Leana Delle

Okay, so I’m shamelessly asking for your help. I recently competed in the virtual game show FunkQuest out of the UK, which you can watch HERE (short clip), but the only way I can win is to get the most votes!

Yes, that’s where you come in. All you have to do is watch the clip, and if you like me the best (how could you not), you just email “I vote for Leana” to Leana@funkythinkers.com And it has to be done by January 20th. It’s that easy!

Again, I know it’s shameless, but I really need my peeps to help me out.

Thank you in advance, and CHEERS to the amazing Jonathan Senior for making funky shows like this happen.

CHEERS!!

“Kindness isn’t relevant.”

Yes, these are words that Wendy Gilhula once heard from a potential publisher. As an educator, writer, she knew that statement to be false. Regardless, she became discouraged and stuck her manuscript in a drawer where it sat for several years.

When each spring rolled around, she’d clean out that drawer and toss the typed manuscript in the trash. It always managed to make it back out safely, however, avoiding the dreaded curb. And so the cycle would repeat.

Later, while tutoring a middle school student, the child asked, “What do you do all day when you’re not tutoring?” She laughed, but in her head she heard, I write books that kids will never read. It was at that point that she took her words out of the drawer and dusted them off for good. She’d had enough.

She now has three books, all of which speak to the fears and concerns of children. Her latest is a book on bullying called Pika Bunny says EEP!, and she understands the sad implications of its popularity. Bullying is a very real and scary phenomenon.

“I get some beautiful responses from teachers, saying, ‘Thank you for giving them a voice,’ and I get a lot of hugs from kids.”

Wendy has now read in three countries, Canada, US, and England, and she offers virtual readings, as well. They are live and interactive sessions for kids, and she’s racking up some serious Skype miles due to demand. You can contact her on her website if you’re an interested teacher or librarian.

I love Wendy’s genuine spirit and desire to support children in our challenging cultural climate. It was a joy to interview her, and it’s just as fun following her journey. And if I’ve learned one important thing from this outstanding woman, it’s to take those ideas out of the drawer and do something with them!

Thanks for the inspiration, Wendy!

You can listen to Wendy’s entire interview HERE. Also available on iHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever your favorite podcasts play.

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Hear a real Pika bunny say EEP!

I had it all wrong. Completely backward.

For years, I’ve been using a river analogy, claiming that I’d once been passively floating in water that took me in the wrong direction. Not until I discovered the existence of ores did things start to change.

Today, while chatting with a local jeweler named Nazir, I discovered the error of my ways.

It’s not that the river was taking me in the wrong direction. It’s that my mindset was taking me in the wrong direction. I’d let other people’s well-intentioned suggestions for my life and career guide me with blind trust. When I discovered the ores, I started rowing in the direction I wanted to go, but it’s been a constant struggle to get on course.

What I heard today, following the statement, “Let me tell you my story,” was that the Universe has a plan for each of us, and we need to follow that plan with ease. No resistance. When we fight our gifts and talents, when we choose a profession that doesn’t speak to our souls, we live in a state of dis-ease. We live stressed.

He’d been there. He spoke from experience.

This jeweler, with the eyes of a sage and the soul of a mystic, spoke exactly what I needed to hear – and entirely without prompting. I hadn’t mentioned one thing about the internal struggles I’ve been dealing with, nor had I posed a single question. It was simply offered – as though on the very wind of which he spoke.

In the few hours since our interaction, I’ve been thinking. About ores, and water, and wind. About how my life became hectic and forced from the moment I picked up those damned ores, and how I’m tired of fighting the current. I know, intuitively (as most of us do), what I should be doing, and I haven’t trusted the truest form of guidance to get me there. That’s about to change.

What can I share of my own wisdom? When someone, unprompted, says, “Let me tell you my story,” listen. Live for these connections. Relish in their meaning and depth. Breathe deep and let the wind carry you to a place of great insight.

Nazir almost made me cry today, although I doubt he noticed, but only in the very best way. And, not surprisingly, I’ve been significantly calmer since.

I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ll hear more wise words in my future. With the wind at my back, I’ll be paying closer attention and will continue to share. Chances are, I’m not the only one who needs to hear them.

I have a love affair with words
The spoken, written, sung,
Though poetry I could not count
Among the things I’ve done

‘Twas on a whim, a moment’s call
Just something I would try,
To write a poem every week
Till fifty-two’d gone by

No formal training, teachings, prep
For which most judge, no doubt,
But good I never claimed to be
‘Twas just to try it out

And now all 52 are penned
And posted to be read,
With hopes you laughed, or cried, or both
But mostly that you’re led

To do a thing you think you can’t
And kick fear at its core,
Then share it with a world that needs
To take these chances more

So, now I lay my pen to rest
Though only for a while,
Occasionally, I’ll try again
If just to make us smile

And for those who have read each one
There are a precious few,
I thank you from my heart of hearts
With praise and gratitude

~ Leana Delle
Sunday, January 5, 2020
2019 Sunday Poetry Challenge – Number fifty-two of fifty-two – WOO HOO!!
Photo Credit: Neven Krcmarek

“It’s the small things that make a huge difference.”

Wise words from NY Times bestselling author and celebrity coach Christy Whitman. She’s so right, and what she’s referring to is consistency.

“With New Year’s resolutions, we create lofty goals but don’t do what we need to do on a consistent basis.”

I had to have this outstanding woman back on the show after her first interview in August. As CEO and Founder of Quantum Success Coaching Academy, who better to talk to about resolutions and a personalized 2020 vision?

“It’s time to start taking really deliberate control of our lives and realize that we’re not in any way, shape, or form victims – that we get to choose what we get to focus on. We then attract what we want, or don’t want, by where we put our energy.”

But beyond that, she advises that we concentrate on not just our desires but how we ultimately want to feel. If we can identify with that (be it freedom, abundance, joy, etc.), we can start to experience those things and draw them into our lives.

“When you really start to look at the why behind it, and ultimately how you want to feel once that desire has been achieved, then you’re coming from a place where now you can work with the energy. You’re actually inspired instead of having to motivate yourself.”

I love this, but my biggest takeaway came when she broke it all down into one kickass analogy: Similar to a spy movie where it takes two keys turned at the same time to unlock a secret passage, we have to insert our keys first. Once we do, the Universe jumps in to fulfill its part in opening the door.

BAM! I’m getting my key cut ASAP!

And what about setting actual resolutions? Christy theorizes that they may actually create more limitations for us (think the gym here).

“If it’s January 5th, and you wake up in the morning, that’s a fresh new day. This moment right now is different for the one that just passed. Right now you have a moment to hit the reset button and start.”

She advises a “new moment’s resolution” versus putting so much pressure on the first day of the year.

“Everyday when you wake up, it’s your birthday. You are giving birth to a brand new day. It’s the first day of your new year.”

Well, I love birthdays, so I’m all in on this concept. My favorite part is actually how birthdays make me feel, and feeling, according to my esteemed guest, is where it all begins.

I hope that each of you feels a true sense of opportunity in each new day of this new year, and that you never let discouragement get you off course. Let’s all start our mornings with a gentle “Happy Birthday,” in 2020, and then put a big red bow on our wildest dreams.

To hear more on how to make your dreams reality, listen to Christy’s full interview HERE or wherever your favorite podcasts play.

HAPPY 2020, dear friends!

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