In case you’re wondering why you haven’t heard from me this week, we’re in the process of moving from our home from Colorado to a new home in Montana. The past two weeks have been spent sorting and packing our treasures for the 1000 mile trek. And boy, has this brought up a lot of stuff for me!

Physically relocating from one place to another is just like moving from one place to another emotionally, through the changes in our life.

Why is it then, that we wait until we’re ready to move to rid ourselves of excess baggage, in both a physical and metaphysical way?

I don’t want to carry a packed box from one place to another any more then I choose to carry worries, fears or other baggage with me in my mind or in my heart.

This really hit me when i spent the last two weeks going through boxes in storage and in the basement. Not only did we pay to keep these ‘valuable’ thing, but these were boxes that were still packed and had never been opened from the last move! These were things that I thought I needed, yet I didn’t even know the contents of the boxes!

What makes me think that I need this stuff now that I haven’t needed in years? Where does that mentality come from that tells me to take it with me “in case we’ll need it” later?

Enough! Maybe I’m just tired of sorting through our treasures for two weeks, or maybe it’s just time to let things go. Nature abhors a vacuum, so why wouldn’t I release these ‘things’, so that our coffers can be refilled in a new way?

We’ve given away more than 10 trucks full of stuff- things that we didn’t need then, we don’t need now and we certainly won’t need in the future. I only wish we’d done this years ago, which brings me to the point of this post.

What are you still hanging onto and moving from place to place in a physical or emotional sense? What extra baggage are you carrying around that if you let it go, might be replaced by something even more wonderful?

Don’t wait until you have to make a physical or an emotional move to do it- get rid of it now!

This process has been so freeing for me. As I sit here late the night before the moving van arrives, I’m wondering what else I packed that I can leave behind. Our moving van has a finite amount of space to fit all of these items. What’s the most important? The furniture? The 8 boxes of picture albums? The library of books from our Luminaries?

If I had to, I could walk out of this house with just Darryl, Koda and me and start life wherever, and be just fine. Few of the things in life matter.

I was personally so inspired by writing this, I just pushed the laptop aside, went for a midnight walk through the piles of boxes in the house and found two more that we can give away. Woohoo! This is fun!

I wish I would have been at this place of release two weeks ago. It would have made this move so much faster and easier! That’s why I felt that I needed to share this with you, so that maybe, just maybe I can save someone a week of going through box after box.

Interestingly enough, each little decision of whether to keep, give away or trash, adds up to make a huge difference, not only in the size of the piles, but in the quality of our lives as well.

So, what’s up with the Global Hug Tour? I think the most honest answer to that question is to explain that we’re going through the same things in life that you are. In other words, while enthusiasm and belief are strong, time and money are limited. It’s a big project with a lot of moving pieces.

Imagine the planning that would go into a two-week vacation to Europe. Now make that a 5-month trip with 50 events worldwide and you have the picture of the task we’ve been facing. The logistics alone are staggering, let alone adding in things like weather patterns and safety issues.

Did we bite off more than we can chew? Maybe. Are we going to let that stop us? Never!

We’ve talked with sponsors who are enthusiastic to support us because this kind of project has never been done before, but are also leery because, you guessed it, this has never been done before. We’ve tried to wrap our heads around this project like we already have with our hearts, and the massive amount of work seems overwhelming at times.

I’m reminded of when we launched our website, InspireMeToday.com. We were in the process of gathering inspiration from Luminaries to feature each day. I didn’t want to launch until we had 120 days- 4 months of daily content in the can. However after waiting and waiting until everything was perfect, we decided to launch with just 20 Luminaries and trust that we would figure it out as we went. You know what?

Everything lined up, one Luminary referred another and we’ve had a waiting list ever since. And it all happened because we took the first step, with faith.

We’ve been waiting to launch the Global Hug Tour until we can afford the perfect airplane, until we can find the perfect sponsor, until, until, until. In the meantime, the world needs the inspiration, tangible donation dollars and love, not to mention the hugs.

Take the 1st step!

So, with little more than a great deal of faith, we’re launching the Global Hug Tour. As many things in life can appear overwhelming, we all know the best technique is to break it down into smaller, more manageable portions and then start on the first one now.

I mentor others on how to take an idea and bring it to reality. My number one piece of advice is to take the first step, even if you don’t know what the second step will be- just take the first step! You can climb the biggest mountain, one baby step at a time.

Our team has an expression- “If you’re going to eat an elephant, you have to do it one bite at a time. While I’m not advocating that anyone actually eat an elephant, the concept remains the same. Take the first bite. Take the first step. Yet here I am, waiting until everything is perfect to start. That’s just silly!

A natural consequence of getting started is that the pieces of the rest of the puzzle will suddenly appear obvious and easily align, once we’ve placed the first ones on the table.

So, our preliminary plan is this: YES, we’re still going the whole way around the world, but it will take much longer to do so under the new plan. We’ve had an overwhelming amount of requests for us to visit South America, Africa, Australia and New Zealand- none of which were on the original tour. We’ve had requests for many more cities in North America too. We asked, you answered and we’re listening.

We’ll start with the North American Global Hug Tour first, followed by the European tour, the Middle East and Africa tour, then the Pacific/Asia tour, followed by the South American tour after we return back to the US.

This new tour schedule will be spread out in two to five-month chunks through the next few years, but will allow us to focus on one region at a time and make a greater impact. Details are coming soon!

Our entire reason for doing this is to make a positive difference in the world, to highlight the wisdom from all corners of the globe and to celebrate our commonalities. To do that properly we need to spend more time than a day or so in each city. If you’re going to do it, do it right!

We’re planning to begin the North American Global Hug Tour this fall, with stops along the west coast. Stay tuned for the exact dates to be announced very soon! Depending upon the amount of buzz generated and the reception locally, we’ll then take the tour to the rest of North America and then to the world, one region at a time.

Because of the scope of the project, we need your help even to take these first baby steps. Please check out the top ten ways you can help. Also, feel free to contact me at gail@inspiremetoday.com with any questions or any offers of assistance. Your recommendations, advice and support are greatly appreciated- thank you!

And so with this transparent email, I’m sharing with you what’s been stopping us so far, and also explaining the leap of faith we’re now taking to make this happen. I know you understand, because chances are, you’re going through something similar in your own life.

I’m writing to ask you to jump off the ledge with me with your own project. What baby step could you take that would open the door for you? What bite of your own elephant could you take today? What one action could you take that would move you closer to your dream? Go do it!

I encourage you to step off the ledge with me, in faith, and together let’s go make our dreams happen. The world not only needs our dreams too, but it has been waiting long enough. Let’s go make it happen together!

Companies are closing, pension accounts are being drained, unemployment is going up, folks are losing their homes and the bankruptcy rate is escalating. Many feel as if they’re walking through scary times as they watch their piggy banks sink.

It all sounds like a train wreck in another state- something tragic but also distant While we’re empathetic, the impact is lessened because it doesn’t affect us personally. Until it does. Then, very suddenly, things shift and it becomes very real, very fast.

Just this past week I’ve had some personal issues with some real estate investments that are now upside down. Additionally, several of my best friends are facing financial crisis in their lives. Due to the bank cutting off their lines of credit, one has already lost his business, while another is trying to creatively save his business, home and family from bankruptcy. Suddenly this financial crisis we’ve been hearing about for the last year has gotten very up close and personal.

The odd thing for me is that these are some of my “well to do” friends- people that I thought were untouchable. They play a bigger game then I do. One friend has a manufacturing company and has millions of dollars of guaranteed orders to fill, but doesn’t have the several hundred thousand to purchase the materials to complete the order, due to the tightening of credit.

My friends and I have asked ourselves why this is happening. What’s the lesson here to be learned? As one friend said, “I know this builds character, but don’t I have enough of that already?” It’s frustrating when you do the best you know how and yet “bad stuff” still happens.

I don’t think this is about building character, or things that we did wrong, or errors on our part. I don’t think it’s about good people being rewarded and bad people being punished. This is such a global problem that it is bound to affect most of us in one way or another, and at this point we all know someone who has been affected by the economic downturn.

I believe it’s all part of a much greater picture and we’re only seeing one piece of the puzzle. Although it’s easy to judge this now as “bad”, we can’t yet know what blessings will come from these difficult times. More millionaires came from the depression (per capita) than from any other time period.

Instead of focusing on the losses and lamenting over the would haves and should haves, let’s move forward, set our intentions and goals for what we desire and move in that direction. And, let’s do that in spite of what’s showing up around us. That’s the fun part- not getting sucked into the drama of life.

If I only have so much energy in the day, I choose to spend it on things that matter! This downturn has certainly made it easier for us to prioritize what matters and what doesn’t. We spend so much of our time trying to “get ahead” and acquire stuff, but when it comes down to it- stuff doesn’t matter. People do. Experiences do. Things like our health, well-being and love- they matter. A new car suddenly isn’t important.

We just have to believe that abundance is still there for us- even if we can’t see it today. Just like the sun is still there on a cloudy day even if you can’t see it, abundance is still there for you when the road looks scary. Keep on walking. Keep focusing on the big picture and not on the dark colored pieces. With faith, perseverance and the love and support of good friends, we can get through even the most difficult times.

Each week we select our favorite submission for Today’s Brilliance from anyone who cares to contribute to our blog. (Details are available here.) This week’s Brilliance comes to us from Scott Milford. Scott writes as @scottquitter on Twitter and Scott Quitter on acoupleofquitters.com.

I grew up often confused by the behaviors and actions of other people. Too often, people would say one thing then do another. Naturally, I assumed this was how things were done. After many years using this method, I started to question this way of doing things, but only after I suffered much heartache and pain from my decisions and actions. But wisdom grows out of our mistakes.

Maybe you wish you would have made better choices in life, thus far. Perhaps you wish you would have been kinder, more generous or a better friend. If you could do it over again, maybe you would do things differently. But none of that matters because each moment gives you another chance to make a different choice—right now. In each moment, you can start again.

No one knows how you are feeling or anything about you except what they observe. What you show other people through your demonstration will tell them everything they need to know about who you are today. Your actions and words are your most powerful tools for self-expression; they reflect neither your past nor your future, but represent only this very moment. And who you are in this very moment is exactly who you choose to be. Your present behavior has a way of erasing unfavorable past actions or behavior and shapes more positive future conditions.

Be kinder to yourself. Stop giving undue thought to what you haven’t done in the past; stop feeling guilty for what you don’t think can do in the future. Think only of what you are doing now and do it with all your strength, with all your conviction, and with all your heart.

Your words and actions grow out of your beliefs and thoughts. In order to live an exceptional life, you must live your life from your highest truths and exemplify your greatest ideals.

Be patient with people who appear to be wrong. Be grateful for people who appear to be right. Always listen carefully, take a deep breath, and think before you speak. Let your humble heart and your sincerest truth shape your words, not your ego! Don’t be so arrogant as to cherish your own opinion to the exclusion of other possibilities. Always be willing to accept new truth and greater awareness when it’s time to do so.

What are you demonstrating to other people? In every exchange with another person, are you expressing your highest ideals and beliefs? Live your life from your highest truth and give others the freedom to live from theirs.