Expect to be pleasantly surprised! Too often, people seem to think that life will inevitably bring them a negative result. This just isn't true. If we are only open to negativity, then we will only see the negative side of things.

Be open to the miraculous! Be open to "Yes"! When we keep our hearts and minds focused on positive things, we will find ourselves being pleasantly surprised over and over again.

Recently, my friend and I had a meeting with a local restaurant owner. The original plan was simply to discuss a one time comedy event that he wanted to hire us for.

I wanted more but was happy and grateful to be discussing a one time event.

Very quickly the conversation turned from us planning his one time event to us planning our own ongoing show! What a welcome surprise!
I had thought that this conversation would come at a later date; perhaps even a much later date but I went in to the meeting overflowing with gratitude for what I knew we had already while planning for more.

I find that as I go from day to day, I am often surprised by seeing more of my dream coming true! 

Move forward confidently and with joy. No matter what today holds, expect good things! Look for them and walk towards them.

We limit ourselves by our unbelief. Why do that? More often than not, it is due to our fear of success. We are so accustomed to things not working out that it feels more comfortable than facing success. This mindset will always hold us back.

Take a chance and expect success! When I started in comedy in 2005, my youngest son was only 6. I was getting great feedback every time I performed. You would think this would be a great thing! Well, it was, but instead of getting more and more excited, I became more and more fearful. Of what? I was fearful of how I could handle success. My son was too young for me to leave him night after night to go out and perform.

Instead of moving forward as doors were waiting to open for me, I shrunk back, eventually stopping completely.

That dream never left my heart and mind but I could not figure out how to manage a successful outcome.

Now, 8 years later, I have dusted off that dream, thanks to the inspiration of some wonderfully dear friends, and have found the doors still ready to open and the happy surprises still waiting to jump out at me! 

And it's not just about comedy. It's about everything in my life right now. I have finally allowed myself to be open to success instead of being afraid of it.

As I move forward, one step at a time, I find more joy, more happy surprises and more success coming my way.

I am truly deeply grateful. 

Success is not something that we can measure for each other. It's something that only you can define for yourself as it looks different for each of us.

Be joyful. Be grateful. Be surprised!

We often hear about "the secret to happiness" and we can debate what that is until the end of time. The thing is, what is true for one person is not necessarily true for another. However, this is true for everyone - we all have a secret to our happiness!
The trick is, to find out what it is for you.

Too many of us accept living under a grey cloud of settling for the life that comes day by day instead of creating a life that really brings us joy.
If you're feeling weighed down by the daily grind, take a day off for yourself.
The truth is, one day off won't change your monthly income much at all, but it can be a huge lift to your emotional "income".

In 2010, I was working full time but knew I wanted to return to Gaza. The thing is, I couldn't see how on earth I would do it. It seemed impossible. I always wanted to write a book. Two very large, seemingly insurmountable challenges that lay in front of me.

I couldn't think of anyway to accomplish either.

Until I took 2 weeks off work......

Suddenly, it was as if my creative juices were freed from prison! I could dream, imagine and plan like I hadn't been able to for ages!

I had an epiphany one day and I could see my whole journey from start to a well planned finish in Gaza! I laughed at myself, not seeing how I could have missed what now was so obvious to me as far as the logistical steps to making this journey. 

I found myself asking, "Why not?" instead of, "how on earth am I going to pull that off?" 

During that time, I also took a book writing workshop and was well on my way, finally believing that it was possible and I would, eventually, be the author of a book. That book was published in 2011!

In August of 2010, my group and I couldn't believe our eyes and ears as we were granted final passage by Egypt to enter the Gaza Strip once again. 
It was a joy for me to be able to work with school children there. It was very much like living a dream!

How did I get from not having a clue how I was going to get there to actually being there?

I took the time to dream. Daydreaming can be some of our most productive time if we use it to dream about our future plans. Use the time to dream about the life you want instead of what you alarm is waking you up for tomorrow morning.

Clear your schedule next weekend or, if you can't wait that long, take tomorrow for yourself and daydream as if your life depended on it! Why? Because it does!!

When we are in the rush of a full schedule, it's easy to see the desirable as being the impossible. This is the reason it's so important to take time to dream. 

Take some blank paper and a pen or pencils - I prefer a variety of colours for this - and then take some time to yourself and sit and think.

Write down the ideas that come to you. Think about what you want to do. Dream big. Don't censor this stage of your thinking.

Let loose and daydream like crazy!!  Find out which things on your new list really make you excited and start making plans for them. Baby steps. One little step at a time, eventually, will bring you across a huge distance so don't worry if your dreams look too big or too farfetched. 

The only question you need to ask is, "do I really want it?"

Yes? Then go for it!