just sayin'.....

...infinite.....INFINITE love and gratitude........

I wanna be like Lee Mannix

Shit.... Lee Mannix..did you really have to die this week? I keep seeing your smile...and hearing the straight talk things you've said to me, and to hundreds of other folks.  I read the posts of your friends and clients and I realized another of the many reasons you are so loved.

I have dog stories...you have worked with all three of my mutts...and they are no different from the thousands posted here on the Lee Mannix Center for Canine Behavior fan page. No need to write about them... Talking to Kimberly Burgan, whom we both loved...who you LOVED SO WELL......it hit me as to EXACTLY what it is that endeared you to us all. 

You chose to be fully yourself....your unfiltered, smart ass, funny as hell, sly, prankster, laughing, crass,  boot-wearing-beer-drinking-copenhagen-dippin, smiling & magic with us all, self.  We love you so much...because you were able to do what the rest of us struggle with. You chose to live life exactly as you were....for the authenticity of it...and not the popularity.  Yet...you gained popularity and even more.  You earned massive love and respect...and a heart in the homes of thousands of dog- loving families. We love you so much, for not just what you did...but for who you were...because in our own little way..we long to be as brave as you were...and live this life TRULY being ourselves... exactly the way you did. 

I choose today, to be more of my true self...to be brave and live fully me...because you inspired me to do that. And...I will do it in my cowgirl boots more often! 

Love, 

Allison....and Hank (the dope)...and Daisy (the freak)...and Lulu (the little bitch)

I'll be at your party tomorrow...and I will wear my boots...and celebrate your fine ass and your magic spirit!

Let me introduce you to my new best friend

This post is probably a little airy-fairy for some of you....so warning. I am pretty airy fairy sometimes and this is my blog. That being said, let me introduce you to my new best friend.

I was recently introduced to my angel-ness and her purpose for my life. I'm grateful for the introduction and for the many messages she has been giving me since I met her. Today was the day I first drew her and put her to a visual symbol. She is the very best version of myself. The one God created me to be. She is here to remind me that I brave and strong and the words on her spirit tail are just some of the qualities that I know I have and am growing every day.
Here are a few of the other messages she has helped me uncover:

• Watch out for downplaying who you are
• Leave the small shit behind
• Validation comes from the SPIRIT, not from the world.
• You have an infinite capacity to grow and love and evolve
• You are an artist--always have been.
• You are able to trust completely...those wings are strong and will guard my heart when needed.
• Life is meant to be enjoyed abundantly...this abundance is for all of us...including you, Allison
• Laugh
• Don't take life so seriously
• God takes care of the birds doesn't he? and they are just birds...
• Delight in the people you love
• Just be. Just be has been your motto for a long long time...bring it back...and be all that you want to be. Be love-don't DO love...just be.

I guess I share...because I'd love for YOU to have the gift of hearing what your angel-ness has to say for you? How can he/she/it contribute to your spirit...and then your life?


To the one who introduced me to my angel-ness, I am grateful for your contribution to my life..I look forward to speaking again soon...and learning more.

Ways to Handle the Muck

What do you do when you really couldn't care less to do anything at all--
I'm writing from my hammock and my heart today and know that I am not the only one out there stuck in the muck from time to time. I pulled my computer away from my work desk, because really no work was getting done. A change of scenery and humidity and here I am on the hammock in the back yard. Not the most comfortable place to write...nap yes, laptop no.

As a coach, I'm used to supporting others who are in the muck and helping them create and implement a plan for getting through and out of it and on to a better place in life, work, etc. I know what the great thinkers and motivators and nlp practitioners say. I know what therapists would say, and what spiritual writers, doctors, and even scriptures say. I know many of the traditional and non traditional "prescriptions" for this kind of state.

As a human being, I'm vulnerable to the nothingness of a grey day, to the frustration of procrastination, to getting easily off track and to the deviation of the dreams that normally propel me in to action. Just as often as I give my help and coaching, I need it too.

Havi Brooks, of the Fluent Self discusess 3 of these traditional perscriptions in a blog post called Destuckification 101. At the end she talks about anotherway of "going deeper in to destuckification" that for today works for me and so I wanted to share what she talks about in her blog....she talks about:

About having a conscious, active, intentional relationship with yourself. About what happens when you’re allowed to drop all the shoulds.

Including the ones that say you should be able to push through it. And the ones that say you should be able to sit with it. And the ones that say you should be more grateful.

So that you can give yourself permission to not have to be there yet.

So that you can find out what you need right now. And find ways to give it to yourself. Or at least get better at being eventually ready to receive it.

Interesting I have so much in my mind in the way of all these methods for getting out of this muck. What about being attentive to the muck and what it is saying? It is uncomfortable for me to be in this state...and I'm reminded of the saying....get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Yesterday, my muck terrified me. Today I'm able to be slightly more comfortable with it. I'm finding kindess for myself along the way and staying in that kindess. Cool thing is, I know by tomorrow, that kindess will have filled me up and I'll be ready again, to pour out to those around me.

What do you do when you are stuck in the muck?

And thanks Havi Brooks, for writing in the "REAL"