I am so grateful that I get to celebrate my mom's birthday today with her and her mom, and our extended family. These are memories we can treasure forever and having three generations together for the celebration is very special. I have baked 2 cakes and we are going to celebrate throughout the day with people coming over for both morning tea and lunch.

Treasure the time you get with you loved ones - whoever they are, and make sure you tell them how much you love and appreciate them. Take the time to write them a gratitude note/ letter letting them know how grateful you are that they have been in your life. As we have seen over the past 5 years you never know when it is going to be too late and then you will wish you had expressed your love and gratitude.

I did it today and you can too.

Namaste

Kari 

7 Tips to Attracting What You Want
by Jack Canfield

We all aspire to be, do and have great things. Yet most of us simply aren’t creating the results we want. We don’t have enough money, romance, success or joy in our lives. But what we need to understand is that greatness exists in all of us. It is simply up to us to pull it out of ourselves. We all have the ability to create the life we want. We just need to learn how to do it. Here are 7 of my top tips to jump-start your success and start "attracting" what you want into your life.

1. Take 100% Responsibility for Your Life
One of the greatest myths that is pervasive in our culture today is that you are entitled to a great life-that, and that somehow, somewhere, someone is responsible for filling our lives with continual happiness, exciting career options, nurturing family time and blissful personal relationships simply because we exist. But the real truth is that there is only one person responsible for the quality of the life you live. That person is YOU.

2. Be Clear Why You’re Here
I believe each of us is born with a life purpose. Identifying, acknowledging and honoring this purpose is perhaps the most important action successful people take. They take the time to understand what they’re here to do-and then they pursue that with passion and enthusiasm.

3. Decide What You Want
One of the main reasons why most people don’t get what they want is they haven’t decided what they want. They haven’t defined their desires in clear and compelling detail... What does success look like to you? Not everybody's definition of success is the same, nor should it be.

4. Believe It’s Possible
Scientists used to believe that humans responded to information flowing into the brain from the outside world. But today, they’re learning instead that we respond to what the brain, based on previous experience, expects to happen next... In fact, the mind is such a powerful instrument, it can deliver to you literally everything you want. But you have to believe that what you want is possible.

5. Believe in Yourself
If you are going to be successful in creating the life of your dreams, you have to believe that you are capable of making it happen. Whether you call it self-esteem, self-confidence or self-assurance, it is a deep-seated belief that you have what it takes-the abilities, inner resources, talents and skills to create your desired results.

6. Become an Inverse Paranoid
Imagine how much easier it would be to succeed in life if you were constantly expecting the world to support you and bring you opportunity. Successful people do just that.

7. Unleash the Power of Goal Setting
Experts on the science of success know the brain is a goal-seeking organism. Whatever goal you give to your subconscious mind, it will work day and night to achieve...To engage you subconscious mind, a goal has to be measurable. When there is no criteria for measurement, it is simply something you want, a wish, a preference, or a good idea.

In the next several editions of Success Strategies, we will explore each of these tips in depth, with detailed strategies and easy-to-apply action steps to accelerate yourself from where you are to where you want to be.

© 2006 Jack Canfield

Jack Canfield, America’s Success Coach, is the founder and co-creator of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul and a leading authority on Peak Performance. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Today is World Animals Day and I love animals. I often think that they are a lot easier to get on with than humans, but that may only be my personal opinion. I am so grateful for the animals I have had in my life. I have been fortunate to grow up with a wide variety of animals and even though I only have 2 dogs at present, due to where I live, my love for animals has never waned.

I have enjoyed seeing all the anitics of the animlas that have been broadcast in the media today, as well as being heartened to hear about the wonderful work that is going on with animals around the globe. I have posted 2 pictures today one of my 2 beautiful dogs and the other of the rainbow lorikeets that share my back deck to celebrate having them in my life.

Have a wonderful world animal day and may an animal touch your life in some way today.

Namaste

Kari 

Today I worked with a group of people and facilitated a workshop on generosity. It was an interesting day, as there were many different people from a variety of backgrounds who were participants and each came with their own expectations about what was going to occur.

I designed the program so that there were many opportunities for participants to share their experiences with others generosity towards them, and what they received when they were generous with others. I wasn't sure how many of the participants would share and had planned other activities just in case they were required. However I was surprised by their generosity of spirit - in that each participant shared one of their stories about how others generosity had touched their lives and how grateful they were for that.

One of the key points I walked away with from the workshop today was to that generosity can be displayed in a variety of ways and will always impact on other people who experience it. It feels great when I can be generous with other people, but I also need to allow them to be generous with me - I need to learn that others want to help me and then graciously and gratefully accept their generosity in my life.

Namaste

Kari 

I often wonder how many times we stop and think about the everyday things that we so often take for granted. Today I was able to go to borders and pick up a book I had been trying to buy for quite some time. It's a book that I had heard about and wanted to read - but it hadn't been released in Australia as yet. So I went to my local Borders bookstore and ordered it in.

I had the pleasure of sitting down and starting to read it today. As I was contemplating what I could write in my gratitude journal tonight beforebed, I realised that yes I am very grateful that I was finally able to get the book, but I am also incredibly grateful for my ability to read. I use this skill every day and in so many ways but I never even stop to think that I am one of the lucky ones who can read.

Remember not to overlook the truly wonderful things in our lives that we often take for granted.

Namaste

Kari