The Wingman’s Path

So my birthday was yesterday and I received many well wishes from friends, from family, through social media, and even from some businesses I didn’t even know existed.

I ended up saying thank you, or writing thank you more than I have in a long time.

And this morning, after waking up at 4 am, I decided to reply on Facebook to many well wishes and lovely messages.

I could have written just one post, thanking everyone for their wonderful birthday greetings. It would have been much easier, but I wanted to feel each person’s kindness, and appreciate him or her taking the time to wish me well.

And what I learned in the process was priceless.
Or maybe I was just reminded of something we all inherently know.

And that is, that the words “Thank you” carry a magical energy and just by saying it, writing it or feeling it, you start to emit a more positive frequency out into the universe.

And of course, the universe matches that energy and sends you back more to be thankful about.

Perhaps Meister Eckhart, the German theologian, philosopher and mystic from the 13th century, said it best in his famous quote…

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough”.

Thank you. The more I wrote it, the better I felt.

Could it really be that simple?

I decided more research was needed so I thought it would be a great wingman minute practice for all of us to do today.

The hypothesis is that by saying “thank you”, and feeling thankful, even for just one minute, each and every one of us can raise our vibration, improve the way we feel, and increase our positive energy so much so, that we start to live a better, happier and more joyous life.

It may be asking a lot in just one minute but I believe it will work.

Please join me by clicking here…

Btw… I’m not sure I’ll be able to post a practice tomorrow as Jan and I are taking off for Ireland today to continue our adventures in housesitting.
Oh yeah. Feeling pretty thankful about that.

Have a Thankful Feeling Day,

Michael

PS… You can practice with me every morning, either on Facebook, at Be Your Own Wingman, on Twitter, @wingmanmichael, or on YouTube, at beyourownwingman.

What is going on with my vibration???

That is the question I asked myself yesterday morning.
And with good reason.

Do you remember last week I shared with you some of the health challenges that I have to prepare for.

Well, on Friday, at the dentist’s office, I had to get a tooth pulled that was infected and causing me pain.

The pain I had been feeling however, was nothing compared with the pain of him yanking, twisting and tugging on my poor molar.

When one hour into this 30 minute procedure had passed, and he declared, “If I knew it would have been this difficult I would have had you go to an oral surgeon”, I knew something was remiss with the energy I’ve been sending out into the universe.

And then yesterday morning, my phone crashed to the floor and totally stopped working. The data seemed irretrievable.

WTF?

I’m observing my vibration and suddenly I’m not liking what I’m seeing.

For those of you who have ever asked me, “Do you ever have a bad day”, The answer is a resounding YES!

And lately they’re coming at me with a bit too much regularity for this wingman’s liking.

What’s a wingman to do?

Practice, baby, practice.

I know we all have our “hero’s journeys”, and whether they’re tests from the universe or just the randomness of life, these challenges have to be handled.

So today, I’m making sure to do just that.
Because it’s time to stop these bad vibes right now.
Before they start playing with my mind and turning me into a “victim of circumstance”.

No F+*&ing Way.

“I’ve got this”.

That’s right. I’ve got this.

Do you have a challenge that’s been getting the better of you?

Then perhaps you’d like to join me for today’s practice, and together, we can both start taking back the control’s of our lives.

That’s right. I’m no victim. And neither are you.
We’ve both handled tougher situations. And we’ll handle this one as well.

How?

Well… a good way to start is by doing my, “I’ve got this” practice.

Join me here…

 
After note…

While it’s never this simplistic, the practice seems to be working… my vibration feels great, my phone was able to be fixed, my data was recovered, and my tooth is feeling better.

All is well.

You’ve got this,

Michael

PS… You can practice with me every morning, either on Facebook, at Be Your Own Wingman, on Twitter, @wingmanmichael, or on YouTube, at beyourownwingman.

Remember learning your ABC’s? How hard they seemed and how simple they became.
And how once you learned them, the world opened up.

I wasn’t the best student, but I had a great big brother and sister, and they helped me by making up little games so I could remember each letter.

Discovering how to attract positive energy is exactly the same, only better. It may appear difficult, but once you master it, the world, and all you desire, reveals itself.

And my wingman practices are like little games to help you flourish.

Only one minute each day of consciously practicing positivity, and you’ll become unconsciously competent at surrounding yourself with positive energy.
And success always follows positive energy. Always.

Therefore, the first step to achieving any goal is to increase your
positive energy.

So here’s a simple game to play for the next minute that is guaranteed to do just that.

Here’s how you play. For each letter, starting with “A”, and going through to “Z”, think of something that you love, that you appreciate, or that brings a smile to your face.

By the time you finish, you should be feeling pretty good.
And that, my friend, is how you raise your vibration.

It’s as easy as ABC…

To Keeping it Simple,

Michael

PS… You can practice with me every morning, either on Facebook, at Be Your Own Wingman, on Twitter, @wingmanmichael, or on YouTube, at beyourownwingman.

So I’ve been hanging with my mother at an assisted living facility in Providence, RI.
Being here, it’s impossible not to bear witness to the inescapability of aging, illness and death.

The place is beautiful, it’s very comfortable, it’s warm and it’s friendly. It’s just not a happy place. Although I guess you can’t expect it to be. As I said to a friend recently, “It’s a place where people come to die”.

Sitting here day after day, it’s easy to become convinced that suffering lay at the end of all physical existence. It’s certainly not a positive thought, but it’s one that’s been weighing heavily on this wingman’s mind lately.

It’s hard not to. I see it everywhere I turn.

In the battle of our flesh and blood, time is undefeated.
And in speaking with these elders, the battles drain their energy, and worse, their hope.

Which brings me back to the title of this blog. After leaving my mom late last night, I got home in time to watch one of the all time great movies, “The Shawshank Redemption”.
The movie is about the enduring power of hope, and if you haven’t seen it, I urge you to do so.

Anyway, in one of the classic scenes from the movie, Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne, tells Morgan Freeman’s character, Ellis “Red” Redding…

“I guess it comes down to a simple choice really.
Get busy living, or get busy dying”.

Get busy living, or get busy dying.

I loved it as soon as he said it.
Now I’ve seen this movie many times, and surely have heard the quote before. But this time it really resonated for me.
Maybe because I’m sitting around, watching people “getting busy dying”.

When I heard it last night, I’m not even sure I knew what it meant.
But it reverberated in my mind, so I tried it as one of my practices by saying it over and over again for one minute.

And guess what.
Every time I said it, I started thinking about getting busy living.

What does that mean?

Well, to me…

It means making the most of my life, while I still can.
It means living with gratitude. Everyday.
It means finding my passion. And following it.
It means coming up with a goal, and planning how to achieve it.
It means doing what I love, or finding something I love in what I do.
It means helping others.
It means exploring all this world has to offer.
It means focusing on today, on this moment.
It means connecting with others.
It means practicing positivity and raising my vibration.

What does it mean to you?

Please join me in doing this practice and see what comes up for you.

To Getting Busy Living,
Michael

Btw… I do my wingman practices each morning and if you would like to join me for a minute of positivity you can do so on Twitter, @wingmanmichael, on Facebook, at Be Your Own Wingman, or on YouTube, at beyourownwingman.

Biopsies, catheters and pain… words you never want to hear.

How quickly things can change as I’m riding the emotional roller coaster.

At my annual physical on Monday, my “numbers” were so great that my doctor was asking me all about Be Your Own Wingman.

Tuesday, new doctor, whole new challenge.

So this morning I decided to break out my, “What a great challenge, I can’t wait to see how I succeed”, practice.

Are you facing any challenges?
Well then join me in doing the practice by clicking here…

Also, we’ll be talking about embracing your challenges tonight on Talk-n-Angels radio at 7pm.
Click here… http://www.blogtalkradio.com/talknangels.

To Embracing Challenges,

Michael

Btw… I do my wingman practices each morning and if you would like to join me for a minute of positivity you can do so on Twitter, @wingmanmichael, on Facebook, at Be Your Own Wingman, or on YouTube, at beyourownwingman.

With our house-sit in Amherst, MA. now finished, Jan and I are back in Southern NJ for a few days. With this pause in our nomadic adventures, we’re fortunate to have some friends who have generously allowed us to “hang our hats”.

It’s been a week for memories as Jan posted her remembrances of her father last week. Then yesterday, she and I went to our storage unit and retrieved the ashes of Monte, our beloved “wingdog”, and took them to the magical woods we once walked each day with him. It still surprises me how easily I tear up when thinking of him.

And now, this early morning, I’m sitting out back of our friend’s house, looking at this beautiful Japanese Maple tree they recently planted, utilizing a biodegradable urn containing the ashes of her mother who died last year. It’s a wonderful tribute, and as I sit here, I start thinking of my loved ones and great friends who are no longer physically with us.

But as Mary Ann Evans, English novelist and poet, better known by her pen name, George Eliot, was once quoted, “Our dead are never dead to us, until we have forgotten them”.

I’m reminded of that quote as I sit here sharing the air with this loving, living memorial, and notice myself smiling as I “feel” those who were so near and dear to me. When I allow myself to feel the connection, signs of them seem to pop up everywhere (two different emails just flashed onto my screen, one reminding me of my buddy Coop, the other, of my brother Stevie)

So I decided to honor those loved ones who have passed with a wingman practice, and allow my recollections, to help start my day by raising my energy.

Please join me, and together, let’s see if we can really “raise our vibe”, and attract so much positive energy that success begins to come easy for us. Imagine that, whatever you want being delivered right to you, instead of you having to fight constantly for it.

It’s simple, for one minute think of a deceased loved one or great friend, and say over and over to yourself, or with me, “I love you, and I’m going to honor you, by living the rest of my life to it’s fullest”.

You can join me by clicking here…

Btw… I do my wingman practices each morning and if you would like to join me for a minute of positivity you can do so on Twitter, @wingmanmichael, on Facebook, at Be Your Own Wingman, or on YouTube, at beyourownwingman.

To living your life to the fullest,

Michael