I am the solo dancer
You see there all alone

I dance my dance of passion
I always feel at home

I found some simple secrets
In this here solo dance

I know I got to love my Heart
To create some true romance

I embrace my solo dance
As I dance my rhythm and rhyme

I dance not to another’s step
But only to what is mine

Yes I am the solo dancer
You see there all alone

All one am I in life now
Yes, the little child has grown

I see the toxic places
I know where not to dance

I’ve learned about my boundaries
And that old addictive trance

I embrace my every value
Yes, I dance my unique step

And if another joins me
My values must be kept

Yes, I am the solo dancer
You see there all alone

I dance my dance of passion
I always feel at home

I’m proud, I say, of my solo dance
I jump and twirl in bliss

I’m living in my passion
Each day I’ll not remiss

Ken “Keni Lee” Donaldson

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Marry YoruSelf First Today!

So I’ve gone back to visit you once again
Seduced by what appears to be a long-lost friend

But as I watch and carefully I do see
There are cracks in the foundation….no place for “we”

And as I listen and closely I do now hear
All this facade is merely based on fear

Yeah, I could go back and again visit you
But today I wonder….what is really true

I see the masks and the obvious games
And I do remember the essence of shame

And so, today, I choose not to be there
I embrace what is mine…I respond not to the dare

Yes, the thoughts still dance all through my mind
But I hold on to truth, and peace I do find

Your trail is everywhere I go and in all I do
I could go back, but instead, I follow my Heart’s cue

Leaving you behind leaves one huge gaping hole
But that is the beginning of rebuilding my Soul

Yes, you have taught me about letting go, letting go
And once I land in Life’s hands, I find no foe

Thank you for teaching me and also reminding me
About what is true, happy, joyous and free

Without you, I’d have not discovered these gifts
But now it’s time for between you and I, a permanent rift

A boundary impenetrable by toxic delusions
And with that I, too, let go of childhood illusions

I hang with the wizards now, and the students of life
I walk away, no longer needing that old hell-bound strife

Yeah, I went back to visit you yet once again
And what I found is that you are not my friend

So I embrace me….I smile and I soar
And I go now to heal all that’s been torn

Ken “Keni Lee” Donaldson

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• What are some of the primary causes that often are the foundation for obesity, addiction and eating disorders?
• How does someone who is overweight or obese get help, stop eating obsessively and really lose the weight?
• What are the best ways to prevent these afflictions from happening, since they are so difficult to correct?
• So much government funding, healthcare dollars, and other monies are poured into solving these crises, yet we seem to be making no progress. What can be done?
• What can parents, friends and family do to help their children get support and sustained recovery?
• How does “stress” play a role in driving obesity and eating disorders? (Stress from school, work, dysfunctional families, and violence on television and in media.)
• How does one overcome food addiction and “emotional” eating?
• What should one do when hit with an “emotional” craving for food that the body does not need?
• What can we do to nurture ourselves, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually?
• Why is preventing childhood obesity such an important health issue in our society? What are the risks of being overweight from a young age?
• What is the food and beverage industry doing to help or hinder the issues related to obesity?
• What is the best advice we can give parents who are, perhaps, in crisis over these problems?

Get answers: Join me on Thurs. Sept. 30 9 p.m. EST:

Celebrate Recovery from Childhood Obesity, Adult Obesity and Eating Disorders

Read more from Ken Donaldson…

“I think we have to be not so afraid of scarcity. We have to be willing to give away all things.” ~Sharon Stone

Here’s a story about the dangers of hoarding, but probably not what you’re thinking.

Let me explain…

First let’s get a definition clarified.

Hoard: To collect and store, often secretly and usually unnecessarily, large amounts of things, such as food or money, for future use.

So there I was in downtown St. Petersburg on a beautiful Sunday morning having a nice time with a friend of mine.

However, there are these things called parking meters that require a certain amount of feeding every so often and the one where I parked was getting hungry and was going to run out of time soon.

(Silly me; I didn’t pre-plan to bring quarters…I wonder how many other people have had the same experience on a relaxing Sunday – “I don’t have to think about anything”- morning??)

So I simply asked the waitress if she might have some change I could exchange with her for some dollar bills.

“No…I don’t.”

Okay, so then I got very tactical and asked, “What about the cash register, could you maybe get some change from it?”

“No…we don’t have any extra change.”

Okay, so you’re probably getting a sense of what I might be thinking and feeling at this point, right?!!

How could a business open on a Sunday morning NOT have change?

There could only be one answer: They were hoarding!

(Well, at least that’s the one answer I came up with.)

So during the course of our stay there, our waitress came to our table several times asking if there was anything else we needed.

Half kiddingly (and half very seriously), I responded the same every time, “Do you have any change yet?”

I will say that she was consistent (I think maybe that means she had good boundaries, right?) with her responses, “No,” every time.

So finally I decided that I would need to go to some other places to find some change, but I figured I might have a chance to “pull a quick one” when I paid for the bill.

I walked up to the bar and placed a $20 bill on top of the bill and asked (again) really nicely, “Might you have some extra change?”

Our waitress asked the apparent manager (and now the seeming quarter hoarder) if she could use some of their quarters for my change.

The manager, somewhat begrudgingly, said yes.

So I guess you could say my persistence paid off.

But I believe there are a couple bigger lessons here.

Lesson #1 is about planning.

Any business in downtown St. Petersburg open on Sunday morning should know that there are parking meters and there are bound to be people like myself that are in a very relaxed Sunday mode and may not even think to bring change.

I believe that would be categorized as “good proactive customer service.”

Lesson #2 is something that can be paralyzing if not consciously seen and addressed. 

It’s what I call “The Scarcity Myth.”

It’s the fear of not having enough.

In this rather benign situation, it was the fear of not having enough change to make it through the day.

(Of course, this is only an assumption on my behalf.)

But let’s look at this a bit deeper:

• Many people fear that there’s not enough love, so they often settle for a relationship beneath their standards and end up creating unnecessary pain and heartache, which could have been easily avoided if they had not let the scarcity fear rule.
• Many people fear that there is not enough time, so they spend their time in a chaotic fervor trying to “do” as much as they can oftentimes much to expense of their health and relationships, both of which could easily be enhanced if they simply prioritized their life and lived according to their priorities (and values).
• Many people fear that there are not enough opportunities in life so they settle for a job or a career path that slowly drains their passion, energy and optimism for life, and slowly and unconsciously turns them into a rigid, pessimistic and sarcastic cynic.

Yep, the scarcity fear does all that and probably much, much more.

So what’s the moral of the story?

Don’t be a quarter hoarder…be a quarter supporter!

Meaning that it’s always good to plan ahead (lesson #1) and when the opportunity comes, give as freely as you can (lesson #2).

When you hold on to something out of fear, you block energy from flowing to you and you can easily create a self-fulfilling prophecy in which what you fear can become that much truer.

However, when you put trust in the Universe (by the way, the Universe is endless as far as we can tell at this point…slightly “abundant” I would have to conclude) you allow the Universal energy to flow to you.

I know…it takes faith and trust, both of which may be big steps at times.

But what’s the option? Being a quarter hoarder?

Naw!!…be a quarter supporter…start today!

“There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love; there’s only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.” ~Wayne Dyer

P.S. After proof-reading this, my assistant just reminded me of lesson #3…Always carry extra quarters in your car.

Yeah, I guess I could have planned ahead too, right?!!

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Today is a great day to Marry YourSelf First!

This is going to go the long way around to the point, so please bear with me for a moment.

I’d like to have a Feng Shui conversation with you.

What’s Feng Shui, you ask?

Our friends at Wikipedia describe Feng Shui (pronounced fuhng shwey) as: An ancient Chinese system of aesthetics believed to use the laws of both Heaven (astronomy) and Earth (geography) to help one improve life by receiving positive qi (chee). The term Feng Shui literally translates as “wind-water” in English. The following Chinese passage may help explain: Qi rides the wind and scatters, but is retained when encountering water.

Historically, Feng Shui was widely used to orient buildings—often spiritually significant structures such as tombs, but also dwellings and other structures—in an auspicious manner. Depending on the particular style of Feng Shui being used, an auspicious site could be determined by reference to local features such as bodies of water, stars, or a compass.

Dictionary.com has a much simpler and to the point definition: The Chinese art or practice of creating harmonious surroundings that enhance the balance of yin and yang, as in arranging furniture or determining the sitting of a house.

In other words, it’s how you create and balance your surroundings and environments to maximize the flow of energy which, in turn, is really all about generating less stress and more ease in your life.

Anyone interested in that?

How about everyone?!!

Okay…back to the point of all this.

About six years ago, when I decided to get serious about writing, I knew that I had to set up my surroundings to be conducive for that.

In other words, I needed to make my home office “user friendly” for writing.

I knew I would be spending more time here and I would want to take regular breaks.

Not really knowing anything about Feng Shui, I looked into it a little bit, but mostly went with my own intuition.

I sit in front of a window when I’m on my computer, so outside the window, in my front yard, I planted some flowering plants.

Not just any flowering plants, but those that attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

I got so into it, that I ended up turning my whole front yard into a butterfly/hummingbird garden.

Now, when I want to take a short break, I simply push away from my computer and peer out my window. There is always plenty of activity going on.

If I want to take a longer break, I walk through the front yard (I made a stone walkway) and simply take note of the flowers and the various critters.

AND, sometimes I even take my camera out and do some photo magic. Actually, I don’t do much of the magic; I merely try to capture it with my camera.

What I see is often quite amazing.

Now I will tell you that I don’t have perfect Feng Shui in my home.

I know there is way too much clutter (Feng Shui rule number one: Reduce/eliminate clutter), the colors aren’t correct (plan to paint later this year) and the flow isn’t maximized (plan to rearrange later this year).

But this all brings up a question (or two) for you: How are your surroundings? What do you do to maximize your energy flow?

Take note this week and see what you discover. Then put an action plan into effect and block the energy drains and insert more energizers.

And think of Feng Shui as being both internal and external, meaning that when you change your internal environment (thoughts, beliefs, emotions) you’ll have a profound impact on your energy flow, just like you do when you change your outer environment.

Also, monitor the places, people, things and events that you engage in and with. Do they energize you as they should, or do they leave you feeling drained?

Make good Feng Shui decisions…It’ll make you happier, healthier and more harmonious in all that you do!

Below is a little slide show from my front yard that I captured over the last couple weeks. It goes slow, as it should, so sit back and relax and enjoy the show.

Want better Feng Shui? Marry YourSelf First!