Thank you so much for going with my son today. I’m sure he appreciated your calm supportive presence.

Wow, something so simple for me to do had great value to others. The text was like getting paid $1000 for my time. Money comes in all forms. Simple acts of luvv can produce great wealth.

Take three minutes to watch this video on simple acts that make large changes in business and lives.

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The Boy Who Missed Christmas
by Jerome Green

Every Day Is Christmas

He woke up and ran down stairs, but there was no tree, no presents and no hot chocolate smell in the air. It was Christmas Day, but where was everyone, where was the tree, the presents and the empty plate that held cookies the night before for Santa (which he knew was really his dad)? In his 12 years of life, he had never seen such an austere Christmas Day. He ran around the house, calling out his mom and dad, his sisters and brothers, and no one answered. He looked outside and it was like a sunny spring day – no snow, no cold, no Christmas type weather. The only breathing living thing he saw was a goofy looking dog, which was running around yapping with his tongue hanging out. He had never seen this dog before and it was a cartoon looking dog. The dog looked a little like goofy, Pluto and Hot Diggity Dog all in one.

The boy opened the door and with severe reservations approached the dog. The dog was jumping around, smiling, but not barking. As the boy got closer, he was blown away by what happened next. The dog spoke. “Hey my name is Hoop Hound, what is your name?” The boy could not answer. In all his life he had never heard any sort of animal speak, other than when he saw his dad watching an old black and white T.V show called Mr. Ed. Hoop Hound came closer and extended his hand and said. “What’s your name?” The boy was having trouble getting his words together. His mouth was dry and he was in a semi-shocked state. He finally mumbled out the word “Sam”. “Great to meet you Sam.” Sam was beyond shocked. No Christmas, no family and now a talking dog. Hoop Hound could see that Sam was overwhelmed with all that was happening and he said “catch” and threw him a ball. He told Sam it was a magic ball and that it would assist him to acclimate to what was happening.

Sam said, “where is everyone? What happened to Christmas?” Hounds let out a mighty chuckle and waggled his tongue. “Well Sam, that is why I am here. Did you know that Christmas is every day? Did you know that?” Sam looked at the Hound and said, “no it’s not!!! It’s only on December 25th of every year. It never changes, it always is the same!!!”

The Hound continued to chuckle even harder. “Sam, you are about to learn that Christmas is Everyday. Many people feel just like you. They feel Christmas can only be one day a year and you have to go shopping, buy gifts and have a big turkey or ham. I am here to show you that you can have Christmas every day. It only requires the following. You must first have luvv in your heart. It’s the luvv that makes Christmas.” Sam interrupted and said, “Well what about Baby Jesus, the Wise Men and all the other things?” Hound said, “You only acknowledge them on December 25th?”

“Sam, I am going to throw you my magic ball. I want you to catch it and then close your eyes, turn around three times and say these words “Everyday Is Christmas when you are in Luvv” and then open your eyes.” Sam turned around one time and he could feel a chill in the air that wasn’t there before. On the second turn he could smell hot chocolate and on the final turn he could smell pine. He opened his eyes and he was back in his living room. Then he saw the tree. There were presents under the tree and his mom in the kitchen making hot chocolate. He hadn’t missed Christmas, he must have been dreaming! Wow, he was so happy and felt relieved to have been just dreaming.

As the family gathered around the tree he felt a sense of comfort and ease and familiarity. He was happy to be with his family. Each person opened a present and then another. Santa had brought them some great gifts – video games, dresses, jewelry and tools. As they were admiring all their presents, Sam’s dad said “Hey, there is one more present under the tree.” It was in gold wrapping and had a funny looking nametag attached to it. Sam’s dad asked “Whose name is on it?” Sam’s mom picked up the box and it said “To My man Sam, Merry Christmas.” Everyone looked around gave each other a shrug. No one could remember Santa leaving this gift. The gold wrapping paper had real gold in it.

Sam looked at the present and looked around to his family and everyone gave him a big shrug. He opened the present and it was a hoodie with the Hoop Hound on it and the words underneath said, “Everyday is Christmas when you are in luvv”.

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Want To Buy A Healthy Snack?
By Jerome Green

Okay, I know we are dealing with issues of childhood obesity, inactive kids and maybe some overeating, but today was a day that will go down as an all time low. I was inside Albertsons and while checking out, I looked outside and saw the Girl Scouts in front with signs selling something. I was excited – Butter Girl Scout Cookies for me and Mint Chocolate cookies for Gail. I was never so excited to see someone soliciting in front of the store. As I go through the door, a little girl comes up to me and says, “would I like to buy”…are you ready, “a healthy snack”. I looked around for the cameras because I knew this had to be a joke. I am sure my face looked something like this.

A healthy snack? I am proud that my internal censor still works, because I know my brain said, WTF, a healthy snack, where are the damn cookies. My mouth said this…”where are the cookies”.

The programming was deep in this one. All she could repeat, was, “we have healthy snacks”. I was in shock; again my face looked something like this.

The Den mother than chimed in, she could see my faces and some medical issues since I was about to faint, and quickly said. We’ll have the cookies in February. While those words were meant to be comforting, they provided me with very little comfort. Butter cookies or a healthy snack? Life as we know it is headed for the health food apocalypse. I am all for kids, adults and the entire planet becoming more active and I am for health items being available, but I am not for banning cookies, Happy Meals or anything else that makes us smile and laugh and remember great times. I agree that you don’t need to feed your kid a Happy Meal every day and eating 20 boxes of Butter Cookies over the weekend might be a little much, but dam it. Give me that option. What ever happened to personal decision-making, freedom of eating what you want? If we have the freedom to say what we want, how the hell do we start banning what we put in our mouths? I don’t need legislative protection from Happy Meals. The city of San Francisco is trying to ban toys from being placed in Happy meals if the meal has too many calories in it. In a statement, McDonald’s said,

“Public opinion continues to be overwhelmingly against this misguided legislation. Parents tell us it’s their right and responsibility – not the government’s – to make their own decisions … We’ve added multiple options for parents to choose.”

I agree. Have parents gotten so feeble in their abilities to guide, decide and advise their children that politicians now have to step in and do it for them? I think not. If so, I am available for parent coaching.

I am not a sweat eater. I am overweight, but working on that. Key word? “Working “ on it. For most of my first 40 years I was a very active person, and the last 17, not as much. Does someone need to stop me from eating things that are bad for me? No! The mirror and how I feel does a very good job at that. I am active again; I still eat what I want, but not as much. I eat at McDonald’s about once every 4-5 weeks, luvv the fish filet and about once every 3 months a quarter pounder. What I like most about McDonald’s is the energy of the place. Do you ever go to eat somewhere because the energy feels great? I tend to go to McDonald’s when I want a smile. There is something in that bag that just makes you a little happier. There is no pretense of the people who are inside. They are there for a bag of happiness. They aren’t reading labels or talking about being a vegan. There is nothing wrong at all about being a vegan, key point: a personal decision.

I eat at McDonalds far less than I did 5 years ago. I also eat at Whole foods. I eat salads, I drink water, I drink soda and most of all I luvv Girl Scout Cookies. For me it’s about being active. If I am active it takes care of a lot of things. Also, being active also changes my appetite. Since I started working out again in August, I eat more fruit, drink more water and don’t eat heavy meals as late. I luvv how my body feels as a result of working out and last night my body, tricked my brain and got me to the gym before my brain could figure out what was going on.

The cookie is a part of who we are as people. The word cookie originally came from the Dutch keokje, meaning “little cake.” In addition, the Dutch first popularized cookies in the United States. The British took a liking to them in the 19th century, incorporating them into their daily tea service and calling them biscuits or sweet buns, as they do in Scotland. I bet if the Girls Scouts had the Cookie and the healthy alternative on the table for people to choose from there would be far more cookies than healthy alternatives sold. As you can see, while in shock I did pay the $6.00 for the healthy snack, but now I have to go back to Albertsons to get some Butter Cookies!

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More on Jumping In The Pool
by Jerome Green

Jumping into something can start one on a great journey of adventure and discovery. A month ago I wrote, “Jump In”, which was about me kick starting a fitness program. The journey has been a wonderful discovery of the present day athlete inside of me. I was running in the pool tonight and realized that while my body may look more like an slugabed than an Olympian, that it is my spirit and the discipline I learned by running all those miles during high school, college and after, that has stayed with me. Also, my spiritual training of listening to conscience has given me a Special Forces type of approach to this process. I had forgotten how strong I am when I am fully connected and present.

As I get older, I am discovering that I might have spent too much time trying to hold on to my past athletic abilities and memories. By jumping into the pool, I am learning that I am still an athlete, I am still competitive and I have the discipline to practice. Jumping into the pool has connected me more to conscience, and to my funny side. I can feel invigorated, funny and spirited. I feel a sense of accomplishment every time I get out of the pool. My accomplishments in the pool have carried over to my golf game, my weight training, my intellectual exploration and a happier more joyful marriage with my wife Gail.

In addition, I have started to take golf lessons once a week with Jimmy Rizzitto, who is an instructor at Westchester Golf course in Los Angeles. Jimmy is a wonderful instructor and really knows how to bring your personal game out of you. I am starting to weight train again, calling on the powerful training that I had with Pauliina Talus, who is from Finland, and has a wonderful understanding of how to train properly. Even though Pauliina is in Finland, I can still pull on her instruction when I am training. I also learned how to Moodle (online open source instructional program), thanks to my younger college sister, Gina from Moodlerooms.

Probably the greatest development that has come from me “Jumping In” has been a stronger connection with Gail (my wife). We danced in the house the other night and for the first time in about 10 years my body didn’t hurt. I even kept dancing for about 15 minutes by myself. I use to dance by myself all the time, and in fact, that is how Gail and I met. We even had a dancing wedding from beginning to end. A bone of contention between us over the past 10+ years has been about me not wanting to dance that much anymore. Simply, my body used to hurt, and the other night it didn’t!

Jumping into life is something that as I get older becomes more and more important. Bernie, Gail’s mom, who is 87 years old and still going strong is a great example of that. Bernie has demonstrated to me how much she is willing to learn and grow. I’ve seen her listen to conscience over the years, from our wedding day (we have an interracial marriage) where she stood up at our wedding proclaimed, “I said no, no, no, and now I say yes!” I have to admit that buckets of tears came down my face when Bernie spoke those words. Gail and I will be married 22 years this November 19th.

Finally, “Jumping In” has strengthened the connection between my son Pharoah and myself. He is a freshman in college and in a text today he asked me. “Are you still swimming in the pool?” I said yes. He then said. “I am proud of you”. Wow, I can’t begin to express the deep feelings I got from that text. I told him how much I appreciated his words.

I could feel that by me “Jumping In”, I was not only bringing something to myself, but to him. In fact, I would venture to say, my “Jumping In” has impacted many people in my life, because it has greatly impacted me.

I invite you to “Jump In” and explore the wonder called your Life.

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This is a book of 30 magical cards, bound in a ring that allows you to customize the book.These inspirations are designed to lift your spirits and encourage the parts of your inner team that require the courage to keep going.
www.gogreenlearning.com

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I found this piece on my Facebook page, posted by my brother James. The DJ Mix was done by chanchitoxynu who is very talented.
There is something in the song that moves you to keep going on. MJ when he was on, listened very deeply to conscience.

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I don’t care if you lick windows,
take the special bus
or occasionally pee on yourself..
You hang in there, sunshine, you’re special

Every sixty seconds you spend angry, upset or mad, is a full minute of happiness you’ll never get back.

Today’s Message of the Day is:

Life is short,
Break the rules,
Forgive quickly,
Kiss slowly,
Love truly,
Laugh uncontrollably,
And never regret anything that made you smile.

Send to all the people you love and don’t want to lose in 2009, even me.

If you get 3 back, you are a great companion, if not, your still are.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we’re here we should dance.

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Jerome Green

Mickey Mouse is a symbol of many things: Hope, fantasy and new energy. Walt Disney had faith that his vision would work, but it wasn’t until Mickey Mouse was born did the Disney’s fortunes change. In this time of economic upheaval and discussion on stimulus packages, it may be time to look to a new way of living.

Trying to recapture what has been lost is sometimes like looking for a needle in a haystack. Your odds of finding the needle are slim, and if you do find it, you just might forget why you were looking for it in the first place.

This is a time for real change not parallel changes, but death to the old and birth to the new. Mickey, always represent the spirit of the New, no matter how old he gets.