Through the Front Window

"See life through the front window, not through the rear window." - Brett Favre

Life has a tendency to rush past in a seemingly endless stream of blurred images.

We crane our necks, always looking behind to see what we missed.

Always trying to capture what has already gone by.

This happens many times due to the busy lives we create. We are always working hard in order to earn a promotion at work. Always trying to improve all that we do consumes much of the time. The days and people in our lives simply disappear into the rear view mirror.

If you simply slow down just a bit, this one small action will allow you to see life coming at you; through the front window.

It will provide you with more time to appreciate those around you.

It will give you more time to enjoy your life.

Stay inspired my friends!

I Choose to Be

On Choosing to Live Well

Lee Wise

I choose to be grateful, not hurtful.
I choose to be better, not bitter.
I choose to be content, not critical.
I choose to be attentive, not indifferent.
I choose to live well, not just live.

We all can use moments of direction in life and I am one that does not always succeed in meeting those things "I Choose" to be.

But the statements do give me reason to reflect and goals to achieve when I have nothing else.

You can choose to live your life hurtful, bitter, critical and indifferent, simply living life.

Or you can choose to be grateful, better, content and attentive, while living well.

It is your choice, it is your life; choose to live it well.

Stay inspired my friends.

No Shoes

"I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet." ~ Ancient Persian Saying

How easy it is to feel sorry for ourselves. The thought that anyone could have it any worse then ourself. The drive home with miserable traffic and you really don't want to talk about what happened at work. It might be a headache you are nursing or not having enough money for a trip to the beach.

There are many things we might catch ourselves in complaint about.

We get ourselves into looking for signs that it will be a bad day. From the list below, there are plenty of us who have viewed one of these on one or more occasions as our "bad sign."

~ You watch the evening news and see they are showing emergency routes out of the city.
~ Your 4-year-old tells you it is almost impossible to flush a grapefruit down the toilet.
~ You have to sit down to brush your teeth in the morning.
~ The bird singing outside your window is a vulture.
~ Your kids begin treating you the same way you treated your parents.
~ Everyone is laughing but you.

Could it possibly be anyone is having a worse day than you?

Probably yes.

Look around you in the areas you generally don't look. The sections of town you conveniently bypass or ignore as you drive by. There he is, the disheveled man pushing a cart filled with his life. The car broken down along the side of a road with the single mom and two kids inside.

Yes, there are things much worse in life that could be happening to us.

When you think about it, life is pretty darn good if we simply take time to appreciate what we do have. I'm not here to say it can't get worse, nor am I here to say things couldn't be better. I am saying there are those that do have things a lot worse than you.

Knowing that to be the case, when you think your life is going bad, try helping someone else. No questions asked, asking nothing in return. See if that can turn your attitude about your own life around.

See if you can turn your life around by turning someone else's life around.

Stay inspired my friends!

Wrangling Life

Cowboy Roping Cow by G.A. Randall

“Men will wrangle for religion, write for it, fight for it, die for it;
anything but live for it” ~ Charles Caleb Colton

Every day you hear and read the discussions ranging over many subjects covering the spectrum of life. People will argue and try to convince others about those things important to them. On and on it goes, the dance of debate.

The quote from Charles Colton is quite applicable and not only to one's religion but everything in life. It serves as a reminder to me of how I should live my life. While I write books, gives speeches, argue my point; it is truly by living a good life I will be most convincing.

How you live your life reflects your beliefs more than all the words you speak. Now that I have written and tried to convince you with these words, I will head out and live those words. I know you will do the same.

Try to be a living example of what is good in this life. None of us, including myself are perfect. But we can try to live a good life and with that example, live for it.

Stay inspired my friends.

Movement Is Where Memories Live

“She took a step and didn't want to take any more, but she did.” ― Markus Zusak

It has now been a few weeks since a very good friend passed away and similar to only a couple of other occasions in my life, I couldn't move. I was going to work, shopping at the store and doing those things one does to live.

Getting back to really living was the difficult part.

Grief and loss can have that effect upon you. What I felt is nothing compared to my friend's family and telling you this story is not meant to compare levels of hurt and pain. It is meant to express that life can stop you in your tracks.

Life may go on around you, but the circumstance can make you feel like you are stuck in your tracks. Unable to think clearly, unable to grab hold of living, unable to breathe.

Movement is what springs us back into going on with our lives. The act of getting up in the morning, having breakfast, going to work and all of those other things we do are what make us live. Those acts of living shake us from standing still.

Memories of a loved one, a friend or whatever the loss occurred stir within you. These memories push from your soul, to your heart and it beat with anticipation of movement once again. Pushing you to live again, to think more clearly, to breathe once again.

Memories living through your movement, your life.

Soon you will find your life in elegant motion. Clarity will be restored. Life will be birthed again in joy.

Stay inspired my friends!

Building a Life in One Day

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” ― A.A. Milne

If life were simple, we could have everything we wanted. If only we did not have to wait for things, signs all over exclaiming "no waiting." We certainly see advertisements shouting out "no waiting" when it comes to things being sold to us.

But can we have everything we want, right now, with no waiting?

Are we that impatient to achieve things in life so quickly?

Ralph Marston is quoted as saying, “The keys to patience are acceptance and faith. Accept things as they are, and look realistically at the world around you. Have faith in yourself and in the direction you have chosen.” The possibility of things falling quickly into your life does exist, but the long sought after will mean much more to you. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will your life be built in a single day.

Enjoy the journey, enjoy the process and patience will fall naturally upon your life.

Stay inspired my friends.

Vibrations of Life

"Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity." ~Edwin H. Chapin

All that you do during the day has a reverberating impact on people around you. Like a pebble dropped in the water, the ripples flow out in ever increasing circles.

Make those vibrations of life count for something. Make them be a positive force in the lives of others.

Stay inspired my friends!

Skills Taught For Life

“In the time of your life, live—so that in that good time there shall be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life your life touches. Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding place and let it be free and unashamed.

Place in matter and in flesh the least of the values, for these are the things that hold death and must pass away. Discover in all things that which shines and is beyond corruption. Encourage virtue in whatever heart it may have been driven into secrecy and sorrow by the shame and terror of the world. Ignore the obvious, for it is unworthy of the clear eye and the kindly heart.

Be the inferior of no man, or of any men be superior. Remember that every man is a variation of yourself. No man's guilt is not yours, nor is any man's innocence a thing apart. Despise evil and ungodliness, but not men of ungodliness or evil. These, understand. Have no shame in being kindly and gentle but if the time comes in the time of your life to kill, kill and have no regret.

In the time of your life, live—so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it.” ― William Saroyan, The Time Of Your Life

It was the fall of 1978, my first year at Peru State College and I was living every moment, event and every piece that I could capture each day. There were the studies I tried to remain disciplined with, but to no avail. There was so much more to do. So much more to experience.

I was involved in student government, student activities, art, drama and socializing. College had all those things I only dreamed about growing up on the farm. College provided me the freedom to find myself that a small farm town never encouraged. There had been a couple of plays, music and such in high school, but now I wanted to be in a college production.

My abilities came from the technical and analytical side of the brain. But I always had a toe in the water of creativity, wanting to be an actor, a painter; someone creative in that fashion.

It was this same fall, leaves exploding into amazing colors that I auditioned for a play called The Time Of Your Life. Directed by Dr. Charles Harper, to this day I am still not sure how I made the cut. Whether it was untapped talent or someone to fill the cast, I was thrilled to be part of a college production.

My first realization is how tough learning my limited lines would be, let alone becoming part of the scene in a play. I am sure I struggled during rehearsals but one man made all the difference.

His name was Dr. Royal W. Eckert.

Doc Eckert was also a member of the department and he had the duty of handling costumes for this play. He may have had pity for me but I think it was something more which existed in him. I think he had a belief in people and a need to make a difference in the lives of others. Big or small, Doc had an impact on me and on many other people.

Doc took the time to help me figure out ways to learn and time my lines. He would give me tips on stage presence and blending in to become part of the unfolding scene. His guidance extended to opening night when I remember him telling me I would be great. Just be part of what was happening and to enjoy myself.

The time devoted to a farm boy wanting to act on stage did more than he may have ever thought. The skills taught to me by Doc Eckert were life important to what my real career turned out to be. I still use those lessons learned today when talking to customers, presenting ideas, and making a difference in the lives of other people.

He taught me confidence.
He taught me preparation.
He taught me presence.
He taught me.

And is that not what a teacher does?

They teach us skills that serve us throughout life. Doc Eckert taught me well and for that I thank him and many of the professors and other teachers at Peru State College.

Are you a former Peru State College student? Did Doc Eckert impact your life. Do you have someone in your life like Doc Eckert that does not realize how much they did for you? Just like the movie Mr. Hollands Opus, can you tell Doc Eckert what he meant to you. Or can you see in Doc Eckert someone that did this for you?

If you can, send a card, a letter, or a photo to Dr. Royal W. Eckert and tell him. Let this be his great opus, his greatest work in making a difference in the lives of others, in you. I could write of many other Peru State College professors and teachers. I could write of many others I have been influenced by throughout the years. But I choose to recognize Doc Eckert, to thank all of the others by thanking him.

Send your cards and letters to:

Dr. Royal W. Eckert
c/o Ambassador Nebraska City
1800 14th Avenue
Nebraska City, Nebraska 68410

Even if you do not know Doc, let him know people like him mean all the world to us. His life means something. His life has made a difference.

Then let me know your inspired story.
Let me know if you wrote Doc or another person who made a difference.
Send me a note at jprimm@bellsouth.net and stay inspired my friends.

Dr. Royal W. Eckert

(1975-1994) Professor Emeritus of Speech/Theatre

Peru State College

Hope Lives

“Hope is the thing with feathers, That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all.” ― Emily Dickinson

There they were, thirty-three men trapped in a mine roughly 700 meters underneath the ground. A distance of almost eight football fields with tons upon tons of earth and rock seperating them from daylight.

For nearly 69 days they endured the process of a rescue hole being drilled and prepared. Then each man was rescued one-by-one, being lifted in a capsule to the surface.

There were many facets to the survival and rescue of these men. The work they did themselves while trapped, the technology of the drills, and so much more. Included in all of this was hope. There was hope that rescue would come and loved ones would be reunited.

Helen Keller said, "Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence." Hope and confidence that dark days will be overcome by achievement. Hope and confidence that whatever we face is but a passing moment towards something greater.

Each of us may not have to face what these miners did, but the darkness and isolation can feel the same. Just know that there are people out there pulling for you, willing to provide a hand. And while hope is not a solution, it is a support mechanism to help push you through.

Without hope, confidence is weakened and optimism lost. Keep hope alive when things go sour, when the path you are taking collapses and the darkness envelopes your life. Keep hope alive while others come to your rescue. Keep hope alive for a new and brighter day.

Stay inspired my friends.

Puzzling Life

“It's like somebody gives you a jigsaw puzzle, but it's thousands of years old and you're not given all of the pieces.” ~ James Dunbar

The movie began just as the original book did. A young child is born and begins a life filled with joy and optimism. As we watch the movie unfold, we could easily skip ahead in the book to find key parts. We could even go to the final pages and figure out how it all ends.

The wonder of it all is that in real life we can not read ahead. There is no way to read Chapter 20 and figure out how the teen years worked out. No jumping to Chapter 55 to see if our career choice was a success. It even keeps us from sneaking a peek at the final chapter.

The story of our life has to simply unfold before us.

The final picture could be considered a puzzle that starts as a blank slate. With thousands of pieces that are not neatly stored in a box for us. We have to find the puzzle pieces and fit them together. Searching all over for even the smallest one, figuring out if it will fit.

The difficult part is that our puzzle pieces interlock with the pieces of other peoples lives. We mix and match, building our life. Sometimes existing pieces get changed out which causes other pieces not to fit. Its a constant "work in progress" to figure out what it will finally look like.

When we near the final chapter, only a very few number of pieces remain. The picture will seem clear to us and one can view it with pride. Yet there will always be at least one piece we will never see filled.

That is the finality of our life.

We know and understand what the piece represents. What we don't know is what will happen beyond, once the piece is put in place. But that empty piece represents hope beyond our natural lives. Depending upon your faith or beliefs, it could mean many different things.

Knowing that the final piece is the great unknown, while we are here on earth we have the ability to create the rest of the picture. We can find and change out other sections. We have the ability to shape our own lives.

Piece together the picture you want for your life. Create a life that everyone will want to read about. It is that kind of life others will want to skip ahead and peak at.

Stay inspired my friends!

Enjoy Life

"Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one." - Dr. Seuss

You hear it often about 'being on top of our game' and 'giving it our all' in regards to doing anything in life. Many people seem to think this means toil and drudgery in their daily life. They would say that if you are having fun, you are not working hard enough.

if you are not having fun, you may not be working hard enough.

Life isn't meant to be lived in a depressing state. We all know depression is a serious thing. I myself went through a year-long state of it. I received help from the right people and came back from those lows.

All of this means you should enjoy your pursuits in life.

You need to find joy in all that you do. If working hard, climbing the next rung on the ladder of success, enjoy it. If toiling away at your desk, truck, show floor, or any number of occupations, enjoy it. If raising your kids, in or out of a relationship, talking to friends or just walking alone in the park, enjoy it. If the glass you see is only half full

If your glass is half empty, enjoy it.

Enjoy what you do have instead of what you don't have. You are working towards having something greater in life but while you are at it, enjoy those things you do have in life.

Enjoy life.

Stay inspired my friends!

Time Passes

"God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December." - James M. Barrie

There is a simple truth to life that reminds us to stop and smell the roses.

This is because time passes us by so quickly.

Give yourself opportunity to enjoy many of the smaller and grander things in life.

Don't let your life slip by too fast......

Stay inspired my friends.

Adventure Awaits

"Adventure is not outside a man; it is within." - Ray Stannard Baker

Every day we get up and a new adventure begins for each of us. The ups and downs of circumstance will cross paths with us in ways we probably never anticipated. But the adventure of daily life is what makes life so great.

Think of a river raft floating gently down a peaceful river. The flat calm waters flow quietly and nothing happens. We lazily watch the scenery of life pass us by, knowing eventually we will end up in the large ocean of time.

It would be nice if our life were that calm.

Yet most lives get to encounter a few rapids in the water along the way. We can sometimes hear the rumbling waters ahead while other times the rapids surprise us as we round the bend in the river.

When we first enter the bubbling water, a small bit of excitement enters our chest along with just a bit of fear. We make it through the bumps with a certain sense of accomplishment.

But then you hear the giant roar of the large rapids.

Misting and rough danger lay ahead. You see the approaching turbulence or suddenly find yourself in the midst of it. Do you give up or adjust your paddles to find a path while holding on for dear life?

There may even be doubt in your mind that this hard stretch will ever end. Our vision becomes short sighted as we concentrate on battling the churning waters. But the calm waters are out ahead if you take a glimpse a bit further out.

The adventure of your life is filled with moments of calm or heart pounding excitement.

It is accepting the fact we will encounter these moments that will help us get through them. The adventure of life will carry us to that huge ocean of time. The sense of adventure is within all of us. Enjoy the ride that comes with living and stay inspired my friends!

Enjoy the Ride

"Buy the ticket, take the ride..." - Hunter S. Thompson

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our safety net of daily patterns, we forget to live and experience life. I am just as prone to this as anybody. When change occurs, or the pattern is disrupted, I have to remind myself that the "edge" can awaken our senses if we just allow ourselves to come close it.

This past week was my wife and my annual "Grandma & Grandpalooza" event for the grandkids. We take all of our grandkids into our home for the week. We let their parents enjoy some time off as well. We plan out activities and other exciting things for them to do. In many ways we are trying to give them great memories before they are too old to be bothered with Grandma and Grandpa.

My wife always gets excited leading up to the week. She gets to have all of her sweet babies around her and all that stuff Grandmothers do. Myself, I get a touch of nerves as my slight affliction with obsessive compulsive disorder can set off alarms in my psyche. There will be a disarray of toys, clothes and divided attention required. I prepare and steady myself as the time approaches.

The day arrives and events of the week unfold in a perfect non-pattern enjoyment.

We effectively buy the ticket and take the ride during the week. No matter what happens, we enjoy and allow life the happen in a somewhat unscripted fashion. And today is the last day of a fun-filled ride. No scrapes, no bruises or broken bones; well maybe a few scrapes. But the grandkids, grandparents and even our pet dog have enjoyed the week.

You might be saying, "Wow, that's really living out on the edge Joe!"

Experiencing the edge does not have to mean going through a dazed week in Las Vegas or even throwing caution to the wind. It means changing up the normal and making sure you experience life in different ways.

The "edge" I speak of is and will be different for everyone.

It is at the "edge" where you might find a great idea that will take you in a new direction.
It is at the "edge" where you might find a new place to achieve greatness in life.

Buy the ticket, take the ride and enjoy life. Stay inspired my friends.

Revealing Possibility

Mark Unrau

“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Many people go through life never seeing all of the great things which actually exist in this world. Their view is clouded by pessimism and doubt of anything being good. You never give yourself the opportunity to see what is good in life.

The lights can hide what we need.

You go into your backyard and sit looking up at the stars. But as you view them, many of them and most of them are obscured by the city lights around you. Your view of the night sky is of a blackness that holds nearly nothing. There are no stars because in your mind there is a 'nothingness' to the sky. This is what a negative mind sees.

The city lights are distracting you from seeing the real beauty of the night sky. The city lights are the negative thoughts obscuring our view of having a wonderfully positive life. Now go to a rural area, away from those lights and take a look.

The darkness reveals possibility.

All of a sudden the darkness of night becomes sharp and clear. Billions of stars become visible, each of varying brightness and clarity. Your excitement grows as you try to count and pick out each of them. There seem to be too many to count. Yet in the clarity of this night sky, with negative obstructions gone, each of these stars are possibility.

There are so many stars and so many things to be thankful for. Your life, your possibility. Find a way to view your life as a starry night, one of thankfulness. Clear those lights of negativity that prevent you from seeing all of the stars. When you do, your life will be filled with billions of shining possibilities and dreams.

Stay inspired my friends!

A Big Glass

Pane 3: "What'cha doin?"; "Deciding whether my glass is half empty or half full." - NINJA BILLY

“Some people think of the glass as half full. Some people think of the glass as half empty. I think of the glass as too big.” - George Carlin

A glass being so big that we can not begin to imagine filling it.

An attitude that says much more is possible in your life.

That is a great way to think of and live our life.

Start believing in the half-full glass for your life, but also believe in a glass too large. When you do, you will begin to see there is much more of life opened up. And when you reach a point of saying there is nothing more for you, look and you will find there is more room in the glass; more possibility.

Do not sit still and wonder whether your life is "half empty or half full".

Step out and begin to fill your life.

Stay inspired my friends!

Retired But Not From Life

“There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want.” ~ Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

After nearly 35 years, my good friend and brother-in-law (and father-in-law, inside joke) is retiring from work at EMC Corporation. Roy Carter started his career back in 1968 with a “might-as-well join the Navy” as opposed to being drafted. It is in the military that he crafted his wit and humor and a few computer skills which would serve him well. It was upon leaving the Navy, even though you never really leave the Navy, he joined the Data General Corporation and the next thirty-five years.

His ability to troubleshoot, to teach and to temper a customer when things were broke became his hallmark. From upper Louisiana to the lower swamps of the Mississippi delta, reaching out into places west and places east, his reputation grew. From Nova minicomputers with a cycle time of 300 nanoseconds, making it the fastest minicomputer on the market for several years to the Eclipse and MV systems (the subject of Tracy Kidder’s Pulitzer prize winning book “The Soul of a New Machine” in 1981), his skills were widely known.

Computer geeks will enjoy this, the rest can remain bored for a moment or two.

There were reel-to-reel vacuum driven tape drives, 10MB removable-head disk drives, dot-matrix printers and even newer technologies to emerge during his time. The first laptop ever seen by the world technology community called the DG-One. While you needed a flashlight to read the screen and battery life that was measured in minutes, the DG-One defined the look and style of all future laptop computers.

The AViiON Unix-based computers became the mainstream “open system” of choice and a new and innovative disk storage device called a CLARiiON emerged. And Roy’s talents preceded him as he transferred into technical support. From the bayou of Louisiana to the southern comforts of Atlanta, this Chicago city boy became an integral part of supporting these products. As part of the National Systems Support “fly” team, he traveled to the farthest places on the globe to repair both equipment and customers.

His reputation as “the” fix anything guy grew even larger.

Through the 1990s, despite releasing several UNIX-based systems, Data General evolved to specialize in disk storage systems. But financial difficulties resulted in the company being purchased by EMC Corporation, a supplier of disk storage systems, in 1999. Disk storage would become Roy’s sole purpose of support and he did not miss a beat. The remaining fifteen years would see him rise in respect within the engineering community as he had previously.

Roy has been fond of stating when it comes to troubleshooting, “The first thing you do in fixing anything is the most important. Do not let a wrong decision become your legacy.” Most of us understand that as simply meaning to think before you act. And Roy has always been humble enough to know he was not infallible but more times than not, he was always correct. In this business, there are many opportunities to fail but you will never succeed if you do not push the limits.

And push the limits for the better good is what Roy did.

There will be others retiring in time and the wheel of time continues to turn. Eight o’clock on Monday morning will chime the start of another work week. It will be a little quieter around the office from that point forward. And yes, the company will survive his departure as companies always do. For a short while though, he will be missed for what he brought to the table.

Other, younger men and women will step into leadership roles and raise their reputation greatness. New persons will fill the role vacated by Roy. They will prove their own might, their own greatness while serving the job, the position, and the company. Folks are always there, ready or not to fill that void.

Roy Carter has proven himself, has given of himself and now it is time for himself.

He will devote more time to his wife Mary. He will devote more time to other things, non-job things that is. It might be fishing, it might be travel, it might be a host of other things. But be certain, it will not be a job. They have both earned it and the time to do all the nothing that they want.

Congratulations Roy and Mary Carter!

Now get the heck out of this office and into life.

Stay inspired my friends!

Break Out

"Trying to break out of the box." -Peter Kiss Gallery

“Great dreams... never even get out of the box. It takes an uncommon amount of guts to put your dreams on the line, to hold them up and say, "How good or how bad am I?" That's where courage comes in.” ~ Erma Bombeck

In the old western movies, there always seems to be a line in which one cowboy says to another, "this towns too small for both of us." It usually was followed by a fight scene in which the good guy wins.

The atmosphere is one of pending break out to something greater for the town. It is a bold statement that finally shows the true greatness of a hero.

We can modify the statement and apply it to our own life. We can apply it in such a manner as to cause the hero in side us to break out to something greater.

To envision what I'm saying, imagine a single cartoon pane as your life. This pane is your whole world, safe on four sides but limited in reach. Now imagine telling yourself, "this box is too small for me." Shout it out so those beyond the page can hear you.

As you gain confidence and grow, the box actually becomes too small for your life. You take your hand and push through the left side of the box. You then punch a hole in the bottom with your foot. You tear at the remaining pieces until your head emerges to reveal a big life awaiting your arrival.

No, I'm not talking about rebirth or analogies to that.

I'm talking about getting outside of the box we hide ourselves in. If we bust loose and break away from the artificial binds we have created, then a bigger and greater world is ours. We can rise above to the jet stream and sail to where we want to be in life.

Break out of the cartoon pane, break out in to a great life.

Stay inspired my friends!

Friends and Family

“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.”
― Helen Keller

The painting above is called "Luncheon of the Boating Party" by Renoir. I love the painting for its simple view of people gathering. There are formal and non-formal interactions going on. There is a sense of care and ease among those gathered.

It reminds me very much of a gathering you or I may have. A gathering of friends for a game of cards maybe. These gatherings throughout our lives are those in which we need family and friends to be part of.

We need them for the comfort and support they bring.

We need them for the advice and encouragement we can not get by ourselves.

It is the community of relationships we have that makes our lives better. On the spokes of your wheel, this is the social and family strength to move through life.

Take the time to meet with others and envelope yourself in the warmth of friendship. Your days will be better, your spirit will be lifted, and your life will be renewed.

Stay inspired my friends!

Our Wheel Of Life

The following is a repost of a very popular article I wrote back in June of 2006. It bears repeating and I hope that you enjoy reading it once again.

"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony."
- Thomas Merton

I listened to a friend of mine, Dean Sweetman, speak about the areas of one's life which need to be tended to in order to have a full and balanced life. These areas are different aspects of our existence. Some of you may know of these, some may not. It is quite possible that you are quite good in one and quite bad in another. But understanding and then acting upon all of them is the important thing, achieving balance is the goal.

There are six areas one must focus on in order to first get your life in order, second to get your life moving in a positive direction and lastly to achieve even greater potential in life. He describes these as the six spokes of life. Think of them as the spokes on the wheel of your life. Without all of them, the wheel can not turn freely.

Your heart and mind is at the hub of this wheel with an ability to change each spoke. As the hub of this wheel, you must tend to each spoke with care and understanding of its importance. The six spokes we speak of here are;

• Financial and Career
• Social and Cultural
• Spiritual and Moral
• Family and Home
• Mental and Emotional
• Physical and Health

Over the next couple of days I'll speak to each of these. It is my belief that a 'full wheel' can take you places. If one or two spokes are gone, in disrepair, the wheel is not complete. It can not take you places in a broken state.

Yet a wheel with all of the spokes can move you. As each spoke improves, the wheel can gain momentum. Accelerating you to a great life is what can happen by understanding these six keys areas of life.

"Everyone is meant to have a great life. Your circumstance should not deter you from experiencing it." - Dean Sweetman

Stay inspired my friends!