Wisdom – Thought Changer

By Cindy Yantis Real isn’t always nice. I saw a friend recently and she told me she saw a change in me, that I was more grounded. “You’re more real, not so nice.” And, I got it. When I was about nine, growing up in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, there was a neighborhood club called, “The Nice Club,” run by a group of girls my age. And, no matter how hard I tried they wouldn’t let me in the club. I was my nicest nice, but it clearly wasn’t good or nice enough. Turns out the nice club wasn’t so nice. And, I’ve spent the good part of my life trying to get into that damn Nice Club. Ha! No more. Letting go of nice leaves room for more real. Niceness many times covers up a fear of the truth, which in turn hides fears of being rejected, or not being… Read more →

The jacaranda trees are in bloom, the landscape sprinkled with its almost indescribable purplish blue flower. It’s one of the most beautiful sights in Los Angeles this time of year. I saw several on a recent walk. I stole a few moments underneath one of them, lying on the grass as discarded petals cascaded down on me. It felt a bit clandestine because I was lying on someone’s front lawn. But, I didn’t care. It was delicious and cool and the sweet aroma took me back to another time. My body sank into the ground and I was completely present with that tree. It was a reminder of how nurturing and grounding nature is. It gave me a glimpse into the invisible matrix that connects everything and everyone since the beginning of time, across nations and through our ancestral lives. With Memorial Day upon us, when we remember and honor… Read more →

Something doesn’t sit well. And, when something doesn’t sit well, you can feel it, right? It goes against the grain. It can wake you up in the middle of the night. Why is that? That happened recently, believe or not, when I posted a photo of the new Mars skyline on the Thought Changer Facebook page. A friend sent it to me and I was so blown away by the awesomosity of it that I just had to share it. The photo went viral with over 3300 people seeing or sharing my posted photo over the course of a couple of days. What I loved about it is that it brought new visits and members to Thought Changer, the place where we share authentic views and ideas to expand the mind. Very cool! Then, I found out the photo is counterfeit. A fake. And, I didn’t remove it from my… Read more →

One of my favorite photographers, Jennifer Kelley Lublin, posted this mesmerizing photo this week. Photo by JennKL I could imagine myself on this path and wondered what kind of magic lay just around the bend. The trees seem to be willing to lend a helping hand or to part their branches to shed more light along on the way. Wherever it leads, I want to go there. It got me thinking about life’s journey and the many paths, full of twists and turns, that are available to us every day. Which to take? Which way to turn when a fork presents itself? The big moments and life-altering milestones many times present themselves as these forks in the road, where you have to make a decision. Sometimes it’s scary and really hard to make that first step. This is where the magic of the Path of Least Resistance comes in. Have… Read more →

“In Love With Words” That’s the title I gave one of my Pinterest categories. I’m a bit late in the game on Pinterest, but I’ve become slightly obsessed. It’s one of the most creative time sucks ever invented! My love affair with words only intensifies with each passing day. As a writer, the hunt for the perfect word is a mind-bending expedition that can end in a second or can become a witch-hunt for that elusive term or turn-of-phrase or line of dialog. While procrastinating last night, which is really another way of saying my brain was germinating on the right words to put on paper, I went on the cool wordart site, Wordl, where you can create word clouds. I plugged in some words from this blog site to create a Thought Changer Cloud. It came out looking like this: Bravo. Word. It reminded me of an article I… Read more →

Gilligan: Hiya, Professor. What are you doing? The Professor: I’m making notes for a book. It’s to be a chronicle of our adventures on the island. I think people will buy it, don’t you? Gilligan: Sure, I’ll buy one. I’m dying to find out what happens to us. ~ Gilligan’s Island 1964 It always seemed to me that the stranded castaways on Gilligan’s Island had it made; and even though their mission was to find a way to get off or to be rescued, every week they found contentment on their uncharted desert isle. They became increasingly laid back and adapted to life on the island. They were livin’ on Island Time. I woke up on Island Time today. I spent this past weekend on Catalina Island and we heard several people use the phrase Island Time. “I’m in no hurry, I’m on Island Time.” “The service is slow; they’re… Read more →

“The President’s in town.” Seems a simple enough statement. But, when you live in Los Angeles, it sparks a murmur — more often a roar — about something that can bring on blood-boiling discussions in the lives of Los Angelinos. Traffic. Roads are closed. Detours abound. And, at times tempers needlessly flare. Traffic flow stops flowing. Or does it? If you stop to think about for a sec, doesn’t the flow just… change direction? And, if that is true, will those who actually “go with the flow”, planning for and accepting what is, be able to deal with the new traffic flow with reasonable ease and diminished aggravation? It reminded me of a Colorado whitewater rafting trip I took a few years ago. During the mini-prep session prior to the romp down the rapids, our guide helped us don our life jackets, coaching us as much as possible on what might confront us: “lean… Read more →

“Live the questions and life will move you toward the answers.” ~ Deepak Chopra I love it when someone says something to stop me in my tracks. I take it as a sign, a message I’m supposed to hear at that time, in that moment. My dear friend Kelly Lloyd recently shared a Deepak Chopra interview with me where he discussed tips for anti-aging and his message above h it me to my core, beyond the anti-aging discussion. It got me thinking about how we are so conditioned nowadays to seek the answers, to search and find whatever it is that plagues us on a deep, cellular level. Many times it’s that constant “seeking” that keeps us from truly living the lives we have today, right now. “When I figure out what I’m supposed to do with my life, then I’ll be happy.” “When I lose twenty pounds, then I’ll… Read more →

That’s what Tiger said in one of his five minute interviews this week when asked how he could have done what he did. “I got away from my core values.” To me that says everything. I believe when you live your core values the results take care of themselves. What I mean by that is when you are connected to, stick to and live by your simple truths, otherwise known as your core values, your life sets itself correctly on your right path. Read more →

Abraham Lincoln said, “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” I take that to mean that how you contribute and make a difference each day puts the “life in your years.” It got me thinking. To have a meaningful career means being driven by a vision or purposeful goal that is connected to making an impact, making a difference. And when you come from the truth of your vision and from a place of positive influence, people and opportunities will be drawn to you. Many times when we think about career, it’s about setting goals in terms of what we want to achieve, how we can climb the ladder, make more money. That’s all good. We all need goals. But to have true sense of accomplishment and purpose, if your overall vision is tied into how you make a… Read more →