Last Sunday night at 6PM my heart stopped as I heard the news;there was a fire at Silverado Canyon in Orange County.

I live in the San Fernando Valley, however, my disabled brother lived in that rural canyon. The roads are extremely narrow. The houses are modest in this canyon, especially in the section my brother lived in.

A few years prior torrential rains caused a huge boulder to crash through the General Store’s window killing the store owner’s daughter. I’ve been concerned about this area for my brother,especially since he had had a heart attack in July. He was reluctent to move as he had a large dog, but he did realize in Sept. that he needed to leave the canyon. We spoke in Sept. and he was waiting for a vacancy in an Assisted Living facility. He didn’t tell me the name, nor am I sure of the city in Orange County. I called him the beginning of Oct. and his telephone number was disconnected. I wrote him a note and I haven’t heard from him,nor has the letter been returned.

Then the fire, started by an arsonist who in my opinion is an evil human being. I don’t excuse this kind of behavior with psychological interpretation.Sociopaths don’t have a conscience and this arsonist chose of terrain was calculated to create an inferno.

Thursday, I felt a great relief to find out that my brother had moved before the fire, even though I still don’t know where he is.

One of the residents of the Silverado Canyon was interviewed on TV. He said, they are not people with expensive houses, they are just plain people.

These people had to fend for themselves because there were few fire fighting assets for Orange County. They did a heroic job.

I will have more to say about these fires.

Common Mistake #2

Over the years I have seen many business owners fail because they never thought about “How much could they POSSIBILITY net”; if the business was operating at its peak?

What is the potential of the business you want to open?

Who are your competitors?

Why would your customer choose you over your competitor?

These are a few of the basic questions to have written answers before you decide on opening a business.

More to Come—

Common Mistake—–#1

One of the most common mistakes a new business owner will make is to open a Retail Take Out business, whether it’s a Donut shop or a take out Pizza business in a location where the other businesses use the parking spots for long appointments.

Take out requires ample parking for the customer to get in and out quickly. Professional Offices, Hair Salons customers require longer parking.

Before you choose your next location, evaluate the location as to how much drive by traffic there is as well as how much parking is available for overall Customer parking and how long the average person parks.

If the Strip Mall is small and the other tenants require long parking time for their Customers, pass the location up–move on to a better location for your business.

You cannot made a good decision, not on a personal level, nor on a business level while your mind is “chattering”. Creative answers come about when your mind is quiet. I used to teach this simple mind quieting technique.Practice this every day.

Set a timer to 20 min. at the beginning. When you become experienced you’ll be able to get to your quiet place much quicker. 

Sit down in a straight chair

Close your eyes

Take several deep breathes

With your eyes closed, follow your breath as you breathe the air in and out through your nose.

As you breath in–think I AM

As you breath out–think RELAXED

Keep this up breath in–I Am

Breath out–Relaxed

If thoughts come into your mind–see the thoughts drift away–like a fluffy cloud

Don’t hang on to any thought–after a while you will think you’ve been asleep, however, you aren’t–you are in your quiet center.

If there is a particular situation you want an answer to,as to what you should do, etc you can mentally take that into your mind before you start the process. You will find many ideas you never thought of before. It’s a good idea to write down your thoughts, images afterwards. You’ll learn a lot.

This morning I heard poet, Maya Angelou read portions of letters that soldiers, stationed in Iraq had written to their mothers, wives,and children They had died in Iraq and the reading was in conjunction with the Legacy Foundation she was representing. I marveled that she read those words without her voice cracking. I would not have been able to. To hear their dedication, their idealism and to know that their heroic sacrifice occurred because of this Administration’s Folly (in Iraq) makes me feel sadder.

This is the 5th Memorial Day that we Honor those who died in Iraq and we Pray for the safe return for those who are still there.