It is the middle of fall here right now. One of the most absolute beautiful times of the year. The trees are about half full of fall color and the days are brisk. It is a good time to be out in nature.

I had some errands to run yesterday and it was late afternoon when I finished up and decided to stop by and see a friend of mine who had just recently returned from a two month trip to the east coast and back with his mate. They stopped and visited friends all across the country and did a ton of site-seeing. One of those trips of a life time.

So I stopped in to catch up on his trip and then I was going to catch the very late afternoon sun by going for a run down by the river. It was one of those sunny fall days where it is fairly warm when you are in the sun but not so warm when you are in the shade. So I wanted to catch the sun before it went down, which comes earlier and earlier this time of year.

For some reason we kept talking about subject after subject and by the time I left his house it was about a half hour to forty five minutes before sundown. Okay, I am still going for a run. So I get down to the park where I can park my car and start my run and I realize why I kept being delayed at my friend’s house.

I was supposed to be here at this right and perfect time for a “Sunset Run.” This is where I start my run about a half hour before sunset and end the run about a half hour after sunset. It is just the perfect time of evening and tonight was one of those perfect nights.

When I start out a run like this I am so full of gratitude that just being thankful for my life is about all I can think about for the first mile or so of my run. As I write these words I am thankful again for the most wonderful life I am creating. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

My run is along the bike trails that border the Willamette River here in Eugene, Oregon. It is one of the most picturesque bike trails in the world. Especially at this time of the year when the trees are aflame with color and the leaves cover the path and make a mosaic carpet to run on. It is gorgeous.

About half way through my run I have to cross the Owosso Bridge to get to the other side of the river. I love crossing these bridges because you get to see up and down the river and all the birds and animals that populate the river.

Birds are moving right now to get to their nesting place for the night. Lots of ducks and geese flying around. Still lots of light even though the sun is going down. So I cross the bridge and make my way back on the other side of the river.

On this side of the river I can see the sunset and tonight there are these long pinkish rays that play on the clouds to the west to make this really cool pink light in the sky. Totally awesome. This is what a sunset run is all about.

It is hard not to be grateful for everything in life when you experience this kind of show in nature. Me, the river, the sunset, the trees, the birds, the animals, everywhere I look I am privy to this spectacular nature just showing off. Wow, double blessed.

I finish up my run at the Valley River Bridge and as I walk across the bridge to the park where my car is I marvel even more at the way the river water adds so much to our lives. I used to think that the running was the thing I was after but now I realize that the running is just a byproduct of the real thing.

And the real thing is just being out in nature. When you are walking in nature you are attending the theater of life and there is no better show in town.

Live in love,

Richard D. Blackstone

Posted on November 5th, 2009 by Richard
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If you desire more joy in your life by living the life of your dreams then I invite you to take some time to look at the Big Picture of Life.

The reason most people feel like they are in a rut that they can’t seem to get out of is because they are continually micromanaging their lives in the day to day activities that keep them stuck doing the same things over and over.

The definition of insanity is when you continue doing the same thing again and again but expect to get different results. Albert Einstein put it this way, “You cannot change your current situation by thinking the same thoughts that got you there. You must change the way you are thinking and think different thoughts.”

The most effective way to change your thinking is to get out of your current comfort zone of micro-managing your life and create a schedule where you consciously and consistently start looking at the big picture of your life and begin the process of macro-managing your life. In order to macro-manage your life, you have to think different thoughts.

What would your life look like if you were on a track where everything that you ever wanted began to manifest into your life experience? Can you imagine that?

You begin with your imagination. First you imagine your life the way you really, really, really want it to be. This takes you out of the micro and puts you into the macro. You are no longer thinking about the same old things that you think about every day. You are thinking different thoughts and it is in these different thoughts that you begin the process of creating a different reality.

 “Create a Vision” of what you want your life to look like. This requires you to think different thoughts because now you are fine-tuning your imagination into a more vivid and accurate picture of how you choose your life to be.

Once you have created your vision you serve yourself by making your vision as concrete as possible by writing down your vision, by creating vision boards with pictures, by writing and speaking affirmations concerning your vision and all manner of positive things that keep your new vision in the forefront of your mind.

Invoke the ‘Law of Attraction’ by constantly thinking about the new vision you hold for your life in the macro while you engage in the day to day living of your life in the micro. The ‘Law of Attraction’ tells us that you bring into your life that which you put your attention on. Keep your attention on your big picture vision and the law of attraction has no recourse but to bring into your current experience those things you are constantly thinking about.

Don’t worry about how this is all going to happen, just keep focused on the ‘Big Picture’ and let the universe work its magic.

Live in love,

Richard D. Blackstone

Posted on October 17th, 2009 by Richard
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I am putting together a ‘Success Mind-Set’ that really has me rockin’ and rollin’.

I have always been successful although I haven’t always known it at the time. When I was sleepwalking through life, for about the first forty years or so, I was pretty much conditioned to interpret success in terms of money and material possessions.

Hey, it seemed to be the thing to do at the time because the television and all my peers kept telling me that those were the best parameters of ‘Success.’

Well, according to those guidelines I actually got to experience “success” but not all the time and not in a way that was gratifying to me. Oh yeah, I enjoyed the idea of having money and having new cars and all the material stuff that comes along with this definition of ‘success’ but it is nothing like the ‘success mind-set’ that I live with now.

Every aspect of my life is a success now because I am not confined to those silly parameters that a life based in fear tells me is the only manner of interpretation. I live within a love based paradigm of life now and because of this expanded way of living life I get to enjoy unlimited success in all aspects of my existence.

Now, isn’t that a lot more fun than just having the occasional success and only getting to enjoy it every once in a while?

It all has to do with the concept of ‘Love’ and its companion “Total Acceptance.” Love requires you to accept all the people, places, events and circumstances of your life and when you do that you get to see the benefit of everything that comes into your life and actually put the meaning to it that serves you. Whereas I used to judge and condemn most of the things that showed up in my life, now I accept everything that shows up because I know that if it shows up in my life, then I had a hand in somehow ‘creating it.’

And if I created it then I certainly don’t want to judge and condemn it, do I? I want to see what kind of hidden treasure there is for me. I can only do that by accepting what shows up and then putting the meaning to what shows up so that it serves me.

It takes a little while to get the hang of doing this but once you do you find that you are able to see all of the things that you couldn’t see before because you had immediately dismissed them as ‘bad’ or ‘unworthy’ or ‘whatever.’

Seeing with new eyes is how it all happens. Those new eyes are the eyes of love. Love opens up, expands, reveals and heals. Wow, I love to live in love. And I really love the concept of putting the meaning to everything that shows up in my life because it always reveals ‘Success.’ Yes, it’s a Mind-Set.

Live in love,

Richard

Posted on October 14th, 2009 by Richard
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I belong to ‘Toastmasters’ and my club is called ‘Yawn Patrol’ because we meet at 6:15am on Friday mornings. This is a very important factor in our clubs success as I will explain later in this article.

 Yawn Patrol is a very special club in the annals of Toastmasterdom because of our special distinction of being a “Presidents Distinguished Club” award recipient. In order to receive this award from Toastmasters International, the governing body of all of ‘Toastmasters’ clubs, you must complete nine out of the ten requirements for receiving this award. Every toastmasters club has the ability to receive this award but only a few have the tenacity to accomplish this feat.

 What makes ‘Yawn Patrol’ so special is that we have been awarded the “Presidents Distinguished Club” award for the last nine years in a row. Nine consecutive awards is quite an accomplishment for anything and we are very proud to announce that we are on track to get our tenth consecutive award this year. Ten “Presidents Distinguished Club” awards in ten years.

 So the current President of our club, Jill Whitmore, got in contact with Toastmasters International and asked them if they would be interested in an article for the “Toastmaster Magazine” about our club and what it takes to accomplish this feat. Of course, they were very excited about the prospect of our story so we are now in the process of creating an article to present to the magazine for all of our fellow Toastmasters around the world to read and learn from.

 We had a planning meeting last night at Jill’s house and did some brainstorming about what should be in the article and how we should structure it and all that. We talked about how we had great leadership and how we followed the guidelines of ‘Toastmasters’ and we talked about all the things required by the ten things you can do to earn the “Presidents Distinguished Club” award.

 Then we came to the conclusion that you can read about all of that stuff in the ‘Toastmasters’ manuals and magazine but what really makes our group special is the people and how we have all come together as an extended family that honors and respects each and every member. So we decided to shift the focus of the article to reflect the individual personalities of our members.

 We decided to have each member write a short paragraph about why ‘Yawn Patrol’ is so special to them and I would like to submit my paragraph right now. Here is why ‘Yawn Patrol’ is so special to me and why I believe that we have created this special Toastmasters experience.

Why Yawn Patrol is special to me: By Richard D. Blackstone

Fellow Toastmasters, my name is Richard Blackstone and I have been a member since August of 04’. Yawn Patrol is special to me because of one thing; LOVE. This group of diverse and exceptional people all came here with the intention of being better at public speaking, including myself, but once you become a member of Yawn Patrol you begin to realize that there is something going on in this special group of people that is way beyond the simple concept of learning the ART of public speaking. You have joined a family that honors and respects all its members. Yes, we all become better speakers, but during the course of this learning curve we all become better human beings. We have a very spiritual base in our club that demonstrates itself as Love, the kind of love that heals and grows and shares. I look forward to 6:15am on Friday mornings because I know that I am going to be immersed in a ‘feeling of love’ for an hour and a half and I can’t wait to get there and enjoy the company of these extraordinary people. Part of that love reveals itself in our mutual pride as a club that has been a “Presidents Distinguished Club” for nine years running and we are keeping it going. Yea, Yawn Patrol.

 I love ‘Yawn Patrol.’

 Live in love,

Richard D. Blackstone

Posted on October 10th, 2009 by Richard
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