All Of Us Have Dreams

"Get a dream for your life, regardless of your age or position." - Jill Sweetman

This week I have been working in India and this being my first time here, it is a pleasure getting to know the people and culture. As I have seen throughout my travels is at one level, people around the world are the same. Each of us sleeps, get up in the morning, get the kids ready for school, struggle with traffic on the way to work and deal with work stresses through out the day.

We also have to commute home, get dinner ready, reconnect with our family or maybe attend a function (soccer practice, school play, religious event) and then come home, prepare for bed and try to get to sleep. All in an effort to repeat it again the next day. As my parents said to me years ago, "people all around the world, regardless of ethnicity, class or location put their pants on one leg at a time." A lesson simply to show how much alike all of us are.

In travelling back and forth between the hotel and office, a regular driver picks me up and returns me to the hotel each day. Not that I am above driving, traffic here in India is certainly different then what I am used to. If I were to drive, I would be more of an impediment to others on the road. So for an hour each way, each day, I have the opportunity to talk with my driver.

His name is Mitra and has been a pleasure to be with. A young man with a child and a wife due to give birth at any time to twins. Life has the same concerns for him as any would have any place in the world. Things concerning the health of his wife and as yet unborn children, how will I pay the medical bills, will I get enough work, on and on and on. The stress of driving in this type of traffic and the potential for an accident. Anything you can think of is a potential conceren for another person any place on this planet (with obvious exceptions).

Mitra though is such an upbeat person about all that is of concern. He understands and appreciates all that he has. His attitude is so positive that he opens himself to opportunity that will present itself. Faith and belief in what is good and in his own ability says alot about him. He also has a dream that sustains him. He believes in that dream and I for one believe he can achieve it.

Establish a vision, a dream for your own life. Believe in that dream, act upon it and you will eventually realize your dream. All around the world, people have dreams...each of us can attain them at some level. Continue to believe in yourself.

Farming Hearts and Minds

The environment around you regardless of where you are is your field of influence. A field that includes the hearts and minds of other people that enter in, pass through and generally any one that you encounter through out your life. It is a field that you impact by your actions and words.

As a farmer plants seeds and tends to the field, you also have responsibility for the seeds you plant in the hearts and minds of others. You can tend to them over time and watch those people grow and move to greatness. Or you can ignore them and watch them wither. These interactions go on everyday both to you and by you.

You may be 'planting' seeds within the fields of your influence, but others are doing the same as you enter theirs. When two mindful farmers enter each others environment, a wonderful thing happens to both people. The metaphor for tending a field of influence can be difficult to follow in its concept, but the more you think about it, clarity will come to your understanding.

The basic premise for me when it comes to 'farming' your field of influence is this. Do not leave people where you find them. Help them, nurture them and bring them to a higher place. Leave them with hope and understanding that life has much to offer them.

The 'harvest' of a well tended field will yield much to you. Your life will be enriched for the experience and be more bountiful in its rewards. In all that you do, leave that which you enter better then when you found it. Leave the heart and mind of others in a better place.

Look At Life From A Different View

Everyone have a great day today and also tomorrow. I'll write again soon about how each of us has a field that we tend to. Where that field exists and how we sow into that field and take care of it. Of course it is a metaphor for life and how you can live it.

“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” - Wayne Dyer

Your Field

Recently I listened to a speaker talk about your sphere of influence. That area or impact that you can have on those that enter or pass through your life. Taken in its simplest form, as you go about life, your family, friends, co-workers, people at the store you shop in, where you buy your gas, church and everything you do.

During these moments of interaction when you speak, the way you conduct yourself and the way you respond is a chance to impact another life. If you think about it, everywhere you go you create a sphere of influence. As the saying goes, "wherever you go, there you are" and so is your ability to impact people.

What all of this means is that your influence and ability to impact people moves with you. In example, I will be leaving on a business trip to India in the near future. Many would say to me that I'll be out of my comfort zone, out of my environment. But my environment is all around me where ever I go. I carry my own environment and people I come across are coming into my field as it is called.

A field you may wonder? I'll talk more about that next time I write. Just know that as you move about in your daily life, that where ever you go, you can have impact on others. Try not to lose any opportunity to engage and create change.

Perception Or Reality

Perception isn't always reality in certain things. I had reason to wonder why a professional football team called the Detroit Lions were taking heat for playing on the American holiday of Thanksgiving. Many have said this team always loses and shouldn't play on this day for they are not a very good team.

So I thought to see if perception is the reality. In 68 games that Detroit has played on Thanskgiving Day, they have a won/loss record of 35 - 33. This includes losses in 1925 and 1926 when there was a Detroit team called the Detroit Panthers. Better then even in winning games isn't all that bad.

But it does show that our first impressions or what we perceive on the surface is not always correct. We need to look a bit deeper to find the truth and reality of what we see. This goes for things we hear, things we see and people we meet. Learn to find out more and see what the reality is beneath the perceived, you will grow richer inside for it.

Now the scores for you football purists - for others, Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy time with family and friends.

Nov. 26, 1925 Rock Island Independents 6, DETROIT PANTHERS 3
Nov. 25, 1926 Los Angeles Buccaneers 9, DETROIT PANTHERS 6
Nov. 29, 1934 Chicago Bears 19, DETROIT LIONS 16
Nov. 28, 1935 DETROIT LIONS 14, Chicago Bears 2
Nov. 26, 1936 DETROIT LIONS 13, Chicago Bears 7
Nov. 25, 1937 Chicago Bears 13, DETROIT LIONS 0
Nov. 24, 1938 DETROIT LIONS 14, Chicago Bears 7
Nov. 22, 1945 Cleveland Rams 28, DETROIT LIONS 21
Nov. 28, 1946 Boston Yanks 34, DETROIT LIONS 10
Nov. 27, 1947 Chicago Bears 34, DETROIT LIONS 14
Nov. 25, 1948 Chicago Cardinals 28, DETROIT LIONS 14
Nov. 24, 1949 Chicago Bears 28, DETROIT LIONS 7
Nov. 23, 1950 DETROIT LIONS 49, New York Yanks 14
Nov. 22, 1951 DETROIT LIONS 52, Green Bay Packers 35
Nov. 27, 1952 DETROIT LIONS 48, Green Bay Packers 24
Nov. 26, 1953 DETROIT LIONS 34, Green Bay Packers 15
Nov. 25, 1954 DETROIT LIONS 28, Green Bay Packers 24
Nov. 24, 1955 DETROIT LIONS 24, Green Bay Packers 10
Nov. 22, 1956 Green Bay Packers 24, DETROIT LIONS 20
Nov. 28, 1957 DETROIT LIONS 18, Green Bay Packers 6
Nov. 27, 1958 DETROIT LIONS 24, Green Bay Packers 14
Nov. 26, 1959 Green Bay Packers 24, DETROIT LIONS 17
Nov. 24, 1960 DETROIT LIONS 23, Green Bay Packers 10
Nov. 23, 1961 Green Bay Packers 17, DETROIT LIONS 9
Nov. 22, 1962 DETROIT LIONS 26, Green Bay Packers 14
Nov. 28, 1963 DETROIT LIONS 13, Green Bay Packers 13
Nov. 26, 1964 Chicago Bears 27, DETROIT LIONS 24
Nov. 25, 1965 DETROIT LIONS 24, Baltimore Colts 24
Nov. 24, 1966 San Francisco 49ers 41, DETROIT LIONS 14
Nov. 23, 1967 Los Angeles Rams 31, DETROIT LIONS 7
Nov. 28, 1968 Philadelphia Eagles 12, DETROIT LIONS 0
Nov. 27, 1969 Minnesota Vikings 27, DETROIT LIONS 0
Nov. 26, 1970 DETROIT LIONS 28, Oakland Raiders 14
Nov. 25, 1971 DETROIT LIONS 32, Kansas City Chiefs 21
Nov. 23, 1972 DETROIT LIONS 37, New York Jets 20
Nov. 22, 1973 Washington Redskins 20, DETROIT LIONS 0
Nov. 28, 1974 Denver Broncos 31, DETROIT LIONS 27
Nov. 27, 1975 Los Angeles Rams 20, DETROIT LIONS 0
Nov. 25, 1976 DETROIT LIONS 27, Buffalo Bills 14
Nov. 24, 1977 Chicago Bears 31, DETROIT LIONS 14
Nov. 23, 1978 DETROIT LIONS 17, Denver Broncos 14
Nov. 22, 1979 DETROIT LIONS 20, Chicago Bears 0
Nov. 27, 1980 Chicago Bears 23, DETROIT LIONS 17 (OT)
Nov. 26, 1981 DETROIT LIONS 27, Kansas City Chiefs 10
Nov. 25, 1982 New York Giants 13, DETROIT LIONS 6
Nov. 24, 1983 DETROIT LIONS 45, Pittsburgh Steelers 3
Nov. 22, 1984 DETROIT LIONS 31, Green Bay Packers 28
Nov. 28, 1985 DETROIT LIONS 31, New York Jets 20
Nov. 27, 1986 Green Bay Packers 44, DETROIT LIONS 40
Nov. 26, 1987 Kansas City Chiefs 27, DETROIT LIONS 20
Nov. 24, 1988 Minnesota Vikings 23, DETROIT LIONS 0
Nov. 23, 1989 DETROIT LIONS 13, Cleveland Browns 10
Nov. 22, 1990 DETROIT LIONS 40, Denver Broncos 27
Nov. 28, 1991 DETROIT LIONS 16, Chicago Bears 6
Nov. 26, 1992 Houston Oilers 24, DETROIT LIONS 21
Nov. 25, 1993 Chicago Bears 10, DETROIT LIONS 6
Nov. 24, 1994 DETROIT LIONS 35, Buffalo Bills 21
Nov. 23, 1995 DETROIT LIONS 44, Minnesota Vikings 38
Nov. 28, 1996 Kansas City Chiefs 28, DETROIT LIONS 24
Nov. 27, 1997 DETROIT LIONS 55, Chicago Bears 20
Nov. 26, 1998 DETROIT LIONS 19, Pittsburgh Steelers 16 (OT)
Nov. 25, 1999 DETROIT LIONS 21, Chicago Bears 17
Nov. 23, 2000 DETROIT LIONS 34, New England Patriots 9
Nov. 22, 2001 Green Bay Packers 29, DETROIT LIONS 27
Nov. 28, 2002 New England Patriots 20, DETROIT LIONS 12
Nov. 27, 2003 DETROIT LIONS 22, Green Bay Packers 14
Nov. 25, 2004 Indianapolis Colts 41, DETROIT LIONS 9
Nov. 24, 2005 Atlanta Falcons 27, DETROIT LIONS 7

Change That Helps Others

Have you seen that commercial from Liberty Mutual? The one in which a person does a small act of kindness for another and a third person sees it. This third person then does a small act of kindness for another, so on and so forth. I'm not here to endorse Liberty Mutual, but to commend the message about personal responsibility and kindness.

If each of us takes a moment in our day to help another, as Jim Rohn said, “You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.” Change yourself to be a better person. Turn that changed person into someone that is willing to help others.

Thanksgiving Grace

Grace by John Holyfield

A day goes by and another one arrives, time moves forward as we pass through it. In your own way, you find ways to be thankful for what you have, for who is in your life and for what will be. Here in America, we celebrate the harvest time with a thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving in Canada is much the same as it is in the United States; however, it is observed on a different day - the second Monday in October. Other parts of the world and different cultures celebrate thanksgiving. Although they are different from our own American tradition each of them revolve around giving thanks for life's blessings and the celebration of the autumn harvest.

In Great Britain, the Harvest festival is held late September or October. Jewish people celebrate Sukkot, a festival of thanksgiving that lasts nine days. The Festival of the Autumn Moon (Zhong Qui), is the Chinese celebration of thanksgiving. In southern India, people in Kerala hold the harvest festival of Onam. And a Lithuanian thanksgiving celebration involves the creation of a boba (meaning old woman) from the last sheaf of grain at harvest time.

For each of us, we have much to be thankful for in our lives. A holiday will remind us of this very thing, but we need to remind ourselves often as we go about our daily lives. A quote that I am unsure of its author says, "it isn't what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful, but what you have in your heart." Be thankful in your life and see it become more fulfilled.

Life Happening

Busy week, busy life - I do hope all is well with everyone. My thoughts come back to my regular readers when time becomes filled and writing this blog is interrupted. My belief has always been that words serve to inspire and support your daily lives. If giving my readers a bit of hope or encouragement to achieve dreams of a better life helps even one person, then it makes my day better.

Many times in life we encounter tragedy and pain. Yet the small acts of kindness, the small acts of encouragement allow us to see hope and belief in the good our life has. Your life is important to you and those around you. Each of us can help each other to achieve that better life. Each of us will achieve that better life with consistent and progressive movement.

“Progress, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step.” - Samuel Smiles

Helping Others

There is a great television show carried here in the U.S. called Extreme Makeover:Home Edition that simply does a good thing for a selected family each week. The basic idea of the show is to take a family that has had hardship in their life and do a good thing for them. This is done basically by tearing down their old house and building a new one. My short description does not do the show justice so I encourage you to read more about it.

I've always been fascinated by the goodness that springs from the different people that get involved each week. This past Sunday though, a relative of my wife had their home rebuilt. The story of the Farina Family (Season 4, Ep. 7) involves her dedication to the Relay for Life Walks in honor of her mother and becoming an active member of the American Cancer society. Then at age 25, developing and is now a one year survivor of breast cancer.

The stories of what people around us go through are wide and varied. Life is simply occurring and it is up to all of us to help and support each other the best way we can. If you see a need, try to fill it. If you see pain, try to soothe it. Most of all, do not ignore it. Sowing into other peoples lives will ultimately be rewarded in your life.

“In helping others, we shall help ourselves, for whatever good we give out completes the circle and comes back to us.” - Flora Edwards

Think Big

"There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave, there are souls that are pure and true; then give the world the best you have, and the best will come back to you." - Madeline Bridges

A short article today but one that can make a big difference in your life. It is the idea of thinking big in everything that you do. When you dream, dream large. When you act on those dreams, act large.

Another way to 'think big' is to look at what Ben Carson writes in his book, "Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential For Excellence". Each letter has a meaning that you can adapt in to your own life.

T - Talents/time: recognize them as gifts.
H - Hope for goods things and be honest.
I - Insight from people and good books.
N - Be nice to all people.
K - Knowledge: Recognize it as the key to living.

B - Books: Read them actively.
I - In-depth learning skills: Develop them.
G - God: Never get too big for him.

"Big thinking precedes great achievement," is what Wilfred Peterson said. You can achieve more in life by believing in yourself in a "big" way.

Attitude In A New York Minute

There is so much in life to take in as we move through it. Even when busy, I have been learning over these years to try and take in the goodness of things around me. Making sure that I experience and recognize the events and people happening as I pass through it.

An example of this would be a recent day trip up to New York. Flying in late on a Sunday evening, a cab ride into lower Manhattan, checking in and preparing for an early Monday morning meeting. Then another cab ride back out to take a flight back to Atlanta, hitting Atlanta rush hour traffic at its peak. As the saying goes, it felt like a 'New York Minute'.

Yet I have always liked going to New York City. The madness of it all can be overwhelming if you can not put it into context. Sure, lots of traffic, lots of people, everyone and thing going at a fast pace. But you can ease into the pace when you need to but you can easily find ways to simply step to the side and observe. To stop and watch others, you will find that life is happening like it is in any city around the world.

People are rushing to work, to home, to a meeting, shopping or maybe working in some capacity. Doing those same things you do - at a different pace of course - living life the best way they know how. And a general 'bad' reputation is given New York some times as not being friendly. Myself, I have never found that to be true.

There are certainly folks that have a bad attitude and seem to have a mean streak in them. But a smile or kind word tends to have a positive effect on them. In general though, most New Yorkers are quite friendly...as I find people most everywhere I go. What I do find is that the typical New Yorker is rushing by so quickly, it takes 'quick hits of kindness' that get exchanged between people.

In a slower paced community, you may take additional time to stop, say hello and exchange a few words. In New York, it is the fast hello, the quick smile, the 'quick hit of kindness'. When you understand this, you begin to see a change in your own view of New York. It opens you to see a whole new city. You will see a whole lot more of all that happens in that "New York Minute".

Exercise Your Voice

Not only for any person here during U.S. elections - where ever you live in this world - where ever you have the opportunity to vote - exercise that right to shape the world around you.

Generational Change

As we pass through life, there are seasons of change that occur for each of us. I've been having a 'mini-season' I think over the last week. Our children our growing up and taking on adult life. It is a change that I thought would pass through like a 'normal day'.

Yet I am finding that all of these years of raising and teaching my children is passing in to a new phase. The teaching and worrying doesn't stop, it just changes. With two still in high school and all others carrying on with their adult lives, it is a strange adjustment for me. But I feel assured that each will survive.

With the events of the past few weeks, I think how each of us endured the hardships and joy of early adult life. Each of us were passed down knowledge from previous generations. They were the ones to raise our own generation. And so it is with us, passing of our knowledge to the next generation...in other words the raising of the next generation.

Enjoy the change, enjoy what comes next.

Goodness in Autumn

As you get your dose of negative news, know that there is a tremendous amount of goodness that exists all around. If you look, you can find the good that is out there.

So take a seat and enjoy the goodness that surrounds us. The picture shown can also be seen along with others at PhotoChart.Com.