Choosing your Life....

"All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: act as if it were impossible to fail."

~ Dorothea Brand

 

"Progress in every age results only from the fact that there are some men and women who refuse to believe that what they know to be right cannot be done."

~ Russell Davenport

 

"The men ( and women) who build the future are those who know that greater things are yet to come, and that they themselves will help bring them about. The blazing sun of hope illumines their minds. They never stop to doubt. They haven't the time."

~Melvin Evans

 

"Nothing significant is ever accomplished by a fully realistic person. One of the greatest pleasures you can discover is  doing what people say you cannot do."

~ John Mason " The Impossible is Possible"

 

"Results! Why,man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work."

~Thomas Edison

 

I have always loved the attitude of Thomas Edison. He was one of greatest inventors of our time and because of the electric light bulb.....we all can enjoy great music lit up by beautiful lights on a stage! Edison never gave up....he choose his life and lived it. He surrounded himself with people who were like-minded, who believed that the impossible was possible and that knew that every failure had the seeds of success within it. The story goes that when he finally figured out how to make the light bulb work on his 100th try,  a reporter asked him if he ever felt like giving up along the way. His response was " Certainly not, I simply realized that I had learned 99 ways it would not work!" (my paraphase)

 

Back in 1981, when I had first become a Mary Kay Consultant, I didn't really work at it....why???...there were a variety of circumstances that were obstacles for me. One was that 2 weeks after I started, my husband and I decided to move from Miami, Fla. to Houston, Tx where he could work with his Dad in the oil business. Then there was the actual move, then finding a house, moving again, and THEN I realized I knew NO ONE......and Houston was so big and scary!! I was afraid of driving on the freeways and was quite sure if I went somewhere I had not been before I would get lost and NEVER find my way back home!!! This was quite irrational, I do realize that.....but the fear was VERY real! So I stayed close to home and soon received a letter from Mary Kay Cosmetics asking me if I really planned to get started or if they just needed to drop me from the rolls. Something sparked inside of me and I called my recruiter and she was going to try and get me connected with a Sales Director near by......she let me know that she had contacted our Director in Miami and that she would be calling me. I waited and waited and WAITED.....soon I received a newsletter in the mail from my Director in Miami....and it had her phone number on it. I immediately called her, told her who I was and asked her quite bluntly why she had not called me....I told her I needed help and she was supposed to help me! That was Ronda's first experience of me.....and she has laughed about how startled she was by me at first, but quickly realized that she had someone on the line who had that elusive quality she was looking for.....DESIRE.

 

Eventually, I overcame my fears and began to grow and dream of one day being a Sales Director myself. I went to a conference and they talked about how many other women had achieved that dream. It seemed impossible....and yet I was determined. Soon after that, I went to a meeting with my in-town director where her Senior Director was sharing how to become a Director. I really hadn't done much in the business up to that point.....but I made the decision that evening that I would do it and went up to the Senior Director and told her what I wanted to do and said to her "I refuse to fail!"...her response was "Then you won't!" 

 

The next hurdle I had to overcome was the perspective that my sweet husband had....and looking back I recognize that he was simply trying to protect me from what he felt was a path that would fail and therefore hurt me. When I shared with him my decision to become a Director he sweetly explained to me the "Peter Principle"......the principle states that "in a hierarchically structured administration, people tend to be promoted up to their "level of incompetence".  He was concerned that even though I had accomplishd a lot in the past several months, I had probably had met my peak of competency.......and that going beyond that I might fail. Another spark struck in my soul....and I got VERY angry and made a decision on the spot to prove him wrong. I took it very personally and told him since he didn't believe in me, he would not get ANY of the money I made. I made good on all my promises....including the money one! It was NOT the best plan.....and I certainly could have handled it better than I did.....but eventually I forgave him and he forgave me. We both have learned to believe in me and through the years he has become my greatest supporter as I have developed the vision and business plan of Extreme Dreams!

 

I want to clearly express to my husband, Jack, my sincere and grateful thanks for his response that day. It was the spark that ignited a fire in me which resulted in 20 years of incredible success, growth and development in Mary Kay Cosmetics. Without your push, Jack, I may never have found the determination to make my dreams come true. I have learned that many times I need that opposition in my life to take on the challenges of my dreams....God provides various people and circumstances to spur me on to the greatness that is within me. Thank you so much, Jack for the love, belief and support you give to your wild and crazy, dreamer of a wife....we have had an incredible journey together, haven't we????

 

"Because you're not yet taking God seriously," said Jesus. "The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed, say, you would tell this mountain, "Move!' and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn't be able to tackle."

Jesus in Matthew 17:20 (The Message)

Extreme Dreams, LLC
Kathy Douglas
President
10603 Grant Rd. Ste 110
Houston, TX 77070
Office - 281-890-5034
Fax - 281-890-0300
Cell - 713-398-7304
www.extreme-dreams.net/
kathyd@extreme-dreams.net

"Helping people enjoy the Journey as much as the Destination"

Visit my coaching journal at: http://extreme-dreams.blogspot.com/

 

 

Perfect Unity of Faith - Focus - Follow Through

"Faith makes the discords of the present the harmonies of the future."-- Robert Collier

"Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservations."- Elton Trueblood

Seven Thoughts about Faith by Steve Brunkhorst

Faith is respectful. It respects our Creator and the

unique purposes He has asked us to fulfill. Faith gives

us the belief that we can succeed and the humility to

accept success with sincere gratitude.

 

Faith is action-oriented. It sees what can be

accomplished and encourages us to act on inspired

ideas. Faith gets us started -- even if the first

actions are small. We affirm that we "can" rather

than "can't" and "will" rather than "won't". As a

result, we "do".

 

Faith is compassionate. It recognizes the needs of

others and places their welfare first. Faith does not

attract success at the expense of other people.

Faith increases when it is shared. When we communicate

our faith, we also inspire faith in others. The best

way to share faith is through actions.

 

Faith is diligent. It endures life's winters and greets

the springs with vigor and strength. It grants wisdom

with each failure. Faith brings hope and turns

misfortune into fortune.

 

Faith is responsible. It grants courage, resolve and

dependability in obtaining the objectives that we seek.

 

Faith is creative. It begins with love, the foundation

of all good things. Faith does not need to compete for

success. Rather, it recognizes our capacity to think,

create value, and solve problems in new ways.

I get this incredible newsletter twice a week from Steve Brunkhorst. I could not have described faith any better than he did right here....so I wanted to pass this along to any one who needs encouragment. If you want to read more from Steve go to http://www.AchieveEzine.com !!!!!

Extreme Dreams key phrase this year will be FAITH - FOCUS - FOLLOW THROUGH. Faith will be the radar that sees through the thick fog of the future.....Focus will be the light that provides direction along the way.....and Follow Through will be the discipline to do what needs to be done, when it must be done, to see our way to the other side!

This will be an exciting year of growth and stretching......acheivement and excitement.....of gladness as well as sorrow. This past year and every year of my life has been filled with each of these things. I have had a GREAT life....and I fully expect that the next half will be even greater!!!!! What a journey we have ahead of us....filled with new people and new places.

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

~Paul in a letter to the Colossians 3:12-14 

 

Extreme Dreams, LLC
Kathy Douglas
President
10603 Grant Rd. Ste 110
Houston, TX 77070
Office - 281-890-5034
Fax - 281-890-0300
Cell - 713-398-7304
www.extreme-dreams.net/
kathyd@extreme-dreams.net

"Helping people enjoy the Journey as much as the Destination"

Visit my coaching journal at:

http://extreme-dreams.blogspot.com/

 

 

Never Give Up.....

 "To build may have to be the slow and laborious task of years. To destroy can be the thoughtless act of a single day." ~Sir Winston Churchill

"Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy” ~Sir Winston Churchill, Speech, 1941, Harrow School

“You may have to fight a battle more than once before you can win it” ~ Margaret Thatcher

 "The most common trait I have found in all people that are successful is that they have conquered the temptation to give up” ~ Peter Lowe

"The world will always give you the opportunity to quit, but only the world would call quitting an opportunity”   ~ Clint Brown

"Nobody and nothing can get you down unless you decide not to rise again. Find a way to....not a way not to” ~ John Mason

I have always loved the story that is told about Winston Churchill when He went to speak at the graduation ceremonies of the Harrow School. He stood at the podium looking at each student who had finished their studies and were there ready to receive their diploma. The silence was long and eventually uncomfortable for those waiting to hear what this great leader and orator had to say. Everyone waited and waited and WAITED.....and then the words came slowly and powefully from his mouth "Never give up. NEVER give up. Never GIVE UP!" The British people never gave up. We live the life we live.....as FREE people, because the British people NEVER GAVE UP. They found a way "to".....not a way "not to".

I have a tremendous respect for the British people because of their fortitude, faith and resolve. Through the years I have remembered their valiant stand against Hitler's forces.....and how they never gave up when there seemed no hope. I have prayed that God would give me that same strength, resolve and faith when I face seemingly impossible situations and circumstances......and feel I can't go on.

Building is hard, laborious work. It takes constant attention and focus......discipline and resolve......and none of us can do it alone. We must surround ourselves with a team of people who hold us up when we are weary in the fight.....and encourage us when we feel like quitting. A community of like-minded people who will hold us to our convictions and our integrity when the world would tempt us to please the crowd.

I want to honor my friend, Greg today. He is the web developer/designer for Extreme Dreams. He has dug deep into my soul and seen things that sometimes I forget are there.....and he has brought them to life in the graphics which he is creating for our new websites. The template that will grace this coaching journal from this point forth expresses the truth of who and where I am in this journey.....a joy that is deeper than my pain, a freedom that is clearer than the tethers that would tie me down, an opportunity that is bigger than anything I can get my arms around. Thank you, Greg for giving me a visual to capture and daily remind me of the reality that is going on within me and within Extreme Dreams!

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” ~ Paul in a letter to the Romans 8:35-39

Extreme Dreams, LLC
Kathy Douglas
President
10603 Grant Rd. Ste 110
Houston, TX 77070
Office - 281-890-5034
Fax - 281-890-0300
Cell - 713-398-7304
www.extreme-dreams.net/
kathyd@extreme-dreams.net

"Helping people enjoy the Journey as much as the Destination"

Visit my coaching journal at:

http://extreme-dreams.blogspot.com/

 

 

Giving Gifts.....

"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Realize that true happiness lies within you. Waste no time and effort searching for peace and contentment and joy in the world outside. Remember that there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving. Reach out. Share. Smile. Hug. Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself." -- Og Mandino

"Love only grows by sharing. You can only have more for yourself by giving it away to others." -- Brian Tracy

"One of the greatest gifts you can give to anyone is the gift of attention." -- Jim Rohn

A poem hangs on the wall at Mother Theresa's orphanage in India. For all who are called to lead, it is a great reminder of what we should do:

1. People are illogical, unreasonable and self-centered (including me). Love them anyway.

2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

3. If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.

4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.

6. The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the littlest people with the littlest ideas. Think big anyway.

7. People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

9. People really need help, but may attack you if you do help them. Help them anyway.

10. Give the world the best you have and you will get kicked in the teeth. Give the best you have anyway. 

I love giving gifts!!!! I absolutely LOVE IT!!!! It get the biggest kick out of watching someone receive something I have picked out for them that I hoped they would enjoy. Over the last several months I have realized that I had lost my joy in giving.....I realized that many times I was hoping for a gift in return...and none came. And so I had this urge to stop giving, thinking that my gifts were unwanted because they were not reciprocated. I have been going through a difficult training program where I am learning to do what I love to do, despite the circumstances and the behavior or response of others. To really enjoy this journey on my own terms, not on the terms of anyone else. Enjoying the gifts that God has given to me....life, love, happiness, family and Himself.

 

As I wrapped some of those gifts this evening I realized that I can never give enough to those I love.....I always find myself wanting to give more! I want them to have everything that their hearts desire!!!! To deny myself the joy I receive in giving gifts is to deny who I am....and to miss out on what I truly love to do.

 

As I ponder this realization, I considered the Gift that we celebrate this Christmas. The best gift that could ever be given, the one that God gave to us.....Himself. Jesus was the greatest example of leadership as described in the list on Mother Teresa's Orphange wall.....He was and is Who He is...anyway. He loved, helped, gave, fought, built, thought big, was honest and frank, did good and succeeded ANYWAY. Now that is a journey I want to be on!!!!!!

 

""For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."

~Jesus in John 3:16

Extreme Dreams, LLC
Kathy Douglas
President
10603 Grant Rd. Ste 110
Houston, TX 77070
Office - 281-890-5034
Fax - 281-890-0300
Cell - 713-398-7304
www.extreme-dreams.net/
kathyd@extreme-dreams.net

"Helping people enjoy the Journey as much as the Destination"

Visit my coaching journal at:

http://extreme-dreams.blogspot.com/

 

 

FW: I am gonna fly.....

"The ideal never comes.Today is ideal for him who makes it so"

~Horatio Dresser

 

"Don't let what you have within your grasp today be missed entirely because only the future intrigued you and the past disheartened you."

~John Mason

 

"There are many people who are in the right place at the right time but didn't know it."

~Ellen Metcalf

 

"The lesson which life repeats and constantly reinforces is, "Look under foot." You are always nearer than you think. The great opportunity is where you are. Do not despise your own place and hour."

~John Burroughs

 

"Few know when to rise to the occasion. Most only know when to sit down. Many spend too much time dreaming of the future, never realizing that a little bit of it arrives every day."

~John Mason

 

I have heard it time and time again....execution is the key to success. I believe this completely. I listen every day to dreams and plans and ideas and thoughts......some of them are my own! Most of these dreams, thoughts ideas and plans remain just that....they never come to fruition because of either no or poor execution. I have come to realize that many of them are simply fantasy.....never true dreams, or plans. Many of us like to live in a fantasy world rather than risk the pain, heartache and challenge of living our dreams. I believe it is FAR more painful to live in that fantasy world....for the heartache and pain risked in living our dreams is short-lived and once we have crossed over the chasm of fear....we have no regrets for we experience joy, awe and wonder at a level that far exceeds our experience of pain and heartache.

 

Last week I was reminded that my journey to this place started many years ago. I tend to have a theme song for each part of my life.....a song that stirs my soul and each time I hear it pushes me to pick up the challenges and risks of my life and move forward. In the early 80's it was a song by Amy Grant. I think it has come back around for a repeat as recently the words have become a resounding chorus in my heart and mind.

 

I'm Gonna Fly

All my my friends are happy to stay
Here in this yard day after day
But something inside me has called me away
I don't understand but i know i can't stay

I'm gonna fly
No one knows where
But i'm gonna fly
I'm lighter than air

Cause i have felt for the first time
I can be myself
No more faces to hide behind
Just a smile and a dream that's mine
Even if i am the only one who wants to fly

I'm gonna fly
No one knows where
But i'm gonna fly
I soar thru the air

All of my life seems i've waited
For the time to start
Being the person inside of me
Unafraid of being me
No more faces to hide behind
Just a smile and a dream that's mine
Even if i'm the only one who wants to fly

If i had my life to live over again
I'd run bare foot, relax a bit more
And i'd talk to more children
And i'd learn how they laugh
And i'd teach them how i've learned to fly

I'm gonna fly
No one knows where
But i'm gonna fly
I'm lighter than air
I'm gonna fly
No one knows where
But i'm gonna fly
I soar thru the air

Cause all of my life seems i've waited
For the time to start
Being the person inside of me
Unafraid of being me
Even if i'm the only one who wants to fly...
I'm gonna fly

The new year is soon upon us.....and for me, it is filled with new adventure and challenges. Changes have occurred and will occur that will affect the future of Extreme Dreams as I plan and execute the vision that God has placed on my heart. It is scary.....part of me wants to stay behind in the safe "yard" with my friends. In our lives we have dear people that we love so much....and we make a silent agreement with them that says "I won't grow if you won't grow"......and when we start growing we can experience a rift in the friendship because of the perception that we have betrayed this silent agreement. The risk that we must take to move forward and what I have learned through the years is that every true friendship will survive the growth. When hearts are knit together in a common calling and love, the risk only draws the cords tighter as we begin to fly.....and others begin to find their wings as they surrender.

What I know more than anything else is that God is calling me to a place that is bigger than I think I am.....and I know I can't stay in this "yard" anymore. AND I know it really has nothing to do with me, it has everything to do with Him. Even if I am the only one who wants to fly, I'm gonna fly.

"God reminds us, I heard your call in the nick of time; The day you needed me, I was there to help. Well, now is the right time to listen, the day to be helped."

~Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians 6:2

 

Extreme Dreams, LLC
Kathy Douglas
President
10603 Grant Rd. Ste 110
Houston, TX 77070
Office - 281-890-5034
Fax - 281-890-0300
Cell - 713-398-7304
www.extreme-dreams.net/
kathyd@extreme-dreams.net

"Helping people enjoy the Journey as much as the Destination"

Visit my coaching journal at:

http://extreme-dreams.blogspot.com/

 

 

A gift to give...

"Life is too short to think small. Rather do as my pastor, Joel Budd, encourages us to do, "March off the Map".

~John Mason,"Conquering the Enemy Called Average"

 

"Never tell a young person that something cannot be done. God may have been waiting for centuries for somebody ignorant enough of the impossible to do that thing."

~Dr. J.A. Holmes

 

"Any man who selects a goal in life which can be fully achieved has already defined his own limitations."

~Cavett Robert

"You can only become a winner if you are willing to walk over the edge." ~Ronald McNair

This past week has been wonderful, scary and moving, all at the same time. As usual, my birthday seemed to stretch into the following week....and I like that!!!!! Wonderful things happen that way....not just on that one day....but for a whole week! One of those wonderful things was a special gift sent to me by my Life Coach and friend, Jim Spivey. It was a video that God used as ONE of the ways last week to remind me of the journey that I am on with Him.

One of the other ways He reminded me was a box of books that I had ordered came in....and as I immediately dug into the first one "Conquering the Enemy Called Average"  it carried the same theme of the week forward with the first chapter "Know Your Limits, Then Ignore Them" ......I was once again encouraged to "jump of the cliff", "walk over the edge", "Move a Mountain"....."FLY"......I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

But the most powerful and moving event was a beautiful hour I spent with a young woman who is searching......she blew me away when she shared with me that she wanted what I had.....a sure and unshakable faith. She wanted to know how I "got it" and the question was so real and so deep....it deserved a real and deep answer. As I thought about it.....tears whelled up in my eyes and my heart was filled with awe and wonder....and I knew then that I never did anything to "get it"....."it" got me. She asked me if I had known God all my life....and I shared with her my long journey with Him that started when I was 13 years old and has grown through the years to a deep and abiding friendship with my Lord and Savior. He sought me....and He found me...and He has me...and He will never let me go. It is the most precious and powerful truth of my life....and why this beautiful gift from Jim is so real and so special.

I don't own my faith....it owns me. It was a gift from the One I love and it can never be taken from me. But I was told years ago that a gift is never really yours until you give it away......so I give to each of you this beautiful gift that Jim gave to me. The gift I have been given by God, my faith, is yours for the asking.

http://www.sigur-ros.is/sirkus.html

"He replied, "What is impossible from a human perspective is possible with God." ~ Jesus in Luke 18:27( NLT)

Extreme Dreams, LLC
Kathy Douglas
President
10603 Grant Rd. Ste 110
Houston, TX 77070
Office - 281-890-5034
Fax - 281-890-0300
Cell - 713-398-7304
www.extreme-dreams.net/
kathyd@extreme-dreams.net

"Helping people enjoy the Journey as much as the Destination"

Visit my coaching journal at:

http://extreme-dreams.blogspot.com/

 

 

Sacrifice....

 "What is important is not what happens to us, but how we respond to what happens to us."     

~ Jean-Paul Sartre
 

 "A pessimist is a man who has been compelled to live with an optimist." 

~Elbert Hubbard

 

"Light tomorrow with today."  

~Elizabeth Barrett Browning

 

 "Power for the believer comes in knowing and choosing the truth"

~ Neil T. Anderson, The Bondage Breaker.

 

"You know in daily life what absolute surrender is. You know that everything has to be given up to its special, definite object and service. I have a pen in my pocket, and that pen is absolutely surrendered to the one work of writing. That pen must be absolutely surrendered to my hand if I am to write properly with it. If another holds it partly, I cannot write properly. This coat is absolutely given up to me to cover my body. This building is entirely given up to religious services. And now, do you expect that in your immortal being, in the divine nature that you have received by regeneration, God can work His work, every day and every hour, unless you are entirely given up to Him? God cannot. The temple of Solomon was absolutely surrendered to God when it was dedicated to Him. And every one of us is a temple of God , in which God will dwell and work mightily on one condition - absolute surrender to Him. God claims it, God is worthy of it, and without it God cannot work His blessed work in us. God not only claims it, but God will work it Himself."

~Andrew Murray

This past week was filled with beauty and fun! I was treated all week by those I love and who love me with all of my favorite things! Roses ( white with pink tips! ), lunch out, a dinner party at one of the city's finest steak houses, live music from an awesome young singer- songwriter, planning meetings for BIG VISIONS, the showing of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" , dinner at Babin's, the performance of "Cats" at the Hobby Center....and some INCREDIBLE birthday presents!!!!! What an awesome gift of a week!!! AND a beautiful display of love and appreciation from my husband, my family and friends for my birthday. I relished and soaked up every moment of it!!!!!

 

What hit me this morning was the message of the week....it came through each event, each gift and each experience. True and deep Love is expressed in sacrifice. Each act, each gift, each event cost someone something. Someone chose to sacrifice their time, their money, their own desires to give something to me....to honor me. WOW!!! AND it felt so good, and I felt so loved in each instance. This morning I honor each of them....and the One who worked through them....for I realize that God has used each of them to express His love to me in ways that He alone knew would touch my heart so deeply.

 

How many times do I miss God's loving expressions to me? How many times do I miss being an expression of His love to someone else?? Each instance costs something. How greedy, self-centered and faithless I am when I think that I can't afford to give of myself or my treasure....for each is a sacrifice of love to my God who has given me everything!

 

As this new year of my life begins, I want to surrender more of myself to deeply loving my God, to be His instrument whereby He demonstrates His love to those He has placed in my world, and to the rest of the world through them. It will take sacrifice....it will take surrendering my will, my desires, my plans, my treasure and my fears so that I can place my complete trust in Him......it will cost me everything. However, the journey will be soooooooooo worth it!

 

"But Samuel replied, "What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to His voice? Obedience is far better than sacrifice. Listening to Him is much better than offering the fat of rams. Rebellion is as bad as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you from being king."  

 ~Samuel to King Saul - I Samuel 15:22-23 

 

"But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on buying it, for I cannot present burnt offerings to the LORD my God that have cost me nothing." So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen. David built an altar there to the LORD and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the LORD answered his prayer, and the plague was stopped."   

~David in II Samuel 24:24-25

 

Extreme Dreams, LLC
Kathy Douglas
President
10603 Grant Rd. Ste 110
Houston, TX 77070
Office - 281-890-5034
Fax - 281-890-0300
Cell - 713-398-7304
www.extreme-dreams.net/
kathyd@extreme-dreams.net

"Helping people enjoy the Journey as much as the Destination"

Visit my coaching journal at:

http://extreme-dreams.blogspot.com/

 

 

Never Surrender Your dream

"To understand other adults requires intelligence, openness and experience. To understand our children requires patience, empathy and effort. To know ourselves requires introspection, honesty and wisdom, and is one of the key roots in effective parenting. One of the most important elements of success is positive self-awareness."

~ Denis Waitley

 

 "We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."

~T. S. Eliot, Little Gidding

 

"Nobody can ever make you feel average without your permission. Ingratitude and criticism are going to come; they are part of the price paid for leaping past mediocrity. If you move with God, you will be criticized. The only sure way to fend off criticism is to do nothing and be nothing. Those who do thing inevitably stir up criticism."

~John Mason, An Enemy Called Average

 

This week has been an incredible journey of ups and downs and emotion and stretching and resting and expanding and digging and sorting out and discovery for Extreme Dreams.....and myself! Things have begun showing up in the most amazing places.....from the past.....and each has brought me full circle back again to remind me that I am not the author of this journey.....only a participant. What I am observing is the truth that my life has a plan and a purpose far beyond the "smaller story" that I tend to try and create for myself.....that "safer story" that is manageable and simple.....that "One Act play" that keeps me in control......RATHER than the INCREDIBLY HUGE story that I truly live in which has far reaching effects and consequences....and is WAY out of my control or direction....completely UNmanageable and certainly NOT safe! 

 

It has blown my mind this week to experience a whirlwind of activities that have each in its own way taken me back to where this journey began.....and even further back to times and events that now appear to have been preparatory training for what lies ahead. Like pieces of a divinely created puzzle....the pieces have been falling steadily into place. Cindy and I have found things that I believed were lost, vital pieces of the puzzle, and a recognition is hitting deep into my soul that we have only just begun to experience the vastness of this journey. I had no idea when I started that part of all of this was about my own dreams. I always felt that it was really about helping others realize their dreams.

 

One of the beautiful gifts that showed up this week.....actually as a result of writing this journal......was an email from the daughter of John Mason. Her father's book has been a powerful tool in my life and in the development of Extreme Dreams. It has been a part of my life for the past 10 years.....and I had given all my copies away, but my own, many years ago. I now have the source!!!!!!!

 

As I sit here listening to one of my favorite singer-songwriters, Stephanie Urbina Jones, sing the most incredible Christmas music on the planet, with a voice that reminds me that I love her heart and soul and spirit .....and it comes through every note she sings forth....and reminds me that is what we are about....pouring ALL of ourselves into ALL that we are called to do. Pouring our heart and soul and spirit into EACH and every heartbeat of our lives.....to give our WHOLE selves to the call that deserves and demands nothing less.

 

We are moving.....every day we are moving forward towards God's purpose and plan. WHAT a journey!!!!!!

 

"I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. separated, you can't produce a thing. This is how my Father shows who He is--when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples. "

~Jesus in John 15:5,8 ( The Message )

 

Kathy Douglas

President/Owner

Extreme Dreams, LLC

8203 Schaffer Ln.

Houston, TX 77070

Office - 281-890-5034

Fax - 281-469-0267

Cell - 713-398-7304

kathyd@extreme-dreams.net

www.extreme-dreams.net

 

"Helping people enjoy the journey as much as the destination"

 

Check out my coaching journal at:

http://extreme-dreams.blogspot.com/

 

The anatomy of moving forward......

" It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power."   

~Alan Cohen

 

"It doesn't work to leap a twenty-foot chasm in two ten-foot jumps."

~Anonymous

 

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

 ~ Anne Frank  

 

"The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become."  

~Charles DuBois

 

I am committed this month to getting all my systems back in place!!!!! My life and the lives of those I love and serve seem to flow easier when I have those systems clearly placed ready for action. I have moved some 37-40 times in my life.....and with my 51st birthday arriving on Saturday.....that is close to a move EACH YEAR!!!!!!! I realized this last weekend that I am quite GOOD at moving....and remembered some of the things I already knew about it.

 

1. Move from one place to the other quickly....once the decision is made....move. 

2. Sort things out AFTER you get moved .......it makes moving interesting! 

3. Do what you normally do while you are moving ...all change is stressful.....moving is change....allow it to be the only change. 

4. Find ways to have fun while your moving!!!! .....moving always seems to provide loads of laughs!

5. Nothing is truly lost, everything will eventually be found ...in fact, sometimes it is the ONLY way I find things that have been lost!! 

6. Everything will eventually find its place in the new place....so don't be in a hurry to get it in SOME place . 

7. Moving is not the end of one thing and the beginning of another....it is an expansion of God's plan.........it is a continuation of the journey!!!

 

The small disruption that moving from my home office of 20 years....to the new offices on Grant Rd, has caused me to remember conscously what I do instinctively now.....it has reminded me of what moving is all about......and now that we are just about finished, the next step is to get those systems set and rolling. I am so excited about all that is ahead.....and all that God is and has been doing in the midst of this transition. My Life Coach, Jim Spivey, has continually reminded me that I am either "moving Rocks or building a Cathedral".   Hey, Jim, today I was reminded that I am building a Cathedral .  I have grown so much as I have walked through this ...don't you think???  ...thank you for reminding me regularly! 

 

Seven years ago God gave me this verse.....and has sent me back here again and again....it will be exciting to experience all that is on the other side of this mountain!!!!!!!!!

 

"Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel's way; it will flatten out before him! Then Zerubbabel will set the final stone of the Temple in place, and the people will shout: `May God bless it! May God bless it!' "

Zechariah 4:7

   

Extreme Dreams, LLC
Kathy Douglas
President
10603 Grant Rd. Ste 110
Houston, TX 77070
Office - 281-890-5034
Fax - 281-890-0300
Cell - 713-398-7304
www.extreme-dreams.net/
kathyd@extreme-dreams.net

"Helping people enjoy the Journey as much as the Destination"

Visit my coaching journal at:

http://extreme-dreams.blogspot.com/