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Archive for meaning of life

Jul
30

Passing of a legend

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I have always said there are only 2 books that every person on the planet needs to read.  The forst is the Bible and the second is Dr Coveys 7 habits.  I have read anything I have ever found of his and his ability to communicate sound principles in a n understandable and implementable way is second to none.  In fact my favourite book of his is an old one I found in a second hand store called “Putting firsth things first” (or something very close to that).

So it was very sad to hear of his death last week, particularly as it was due to a bicycle accident not just wearing out.  Dr Covey was 80 so had a reasonable innings I guess but I am sure he had more to say.

A reminder that none of us can be certain of when our number is up.

He certainly lived his own motto: live, love, laugh, leave a legacy.

 

If your vision doesn’t make you laugh, cry AND change, then it’s nothing ~ Dean

PS: The next Cashflow Tour is happening in October, check it out HERE

 

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I am sitting looking outside at the rain and wind and thinking, it is February, we haven’t had a summer in NZ and it is going to be autumn in 4 days, what the $)@!&$(_&$_ is up with our weather.

Well we can be sure it isn’t global warming. In fact I think it is very “funny” that the GW theorists have had to rename it climate change because people are freezing to death on several continents right now.

Anyway I wasn’t going to talk about the weather but the fact that our lives, like our weather, can and will change.

The Bible talks about there being a time for every purpose under heaven.  Now our actions will impact our experience no doubt but we do need to understand that our life will be a series of cycles.

I have been from zero to hero and back again several times in my life and I am not 50 yet.  I am learning that sometimes you just have to hang on for the ride, knowing that this valley will eventually turn into another mountain.

And you know sometimes IN SPITE of our efforts and starategising and goal setting and hard work, life just comes along and says “Suck on this for a while”.  And that’s because sometimes life knows better than we do.

The only people I could never learn anything from were those people who had led charmed lives.  They had 1 years life experience repeated 20, 30 or 50 times.  They knew nothing much about anything except having a good time.

As I grow older I find myself drawn to those with more scars.  There is something comforting about someone who walks with a limp, because you get to learn what they discovered in the process of that failure and how they recovered.

In it after all has been my favourite song for nearly 30 years.  It sums up the above perfectly.

Enjoy………….

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PS: Don’t forget our next USA CASHFLOW Webinar next week!

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Dec
21

Life as it used to be

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My computer charger died on the 13th December. By the 14th I was powerless and internetless (?) till yesterday.

After panicking about how life would continue without being online I discovered that life did indeed go on.  And in fact life was a lot less busy and I had time to think, connect with people and be creative in ways that I hadn’t remembered doing since my teens.

It was quite revelatory how different I felt and thought.  We really have become slaves to the machine with our laptops, ipads and smart phones.

My Xmas newsletter will now have to be my new years newsletter as I have been unable to prepare anything meaningful due to my power outage and now that I am back online I simply have too many people to talk to this week and too many “real” things to do.

I pray that you find yourself able to unplug from the tyranny of the urgent and plug into something important this week and over the Christmas period.

There really is life outside the blinking lights and glowing screens :-) .

 

Remember the three “L”‘s, find Love, live Life and leave a Legacy! ~ Dean

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Nov
28

Simplicity

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I realised yesterday just how complex our lives have become in modern society.  I was sitting in a church in mid service when the towns power went out.

Now if this had been in a typical NZ church basically everything would have ground to a halt.  You couldn’t hear the speaker without a PA system as our venues are both large and poorly designed acoustically.  You couldn’t sing because the band are all electrified and enhanced and nobody would be able to see the words without powerpoint and screens.

And then when the power did come back on it would be anything from 3 to 10 minutes checking that all the expensive equipment and computers had reset properly and everything could be “restored”.

But what happened yesterday was………….

We carried on regardless.  Everybody knew the songs and just sung “a cappella”.  The speaker spoke a bit louder to be heard and everybody could engage him no problem.  When the power came back on the fans started again, which was nice in 32 degree heat with 99% humidity, but other than that nothing changed.

It is hard to convey how powerful a lesson this was without you being there but I suddenly saw all the things we clamour for; all the toys, all the gadgets, all the latest things, as distractions that often keep us from what is really important.

Something to think about on a Monday!

Get Going and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus


 

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If that line means nothing to you then you are simply too young.  It is a Burt Bacharach song effectively asking what life is all abotu and what is important.

I was thinking about it as I look out the window at so many people working/walking and living here.  The average wage is around $15 a day and 90% of the town in unemployed so their idea of what “it” is all about revolves around anything from food to grog to sex or somewhere to sleep.  They are certainly not worried about their investments, politics or a new television.

Yet you can’t sit here for more than 30 seconds without noticing the laughter, the smiles, the warm greetings in the street.  These people are a lot more happier than anybody I know in New Zealand or Asia.  They have found their “it”.  And it is to enjoy today, because there may be no tomorrow and tomorrow will have enough problems.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we should all adopt this, far from it.  Cultures come with their own blessings and curses.  But what we can, should, MUST do is find OUR “IT”.

What will make you smile today, what will make you feel fulfilled about your life right now, today.

Sometimes you have to look at those least able to offer us anything to see what we most need!

And to hear one of the worlds finest voices singing Alfie……..

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Get Going and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus

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Jun
14

Nothing to do with Property….

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Feeling Truly Loved

This may sound like a strange question but…..

“Have you ever felt truly loved?”

I ask because I would have answered yes to that question for many years.  I knew God loved me and that was to me a fact.

However on Sunday in Phoenix I attended a black Baptist Church, something I had wanted to do for years, and was amazed to discover during that service an incredible encounter of knowing I was truly loved.  I’ve never cried so much in my life and it was a life transforming moment in my life. I am “different” today and it is so wonderful I am sharing it with you :-) .

Nothing else to say other than you can know love deeper than you thought possible.  The decision is to put our own biases aside and be willing to seek it out.

If you’re in Phoenix I found it HERE

Get  Going and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus


 

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Apr
01

At the risk of sounding maudlin.

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Death always impacts me.  The reminder of our mortality, the fact that the end of life on earth is so, well final.

I will never ever see my father again on this planet, or my brother, or Pat who went home yesterday.

And for me it makes me look at how I fill a day and what I do with my life and wonder why some things are so apparently important.

I mean life is putting one foot in front of another, eating, working etc.  But do we actually stop and look at our lives and wish things were different?? And is the wish ever strong enough to bring change??

Imagine someone you love, or work with, (or even dislike), and picture them vanishing over night.  You never ever have another second to see them, talk to them, nothing.

Isn’t that scary??  The things you wish you’d said or not said.  The sense of “unfinishedness”.  The things we thought were important often become pretty weird and: “Did I really have to behave like that because they borrowed my calculator?” moments.

I am fairly certain that Pat won’t have that in her life because she lived her life for her God whom she loved and removed many of her “unfinishedness” moments.

I hope I/we learn to do the same.

Get Going and Stay Safe ~ Dean Letfus


 

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