Tom Scarda's Spot

My Business Newsletter - Franchise Industry Info

2011-07-10T20:59:00.001-04:00

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/We-re-half-way-there--.html?soid=1101878813803&aid=6ezIoSC8KK0

Be Your Own Shaman

2011-07-04T23:32:00.000-04:00

As an official reviewer of books for Hay House Publications I am expected to review the books they send me regardless of my interest in the subject matter. Last month I received in the mail my free copy of Be Your Own Shaman – Heal Yourself and Others with 21st Century Energy Medicine by Deborah King.

Admittedly, the book sat on my end-table for about two weeks. I am interested in healing but I don’t fancy myself a healer nor do I want to learn the ways of the ancient Shaman. I finally picked up the volume and started to thumb through the stiff, cover back’s pages. I’ve never read Deborah King and I did not know of her and her many writings. I found that Ms. King has penned more than one book and knows her material quite well and on a first hand basis. I became anxious to read the book as I learned that the author was raised Roman Catholic as I was and shunned the religion as I did. However, Ms. King was able to rekindle her relationship with the Church which I had not accomplished. The fact that her horrific story about the Church was much worse than mine and she was able to heal her connection raised my interest and curiosity. I needed to know how she overcame her distress.

She tells her tale with hard, meat and potato facts and sprinkles in eastern flavors of spice and lore to keep us coming back for more like caffeine addicted coffee drinkers at Starbucks. The contrast Ms. King uses between her childhood in the United States and her studies abroad in far eastern lands is like watching a Bollywood movie in the Grumman Chinese Theater. All cultures are juxtaposed to make an inviting fabric to wrap ourselves in.

I continued to read this book and learned a lot about, what I thought, was mythical-type healings as well as eastern rituals and Christian faith-based healings. I found that I could apply many of the well known and also, the foreign remedies to myself, friends and family. I was familiar with some of the remedies already but many of the author’s insights were extremely enlightening.

What I liked best about the book was the easy to comprehend, conversational style, explanations of Deborah’s journey and ultimate healings and teachings. Although I don’t count myself as a healer I now know, because of this book, that I can heal myself and others if I was called to do so. I now understand the difference between clinical cures and spiritual, long-lasting healings. I encourage you to examine this easy to read book so you too may learn how to help yourself through anything from the common cold to addictions to cancer. Deborah King did it all and shares her road to healing with us in this wonderful tome.

Experience Your Good Now!

2010-12-03T21:02:00.003-05:00

Did you ever hear the phrase “when the student is ready the teacher will appear?” Well, that’s what happened with Louise Hays’ book, Experience Your Good Now! Learning to Use Affirmations.

I received an advance copy of Louise’s book in April from its publisher, Hay House, Inc. Being part of the Hay House Bloggers Review Marketing team I was supposed to review the book and blog about it at the release of the book in May. For reasons to numerous and lame to list here I was remiss in my duties and failed to read the book and post my review. I thought I missed the boat.

Last week the book’s colorful aqua-green cover caught my attention on my bookshelf and I decided to open the little gem and take a gander. 90 minutes later I was so glad I did.

As simple and easy it is to read, this is a powerhouse of a book. Don’t be fooled by its non-intimidating, slim appearance. Ms. Hays, in her elegant 76-year old dialect, explains why we all have negative chatter in our heads. She then proceeds to take various topics such as health, fear, forgiveness, love and the workplace and describes how many people focus on the negative aspects of situations which, via the Law of Attraction, only brings more of that unwanted stuff to us. Louise then goes a step further and gives us Affirmations to undo the unwanted matter and keep it away forever.

What’s interesting is I also discovered that there’s a CD in the back of the book. The audio contains the author reading the book and adding some additional flavor to the content. The audio potion is only one hour and fifteen minutes in length. For some people that is just one round trip commute to work. How easy it that?

I have always subscribed to the school of thought that alleged that affirmations were hokey. I imagined that if I plainly said over and over again, "I will think positive every day and make a new way," nothing would actually change. Ms. Hays clearly states that we are always saying’ something and that something is what becomes our reality. No truer words were ever spoken. For example, an affirmation I always used to make, just in passing was, “You can’t have everything!” Louise would say why not? So I got to thinking, the reason why not is only because I said it; I claimed that reality so that is my life's situation.

So now I go around saying, “I love having everything.” I figure what the heck? If I feel I have to say something anyway, why not make it something with a positive twist? Hey, if it works, great for me! If it doesn’t, nothing lost - I was going to say something anyway.

I deeply believe that everything happens for a reason and perhaps my missing the opportunity in May to promote Louise Hays’ new release now gives me the opportunity to promote it for the Holiday season. I strongly suggest that you go to the Hay House web site and order two copies for the holidays – one for you and one for someone you love. By the way, I love having everything!
Buy the book here: http://www.hayhouse.com/details.php?id=4846

Two Wolves

2010-11-10T10:16:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Dr. Dan Schaefer for sharing this parable. www.danschaeferphd.com

Two Wolves
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside all people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all."

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Did Instant Karma Kill John Lennon?

2010-04-25T10:27:00.000-04:00

When something goes wrong in a person’s life people sometimes say that it’s because of bad karma. This is a misunderstanding of the definition of Karma. In Eastern philosophy, Karma is defined as the thoughts, decisions and choices (including some from past lives) one has made that has brought them to the station of life they’re at today.

If you think about a particular circumstance in your life, chances are that you will not have any difficulty tracing back to the decisions that brought the situation to you. Other incidents are deemed freak or unintended and might be chalked up to Karma. However, upon closer examination you’ll discover that Karma is a subset of a natural law of the universe call “The Law of Attraction.” Simply put, The Law of Attraction says, whatever we concentrate on will expand or will be attracted to us. This is because our thoughts are true electrical vibrations. That’s why we can feel people’s energy or we can sense when someone is staring at us. An electron in motion generates a magnetic field. So, thoughts attract like thoughts, or like people or like circumstances.

We all become what we think about. Also, what we resist persists. If you have constant thoughts during your whole life such as you don't want contract a certain disease or illness that your parent or grandparents had - if not wanting the illness is your thought, like a soundtrack in your head –you are very likely to produce that actual illness over time. This is because the universe only hears the about illness. Not that you don't want it. One day you come down with that sickness and say, “I knew I was going to contract this!” You knew it? Well of course, after all, your doctor even said that you were predisposed to this particular ailment. It runs in your family you’ve been told your entire life. Hmm, sounds like a vicious circle to me.

So, instant Karma isn’t gonna get ya, as John Lennon proclaimed. A deranged, violent person is what got John. I submit that Lennon didn’t realize that he was trafficking in violence and that he attracted Mark David Chapman, his assassin, into in his life. Don’t get me wrong, Lennon was one of the most prolific ambassadors of peace that our generation will know. However, he was thinking about violence his whole life, albeit, against violence, it was a vibration of violence. He concentrated on it so much that he even wrote songs about it!

We will receive from the universe the subject of sentence uttered or thought about. The universe does not deal in verbs, adverbs or modifiers. If the subject of your sentence is going to be your Karma or your reality, Let it Be, Let it Be – but let it be in harmony with your goals.

It's all in your head

2010-04-13T06:50:00.001-04:00

It all starts in your mind: Happiness is a choice. Expectations make you unhappy. Prolonged unhappiness feels like suffering. This suffering causes dis-ease in the body. Therein begins the manifestation of your real suffering and pain.

How to Cope in a Recession

2010-04-07T22:04:00.002-04:00

Here's a great five minute clip with Tony Robbins giving great insight at a perfect time:
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=7506072

The Shift by Dr. Wayne Dyer

2010-03-02T12:45:00.002-05:00

I am so excited to have received an advance copy of Dr. Wayne Dyer’s, The Shift, which was released today by Hay House Publishing. I thought it would be interesting to share some of my findings about the new book. I’ve read more than half the books Dr. Dyer has written and I’ve always come away with numerous nuggets of insight and truths. The Shift was no different.

In true, clear Dyer style, the author lays out for us how everyone eventually has a light bulb of truth register in their head and at that moment we move from what he calls the morning to the afternoon of our life. We go from ambition to meaning. The morning/afternoon metaphor works nicely as we try to understand our own lives and coming of age. Most of us think of this moment as midlife crises. Instead of a crisis we have the opportunity to use the defining moment to move our life ahead with intention and on purpose, Dyer asserts. Unfortunately, I’ve witnessed some who squander this period of their life on sports cars or boats because they’re married to their ego and sadly miss the proverbial boat.

Dr. Dyer explains that if we listen to the mantra of the ego all morning long which is more, more, more…more of everything, please! We end up with less in the afternoon. As afternoon approaches, as the doctor says, we have the choice to head toward something meaningful and valuable – you’re true life purpose.

If you haven’t had the opportunity to pick up on of Dr. Dyer’s books, The Shift is a great place to start. And, if you’re not a reader, The Shift is also a movie! I suggest going to the publisher’s web site, http://www.hayhouse.com/details.php?id=4672&utm_id=3313 to get your copies. You may also get The Shift on the following sites:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Shift-Taking-Your-Ambition-Meaning/dp/1401927092/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265149999&sr=8-2 or
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Shift/Wayne-W-Dyer/e/9781401927097/?itm=8&USRI=the+shift

Whether you’re enjoying the morning of your life or trying for figure out what to do in the afternoon, I think The Shift will help you to define your moment.

What Goes Around, Comes Around

2010-01-22T09:14:00.002-05:00

I love stories of synchronicity. This is one of my favorites (considered urban legend by some) that shows how the universe conspires for the good, sometimes years later. Much of the time we will never know why things happen. We should always keep in mind that it does not matter if we know, as long as we understand, whatever the circumstance is, it's for the good.

A poor Scottish farmer named Fleming heard a cry of help coming from the nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black mulch, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.

The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. "I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life."

"No, I can't accept payment for what I did," the Scottish farmer replied, waving off the offer. At that moment, the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel. "Is that your son?" the nobleman asked. "Yes," the farmer replied proudly.

"I'll make you a deal. Let me take him and give him a good education. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll grow to a man you can be proud of."

And that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming's son graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin.

Years afterward, the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia. What saved him? Penicillin.

The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill.
His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.

You're Probably Right

2010-01-20T14:51:00.003-05:00

“The way to get past a fear is to plainly confront it,” says Jim Dailakis. Jim is an actor, comedian, screenwriter and voice over professional. Jim says a young boy in Perth, Australia, his ambition was to be a comedian and make people laugh. He was good at it, doing great impressions of teachers, family members and friends but always thought that being a comedian was for comedians and he was just a kid from Perth and being a comic was not an ambition he should even consider.

Dailakis reminisces, as a boy he was inspired by the great movie Rocky. The lesson he took away from the movie was that anyone can do anything if they just start with a small step. Another movie called Dog Day Afternoon changed the life of Dailakis. Jim says when the movie was over he remained in the theater and pondered how a guy named Al Pacino could act like that. He did some research and found out what acting school Pacino attended and the wannabe actor/comedian took his first steps toward becoming his dream. At that point all he did was say he WILL attend that acting school in New York. How was not the question, all that mattered is the fact that he had the will.

Jim was inspired by the fact that Pacino himself was scared silly while shooting the original Godfather movie. The now legendary actor recounted in an interview how he felt vulnerable while doing the first shoots. After all, the production house didn’t want the no-name Pacino; only Coppola the director wanted him. Pacino threw caution to the wind and won the production studio execs respect. This little tale made Jim understand that the difference between people who make it and who don’t has a lot to do with self-confidence and patients – it takes a lifetime to master your brain and emotions. Your emotions will throw you under the bus if you let them.

Jim finds that every little step and accomplishment gets you ready and fuels the next step. There are many steps to get to the top of Mount Everest but it all starts with making a decision to go to the top. Even when the hiker slips and takes a step back the climber always looks up toward the top of the mountain. You never see a mountain climber look down, they always look up – they keep their “eye on the tiger.” When the air gets thinner and slope steeper and breathing difficult, those are the signs that you’re about to reach the top.

Now Jim can be seen doing comedy nationwide. In addition he’s currently juggling five different movie roles in front of and behind the camera. I guess whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re correct!

For info on Jim Dailakis visit: www.jimdialakis.com.

Impossible Math Question?

2010-01-02T21:16:00.002-05:00

Three guys check into a hotel room. They get to the register to pay and the cashier says okay that's $30. So each guy paid $10 and they went up to their room. A couple minutes later the cashier realizes he charged too much so he sends the bellboy up to the room with $5. On his way up he decides to keep $2 for himself. So he gave each guy back a dollar. Now each guy has paid $9. $9x3=$27. plus the $2 the bell boy has is $29. What happened to the 30Th dollar?

Lessons from Y2K - Time Flies!

2009-12-22T09:34:00.005-05:00

The first decade of the millennium has come to pass. It seems like yesterday that we were all obsessed with being annihilated as a result of the Year 2000 computer malfunctions (Y2K). It seems that things we worry about are never as horrific as we make them out to be in our minds. Everything is temporary and a teaching tool. All things pass. Everything is changing and in the big picture; that’s a good thing. If not we’d all rust – or worse.

While most people are preparing for Christmas celebrations, Festivus or Chinese food and a movie, whatever your tradition may be, I wanted to get right into 2010 and resolutions. What’s your New Year’s resolution going to be? Will you resolve to quit smoking, eat less and exercise more? Other popular but less talked about resolutions are spending more time with family, learning something new, helping others and simply enjoying life more. The great news is that these less recognized goals can be achieved through owning a business. Time moves so quickly and we're on this planet for such a short time. Why continue to do something for a living that you hate? What are you waiting for? “I have no business experience,” you say? Maybe a franchise is just the thing for you – a business with training wheels!

Moreover, starting a new franchise will not only help you get to your dreams but you’ll create about ten new jobs in your community. In this job market, you’ll be hailed as a king for that!

As with any resolution, there is a lot of commitment and excitement on the first day of the year. In a business search the determination is never stronger than when that first inquiry is made – at that time, all possibilities are real. Images flash before your eyes of no boss to report to, no long commute and playing golf mid-week. Unfortunately, business searches, like most New Year’s resolutions, are usually short lived. According to Joe Mathews, author of Street Smart Franchising, out of 100 people who think about owning a franchise business, only 1 will actually become a franchisee.

One night, mid-slumber, the prospective entrepreneur sits straight up in bed and thinks, “am I crazy?!” All of the “what if’s” creep in: Can I make money? Will I have customers? Suddenly, she recalls a vague story about her baby-sitter’s uncle’s barber who cuts the hair of a guy who lost his shirt in a business – and it’s back to working for that idiot boss, waking to traffic reports on the alarm clock and waiting two hours on a Sunday morning to tee off. Wow, that was a short lived fantasy, it’s only February. What happened?

Fear of the unknown is what happened. Thankfully, there are ways to overcome the inevitable mountain of fear. Getting past the fear is the quintessential right of passage for a new entrepreneur. It’s a test all business owners face and it truly separates the wanna-bes from the people who know in their soul that there can be more to life than working a J-O-B.

How do you get past the fear? Acceptance. You need to acknowledge that this decision to change your life will have more anxiety than anything else that you would freely volunteer to do. Without facing the fear you will inevitably stay stuck where you are. There is no one forcing anyone to buy a franchise – unlike some to other high anxiety situations like making a speech at your brother’s wedding. There’s a sense of obligation to the sibling, so you make the speech and pray that it will be over soon. (The speech that is, not the marriage).

If you’re considering buying a franchise, address all of the fears up front and create a strategy for dealing with them before they arise. We all know that 98% of those things we fear never come to pass. Focus on the positives of business ownership and what it can do for you and your family. Understand that at the end of your due diligence, the real and final decision is yours and yours alone. If you get this far you will find that the real choice is between unhappiness (the boss, the commute, lousy pay) verses uncertainty (the possibilities of what could be if the chance is taken). I hope you choose uncertainty because life is not about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

My wish for you in 2010 is to reach out, without fear, for newer, richer experiences.

Tom Scarda
Reach for the Top!

Schrödinger's Cat

2009-12-19T19:11:00.002-05:00

If you take a moment to think about the world beyond your everyday life you’d discover that there is an unseen energy that is always in control of the universe. The human ego makes us think that we have power over what we do. To an extent we do and we don’t. Is that confusing? Well it gets worse.

Did you ever stop to think about how certain bodily functions happen while we’re asleep? How are we able to keep our blood pumping, digest food, grow hair and nails and even dream? Where does that energy come from? How do we keep our bodies somewhere between 97 and 104 degrees for our entire life span?

While we’re thinking about “stuff,” how does the ocean move? What makes the sun go around? Why do animals’ coats get thicker in the winter and thinner in the summer without effort? Why do squirrels, in the middle of a vast metropolis like New York City still gather nuts and food for the winter when they’re not in their natural habitat?

We all know the scientific explanation behind these phenomena but how did it all start? Is it possible that the same energy that controls the waves also controls human’s breathing? Did you know that the time it takes to take a full breath of air is the identical time it takes for a wave to roll on to a beach? Coincidence?

I submit that we are part of a grand energy system that we don’t consider, take for granted, nor use for our greater good. I believe all things are possible if we learn to tap into our God-given ability to create our existence. If we let go of the concept good and bad, or wrong and right decisions and just live for the experience, we would be amazed at the results, and the grand events and the miracles we’d relish.

I suggest that every possibility in the world, and even more than our feeble imaginations can conjure, are available to us at this very moment. Everything exists at all times. The Physicist Niels Bohr stated that observation is necessary to determine the state of an object. Before the observation is made, all things exist in all possible variations. This is called the Copenhagen Theory in quantum physics.

What exists in your reality is present because you choose it with your decision. I can list pages of examples here but I’ll keep it to a few items.

If you want a new car, all possible autos are available at this moment. For various reasons such as price, gas consumption and size of vehicle, you narrow down your choices to a few models. Once you “decide” which model you will buy, you suddenly start to notice the same exact vehicle in parking lots, on the street and even two on your own block. Now that you’ve put your attention on or “observed” a specific vehicle, that particular vehicle comes into your reality-vision.

Too illustrate this theory I want to talk about a quantum physics example called Schrödinger's cat. In 1935, the scientist Edwin Schrödinger proposed a thought experiment. Schrödinger suggested that if you put a live feline in a box with poison and left it alone for an hour that cat is both alive and dead for that hour. Both realities exist. Until one makes the decision to look into the box, all out comes are possible.

Can this translate into every decision you make? Henry Ford said, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you are correct.” Until you open the box of your life nothing happens. When you look to see what’s inside – or out there for you – you’ll never know.

The Power of Persistence by Justin Sachs

2009-11-30T19:03:00.002-05:00

If there’s anything I’ve learned in the past seven years that I’ve been in the personal development industry it’s that there is one characteristic that, above all, creates success among the most extraordinary people. That one characteristic is persistence.

If we look throughout the world in every industry, in every culture, there’s one consistent trend among every single successful individual, and that trend is the ability to persevere beyond a shadow of a doubt. It’s the ability to stand up beyond everyone else and take a step forward when everyone else sits down.

Before we get started I’d like to take a moment to acknowledge you, because it’s not just anyone who would read an article called The Power of Persistence. It isn’t every day that people decide to do what they need to in order to be successful.

Only the most extraordinary individuals, the top minute fragment of a percent, who actually step up and take action towards creating success in their lives. Simply by picking up this book, you’ve chosen to step up and I acknowledge you for taking on that feat.

The Power of Persistence is available at www.PowerofPersistenceBook.com with over $3,000 bonuses when you purchase.

If we look throughout history at some of the greatest leaders-- Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Colonel Sanders, Mark Victor Hansen, Steve Jobs -- the most extraordinarily successful people are those who have persisted beyond the norm.
Everywhere we look we see signs of persistence in those that are creating the most challenging and rewarding results. It is not always natural; it’s a learned trait. What this means though, is that success is simply a choice.

There was once a politician who failed at business at the age of 21. He was defeated in a legislative race at age 22, he failed again at business at age 24, overcame the death of his lover at age 26, had a nervous breakdown at age 27, lost a congressional race at 34 and 36, lost a senatorial race at 45, failed to become vice president at 47, lost a senatorial race at 49 and then finally was elected to President of the United States of America at age 52.

Now imagine, if he had considered any of these past experiences as failures and had allowed that to stop him from moving forward, he would never have become one of the most extraordinary Presidents of the United States, Mr. Abraham Lincoln.

There’s a famous story about Thomas Edison: he tried 9,999 times to perfect the light bulb and he couldn’t do it. Someone said, “Are you going to have 10,000 failures?” And he responded, “I didn’t fail, I just discovered another way not to invent the electric light bulb.”

He got to choose how he perceived his previous experiences and whether or not he perceived them as failures.

Mark Victor Hansen, a close friend of mine and an extraordinary mentor and businessman. He is the coauthor of Chicken Soup for the Soul Series that has now sold over 144 million copies in over 20 languages worldwide.

But did you know that over 110 publishers, in their pursuit to be published, turned down Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield? They went to New York, and it wasn’t until a publisher’s wife got a hold of the manuscript and all night long she was waking her husband saying “Look at this, look at this” Finally the publisher agreed to publish it.

Now here’s a story about another individual. His name was Colonel Sanders, the founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken. He was a military retiree and had nothing to his name, except his mother’s chicken recipe. So what did he do? He took his old sports wagon out and began driving to restaurant after restaurant after restaurant.

His intention was to sell the chicken recipe, but he was turned down time and time again he was turned down; 1,007 times before he received his first yes and that one yes is what made possible Kentucky Fried Chicken possible.

The last individual I want to tell you about is Steve Jobs, the President and founder of Apple Computer. Members of his own board of directors kicked him out of his own company. He could have allowed this to stop him, but instead he stood up. It was only because he persisted that he was voted back in as Chairman of Apple. He created the iPod, the iPhone and a new line of Mac Computers. Had he not, we probably would not have ever experienced an iPod or an iPhone.

As you can see the stories go on and on of the most extraordinary individuals creating powerful results, as a direct reflection of their persistence. Because time and time again, individuals are stopped along their journey. Just because they’re stopped, it doesn’t mean that they are failures or that their project will never work. It simply means that they’re one step closer to achieving the result that they desire

Justin Sachs is the best-selling author of The Power of Persistence, and leading success coach for entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and business owners. His latest book can be found at www.PowerofPersistenceBook.com with over $3,000 in bonuses from leading experts like Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Loral Langmeierfor anyone who purchases a copy.

Parents, Teachers, Preachers

2009-11-27T21:02:00.001-05:00

The Buddha said: “Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”

I Sold My Chopper Today

2009-11-21T16:49:00.002-05:00

The chipper young guy who showed up to buy my Harley-Davidson looked like he'd just walked off the set of a bad biker movie. His black tee-shirt blurted, "I Own a Harley - Not Just a Tee Shirt." Did he stop to buy that shirt on the way here? The leather jacket flung over his shoulder looked new. I'd bet he didn't know that leather is your second skin if you suffer the misfortune of making love to the pavement - it's not a fashion statement, even the Fonz knew that. Anyway, I could tell he wasn't a genuine biker: he had no tattoos.

He slipped on his jacket and mounted my bike. I felt a sense of pride when the engine came to life with just one kick. We said our good-byes. "Take care of her, man....," I said. He looked up, gave me a sheepish grin and plopped off the curb onto the street. Car alarms screeched in distress as the twisted metal machine roared down the street. I watched the wheels glide along the blacktop. He turned the corner and was gone. The sound of the engine pounding the air was all that lingered. Like a passing thunderstorm, it faded with distance.

As I stood watching my bike ride away, a rerun of my life played on the screen of my mind. That guy was me a couple of dozen years ago. Does the stubbled-faced kid know what he's getting into? He has an image to bear up to every time he rides that hog. To be taken seriously, he has to give up haircuts and laundry detergent. When he pulls up on that Harley, preceded by the loud thump, thump, thump of the V-twin engine, people anticipate an attitude. The new biker will have to replace that boyish smile with a sneer; he owes it to his public. This is not just for the fun of it, pal; it’s a lifestyle, if you're for real.

In selling my bike, I divorced my soul mate. I rode that chopper for what seems like a lifetime. I was in the saddle through every season; only ice on the ground could get me into a four-wheeled cage. It holds a place in my heart like my first girlfriend. There are pictures of me sitting on it when I got my 15 minutes of fame on the local news. It was a part of me. When I was downhearted, I’d take her for a ride to the Verrazano Bridge. The wind in my face blew away my troubles.

Now, sitting on the curb in front of my modest Long Island split-level, I reflected on why I had become an outlaw biker back then. Part of it was the attention. Riding a Harley chopper with a gang's logo stitched into my leather vest made me a celebrity, like the original Jesse James (not the TV personality). The daunting sight of a gang member unsettled some, but awed others. That's what drew me in. But more than that, the motorcycle was the perfect vehicle for my own identity crisis.

In Brooklyn's Saint Thomas Aquinas grammar school, dressed exactly like 300 other good Catholic boys, I wore gray slate trousers and a blue-and-gray plaid blazer every day. I cried out for recognition. What better way to get noticed then to join an outlaw motorcycle club? So, at 19, I took the plunge. Ironically, I learned that bikers had a uniform too: Steel-toed boots, wallet with a silver chain dangling, leather jacket with innumerable zippers, vest embellished with patches, dark sunglasses, jeans and a tee shirt with a red and orange Harley emblem or a "provocative proverb" such as "Real Men Wear Black." Over time, I learned that the uniform wasn't very practical during the summer months. But it was the uniform, nevertheless; I had to wear it.

Sporting the gear, I was part of motorcycle Americana. I rode along happily for a few years until one day I discovered that the very reason I became a biker no longer existed. I felt like I’d been broadsided by a bus. While shopping for my girl's birthday present at Macy’s, groping silky lingerie, I glanced over to the Men’s department and eyeballed an authentic custom Harley-Davidson. Mannequins displaying designer motorcycle jackets and bandannas straddled the bike right in the main aisle. I realized with great dismay: I was IN FASHION! The media, and then Wall Street, had ripped the romance right out of my underground culture.

First, Hollywood gave America tough-guy biker Marlon Brando in The Wild One. Fifty years later, Terminator 2 featured Arnold Schwarzenegger blasting across the screen on a Harley. Today we have a comedy movie based on motorcycles and midlife crisis. The motorcycle’s biography is often the topic of TV documentaries. Even Ted Turner’s people capitalized on the legend with their show “Orange County Choppers.” The last American-made motorcycle has become a status symbol, just like the Cadillac. However, I don't know anyone who has the Cadillac emblem tattooed into his skin.

1986 saw Wall Street take the Harley-Davidson Motor Company public. The stock has split more times than my 20-year old blue jeans. Now, H-D doesn't care about their original customers, outlaw bikers. During the Sixties and Seventies, Harley loyalists bought Harley-trademarked motorcycle gear at triple its value, just to keep the company alive.

Now, with amenities such as rubber-mounted engines and belt drives to ease vibration, the American-made motorcycle is not a “hog” anymore. Wannabe bikers, with their large discretionary incomes, scoop-up new Harleys for amounts that could be a down payment for a house - an expensive price to buy back the machismo they traded in for their college degrees.

My dentist now owns one, his attorney brother, the sixth-grade teacher at my daughter's school, and the white-haired retired guy who lives down the block with the 2008 Mercedes-Benz (I bet he bought his bike with his American Express card). Pseudo-bikers will do anything to be part of the Harley culture, except commit to it as a way of life. They stop shaving on Thursdays so they'll have a thick five o'clock shadow to flaunt on the weekend. Being a biker is just a fantasy. The credit-card bikers are never willing to get their hands dirty, literally.

But a real biker can always be identified. He knows his bike the way parents know their children. When the oil-marinated machine backfires, he knows why. If it leaks, he plugs it. If the engine smokes, he cures it. The burly, long haired rider does all his own repairs and maintenance. His machine is a member of the family. It has a special space to take its siestas, the other members of the clan know its history, and the two-wheeled relative often appears in family photo albums.

So, as my Harley moves on, I can only hope she will be happy. Although my skin crawls with tattoo ink and my heart longs for the open road, I can no longer ride. Having known the real thing, I can't align myself with the store-bought image. Moreover, my soul mate has lost its soul. I guess all things change, for better or worse, even me.

Now, I have two kids, Schwarzenegger has three, Brando is dead and the Hells Angels have a My Space page. However, I also now have $7,000 in my hand, which will pay for removing the motorcycle-oil stains from my driveway.

Why Do We Get Sick?

2009-11-20T20:24:00.003-05:00

First, understand that all illness is created in the mind - even sickness that is said to be contagious or brought on from old age. Thoughts are very subtle, yet extremely powerful.

A person who thinks to herself, "My life is stressed," "I'm sick and tired of my life," I'm a loser," "God is going to punish me," will get sick – eventually.
Germs of the mind are as powerful, if not more powerful than the germs we find in a toilet.

Notice that many times when you have a cold you have something big coming up. Could even be something relaxing such as a vacation but if you stress about it, it wears you down and you get sick. Some people think they catch a cold from their friend who is sick. The mere thought, oh great, now I’m going to get this guys cold is the impetus to you coming down with something. Next time someone in your presence sneezes, think to yourself, I’m grateful that I have an amazingly strong immune system.

In Neal Walsch’s book, Conversations With God, he submits that many people create their illness because they love them. They use being sick to feel sorry for themselves and to get attention. Even the conventional western doctors are now seeing how people make themselves sick.

Most people do so unconsciously. When they get sick they don't know what hit them. They think they caught something, they never think they did something to themselves. Most people go through life totally unaware that they can create or destroy anything with their mind.

Do you know anyone who goes though life eating poorly and then wonders why they have coronary disease? How about people who are angry, harbor ill feelings toward another or toward themselves via guilt and end up having a stroke? The not so obvious truth is that most people worry themselves to death.

Walsch continues; worry is the worst form of mental activity, aside from hate. Worry is pointless. It is a waste of mental energy. It creates bio-chemical reactions to the body that create everything from indigestion to heart attacks plus a myriad of things in between.

One's health will improve immediately when worrying ends. Worry is the activity that does not understand its connection with God.

Hatred is the most severely damaging mental activity. It poisons the body, and its effects are virtually irreversible. Do you hate someone for what you perceive they did to you? Hate has no affect on the receiver, only the giver. Let it go immediately before it kills you!

Fear is the opposite of everything you are, and has an effect of opposition to your mental and physical health. Fear is worry magnified.

Worry, hate and fear all attack the body at a cellular level. It is impossible to have a healthy body under these conditions.

ALL illness is created first in the mind.

Why We Choose Fear

2009-11-17T09:02:00.002-05:00

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great. –Mark Twain

What is the last thing your mother said to you when you were leaving the house? What's the last thing you say to your children? My mother always said and still says: “Be Careful!”

We are brought up and taught to take care because you don’t know what fate has stored around the corner. Because of this we live with a sense of fear looming in the background. We take that fear to our everyday lives and decisions. There’s always the “what if” quotient we have to deal with.

Wow, just think, what would you do if you knew you couldn't fail? Life would be very different, would it not? In high school, would you have asked the prettiest girl on a date? Would you apply for the position that had a responsibility of huge budgets and vast amounts of people? Would you have chosen a career that was more fulfilling and not just safe? Do you have a song still in you waiting to be sung?

Our teachers, preachers and parents have all told us to take the safe route. They love us and don’t want to see us get hurt or lose - although there is nothing to lose. If you think about it, it’s really them. They don’t want to have to deal with you losing or their perception of lose. Some just don’t want you to succeed either. Your success will remind them of their failure or lack of spirit. Some people just want to have control so they tell you that they know people who have tried things and failed or suffered. They breed the fear. Others don’t like change, even if its change in your life. They need to have you categorized and compartmentalized for their convenience.

We rarely are told of the people who took a chance, who took a left turn and succeeded. I love Robert Frost’s quote from the Road Less Traveled. I have taken the one less traveled, and that has made all the difference. I have lived by those words since high school.

Have you ever faced fear and made a decision that surprised even you?

Love or Fear?

2009-11-15T20:56:00.001-05:00

The way you approach life – from love or fear - will produce certain results on the physical plane or in reality.

Love being “the way” of masters, is equal to higher consciousness which is not connected to the physical plane at all. Love is thinking out of your head, in line with God. Reality is the polar opposite to God or living like God or living like a master. When you are based in reality (facts) there can only be fear. Reality=Fear.

Once you step outside of reality you step out of fear and into peace, joy and happiness: love. However, if you live with one foot in love (truth) and one in fear (reality) you are separated, living a dual-personality. This is where the struggle of life is – in giving credence to reality.

The ego is based in reality which is always feeling lack. The ego is always in pursuit of the next thing - Always looking for that next piece of gratification, the next moment. It’s not being present but being addicted to the next hit. The rub is that reality and your ego do not exist in love, in God’s domain. Living in your head, from your ego is like living on an iceberg that is melting more and more every day. If you can manage to get off the ice berg and onto solid ground you no longer have to worry about slipping or there being enough room to live.

The Road Not Taken

2009-11-15T09:14:00.000-05:00

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood,and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference
...Robert Frost