Would you like to read about some incredible people?

Talk about people meeting all the 5 Needs in Life…sometimes in unique ways, sometimes while beating all the odds....read about the people with autism, including my son! Part of his story is in the OAR e-newsletter, see “special Feature.” He is a gift indeed!
http://www.researchautism.org

go to resources, then enewsletter and Sept 2011 and then Speical Feautre to read Tim's story...and know there is so much more! What is your story? How do you and your family meet The 5 Needs?

For help, encouragment and information with anything to do with autism, go to this site:

Piedmont Family Magazine published an article on The 5 Needs, see the magazine and the article is on page 16. These people do excellent work, support them in anyways you can.

Enjoy! Google : Piedmont Family Magazine

http://caopublications.org/index.asp

We all get opportunities to practice living out The Buck Stops Here and often it is in the little things. The small things we do, say and don’t do and say make a difference. Think about how often we get the chance to take a stand, to say yes or no in a time and place that makes a difference for others. Think of the times we get to accept responsibility for our thoughts and actions.

For some inspiration, read Andy Andrews books about The Seven Decisions: Mastering the Seven Decisions is a wonderful exercise and The Traveler’s Gifts will inspire you and awaken you. Enjoy both and let me know what you learn and how you change. As we get a grip on accepting responsibility in our lives we can see The 5 needs so much better and learn to meet these needs in better way, purposefully too.  Think about how YOU meet each of the 5 needs and what you do on purpose to meet each one in your life. Let me know what you discover.

The Buck Stops Here is all about taking responsibility for what we do, and what we believe. Many folks like to pass the buck, not hold on, not accept responsibility. That may be easier at times but in the end can be hollow too. We have all known leaders in every field, every walk of life who take responsibility for their own life and for their work and those who do not. Who do you want to be? What do you want your legacy to be? How do you want to be known?

Thanks!! Hope you are enjoying life.

Have you heard of Andy Andrews? I have enjoyed each of his books that I have read. Andy Andrew’s work is useful, educational and entertaining. I thoroughly enjoyed The Traveler’s Gift and am now working through Mastering The 7 Decisions. I found the history in the book educational as my history background is weak. The ways Andy weaves truth for today with life lessons from people who have “been there, done that” and makes it all practical and useful for NOW is remarkable. I high recommend The Traveler’s Gift and am using it in my own work with people and writings. Join the journey, read the Traveler’s Gift and write how it helps you too.  It is easy to connect our basic needs and how the folks in the story meet each of the needs too. Since The 5 Needs are such an important part of my life and work, I tend to see how others have met their needs and in Andy’s work it is clear. I appreciate all Andy is doing.

"The Buck Stops Here" and The 5 Needs in Life

When it comes to The 5 Needs, like most things in life, we can take responsibility or not…I have been learning from Andy Andrews lately, reading several of his books, hearing some on CD, and never being disappointed. I so enjoy Andy’s style; if you have not heard of him, look him up; his work is fun, interesting and teaches a great deal. Lately I am working through The Traveler’s Gifts and Mastering The 7 Decisions. The first decision is The Buck Stops Here…Here is an explanation of the saying: The Buck Stops Here…

The saying "the buck stops here" derives from the slang expression "pass the buck" which means passing the responsibility on to someone else. The latter expression is said to have originated with the game of poker, in which a marker or counter, frequently in frontier days a knife with a buckhorn handle, was used to indicate the person whose turn it was to deal. If the player did not wish to deal he could pass the responsibility by passing the "buck," as the counter came to be called, to the next player.*

On more than one occasion President Truman referred to the desk sign in public statements. For example, in an address at the National War College on December 19, 1952 Mr. Truman said, "You know, it's easy for the Monday morning quarterback to say what the coach should have done, after the game is over. But when the decision is up before you -- and on my desk I have a motto which says The Buck Stops Here' -- the decision has to be made." In his farewell address to the American people given in January 1953, President Truman referred to this concept very specifically in asserting that, "The President--whoever he is--has to decide. He can't pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That's his job. (http://www.trumanlibrary.org/buckstop.htm).

Something to think about…can you apply The Buck Stops Here to your life and how you meet The 5 needs in Life?? I can J.

This has been a lively week. My knee is healing from the fall, my heart has been grateful for the beauty all around, the seasons here are marvelous! Changing colors and leaves falling, crispy weather, all seems perfect. Staying Alive is easy in weather like this, at least for some of us.

Today, I had the pleasure of lunch out with a friend, meeting the need for love and belonging in a healthy way. We ate well and used the freedom of choice with boundaries and ate well. We made a good choice (power) and went for a walk (fun) and presto a day full of all of The 5 needs met! I love looking at life with The 5 needs in mind…it is easy and sweet. How did you do today in meeting your needs? Need to make any adjustments? Want to make any changes; it is nice that we can, anytime.

 Is it pretty where you live? Do you have leaves changing too? What do you like the best about fall? Is it the apples? The pumpkin pie? The sweater weather? Cuddling up? What makes you smile in the fall?
Feel free to share your thoughts...it matters!

Sunday Morning, October 9, 2011 Staying Alive Can Be Tricky

What a beautiful day today is; the sun is bright, the air is crisp, time for a morning walk before activities begin.  As I begin walking the music from the  i-pod makes it easy to have a pep in my step….going along enjoying every bit of it and suddenly I trip! Down on my knee a word popped out of my mouth I won’t write here (you can imagine) and my foot said OUCH too. I looked at my knee, brush burn, blood but not much, and asked myself, “Are you ok?” M foot was a bit sore, but I felt I could carry on and I did…got up and kept on walking, enjoying the sunshine, crisp air, music and delightful thoughts. I stopped and checked on my knee and paid attention to my foot, both were managing fine. Now at home, my knee burns more but a nice cleaning and bandage and it will be all better soon. My foot is doing well too.

You know stuff happens!

We never know what a day can bring. A couple days ago my son had a brush with danger, he was crossing a street in the crosswalk and a man turned and hit him, thumped him with an SUV. Thankfully, my son was ok, shock up pretty bad, but not hurt. The man was making a turn and did not even stop. Others saw it and yelled at the man, still he kept going. Thankfully, my son is fine. The next day we rested a lot! We were both emotionally spent from the experience, but also deeply grateful my boy was safe, it could have been far worse.

We never know what a day will bring.

What will you do today to stay alive, as you can see, it can be tricky! Still we can eat well, attempt to workout, have friends to share life with and do the best we can. We are responsible for our life.  All things are not under our control, but many are and we want to do what we can with what we have, so take a look, think and purposefully take care of YOU today and those you love too.

Feel free to share your storyJ It matters!   

Hey there,

Welcome to one of the prettiest times of the year here (in Virginia). Fall is a treat to us; although we love New Orleans and all it has to offer, seasons are different here. Each fall since our move in 2001 we delight in the colors and the feel of the air. I feel energized in the fall and it is time to get back to blogging!

Thank you all for the comments, I enjoy reading each one. Let’s keep the conversation rolling about our 5 basic needs and how we each meet them. We are all different yet we have the needs in common; however the ways we chose to meet them will differ with space, time, financial resources, desires, situations and circumstances.

A quick review of the needs will help us begin again here:

1. Staying Alive:  the basics like food, shelter, water, and clothing; also the emotional and spiritual needs we all share are included in staying alive.
2. Love and Belonging:  we all know we need to be loved and feel we belong and yet we do not always put forth the effort to meet this needs. We don’t’ want to take this for granted; have fun learning to meet this need.
3. Freedom and Boundaries:  we can look at many areas of our life with this one, eating, finances, time, and resources: how do we enjoy the freedoms we have and what boundaries do we set for our self and where do we need to improve. Also, the variety of freedoms we have as Americans and our responsibilities to keep these (even the responsibility to vote).
4. Power: what we think power us or di-empowers us. What we think can make or break us in many ways. We need to learn to identify what we think so we can use our thoughts to empower our lives. Our choices demonstrate the power we have every day.
5. Fun: taking time for fun, even just doing nothing for fun is good. Making time for fun, seeking ways to have fun, being creative and willing to try new things along with creating friendships will help you meet this need.

Fall is a beautiful time to try a new way to meet the needs or to just let yourself keep on meeting the needs in the ways you are currently doing if you are living in ways that make you feel you are living a balanced, fulfilling life. Either way, the choice is yours…enjoy life. Thanks for reading and writing your thoughts and opinions!