Trust In Yourself

"Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement." -Foster C. McClellan

Possibility always exists when a dream develops inside of you. You can work on the dream yourself or with others. People, when working together, can create an atmosphere in which possibility can become reality for you and many others.

If possibility did not exist, then we would be fools to make plans for our lives. Yet it does exist and we dream about all that we can achieve. And it is in believing in that possibility which drives us towards the achievement.

Happiness

"Happiness depends upon ourselves." -Aristotle

So much depends upon our own attitude about life. We choose to be happy or not. Your circumstance may weigh heavily upon your ability to be happy, but you get to choose your own attitude.

Back To School

School will be starting soon for so many kids, in fact nearly 50 million students are heading off to approximately 97,000 public elementary and secondary schools for the fall term. Many of them grade school aged children.

If you are looking for some way to involve yourself in helping others, which you should be. Then think about getting involved in or starting a 'Back-To-School' program to help those in need. A way to help them get the supplies, back-packs and other essentials needed for a good year of learning.

One such program is administered by a group called S.M.A.R.T. - Single Moms Acquiring Readiness Training. This particular program is giving away backpacks filled with school supplies to Solo Parent Families. But you can start your own, find a program in your city or if you know a family in need, simply help them.

Goodness can and will flow from your heart if you let it. Do something for others and it will come back around to fill your heart once again.

Randy Pausch and Living

"Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people." -Randy Pausch

Someone that you may have known and if not, should have known about died this past Thursday night (July 24). Randy Pausch was a Carnegie-Mellon professor who happened to get pancreatic cancer. He is best known for his gift to everyone in the form of a lecture called, "The Last Lecture."



A very inciteful and wonderful example or 'roadmap' on how to live ones life. I feel close to the stroy only because my own mother is battling Pancreatic Cancer.

So in rememberance and thankfulness to him sharing with all of us, I give you thoughts from his lecture (by way of The Social Capital Blog".

- "When there’s an elephant in the room introduce him."

- "If there’s anything I want to do so badly, I should have already done it."

- "We can’t change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand. If I’m not as depressed as you think I should be, I’m sorry to disappoint you."

- "Tell The Truth. All The Time. No one is pure evil."

- "Be willing to apologize. Proper apologies have three parts: 1) What I did was wrong. 2) I’m sorry that I hurt you. 3) How do I make it better? It’s the third part that people tend to forget…. Apologize when you screw up and focus on other people, not on yourself."

- "Show gratitude. Gratitude is a simple but powerful thing."

- "Find the best in everybody…. Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you. It might even take years, but people will show you their good side. Just keep waiting."

- "If you want to achieve your dreams, you better learn to work and play well with others…[you have] to live with integrity."

- "Never find anger a way to make things better."

- "How do you get people to help you? You can’t get there alone. People have to help you and I do believe in karma. I believe in paybacks. You get people to help you by telling the truth. Being earnest. I’ll take an earnest person over a hip person any day, because hip is short term. Earnest is long term."

- "Loyalty is a two-way street."

- "Get a feedback loop and listen to it. Your feedback loop can be this dorky spreadsheet thing I did, or it can just be one great man who tells you what you need to hear. The hard part is the listening to it."

- "When you are doing something badly and no one’s bothering to tell you anymore, that’s a very bad place to be. Your critics are the ones still telling you they love you and care."

- "Don’t bail: the best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap."

- "Don’t complain, Just work harder. [showing picture on screen] That’s a picture of Jackie Robinson. It was in his contract not to complain, even when the fans spit on him. You can spend it complaining or playing the game hard. The latter is likely to be more effective."

- "Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted…. I probably got more from that dream [of playing professional football] and not accomplishing it than I got from any of the ones that I did accomplish."

- "Decide if you’re a Tigger or an Eyeore. I’m a Tigger."

- "It is not about achieving your dreams but living your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you."

- "Never underestimate the importance of having fun. I’m dying and I’m having fun. And I’m going to keep having fun every day, because there’s no other way to play it….Having fun for me is like a fish talking about the importance of water. I don’t know how it is like not to have fun…"

- "You can tell the pioneers by the arrows in their backs. But at the end of the day, a whole lot of people will have a whole lot of fun."

- "Better to fail spectacularly than do something mediocre." [Randy Pausch gave out a First Penguin award each year when he was teaching to the biggest failure in trying something big and new because he thought this should be celebrated. First Penguins are the ones that risk that the water might be too cold.]

- "About his pancreatic cancer: It’s unlucky, but it not unfair. We all stand on a dartboard and some of us randomly get hit by pancreatic cancer. But my children won’t have me for them and that’s not fair."

- "Someone’s going to push my family off a cliff pretty soon and I won’t be there to catch them and that breaks my heart. But I have some time to sew some nets to cushion the fall so that seems like the best and highest use of my time and I better get to work."

- "I’m sorry I won’t be around to raise my kids. It makes me very sad but I can’t change that fact, so I did everything I could with the time I have and the time I had to help other people."

- The importance of people instead of things. Such as the story he told of buying a new convertible that he was so proud of and taking his niece and nephew for a ride. Randy’s sister, the kid’s mother was telling them how important it was to keep the car pristine and the kids were laughing because at the same time he was pouring a can of orange soda on the back seats. His sister asked what are you doing and he said “it’s just a thing.” And nephew Chris wound up being really grateful because he had the flu and wound up throwing up on way home. “And I don’t care how much joy you get out of owning a shiny new thing; it’s not as good I felt from making sure that an 8 year old didn’t have to feel guilty for having the flu.”

- "It is important to have specific childhood dreams." (For example, Randy wanted to play football in the NFL, write an article for the World Book Encyclopedia, experience the Weightlessness of Zero Gravity, be Captain Kirk from Star Trek, work for the Disney Company.)
- "Be good at something; it makes you valuable…. Have something to bring to the table, because that will make you more welcome."

- "I’ve never understood pity and self-pity as an emotion. We have a finite amount of time. Whether short or long, it doesn’t matter. Life is to be lived."

- "To be cliché, death is a part of life and it’s going to happen to all of us. I have the blessing of getting a little bit of advance notice and I am able to optimize my use of time down the home stretch."

Thank you Randy and peace be upon your family.

End Of The Universe

Problems in getting my blog written the past few days. We'll start up again next Monday and see how things go. Until then, "chin up, the end of the universe is not really in sight!"

Helping Others Cheerfully

"When there are opportunities to help others, do so with a cheerful heart. In doing so, goodness will fill your heart and mind and others will see it within you." -Joe Primm

The words and advice flow easily but can be difficult to employ. Each of us are faced with these opportunities and I am no exception. We struggle with trying to understand what is the right thing to do.

The idea of helping others has been around since the beginning of time. Humans have always looked for and found ways to help each other. Former U.S. President John F. Kennedy said "if a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich." But I'm not talking about welfare and government assistance. I am referring to what you as an individual can do. It isn't even just about money or the poor, its about all types of assistance to others under all conditions.

The government, the church and other well meaning organizations are out there to help people. Most of them do very good work, but the individual helping another is the most personal. I am no different in that I wonder just how far individual kindness can be taken. Some times though you have to simply go forward with the opportunity to assist someone in need.

People encounter at times in their life a loss of direction and ability. Their need is something to help them past the darkness of the situation. Albert Schweitzer is quoted saying that, "in every one's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."

So search inside yourself, figure out what the right thing to do is for the situation and do so with a cheerful heart. Consider what your need might be one day and know their are others with cheerful hearts.

Build On Life

“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.” -Unknown

There is an owners manual which comes with most every new item you purchase. The car manual which reminds you how to turn the ignition on and exactly what most of the buttons do. Or maybe its that new vacuum describing how to empty the bag or to replace the belt.

Yet there isn't one that comes with life. There is no manual to pick up and find out when something goes wrong; no owners directions telling you how do you fix it. It is just you learning and moving through life. Information abounds in books and magazines, all giving you pieces of advice to help. There are experts out there that can give you guidance and direction.

But it is you that must build your life. You are the one building an 'ark' which will carry you through times of trouble. Do not be afraid to begin that building process, you will get it built and it will be your achievement.

Blessing From The Ancients

“May God grant you always...A sunbeam to warm you, a moonbeam to charm you, a sheltering Angel so nothing can harm you. Laughter to cheer you. Faithful friends near you. And whenever you pray, Heaven to hear you.” -Irish Blessings

Celtic / Gaelic Triscele

The triscele has been used since ancient times in Celtic culture to symbolize the cycle of life. If we can learn from our ancient histories, then our future is guided by what once was.

Going The Extra Step

Each of us goes about our day performing our daily duties, whether they be at home, work or play. It is the ability to do more then expected which can turn the ordinary into something much grander.

Take the story of a young post World War II pilot going about his duties in Europe. It was a time when Germany was split into east and west. Berlin was even split in half although it was surrounded by much of communist controlled East Germany. It was a time of mutual distrust politically and tensions could run very high.

This pilot, Col. Gail Halvorsen performed a daily job of delivering goods to West Berlin over the blockade imposed by East German officials. Yet the one thing he saw were the children. Thus was the start that would eventually become 'Operation Little Vittles.' As they flew their planes to deliver needed goods, the crews would drop with hand made parachutes, candy and sweets for the children.

Col. Halvorsen would 'wiggle the wings' of his plane and earned the nickname, "Uncle Wiggly Wings". What began as a small gesture of kindness, going beyond his normal duties, he saw a need and addressed it. One person with a single idea blossomed into what turned out to be 227,000 'candy bombings' over West Berlin.

Years later, Col. Halvorsen was met by a 60-year old man that so many years ago on a rainy day grabbed a tiny parachute which had fallen from the sky outside his school. Attached to it was a Hershey chocolate bar, never eating it and treasuring it for many years. He told Col. Halvorsen "it wasn't the candy that was important. It was that somebody cared."

Take a step further during your ordinary day and do something above and beyond the normal. You may see it blossom into something so much bigger. It will create something bigger in your life and in the lives of others.

Connection To Others

When it comes to connecting with people, communicating in various methods is a must. My book, "Attitude In Words" is available at many locations such as;

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/
Barnes and Noble - http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
Books Unlimited - http://www.booksunlimited.ie/
Lulu - http://www.lulu.com/)
Eruditor - http://www.eruditor.com/
Libreria Universitaria - http://www.libreriauniversitaria.it/
Target - http://www.target.com/
Blackwell - bookshop.blackwell.com

There are so many other places it is available as well. A shameless plug I realize, but it is only one method of impacting those near and far. There are so many ways we can communicate with each other including the internet. Our church has a great website that allows people to connect with each other. I like to think of it as "MySpace on steroids". This form of communication allows us to reach others across all geographical boundaries and to form closer connections.

I am constantly amazed at how the words of a person can spread so quickly and to such a wide audience of people through these forms of communication. My own blog touches people all over the world and it creates connections to so many.

History has seen so many advances in these various forms of communication. The spoken word, the written word, the recorded word and the various types of medium through which the word is communicated. Think of the advances in communication shown below. The list is only a small record of how humans have advanced our ability to communicate with each other.

3500 BC to 2900 BC - Phoenicians develop an alphabet.
1775 BC - Greeks use phonetic alphabet.
1400 BC - Oldest record of writing in China on bones.
1270 BC - The first encyclopedia is written in Syria.
900 BC - 1st postal service for government use in China.
776 BC - 1st use of homing pigeons to send messages.

500 BC to 170 BC
Papyrus rolls and early parchments made of dried reeds.
They are the first portable and light writing surfaces.

200 BC to 100 BC - Human messengers on foot or horseback.
100 - 1st bound books
305 - 1st wooden printing presses invented in China.
1455 - Printing press with metal movable type invented.
1714 - 1st patent for a typewriter.
1793 - 1st long-distance semaphore telegraph line.
1831 - Joseph Henry invents the first electric telegraph.
1835 - Samuel Morse invents Morse code.
1843 - 1st long distance electric telegraph line.
1861 - U.S.A. starts the Pony Express for mail delivery.
1876 - Alexander Bell patents the electric telephone.
1877 - Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.
1902 - 1st radio signal transmitted across Atlantic Ocean.
1914 - First cross continental telephone call made.
1925 - 1st experimental television signal transmitted.
1930 - Radio popularity spreads, the "Golden Age" of radio.
1939 - Scheduled television broadcasts begin.
1944 - Government owned computers put into public service.

** The age of Information Science begins **

1958 - Photocopier or Xerox machine is invented.
1969 - ARPANET, the first Internet started.
1979 - 1st cell phone network started in Japan.
1981 - 1st laptop computers sold to public.
1983 - 1st cell phone network started in the United States.
1994 - American government releases control of internet

** WWW born, allowing for communication at light speed **

Today, we sit and wonder how we ever got along without all the devices to communicate with each other. All of it is great, it improves our ability to connect with others. We can learn about each other, find out about each other and perform all of this nearly instantaneously. Prior to the popular use of cellular phones, the one question people never asked on the phone was, "where are you?"

The point being, when you called someone on the phone, the phone was tied to a specific location. Today with cell phones you could be almost anywhere in the world.

In the end, when it comes to 'connecting' with people, the best method is 'face-to-face'. To sit down across a table from someone and share a cup of coffee or a meal remains the greatest form of human communication.

By all means, use the various methods of communication to spread your words and ideas; use the various methods to stay in touch with other people. Yet do not forget to take the bold step in communication; communicate one on one with people and find out how much more you can learn.

Peachy Attitude

Today there are many folks - 55,000 to be more accurate - that are recovering from a great morning 10K race. The 39th annual Peachtree 10K Road Race took place on July 4th. Each year, it is a chance to push your physical and mental limits beyond a point where you previously thought you could.

(Laura and I pumped and ready wearing our Pancreatic Cancer Action Network shirts and purple wrist bands. Lots of folks asked about the organization along the way.)

During an event like this, the fellowship of friends known and friends to be found along the way serves as inspiration. There is of course the famed "Peachtree Road Race" t-shirt everyone looks forward to.

Everyone making final plans for the run, wondering down deep just how they would respond to the conditions. Each going through their own thoughts that can allow negative attitudes to seep in; doubt could take hold at this point.

As each of us prepare, having others around us will provide support and encouragement. So much can be gained by having the support of friends. The same can also come from the collective support of 55,000 runners or spectators along the way.

Placing ourselves around like-minded people, the negative attitudes can be squashed under the weight of a "peachy attitude".


Surround yourself with great people and see what you can do. Push yourself past the self-imposed physical, mental and spiritual limits of your life. While doing so, surround yourself with great people; there is no end to what you can accomplish.

(I really don't feel as bad as I might look between mile five and six!)

(Really, I'm doing just fine at this point!)

(After the finish line, a nice walk for cold drinks and that famous

"Peachtree Road Race" t-shirt.)

Running For Fun

Look for my wife and I this Friday - July 4th - during the 39th running of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Peachtree Road Race. We will be wearing t-shirts promoting the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. That is if you can find us among the 55,000 plus runners.

The Peachtree has remained the world’s largest 10K since the late 1970s until 2008. It takes approximately 3,200 volunteers to handle the race and the 55,000 runners will burn 34 million calories running the 6.2 mile course.

So maybe you won't see us this year, but think about joining the fun next year. Check it out online, enjoy pushing your self just a little bit further. And there have been 80+ year old men and women walk, jog, run in this event. So I'm sure you can make it along with everyone else.

Have an enjoyable 4th of July and remember those serving over seas and their loved ones. Cheers everyone!!

Patience Has An Effect

The American 6th U.S. President, John Quincy Adams, said “patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” A phrase that was true in the early 1800s and is true early on in the 2000s.

Our lives are busy and little things can test even our best days. Someone said that you admire patience of the person behind you, but not necessarily of the person in front of you.

A short one day trip recently was a test for me. When I travel by plane, my belief is accept the inevitability of delays, crowds and other foibles or air travel. This recent trip had all of the earmarks of things to go wrong. The flight was delayed by three hours due to the usual reasons, traffic, weather or something.

So I settled in with patience and awaited our boarding time. A spark of encouragement came when the flight delay was decreased by half an hour. All boarded and nearing the take-off runway, we pull to the side. A mechanical problem with an engine and back to the gate. Further delays and now dealing with a flight crew that was nearing the end of a regulated shift.

There was a lot of gnashing teeth, people getting upset and general displeasure. Yet what would you do, leave the plane and try to start all over. We stuck it out and left finally, arriving at our destination at 1:30am. Certainly not a 'magical effect' but effective none the less.

Patience in life is not always easy, but it certainly can have a calming effect and a lasting effect. Life is full of irritation, but it is also full of great things. Be patient and let the "magical effect take place and allow your difficulties to disappear and the obstacles vanish."