All right. So one of the problems that I have is…

“I just tripped over Tara!”

(See Tara, right below Bruce, all snuggled into the door.)

Tara, otherwise known as the Tara Dennis. By the way, I don’t even know what a Tara Dennis is or who it is, but it’s a draft stopper.

It’s something like a long sock full of heavy things that prevents the draft from coming in the front door.

You see, I saw her friend Kath put it up for sale on Facebook two or three days ago for 20 bucks. And I thought, “that’s a good deal. Let’s get that because I’m not in to drafts.”

But here’s the thing, the stories that we tell determine …

Well, ACTUALLY it’s where the stories come from, and I want you to get this because most people’s stories come from conformance and struggle, and that’s the kind of day they have. I want you to have a dream-driven day, not a conformance and struggle driven-day.

And so, Victoria goes and she gets the Tara Dennis, and I just trip over the Tara Dennis, and I got to put the Tara Dennis back in front of the door.

But it’s shocking how much cold air comes under that door without something like that there.

So why would I share all this?

We’ve talked about the stored sunlight, and heavy wood, and the power of stories, and the stories you tell. I want you to, literally, notice the stories that move people. I want you to notice the stories that move you, and I want you to become a grand story teller, not because stories will change your life…

But if you learn how to tell stories instead of just doing what most people do, “it’s wood and a chalkboard”, your life will change dramatically.

So here’s the deal guys….

Some of you have been here. We live in a one room house, essentially. It’s a lovely experience. I have no way to explain it. Now, it’s wintertime in Australia, summertime in the US, wintertime here. Different stories being told by different people’s different experiences.

Some enjoy the winter, some enjoy the summer, some don’t enjoy either, like my friend. They don’t enjoy him either way. Just kidding.

Get this….

But, so I can carry a lot more wood in the house and try to get the house warm. If my story is…

• “What am I going to do when I’m 85? How are we going to possibly stay warm when we’re 90, and a 100, and 110?”
• “How much wood do I have to carry in? We are using a lot of wood this winter. I hope we can afford it.”

You see, the normal conversations that most people have are about avoiding struggle, and the struggle they have, and engaging subconsciously.

Engaging in more struggles, they have more to talk about.

Notice the stories that people tell, they’re almost all about struggle. Those are the long stories. The short version or the short stories are, life’s okay, doing all right, in flatline. They’re in the middle of that pond sitting there, maybe sucked down into the vortex.

Meanwhile…

I just started a yummy fire in the fireplace. I brought some wood in, tripped over the Tara Dennis, put her back in front of the door, and she’s preventing a heap load of cold air from sneaking in through that tiny little crack underneath.

Here’s the thing guys…

…you’re telling stories that let the draft in and the dream out. The dream is the cozy by the fireplace. Everybody loves a good romantic fireplace. However, it’s the draft that comes in that gives you the chills shiver me timbers, we need more wood.

“We’re never going to be warm. We’re going to die and freeze to death here in 30 years.” (Prune The Vine) 

That kind of crazy crap. I really want you to get how practical storytelling is. So, here’s part of your homework today, right?

I want you to notice advertising and marketing…

I want you to notice the speedy ones. When I was growing up, “You deserve a break today.” Anybody remember that?

“You deserve a break today at McDonald’s!”

I believe it was, right? You deserve it. They weren’t advertising the hamburger. They were advertising the break. You get it?

“20 minutes or less, or your pizza is free, right?

They’re not advertising the pizza.

They’re advertising how fast you get it. 20 minutes or less, hot pizza, or it’s free. They’re advertising time. They’re advertising quality of, not pizza, well, except for the hot. They’re not saying that it’s the best pizza. They’re saying here’s a different experience.

I want you to explore this today.

I want you to notice the drafts. I want you to actually, dare I say it, write a few little tiny things like, “You deserve a break today at McDonald’s.” Find a few of those that you can generate in your life just for fun.

Actually, for BONUS POINTS today…

…in the group – write a little ad copy like that or a little headline for something. Write down the ones that you hear and write down the ones that slip by because it’s these tiny little bits, it’s these little quickie imaginings that happen so fast.

“I do deserve a break today, where is McDonald’s at? You get it? Where is the closest one?”

All right. That’s where I want you to start. Can you hear the fire in the fireplace? I want you to get how real this is because I’m going to be ordering more firewood today.

Today’s twist….

It’s time. We need it. We’re down to a couple of days worth here. No big deal. You see there’s a couple sides of the coin here, because putting the draft stopper in front of the door doesn’t eliminate the need for the fire, but it actually increases its enjoyment.

“Do nothing!?!”

I remember Neville said, “Do nothing. You can do nothing to make it happen.” I could do nothing to make us be puppy parents, but suddenly we were suddenly, we had one, suddenly we had two.

The imaginings are what brought the puppies here, because when the time came time for the puppies, the question that the other people were asking was..

• “Who would be a good parent for the little fella? Right? Who would be good?”
• “What’s a good family for Bruce?”

You get it?

Why would they think that?

Because we were already imagining, we were already moved to be his puppy parents. You know, you see a little puppy, you pet it. Oh, they obviously like puppies. When we started putting things on the property, mending the fences and stuff, we did it with the intention of having dogs. There’s the thing, just notice and play.

More in a bit. See you in the group!