Achieve Perfection by Redefining Perfect!

I spent a good portion of my life trying to achieve perfection in one form or another. But all of that changed one day when I found myself waiting for a friend in a quiet Irish Pub on a Sunday afternoon.

See, this was not your average run-of-the-mill Irish Pub, but a “Thank God I’m Irish-American Pub,” with pictures of presidents and historical documents lining the walls. And as I waited for my friend, I noticed a large copy of the United States Constitution hanging on the wall in front of me.

Seeing this as a sign that I was meant to reread the Constitution, I ordered a pint and began with the preamble, “We the people of the United States in order to form a more perfect union.” But then I stopped and asked myself, “More perfect? Is that even possible?”

Not realizing I was thinking aloud, an old Irishman sitting at the other end of the bar looked up from his Sunday paper and replied, “It all depends on how you define perfect.”

Seeing that I was not quite understanding him, he continued and said, ““The framers were visionaries, lad, forward thinkers. They didn’t see perfection as finite or unattainable but rather recognized the perfection of the moment at hand and the promise of future growth and possibility, leaving plenty of room for more perfect. Understand?”

I dutifully nodded and said, “Thank You.”

He nodded back with a slight grin on his face, took a sip of his whiskey and settled back into his morning paper as if we had never had this conversation. I, in turn, read the remainder of the Constitution over a second pint, paid my tab and thanked the old man once again for the civics lesson.

My friend never did show up, but I was now able to see the perfection in that.

Copyright 2007 Rob Gruber Life Coach

iwishicouldtellyou.com i wish i could tell you

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Let Go to Grow

On one of the few days it rained in LA, I decided to take the Number 2 bus to meet a friend. By the time the bus came, I was completely soaked. The newspaper over my head and the palm tree above were no match for mother nature.

As I stepped into the damp and musty bus, I felt the tension of the standing-room only crowd. I paid my fare and found a place to stand next to a well-dressed, old man that was seated comfortably with his eyes closed as he held a cane in one hand and an umbrella in the other, making him the only dry passenger. At the next abrupt stop he opened his eyes, sat up and looked to the front of the bus.

“We’re at Genesee,” I said. He nodded and continued to look forward.

A moment or two later, the last passenger boarded, a beautiful but frail, elderly woman that was having a little trouble getting on the bus with her broken umbrella. Grumbling from the back of the bus could be heard as she struggled to quickly pay her fare and secure a safe place to stand as the bus driver abruptly closed the door and pulled away from the stop. And stand she did, at least for a bit, as the perfectly healthy passengers clung to their seats dedicated to the elderly and disabled as if they owned them. Unitil something amazing happened. That sleepy, old man sprung up best he could, cleared his throat and said, “Excuse me, my dear, this seat is open.”

Recognizing his caring soul and the fact that he needed a cane to stand, she replied, “That’s so sweet, but you don’t have to give up your seat to me.”

The elderly man replied, “My dear lady, it was not mine to begin with.”

Taken by his chivalry, the elderly lady smiled, took the seat and said “Thank you.”

Nothing was said by them or anyone else on the bus until a few stops later, when the elderly gentlemen pulled the stop cord and proceeded to the front exit. All eyes were on him. The entire bus was silent. He turned slowly to look back at the elderly woman and nodded. She nodded back, blushed and looked down to find his umbrella at her side.

“Oh, you forgot your umbrella.” she said.

He smiled and said, “No, I didn’t…enjoy” as he proceeded out of the bus and into the rain, welcoming each and every drop.
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“It was not mine to begin with.” – the old man on the bus

What a wonderful statement that led me to the question. “What is really mine to begin with?”

Think about it. What is truly yours? What did you come into this world with? What will you leave with? What is not transient? What remains without change?

Consider Your Thoughts.
What thoughts are uniquely yours? Aren’t many of your thoughts given to you by others? Could you consider giving up thoughts that don’t serve you and sharing those that do?
Your Actions.
Are your habits your own or did you learn them from others? Could you let go of the bad habits and share the good ones?
Matter.
Could you begin to let go of your attachment to things? Could learn to share those things that serve you and let go of those things that don’t?
Energy.
Could you realize how much energy it takes to possess things? Could you better use that energy to live more fully in the present?
Life.
Could you begin to see the gift of life you are and share it with others?

Over time you may realize little is ever really yours, and that what matters is rarely matter.

Copyright 2007 Rob Gruber iwishicoudltellyou.com i wish i could tell you

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Six Degrees of Manifestation or The Six P’s

Six Degrees of Manifestation refers to the fact that you are a mere six degrees or steps away from manifesting anything you want in your life.

The Six Degrees of Manifestation are:

1. Be Present. The first step is to become present once again. Once again? That’s right. When you were a baby you were nothing but present. Somewhere along the way you chose to live a good part of your life in the past and future. You become present again through awareness and the exercises found throughout iwishicouldtellyou.com.

2. Pay Attention – Now that you’re present, you need to pay attention to two wonderful things, you and the world around you. Sound’s simple? Think again. That’s a lot of stuff. Here’s the trick. Stay present, observe and listen to your gut. In a present state you are more likely to determine what is best for you and worthy of your attention.

3. Place Your Intention – Placing your intention is when things really get exciting. Placing intention on a thing increases your attention on it and your connection to it. When you place attention you are literally saying “I intend on experiencing ____________.” The more you focus on something the greater the gravitational pull you will have to it and it to you. Some folks call this attraction.

4. Perceive – Once you’ve placed your intention, stay present to all the signs that point you in the right direction. The world is full of signs to guide and inspire you along your path. Signs come in many shapes, sizes and mediums. You never know where the next one will be. Eventually you will see the sign, “Here it is!”

5. Permit – Now that you have followed your heart into the world of possibilities, you must allow yourself or rather give yourself permission to have what you payed attention to, place your intention on and perceived into your world. This is the most challenging part for most people. This is the moment of truth. This is where we find out if what we wanted is what we truly wanted. Well, you’ll never know until you allow it into your life. If it’s not what you want you can always start over and manifest something else. So permit/allow and embrace that which you intended.

6. Participate, Play and Pass it on – Last but not least, experience what you have manifested fully and share it with others.

Copyright 2007 Rob Gruber Life Coach
iwishicouldtellyou.com i wish i could tell you

Traveling at the Speed of Sight!

Change your speed, change your life!

Let’s face it. Most of us have a tendency to travel throughout our days at the same relative speed. At this relative speed, we see the same things we’ve always seen and process them in the same way we’ve always processed them. But what if we changed our speed from time to time. What if we stopped, slowed down and/or sped up? Could we dramatically change our lives?

I think so.

How did I come to this conclusion? Well, simply put, I had food poisoning. Something I wouldn’t wish on anyone but something that helped me understand that the speed at which I moved through my life affected how I saw things. And as my perception changed, so did my world.

A perfect example of this came somewhere in the middle of my recovery, when I was finally able to get up and take a walk outside. As I stepped outside for the first time in days, I saw a hummingbird out of the corner of my eye by the fruit tree outside my house. Without any reservation I mustered enough strength to slowly walk over to the tree and watch him. Before I knew it I was within arms length of him. I stood there for some time watching him gracefully extract nectar out of each blossom. When he was done he pulled slightly back from the tree, turned toward me, looked right into my eyes, hovered for a timeless moment, and then casually flew off.

Now here are a few questions:

Would I have been able to see or experience anything like this traveling at my normal speed?
Could I alter my speed throughout my day and get better results?
Could I travel at a speed more conducive to what matters most to me?
Am I controlling the speed of my life or am I letting other’s dictate my speed?
What speed brings me the most peace?
Is there a speed of least resistance?
Could I meet you at your speed?

What is your speed?

Copyright 2007 Rob Gruber Life Coach

iwishicouldtellyou.com i wish i could tell you

Test Strips 101 – A Present Moment Exercise

This is a snap shot into a process I call TEST STRIPS.

Copyright 2007

TEST STRIPS are a quick way to evaluate where you are in the present moment in relation to where you aspire to be.

1.Choose a aspect of your life you wish to focus on and acknowledge its opposite.
2.Place the two opposing ideas across from each other on the strip like the one above.
3. Throughout the week, day or during a particular task ask yourself a question like this. From 10-1, how much ____________(The concept you wish to have) am I experiencing? From that number you will be able to determine where you are in relation to what you wish to create.
4. Decide/Focus on/Intend to move closer to your desired state or experience. (Note: Never focus on where you don’t what to be because what you focus on expands in your life.) Create intentions that state, “I wish to be more/experience more __________, and mantras that declare, “I am _________(that which you aspire to create more of)” and recite in throughout the day.
5. Ask yourself leading questions. What could I do in this moment to become more ___________? What new thoughts could I think to become more________? What thoughts/ideas could I let go of that may be holding me back from attaining more ________?
6. Think and act according to your intention and repeat this exercise regularly.

Here are few of the general concepts that my clients have created.

Love/Fear
Creating/Consuming
Giving/Taking
Acceptance/Denial
Growth/Contraction
Productive/Unproductive
Allowing/Resisting
Listening/Talking
Optimistic/Pessimistic
Wealth Consciousness/Debt Consciousness
Abundance/Scarcity

What aspect of your life would you like to work on this week?

Copyright 2007 Rob Gruber Life Coach

iwishicouldtellyou.com i wish i could tell you