Around
the Corner
Online Classes....
CLASS: From Breakfast to
Dinner - Meal Planning to Suit Your Lifestyle. Begins
April 3rd. 2 weeks. $39. Learn
more
CLASS: Extreme Home Makeover
- A Ten Week Journey from Cluttered to Clean. Begins
April 24th. 10 weeks. $69. Learn more
2017 Class Schedule: Available Here!
AVAILABLE
NOW: The Toolbox 2.0! Brook Noel
has redesigned the Toolbox featuring a new 10 Step Version with videos,
new support, and much more!
Already a member of her Make Today Matter community? You are
automatically
part of this exciting new phase at MTM. If not, consider joining today.
Click
here for more information.
Make
Today Matter: A complete program for getting
organized, managing time, living by your priorities and building the
life you want:
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click
here
Daily
Affirmations and
Inspiration from Brook on Facebook! Click here
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“The
pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity.
The optimist sees the opportunity in every
difficulty.” ~
Winston Churchill
Good
Morning!
It
should come as no surprise that the secret to living a rich, full, and
happy
life lies in the second sentence of this quote.
Every time we face a difficulty we have two choices: wilt or grow.
It is that simple. We can complain about the difficulty,
analyze
it, dislike it, think that it is unfair or unjust – and we might be
right. But that doesn’t matter. Whether we are
right or wrong, the difficulty
remains. We can make the difficulty a
statue in our life by focusing on it, or we can make the difficulty
crumble, by
growing and stepping past it.
This
concept applies to all difficulties – not just the “little things.”
My one and only sibling died suddenly when I
was twenty-three. He was my big brother
and a father figure to me, as my parents divorced shortly after I was
born, and
I did not keep in regular contact with my father. Part of me
wanted to “wilt.” Part of me wanted to give up, to curse what
felt unjust and unfair. We were a small
family of three and now we were a family of two and it didn’t seem fair.
Something within me, though, refused to wilt.
I
used that experience to create a book to help others, called I Wasn’t Ready to
Say Goodbye: Surviving,
Coping, and Healing after the
Sudden Death of a Loved One. At the
time (2000), no such book was available.
I coauthored the book with a doctor I had known, Pamela D. Blair.
Little did I know when Caleb died that the
United States would face the tragedy and shock of 9/11. This
book went on to become the best-selling
grief book on the market, and I received many letters, calls, and
emails from
those who lost friends and family in the terrorist attacks.
Since then, I have continued to receive many
letters that have touched my heart. Does
this make my brother’s death “just” or “fair?”
Of course not. But it does give
it meaning and purpose. Instead of “wilting,”
my brother and I took this experience and used it to help thousands
upon
thousands of others.
That
story is an example of being a true optimist.
It isn’t that we ignore or pretend that the
bad doesn’t exist, but when
the bad comes to our door, we create something bigger that matters more. While we may lose loved
ones, possessions,
love, friends, physical abilities – there is one thing we never lose:
hope.
Your
Turn: Where
have you been seeing
difficulty instead of opportunity?
How
would it feel to remove the stone statue of “difficulty” and replace it
with fertile
ground for hope to grow? What
can you do
today to begin crumbling that statue?
Today’s
Affirmation: I greet each moment with
hope.
And
as always, don't forget to
start your day with a heartfelt: "Something great is
going to
happen today... I can't wait to see what it is!"
And when ending
your day ask yourself: "What is one more thing I can do
to
make today matter?
Good
Morning Book and Coffee Mug
Good Morning: 365
Positive Ways to Start
Your Day by Brook Noel
Learn more or order the book here
Click here to browse Good Morning blend
coffee, mugs
and gift sets
Connect
Follow Brook on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/brooknoel
Become a friend at Facebook:
Click
here for Brook Noel on Facebook
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on Facebook
(Brook's book, work, and inspiration page)
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