"Here, you go first!" That may be the thing my little brother remembers me telling him most.  I'm not sure how this tiny little drawing got in my Moleskine® pad but, for better or worse, it speaks volumes about my relationship with my little brother.  When we were young I was the schemer, always coming up with incredible plans for us implement.  He was always the reluctant participant, who had to be coaxed by my carnival barker enthusiasm as to why this time, everything will go as planned and I promised we weren't going to get in trouble.  Rarely did it go as planned and we always got in trouble. 

The amazing thing is that no matter how many times my schemes failed to go as planned and no matter how many times my brother suffered the consequences of my bright ideas, he always supported me.  I'm old enough now to admit that I would have been a very lonely little boy afraid to try anything by myself if it weren't for my little brother who was always willing to support me despite the known risks.  He believed in me because he loved me, no matter how crazy my ideas may have been.

Today his belief in me lives somewhere inside of me in a tiny little hidden pocket that seems to come out to support me whenever I'm about to take the next big step in my life.  Eric, you may be the little brother but you'll always be a big brother to me.  I love you.

I re-discovered this cartoon I drew in a sketchbook I had thought I lost.  It's one of those drawings I knocked out while bored and apparently didn't think too much of.  But when I saw it again, as if for the first time, it got my attention.  It's a great example of the irony and/or dilemma of change. 

Most people desperately want things to get better but are terrified of change.  Me included.  Today I am fortunate to have many friends in the same boat.  When one of us is faced with uncertainty we can reassure them, from our collective experience, that there is nothing to fear.  God is always on the road ahead and God is love, making safe and successful our way.  Whenever change presents itself a favorite affirmation of mine by Louise Hay always comes to mind.  It is; "I'm safe; it's only change."

Over the years I've been reassured by many short, sweet encouraging words of wisdom regarding change.  In addition to my favorite by Louise Hay, here are some of the ones that I continue to whip out and apply when necessary.  They help me let go of my fear and uncertainty with healthy and mature acceptance that enables me to see the perceived change as necessary and for my greater good.  And it always is. 

Here are my well-worn favorites;

"If nothing changes, nothing changes."

"Change is not painful, resistance to change is painful."

"The only thing constant in the Universe is change."

"There's no progress without change."

"Nothing, absolutely nothing happens in God's world by mistake. 
So, I wonder what wonderful thing is going to come of this!"

"I'm safe; it's only change."

I got a call from an old friend who shared this with me.  He overheard a conversation where a guy was sharing with his friend how things in his life had just taken a nose dive.  The friend's advice was the perfect prescription. 

He said, "Just give the day a chance.  If something doesn't work out, don't get bent out of shape.  Just give the day a chance.  Allow the day to work its magic!"

The following video was recently discovered in a dumpster behind Dinah's chicken located in Los Angeles within a mile of LAX.  Rumor has it in 2002, "Dancing with Darrell" was the most popular show on Public Access. Long before "Dancing with the Stars", "D w/D" was the only outlet for people who loved dancing and it helped turn a generation on to its power. Sadly, Darrell contracted rickets in 2004 while eating a McRib in a hot tub after training for the show and had to leave Los Angeles to seek treatment from the jungles of Brazil. This is his legacy.

Update: after we first re-aired this video we received the following anonymous comment. "I heard someone saw him watching the news about his disappearance on a TV in the window of an electronics shop in Horton, Canada. At least it looked like him with a beard. He shook his fist at the TV on display and shouted, 'IT WASN'T RICKETS IT WAS GOUT!'"

I was on a leisurely walk with a good friend who knows I’m having a lot of fun writing my first book.  At the end of our walk we both took a seat.  I was enjoying a mini vacation watching people walking along on the other side of the street when he began asking me questions.

“Tell me how you are doing this book?”

“What do you mean?”  I responded.

“I mean, you’ve said you’re putting it together, what do you mean by that?”

I replied, “I’m discovering that I have most of the stories written and the original artwork already done, so I’m just having fun piecing it together, like making a scrapbook for friends.” 

His questions seemed odd, since it was him that suggested I take the lighthearted approach of thinking it as a putting together a scrapbook rather than the daunting task of writing a book.  But he didn’t let up. “I know you say it’s like putting together a scrapbook but what do you mean by that?  How are you going to format it?” 

After that he continued with still more questions about the mechanics of how would I turn what I have into a book?  Then he asked still more questions - regarding publishing, layout, style, etc…  While he kept inquiring about how I was going to accomplish this I began to feel uncomfortable and defensive.  How am I supposed to know the answers to any of this sh#t?  I've never written a book before.  Then I blurted it out, “I don’t need to know how to do any of that crap now.”

I went on to explain that if I bothered myself with any of that stuff at this stage I’d stop dead in my tracks.  All I needed to do was continue enjoying what I’ve been doing and everything I need to know will present itself right when I need to know it.  Whenever I try to figure out how to do something first, it’s just an excuse to put off whatever inspiration is nudging me to do at that time.  Nothing great was ever created by trying to figure out how to do it first.  After a moment he began to laugh and told me how he just realized that all the questions he was asking me was the crap he uses on himself - that get in the way when he’s inspired to write music.

We both were laughing at our discovery and I said, “Isn’t a relief to not have to know how to do something you really want to do?”

So when these questions come up I can honestly dismiss them with “I don’t need to worry about that right now.  I’ll jump off that bridge when I get to it.”  By doing so I take on the role of the loving but firm parent of my dream.  Whenever I’ve approached any new project with this attitude, whether is was building my first go-cart when I was 10 or making my first documentary at age 34, I felt confident in knowing that all I needed to be concerned with was doing the minimum I knew how to do at that time.  Everything else I needed to know, have help with, or get done, always seemed to come together perfectly and right when it needed to.  Disregard your doubts and the doubts of others by stepping out boldly in the direction your heart is leading you.  You will become magnetic to all the support you’ll need and favorable coincidences will become commonplace to see you through to a successful completion. 

When you begin to question yourself consider this old parable;

A centipede was happy quite,
Until a frog in fun
Said, "Pray, which leg comes after which?"
This raised her mind to such a pitch,
She lay distracted in the ditch,
Considering how to run.

Of course it does.  It's one of the most difficult things to do, second only to "following through."  I know, I have battled with these two long enough to consider myself an expert at performing ninja moves on anything my mind tries to sabotage me with.  The good news is all of the moves are simple to apply and 100% effective. 

Here's one that I'm currently using in order to put together a book I am working on this month: "just 10 minutes."  That's not the title of the book, that's the mental manuever.  It's this simple; I allow myself to spend "just 10 minutes" doing the thing I've been putting off.  It works by radically changing my perception.  For some strange reason my mind decides all on it's own that whatever it is I want to get started on is a Big Deal.  "Just 10 minutes" seems so inconsequential that it takes off all the pressure. My unreasonable fear evaporates and I am once again enthusiastic about getting started. 

This idea of "just 10 minutes" also grants me the freedom to act on inspiration the moment it strikes.  So many great ideas have drowned in a sea of doubt simply because we didn't allow ourselves the permission to spend just 10 measly minutes to act on them.  Matter of fact, if it wasn't for the benefit of putting this philosophy into practice today I would have put off sharing this with you until I had more time.  In other words, it would have been put off just long enough for me to talk myself out of it.