This morning was a little strange.  The south sky was clear, but there were gusts coming off the Everglades with a tinge of misty rain.  I knew we were seeing the effects of Hurricane Ike, which a week ago had me planning to spend tonight and Wednesday inland.  The beach on the Gulf of Mexico is a few minutes walk from the front door.  And I don’t own hurricane shutters.  So far, they haven’t been necessary.

But since God decided Ike should head further west, we were once again blessed.  And so tomorrow will be another great day in paradise with our beautiful home and wonderful daughter and pets.  By the way, Rachel has a few fun videos up at YouTube.  You can look for them here.

Now our dog, Ginger, (who stars in one of the videos), has become finicky lately.  And it’s all our fault.  We fall into the trap of looking into those begging eyes and know what we are eating just has to be better than dog food (even Life Abundance).  So every once in a while there goes an “accidental” scrap on the floor which Ginger quickly takes care of.

If we could get her to eat dust… well, that’s another story.

The dog food bowl in the kitchen that sits just to the left of the dishwasher is half full.  She doesn’t scoot it, or even visit it unless she is really hungry.  I wish I could go that long without food – and see it and not want it.  But we’re made differently.

So now it’s rough – we see the eyes, but know we’re not really doing the dog any good by giving her our food.  Sure she wants what tastes good, but the food created for her is designed to give her exactly what she needs.

But who wants exactly what they need?  The Isrealites had a tough time with it in the wilderness.  Many times in nature we find things are both good for us and taste good.  We think it’s rare, but what has really happened is that we’ve allowed ourselves to become accustomed to other tastes.  I’m sure you’ve run into this when you visit someone from another culture.  They have foods that they love and you can hardly gag it down.  Why is that?

It’s because they have developed a taste for those things.  I think back to the Garden of Eden and what it must have been like there.  But I also believe there is an evil side in this world who wants us to taste different things and get off the wagon.

Well, I could go on and on about what we really should be eating, and wouldn’t that create a healthy debate?  But I have planned a session on the Law of Attraction that I want you to have and I am anxious to get that to you.

Have a great day – remember to stay with things that are “long-term” good for you.  Stay away from the short term.  It can be a killer – long term.

Talk soon,
Dave

We decided this year to go to the Naples 4th of July parade held on 5th Avenue to show our support for our country.  And it was fun and full of everything you’d expect from a small town on the Gulf of Mexico.  But what snagged my attention was the challenge our daughter was having getting any candy thrown from the floats.

It’s a tradition in many parades here in US that the people on the floats throw hard candy to the kids lined up along the parade route.

Rachel, our seven year old, wanted to get strategically positioned to get as much as she could as the parade passed by in all its glory.  She wriggled her way through a couple of families and got right out on the front line.  Perfect.

However, after a bit she returned and we both asked why?  The position seemed perfect, but Rachel said that there was big competition.  A couple of older girls and a younger girl were there at the same place.  It would be impossible to get anything.

We coached her a bit saying that there will be plenty and so she returned to her position.  But it didn’t last long.  After about 5 minutes, she returned saying she really didn’t want candy anyway and that candy wasn’t good for you and she just wanted to find somewhere to sit.

I thought of how much what she was going through was like many of the people I see in Network Marketing, or any marketing for that matter.

They go out and position themselves for maximum exposure, but then find out that’s where the big dogs hang out, too.  And then after a little coaching, they return but give up saying they just aren’t cut out for that, or that they really didn’t want that anyway.

But then, the dad and coach that I am, I showed Rachel that she needed to ask for the candy and people would go out of their way to give it to her.  So, reluctantly she returned to the front lines.

Then it happened.  When a big float full of people with bags of candy went by she looked up and held out her hand as if asking for the candy.  Two people threw a handful at her!  The other “dogs” or girls there waiting for candy were not doing this, so people were drawn to the open hand first.

Then something unexpected happened that really was fun to watch.

Rachel had turned the open hand into something else.  She would wave at the floats as they passed by – and that would catch their attention.  And once she had their attention, she then turned that wave into an open hand asking for candy.

Wow!  It worked SO well!  And I thought this is just what we need to do everyday.  Get their attention, and then not forget to ask for the sale.  Ask – it opens so many doors.

Rachel still has a big bag of candy at home and is proud to tell you the story of how she got it.