Articles from July 2011

When I was 18 or 19 I started a landscape business. I ran it for a few years. My biggest problem was equipment failures and not enough money to purchase the proper commercial equipment. Eventually I ended up in a partnership where they supplied the equipment and I had the experience and know how. The partnership did not work out and I was left with no equipment. My friend who worked for us asked “what do we do now?” I told him we will just do gardening only and purchase hand tools that we can afford. As a matter of a fact I suggested that we went to the more well to do areas and use the fact that we do not have the large mowers etc. to our advantage and advertise that we specialize in gardening only, and emphasise that we choose to leave the grass cutting to the other guys. It worked. we became very busy making more money than we used to with the traditional landscape business.

Eventually we started cleaning gutters for our customers. We even developed a system and targeted certain types of houses that we could do quickly and easily and make a good profit doing so. We were surprised at how much this service was needed. We enjoyed helping our customers and for us it seemed to be easier and faster money. My business partner and I eventually went our own ways, but this business journey that started out as a failed landscape company was one of the best things that could have ever happened to me. I still have the gutter and window cleaning business and now have thousands of happy customers. I love the business and the life it has made possible for myself and my family.

My point of writing this story is to be a reminder that there are always better places waiting on us. Even in the midst of a failed venture if we can keep moving and have an open mind, perhaps the failure can become a chance to shift gears and move into a place we were not open to before.

I found myself waking up early this morning thinking “What is this life about anyway?” The funny thing is I knew the answer and could write pages and pages based on lessons and experiences in the past. The real question should have been and actually was “What do I do now?” or “Why do I feel empty at this moment?” For those who don’t know me well I don’t do empty well. I don’t do unhappy well. I don’t do something missing well. So if I feel this way even for a day, I have a real problem. My life has to have meaning, deep meaning, and I have to be enthused.

I was thinking earlier yesterday that I have everything, and have pretty much gotten everything I want. At times I find myself worrying about how to keep these things for myself and my family and even working feverishly to do so. These are the times that I know I am slipping, slipping back into the realm of too many material concerns. Long ago I learned that life on the surface was not for me. I had to have a deep connection to that that is beyond the surface behind the scenes. Then I am alive. If I can keep my mind there then everything has meaning and I am alive.

Anyway after thinking what do I do now I opened up my the first book I wrote “What If My Soul is Eternal and Heaven Is Everywhere”. The page I opened to talked about keeping your mind on the inner light and sound, and the wonder of the Universe at all times. It reminded me what life is like when I do this. I thought about how things just seemed to miraculously come together when my mind is on the deeper side of life. Even more than that, I remembered how alive I feel when I see God working in my world. My problems at that moment were gone. As I thought about this, any worries I had were gone. I knew what to do with my life. Keep my mind on God. Look for God’s beauty and magic everywhere. Share what I see and experience. Continue to live my life with my kids and my wife and my business and my meditation movement, but look for God’s harmony in every step of the process. It was amazing with just that simple reminder I was back. Back in my place and everything looked beautiful.