I have witnessed some extraordinary events in my life but what I saw today took the meaning of the word to new heights - My wife and I decided to go to see the movie ‘127 Hours‘ today - if you like to be inspired than I suggest you sprint to the movie theaterimmediately to go and see it - The movie was a true story of a man named Aron Rolston who fell into a crevice, landing with his arm wedged and stuck behind an immovable rock - this happened while he was hiking alone in the Utah dessert - 127 was the number of hours he was stuck - James Franco portrays Aron and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won an oscar for his performance - he was incredible - The movie brought me to tears a few times as I thought about being in his position, faced with death - I questioned whether or not my will to live would have led to me take the same drastic measures that he took to survive - The trailer for the movie used a great quote; THERE IS NO FORCE ON EARTH MORE POWERFUL THAN THE WILL TO LIVE - and there is no question that Aron Rolston proved that to be an absolute truth - Stories like this are so inspiring - they raise our spirits, reminding all of us that we are all extraordinary - that we are all capable of superhuman acts of strength and perseverance - all it takes sometimes is a small reminder - a little push - or maybe it might take a big kick in the pants - whatever it is, let’s all find a way to wake up that sleeping giant that lives inside of us and let’s all make a vow to ourselves and each other to live extraordinary lives in the year 2011 - Just think of the impact we could make on our ailing world if we tapped into our innate powers - collectively we would become better people - building stronger families - closer communities - all of humanity striving towards Peace, Love, Health, and Happiness! Are you ready? Let’s make it happen - You, Me, We.

I had a great conversation the other day with a client of mine discussing and comparing some of our fears and insecurities - we both acknowledged having several of the same types of experiences and feelings during our youth and teenage years - I find it amazing how we can sometimes create fears in our minds that have absolutely no right being there or that serve us no purpose. After years and years of doing just that, creating fears, I had developed some deep rooted insecurities which resulted in being very self conscious - Once a self loathing attitude sets in it’s really hard to consider yourself worthy of many of life’s jewels - be it respect - love - admiration - friendship - confidence, etc…when this happened to me, life became quite a challenge and some very odd behavior ensued - an example of that odd behavior was the front or facade that I tried put up - despite being afraid of my own shadow I attempted to display some kind of bravado in hopes that it would keep me from getting into fights, impress my peers, look good in front of the ladies, and maybe, just maybe intimidate other athletes during competition - looking back now I can only shake my head and laugh when I think about how ridiculous I behaved and how stupid I must have looked - why couldn’t I have just accepted myself for who I was and be who I wanted to be? I think it all comes down to not feeling worthy and if I were able to give someone only one piece of advice it would be - be true to yourself - know that you are unique and special and worthy of all the blessings that life has to offer - we waste so much time judging ourselves and comparing ourselves to other people when all we should be doing is accepting ourselves for what we have. We all come well equipped with what I believe to be the most important of all of life’s skills, which is the ability to love. Once we learn to love ourselves it is then that we will feel worthy of everyone’s love - once we master this then we are in a position to spread that love everywhere we go to everyone we meet - so believe me when I tell you - no matter who you are - where you’ve been or where you’re going, you are worthy and deserve all of your dreams to come true - so keep dreaming and start loving because Lord knows this world sure can use some more of that sweet funky stuff called love.

One of the many wonders of this world - for me at least - is whether or not we are all born as pure and gentle souls - then as we grow, develop and learn, we are subjected to the world - which is full of influential people and experiences that can and does subject us to what some would consider immoral, criminal, heinous and unconscionable behavior. I once heard someone say that no one is born racist it is alearned behavior. For the most part I believe that most of us are born with love and goodness running through our veins but I also subscribe to the idea that there are always exceptions to the rule - afterall I don’t think any of us will deny that there is plenty of darkness on this earth and who is to say that some may been born with an evil spirit? Whether or not our personalities are developed bycircumstances or we are either innately good or evil, I believe that no matter where we end up - on either side, we are capable of of transforming ourselves and our minds. If one were to fall into the gripsof temptation or is stricken with disturbing emotions, it would only be a temporary affliction - it’s never too late to change and live a life of virtue - it’s never too late to shift your perception and alter yourreality by replacing hatred with compassion and acceptance - violence with peace and harmony - fear with courage or intolerance with patience and understanding. Virtues need to be taught and they need to be embraced and cultivated. We must choose to live with morals, honor and self respect - self love and love for others. The time has come when we the people of this beautiful planet need to reevaluate ourselves and how we’re choosing to live and how we’re choosing to treat each other and treat this earth, our lifeline. Adults, look at the example we’re setting for the children - I say it’s time that we start to seriously consider the next generations to come and think about the legacy we will leave behind - are we living virtuously? Let’s all try to judge less, try not to point out each others flaws in a feeble attempt to make ourselves feel better, let’s demonstrate more kindness and courtesy - Is this an impossible task? I say No! I know what we humans are capable of so I set my standards very,very high - I just can’t seem to help myself - I guess that just the optimist in me, the hopeful romantic. Go now and plant those virtuous seeds in your heart and your minds - get them plenty of sunshine then water them by Living the 7 and soon together we will change the world one convert at a time - HERE’S TO LOVE!

Now that we are into week 2 of the New Year let me ask you a question - How are you doing with those New Year resolutions? It’s a common practice for many of us to sit around assessing our lives and then deciding on all the different ways we’re going to change or improve ourselves over the ensuing months - I imagine that most people approach their plans with all the best intentions, making those ever so lofty promises that this will be the year that I’m going to ________ (fill in the blank). I have no idea how many decades the tradition of making NYR has been around but I have to wonder how many of them are actually realized or stuck to - If I were to put a % on the number of people that fail to follow through I would venture to set the number pretty high - that’s not to say that this year will be anything like all of the previous ones where we set our sights high only to fall short - let’s make this year’s resolutions really count.  GOD knows we sure can use a little spark - a glimmer of light that will illuminate and do away with some of the darkness that’s permeated our lives. Together as a family let’s make some lasting changes that will benefit all of mankind - let’s solve some of our problems, put some more effort into accepting each others differences - why don’t we all take our health - physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual to its optimal level? Let’s be more generous with our time and our love - Let’s try really hard to follow through with all of our ideas and make all of our dreams come true - If you need any help don’t be afraid to ask for it - after all that’s what most people love doing. Aren’t we so much more resourceful and effective when we work together, with a partner, a family or a team - I think we do. Well let me leave you with some encouraging words - Believe in yourselves - believe in each other - believe in the power of hard work - prayer - discipline - enthusiasm and most importantly love - love of self first and foremost and once you’ve mastered self - love get out there and spread it around – Happy New Year Everyone!

Live the Seven,

John Nies