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I don't remember where I got this story, or who sent it to me, and sadly I have no idea who wrote it; but I've kept it in my reference files for this time of year so that I may share it with others...
May you, your family and all whom you hold dear to you have a wonderful, joyous holiday -- and always remember the spirit of the season.
Sue Crutcher, CMMSC, CPC, PHWC, RRPr, CPTN-CPT
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I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!"
My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.
Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything.
She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" She snorted...."Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and let's go."
"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second world-famous cinnamon bun.
"Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby's.
I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, and the people who went to my church.
I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock's second grade class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all us kids knew that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat.
I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that.
"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down.
"Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."
The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.
That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it (a little tag fell out of the coat and Grandma tucked it in her Bible). Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa's helpers.
Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."
I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.
Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was alive and well and we were on his team.
I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95.
May you always have LOVE to share.
And may you always believe in the magic of Santa Claus!
I don't recall the movie, but it was scary...
I've gotten my website cleaned up and my new blog working www.SueCrutcher.com/blog if you are interested in taking a look at it. Links are listed on the previous blog. We just got back from 5 weeks in Georgia and S. Carolina on Friday, the 11th ... still cleaning up from that.
More later. WARNING: Next year I have big plans...
Sue
Hi everyone
We're heading back starting tomorrow -- going to stick along the eastern shore hoping to keep as warm as possible, as long as possible. I've posted some pictures from the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia on my main website (www.SueCrutcher.com) blog. Here is the direct link in case I've posted after you go there: http://www.suecrutcher.com/blog/?p=17
Trust everyone is doing well and ramping up their business plans for 2010.
Here's a great way to get started:
http://www.suecrutcher.com/blog/?p=31
"5 secrets to setting an attainable goal -- and 5 bonus secrets to boot!"
Listen to the "Tuesday Tidbits" that are posted each week at: www.SueCrutcher.com
I've got a lot on the go and will keep you posted -- or sign up for my free enews if you want the details sent to you instead of you having to look for them. http://suecrutcher.com/newsletter.htm
And, get your FREE REPORT: "How to say 'no' -- nicely" at www.SueCrutcher.com (left column)
What do you think of the NEW LOOK of the site? I've got a bit of tweeking to do to get it more focused on my niche market, but it's on the way. Lots coming up in the new year as well. I'll be in Tucson 4 times in 2010 starting in January as I've been accepted into Kendall's Platinum 2010 Inner Circle coaching program; am retaking CMMS to be supportive of several friends who are in the program.
Just finishing up my 'marketing calendar' for 2010. In January/February I'm offering PRIVATE COACHING (virtual) for 1/2 price; there's a medium product launch in March/April and I'm in the process of planning my 'big event' this fall:2-day VIP Elite Master Mind Intensive. If you want to know more about any of them, email me at Susan@SueCrutcher.com
To your success!
Sue Crutcher, CMMSC, CPC, CPTN-CPT
Money, Marketing and Soul Coach; Life Empowerment Mentor; Baby Steps to Success Expert
Creator of [t]Sunami Of Success™ Program*
* = [t]Sunami of Success and [t]Sunami of Success Program are © July 2009 by Susan (Sue) Crutcher. All rights reserved.
So ... you won't hear from me for a bit. My husband, the dog and I are heading out 'camping'. Here's a picture of the rig with the 'toybox' behind it. Just about any mode of transportation is available upon setting up camp. A canoe or kayak; mopeds; bicycles and a little miata for touring.
We've gotten almost all the fall cleanup done around the homestead. When it's complete ... it's off we go. Where? South. Not Florida. That's about as far as we get with 'planning'. Usually we end up somewhere around Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Who's to say this year? By travelling with no itinerary, there is no chance of anything messing up. This doesn't work for everyone, but it's how we usually travel and always have ... even when the children were little.
Life is an adventure -- enjoy it!
While I'm away, I'll have my trusty little computer with me working diligently at getting new web copy, promotional material, teleseminars and presentations ready. I have a LOT of ideas for the upcoming year -- and BIG goals to achieve.
Talk to you soon...
Sue
What a week last week was!
So much information to absorb, digest and add to my repetoire...
Following our graduation ceremony in Tucson, AZ, where I become one of fewer than 35 certified 'money, marketing and soul coaches' with Kendall Summerhawk worldwide, I was invited to give a short speech on stage describing my experience. That's me in the bottom pic with the turquoise jacket.
The last day we heard 3 special guest speakers beginning with James Malenchek (whom I know a few of you know, have heard, or have taken workshops with). He's a very dynamic and enjoyable speaker. And what an offer he presented at the end. I had to control myself or I'd be flying across the country a dozen times next year!
Just to trick you, I'm wearing a brown jacket in the picture with James.
More to follow...
Oh, and check out the new version of my website which is about 1/2 done now (my webmaster is away dealing with a serious family issue or it would be complete). We've also updated my vacation rental site and ae working on my spa site.
Sue Crutcher, CMMSC, CPC, RRPr, CPTN-CPT
Money, Marketing & Soul Coach; Life Empowerment Mentor; Baby Steps to Success Expert
Whew!
That's all I can say at the moment.
More to follow (with pics)
Sue
How comfortable are you with the word: ‘prosperity’?
What does prosperity mean to you?
Elyse Hope Killoran, a woman who is studying, as I am, to be a certified coach in Kendall Summerhawk’s Money, Marketing and Soul program is currently offering a FREE “choosing prosperity” 30 day experiment. Today is Day 11 in the program. Check it out at: http://choosingprosperity.com/blog/
Today, Elyse’s email to participants included this John Randolph Price quote:
“How rich can you be? As rich as you think you can be, or as wealthy as your contentment level. However most people are content in just 'getting by' - and if that is as far as your consciousness can expand, then so be it. You have made that choice. But know that you can achieve the total freedom of financial independence if you choose and will work to uplift your consciousness to accommodate that level of completeness.”
I thought it was a wonderful and inspiring quote so I pass it along for your enjoyment and, hopefully, application.
To your prosperity!
May joy, passion and abundance be yours -- in life and business.
Susan Crutcher, MMSC, CPC, PHWC, RRPr, CPTN-CPT
Money, Marketing and Soul Coach
Life Empowerment Mentor
Baby Steps to Success Expert
"Inspiring and empowering Small Business Entrepreneurs to transform their lives to one of amazing success, ease and abundance."
WORKSHOPS, SEMINARS, RETREATS, PRIVATE & GROUP COACHING, SUCCESS CIRCLE MENTORING
PS -- you won't hear from me for a couple days as I am in the midst of Eben Pagan's "Connected" virtual workshop yesterday and today.
How comfortable are you with the word: ‘prosperity’?
What does prosperity mean to you?
Elyse Hope Killoran, a woman who is studying, as I am, to be a certified coach in Kendall Summerhawk’s Money, Marketing and Soul program is currently offering a FREE “choosing prosperity” 30 day experiment. Today is Day 11 in the program. Check it out at: http://choosingprosperity.com/blog/
Today, Elyse’s email to participants included this John Randolph Price quote:
“How rich can you be? As rich as you think you can be, or as wealthy as your contentment level. However most people are content in just 'getting by' - and if that is as far as your consciousness can expand, then so be it. You have made that choice. But know that you can achieve the total freedom of financial independence if you choose and will work to uplift your consciousness to accommodate that level of completeness.”
I thought it was a wonderful and inspiring quote so I pass it along for your enjoyment and, hopefully, application.
To your prosperity!
May joy, passion and abundance be yours -- in life and business.
Susan Crutcher, MMSC, CPC, PHWC, RRPr, CPTN-CPT
Money, Marketing and Soul Coach
Life Empowerment Mentor
Baby Steps to Success Expert
"Inspiring and empowering Small Business Entrepreneurs to transform their lives to one of amazing success, ease and abundance."
WORKSHOPS, SEMINARS, RETREATS, PRIVATE & GROUP COACHING, SUCCESS CIRCLE MENTORING
PS -- You won't hear a peep out of me for a few days as I am in the midst of Eben Pagan's "Connected" program
prosperity!
Here I am on vacation with my sister in a yurt in New York state near Ithaca, working on the details of my first tele/webinar entitled: "Go ahead. Give me the 3rd degree." It is peaceful, quiet and my view is a garden with lots of sunfowers and flowering vines.
It's quite a nice place and MUCH, MUCH better than staying in a hotel/motel room hands down! This yurt is approx 30 feet across so it gives quite a bit of living space, a separate dining and living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and a loft perfect for kids. I wouldn't want to stay here in the winter -- although, from the comment book, a lot of people have.
So, back to the tele/webinar: "Go ahead. Give me the 3rd degree." I've allowed for participants to choose between a phone call (costs money and kinks your neck) and a webinar (must be online at the time of session). Personally, I much prefer webinars so I wanted to give that option to people. Originally, I had signed up for the 30 day free trial with GoToMeeting, but since it allows only 15 participants, that didn't make sense for me and what I anticipate. GoToWebinar appears to be a suped-up version of GoToMeeting. It also appears to be quite intuitive. I guess I'll find out NEXT TUESDAY!
So, for my business contacts on this blog, here's the what and why behind the scene stuff.
You already know which provider I chose (after a lot of research). There are many, many free services out there that allow you to host a meeting but you need to read the fine print. Most of them allow only that: you talk, people listen.
GoToWebinar, even the free trial, allows me to have up to 1,000 participants and records the entire session including any visuals I may have (I'm wondering how that works) so that I can upload an audio link later. They provide a link, a good looking template which looks professional and I don't need a database. Mostly, I'm interested in the recording because, in the future, I can use that in many of my marketing concepts. I could burn CDs of it and give them away as 'teasers' to give people a sense of my style and to include in other marketing such as at a health fair.
Listening to the free CD will (1) give people useful information (2) start building a relationship with me which, in turn will (3) build trust which leads to (4) the purchase of a product of service. Think 'funnel of trust' -- VERY important in marketing and in business! A fabulous marketing tool for minimal time input.
Details of presentation -- "Go ahead. Give me the 3rd degree."
Although the presentation is free, you do need to register. Registration also allows you to listen to the audio upload later should you (1) want to relisten for details you might have missed and (2) if you're not able to be there due to time contraints, you miss nothing.
Register here: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/913688531 You will receive a confirmation email and call-in details following registration. As soon as you register, mark your calendar!
Content: for once, the "3rd degree" is a positive connotation! We will be discussing a variety of ways that Small Business Entrepreneurs can expand their 'circle of influence' and, hence, their potential for growth and success.
When: Tuesday, September 15 at 7:30pm
The next presentation will be September 22 at 7:30pm entitled "7 steps to reducing overwhelm in your business so you can work IN it and not just AT it!"
Register here: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/839953915
I look forward to hearing from you on the calls.
May joy, passion and abundance be yours -- in life and business.
Susan Crutcher, MMSC, CPC, PHWC, RRPr, CPTN-CPT
Money, Marketing and Soul Coach
Life Empowerment Mentor
Baby Steps to Success Expert
"Inspiring and empowering Small Business Entrepreneurs to transform their lives to one of amazing success, ease and abundance."
WORKSHOPS, SEMINARS, RETREATS, PRIVATE & GROUP COACHING, SUCCESS CIRCLE MENTORING
No, this headline is not a 'strategy' to trick you into an exercise today. However, now that I think of it, are you holding your head up straight? Or is it, perhaps, chin forward and slouched like a vulture? If so, it would be wise to pay attention -- you wouldn't want to get stuck in that position!
Now, back to what I was here to write...
www.SueCrutcher.com along with my other sites: www.GreystoneRetreat.com and www.Sutopia.com are in the process of being transferred this week so they may be unavailable for a couple days until they repropogate their new DNS address (cool techie talk isn't it? What's amazing, is that I actually have a clue what it means!) During the transfer phase, I have broken down and asked for help (hint, hint to others out there) to rebuild them to professional level. I have found new templates and it looks like it will be money well spent.
Here's the lesson for today: what would you be able to allow someone else to do for you in your business? Something that would take just the tiniest portion of weight and responsibility off of your shoulders? Bear in mind that whoever does this 'job' for you will not likely do it as you would have. They may not be perfect (and, who of us are?) However, the fact that you have freed up some of your time outweighs the lack of perfection (if you think about it, it's not likely it would have been perfect if you did the task either ... oops, did I really say that?)
I've been working on applying this lesson to my life as it is HUGE for me. I'm, like most of you I'm sure, a bit of a control person who expects a lot from myself.
Around the beginning of August I hired someone to help me in the introductory combination role of: office manager, personal assistant and webmaster. She's dedicating between 1 and 2 days a week to me at present and has been given 6 pages of my 'to do' list to take over. That, in itself, was a relief. It took until last week for me to think about the BENEFIT of having her help before I thought about the MONEY it was costing me. Here's what happened (her name is Lynn):
Last week on Tuesday, Lynn and I talked about several things, including what payment gateway and what payment processor to use as well as should I keep AWeber or would one of the payment processors have similar capabilities along with the ability to allow me to provide affiliate links (and, some other web-related stuff).
Wednesday, mid-day, I receive a detailed comparison table via email with tons of live links in it -- the pros and cons of each and a synopsis/suggested choice. Fabulous! She's fast. We talked about how to proceed, how we would handle any payments and setting up of accounts, etc. Then, HERE'S THE GOOD PART, I delegated more tasks for Thursday. When I hung up, I realized what a relief it was to talk to someone else, request what I wanted done and to KNOW that it would get done. Try it. You'll like it.
That's it for today -- let me know what YOU choose to implement!
May joy, passion and abundance be yours -- in life and business.
Susan Crutcher, MMSC, CPC, PHWC, RRPr, CPTN-CPT
Money, Marketing and Soul Coach
Life Empowerment Mentor
Baby Steps to Success Expert
"Inspiring and empowering Small Business Entrepreneurs to transform their lives to one of amazing success, ease and abundance."
WORKSHOPS, SEMINARS, RETREATS, PRIVATE & GROUP COACHING, SUCCESS CIRCLE MENTORING
