Dan Kuschell and The Prosperity Blog

Hi,

It’s 11:30 pm and I just finished watching one of the most insprirational movies (based on a true story) I have seen in years: the ‘Peaceful Warrior’.

I’ll save the details so as to not spoil the plot for you, however, there is something powerful in this movie…

Have you ever thought that the ‘thing’s you do’ or ‘the things you accomplish’ will make you happy?

Do you know people who are always chasing their tail from one thing to a next, only to find they are unsatisfied and unhappy?

It’s not the ‘thing’ that makes you happy. It’s not the ‘accomplishment’ that makes you happy.

YOU make you HAPPY. And when it comes down to it all, it comes back to being HAPPY in the moment, doing what you love to do.

Think about this for a minute. When was the last time you stopped for just 10 to 15 minutes to reflect on all the goodness happening around you. Take time to notice. Notice the air around you. The birds chirping. Take a walk at the park and notice the kids and their ‘playful’ attitude – the joy, the happiness, the peace.

Take it all in.

Notice the beetle on the leaf in the garden. Take time to listen to the world around you. Not the ‘news on tv’… rather the real world.

One of my mentors taught me that you ‘find acres of diamonds in your own backyard’. Happiness is all around you if you look for it.

Notice the trees swaying in the wind. Take time to notice.

Most people have been trained (through media and billions of dollars spent on major marketing budgets) to create feelings and habits that cause you to look outside of yourself for happiness.

Think about what the average person does to develop happiness. They get up in the morning. Read the newspaper, turn on the news (on TV or radio). Have a few words with their family and then off to work. In the car they turn on music to create another feeling, or news to listen in on something they ‘might have missed out on’ (Again, the media creating ‘things’ to develop ‘habits’ and ultimately cause you to have ‘feelings’ about certian things.

Then its to work and it’s estimated that 25% of the work day in consumed by gossip, checking the Internet or personal emails – all in an effort to fill the gap of something that people are ‘missing’ – that one piece of information that would seem to make a difference.

Do you realize we’re the only species on the planet that ‘gets off’ by ‘watching’ and ‘obsessing’ what’s going on with others?

Can you imagine if the giraffe stopped in the jungle as it watched an ostrich get ripped apart by a Lion?

No, that giraffe high tails it out of there and focuses on ‘what it has to do’.

Watching an accident on TV or a Special News Report – what good does it really add to your life?

What can you do about it?

Are you going to fly to that area and ‘save’ that person?

Yet so many people are ‘brainwashed’ with the bullsh&^* the media puts out there – again to create habits and feelings.

I could spend hours ranting about this… and rather than focus on that, I want to challenge you to something positive.

Turn off the TV for 3 days. Don’t read any news for 3 days. Don’t listen to the radio for 3 days. Don’t search online for news for 3 days.

Then in addition, take some time to reflect. Take your spouse (boyfriend or girlfriend) on a morning walk at the park. Notice what’s ‘in your backyard’. Notice the ‘goodness’ and happiness sitting right there ‘with you.’

You don’t have to look outside for external stimulation to get it. It’s been sitting there waiting for you…

inside.

Now, you might have to ask… “Dan, you’ve really gotten deep. Usually, you talk about marketing and finances and such…”

This is true.

However, if the mind is not clear, if the heart and mind are not pure and uncluttered, all the marketing and sales strategies in the world will not work to their full capacity.

Take a few minutes to watch your own child… or someone elses for a few minutes.

Look at the pure mind they have… the pure heart. They are 100% in the moment, not thinking about anything else but ‘that moment’ with happiness and joy and childlike enthusiasm.

I admit, I’ve learned a lot from my daughter about happiness over the last 2 years.

She just *IS*.

in the moment.

For example, today I was able to play with her and while I played, I followed my own advice and paid attention with respect for her as she lives – in this moment.

We got her in her stroller when she said ‘Da-da, ride, da-da ride’.

Kira, do you want to go for a ride?

Yessssssss (with an emphatic, passionate emphasis on the ‘s’.)

Ok. Let’s get in your cart.

We strolled through the house back and forth and then she says: ‘fasssh-ther’

Faster honey?

Yessssssss.

Ok – and then I picked up speed as I was in a pretty quick run from one side of the house to the other.

I admired watching her as she enjoyed the moment (and so do I) with laughter and a huge smile from ear to ear.

That wasn’t enough though…

‘Hi-din’

You want hide and seek Kira?

Yesssssss.

Ok. Jump up in the bed and get under the covers.

Peekabooo. Where’s kira?

‘Thay she izzz’ – she responds. Laughing, with childlike enthusiasm, in the moment!

What can you learn from this?

What can you do today?

First, shut off your TV and Radio. Stop reading the newspaper. I guarantee nothing is going to change that dramatically in the world over the next 3 days. And chances are after you’re liberated from clearing your mind of just pure garbage, you’ll never want to go back to watching anything related to news again.

You’ll find that in 15 seconds on most main pages of the Internet, you can pick up the idea or gist of what’s going on in the world. I promise, it’s all you need.

By following this idea, you’ll clear your mind of the ‘clutter and garbage’ and most importantly give you the opportunity to allow really good stuff to go in.

What could you learn?

Start with the next step. Take at least 10 minutes to just stop and reflect. Go to the park or take a walk and start to notice the signs of ‘happiness’ right there around you. The flowers. The kids. Notice the energy.

Next, commit to do something fun for yourself this week (something healthy and supportive).

Reward yourself.

And I want to ask for your HELP!

I’d love to get your feedback on this. I know that it will be fun and it will help thousands of others come up with ideas too… Post your feedback below and we’ll highlight a few of the things people come up with.

Tell us (and the world) your experience as you turned off the TV and Radio.

Tell us what happened when you took 10 minutes to reflect.

Tell us what you did to spoil yourself with ‘happiness’.

Tell us what you did to be ‘in the moment’.

We are waiting…

Simply hit the link below that says “Comments” and post your feedback there. It’s pretty simple…

And I’ll leave you with a quote from the ‘Peaceful Warrior’.

“There’s no such thing as Start or Stop…

there’s only such a thing as ‘do’.”

Get moving!

Get going!

Do it…

Until we connect again!

Peace and prosperity,

Dan

I know exactly what you mean Dan! I’m not one to watch Tv during the day. I’d much rather be watching out my window into my backyard. It always makes me smile and feel so good and happy just to watch the birds and animals that visit my yard. Some people stop at my house to look out the window too. Besides watching the birds and animals out there we have 3 gardens out back, which also makes me happy just to look at it, especially the stargazer lilies. Anybody that has never smelled a stargazer lily should do so as soon as possible, it’s a heavenly smell. I think that they should make perfume out of the smell of them, they are beautiful to look at and simply marvelous to smell!

I am really happy when I see a bear in my backyard. I get out my camcorder and take some video of him, sometimes there are foxes, possums, big fat raccoons(from eating all my sunflower seeds)and a whole array of different animals visitng day and night. SO how do I know when they are outside at night you ask? I have one of those drive way buzzers as advertised on TV and I leave it on all night, so when I hear the buzzer going off I turn on the backlight and see what is out there, lately there is a really really giant raccoon out there! He is so funny to watch. I had a little cedar feeder hanging off the board of sunflower seeds; he takes the hanging feeder and with his hands his pulls up the feeder onto the board, he takes off the cover and drops the feeder on the ground, and I kid you not; he put his paw up to his face like wiping it across his forehead and just looks down as if to say oops! I just laugh to myself and have a ball just watching his antics! I guess I wish that everyone could feel the joy that I do just looking out my back window…and leaving all the stress behind. Everyone should find some kind of happiness that they don’t have to search for and be especially grateful when it is in your own back yard.

– Charisma

What an awesome blog! I agree 120% with what you said. We are so caught up in going, going, building, building of our businesses, that we do not see the blessings and gifts that are all around us.

I also wanted to share that while I have not watch the news in several years, I seem to always find out what I need to. I never seem to be missing out on anything.

Finally, my family chose to give up TV for this entire summer. What an amazing change it has caused for us as a family. For children, ages 9 and twin 5 year olds, it was quite a sacrifice!! However, it has created such an opportunity to be creative and spend more quality time together. We do different projects, play games, read books or just sit on the porch chatting.

Now, with having more time on our hands, we have been enjoying just listening to how excited our kids get at discovering the simplest things and answering the questions they ask…priceless!

Thank you, Dan for reminding us to breathe and take it all in!

– JDP

I, too, have seen the “Peaceful Warrier”. What a great movie to inspire you to make changes in your life!

I gave up TV years ago. The radio and newspapers I seldom partake in. Who wants to hear doom and gloom all the time? The more dramatic, the more sensational; it’s all hype.

Gratitude. Ah! what a great concept! Be grateful for the flowers, your loved ones, yes, and even the car repairs!(Be grateful you have a vechicle and that you have the funds to pay for it, even if it is a credit card!)

Upon retiring at night I mentally go through my gratitutd list and upon rising in the morning I repeat these five following questions?

What am I going to learn today?
Who am I going to meet today?
Who am I going to help today?
How am I going to further my career today?
What am I going to do to stay focused and positive?

The more grateful you are, the more postive, the more focused, the more you attract. It is like a domino effect.

Think Positve and Happy thoughts!

– Health for Wealth

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