THE HOLISTIC LAWYER

 by Mindy Hitchcock

Michigan...What’s not to love? Everything the world has to offer awaits you when you visit, vacation or do business in the Great Lakes State of Michigan!

Get SMiTTEN!® with championship caliber golf courses, boating, fishing, hunting, recreation and great attractions like The Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village, Motown Historical Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts and more to the east. The Frederik Meijer Gardens, Holland Tulip Festival, Saugatuck Art Community and Lake Michigan awaits you in the west. In the north you’ll find Sleeping Bear Dunes, Grand Traverse Bay Resort and Mackinac Island, while the Upper Peninsula beckons with the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Tahquamenon Falls State Park to name just a few. No matter where you go in Michigan, you’re pointed in the right direction! From www.getsmitten.org

Recently I talked with a doctor who complained that “Michigan is dying.” By my estimate, this doctor makes as much as $100,000 some days, performing surgery on Michigan residents. He’s a great doctor, but like many of us, he just needs to appreciate the blessings he enjoys here in our great state.

He’s not the only one. So many people “bad-mouth” Michigan simply because its financial landscape is changing. Sadly, they forget that what we put our attention on increases and what we take our attention from withers and dies. I say, “Let’s focus on the beauty and abundance that is our state and create more of it!” There’s no place like home.

SAY GOOD THINGS ABOUT MICHIGAN!

A few months ago I met a lady who has really taken this mission to heart. She and her husband started a campaign to GET Smitten WITH THE MITTEN! She contacted me because of an article I’d written, about how Napoleon Hill (author of Think And Grow Rich) created a mastermind group with Franklin Delano Roosevelt, politicians, ministers and the press, nationwide, to help bring our country back, after the Great Depression. She wanted to apply this approach to revive Michigan.

The story goes that, during the Great Depression, America was stuck in the doldrums and couldn’t get out. Roosevelt, Hill and others formed a mastermind group committed to saying only good things about the country. The press published positive stories about America, politicians worked together and praised our system and ministers reminded their congregations of the freedom and magnificence of America.

It worked. The concerted effort pulled us out of the Depression and on to some of our greatest successes (to date!) As the new year begins, why don’t we try this approach in Michigan?

It’s easy to spot our challenges. The struggles of the major auto-makers, high unemployment and the like. On the other hand, we have the largest fresh water supply in the world. Recently, on a flight back to Michigan from Colorado, I was struck by the topographical difference. Colorado, for all its mountain beauty, consists of a series of pale green and brown circles and squares from the air. Except for the mountains, there’s not much to notice.

Not so with Michigan. Flying over our state, I saw an abundance of trees in various degrees of gorgeous color. And everywhere, water sprung up from the Earth. If I judged strictly by appearances, I would say that Michigan was one of the richest locations in America. Truth is, I wouldn’t be wrong.

We Michiganians need to begin saying good things about our state. Need some help? Visit www.getsmitten.org, where you will find a plethora of information to get you started. Looking for a special retreat with the object of your affection? Want to get away from the kids and seek refuge in front of a warm fire with a glass of bubbly? Stay close to home or travel far and wide throughout Michigan to cozy romantic hideaways with sweet amenities. Turns out Michigan has more than 400 bed and breakfast lodgings and most offer great ways to spend the weekend and take in the neighboring sights. Some of our finest full service hotels also have romance packages for couples. The site invites us to “Surprise the love of your life and reserve a Pure Michigan romance weekend today.” Sounds good to me!

The Get Smitten site also offers information about sporting activities, casinos and business in Michigan, to name but a few things. Check it out and see for yourself!

FROM STRUGGLE TO OPPORTUNITY

Just as it’s easy to find fault with those we love the most, sometimes we take our home site for granted and complain about its challenges. Why not look at other entities that took on tough challenges and used them to come back, stronger than ever? For example, Cisco company. Its stock went through the roof in 2000, then fell, hard. It went through wrenching period of evaluation and reinvention and now its back, stronger than ever. It’s no surprise that the secret behind this incredible success is the company’s corporate culture, established by its CEO, John Chambers. Happiness is always an inside job.

Back in the mid-1990’s, Cisco pioneered using the internet for automation. As a result, it sold customers tons of routers and switches in hopes that they could replicate Cisco’s success. Now, in 2007, Cisco is again starting a trend. This time its collaborative technologies – telepresence, unified communications and corporate versions of social networks like Facebook and MySpace.

Michigan too is facing a wonderful time of reevaluation and rebirth; but that doesn’t mean it’s time to turn tail and run. We have so many natural resources, so many talented people and so much natural beauty in Michigan. Let’s begin 2008 with a view to get “re-smitten” with the Mitten and see what wonderful things we can create!

Affirmation: I love and appreciate the beautiful state I live in! I am so happy and grateful to be here, at the cusp of a new chapter in Michigan’s history.

© 2008 Mindy L. Hitchcock