I love Martin Luther King, Jr.  I love everything he stood for, and still stands for.

I love the nonviolent civil disobedience of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960′s and 70′s…of facing down anger and hatred with love, compassion, courage and a determination to live the kind of life each of us has a right to.

I’m not interested in writing a history lesson. There are plenty of good places to go if that’s what you’re after.

I’m more interested in the present, and what you’re doing with YOUR life…NOW.

Because if you listen to Dr. King closely, he had one eye on what was happening then with black people (his words)…

…and one eye on the future…when people are judged, “not by the color of their skin, but on the content of their character.”

What he really wanted was to give everyone a chance to live out their Divine purpose, and not get tripped up by silliness like what color your skin is.

His biggest lesson for me, a white Jewish guy is the willingness to step outside one’s comfort zone.

Because if you think your life is gonna get any better by doing the same old thing, thinking the same old thing, reacting to life the same old way….

You know better.

Thanks to Martin Luther King, Jr. and many others, the struggle isn’t so much outside anymore.

(No matter what Wall Street does or what the politicians tell you.)

The challenge is inside.

Break the barriers.

Break the bondage of bad habits and poverty thinking.

Open your mind and your heart.

Let the blessings in.

HOW TO RECEIVE.

I”m proud to share it.

I’m proud to sell it.

Yeah, a few bucks to build the framework for a better life.

When you think about what others had to go through to achieve their liberty.

When you think about what people in other parts of the world are going through now.

You had better appreciate all the good stuff you have.

And you have a responsibility to actively design your own life.

Or don’t whine when any outside force takes your choices from you.

Happy Birthday, Dr. King.

Thanks for blazing a trail…for all of us.

Your Friend,
Larry Hochman
HOW TO RECEIVE

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First of all, Happy New Year!

Other than that…it’s all good. 

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One way to succeed in your home business, or in finding love, losing weight, etc, is to have a personal NARRATIVE that says you are supposed to be successful and happy.

Now…here’s what happens when your personal narrative turns into your personal LEGEND!

Add me to the list of husbands who get dragged by wives to concerts they wouldn’t ordinarily go to,  but wind up being glad they did.

(By the way…this is going to be about finding wild success in your business, your career…anything you didn’t think you’d have success in, but wound up doing so anyway.)

Last Saturday night, I went with Diane to see Josh Groban at the Mohegan Sun, in Connecticut.  I’d only heard little snippets of his voice, and while it was very good, it wasn’t one of those things that would have me counting down the minutes.

I expected a couple of hours of a cool voice, with ladies swooning and husbands rolling their eyes.

I was prepared.  After all, Diane went to see Kiss with me a couple of years ago.

But the show started with a really cool stage set, and a 12 piece band.  They could wail!

And then the man himself came out from the center of the arena.  A platform with a piano rose up from the floor, about 20 feet away from where we were sitting.

I don’t know what song he was singing.  For that matter, I don’t know any of the songs he was singing, until the last one.  But it was fun to listen to.

And again…that band could wail!

It was cool.  Instead of the over serious cheese fest I was expecting, the guy was fun and funny.

He told his story.  And no matter what you like or don’t like, everyone likes feeling like they’ve been brought into the background.

He made fun of his image. He let his band (including the brass and string sections) do their thing.  He even joined in on the drums for one song.

The dude had skills.

One of my favorite parts was when he brought up a woman from the audience who had tweeted about wanting to sing with him.

Turns out she had been an opera student.  She did a nice job…holding her own with him.

And of course, the grand finale at the end: All the women, and even some of the men had tears running down their cheeks during “You Raise Me Up.”

Good show, good evening. I’m not about to go out and buy any Josh Groban stuff.  But a fun time…and it made Diane happy that I was there.

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Now, let’s get to that part where you build your business, build your career, build any other part of your life.

In a younger, less informed time I wouldn’t have gone to the concert, no matter what.

It wasn’t “manly” enough. Too much of a chick-fest.

Or I would have gone, for that very reason…wall to wall women.

The idea of saying yes or no to something based on where you’re supposed to be, what you’re supposed to like…these days it just makes me laugh.

Music’s an easy example. Takes me back to the 1970′s where you liked disco, or rock and roll.  There was no middle ground.

Yeah, a silly example.

But ask yourself how many things you’ve said “no” to because you didn’t think you belonged there.

Ask yourself how many chances to meet new people, learn new skills, design a new reality you passed on.

Ask yourself how much different your life would be if you stopped worrying about what “they” think.

It’s what I did. And I scored.

Wealthy.

Healthy and strong.

Loving and loved.

More than anything else, I have a good time just about every day.

And so do the people who study with me.

Sometimes we even rock out to Josh Groban!

Open your mind a little bit.  Let new stuff in.

Open your heart a little bit.  Find some more fun and kindness for people…starting with yourself.

Open your courage a little. Try some new things. Let their path lead you to the superstar you’re supposed to be in the first place.

Your Pal,
Larry

***   ***

“WOW! I couldn’t put this book down! This is a beautiful story that anyone who is interested in growing must read.  If you have kids, they REALLY need to read it. Larry hit the nail on the head. We really can do anything if we just open our minds and hearts to what’s possible.”

Robin Hoch, Author of Living The Law of Attraction.

HOW TO JUGGLE (and Change Your Life Forever)  Watch these young adults go from stuck to free.  If you’re not careful, you might just do the same.

CLICK HERE to go on the journey.

So I gas up, check the oil, and get into it.

The front lawn looked like a beautiful, lush meadow. The grass was ten days tall and wildflowers were everywhere. The center island had its flowering bushes in full bloom and the dogwood tree was incredible.

But of course conditioning kicked in. No one wants to have the only house in the neighborhood with the overgrown lawn. So I started in on the front yard.

There were two patches that had the most beautiful purple wildflowers. They come around every year about this time. They last three or four weeks, then die off.

That is, they last unless they get mowed over along with the rest of the grass.

Each year I watch the bees come by and pollenate these wildflowers. Sure, there are plenty of other flowers for the bees. Lilacs are also in full bloom right now, not to mention thousands of other varieties.

But these are my flowers. They’re on my lawn.

It was an easy choice. As carefully as I could, I mowed around the patches of wildflowers. I even cut into them slightly where there was an opening. I tilted the lawnmower up in certain places to get to patches of grass in the middle the flowers.

I treated them with the TLC that something wild and beautiful deserves.

And I looked back at my work when I was finished. A very nice, neat, “proper” front yard. Fits in nicely with the rest of the neighborhood. There’s something to be said for order; compliance to the standards of those around you…when you aren’t compromising your own principles.

And I looked at the brilliant bursts of purple. No doubt some of the neighbors won’t be in love with the “weeds” I left in the yard. No one else in the neighborhood seems to have those blooms on their lawn.

But the processes of nature, the way we allow the natural world to flourish around us…for me it was more important than falling in line.

I’ll take the annoyance of a few folks. To see something express its beauty and its purpose, and to play a role in allowing it to unfold…it’s magic.

*** ***

We have people in our lives who are those purple flowers. They don’t do things the way the rest of us do. They don’t stay in line. They upset what we think is the proper balance of things.

But they bloom so beautifully.

And they feed a process we may not see, but is more important than any simple conformity.

Yeah, you can cut them out of your yard. You can wall yourself off from their wild, uninhibited nature.

Or you can delight in the God force they have to express.

And you can get swept up in it and become a “wild thing” yourself.

I know what my choice is.

Naturally Yours,
Larry
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