Stand Tall

This song goes well with the post I wrote today over at www.ModernJedi.com about “Failure”

Stand Tall |  Fall 2003, Winter 2004, Fall 2004 | Song #340

A rainy day and it’s not yours
You had to face a few slammed doors
So you sit and hang your head (wondering how to earn some bread)
Was it something someone said?
Or is it a picture in your head?
Was it a feeling in your gut
Was it an open door you imagined shut
You decide.

Refrain:
Stand tall. Force a grin. Forget the loss and count the win
Hold fast. Dig down deep. First you sow and then you reap
Look up. Breathe it in. You’ve got the gold of Solomon
Look left, Look right. Brighten up your inner light

When did you decide to lose?
Don’t you know we always choose
To retreat or to go forward
To move away or to move towards
So pick yourself up off the boards
Give yourself an award
You gave it your best shot and now it’s time to dig down deep
And pull out just a little more, pull out just a little more.
You decide.

Refrain:

What just changed? Not the world, the world’s the same
You just rearranged your perception
You shifted your focus and in the process chose to let go of some old pain.
That’s right! Take it, shrink it down, fade it out, push it far away and Let it go!
Rearrange it into something you can learn from.
Now you know. And it just goes to show…
It’s lost its power over you hasn’t it?
And every thought has become a friend
Like the cripple throwing a way his crutch or
The shy kid reaching out his hand
And looking you right in the eye with an open smile and warmly inviting you to dance…It’s the shy kid inviting you to dance…
You decide. You decide.

© 2004-2009 by Mark Shepard ASCAP All Rights Reserved

commentary: I wrote this song at a time when I was really struggling just to get by even though I had invested thousands of dollars and thousands of hours in learning NLP specifically so that I would be able to break through the junk that was holding me back. Little did I know at the time that I was “deep in the process” of learning and practicing tools and techniques that would enable me to “hang in there” and eventually get back to my original “purpose” which was to share my 30 years of original songs with people who would not only appreciate them but who would benefit from the songs, the story as well as the NLP concepts and techniques…

Please share this with your friends and loved ones.

all the best! – Mark

Urgent Concert Announcment

Hey Everybody,

I know it's a bit last minute but HAY! Spontaneity is the spice of life.

Just got word that I'll be performing tomorrow, Saturday, January 24, 2009 at my favorite Starbucks in downtown New Haven, CT. It's the Starbucks on the corner of High St and Chapel across from the Yale Museum of British Art and the Yale Art Gallery.

I start my first set at 8 PM and I would love to see any and all of you who are in the New Haven area!

Here's a couple of clips from my last gig...

Lucky

Lucky Song | 2/14/2007 | Song # 361

I kick around town, looking up and down
You know, I know my way around
Feel like I finally belong
I think about you, feeling brand new
And what the two of us could do
I we could sing this song…
If we could sing this...

Refrain
Ooo-eeeee I’m lucky!
Why is it easy today?
Ooo-eeeee I’m lucky!
Won’t you come out and play?

Glad I have eyes, glad I have hands
and a clean shirt and pants
And feet that wanna dance
Glad to be here, free of the fear
Feeling light and crystal clear
Ready to take a chance…
Ready to take a...

Refrain

Life can be fast, as it flies past
And love takes time to grow
Sometimes, I’m at home alone
And all of it’s good, let go of the “shoulds”
And any impossibilities
As your wings catch the breeze!
As your wings catch the...

Refrain

Bridge: Why does it work out much better than you can possibly imagine?

Refrain:

© 2007 Mark Shepard

Commentary: this song is full of the "why" questions that Noah St. John calls "afformations". The deal with your unconscious mind is this, whatever questions you ask youself have 10 times the power of the statements you tell yourself. It's like your unconscious mind is pre-programmed to filter information for you based on the questions you ask. So ask really good questions! Of course my favorite saying is "Why does it work out better than you can possibly imagine? (or WDIWOBTYCPI - pronounced Widdy-Wob-tissipi)

This is the tool in my NLP arsenal I use the most on a day to day basis. There have been plenty of times when I literally chanted "Why does it work out better than I can possibly Imagine" for entire days...

language has power people. So pay attention to what you say to yourself. Or, just play this song over and over again. It works!

p.s. This song compliments a post I made at www.ModernJedi.com on January 12, 2009 called "Good Luck? Bad Luck?"

p.p.s. "Lucky" is featured on the Rilee O'Neill CD "Letters to Daddy"