We made a new friend yesterday. His name is Gary. We may not ever see Gary again but we consider him a friend anyway.

Gary came to our home to explain some financial information to us and we just loved his attitude about life. Despite the cold, snowy day, he told us that he really loved traveling around the state, meeting and talking with people in their homes.

Even though he was only here for about an hour on business, he shared a lot with us about his personal life. In his stories, we saw that he was a kind, genuine person and had a loving heart.

We found his attitude to be so uplifting as he talked about how he has used the challenges he's had to face in his life as a catalyst for helping others in need.

Gary told us that he once had a hunting accident which cost him one of his legs and that this accident would have been life-threatening if he had not had a doctor friend with him on his hunting trip to assist him.

Because of his own experience with disability after the hunting accident and also because he and his wife have a 26 year old son with Downs Syndrome, he feels compelled to do all he can to help kids and adults with emotional and physical challenges have a better life. He told us that he spends a lot of his free time teaching them to ski in the winter and to sail in the summer.

What we saw in Gary was a great example of how we can be in all of our relationships. His attitude of caring, loving and giving toward others was a true inspiration for all of us.

We've all heard the saying that when life hands you lemons, make lemonade out of them. That's exactly what Gary has done and this is what you can do in your life and in your relationships as well.

Too often when things don't go exactly how we think they should in our lives and people don't act the way we think they should, we take on a life of resignation and might wallow in quiet (or not so quiet) self-pity.

We've noticed that some people adopt the attitude that "this is as good as it gets and I'm just going to have to accept it."

We know from our own lives and experience that when it comes to your relationships, there is always hope and there are always new possibilities if you are willing to do what it takes to create your relationships and life how you want.

What we'd like to suggest to you about your relationships is that they can become as good as you're willing for them to be.

It all starts with your intentions and your attitude is a big part of that.

You can choose to become a "good-finder" in your current relationships and in your life (like Gary) or you can look for what you find distasteful or unpleasant in the people in your life. The choice is yours.

A lot of businesses take the beginning of a new year to review what's happened over the last 12 months and then create new goals and plans for making the coming year better.

We think this is a good thing to do in your personal relationships as well.

We invite you to take some time to figure out what's working in your relationships and life and what isn't.

In short, if you want to create closer and more loving relationships with the people in your life, there are certain things you're going to want to do more of and other things you'll want to do less of or eliminate all together.

Ask yourself--"What kinds of things can I start doing (or do more of) to start creating the kind of relationship that I really want?"-- and focus on them.

As someone said to Otto earlier this week, there's always another way if you look for it. The trouble is that most of us don't look for it most of the time.

We're offering Gary's story to you as a way to remind you that when problems and challenges come up for you in your relationships and your life that you look for a new way.

We believe that love is abundant in this universe and that you deserve to have it.

We encourage you in every moment to open your heart to new possibilities that are waiting to happen in your relationships and your life.

When you do, miracles can happen. They have in our lives and they can in yours.

© Otto & Susie Collins
Life Channels Staff Writers
All Rights Reserved

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