Out of the Blog, Into the Light

Living A Guilt-Free Christmas

By Catherine Franz

Do you have feelings that you didn’t do something as well as you would have liked this year? With the intention to solve this by the end of the year? Many of us desire to begin the new year in a new light in our relationships. The ultimate motive, however, is that we don’t want to drag our emotional baggage into the coming year.

Having Thanksgiving in November and Christmas in December all leading to the beginning of new promises in the next year isn’t a fluke. The emotional need for love and peace is set in our emotional DNA and expands during this period. Gift giving is normally the result of wanting to give something that relieves the guilt of something. All for the promise of starting the New Year with a clean slate.

Your motive during the holiday period depends on your beliefs. Yet, it is a time to reconnect with love. Love is the greatest need for all of us. It is the foundation for our need for respect, honor, and interaction. We need love as proven in studies on newborns -- those touched and loved during their first few weeks and those that aren’t. Our love for our family, friends, but mostly with ourselves, is a strong desire that is manipulated by retailers during this period. Yes, I honor the fact that it has made the United States a great nation because of it but have we ever thought of how life could be different if we met it in another way?

There are other ways to balance the holiday season, this season and for the rest of your life. Examine why you are purchasing gifts. Is it the need to feel more loved? Is it to relieve the guilt so you can begin the New Year with a clean slate -- or at least a cleaner slate? What is driving the guilt? Not enough time spent with who? What are you working towards shedding before the New Year enters?

I am sharing this with you because I know of other ways and their results are greater than anything a gift will ever solve. It begins with forgiveness and transfers into living a different way of life -- all year long. That’s 24/7, Monday-Sunday, with everyone in your life currently, from the past, and in the future that touch your life.

The message is to live a life of love, light all year long. Imagine a life of being guilt-free and being in a state of love and peace with yourself and others. No judgment with yourself. No judgment of others. Is it possible? I say yes and I know you know it as well. There are people living it. You have already experienced parts of it. Begin with the choice today. Not tomorrow, not as a New Year resolution. But today. Now. This minute. This second. Live the next hour guilt-free. Then the next hour. Live each hour whenever you can think of this process. Let the hours merge together and eventually your life changes dramatically and whole world that you touch shifts around you. You know its possible. It begins with a choice and shifts with awareness and the smallest of commitments.

(c) Copyright 2005, Catherine Franz. All rights reserved.

Use Charitable Contributions As Part Of Your Marketing Plan

By Catherine Franz

Ann Kelly, a past client and good friend, is a personal and business coach in Ireland. (http://www.yourworldyourway.com). She recently brought up an important fact in an email that sparked some thoughts about ideas I mention in my workshops but have never written about.

Ann shared with me how she donated funds to a charity instead of sending a Christmas cards to us this year. It brought up tons of thoughts, questions, and ideas. Ann, thank you for sparking these thoughts.

Because of limited time, I’m going to just run with my thoughts instead of trying to put all the information into a formal format.

All this brings up loads of questions, “Is your company socially conscious?” When I say socially conscious, what I mean is, “Does your company volunteer or contribute to the world outside of its own sphere of influence?”

This leads to questions like, “Is your competitor socially conscious?” Does it matter to your buyer (customers/clients) whether the company is socially conscious?

Have you every thought about this? Is it important to you, your employees, or to your customers? And what does socially conscious mean to you? What does it mean to your consumers?

Testimonial from Linda

Catherine: Just wanted to drop a line & tell you how impressed I am w/your articles, which I periodically receive -- & always read -- thru free reprint mail lists. I'm a freelance writer & author of 4 books, 2 nonfiction & 2 novels. I used to put out a newsletter, & would check the lists for decent material. I continue to subscribe now, only to catch gems, occasionally, such as anything you put out. If your name is on it, I read it. Thank you for some thought-provoking, artistically written thoughts. I am touched each time I read your words. Blessings -- Linda Alexander
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Linda Alexander Writer/Public Speaker/Storyteller Books For The Thinking Reader http://www.lindajalexander.net http://www.authorsden.com/lindajalexander
Latest Book -- WEEKENDS IN NEW ENGLAND http://www.behlerpublications.com/titles-alexander.asp

Dennis Price Radio Show

Good morning everyone!

Well, last night I was a live guest on the Dennis Price show and WEBR Fairfax Radio.

What a wonderful model he is on interviewing skills. He had me relaxed and talking about things I would never share, at least not with a radio audience.

Barbara Walters watch out, Dennis is coming up the ranks.

I got lost in his beautiful eyes and calming demeanor. At times I wished I was X years (lets leave the years out) younger and he as single. This is a great feeling to have
when you are being interviewed. He is happily married, 20 years now, I understand with two children. What I've learned is that at my age I can flirt and people
just think its cute, so why not.

Dennis, thanks for letting me flirt.

I took away quite a few things, for instance:

* A slightly higher perspective of how things are connected in my life.

* A list of interviewing dos.

* Relax, have fun, after trust is built between the interviewer and interviewee.

Many times, I could see my life as a puzzle and Dennis was examining pieces, front, back, sideways, and wondering where it fits on the board.

Hmm, I wonder maybe Dennis was a therapist in his past life. Chuckle.

The show was taped and I have a copy. It was 2 hours and too large a file to post on my website. Thus, at this moment I'm at a pause as I ask the Universal Laws to send me an answer. I'll keep you posted if anything changes and it gets up some where.

If you want to listen to the Dennis Price show on the web http://www.fcac.org/webcasting/webcast.htm
He's on Tuesday nights from 8-10 PM Eastern Standard
Time. He also accepts call ins at: 703-560-TALK.

Be That Miracle

By Catherine Franz

----------------------------------
Graciously edited by Janice Salomon -- a miracle made
today!
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You are a human being, right? You also believe you are
either male or female, right? You also have other roles you
play in your life, like mother, father, brother, sister,
employee, employer, boss, manager, in-law -- and the list,
I'm sure, goes on. But have you ever thought of yourself as
a miracle. Not in the sense of your birth. Of course, that
is a miracle. In the sense of your every day life. Do you
walk around all day long and see yourself as a miracle
worker?

If you did, just imagine how much taller you would stand,
less rushed you would be, and how much fear you would live
without. Well, sit straighter right now. Because you are.
You are a miracle. You are a miracle worker, if you choose
to be. You have been given that choice too.

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of riding in the limo
with Deepak Chopra, on his way to speak at the IONS
conference in Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia. And this
was one of the topics that morning with everyone in the car.
We tossed back and forth the characteristics of a miracle
and all the other angles. Although it was just one of many
interesting conversations I enjoyed that week, this one
instantly changed my life.

A Marketing Strategy In Its Simplest Form

Hot Off the Press -- New Article

A Marketing Strategy In Its Simplest Form
By Catherine Franz

...is available at the Abundance Center
http://www.abundancecenter.com/articles/main.htm