Latest / Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess / New Beginnings | Episode #398
Transcript
- 0:21Hello, and welcome to today's show, Legacy Living, Make Your Life Count.
- 0:28I'm your host, Doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess, international leadership expert and trusted
- 0:37advisor. Welcome to Legacy Living, Make your Life Count. I'm delighted that
- 0:46you join me today. Today's episode is about making a fresh start. That's
- 0:53right. So if you're feeling stuck or you've hit a wall, today's show
- 1:00is just for you. Now, before we dive in today, I want
- 1:04to give a big thank you to those of you listening in. I also
- 1:08want to give a great, big shout out to all of you listening around
- 1:12the world. I'm delighted and so grateful that you tuned in. I sure
- 1:19hope you're enjoying a fabulous day and that you're having a fantastic week, because
- 1:25you know what, in the grand song of the universe, life is so
- 1:32very short, short, sweet, and very precious. So I hope you're
- 1:38making a difference in your own life, because when you do, you also
- 1:42make a difference in someone else's life. Now, a lot of folks really
- 1:49want to make their life count for something, but they don't know how to
- 1:53do it, or it seems so big to them. They just don't know
- 1:57how or where to begin, So they ask me, doctor Gloria, how
- 2:04do you do that? How do you make your life count? Well,
- 2:09it's really very simple, very simple. If you love people like I do,
- 2:16you can do something for them. Now. Some folks call this random
- 2:22acts of kindness or random acts of beauty. I don't. There is nothing
- 2:27random about kindness. In fact, kindness is a choice, a choice you
- 2:35can make every single day being kind, serving others, passing on your blessings.
- 2:42It's all part of legacy living. When I write notes to people,
- 2:46like a handwritten note of some kind, a thank you note, a birthday
- 2:51card, an anniversary card, I usually tuck in something small, like a
- 2:55tea bag or those little packets of coffee. Sometimes I even include a page
- 3:00of postage stamps. When I'm at the grocery store, I sometimes pick up
- 3:06something nourishing that I can give to our local food bank. And I always
- 3:10try to remember to look into the eyes of the person who is ringing up
- 3:15my groceries, and I ask them how they're doing or how their day is
- 3:19going, or I simply wish them a blessed day. Now, if I'm
- 3:23in a hurry, I may not always remember, but I do try now.
- 3:29I also smile a lot, not a goofy kind of smile, though
- 3:32I do have one of those, but I just simply smile. Sometimes I
- 3:38don't even know I'm smiling until someone says, wow, I just love your
- 3:44smile. You know what, in our culture, especially northern Western Hemisphere culture,
- 3:52we often say that time is money. Well I'm not so sure about
- 3:57that. Why because a smile doesn't cost a thing, It doesn't cost a
- 4:05single dime. Yet the value of your smile to you and to the other
- 4:12person is positively priceless. And you know what, you never know. You
- 4:19never know who might need the warmth, the beauty, the kindness, the
- 4:26radiance of your smile. You never know what's going on in someone else's life.
- 4:33You don't know what they're sister or brother, or neighbor or son or
- 4:38daughter just said to them, right, You don't know what kind of news
- 4:42their doctor might have just given them. So if you want to know how
- 4:47to make a difference, that's how you do it. You make a difference
- 4:54by your everyday small big doesn't matter about size, but by your genuine acts
- 5:01of love, compassion, kindness, and generosity. You know what, even
- 5:11our thoughts, our thoughts can make a difference because our thoughts are made up
- 5:16of what of words and images, and words and images are made up of
- 5:21energy. You know that little saying we all learned when we were little.
- 5:30It goes something like sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can
- 5:35never hurt me. Well, let me tell you something that is a lie.
- 5:44You know as well as I do, and you've heard me say it
- 5:46before. Words have energy, vitality, and soul. Words have the power
- 5:56to bless or to blesspheme. They have the power to hurt or to heal.
- 6:03So take good care to send thoughts of love and healing, thoughts of
- 6:11hospitality and generosity. Now, I truly believe that we are here to love
- 6:20one another and to serve one another. So that's how you do it.
- 6:30You make your life count, day by day, step by step, moment
- 6:34by moment, every single day. Three sixty five twenty four seven. That's
- 6:42what legacy living Make your Life Count is all about. You can learn more
- 6:48about legacy living Make your Life Count by visiting my website. That's the Gloria
- 6:54Burgess website. And hey, you can even sign up for my weekly inspirations.
- 7:00You just scroll down on the website on the homepage, just scroll down
- 7:02a bit and look on the right hand side for the sidebar for my weekly
- 7:09inspiration and just put your email address right there in that little slot. And
- 7:15that's it. That's all you need to do. And each week, every
- 7:18Monday morning, you'll receive a lovely inspiring image and a few words to get
- 7:25your week off to a marvelous start. Now, today's episode is about making
- 7:32a fresh start. So what does that mean and what does it take to
- 7:41make a fresh start, to get out of your routine, to break out
- 7:46of your comfort zone. Today, I want to share a little secret with
- 7:54you. You can do it. I can do it. Everyone can make
- 8:01a fresh start. Every single one of us can make a new beginning.
- 8:07Now, before we jump in today, I want to take a moment to
- 8:11welcome you, my listeners. If you're just joining us, I'm your host,
- 8:16doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess and this is Legacy Living, Make your Life Count.
- 8:22And I'd like to extend a very special welcome to those of you who
- 8:26are joining my podcast or if you're joining Talk Network Radio for the very first
- 8:33time. You are in for a real treat I'm excited to have you listening
- 8:37in today, and I'm deeply honored that you've allowed me to be part of
- 8:43your day so you can be inspired by ideas and resources to make your life
- 8:50count again. Today's program is all about getting unstuck beginning again. My specific
- 8:58focus today is about making a fresh start. You can make a new beginning
- 9:07now. My favorite book says there is a time for everything. There is
- 9:13a time for everything. This scripture from Ecclesiastes says there is a time and
- 9:22a season for every activity under the heavens. A time to be born and
- 9:31a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
- 9:37a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down
- 9:45and a time to build. A time to weep and a time to laugh,
- 9:52a time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to scatter
- 10:00stones and a time to gather them. A time to embrace and a time
- 10:07to refrain from embracing. A time to search and a time to give up.
- 10:16A time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to
- 10:22tear and a time to mend. A time to be silent and a time
- 10:28to speak. A time to love and a time to hate, a time
- 10:37for war and a time for peace. Now, I just love that passage.
- 10:46So I want you to ask yourself what season are you in? Are
- 10:52you in a season where you are looking to break out of your comfort zone,
- 10:58a season where you're looking looking to take a fresh new approach. Are
- 11:03you in a season where you are ready to begin again but you don't know
- 11:09how to do that, or maybe you need a little encouragement. Well,
- 11:13good for you. I want you to listen up. Help is on the
- 11:20way, and I don't want you to think you're all alone. You are
- 11:24not alone. You know what, all of us get to a point in
- 11:30our life where we're simply tired. We just get tired of the same old,
- 11:35same old right, the same old thing. We get tired of our
- 11:39situation at work or at home, or in our relationships. Sometimes we even
- 11:43get tired of being in the same place physically, mentally, emotionally, or
- 11:50spiritually. When we get to that point where we say I have had it,
- 11:56I'm done. Enough is enough. When we get to this point,
- 12:01it is definitely time to let go, to let go and to start fresh.
- 12:09In fact, letting go and starting over can be the absolute best thing
- 12:15for you to do. You can get inspiration to begin again right where you
- 12:22are. You don't have to go any place, right, You can get
- 12:26inspiration from the world around you. Now, think about it. Just think
- 12:31about this. When we ring in the new year, that's a very natural
- 12:37time to reflect on your life, right, to think about what's going well,
- 12:39what's not working so well or at least as well as who would like.
- 12:46So you can find inspiration just by thinking about that particular time of the
- 12:52year. Now. I live in the Pacific Northwest in the United States,
- 12:58and in this geographic area, our year begins during the winter months right now.
- 13:05Typically during this time of the year, we have had weeks and weeks,
- 13:09if not several months of rainy, cold weather. But if you look
- 13:16at the ground, if you look very closely, you can actually see some
- 13:22very early signs of spring. You can see very early signs of new life,
- 13:31early signs of new beginnings. Maybe there are a few lovely crocus buds
- 13:37pushing their way up and out of the ground, or those beautiful little grape
- 13:41hyacinth right, and if you pay close attention to the birds, you'll see
- 13:48red breasted robins digging into the earth. What are they digging for? Well,
- 13:56they're digging for food. They're digging for worms. Nature has so many
- 14:03wonderful telltale signs of making a fresh start. Another sign of nature's new beginnings
- 14:11are the trees in my yard. My husband and I have lots of flowering
- 14:16trees around our house, including several varieties of rhododendrons and all of these roadies.
- 14:24All of these rhododendrons have such beautiful names, names like White Angel,
- 14:31Mount Everest, wind Song, and Christmas Cheer. So when I've had enough
- 14:37of the cloudy, rainy cold days, I look into our front yard for
- 14:43our Christmas Cheer rhododendrons. I can count on the flower buds to be fat
- 14:50and full and a very beautiful, delicate shade of pink. And when I
- 14:56see those beautiful pink buds that are just about to pop into full bloom,
- 15:01That's when I remember why this beautiful bush is called Christmas Cheer, because their
- 15:07lovely flowers bring smiles full of joy, just like the very special season of
- 15:15Christmas. When I meditate on this season, I quickly begin to think about
- 15:22what I'm grateful for, especially during the many long weeks of gray, overcast,
- 15:28cold days. And as I think about the flowering rodies, the surefooted
- 15:35robins, and those tiny, brave little crocus buds, guess what, I'm
- 15:41also reminded of spring, another wonderful season of new beginnings. I like to
- 15:50think of spring as the queen of making a fresh start. Think about this
- 16:00spring where a person she would ask you what gives you life? What gives
- 16:07you life? What satisfies you? She might also ask, where can you
- 16:15make room for more satisfaction in your life? Where can you make more room
- 16:26for more satisfaction in your life? Another question she might ask is what do
- 16:30you need to let go of in order to make room for what you want
- 16:37more of in your life? Now? That's a great question. What do
- 16:41you need to let go of in order to make room for what you want
- 16:45more of in your life? What's on your to do list that you need
- 16:52to simply say no to? That's a good question for me, So what
- 16:59do you need to say no to? Another question is what no longer serves
- 17:03you in this particular season of your life. You can also ask yourself where
- 17:11do I want to be? Now? That's a great question, isn't it?
- 17:18Most folks just sort of wander through life without asking any questions of themselves
- 17:23at all. They just accept the hand that life deals out. But if
- 17:30you want your life to be different, you know what you have to act
- 17:34differently and one key step, one key step is to ask yourself two good
- 17:42questions, and the questions are where am I now? Where am I now?
- 17:51And where do I want to be? Both of these questions are about
- 17:56vision. As a leadership coach and consultant, I have supported many people for
- 18:03many, many years who ask the very same questions where am I now?
- 18:08And where do I want to be? Before that, before I became a
- 18:15consultant and started my own business, I was a leader in corporate America right,
- 18:19and I supported people on my team using these very same questions where are
- 18:23you now? And where do you want to be? Where do you want
- 18:26to go? These very simple questions can yield incredible life changing results. Pretty
- 18:36amazing, isn't it. So? Whether you're working on organizational strategy or building
- 18:41a better team or building a better you, these questions will help you move
- 18:48in the direction you want to go. As I mentioned earlier, these questions
- 18:55are all about vision. Having a vision is key to making a fresh start
- 19:03having a vision or having a dream. Having something in front of you,
- 19:07something to strive for, something to guide your actions and guide your choices is
- 19:14absolutely essential to creating the life you want. So let's put first things first.
- 19:25To make a new start, You've got to have a dream, right,
- 19:29you have to have a vision. And once you have that dream,
- 19:34you can visualize and pray about your dream. You can meditate and recite daily
- 19:41affirmations about your dream. You can even set goals and create action plans.
- 19:47All of these strategies will move you closer to achieving your dreams. But to
- 19:55make your dreams become a reality, to make your vision manifest, to make
- 20:00them come true, one thing is I must do. Okay, you have
- 20:07to act on your goals. You have to act on your action plans.
- 20:15That's right, You've got to act because when you do, when you take
- 20:18that first step, then guess what providence moves to to support you in making
- 20:27your dreams a reality. One of my many inspirations for this podcast is my
- 20:37daughter as a little girl. She was very clear about what she wanted.
- 20:44Now, she didn't have her life all planned out at that young age,
- 20:47but I remember when she was in her early teen. She was about maybe
- 20:52thirteen fourteen years old, and one day she declared, she said, you
- 20:56know, I do not want to go to college here in this state of
- 21:02Washington. Now, her declaration seemed to come out of the blue, but
- 21:07clearly she had been thinking about this for quite some time. She had been
- 21:11considering what she wanted for her life, and at that young age, she
- 21:18set her sights on going to college on the East Coast. She wanted a
- 21:23different experience and a different life. She wanted to branch out, to expand
- 21:29her horizons, to enhance her learning opportunities. In short, she wanted to
- 21:37make a fresh start for herself, and several years later, when the time
- 21:44was right, she applied to and was accepted at a number of colleges on
- 21:48the East Coast, several thousand miles away. Now, my husband and I
- 21:55took her to visit several colleges, and when she found the one that felt
- 21:59like home, she was ready to begin again. Without knowing a single soul,
- 22:06my daughter moved across the country and made a new start, a new
- 22:10beginning. She made a new life for herself, not once, not twice,
- 22:15but several times during the past decade and you know what, when I
- 22:22think about others in my family, there are so many stories about people making
- 22:27a fresh start. For example, I've shared with you that my immediate family
- 22:33is part of what we call the Great Migration, that mass exodus of African
- 22:38Americans leaving the Southern States to make a fresh start in the Northern States.
- 22:45And even before the stories about the Great Migration, there are stories I remember
- 22:49hearing when I was a little girl, stories that came through my elders,
- 22:56those who remember relatives who had a memory of stories about slavery, who had
- 23:02a memory of their fathers and mothers making a new start in a totally different
- 23:07culture and place ten thousand miles away from their homeland of Africa. And you
- 23:17know what, when I think about my own life, I've made a fresh
- 23:21start many many times. Like my daughter, I also wanted to attend an
- 23:26East Coast college and I was accepted, but you know what, we just
- 23:30didn't have the money. My parents could not afford to pay for me to
- 23:34attend, so I attended a local college. In fact, I attended the
- 23:40fabulous University of Michigan, and I got a job during my time there to
- 23:45help my parents out with my expenses. When I went to graduate school,
- 23:51I attended on scholarship, and just like my own daughter, I also left
- 23:55home to attend USC. I moved from Michigan to California to attend university,
- 24:02with no network to speak of, no prospects for work, and yet I
- 24:07was able to make a fresh start. What I know is that when you
- 24:14want to begin again, one of the most helpful things you can have is
- 24:19a vision for what's possible. Now, I want to be sure you heard
- 24:26what I just said. I didn't say you have to have a goal or
- 24:30even a plan. I said you have to have a vision for what's possible.
- 24:36And along with your vision, you need to have one sure thing,
- 24:40one sure thing, and that one thing is commitment. Commitment. William H.
- 24:48Murray, a Scottish mountaineer and writer, says this about commitment. Until
- 24:56one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always
- 25:06in effectiveness. I'm going to repeat that, until one is committed, there
- 25:14is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always in effectiveness. He goes
- 25:22on to say, concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one
- 25:27elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans that the
- 25:36moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things
- 25:45occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of
- 25:52events issues from the decision raising in one's favor, all manner of unforeseen incidents
- 26:00and meetings and material assistance which no man or woman for that matter, could
- 26:07have dreamed would have come their way. Murray says, I have learned a
- 26:17deep respect for one of Gerte's couplets. Whatever you can do or dream,
- 26:25you can begin it, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic
- 26:34in it. So in other words, action plus commitment equals magic and genius.
- 26:48Right action plus commitment equals magic and genius. When you begin, you
- 27:00commit, it is as if all of a sudden the universe just starts to
- 27:06cooperate with you. But it's not all of a sudden. It seems all
- 27:11of a sudden, but it isn't. The reason that it seems all of
- 27:15a sudden is because we've begun, we've committed, and when we do,
- 27:21when we begin, when we commit, God moves to. That's what Murray
- 27:27means by providence know this, Providence will move only when you do. Now,
- 27:41if you still doubt in some way, if you only act some of
- 27:45the time, or if you work on Plan A and Plan B at the
- 27:48same time because you're afraid that plan A will fail, guess what. Success
- 27:55might very well slip right through your fingers. It will gape you. But
- 28:02once you really commit, once you let go and really say goodbye to what's
- 28:08behind you, and you really go for it, that's when magic begins to
- 28:14happen. So what are you waiting for? Go for it? Jump now,
- 28:22stop procrastinating. Begin today now. There are so many folks out there
- 28:29who know the value of going for it, who know the benefit of commitment,
- 28:34but for whatever reason, fear stops them. Does that sound like you.
- 28:41You might make a tiny step, but fear stops you from taking the
- 28:47next step, or stops you from following through. Sometimes your fear is so
- 28:52strong, so powerful, it can actually stop you cold, can stop you
- 28:57dead in your tracks, so you don't even begin, You don't even start.
- 29:03Here's the thing. You must not let fear or anything else rule you
- 29:10anymore. You must not let fear or anything else stop you in your tracks.
- 29:17You must begin, begin with a burning desire. You must begin with
- 29:23a fire in your heart, a fire in your soul, to make a
- 29:27difference first in your own life, so that you can make a difference in
- 29:36the lives of someone else. So when you let go of that fear,
- 29:41when you can say no to fear ruling your life, you can actually create.
- 29:49You make the space in your life, You clear the decks so that
- 29:53you can live into your highest and best self. You can live into your
- 30:00God given gifts. And when you do, you actually make an agreement with
- 30:07God to become the inspired, passionate person he designed you to be. You
- 30:15can actually draw strength from so many people, knowing if they can do it,
- 30:22if they can make a fresh start, you can do it too.
- 30:25You can begin again just like anybody else. Now you all know that I'm
- 30:32a writer, and a lot of writers get tripped up, they get stuck
- 30:37by what we call writer's block. Well, I don't. I don't even
- 30:41believe in writer's block. Why because I just look at all the books on
- 30:47my bookshelves in every room. I have books, books everywhere right, and
- 30:52I draw inspiration from the writers all around me. If they could do it,
- 30:56huh, I can do it. Too. As you make your fresh
- 31:03start, be sure to focus focus your vision on your future self. Also,
- 31:14be sure to surround yourself with people who love you, people who lift
- 31:18you up, not push you down, but people who lift you up,
- 31:22people who have only your best interest at heart. One more thing. I
- 31:30love listening to inspiring music, or reading an inspiring book or an inspiring scripture,
- 31:37or sometimes I just take in inspiring quotes and images. So be sure
- 31:41to choose something that inspires you and make it a part of your day.
- 31:48Here are a few words to encourage you as you make a fresh start in
- 31:56your life. This first one is for Plato, almost twenty five hundred years
- 32:02ago. Plato says, the beginning is the most important part of the work.
- 32:12I love that the beginning is the most important part of the work.
- 32:19Muriel Rickheiser is one of my favorite poets, and she says, nourish beginnings.
- 32:24Let us nourish beginnings. Not all things are blessed, but the seeds
- 32:34of all things are blessed. The blessing is in the seed. Here's what
- 32:45Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior says about beginning. He says, take the
- 32:51first step in faith, you don't have to see the whole staircase. Just
- 32:57take the first step. Take the first step in faith. You don't have
- 33:07to see the whole staircase, Just take the first step. It's been said
- 33:17that change can be scary, But you know what's scarier allowing fear to stop
- 33:25you from growing, evolving, and progressing. What's scarier than change is allowing
- 33:34fear to stop you from growing, evolving, and progressing. Now remember the
- 33:40scripture I shared earlier, which says there is a time for everything, and
- 33:45a season for every activity under the heavens. A time to be born and
- 33:52a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot,
- 33:59a time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down
- 34:05and a time to build. A time to weep and a time to laugh.
- 34:10A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to scatter
- 34:16stones and a time to gather them. A time to embrace and a time
- 34:23to refrain from embracing. A time to search and a time to give up.
- 34:31A time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to
- 34:38tear and a time to mend. A time to be silent and a time
- 34:45to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time
- 34:53for war and a time for peace. And I want you to know this,
- 35:06no matter what time it is, what season it is, remember these
- 35:10words from writer f Scott Fitzgerald. He says, it's never too late to
- 35:19become who you want to be. It's never too late to become who you
- 35:24want to be. I hope you live a life that you're proud of.
- 35:29And if you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to
- 35:34start over. As one of my friends and colleague says, it's never too
- 35:40late to have a second childhood. Right, Okay, Now, if you
- 35:49missed last week's episode or any part of this one, you can listen on
- 35:55the go at your convenience. You can find me right here on iTunes,
- 36:01Audible, Alexa, SoundCloud, iHeart, tune in, spreakger, dot Com,
- 36:07Talk Network Radio, and so many other places. Check it out at
- 36:14www dot talknetwork Radio dot com, Forward Slash Hosts, Forward Slash Legacy Living.
- 36:25That's Talknetwork Radio dot com. Forward Slash Hosts Forward Slash Legacy Living.
- 36:32You can learn more about my work and Legacy Living. Make your life count
- 36:37by visiting the Gloria Burgess website, and as I've mentioned before, if you
- 36:43love to be inspired, you can actually subscribe to my inspirations right on my
- 36:49website. Just scroll down a little bit look on the right sidebar until you
- 36:53see the place to add your email address to subscribe to my weekly inspiration.
- 37:00It's that simple. Each week you get a lovely photograph and a short quotation
- 37:06that inspires you. You can also find me on the TEDx site and listen
- 37:10to one of my ted talks. Just type in my name to find me
- 37:15there. Before I close today, I want to thank each of you for
- 37:21tuning in for allowing me to share a bit about my journey with what Legacy
- 37:25living is all about, not just living and learning, but living and learning
- 37:30and serving so that you make a difference in your own life and in the
- 37:37lives of others. It's about being on purpose every single day. Three sixty
- 37:44five twenty four seven. Legacy living is a powerful way to make your life
- 37:52count. I'm your host, doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess, and this is Legacy
- 38:00Living. Make your life count. Please join me again next time right here
- 38:06for another episode of Legacy Living. Make your life count. Don't just count
- 38:14the days in your life. Make the days in your life count. That's
- 38:21what legacy living is all about. Have a fantastic day and remember, make
- 38:29the days in your life count. God bless you. That's our show today.
- 38:47I'm your host, Doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess. I hope you'll join me
- 38:53again next time. Until then, don't just count the days in your life.
- 39:00Make the days in your life count. That's what legacy living is all
- 39:06about. Here's to you. Have a fantastic day and be sure to make
- 39:12it a yes kind of day. Remember to celebrate the music of your life.
- 39:20Make the days in your life count.