Extraordinary People

It was said there are no extraordinary people.  

That there are only those who pray, 

And then there are those who do not.

It was said there are no extraordinary people. 

That one side owns morality, 

And the other does not. 

It was said there are no extraordinary people. 

That goodness belongs in only one fashion, 

And the other pure evil. 

It was said there are no extraordinary people.

But in life we all are extraordinary, 

Those who believe they are and those who do not. 

 Stay inspired my friends!

The Greatest

"Your most precious, valued possessions and your greatest powers are invisible and intangible. No one can take them. You, and you alone, can give them. You will receive abundance for your giving." - W. Clement Stone

We are constantly trying to define the greatest thing ever in our lives.

Whether it be for promotion or debate, the discussion ends up being about the greatest of something in our lives.

There is the greatest singer ever; Aretha Franklin
There is the greatest song ever; Let It Be - Beatles
There is the greatest athlete ever; Muhammad Ali
There is the greatest beer; Trappist Westvleteren 12
There is the greatest year; 1960
There is the greatest professional wrestler; Rick Flair
There is the greatest movie; Casablanca
There is the greatest painter; Vincent Van Gogh
There is the greatest band; The Beatles
There is the greatest pet; Dog
There is the greatest ski resort; Whistler/Blackcomb, British Columbia
There is the greatest city; New York
There is the greatest beach; Hamoa Beach, Maui
There is the greatest looking woman; Sophia Loren
There is the greatest looking man; Cary Grant

We list anything and every which could be considered the greatest thing since sliced bread. The designation of 'the greatest' makes for fun and lively debate.

There are criteria people use to establish, judge and evaluate various  great things.  Chances are you disagree with most lists because labeling something the greatest can be very individualistic. Any person who makes a list of 'the greatest' should consider it an honor.

What we fail to see many times while we are labeling other things as 'the greatest', that each of us individually are pretty great.

We fail to give ourselves credit for our own greatness.

We busily go around labeling and making lists of the best and most wonderful things out there.  Again, we fail many times to believe in ourselves.

It is a bad habit we have to break.

You are good at what you believe in life.
You are good at what you act upon in life.
You are good at what you realize in life.

You have to believe in the greatness inside of you. 

Greatness is not reserved just for others. Greatness lives inside each of us. Greatness comes in tiny small ways as it does in huge grand ways. It exists for each of us if we will only start believing what we can each do.

Now here comes my faith statement.

When you start making a list of 'the greatest' things in life, put yourself at the top of the list. In my belief, I am created in God's image, so therefore would I not be the greatest thing God has created?

Do not get me wrong, I am not God. I am not greater than God. What I am doing is giving God the credit and thanks for creating me.

So start believing in yourself.

Watch as greatness comes into your life. Even if you don't share the same faith belief, just know that greatness begins inside.

Believe it.

And stay inspired my friends!

Fooling Yourself

Norman Rockwell - Saturday Evening Post

“I have great faith in fools - self-confidence my friends will call it.” ― Edgar Allan Poe, Marginalia

So how did it start, the tradition of fooling or performing pranks upon others?

One popular belief says that back in the 1500s, France changed its calendar so the new year would start in January. This was done to align to the Roman calendar instead of spring. But word of this change took quite a bit of time to find its way into the rural areas. Country dwellers continued to celebrate the New Year in April so they became known as "April fools," or so the story goes.

There are many serious and of course, non-serious attempts to explain the origins of this hilarious holiday.

One of the more amusing April Fool pranks was the 2008 BBC news story indicating that camera crews had captured video of Adélie penguins flying. There was even a video clip of these magnificent creatures migrating to the rainforests of South America where they "spend the winter basking in the tropical sun."

One thing all of us tend to do as well, not only during this day but many days of the year, is to fool ourselves. And what I mean by that is fooling ourselves into believing we are incapable of accomplishing great things. From an early age, others teach us about our limits.

Truth is, we are our own limit.

Enjoy this day, April 1st as a day of pranks. Tomorrow, drop the self defeat and be convinced that you can do more in your life. Your imagination, your dreams, your goals can send you to greater heights. Stop fooling yourself and start believing.

Stay inspired my friends.

Imagination and Knowledge

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” - Albert Einstein

From the time we are born, we learn.

From those beginning moments we are crawling, standing up to walk, learning to speak and dress ourselves. Through school and the hard knocks of everyday life, we gain knowledge that gives us the ability to succeed or fail.

It is also through those successes and failures that we learn as well.

It is imagination and dreams within in each of us that allow us to go beyond what we already know. It can drive us to learn more, it can empower us to do greater things, and it gives us a belief to do more than we are deemed capable of.

I say to "believe in your visions, act upon your visions and realize your visions" as a way to tell you everything is possible. There is a way for you to achieve and be successful in life.

It is your imagination that will lead you to that success.

Stay inspired!

Winter Preparation

Photography for Collections

"Life has those down days, those 'winter days' of our lives. But even in the worst of times, there is good news." - Dean Sweetman

A large part of my life was spent in the northern climates of the United States as I was born on the plains of Nebraska. I even spent a few years in Fargo, North Dakota. And no, Fargo is not really like the movie with the same name. It is close, but not quite like that.

Each year after the last of autumn leaves fall to the ground, people become shocked by the decreasing temperatures. Just recently, the weather and news reports of the cold and snow made it seem as if the occurrence of winter was a big surprise. But winter comes pretty much like clock work each and every year. So I find it amusing that we are so surprised every time the Earth's northern hemisphere begins to tilt away from the Sun.

I will agree that winter can be very brutal in terms of the sheer cold and wind we have to endure. But winter has purpose in the cycle of nature and our lives. Even in the worst of winter, life proceeds daily and you plod through it knowing we can not simply withdraw from the world.

What always makes this time of year easier is knowing that spring will eventually come. During these winter days, there will be days of sun shine on even the coldest of days to brighten your life. And the thought of summer will creep into your thoughts; wow, what a great season summer will be when it arrives.

The progression of seasons happen in step with our lives.

Just like the seasons, our own life will have 'days of winter' when nothing seems to be going our way. It is during those moments that we have to fight the urge to crawl into a small space and disappear. Hiding from life is merely a misguided hope that our troubles and pain will go away. You know as well as I do that doing so will never solve anything. You have to confront and deal with those things that cause us pain and discomfort.

The good news is that even in the depth of our winter, we can draw warmth and comfort from the light. You can draw strength from your religious beliefs or from what ever form of faith or belief system you use. You can view the light as a reminder that spring will return and flowers will bloom, leaves will cover the trees and renewed hope will fill your life.

Things will improve and you have the strength to overcome anything.

When you build a belief in yourself and in others, the winter of reflection and worry will melt away with the gathering light. You will succeed and those 'winter days' will give way to a greater day.

Stay warm and stay inspired my friends!

Clear Your Vision

"You'll see it when you believe it." ~Wayne Dyer

There is a story in the Bible of a blind begger who was healed of blindness (John 9:1-11). The begger had been blind since birth and was healed in a miracle of intervention by another man. There are many theologians that could detail the significance of this story, but the story itself is practical in how we could apply its lesson in every day life.

One could argue that the blindness of this person (or you) could be a story of not believing in oneself. And until you do believe in your own abilities and potential, the picture of your life and where you want to be will never be achieved. You will be blind to the potential of what and who you are.

The story also reveals that our blindness is our burden and not something we can blame upon others. His parents raised him well, his friends were there by his side but he used his blindness as an excuse. He used it as a reason to claim he would never rise above his affliction and resigned himself to being a begger.

Your life will be afflicted with blindness until you understand that belief in what you can achieve comes down to you. Only you can make that change which will open your eyes. Once you believe in yourself, only then will the blindness go away and the ability to see achievement in life as being possible.

It starts with seeing your own potential, of ridding that self-blindness.

Never try to limit yourself on what you can see in life. Never accept your blindness as a limit to possibility.

Stay inspired my friends.

Developing a Vision

"Envisioning the end is enough to put the means in motion." - Dorothea Brande

Main Entry: vi·sion
Pronunciation: \ˈvi-zhən\

1 a: something seen in a dream, trance, or ecstasy ; especially : a supernatural appearance that conveys a revelation b: a thought, concept, or object formed by the imagination
2 a: the act or power of imagination b (1): mode of seeing or conceiving (2): unusual discernment or foresight, a person of vision c: direct mystical awareness of the supernatural usually in visible form.
3 a: the act or power of seeing : sight b: the special sense by which the qualities of an object (as color, luminosity, shape, and size) constituting its appearance are perceived through a process in which light rays entering the eye are transformed by the retina into electrical signals that are transmitted to the brain via the optic nerve.

Creating and having a vision is the most powerful way to keep your focus on what you really want in life. It keeps you motivated to achieve that goal. By taking the time to visualize the end result of a goal will provide you with a particular kind of clarity, inspiration and direction to achieve it. Many people will experience anxiety and frustration by not having this vision.

But how do you develop this vision?

Begin by knowing what you want either short term or long term. Just where is it that you see yourself one year from now and five years from now? Are you looking for greater wealth; are you looking for greater health? What is in that 'minds eye' picture of your life? And be specific about the details of what you want.

Now write it down because visions become clearer and more real when you physically place it on paper, which reinforces the memory. Take this paper and make copies; place them on your bedroom mirror, bathroom mirror, car dash and in all the places where it will serve to remind you.

Read if often so you can see yourself already in possession of that life. This well defined vision will help you focus; it creates a purpose and becomes a measurement for success.

Some steps to achieving your vision I've learned;

1) Believe you will become who you want to be. Believing in yourself is the first and most important.

2) Learn what to do after you believe you will become who you want to be. I've heard it said that it is like trying to go to "New York City", but you don't really believe "New York City" exists. How will you get to a place you don't think exists?

3) Think good thoughts, block out negativity. Your thoughts and beliefs can be very fragile.

4) Success is created from within. It does not come from a place or live outside of us. Once you believe you will be successful, it's just a matter of creating it.

Your vision can be reality. Step forward and grab hold of it.

Stay inspired my friends!

Believe It

"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy."
-Norman Vincent Peale


Stand strong through your hard times and know you can change your circumstances.

Believe in your visions and dreams when others try to destroy them.

Achieve all that is possible and impossible.


Stay inspired my friends!

What Leaders Do

"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." -John C. Maxwell

In the past few months I have been transitioning from being an "individual contributor" to managing people. Managing people is not something that I would say is my strong suit. Management involves administrative paperwork, charts and numbers to obtain.

What I do like is leading people and not because I believe I am a great leader. Leading people is a challenge for which I enjoy the scary nature of it. You are at the front of the line with a vast and dark forest in front of you. There is no light to guide or tell you which way is safest.

To be further back in the line is important for all that needs to be done. But safety exists when you have someone to follow. The path is being cleared in front of you and you must trust the knowledge and instinct of that one person leading the pack.

So it begs the question, what do leaders really do? And in his book What Leaders Really Do - John P. Kotter says that a difference has to be drawn between what a leader does and what management does. This isn't to say that one is more important then the other, but to help us understand that they are different.

He states; management is about coping with complexity; it brings order and predictability to a situation. Leadership, is about learning how to cope with rapid change. And how does this distinction play out?

• Management involves planning and budgeting. Leadership involves setting direction.
• Management involves organizing and staffing. Leadership involves aligning people.
• Management provides control and solves problems. Leadership provides motivation.

It is an interesting book that helps dispel some notions about why leaders do what they do...and of course why they don't do what they don't do. I hear people at times bemoan the fact of why the top leader of an organization gets paid to do that particular job. Many fail to realize what exactly it is those leaders do.

Sure, there does seem to be a disparity of compensation but that isn't the point. If you have anxiety or jealousy over your compensation versus a leader's compensation, get over it. And then get up and make those changes needed to become a leader yourself. What is important here is to help you understand that being a leader involves different skills.

You may say that you don't possess those skills and I'm here to say that each of us do have those skills. Albeit at different levels of skill, we have them. As you read again the bullet points above, compare what you already do in life similar to what a leader does.

Set direction, align people and motivate...think planning a family outing to go Christmas shopping. You provide direction as to the what is going to be accomplished (get the Christmas shopping done), assign the right people to look for the gifts (maybe the kids shopping for similarly aged cousins, etc.) and then motivate them (we get this done we all go out to eat).

It does not just mean running a large corporation or even a small one...it is what you do in every day life which shows that the skills are there. You just have to believe in yourself first and then hone those skills. And how do you hone those skills? You read, you take classes, get a degree, practice, you keep faith in yourself and others, while maintaining a great attitude about it.

What you will find is that accepting a position at church or with the local school will occur. Other people will start to notice and acknowledge your leadership qualities. That is why you are being asked to lead them. Once you have a position of leadership, don't squander the opportunity. Use your leadership to better those around you, lead them to greatness.

Be bold, be a leader....and as always, stay inspired my friends.

Chains That Bind

"So often time it happens, we all live our life in chains, and we never even know we have the key." ~The Eagles, "Already Gone"

We have a tendency to place limitations on our own lives. We believe that many of those limitations are placed there by others. The source of all our failure is someone else. There will never be any rising above our circumstance if we do not step beyond those thoughts.

Much of our failure is due to self-defeating words we speak inside. The kind of words we tell ourselves which are negative in nature. When you look down deep, you will find the word that has been holding you back.

It may be fear, fear of failing at what you want to do. Do not forget that many successful people failed many times before success happened. Yet they kept learning from it and kept moving forward.

It may be hurt, hurt from what others have done or said to you. So much that you have accepted that pain from them. Let go the pain and leave it in the past. Move on and away from what was.

It may be dumb, feeling you are not smart enough to do anything more then you have. We each have levels of ability, but reading more and believing in experience of life will allow you to become more knowing.

It may be self worth, that others have told you so many times you would never amount to anything. Those people can not determine your value in life, those were only words that you have to release from your life.

These and any of those defeating words need to be removed from your mind and more importantly from your heart. They are the chains that bind you from achieving so much more in life. And you hold the key to remove those chains, no one else.

Replace the negative with positive words. Replace fear with courage, replace dumb with smart or replace ugly with beautiful. These words will eventually overpower and become the norm in your life. You need to speak these words when you speak of yourself, never the negative ones. You will begin to believe and draw strength from them.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about sitting in front of a mirror like that character from Saturday Night Live, Stuart Smalley. What I am talking about is believing in yourself and not letting others dictate who you are.

When you step out of the labels that others have placed upon you, your life becomes much clearer. You unlock the weight of those chains that you have allowed to become a part of your life. Only you can choose to change, only you can choose to unlock the door through which you step. Your world, your life will be greater.

Stay inspired my friends!

Create Greatness

"Things you do today impact and set up a future for your children, your grand children and those beyond. So develop greatness today." -Dean Sweetman

To think that when I was 20 years old, my belief was that there was plenty of time to make changes in how I approached life. There was a sense of responsibility to excel in my work, to be a great service provider and to be friendly and out going. But not all of the facets were in place. It took quite a bit of time to force myself into change.

All of us go through it, procrastinating in the belief that the days ahead of us are limitless. We try to fool ourselves into believing that each of us will live to be 110 years old. Believing that there is plenty of time for change. You then wake up one day and realize you have lost many a day. You figure out that you could have been enjoying the fruits of change for many years.

Do not linger on those thoughts for very long. Change can happen right now just as it could have many years ago. The things you do today can have as much impact as it would have so long ago. So do not wait, develop greatness today. Create impact upon your life and others. You can do this!

Stay inspired my friends.

Believe

""Never look back unless you are planning on going that way."." -Henry David Thoreau

I would imagine you are like most every other human on this planet. You have dreams of being more successful, or earning more money. You have dreams of greatness for your children or renewed health when pain fills every move you make. There are those that hope for love or friendship and those that want for a better life. All of us dream of things during our life time.

The problem can be with the belief we have in that dream. How strongly do you believe in what it is you want for your life? How large is the faith in what is to come versus what has happened? There are many people that want, dream, yearn for all of these things in life. But their belief is more centered on the past as opposed to their future.

A woman may want for a relationship that is filled with love and comfort, but she dwells on past relationships. When she gets close to a man, her belief in something good is outweighed by belief in what has happened previously. The negative things that have happened in her life win out every time with belief in the past.

A man looks to advance in his job, a new promotion and responsibility. He becomes a candidate for a new position but it will require interviews and rising above the competition. Yet if he chooses to believe in his past experience, he condemns his future. He will be his own worst competition to moving forward in life.

All of us tend to give way too much credit for our past mistakes or stumblings. We have life's experience behind us, but life moves forward from where you are today. Life forward from the past, not towards it; it is today that counts. Where you stand, the person that you are right now, this very moment is where you begin.

The past is the past and you need to let it go. You need to reverse your thinking to a forward looking direction. Stop believing in what has gone wrong and believe in what will happen moving forward. Believe in the impossible and make it real.

Start living your life with forward momentum, believing in your future and leaving behind what has gone wrong in the past. What the past says is impossible, tomorrow says it is possible. Tomorrow brings fresh hope, fresh opportunity and fresh belief in that possibility.

Stay inspired my friends and we'll talk again soon.

Do You Believe

be-lieve

intransitive verb

1: to have a firm religious faith : to accept something as true, genuine, or real (ideals we believe in) (believes in ghosts)
2: to have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something (believe in exercise)
3: to hold an opinion : think (I believe so)

transitive verb

1: to consider to be true or honest (believe the reports) (you wouldn't believe how long it took) : to accept the word or evidence of (I believe you) (couldn't believe my ears)
2: to hold as an opinion : suppose (I believe it will rain soon)

What do you believe in? It is a pretty simple question that can be tough for some to answer. When you are first asked this question, does your mind instantly run to religion?  The question could be religious, but it could also refer to the supernatural, philosophical, or scientific. Basically, in means that we all have beliefs that define how we think the world and life work along with how we should interact with it.

Beliefs bridge the gap between what we "know" and what we "assume" in order to function in the world and make decisions. We have beliefs that can be proven and those that can not. Some beliefs are just that, our own belief in how life functions when proof can not be attained.

What I would like to end out the year 2011 with is this;

"Believe in something."

I have a belief in a God that is greater than anything mere men could envision. My belief is that the Mayans have it all wrong regarding 2012. They simply didn't have a greater vision for our world and humanity. In whatever fashion you believe in a greater power or not, believe that the year 2012 is going to be great.

BELIEVE in your visions so that they inspire you to ACT throughout the coming year. You will REALIZE many of your dreams in 2012.

Have a happy celebration this New Year's Eve, be safe, be happy and stay inspired my friends.

Your Wake Up Call

"A man is what he thinks about all day long." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every day that you wake from sleep, you have a choice to make regarding your attitude. If you choose to think in a negative fashion, it will be a negative day you will have. If you choose to believe nothing will come to fruition in your life, than nothing will. What you believe in yourself will dictate what will happen.

Why not choose to believe in better things for your life. Why not believe that the day can be good. Why not believe in those around you. Why not believe in yourself.

Choose today that things will be good.

What Me Worry

"It makes no sense to worry about things you have no control over because there's nothing you can do about them, and why worry about things you do control? The activity of worrying keeps you immobilized." -Wayne Dyer

Recently a college graduation occurred in my family. A son earned his degree from the University of Georgia. It was a great time having most of our family together to celebrate this achievement. Another flight from the nest to greater destinations has begun.

It brings to mind as a parent the worry we continue to have through out our children's lives. We worry that they are healthy, getting enough to eat, shelter, clothing and the basic needs of life. We would love to care for them continually but letting them struggle and learn on their own teaches them even more. But we continue to worry none-the-less about such things.

My older children in their own way are working through their lives much like we did when younger and still do. It would be nice to take Alfred E. Neuman's worry-free view of life. The reality is that we will always worry on various levels. Its a human character to care not only for oneself but for others. The care we have for our children will always have worry.

But this worry is out weighed by our happiness for what they are doing with their lives. The joy of seeing first flight into the blue sky swells our hearts with pride. While we know that tumbles will occur, life will do them just fine.

As parents, we will worry and be there to share in the accomplishments, in the sorrows and in the glory of the life they live. I can not say don't worry. Heck, I worry about the lives of my children. But I get more joy out of each little thing they do.

I would much rather live the "what me worry" but that part will always be there. Worry, worry, worry...but do more then worry. Be proud of them more then worry. Respect their decisions more then worry. Be happy for them more then worry for them. Love them and don't worry so much.

Crawl or Screen to your Belief

CRAWL               SCREEN

"To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest." -Mohandas Gandhi

A couple of years back, Twitter was relatively new and I decided to join the conversation. I was looking for a way to simply draw attention to my blog site. I figured that if people needed motivation or a small bit of encouragement, they might catch site of my blog and be inspired by one or two articles.

It was early in this adventure that I caught sight of David Baker from Scotland in the U.K. David is a writer, director, producer, actor with a passion for making movies. Two people from different backgrounds, connected in the electronic world where elsewhere we never would have.

I have enjoyed reading and talking with David as he has worked hard to follow his dreams. So I am a supporter of his efforts, like anyone that believes in themself, David also acts upon what he believes in; he lives his vision which will end in the realization of that vision.

It was through Twitter and the electronic social world that David met a guy named Oklahoma Ward from (yes, really), Oklahoma here in the United States and an actress named Nicole Alonso from New Jersey. All three realized pretty quickly that they shared much of the same vision and passion for making films.

So they decided to put belief into action and are currently raising start up funds to create two films (CRAWL and SCREEN - shown above) and a documentary film giving us a view into what it takes to live your passion.

Right now (April 13, 2011), they are in the final 36 hours of that fund raising effort. They are a mere $1,900 US dollars short of their mark.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

You can be part of the movie industry. You can be part of movie making magic. You can donate a few bucks to make this a reality. The links I've provided detail everything you need to know and how to become involved. But you need hook up today because when the hours tick down to zero, if the money is not there, the movies and documentary don't get made.

But they will get made...believe in it. That is what I always say, correct? What I'm asking you to do is believe in Nicole, Oklahoma and David.

Jump into the action today, live your beliefs and realize greatness in your life.

Believe It

"We are what we believe we are." -C. S. Lewis

It can be hard, really hard, to believe in yourself and in the greatness of your life. Life has a pretty nasty way of throwing circumstance and events at you. Just when things seem to be going pretty good, you stumble on a rock or the rain washes away your bridge.

Things happen and holding onto belief can be downright impossible at times. But something is only impossible if that is what you believe in. If you believe you will never succeed, you won't. If you believe you will never achieve what you want in life, you won't.

Try turning that belief into something good for your life. Believe in you and your dreams. Believe that you will get that new job. Believe that you will lose those 20 pounds of weight.

Believe that you can and you will.

Don't Stop Believing

"The soul that sees beauty may sometimes walk alone." ~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

When we finally make the decision to begin movement in our life, to finally begin that walk to our dreams; the walk can be a lonely one. The street may be empty and void of others. You hold the dream inside and no one else can see it. The wonderous vision that is yours setting you out on a journey is not always embraced by others.

Think of the movie "Wizard of Oz" in which Dorothy sets out on the yellow brick road.



Her journey begins with many people excited and cheering her on. But the journey is long and very soon she is by herself. You will find yourself alone after the excitement and pumped up enthusiasm wanes. It will become lonely and you will have to overcome the urge to stop.

Eventually, others will join you on this journey. The important thing is to never stop believing in your dreams. Keep moving forward. The following video is by a band from my youth. Somehow we start out young and bold. As age grabs hold of us, we allow it to slow us down and puts doubt inside.



Yes, we did tend to dress and let our hair grow out like that. But like any age, we were young and invincible. Running down the yellow brick road towards our destination. And then we seemed to have lost our way. We let our age and reason get in the way. We lost belief in our dreams and settled for what we had.

But we must never stop believing in those dreams or in what we want in life. We are never too old to give up the excitement of the journey. We are never too old to give up on our dreams. It all starts by putting one foot in front of the other.

The road may narrow and crack, it may be lonely for a while. But the road we take is still a journey to what we want in life. You can follow the road, make your own road or simply fly. Imagination and excitement will guide you to your destination. Just never stop believing.

The Reason

Believing in a vision is so important. So what is my reason for writing? After all, I try to be a good person every day. I try to encourage people as much as I can when they need it. Isn’t that enough to satisfy the motivational and inspirational needs of others?

It could be enough, but it isn’t enough because I know that I’m capable of more. My own vision is to inspire others to greatness in as many ways as possible. But to fulfill my vision, I have to extend my reach in as many different ways as possible.

Why is this vision the one I have many will ask? It actually forced me to think about it and to write it down. It also happened innocently enough when someone asked, "Why do I bring Christianity into my writing?" It was an odd question because rarely do I speak as if a preacher conducting a revival.

In fact I am always cognizant in "walking the line" of secularism and my religion. I understand there are many people that have different belief systems or non-belief systems as others may say.

In thinking about the question though it occurred to me that maybe it is the writing that brings out my Christianity. The way I write might be exposing my belief system to others. It was likely this exposure the individual was asking about.

There are two things that explain why I do this.

One is that my intent is not to "preach" and "convert" all people through my writings. It may come out in my writing, but it is what I grew up in and is a learned belief.

I am also proud of my beliefs and unashamed to say so. Yet I am not a religious scholar and in no way could I ever pretend to be one. So relax, I'm not here to lay hands on and convert the masses.

The second thing I want to express is that my writing is really about giving one or many people just a bit of encouragement. It is my way of saying, "sure, we all struggle and want a better life." I can not guarantee anything nor will life in general, but many times all we need is just a word or two that gives us the extra push to succeed or get over a difficult time.

But of course this leads to another question, "what am I selling then?" My response is that we are all selling something; a product, a service, a belief or ourselves.

But it isn't about the money, which in deed any money I do make goes to a non-profit organization. The money has been very small but the responses I get from people are really what I earn. Those that respond with a simple, "thank you, I needed those words today" are profit.

It also energizes me into knowing that I am doing some level of good. You see, it was the few simple words of encouragement from others that pulled me through really tough times. Each of us comes through change and it only takes some encouragement from others to push us through.

So my hope is that people keep reading and get some level of encouragement from the words. If it makes a difference even in the smallest of ways, then I am happy for you.

Thank you and remember;

"Believe in your vision, act upon that vision and then realize the vision."

The Project

"I'm not in a hurry to do a lot of projects. I am very resolved in each project I take on." - Maya Lin

Your life is your project whether you want to realize it or not. It take four facets in order to get ahead and move forward in life. These are shown above and mean so much when it comes to seeking a great life.

The first one is to "DREAM" of what you want in your life. Great things in life do not normally just fall in your lap. That which you want is very personal and has to be something that you will hold onto as your very own.

Secondly, you have to "BELIEVE" in yourself and what you want in your life. It takes work to hold tight to that which you want. When other people are not providing encouragement or work to ridicule you, hang on and believe in yourself.

A third item is to "ACT" upon what it is you need. Sitting at home wishing and dreaming will not get you closer to the dream. It takes movement or action by you to begin working towards that dream. If its a new home, the simplest action might be to start saving extra money each week. Maybe it is to change jobs, then career training might be the right 'action' to take.

The last thing is to "REALIZE" your dream. It will happen and you will achieve great things. It is very possible that the final achievement may not be exactly what you first envisioned. Yet the end result will be exactly what you needed.

And when the dream is realized, dream again and again and again. Never stop moving forward in life. Enjoy and achieve all that you can. It is possible and it all starts with the sparkle of a dream.
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