Over 10 years ago I used be in the business of selling flowers.  My store was based on price and volume and it was bit unique back in those days. 

I wanted people to see flowers as a staple of life like bread or water.  Much like the Europeans do. 

It was fairly successful.  I was amazing at sourcing out unique and funky flowers as well knowing what my customers wanted.  I however was not mature enough to be able to handle the financial side of the business.  And hence the sad downfall.

The one thing I never gave up was my love for them.  To this day it would be very rare if there wasn’t a vase or 3 full of flowers or a bulb blooming somewhere in the blue house.

Valentine’s day was  crazy.  And although we always did a brisk business with roses I tried to get my customers to purchase other flowers. 

You see one of the reasons that roses are so expensive is that they are a very labour intensive for the florist.  You have to clean the petals(peel them), take off the leaves, shave the thorns, cut them perfectly and place them in special solution.

So I encouraged  my clientele to try other alternatives. 

Here is the Bald Guy’s Top 10 Flowers for Your Valentine other than Roses:

10) Carnations.  I know .  A lot of people do not like.  But they are inexpensive. Long lasting and come in multiple of colours and styles.

9)Freesia.  They are not the prettiest flower but the fragrance is incredible.  It is Debbie’s favorite.

Lilies.  They come in wide variety of shapes and colours and they last a long time.  Try Stargazers.  They are more expensive but their smell is incredible.

7)Iris.  I have always loved these flowers.  They are not particularly long lasting but they are vivid and now come in a range of colors.

6)Sunflowers.  Need I say anymore.  After a few days cut their stalk fairly short and they will last a long time.

5)Gerber Daisy.  How can anyone not smile at these beautiful specimens.  Bright cheerful and a range of colours.

4) Orchids.  The longest lasting cut flower on the market.  Choose from the monstrous and a bit pricey Cymbidium to the more subtle Dendrobium.  An amazingly wide range of colours and variation that match this very sexy flower.

3)Alstromeria.  One of my personal all time favorites.  They are long lasting come in multiple colours and variations and they are inexpensive.  I highly recommend these babies.

2)Tulips.  I  love watching them grow and dance as they follow the sun while in their vase.  These are highly coveted especially in the springtime in Canada.

And drum roll please for the number one, all time,sure to make your lady(or man) scream with delight, has to be, hands down the

1)Calla Lily.  This simple but gorgeous incredibly sexy flower was always a top seller at the store.  You bring home a bouquet of these babies and she won’t even remember the name of that other flower.  Ok that is a bit of a stretch but you get my point.  You walk in with this and you have hit the home run.

Happy Valentine’s Day to all you love birds out there.

Learning…Enjoying…Sharing

David Slocombe

P.S.  You have less then 3 more days to have a chance at this weeks jackpot of $75.00.  So enter The Lawttery of Attraction at www.IWannaGiveNow.com .

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Wow!

These past couple of days of been…

Well let’s just say they have been brutal! 

I can barely get out of bed. 

This is 3rd bout of 5th disease(slapcheek) that I have come down with since New Year’s.

You see there has been a bad case of it around where we live.  My  kids school is infested with it.  All the parents have  had it too. 

And Debbie and I  have had it mulptiple times. 

I am however very grateful that my wife and kids have been away visiting friends for the past couple of days.  I couldn’t imagine doing my fatherly duties these past few days. 

So I had a lot of time to think and imagine. 

Details are getting clearer and clearer about how The Lawterry of Attraction is going to be completed. 

And all I can say is WOW!

So maybe I needed this down time to focus on my ending.  Thank you Universe.

Oh and I am sorry Emile because I was going to post everyday this week just for you. 

 Oh well there is always next week.

I do want to thank Lori from Canada. Our first double winner of The Lawttery of Attraction.  She has generously donated $10.00 to next weeks jackpot.  Yee ha!

Thank you for paying it forward.

I wanted to share another great story from Nithya Shanti.  He is this kind soul that I met on facebook.  

He has wonderful loving attitude.  And a joy of life.  Here is story:

I was backpacking through Iran.

I had already been on the road for many months. Due to certain circumstances I lost most of my money and clothing. While I was waiting for my family to send me some more, I stayed in the cheapest possible accommodation.

I woke up one morning and stepped outside. I was hungry and tired in both body and spirit. My appearance was shabby: I was unshaven and my clothes were rather dirty. As I was wandering through the street I noticed a crisply dressed Iranian lady step out of a building. She looked directly at me and stopped. She sized me up bottom to top. “You there!” she said in a loud voice. “Come here.” I barely understood what she was saying but felt compelled to move towards her.

“Follow me!” she ordered and marched back into the building. I obeyed as though in a trance. We climbed up several floors and arrived at her apartment. She gave some loud instructions to her son.

He took me to the bathroom. I was given a towel and razor along with hot water and fresh soap. I was in a daze. Not knowing the language I just went along with this deam like experience and had a bath. I emerged from the bathroom to find a fresh shirt and trouser awaiting me. I changed and came to the living room.

The lady had prepared a hot breakfast for me. “Eat!” she ordered in that no-nonsense motherly way that never needs translation!

Once I had finished eating, she cleared the table and said something that sounded like, “Now we can go!” I followed her down the stairs. Back on the road she turned and left to work before I could even say thank-you.

Here I was back on the street…refreshed, nourished in body and spirit, and left with a heart so amazed and grateful. 

Every time I have thought of this incident over the last many years, my heart immediately fills and overflows with profound gratitude for the unknown lady who spontaneously helped a strange unshaven foreigner who was wandering the streets.

What is even more remarkable is that I have such enormous gratitude to this lady for just one meal and one bath and one pair of clothes. However, when I think of my parents, who have given me thousands of meals, gifts, clothing, shelter, security, education and so much more…there is no such deep gratitude…instead there are sometimes only judgements and further expectations.

How strange this is!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This story was shared by one of my teachers, Ajahn Jayasaro (part of the Western Forest Sangha) . I heard it many years ago and have shared it here from memory.

Lets not blame our parents for our problems…they also had parents!
We can only begin to appreciate their trials when we ourselves become parents.

Let us instead love and appreciate our parents and loved ones today. Tell them how much we love them in the same specifics and detail with which we have sometimes disagreed with them.

The biggest regret when loved ones pass on are the words left unsaid and the loving actions left undone. Let us begin to live in a way that we can say goodbye with a regret free heart at any time. This is true freedom.

Let there be love and gratitude in our hearts and homes.
Let it spill out into the streets of the world.

Eternal Peace

Nithya Shanti

Thank you Nithya for sharing this very thoughtful lesson.

Learning…Enjoying…Sharing

David Slocombe

P.S. There are only 4 more days for this weeks Lawttery of Attraction.  So enter at www.IWannaGiveNow.com for your chance at receiving $75.00.  Thanks Maureen for the $25.00 donation.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

The Winner is Lori from Canada.

________________________

I have mentioned numerous times about Todd Silva and his amazing program of uniting the world through unconditional giving.  At www.GiveAwayAdollarADay.com is Todd’s ingenious realization that we all have that feeling inside us. 

You know the one.

Yes you do.

The excitement you feel when finding a dollar lying on the ground.  Well imagine that feeling multiplied when you find a dollar in a newspaper, diaper box, egg cartoon or hanging from a tree.

Yes money does grow on trees.

Just ask a person who owns an apple orchard. 

Anyway Todd has encouraged thousands around the world to hide a dollar a day somewhere along their daily journey.

As I have explained before it is fantastic feeling as you hide your dollar to visualize and imagine the feeling of the person who finds this little treasure. 

Even our kids love this activity.  They squeal with delight as they go back to the place where they hid their dollar and realize someone has found their offering. 

Imagine teaching our kids that they can be philanthropists.  That even this small gesture could have enormous ripples.

Well I found another comrade.  Who performs this daily ritual with delight.  Dave at http://asecondcup.blogspot.com/ is an inspired philanthropist who has been able to realize a lifelong dream. 

Yeah seriously he wanted to be a philanthropists.  Pretty cool!

Dave even makes up business cards that say ” a gift from the anonymous philanthropist”.  The cards also cite www.GiveAwayADollarADay.com as his original inspiration.   He leaves these cards along with his daily gifts of a dollar. 

So not only is he giving.  He is inspiring others to learn to be philanthropists.  Amazing!

And the best part his site is fantastic. 

The colors.

The layout.

The graphics.

All very cool and original. 

Oh yeah his articles on The Law of Attraction are fantastic as well.  I love hearing  The Law of Attraction explained by a different person.

It gives your perspective. 

And new ideas to use.

I would encourage everyone to click on over and have a Second Cup at http://asecondcup.blogspot.com/

Let’s raise a cup to  Annie( http://www.law-of-attraction-parenting.com/). for donating $20.00 to this weeks jackpot.  Thank you Annie.

And can we raise the cup once more to Lori from Canada. 

Yes the same Lori. 

Congratulations Lori on being our first double winner of The Lawttery of Attraction.

Learning…Enjoying…Sharing

David Slocombe

P.S.  I did not hide my dollar today.  However a person asked me if they could have a quarter and I decided that he was more then worthy of having a little treasure today.  I only wished I gave him more.

P.P.S.  Remember to enter next weeks Lawttery of Attraction at www.IWannaGiveNow.com .  Thanks to Maureen and her generous donation of $25.00 the jackpot is $75.00.

P.P.P.S.  Keep playing.  Because you might win again.  Right Lori!

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Well this is one man I would like to meet.

He kind of reminds me of the “Bald Guy”

Yeah this guy has a booth set up in New York City and is handing out money. 

I wonder where he thought of that?

Any way after he is  done in New York City he is off to a few other cities in the States. He is just going to keep handing out money.

Now as long you tell your story you are guaranteed to receive something.  Bailout Bill is handing out $50.00 all the way up to $5000.00.

See the huge lines, hear the amazing stories of receiving.  Read the article by Sima Kotecha and the BBC here http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/newsbeat/newsid_7869000/7869277.stm

Now the only thing that he is doing differently is advertising a new website.

But heck we all want to get recognized. 

So maybe The Universe is just showing us other free ways to receive money.  You know like http://www.me2everyone.com/14048and The Lawttery of Attraction.

Speaking of that there are less then 4 days for The Lawttery of Attraction to choose this weeks winner.  So hurray now and enter at www.IWannaGiveNow.com .  Remember this weeks prize is $70.00.

Learning…Enjoying…Sharing

David

Bookmark It

Hide Sites