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I suppose when we continuously reflect on our life with eyes of gratitude, it amazes even us. Not in the sense that we have such a more fabulous life than anyone else, but in the sense that sometimes it is easy to fall into the Too Good To Be True trap of life. Like when you find yourself asking “Can life really be this good?” Not because all of our problems went away, but because we have learned that we can choose to look at them as opportunities. In short, perspective really does make a huge difference. Although it’s not all the difference. There is still other work to be done to maintain a life of prosperity, rather than frustration.

Just in the few recent months, we have had so many great experiences and opportunities, that to reflect on the whole year becomes a little overwhelming. In the last few weeks, Ronn and his dad won (along with a whole team of people, of course) the State Championship their first time coaching together. I got to learn a new art — digital photography. You can see some of my commentary on my experience at What I Learned About Football.

Ronn also bought a new MacBook computer, which he has been dying to have for years, so he is in computer heaven. But I am too, because I got a new computer out of the deal–a smaller, but faster one. What a deal! Although, after checking out his Mac, I probably won’t be too far behind him getting one. His computer is just rad, simply put. And yes, I inventoried that word and I am pretty sure it’s been 10 years, at least, since I have used that word to describe something that is way cooler than the word “cool” can describe. But hey, if it fits, use it!.

Thanks to our friend Gail Essex, Ronn and I had the opportunity to do a restaurant review for a magazine that you know and love, but that we can’t name because we are supposed to remain anonymous. What a blast that was! And then they asked us to do it again! Rad, is what that is!

In the last two months, Ronn and I have had the opportunity to become regular columnists in the new Good Times magazine, the Arts & Entertainment guide for West Texas. Believe it or not, there really is stuff to do in West Texas and if you don’t believe us, pick up a copy at your favorite bookstore, restaurant or pub. Their calendar of events is one of the best I have ever seen. Ronn and I have a column called Rubber Side Down. It has to do with motorcycling, hence the name! Thanks to our friend Gilbert Cadena for his stroke of genius on the name. We are really excited about that because it gives us the opportunity to spread the love–the love of riding motorcycles!

All throughout the year, I get the privilege of working with people to help them pursue their dreams because that is my business. But in the last couple of months, Ronn and I have had the privilege of working together with some people that we really care about alot and helping them to pursue their dreams. Our friend Cynthia Clack is going to high places with her Eye of the Tiger: An International Rock Opera. She has an invitation from the Chinese government to go perform her story throughout China. WOW! As if that isn’t enough to blow your socks off, we get to be involved, to boot!

Then there are our friends Josh Fee & Anthony Montanino, the artists of Dim Lit DayLight. We have had the privilege or working with them toward their dreams and aspirations as they tour the country sharing their lyrical poetry with their fans. And yes, it really is lyrical poetry. Very rarely do I find myself listening to the lyrics of songs. Usually, I am just listening to the music and, thru repitition, I occasionally learn a few words to the chorus. But with these guys, you can’t help but listen to the lyrics. It’s the lyrics that draw you in and the music is just a bonus.

And then there is my friend Wallace Craig, fellow photographer and blogger. It always amazes me how you can spend time around someone in one setting and never know you are crossing paths with them in another. But that is what happened with Wallace and me. He has alot going on. You can check out one of his blog sites, Streams, which, to the best we can tell, is the oldest blog in Midland. He also has a photoblog where you can see some of his work. You can also check out Big Gold Dog (Wallace loves Golden Retrievers), where you can link into alot of his other photowork, such as one of my personal faves, New Mexico. There are lots of others, trust me! I told you he had alot going on! Maybe in 2007, I’ll start a photoblog, too–with Wallace’s help!

So that’s just the last few months. What about the rest of the year? Hmmmm…… Well, in September I got to ride Pulchritude (my motorcycle…her name means amazing beauty) to see my parents in Beaumont. What a trip! And yes, the pun was intended. It was a great trip, but it was also a trip! I am convinced there is such a thing as motorcycle therapy. I know there is because I watched myself experience it! You can read more about my trip in our Travel Blogs section.

In June, I rode to Dallas for a client’s grand opening, but got to ride with another client while I was there. You can read about that adventure here.

I suppose this post would not be complete without mentioning that we bought two motorcycles this year, which is where all this began. We bought motorcycles in April, again with the help of our friend Gilbert Cadena, and started Piglet Paper in June. Here’s our plug for Gilbert….If you want to buy a motorcycle, well a Harley anyway….GO SEE GILBERT!

I also started writing poetry this year. Not really sure how that happened. Just one of those things where the words employed me to write them. You can read a few snippets here. There are still others I need to post, but haven’t yet.

Ronn and I took some road trips this year, both on 4 wheels and 2 wheels. Those are always good, because somehow when I get away I remember what I already know and just forgot–to not take life so serious. I surrender the paraphernalia of life and just enjoy the present. Road trips, even if you are on 4 wheels, are still great therapy.

Our own personal growth this year can’t go without mentioning. It is because of our personal growth that we have been able to do many of the things we have done. With such a full year, we have learned that opportunities come from growth and sometimes they are just opportunities FOR growth.

I am sure there are things that right now I am forgetting, that are worth mentioning, but in the interest of brevity (as brief as I can be, which Ronn says isn’t very brief) I will close. We just know that 2006 was a FABULOUS year that came with lots of growth, but lots of rewards. So if growth precedes reward, we intend to do alot of growing in 2007. Perhaps the place we could start is blogging more throughout the year, instead of at the end of the year?!?!

We’re off to unwrap the PRESENT(s)! TTFN!

I suppose I have learned (well, still learning would be more accurate) that being comfortable is not all it is cracked up to be. Everything comes with a price and the price for always being comfortable is a boring life. Been there, done that. But I have also been on the other extreme, where I sought discomfort, which may be more accurately described as chaos. Seeking chaos thinking it was spice. I am sure glad I have learned there is a different way! But, of course, there is always a different way. I just have to be willing to acknowledge it.

Someone once told me that my results are my intentions. If that is true, there have certainly been times where my intention clearly was to be right. Right in that there was no other way than my way. I wonder why my intention can’t be to find a better way? It would have been alot easier, because intending to be right got me results, but not any that I wanted.

So, lately there has been alot of discomfort. Not chaos, but rather growth. Perhaps that what healthy discomfort feels like. Being stretched, but knowing it will all be ok. I guess really it is all always ok, they key is in being ok on the way to ok. So I have been ok lately. Growing, but ok.

I got alot of phone calls on my Guard Your Peace article. It is always nice when people go out of their way to call you or complement you. But there were a few lessons in all of this for me. One lesson was that the accolades weren’t really about me, but about what I wrote. And what I wrote wasn’t what Lisa wanted to write. It is what my fingers typed, but not what I wanted to say. However, sometimes the God I pray to every morning actually answers my prayers and on this day he did. My prayer every morning is that He use my gifts and talents to be an instrument of His peace.

The truth is I really didn’t want to submit that article. That article is out of character for me. Submitting that article made me feel uncomfortable. People expect to hear about business related stuff from me, not how to manage thru the holidays. But gauged by the number of calls and comments it got, apparently that was exactly what people needed to hear. So my second lesson was it is so much easier just to follow Instructions.

I suppose as I sit here and think about it, nobody that ever changed the world changed the world because that’s what they set out to do. They changed the world because they just did the next right thing. They sought their truth. They clung to their truth. They followed Instructions!

My third lesson was what I know isn’t much. If it has been left up to me, I would have written about something entirely different, but my Faith told me to submit that article as it was, even when there was no evidence to support that was rational.

So I appreciate all of the feedback! I really do! I appreciate it because your feedback is confirmation that on that day I was willing to follow Faith instead of fear; that I was willing to be out of character because my character is changing; that I was willing to be an instrument of God’s peace.

Your feedback reminds me that I am growing. Growing in the right direction. It reminds me that my life is not about me, but rather that I am about my life. It reminds me that it’s the relationships that make the works important, not the works that make the relationship important. It reminds me that growth really can be FUN, if you choose to focus on the reward rather than the price.

Thanks for all that you do!

~Lisa

Some of you have been asking if I fell into a hole somewhere and I guess the answer is “Yes”. I fell into the hole of getting my priorities out of whack, which is an easy hole to fall into, but I am comforted in knowing that, in the big picture, we are always exactly where we are supposed to be even if that is seemingly off track. Sometimes, I suppose, I have to get off track to remember what being on track looks like. Perspective I like to call it.

Well, in any case, life has still been good to us. I hired an assistant this last week and am secretly turning cartwheels when she is not looking. It still continues that life presents us with many opportunities, some of which are disguised as impossible situations, but I suppose if that were not the case, it wouldn’t exactly be life now would it? Funny how hung up on definitions I can get sometimes, which really are just expectations that I have chosen to label as “definitions”.

Something I have been thinking alot about lately is why I ride a motorcycle, probably because people have been asking me that alot lately. So it dawns on me the other day (while riding of course) that riding a motorcycle keeps me humble and grateful. This is an interesting discovery, even to me, but in the context of riding a motorcycle it makes perfect sense. I think about how many times when I am on four wheels and shielded by the frame of a car, my ego can bully people because I take what someone else does personal. Can you visualize the futility of a motorcycle trying to bully a car? I could probably draw a funny cartoon depicting this parody of life and the picture would be worth a thousand words. Maybe I will do just that!

Simply put, riding a motorcycle requires me to take responsibility for my own experience. Funny how when the line between safe and unsafe is black and white, I am more willing to assume that responsibility than when the lines get grayed by the superfluous paraphernalia of life. Come to think of it, riding a motorcycle reminds me that life really can be simple–as simple as I want to make it. Can it really be as simple as taking responsibility for my own experience in life, aka my happiness? When I stop demanding that other people adjust their actions to accommodate my happiness, can life suddenly be peaceful, instead of taxing and toiling? I would conjecture “Yes!”.

Upon such a serendipitous discovery, I realize I have so much for which to be grateful, the fact that I am able to ride a motorcycle is only the starting point at which my perspective on life’s privileges start to come into focus.

So as we enter into this time of year that brings such a mixed media of emotions, remember that life really can be simple and that its fruit lies at the heart of our relationships. Personally, my focus this year will be on the people in my life, both those that complement my joy as well as those that try to take it away. When I choose to put life in its proper perspective, I no longer have to feel threatened by others; I can just simply Be. This year, I will keep at the front of all my thoughts an Attitude of Gratitude even in the midst of those seemingly impossible situations. When I can be grateful, humility and simplicity follow naturally.

Just a quick ticker tape..been a little overwhelmed lately. I managed to get sick last week and somehow I never plan for sick time in my calendar, so that invariably creates bottle necks. But I am grateful because it did cause me to slow down and rest–somewhat. That is really hard for me, ya know! Fortunately, I am getting reasonably caught up and back in the swing of things.

Ronn and I have been very fortunate to have alot of business coming our way and exciting things are on the horizon–things we would have never imagined. Of course, things get to going a little too good and I start wondering when the other shoe is going to drop. Why I do that, I don’t know. Well, yes I do too, but that’s another story for another time. So I admit, I have been a little hard to live with the last few days. Apparently, I just didn’t want to be happy, but now I do. Thank goodness, I know a better side of life now and don’t have to stay in unhappiness very long.

Hope all is well with all of you. We really didn’t drop off the planet–just temporarily detoured.

~Lisa

I never cease to be amazed at all that life has to offer.� Here again, it has been one week since I posted anything and it seems like it has only been a day or two.� So many great things are happening around us, to us and for us.� We are truly in awe.� This letter from a coaching client of mine is no exception.

He actually wrote it for me to apply to the Leadership Texas program back in September, but I just, this week, remembered to ask him for a personal copy that I could scan.� I won’t know until November if I was accepted, but you will know just as soon as I do.� I will be excited to spread the good news.� And that is exactly my aim in sharing this letter.� It was too good not to share.� Click here to read it.

Ronn and I have been working diligently lately, but sensed that something has shifted.� We seem to be able to get more done with less effort.� It is an interesting thing going on that we have observed and we really don’t have any explanation for it other than just having surrendered outcomes.� Once again, we get reminded that you very rarely sacrifice that which you surrender.

And almost always, the outcomes are far better than the ones we were driving for in the first place!� Suffice it to say, prosperity is manifesting for us and clearly there are forces at work well beyond our capabilities.� We, personally, like to call them God.

I am shocked as I look at the last time I posted and it was October 1. It feels like I just wrote that post 2-3 days ago, not 14 days ago. All the time, I think about things I would like to post and I suppose I let other things get in the way. Lots going on, I guess. Besides work, been doing a lot of art recently, working on some special projects, messing with some of my photography and actually trying to allow myself some semblance of a work/life balance. It amazes me how much I can get done when I don’t spend time thinking about how long it’s going to take!

We just got back from Dallas. Stayed in downtown Las Colinas in the Omni Mandalay. Way cool! But here’s what’s cooler. I ate orange flaxseed pancakes with apple compote one morning and French toast stuffed with caramelized peaches the next. We sold out and flew because we had to get there and back quick. It was a business trip. Looked at some lofts while we there, just because we could. Even cooler than the breakfast! I have always dreamed of living in a loft, but thought that was something reserved to New York or San Francisco. Shows ya what I know! Anyway, we loved ‘em! There is something to be said for seeing them “in the reals”.

I think I am gonna rearrange the categories here on the site. They no longer make as much sense as they once did. I am in a lull for writing in the publications we had as categories, so I think I am just gonna lump everything together in the Published Articles category. Going in some different directions with my writings anyway. I also want to add a poetry section. That’s one of the other things I have been doing lately is writing poetry. That doesn’t really take any time, though, because these words just come flowing out of me and I had better get pen and paper quick or else I get behind. I just write those words down until no more come and then I’m done. It’s simple really, because I don’t spend any time thinking about them. I just do them.

We have also discovered that we can change the way the notification posts are delivered to you from Piglet Paper. Instead of getting one every time we make a post, you would get a weekly email with a summary of all the posts from that week. Got a preference on that? Let us know in a comment. We are thinking we are going to change to the summary notification.

Thanks for taking enough interest in us to read our blog!