PASSION!
A lot of people I see don't have it. They are alive, yet they are dead – they are not enjoying life. How do I put this into perspective? By asking you a question, “How do you wake up in the morning?”
Do you wake up excited, yelling, bouncy and full of energy and give your partner the fright of their lives, as you jump out of that bed? Or, do you wake up moaning and in a bad mood because it's Monday?
Unfortunately, the reality is that most people wake up the latter. They hate their lives and what they are doing. It just doesn't make sense to me why people lead a life that they are not enjoying? Life is awesome - yours can be too! But you see that small little secret... the truth... that you have to understand in order for life to become awesome, is also, that you have to follow your passion. You have to have fun in life! I have seen so many people, and I've had good friends amongst these that have worked their whole lives in careers that they have hated. All along they have had a hobby to keep them sane. The day they retire they suddenly go into this hobby and within a year it's a booming business.
They regret that they never did this earlier, and three years later they die! What have they had of life? It saddens me incredibly when I see this. Now the big question is, “Where do you stand with your passion? Are you passionate about life, or aren't you? And if not, where did the passion go? And where are you going to find it again?” That's what we need to talk about today!
So, the biggest question is, “Why do people lose passion?” I stand corrected here, but I believe that millions of Euros have been spent on research as to why people have lost their passion in life! What get's me is that the answer is so simple!
The answer is... Expectation! What do I mean by expectation? Today we live in a society where we have been conditioned to expect. I'm nice to you, because I want to do business with you. I'm nice to her, because I want to go out with her later on. I'm nice to somebody because I expect to earn something or get a commission. There is always a reason behind everything I do. An outcome is what motivates most people today. We live in an outcome based society, which has resulted in this negativity. The laws of the universe are such, that if you continually do stuff while expecting things in return, odds are, thing won't always work out as expected. Hence you are going to start becoming despondent at life, and hence you're going to start losing the passion. Does this make sense? You see, we live a life of expectation, and when things don't come our way, that is when we get despondent, and we question, “What's the point of this all?”
It all starts as a child! We've already been conditioned that one has to seek a secure job, and earn good money. It's all about the position and the status. Never mind what you really want to do! Thus many parents with artistic children say to them, “Don't follow that artistic nonsense. You'll always be poor. Follow in our footsteps and get a degree. We want you to be a lawyer and study at Harvard.” How many parents actually acknowledge their children’s skill set and motivate them to follow their talents? Have you followed your talents in life?
We have always been conditioned to get that 9 to 5 job, because you've got to get your pension plan, you've got to look after yourself! Imagine my family when I said I wanted to become a magician and travel the world. In the last video I said to you, I have family that are still going, “What's with your Gypsy lifestyle, when are you going to grow up?”
Years ago I mistakenly used to tell people that I have never worked a day in my life. It feels like I haven't worked a day in my life, but I have worked damn hard! You see, because I followed my passion, it's never felt like work! This is the difference! I often say to people that nothing could be worse than sitting in a job that you don't like during a recession. I would much rather do something I love, and if there was a recession, I would rather have a tough time doing something I enjoy. I figure that's better than the other way around, than being in a recession and still hating what I do.
Does this make sense to you? Let us look at passion from another angle. Are you honest within yourself? Have you looked within your own heart and asked, “What is it that makes me tick?” You see, when I was a youngster, I said, “I want to be in front of people, I want to entertain!” I enjoyed the conjuring. Now that have seen the world and achieved my dreams, I have taken it a step further and share what I have learnt through my speaking. I'm still in front of people. I'm still sharing. I'm still giving pleasure! In fact, now I am giving long-term – I'm changing lives! This is much more intense for me and so fulfilling. This is what makes me tick. This is what gives me a reason to stand up. You've got to look within yourself and ask, “What is it that I truly enjoy?” 
How come that I could have taken a career such as conjuring, achieved huge success with it, from working the West End, Vegas style shows, and seen the whole world doing it? Strangely enough it was not because I was the best magician out there... but to many people I appeared to be the best magician! And why is that? Because I was passionate! When I meet people, they immediately say, “Wow, you have a fire in you. What is it about you, you're just full of life?” Do you know why? Because I am doing what I enjoy! I extrude a different energy to the person that is doing something that they don't enjoy!
Think about it like this, if I have someone that has got to book two people; myself that's following their passion, and someone that isn't... who do you think they are going to book? Who do you think they are going to be impressed with? It's because I am giving out a different energy! Remember, like energy attracts like energy. This is what it is all about! You can only be in that position if you are following your passion.
There is a second phase to this! Initially I asked you why people lose their passion... because you expect! Again, the universe doesn't always give back to you and hence the disappointment creeps in due to lack of expectations being met. Compare this to people who follow their passion... if you are following your heart, strangely enough you do what you do, without expectation! Here comes the truth... the truth within the truth of passion! When you start doing things without expectation, guess what? You cannot be disappointed!
Hence, when I follow my heart and do what really gives me pleasure and I am passionate and I have fun doing it – I don't expect anything in return because I am already thankful for being able to follow my passion. Once again, the universe is such, that every now and then it will throw something back at you... and when it does – you didn't expect it to come back to you! It's a surprise and just so cool! Suddenly life has meaning and everyday is a fun day!
I trust this puts it into perspective for you. Fair enough, a lot of us are in this position that we cannot always follow our passion right away. Hence the importance of finding the courage in order to go out there and be more positive! What are some simple things that you do right now, even if you are in a dead end job? In other words, how can you become just a little bit more passionate in life tomorrow? If you've got children, awesome! I have the solution for you. If you haven't, make friends with people who have got 6 or 7-year old kids.
Have you ever noticed that when you say to a child, “In a week's time we are going to the Magic Kingdom!” What does your child do at night? Every night he/she asks, “How many more sleeps?”
In fact your child drives you insane until the day you go to the theme park! They get excited! Do you still get excited like that, especially about your life? You see, children experience everything, as if for the first time. Also, they see life from a different level – they're smaller than you. Go down on your haunches and look up at the world, at the angle that kids look at the world - it looks different! That alone will make you say, “Wow, I never ever thought this room looked like this.” Children live in the moment. They are not conditioned and messed up as adults are. Their shift to the negative hasn't come yet! It's that conditioning and that constant bombardment by media, by parents, by everyone around them to the negative, that changes us.
You have to be so aware of your children and what you say to them! You have to make a point to give them a magical future – always be positive, always support them in what they do! But, we're talking about you right now – your children are a whole new topic! How do you find your passion again? Hang out with these kids and look their view of life - they have fun! I have two daughters, and quite a number of years ago, when they were about 5 & 7, I came back home from travelling for a week. That was a long time ago and I have learnt since then! Now I spent time with my kids, I don't go away so much. But at that time, I got back and my wife needed a break. I had just landed and my wife said, “Please just take the girls out to the shopping mall. Just keep them busy for a while.”
We get to the mall and there is a face-painter! All I want to do is sit down, have a cup of coffee, just relax. No, my girls want their faces painted! Of course they carry on until I gave in. The second they had there faces painted, they beamed and showed their faces to every stranger that walked past us! I acted as if they were not my kids and walked a distance behind them. That evening in the bath, they didn't want to wash their faces!
I have got a question for you, “Would you as an adult walk past a face-painter, and have your face painted?” Am I correct in assuming you now think I am nuts? Suddenly you are questioning whether it was a mistake to subscribe to this video course. Hello! It's about time you shifted your perceptions. We have been conditioned not to follow our heart and not to have fun.
A child has not yet been messed up by the society out there and is still following what they are passionate about. If I want to have my face painted, I'm not damaging anything or doing any harm to anyone, I'm having fun. They have their face painted and anyone they encounter, they show off their faces and smile. Guess what? This results in that person stranger smiling back!
They are giving out a positive energy! What's stopping you from doing it? Because you're worried what the neighbors will think, or what your mates will think! Huh? Are they really responsible for your happiness and passion? You are responsible for your own fire within you!
I'll never forget, I told this story at an insurance company literally a month after I had experienced this with my girls. Since then I have also learnt that nothing in life happens by chance. Two weeks after I told this story, I was at a different corporate and guess what? Two of the ladies that were at the first keynote two weeks ago, were at this one! They came up to me afterwards and said, “We had our faces painted!” I was really surprised and a bit dubious at the same time.
They said to me that they had the most awesome time of their life! They visited a friend in hospital and the hospital staff wouldn't let them leave! They eventually got out and went to dinner in a restaurant and had the best night of their lives. Why? Because they just let loose, were just passionate about life, and enjoyed themselves. I'm not saying you must go out and have your face painted! But how about starting to live every day as if it is the first day of the rest of your life?
There was another stage in my life where I had a number of prime time television series and became very well known as a celebrity. I still had a ponytail, long hair and wore a wooden tie – sounds crazy – but as an image, this was my trademark. Now that I have gotten older, been there, done that, new hairstyle – people don't recognize me anymore. This is a huge blessing for me today. At the prime of my 'fame', everybody would stop me in the streets... I couldn't go to the shops to buy bread, and everybody would ask me the same question. Especially being a magician, they would all ask, “Can you make my wife disappear?” I mean, come on! “Watch you watch, watch your wallet!” I got really tired of hearing these lame questions repeated over and over. If you can, imagine that the twenty thousandth time I heard someone ask the same question I would have gotten irritated... what do you think that would have done to my name or my status out there? It would have spread around and people would have said, “Why is he in this business?”
I started my life following my passion and doing what I enjoyed. In a sense this was weird, because every time someone asked me that same question (even the ten thousandth time) guess what? Because I dug what I did and I was enjoying my life, I answered them as if it was the first time I had heard that question. Even though I had heard that question ten thousand times, it was the first time ever this fan had met me asked me that question. By respecting them and answering them in my passionate way, I left great energy. It flowed and it all came back to me! I hope this makes sense to you.
So the truth of passion is... follow your heart. Do what you really want, because then you really start enjoying life. And, if it's a struggle, hang out with some kids and see how they enjoy life. And believe me, as soon as you start following your passion, you will start having so much fun.

Tags: Wolfgang Riebe, Mind Shift Guru, passion, Life Truths, Inspiration, Self Help, Motivation

Welcome to Part 1 of this video course on the 4 Truths that can change your life. This E-Book is basically a transcript of a 2 month video course which I offer on the Internet. If you have not watched it, you can subscribe to the course totally FREE of charge with no obligation, at www.mindshiftguru.com

First a practical exercise! Think about your own life and about the 'wealth' that you own. Consider for a moment, under the categories of, family, health and materialism 10 items for which you can be thankful. You may immediately be able to write down ten things... great! If not, take your time and over the next few days add items as they come to mind. It's not as easy as it sounds, and I want you to really think about these things, making a point of writing down only those items that are truly important. The object of this exercise is to be able to look at what you have written and realize that you already have 30 assets that add to your wealth - and the majority (Family & Health) are not materialistic at all!

Hello and welcome! My name is Wolfgang Riebe and I am your Mind Shift Guru that is going to teach you 4 truths that can change your life. Before we even begin, who am I, what's my claim to fame, and what gives me the right to attempt to teach you something that can change your life?

Firstly, let me give you some important background information on myself... I am not one of those speakers/authors that has become famous on television, read a book on motivation, and now claims to be a speaker. Not at all!

Secondly, I'm someone that speaks from personal experience, because I believe that if I have gone through what I want to share with you, only then I can speak with authenticity, from the heart, with humility, and we can connect, and grow together out of the process.

Thirdly, and most important, I'm not that naïve that I believe I can teach you stuff you don't know. But... I can remind you of things you've forgotten. Even though I have the Ph.D, that doesn't really qualify me to have the skills to change your life! You see, I believe the biggest qualification in life is to have gone through things yourself, what they call... 'The University of Life.' They also say that when you travel, that is the University of Life! And I have been fortunate that I have travelled somewhat in my life. In fact I have been to places like the Antarctic, Arctic, Alaska, New York, Mexico, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Odessa, Israel. Even the Far East, Singapore, China, Vietnam, Rangoon, the Middle East. I've also visited Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Mauritius, the Caribbean and other islands all over the world. In fact, by the age of 28 I had worked in 86 different countries! I'm a bit older now... and I have stopped counting at 144 countries!

Now when I tell this to people they say, “There aren't that many countries in the world!” Oh yes there are! There are more than 200 countries and I aim to still see them all in my life! Because travelling is the university of life, it teaches you about different people, cultures, places... and suddenly you realize that there are truths out there that apply to all of us. These are the things that I want to share with you.

I know that you are looking at all these countries and asking yourself, “Man what did this chap do for a profession?” Was he a travel agent? Ha, ha, yea that would be the logical answer, but no! You see, I started my career as a magician! Let me repeat, not a musician, a magician... someone that pulls rabbits out of hats! I am German and I still have family that asks (read with German accent) “Ven are U getting a real job!?” When you tell people that you are a magician, they ask, “How do you pay your mortgage? Come on, you can't make money with that?” By that age of 28, I had seen 86 countries. I had seen the whole world following a dream and a passion. And there are certain laws and rules that have worked for me. Some people like to call, them 'secrets.' I just like to call them truths! In this basic course, I am going to share 4 of them with you. Very strong and very important basic truths!

Finally, it's important for me to clarify that I'm sharing with you, over the next 4 months, 4 of these Life Truths. This is a gift from me to you, completely free. There is no obligation on your behalf! I just sincerely hope that I can change your view of life, because, as a Mind Shift Guru I want to shift your perceptions and show you the light to the truths out there and give you the ability to reach your dreams.

I really want you to listen carefully and be open to what I am sharing with you. Although I am going to teach you from my life experiences, please understand that this is not about me. It's about what I have learnt that I want to share with you. And I am hoping from the heart, that you can connect and relate to this, and learn from my experiences.

Let us start with the 1st truth, and that is... WEALTH

You have to understand the concept of wealth, or as some people want to call it, 'abundance.' I could share the Wikipedia, or Oxford dictionary definition with you. I actually had a look at them, and they are quite complex! However, the bottom line is... wealth is defined as materialism, in other words, how much you have!

Over the year in my Keynotes I have asked thousands of people how they would define wealth and openly ask if it means (now I show my fingers and thumb rubbing together in the motion that means, money) this to them. Most people say, “Yes!”

In my opinion, this is why a lot of people lose track in life. This is why they don't find direction and question the point of life! We have been so conditioned in the society that we live today, that this false materialistic definition of wealth has completely screwed up most people on the planet. Therefore, before I can even continue with anything, the true meaning of Wealth has to be explained to you in detail so that you can begin heading in the right direction with your life.

In the beginning, I said to you that I speak from experience. So let me share my story with you. I started my career as a magician working on cruise ships, as a headline act. I'll never forget the first ship I worked on. I don't know if you have been on a big American cruise liner? What happens is... you join the ship and everything is included, depending on the star rating of the ship, sometimes the alcohol as well. The only thing you really pay extra for, are the shore excursions. So if you're joining a ship, let's say in the Caribbean, sailing out of Fort Lauderdale, first going to Nassau and then St. Maarten, on every island they offer shore excursions that cost you extra. The ship has a tour office onboard, where you can book the excursion for $50, $100... whatever it costs. When ship docks in the morning, they have a bus waiting for the passengers to take them on the excursion. Later in the afternoon the bus returns to the ship and the passengers sail off. Here I was... a youngster who got a break to work on the cruise ships as a magician.

When you work on these ships as a youngster, you don't realize that the only people that can afford to go on these big super liners are elderly retired people... so it was almost like working on a floating old age home. Don't laugh, as a youngster I didn't realize this! Here I was on this dream ship, just starting out in life... and all I had around me was elderly people! What happened to those romantic brochures in travel agencies around the world that displayed pictures of sexy couples with hard bodies tanning in deck chairs?

Because we worked on the ship as a headline act, everything was included in our contract, plus we had a lot of free time. Also, during the day when these passengers went out on these excursions we could actually go with them, but as a representative of the company. The cruise line needed representatives to make sure that these tours were as advertised, hence we had to write a report on the excursion. This covered them in case a passenger wanted to sue the cruise line.

Secondly, because most passengers were elderly people, a lot of them had Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and some even had Zimmer frames and were in wheel chairs. Hence we were cheap labour and had to help them back on the buses at the refreshment breaks and basically assist the tour guide to make sure all passengers were happy. Here I was, a youngster just starting out on the ship earning good money, and enjoying the bonus privilege of going on these excursions for free! After three weeks on my first ship, I signed up on my first excursion. It was in the Caribbean and a whole day tour. The first half was a city tour, and the second half we visited botanical gardens.

The city tour was awesome! Hi Fi's, jewellery, computers, boy was I in heaven! However, all the old people were bored out of their minds. The second half of the tour at the botanical gardens everything was reversed! I was bored out of my mind! These elderly people were taking photos of flowers! Why would anyone take pictures of flowers? They were Americans... I actually thought they were Japanese... they were taking so many photos! What was going on? It didn't make sense to me! And they were literally freaking out over stupid flowers.

I got back to the ship that night and said to myself, “That's it, no more tours. These passengers are crazy!” Over the next few weeks I noticed something else... here I was starting out in life, I had nothing and was stuck on a ship with all these wealthy elderly people. It struck me that the majority of them never smiled! They all had long faces! I don't know if you know any elderly people? Have you ever stood in the line at the post office and you've waited three hours, and you're up front, and suddenly an elderly person comes along, pushes you out of the way and says, “Respect... I'm older?”

This was what I experienced as a youngster on the ships. Wealthy elderly people, the majority of which had long faces, and they all loved flowers! Man, life did not make sense to me!

Today I can admit to you that I was very naïve as a youngster. In fact it took me three months before I went up to an elderly gentleman and asked him, “Oi... what is your problem? Why the long face and what's with the flowers?”

Well, I'll never forget when he looked at me and he spoke! He said, “Because I am alone!” I questioned, “What do you mean because you are alone?” He replied, “My wife passed on last year, my children died in an accident two years ago. I'm bitter at the cards that life has dealt me. I've got to sit here in my retirement and do all this alone. And I've got no one to enjoy my money with... none of the people I love!”

Whew! Was I blown away! I was in shock! I didn't know what to say to the man. But what he said to me hit home big time!

Do you know what I started doing over the next few months? I started speaking to every elderly person I met... and boy, did they change my perceptions of life!

In summary, there are three things I learnt from the elderly. And as I travelled around the world, meeting people from every culture, they all said the same to me.

1. They spent their entire lives (also remember that this a different generation) just making money their god. They ran after money, they made money their priority. Everything was money, money, money! In the process they never watched their children grow up. They never had time for anything else. Now that they've got the money and can enjoy it... they actually cannot enjoy it with the people that are important to them. Have you ever looked at it like that ? That's really sad when you think about it. Do you remember growing up and your parents saying to you, “I can't believe how quick you're growing up!” Or even worse, have you said it to your own kids? Why would you say that? It's because you don't have time for them! When you're old one day and when you think, philosophize, pray or meditate about your life, you will suddenly realize a few interesting things. The memories you have are weirdly enough, not the new computer, nor the new car that you bought, and not the latest gadgets you have in your house, but... the first steps that your daughter or your son took, the first kiss you had, the first time you had sex... those are the memories that you have! It's the emotional memories that bond and mean something. Those are the memories that stick. This is the wealth that remains! Yet as young people we don't understand this! This concept is completely foreign to us!

2. I was sarcastic earlier when I said that they had wheel chairs, Zimmer frames and Alzheimer's on the excursions. Once again, as a young man I never realized that they spent their entire life running after money, trying to get wealthy, and in the process they never looked after the most precious asset they have... their own body! They never stayed fit or ate healthy. They never exercised. Now in retirement, in a sickly state, they were still trying to fulfil their dreams. It's only once we understood where they were coming from, and what they've been through, that we suddenly respected them and saw it in a different light. But often we don't tend to do that. We tend to look at a lot of elderly and become irritated with their frailness. How sad is that? Never forget that it was a different time in which they grew up! Did they have mind shift guru's that told them, “Hang on there must be a work-life balance!” Hence I am telling you... look after your health!

3. This is without a doubt the most powerful lesson I learnt from the elderly. The most beautiful things on earth are not man-made, but what the universe has given us for free! Travelling around the world has re-enforced and cemented this concept into my mind, over and over and over again! Just look at pictures of the glaciers in Glacier Bay, Alaska. That ice is millions of years old. A piece breaks off, it's like thunder going off, it's raw nature... is there anything so beautiful? The reflections of the light on the ice, the colors... wow!

Look at the northern lights in the Arctic. That's nature – it's free! Skies go purple, blue, green... word cannot do justice to the magnificence of this!

As younger people we run around – we don't know why, we just run... stress everywhere! But, if you, as a younger person can realize that your family, friends, co-workers, and friends around you are important... that your health and looking after your own body is crucial... and also that the beauty of the nature around you is were true wealth lies, you will suddenly get a different perception of life!

In all fairness, of course money is important! We live in a materialistic world! However, you need to grasp that it is not the be-all and the end-all! If you don't shift your perception, if your attitude in life is not right, if you are not positive in your mind and don't understand what life is about... then the money doesn't come on it's own either! But if you align your way of thinking and grasp what the elderly took a lifetime to learn, guess what? Then you are in alignment with the Universe and it starts looking after you!

As soon as you realize, family, friends, health, the beauty of everything around me is where true wealth lies... you start relaxing within in your heart. Your stress levels drop! As soon as the energy in your heart calms down you are in balance, and the money comes on it's own.

To me an integral part of becoming wealthy is also giving! It is most likely that you are already questioning why I am sharing this information with you? I'm hoping that you can see that I'm authentic and that this has become my calling... speaking, writing and changing your perceptions. This is what is important to me!

Today is genuinely my birthday, and my family, my wife my daughters, all wanted to know what I wanted for my birthday? And for me it was important to spend the day with them, but what was also important to share. I firmly believe that by shooting this 1st Life Truth on video today and having it transcribed into this first part of the book, I was receiving the best present of all... giving! If I can share my philosophy with you and make you more positive and you make the next person more positive and we cause a snowball effect, guess what? We can all change the world together and make it a more beautiful place live! Let us all shift our think and our attitudes and create magic!

Thank you for spending the time reading my thoughts. I do trust that I have shifted your thinking! If you have only downloaded this free E-Book and not seen the video, please subscribe at www.mindshiftguru.com. It really is totally free with no obligations. On the video course I share 3 more Life Truths with you and have designed the whole course to give you time to think about everything I share over a period of 2 months. Also, I send you an audio MP3 audio link and PDF transcript of each video a week after viewing it. Every two weeks you will receive the next truth and in two months time you will have done my basic course on the 4 truths that can change your life.

Remember, you can subscribe for FREE with no obligation to the complete video course on www.mindshiftguru.com

The next Truth will be posted next week!

Tags: Wolfgang Riebe, Mind Shift Guru, Wealth, Life Truths, Inspiration, Self Help, Motivation

Welcome to the July Useletter!

Greetings from Frankfurt airport. Isn't technology wonderful? One can write and upload everything on the go! Lots of happenings on my side and lots of free videos and goodies I want to share with you.

I have 3 Quick Tip videos that I uploaded in the last two weeks.
Conditioning
Passion in the Harz Mountains: English / German
Enjoy Old Age

I also have a completely FREE video course on 4 Life Truths. All you need to do is visit www.mindshiftguru.com and subscribe totally free.

After last month's “Useletter' some people inquired whether I was stopping... No! This Useletter will always be sent out once per month and completely free. I have merely added an 'extra offering' for those of you that want more.

Over the years some of you have experienced me sharing personal messages and thoughts. Inspiration, being a calling for me, I believe that by speaking from the heart I bring about a shift in your perceptions.

This is one of those months!

It has been crazy and I have practically flown across half the world again. However, it has also been one of the most emotionally intense months of my life spending a week with my 78 year old dad who is looking after my mother who has dementia and cannot be left alone for even one minute. She is aggressive, doesn't recognize me and most of the time she doesn't recognize my father either. Three years ago my parents decided to move back to Germany as it is their birth country and they both felt they wanted to die in their home country.

I of course was not only shocked at their reference to death and their finality in wanting to move away from us in Cape Town at the time, but also the fact that they didn't want my support nor help, even though I wanted to build an apartment onto my place and be there for them. For many weeks I never believed they would take the step and when they eventually left, I was devastated. In the interim I have been visiting them as often as I can, and my mother has become progressively worse with my dad taking more and more strain to cope on his own. Being a German (stubborn) and also very ethical he feels that he cannot put my mom in a home after being married for 55 years. He married her for better or for worse, he loves her and he will be there for her right up until the end. I have such huge admiration for him, together with tears in my eyes at his honor of being there for her. At the same time I see the reality that she isn't aware of anything most of the time and that he needs to get her professional care. And so we go about trying to make the best of this situation. In the interim I managed to plan a ten day period for my dad and me to be alone together and catch up. First to give him a break, and secondly to talk about his life, the future and where to go from here.

In all my 'so-called' wisdom, it is the first time I have actually spent time with him, with the realization that it could be the last time I ever have this opportunity again. That is not a nice thought to have... even though it is reality.

His birth place was Hamburg and he showed me where he was born, went to school and the bunker they used to hide in during the air raids during the 2ndWorld War. It was such a special and touching experience to share this with my dad who had left Germany at a young age of 14. For him to openly share the stories of how they struggled, starved and barely survived. I shall never forget watching my 78 year old dad cry in front of me as he recalled how his mom died, and at age 9 he had to bury her. To think back of my youth how my parents did everything to give me stability and love me unconditionally, yet never shared the burden he had carried with him all these years. Can you imagine the emotional strain over the years? He shared the story of my mom's youth and how she never received the nourishment she needed as a child and hence the medical ailments throughout her whole life. Hence so much behavior from my parent’s side during my youth now suddenly makes sense.

I spent a number of days in Hamburg with him and we went everywhere. To see his eyes light up at some of the better childhood memories he had and the pleasure in being able to show me part of his youth was just so incredible. I have never felt so close to my dad before. Have you done this with your parents?

He shared a story with me of the farm they used to own in Prussia (now Poland) where the Russians arrived and gave them all 1 hour to pack up and leave. He says he will never forget how everyone ran around panicking and grabbing what they could, except for his grandmother. After 5 minutes she sat on the veranda with her blanket from her bed and a bucket of potatoes. He recalls asking her why she was so calm. She told him she had everything, a blanket to keep her warm and food to see her through the next few days?

How many of us would have looked at the future like that? If you look at the practicality of the actions – makes complete sense! Everyone else was gathering 'other stuff', while the grandmother in her wisdom realized what needed to be taken to survive for the next few days, as that is what counted right then.

We also spent a few days with my dad's older sister. They have now found each other again and are talking on the phone every day. She is somewhat older at 86 and like a second mother to me. I noticed that she wasn't her normal bright self when we arrived. Her partner had now also recently passed away so I assumed this to be the reason. As we started chatting she suddenly piped up that she had no reason to get up in the morning anymore! I was shocked and asked for an explanation. She told me that all her friends had died. She had out-lived everyone – there was no-one left! What was the point of carrying on?

Phew! I thought I had some insight into life, but never have a looked at life from that perspective! Worst of all, I couldn't answer her straight away, because I couldn't argue with her. I had never thought of, or imagined that scenario ever... nor do I think that thought would ever have crossed my mind, unless I achieved that age.

We sit and complain about life as young people. Can you imagine reaching an age where suddenly everyone you cared for is gone? Yes she has her brother (my dad), but he lives 4 hours away.

In the beginning I said this has been an emotional roller-coaster month for me... can you now see why?

Today’s medical advancements are giving everyone the opportunity of living longer and healthier lives. What will you be thinking the day all of your loved ones are gone? Will you have regrets? Will you be content? These are some serious questions.

I keep telling everyone to live in the moment and reach for their dreams. You see, as we get older the past catches up with us and it becomes increasing difficult to avoid the responsibility of facing the past. If you are in you middle age – now is the time one becomes more content with oneself and tends to slow down. Now is the time you need to start sorting out all the issues of the past. When you are older one day and the last one left – don't you think it may be a little tough trying to do it then?

You need to sit down now and ask yourself certain questions every day

1.) Am I living every day to the best of my abilities?

2.) Am I doing this with clarity of conscience?

3.) Am I living my dreams and goals and enjoying the trip at the same time?

Saying 'No' to anyone of these questions will leave you with regrets. It should be your goal to be able to say “Yes” to each question.

I look at these last two weeks, I have been able to connect with my dad on such a deep level and most importantly I have been able to tell him that I love him dearly. The fact that we have spent this quality time sharing and being open has given both of such an incredible peace of mind. Even with his sister and her view of life, I have been able to share tips with her which have not only made her positive, but have made me realize to do certain things differently and start appreciating my life more by being open, making friends and not having regrets. See my latest Quick Tips video on appreciating old age – click here.

So for July I leave you with this greeting, Take chances, go for the gap and go out and have fun. Live a life with no regrets and savor every sweet moment. And most of all, don't keep everything locked up within yourself. Share with loved ones and tell them that you love them!

"Make the most of all that comes, and the least of all that goes." (Author Unknown)

And don't forget... go have a look at my free video course on Life's Truths' at www.mindshiftguru.com.

Tags: Free Motivation, Wolfgang Riebe, Free 'Useletter', July 2012 Useletter, Aging, Old Age