay with one of my sister's and her family - plus more family from Michigan drove down to visit for the weekend. I also got a chance to talk and catch up with friends that I rarely get to see.

It's these kinds of trips that always lead to inspiring conversations. I spoke to my brother-in-law about his business. I had lunch with a friend who is a college soccer coach. Another friend and I met for breakfast to discuss his work. And, I had dinner with a friend and stayed up until 2am talking and philosophizing. Do you catch a theme here?

Yes - I only meet friends when food is involved :)Also, all of these people felt they were living and expressing themselves to their highest ability - and loving what they are doing.

One of our conversations led to talking about how some people seem to have the same problems over and over again. You know these people - you might be one of these people. It's okay, because odds are we have all experienced these kinds of patterns at one time or another. I know I have.

What tends to happen is that we will blame the negative experience on others - or just assume it was a freak incident. But, it happens again...and then again. Some of us - we might keep playing the blame game - and begin to believe that people, co-workers, bosses, spouses, friends, our whole office, family, the chess team, every driver on the road, Mother Nature, and world is out to get us. Together - they have formed one giant unified conspiracy determined to keep you down. Wow - I guess we are important!


Some of us though (eventually) start to think about our reoccurring problems more logically - even scientifically. For example - if the same thing keeps happening over and over again - what is the one constant in the equation? What hasn't changed?

Me.

Yup, we're the constant. Not the world, not the weather (sorry mom and dad) - it's us! We are the constant element in every situation in our life. If we don't like the things that are happening to us...if we don't like how people are treating us...if we don't like what we are seeing...then what is it that needs to change?

Well, we could spend every minute of our day trying to control others and the world, and the weather, plus the economy, maybe even some politics, and every new boss who makes your life miserable. Or, maybe it's time to be real honest with yourself - and humbly try to identify what it is in your thought that is allowing this pattern to keep repeating. Yes, that means being accountable - and it's not always easy to do.

When I have done this in the past - the result can be tough to handle - but once I have identified the problem - it is much easier to find the solution.

Then it is time to address another constant!

For me, identifying any lack of self-esteem, self-confidence, or self-worth in my thinking forces me to go to Love as a constant.

Love is the ultimate and only constant! Whatever it is that seems to be tripping us up over and over again - we can always look to Love. Perfection is the result of Love. Abundance is the result of Love. Ability, strength, patience, humility - they are all the result of love - AND SO ARE YOU!!!

Reintroducing your thought and your life back into Love (where it has always been) allows you to free yourself from whatever false ideas or labels you're believing. Since you are the product and result of Love - the two can't exist together.

Speaking of constancy, a book I have mentioned once or twice ;)...Science and Health offers this little nugget of truth, "Belief is changeable, but spiritual understanding is changeless." To me, that says that dramas and mistakes in our life are changeable - but the one constant is our spiritual image - the image resulting from Love!

So, what patterns or beliefs are you tired of seeing repeated in your life? Maybe it's time to take it to the only constant!

Much love everyone!

Travis

PS - Don't forget to send in your questions or ideas for me to blog about :)

but I know who holds the future." -Unknown

I got an e-mail from a friend a few weeks ago, and she ended her message with that quote. I love it. I have never heard that quote before - but I really love it! It is one of those e-mails that I haven't deleted from my inbox because I know I wanted to eventually blog about it. So, here I am.

That is one of those quotes that really sums up my life.

"I don't know what the future holds..."

I am so open to new ideas and possibilities right now - that I really can't tell you what the future holds - let alone the next 6 years, 6 months, or 6 hours. Last night at dinner I met someone who asked me "what I did for a living," so I took a deep breath and listed off the 6-8 things that keep me busy during any given week. Sure, I tend to lead with the fact that I co-founded and perform with a comedy group - but leaving out all of the other components of my life wouldn't tell the whole story. Yes, I am really working for the comedy and acting to go to the next level - but I am not limiting my options to that.

"...but I know who holds the future."

Whenever I get stressed or anxious...I think about Spirit's completeness...and then I laugh. I know who my employer is...Spirit, I know who my supplier is...Spirit, I know that I operate in Spirit's economy, and I know that Spirit's economy is abundant. When I open my eyes and look around - abundance can be found everywhere - and people realize it everyday.

I have been praying about some of these ideas recently. One of the false common ideas most of us accept is that for something to succeed - something else has to fail. Competition. Only the strong survive. We believe that there is a job market or economy that is limited with supply - so with everyone who succeeds - someone else must fail.

Why? Why do we buy into this?

People overcome limits everyday. People innovate. People create. Whatever the limitation there is someone is out there figuring a way to overcome it. The secret is - none of these people feel they live in an economy that is limited. So, in my prayers - I envision and try to connect with an economy built and supported by Spirit. I believe Spirit, Love is the only creator - so how can there be a lack of supply or opportunities? There can't be.

I know that I can't be successful if I am being distracted by unsuccessful thoughts. In Science and Health, Mary Baker Eddy stresses the need to start from a point of perfection. To see God, Love, Spirit as complete and whole - perfect. If you start with perfection - perfection must be the result.

Have you ever worked on a project knowing that you weren't going to like the end result? Odds are - you probably didn't like the end result. How can you succeed when you don't feel there is a need for what you have?

But, when you start from a point of perfection, knowing there is a need for your talent, service, or product - guess what - there WILL BE A NEED for your talent, service, or product.

Hey, you might not know how or where the demand is going to come from, but remember - "you know who holds your future!"

Much love,

Travis

PS - I want to start the Travis Inc.'s version of the Mail bag, or the "Blog bag." So, what do you want to hear Travis blog about? Do you have a question? Give me your question, topic, or idea - and I will happily blog about it. Come on, I'm an improviser - it's what I do ;)