What I LOVE About Life! By Kelly K. Brown

One of the things I love most about life is my ability to just be thankful and grateful for most everything, everyone and every experience I’m lucky enough to live… and then WITH some effort, every other single thing in life that may not seem so ‘yummy’ at first glance!

As today is America’s Day of Thanksgiving and I have so much to be thankful for and I genuinely LOVE focusing on those things for which I am so grateful, my thoughts today are simply about that… Love and Thankfulness!

For the past two to three weeks, the topic of love has come to my attention, over and over again in many different ways: from the songs I find I’m singing when I first open my eyes in the morning, to thoughts of friends I love, my home, the crazy love affair I experience with nature every day, to the sky and the incredibly ever fascinating white clouds…

I find that no matter where I’m at or who I’m with, in short order, I’m smiling and gushing some form of love of this, or like of that and aren’t we lucky the sky is so blue… and for my personal day of Thanksgiving I thought it would be nice to share some of this gratitude life (how I live it) with you. It always starts with some simple ‘What I loves’… like:

What I love about waking up each day…

If there is one thing in the world I love… it is waking up in my most wonderful and fantastic bed… it’s not really anything super special… it’s just very peaceful and provides me with the best sleep I’ve ever had… EVER.

There is almost always a smile on my face and a song in my heart—typically a song of love for me, the world and others who ALL need love so desperately. From the moment I open my eyes, my thoughts wander to how I can extend this endless love that flows out of me to someone else… it is nearly incurable this feeling of wanting to literally ‘love on every person in the world’ one by one or millions by millions as the universe creates the way for me to do so! I LOVE waking up!

What I love about music…

Besides that music is what allows me to express my physical passion in dance (and oh how I LOVE to dance)… my other great love of music is how the words make me feel. Recently, some really old songs… from literally out of no where popped into my consciousness and I find myself singing them… singing wonderful songs of love, sharing love, helping people… the one I woke with today comes as no surprise…

You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face

And show the world all the love in your heart

Then people gonna treat you better

You're gonna find, yes, you will

That you're beautiful as you feel

Waiting at the station with a workday wind a-blowing

I've got nothing to do but watch the passers-by

Mirrored in their faces I see frustration growing

And they don't see it showing, why do I?

You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face

And show the world all the love in your heart

Then people gonna treat you better

You're gonna find, yes, you will

That you're beautiful as you feel

I have often asked myself the reason for sadness

In a world where tears are just a lullaby

If there's any answer, maybe love can end the madness

Maybe not, oh, but we can only try

You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face

And show the world all the love in your heart

Then people gonna treat you better

You're gonna find, yes, you will

That you're beautiful as you feel

--Beautiful by Carole King

As my ability to be grateful and thankful for most everything and everyone abounds… the words of songs like this one have such special meaning for me!

As I go about the business of life, what I notice most is how the majority of people in the world just need a little love, a small kindness, an easy word of encouragement… and what do you get back for such small effort? People literally light up! They smile and you can SEE the change in their body language, a renewed zest for life shows on their face and a new pep in their step is obvious as they walk away. Ahhhhhhhhh…I LIVE my entire life for moments such as these, and they can happen anywhere with anyone at anytime from Walmart and the mall to any place you go or conduct business.

But HOW do YOU get there to begin this chain reaction of love into the world? "Come on Kelly, really, the economy is bad, life is changing, we are all filled with uncertainty, and wouldn’t it just be fake to pretend such joyfulness?" Yes, it would and while I think faking it could be one way to get there, I have a solution that is far easier and much more productive!

Just begin today while thankfulness and gratitude are already the order of the day and consciously on your mind.

TODAY, decide you will continue this one thing EVERY DAY for the rest of your life, and you’ll do it with simple easy steps such as:

When stuck in traffic, you will turn on your favorite songs and get so caught up in the music you love, you’ll not only forget the traffic jam… you’ll wish it was longer so you could hear the end of your favorite cd.

As you begin to look around, you’ll find small things to be thankful for everywhere, in everyone, in every situation… a sour teller at the bank might be someone you could jot a thankful note to on paper and leave as you depart (imagine how that feels?)… when things aren’t going your way, you could think of other times when things didn’t go the way you planned and they worked out EVEN BETTER… and then believe that this, too, will be that way!

It takes no more effort to choose to think and focus positively than it does your habitual ‘negative thought first’ patterns we’ve all learned and become accustomed to in life.

It simply takes practice.

Choosing to get up every single day with a smile on your face… planning (Yes… plan it out) that you are going to show the world all the love in your heart (no matter what they do or don’t do, say or don’t say). Yes, as the song says, 'people are gonna treat you better', but you know what? The song left out the most important part of all…

You are gonna treat YOU better! You are going to find that a consistent attitude of thankfulness and gratitude begins a seed of self-love inside you that no other love can equal. You are going to start seeing blessings where before you saw struggle, you are going to see love where you saw hate, you will see opportunity where you previously saw dissension, and in a very short period of time everything (YES EVERYTHING!) in your life is going to change--for the better!--right before your eyes!

How do I know this? I live it! Thanksgiving is THE pathway to true and lasting Inner Love and Peace. And that is what I truly wish for you and every other person I meet!

I guess it all boils down to this song I woke to a few days ago:

What the world needs now,

Is love, sweet love,

It's the only thing that there's just too little of.

What the world needs now,

Is love, sweet love,

No, not just for some but for everyone.

-Jackie DeShannon

People need inner self love, and they need love and understanding from other people, and ALL of it can easily be achieved by first starting with a mindset to live with gratitude and thankfulness moment by present moment!

As you may have guessed, my heart is overflowing with joy and gratitude this Thanksgiving Day for YOU, all the above, and much, much more!

Today I wish for YOU…

A day filled with gratitude,

a heart filled with joy,

a smile that brightens the world,

and all the love I can send your way!

Happy, Happy Thanksgiving!

Kelly :-)

Change is What Is! By Kelly K. Brown

Today, I’m sharing a few specific concepts which may help you better understand and interpret your own life circumstances while helping you develop the opportunity to see these things with new and different perspectives. Perspectives that will help you and your future immensely!

For now, I want to focus on how the very circumstances you are living through may be just a normal part of life experience and change. You may be thinking, “What??? Kelly, you just don’t understand my financial situation here! I have a major illness; my house is going into foreclosure; I’m losing money in the stock market; I just lost a million dollars. How could you ever think that THIS is normal?”

As I am in the same economic market as everyone else and have also lived through many terminal illness and death situations, I often experienced those same feelings and thoughts… until recently when something became abundantly clear and it all started with a conversation about butterflies…

Have you ever watched a caterpillar go from what it is to the beautiful butterfly it becomes? Have you ever seen one FIGHT or ARGUE with the process? If they did, from an outside perspective it would be easy to understand where they were coming from, as it just doesn’t look all that pleasant.

First, it hangs upside down (by its last legs, no less) while it’s outer skin splits to expel the newly forming chrysalis. If that wasn’t bad enough… in a very short period of time the original outer part of what the caterpillar was simply ‘falls away’.

What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.
-Richard Bach

It takes 7 days (which might seem like an eternity to a butterfly) in typical summer weather and then a beautiful butterfly again has a choice to make the effort and come out of its cozy chrysalis. This too, is an interesting point in the process because many chrysalises are beautiful and after 7 days a monarch butterfly ‘in the making’ could get really comfortable in its beautiful smooth, jade colored ‘home’.

Even when the butterfly makes the choice at the appointed time to come out of the ‘change’ and metamorphosis it has experienced, another change must be embraced so it can become all it was meant to be: it has to wait while the newly formed veins in its wings are inflated, allowing time for them to dry and harden so flight is actually possible and safe for the newly formed butterfly

But what does all this have to do with you, our economy, the bailout saga, and the changes, and upsets that daily bombard us in life or on the news? Well, just about everything if you consider how all of life (everything in the universe, really) is so very similar. Indeed, whether a butterfly in metamorphosis or a human living in the now… Change is ‘What Is’. Truly,

If nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies!

Have you ever watched butterflies for any length of time? Have you noticed what they spend most of their day doing?

It may surprise you to learn that the life of a butterfly is very, very similar to every single thing you’ve ever asked life to give you, if you had all the money you wanted, the job of your dreams, and the living space of your choice.

Think about it! After surrendering to change and metamorphosis, butterflies fly around, seeing every beautiful thing they want to see (wild and interesting adventures); they flutter from place to place (viewing beautiful sights and sounds), picking their favorite flowers to feed on (there is always an abundance of beautiful food to eat). In essence, they joyfully do what butterflies do, with extraordinary ease (read: no struggle). They live in the natural flow of nature and grace everyone with their elegance and beauty.

Isn’t that what you really want? Isn’t that what you ask for deep in your heart when you think of your grandest desires? Don’t you want your life to simply flow peacefully, with all you need placed abundantly around for your choosing everyday when you open your eyes? Isn’t that the exact description of what everyone wants; all the abundance and freedom given to a butterfly?

The million dollar question is: “Are you willing to go through the metamorphosis process—rather than clinging to what’s known of your normal everyday life as a caterpillar?”

Ask yourself honestly: “Do I have enough faith, when I can’t yet see the final outcome, to trust that the ‘chrysalis stage of life’ will take me from caterpillar to butterfly intact? Do I fully understand how I can choose my own thoughts as the transformation takes place so I can actually feel good and maybe even accept the process?”

Will you willingly choose to embrace the changes of life with an open mind asking what it is you are to do next and how can you benefit from this new and latest life experience? Do you think a caterpillar (as the only existence it’s ever known disappears forever), hangs around trying to fight the natural flow of becoming all and who they were meant to be?

The point is…

Framing your doubts with better perspectives while life change is taking place, requires ‘Willingness’.


Willingness to go through the motions of life withholding ‘any judgment’ until the entire process is complete. Willingness to accept and embrace the concept that “where you are, is where you are---and that’s okay because where you are, IS where you are and it’s okay because it’s WHERE YOU ARE.” This is absolute acceptance of what is, and when you really think about that, is there any other choice in life than to 'accept what is'?

The good news is there are examples to follow all around you, and they are probably the very people who drive you nuts! You know, the Pollyanna types who make it all look so easy! It’s not that they don’t experience metamorphosis; everyone does at some point or another in life. It is more about how they understand and then accept the true nature of all life. How they understand the process and through present moment thinking, allow what is, to be what is without objection (in other words, they accept what is while focusing on what they want with a detached mindset).

As we are always free to focus or think in any way we please, others make a different choice and choose to fight change every step of the way with doubt, stress and negativity… simply because they are not yet aware of or able to practice the art of allowing through detachment---and it does take practice!.

I think it takes great bravery and a lot of courage for a Caterpillar to willingly choose to embrace change and become a Butterfly, and it may require the same from you and me.

Choose to focus on the outcome you want while remaining in acceptance of what is (as best you can)! Choose to envision how it will feel when the metamorphosis is complete and you are fluttering around living the life you were meant to live…

Finding great perspectives about the journey we call life, expressing your willingness to change, and embracing what comes your way all the while focusing your intentions on what you want, can be wildly joyful—the choice is up to you! And what you think and feel is too!

Joyful in the Journey...

Kelly K. Brown

A Formula For Success? By Kelly K. Brown

As you get to know me better and better, one of the things you will discover about me is how much I love to travel! This is a picture of my visit to China late last year!

An incredible trip, it was both enjoyable and an eye opening experience for me as I learned quite a bit about Chinese history, their culture and experienced many of their beautiful scenic nature spots (Yellow Mountain comes to mind!). I even was able to try some of their interesting food choices!

Everywhere we went, the Chinese people were extremely friendly and accepting of our entire group. Quite often they would ask us to pose for pictures, with them, their children and their families... I often felt just like a movie star... This picture is one example of my Adventures in China!

I was moved from tears…

to actual sobs on occasion as I watched the very end of Oprah’s Post Election Show when BeBe Winans, CeCe Winans, Wynonna Judd and Vince Gill performed the song "We Need Each Other Right Now."

Throughout the entire election process, I have seldom spoke of who I was voting for or what I thought about much of any of it as most often I was simply overwhelmed by the negativity of the words and actions of human beings. I was frustrated when two of America’s supposed ‘finest’ stated something (almost anything really) to which the other would immediately say ‘that simply isn’t true’, and then watch the exact same thing in reverse.

I looked on as both sides used negativity, fear and other less than positive strategies and tactics to prove their point, state their opinions hoping to sway voters this way or that. And mostly I just refused to watch it or take part in any conversation about it as my spirit just doesn’t live there anymore. Siiiiiiiiiiigh…

But now that the election is over, now that the races are won or lost and with my ability to be open to both candidates in many ways for varying reasons… I was curious to see how people were reacting to this once-in-a-lifetime, truly historical election, so I tuned in to watch Oprah's special.

Being the gracious receiver of the election results and the will of the majority, I loved McCain’s heartfelt concession speech, offering to assist and help President Elect Obama in any way he can. I also loved Obama’s acceptance speech that was so warm and uniting toward a country that voted at an almost even split. I loved his ‘I may not have earned your vote, but I’ve heard your voice” sentiment directed to McCain supporters.

And for a brief moment I began to wonder of both candidates…

“Where were these words, these feelings, these united we stand, divided we fall speeches during the past 2 years?”

I do not blame either candidate specifically or individually as this is the way US politics have been for as long as I can remember, even within the individual parties (i.e. Hillary vs. Obama) just a few short months ago.

So… why the tears today?

Truthfully, it was the release of some incredible pent-up feelings of SADNESS combined with RELIEF and LOVE flowing out of my core being all at once! My innermost self was literally crying out that it was ‘tired’ of feeling like it had been ‘holding its breath’ while waiting as so much negativity flew around this country for sooooo long. And the love flowed because I sense just how torn some people still are depending on which side of the fence they were on. (I often sense and feel the ‘emotional stuff’ in others around me. )

Whether you followed the election closely or not, anywhere you ventured to go or with most anyone you engaged in conversation, its likely they had a strong point of view—which when informed, is truly valuable and a great thing indeed!

Unfortunately, many also had some negative and harsh comment or tirade to say or yell about the other candidate or the opposing party. Daily my email box was filled with something negative about this one or that one or their running mate. Even television shows both fiction and reality joined, embraced and rather ‘enjoyed’ this horrible display of ugly human behavior. And many Americans… laughed.

What makes a nation as vast and great as ours collectively agree that this type of campaigning is ‘normal’ or good? Because its successful? Because it works?

That may be so and regardless, I continue to agree with Eckhart Tolle in A New Earth, as he discusses how this behavior on any level implies that 'success' of this type is being viewed ONLY as a future event where the ends justify the means. i.e. Negative and abusive campaigning is ‘okay’ because in the end we may win through the use of it!

In other words, you may have finished the project, won the election or achieved your goal; but at what cost?

When negativity, anxiety or stress reign in any endeavor, Eckhart states the reality of what is…

“You spent two years polluting your body as well as the earth with negative energy, made yourself and those around you miserable, and affected many others you never even met.”

My belief? True and genuine success is achieved only through small and measurable ‘successful present moments’. Successful moments of full awareness, where our deeds and our time are spent in truth, integrity, and experienced solely through the foundations of love. Something I did not see through nearly 2 years of our nation’s campaigning.

So today, as I listened to this wonderful song, “We Need Each Other Right Now”, presented by Oprah to begin reuniting a country torn apart by its very own 'formula for success', at long last I breathed… and then I cried as I let out ALL the heartfelt sadness I’ve been feeling and sensing in my inner being as this election on many levels (in my opinion) reached new heights of LOW…

No matter how the 2008 election turned out, it was destined to be a new moment in history, and this indeed was an incredible, historical election in many ways. I celebrate all the hopes and dreams of those who have waited and envisioned this day for so long.

I now also, quite joyfully, add my own hopes and dreams that in these next 4 years on the winds of such an incredible, historical event, that one of the changes I will get to see and experience will be a healthy, new and more positive way to campaign for the highest office our country holds dear!

And what an incredible moment that will be…

Kelly K. Brown
‘Being’… Beyond the Stuff