I am delighted to bring you this February issue of the award-winning Voyage of Your Life eZine.  I trust that this newsletter will provide some insight, entertainment, and enrichment to your life.

Even though February is the shortest month in terms of number of days, it more than makes up for that with holidays, special occasions and honors, like it being named Black History Month.  You have Groundhog Day (my favorite), Super Bowl Sunday, Valentine's Day, and President's Day.  Something for everyone to enjoy!  

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Last month this article was about being unable to say no.  I am certain you have exercised your ability to say no when appropriate.  

I believe that life is made up of a series of lessons that we all get chances to learn.  If we fail to learn them, we get an opportunity later to try again.  I would like to share some lessons of love I learned on my recent trip to Panama.

I had the privilege to visit with the warm and wonderful people of an indigenous tribe in Panama.  I witnessed their straw and stick houses, their very basic tools, and their kids playing baseball.  In the picture you can see the kids playing with a home in the background.  I could not help thinking how primitive their living conditions were and how much further we have progressed here in the United States.  Or have we?

Watching the little kids play baseball, my mind went back to a time when I truly loved to play the game.  Their bases were made from whatever nature provided.  The bat was a thin wooden stick.  The total cost of their game materials was probably about fifteen cents.  It has been a long time since I loved the game.  To watch a modern baseball game to me is just short of torture.  It is slow, methodical, complex and boring.  More like a business and less like a game.  But when I witnessed this purest form of the game of baseball, stripped of all extravagance and convenience, played by kids who love the game, I fell in love again.  I could have watched them for hours.  I wanted to join them.

Maybe one of those kids is the next Mariano Rivera.  Maybe one day he will travel to the United States and get a chance to play in the new Yankee Stadium.  Maybe he will make a fortune as a professional ballplayer.  And maybe he will always love the game like he did when I watched him play in the grass and dirt in Panama.  Maybe he will inspire others to love the game. That would really be something worth watching!

If you think this is an article about baseball, I encourage you to read it again.  This time consider that the lesson to be learned is re-discovering something you used to love by seeing it for the joy it brings in its simplest form.  

For me the lessons I need to remember are that love is free and freely given.  Love is simple and pure and natural, and does not need anything fancy or modern to prop it up or keep it going.  And love is easy and fun and causes lots of smiles.  Okay, maybe a few arguments have to break out every now and then, but that is because of the passion of the players to get it right.

February is a good time to re-discover your love. 

Last month my challenge was to commit to your goals for the year.  I am sure you are already well on your way to fulfillment.  This time I want to challenge you to do something equally dramatic and life-changing.  Your challenge for the next 30 days is to diagnose and repair if necessary, your own integrity.  

Integrity is defined as thinking, speaking, and acting in accordance with what you know to be right.  Not just once, or once in a while, but constantly.  Not just at work, or at home, or with your friends, or in your place of worship, but consistently.  Constantly and consistently become the key words to your success in living a life of integrity.  

If you give this challenge the right attention and focus, it can radically change your life.  Warning: you may find that some things you currently indulge in, tolerate, or suppress and avoid will have to be addressed when you are completely acting with integrity.  This challenge is not easy because you will have to confront your innermost beliefs and limiting fears.  And you have to be completely honest with yourself about what you believe in, how you act, and how you speak.  But once you get on the path of integrity you will feel more like your true self than you have in a long time.

There is your challenge, with an associated warning.  One good way to get started on your integrity check is to ask the people closest to you what they think is important to you.  Make your own list of important beliefs and actions that you hold.  Then do a quick, honest, and sincere self-assessment against those important beliefs, scoring for  how constantly and consistently you model them.

As always, please contact me when you need help to become yourself again and live as a role model of integrity.

Click below to see recent posts on the blog site. Leave any comments you would like to make.

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What is one goal you would like to achieve this year that would make a BIG difference in your life?  Do you want to try something new, get rid of something that is holding you back, or change something significant about your current situation?

It is not too late to make a commitment to yourself for 2011.  And when you are ready to achieve that goal, contact me and we will get it done.  Period.

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Happy holidays in February! I trust that you got something meaningful out of the articles and blog entries and that you are willing to forward this newsletter on to someone you know who could benefit from reading.  If you have topics you would like to see covered in future newsletters, please send them to me at Bob@FullSailCoaching.com.  

all the best,

Bob

(804) 873-3931

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