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    • Q and A with Robyn Spizman

      Loving Out Loud: The Power of a Kind Word

      We hope you will enjoy this short interview with Robyn about the book.


      You say in the introduction to Loving Out Loud that you wrote the book, “…to share the magic of loving life and each other out loud.” Please tell us more.

      Words when shared evoke a feeling of validation and become a priceless gift and reminder we are cherished. Long after we express our appreciation or a compliment to someone, our words are repeated. And the best part? Someone believes what we said and it can be life changing.

      Personally, I appreciate the smallest act of caring and a kind-hearted compliment. A generous spirit, pure in motive, sincere in intent, echoes in my mind and keeps me afloat. Compliments from the heart can turn someone’s day around or start it off with a smile. That’s remarkable stuff and highly underestimated. Loving out loud is intentional and living on the side of being thoughtful and kind can be uplifting and life altering.

      What advice do you have to offer those who tend to focus on the negative for making more room in their lives for thoughts that make them feel good?

      Sounds simple, but I know it’s not always easy to positively express ourselves. It takes a commitment, practice, and awareness. For negative thinkers, you are changing a habit. We all get negative from time to time and it requires a conscious effort to realize that what we put out in the universe often comes back. For anyone who is primarily negative and/or not big on public displays of affection, you are about to take a risk and live large, but can start small. Try focusing on the positive and what’s right for one day only. We all long to be heard, valued, understood and want to receive empathy and appreciation in return. You’ll be amazed at the benefits being positive creates as you attract new friends, build relationships and bring out the best in others, too. When you share a positive thought, the ripple is a vibration of happiness and has the potential to strengthen or spark a relationship.

      You say in the book that it is “more interesting to be interested.” Tell us more about that please.

      Showing interest in another person shows that you notice them and they matter. When you ask how their day is going and really listen and follow up, they feel validated. It’s more important to be interested than interesting. Being interesting is great and has its place, but when it’s only “me, me, me,” that leaves out others. Taking a sincere interest in someone else’s story and life is a great way to connect and learn more.

      What ideas do you have to offer for celebrating our significant others and encouraging him or her to love us out loud?

      Ask for what you want. Sounds simple, but for some people they go a lifetime not getting the love they dream about. First, think about how you respond to being loved, appreciated, and/or thanked. Do you dismiss a compliment as mere flattery or do you take it to heart and say thank you? Do you feel and embrace it or feel less than worthy for the praise? And what about you? Do you share positive feedback out loud when you think something kind about someone? Or do you resist those generous thoughts?

      When we spread kindness, we see more kindness in return. If you think a nice thought give it away vs. burying it or missing an opportunity to love out loud. Love comes in all shapes and sizes. Love is a verb and is meant to be shared. Give loving, generous thoughts, away freely without any expectation. Notice what’s right about your significant other vs. what’s wrong and remember how much joy you feel when someone makes you feel loved.

      How can we inspire our children to be kinder to each other?

      One of the most important chapters in Loving Out Loud is about raising kinder children who learn how being empathetic and helping others is simply the right thing to do. Kind children make friends more easily and get positive feedback. It’s not about being nice for praise or prizes, it’s about how each of us feels inside when we become the reason that someone smiles. It’s easy to make it fun. When my daughter was 3, I appointed her as The CEO of The Thank You Company, a pretend family company that she ran. Her job was to hire all the nice, helpful people we met or observed. During those moments she would say, “You’re hired for my Thank You Company. You’re doing such a good job and I notice how nice you are.” The look on peoples faces from the grocery store and beyond was priceless. She learned to notice generous people making a difference and grew up to be an empathetic, kind-hearted person and understands why showing appreciation to others matters. Children are our future. When they lead with kindness, it can make a world of difference.

      If you share one thing with the world right now to make it a brighter place, what message would you share based on your book Loving Out Loud?

      When you slow down long enough to care about each person you encounter in a given day, or share a positive thought, the ripple is a vibration of happiness and has the potential to strengthen or spark a relationship. It puts a little pep in our step. Affirming words spoken out loud deliver joy and appear at unexpected times embracing us with good feelings long after they are shared.


      Robyn Spizman is the author of Loving Out Loud. She is an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author and popular keynote speaker who has appeared in the media for over three decades, including NBC’s Today show more than thirty times. She lives in Atlanta. Visit her online at robynspizman.com.

      Purchase Loving Out Loud on Amazon.com

      Excerpted from the book Loving Out Loud. Copyright ©2019 by Robyn Spizman. Printed with permission from New World Library.

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    • Double Vision: Real Estate Help from Beyond
      havefaith

      I’ve had my house on the market to sell for three months. During this time, I’ve had quite a few showings and open houses. However, on three separate occasions people have just shown up on their own, wanting to have a look. Each time my doorbell rang beforehand, but no one was physically there. When this happened, I “knew” that an opportunity would be presenting itself, and was forewarned to ready the house to show. The third time was the charm – we just signed a contract! During this same time period, I have also had instances when my smoke alarm went off or lights started flashing, and these were accompanied by a strong sense of spiritual presence. My question to you is who should I thank for all this wonderful help? And for all the other readers out there who are trying to sell a house, is this sort of real estate help something that can be summoned? Thanks!

      – Susan

      Dreamchaser:

      I loved your story – thanks for sharing it!

      I believe you can thank God/ the universe/ spirit whatever name you prefer for this help. There are no egos on the other side, so no one in particular needs to be thanked. While spiritual helpers don’t need thanks or acknowledgement, gratitude in general is very powerful, so you should just say a big thank you to the entire universe.

      Speaking of gratitude, I never realized its power until I became involved with a “gratitude experiment.” My task in this experiment was to realize on a daily basis everything that I was thankful for.

      I started with big things like a roof over my head and food on my table. As I continued with the gratitude awareness, I started to notice little things, like a beautiful bird or a fabulous tree. Then my whole world came alive. I strongly advise you to keep that gratitude flowing in your everyday life.

      The being you sensed that caused the smoke alarm to go off was someone who is attached to your house or land. That person once lived there, and she appreciated how you always took such good care of the place. The lady who helped you decided to do so because she was grateful to you.

      She manifested in that manner so that you would know she was around helping.  You two co-existed very peacefully together. You always sensed a presence in the house, and it did not scare or bother you. She appreciated your acceptance of her as well.

      God has told us via our holy texts that we can command the universe. We have the power to move mountains with a single word. Compared to that, I think that from the perspective of spirit, selling or buying a house looks like a pretty easy thing to manifest.

      So if you need help with real estate or any issue in your life, you simply have to speak those words out loud. There is no formal way to do it; ceremony and ritual are not necessary. All you need to do is speak your intention to the universe and ask for help, and then believe it will come. It’s just that simple.

      We tend to make this harder than it has to be. The only hard part is making yourself believe that your words can have that much power. We also have to remember that the universe and its helping spirits can’t go to work for us until we ask for help. By asking, we set the wheels in motion, so to speak.

      I wish you success with getting the universe to work for you.

      *****

      Astrea:

      Whether you think you could be a psychic or a medium, you’re getting accurate messages from somewhere, so it would be foolish to ignore them. If you sense that something bad may happen to someone, it is your duty to warn them. This can be hard, of course, and it may put people off, but so what? You could be saving lives here!

      For instance, I was talking to a friend in California who had a bad car wreck a few months ago, and I “saw” that situation repeating itself. I simply said, “Be careful driving. You know Mercury is retrograde and the nuts are out in the streets.”

      Did he have an accident? No, but maybe that’s because he was more careful. Whether or not I prevented that car wreck, I fulfilled my duty in this situation by reporting my perceptions to my friend.

      Even when I think I’ll sound crazy, I communicate whatever I’m seeing. I learned this the hard way when I didn’t say something, and then something bad happened. It’s better to seem crazy than to have someone you love get hurt. (Mind you, this is something I reserve for people who know me. I don’t accost strangers on the street and spout off random warnings!)

      It’s also important to remember that what you’re seeing may be a metaphor. A “bad wreck” could be someone getting fired from his job. An illness could be some spiritual imbalance. Death sometimes means the end of a relationship. Since we can’t tell the difference for sure, it’s best to just relay what we have been shown.

      Whenever a dream leaves you worried, call whoever is involved and share your dream with them. Even if your family and friends think you’re kooky, they will listen to you. Even if only a fraction of such dreams are important warnings, it will be worth communicating them. With this sort of thing, my motto is better safe than sorry!

      Sometimes my dreams and visions do not pan out, but I don’t want to take any chances with the people I love. Besides, I’ve been proven right enough times with my friends and family that they don’t poo-poo me, at least not right off the bat.

      Sometimes when there is no evidence that I was right, they tease me good-naturedly. Then we can all have a good laugh. I don’t really mind, because I just want to keep everyone alive and healthy, just like you do.

      Honor what you see and hear by passing it on to whoever may be involved. You may be very glad you did one day.

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