Celebrate the Possibility

"The moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the twenty-four hours. No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that, during the day that lies before you, absolutely anything may happen. And the fact that it practically always doesn't, matters not a jot. The possibility is always there." ~ Monica Baldwin

Each day you wake, the existence of possibility rises with you.

What happened yesterday is over and a new beginning starts to spread out before you like rays of sunshine. Poetic, maybe not; but the idea is you have an ability to make the day what you want it to be.

We get to choose how we are going to respond to life by choosing our attitude.

The path we are going to take is also ours to decide. Some make the choice to remain under the covers, feeling safe within the warmth of their bed. Yet there is an old saying, "The bed we make is the one we must now lay in" holds true. The bed you lay in will only result in ruffled bed sheets, nothing more. What happens out in our day will flow past us if we remain secluded and don't take part in it.

Arise in the morning and choose to believe in the possibility of the day.

So much could happen.

So much will happen.

You only need to allow your belief to spread like sunshine over all that you do. Stay inspired my friends.

Celebrate the Adventure

"One way to get the most out of life is to look upon it as an adventure." - William Feather

Life itself gets treated many times as an inconvenient passage to something else. There are people who drag themselves along a path of existence with little enjoyment. They complain and worry about all that is wrong with their life never experiencing much of the joy around them.

Yet life is an adventure with many twists and turns in the tale.

We live life in both the good and the bad, never fully knowing what is around the next bend. The path taken could be one of broken rocks and holes scattered about. Or you can find yourself upon a smooth and flat road which eases your travel.

Along any path will be great adventures of love won and lost, success and failure along with thrills and boredom. All of this is part of life, of the great experience we each will have during our years of living.

And 'living' life is the adventure, celebrate it and embrace all that happens along the way.

Stay inspired my friends!

Celebrate the Differences

- Jonathan Primm -

“Much of the vitality in a friendship lies in the honouring of differences, not simply in the enjoyment of similarities.” - Unknown Author

Many people in this world, all with different personalities, looks and thoughts always find friendships that cross these perceived boundaries. The world would be a pretty dull place if all of us were the same. Our differences give us the ability to engage each other in debate, learning and to compromise.

It becomes necessary for us to accept people are different in order to live together and grow as a person. Many times we live our life complaining about the differences that exist between us. But to accept those differences means you accept that you are also different. It gives rise to having the ability to celebrate life and learn from those differences.

Take your self beyond difference and find out what you can learn from being different. There is so much to learn and so much we can teach each other. Yes, celebrate being different folks.

Stay inspired my friends.

Walk the Red Carpet

"The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate." - Oprah Winfrey

Roll out the red carpet.

Let trumpets blare your arrival.

Crowds cheer from the left and right while paparazzi clamor for your attention.

Could all of this really be for you?

Accomplishment whether large or small are worth celebrating, if only taking simple pleasure in feeling you have done a good job. Every little thing you do can be deemed a success. Every time you cause another to smile, to laugh or ease even their smallest burden is worth celebrating.

Many believe it takes the grandest of accomplishments such as raising millions of dollars for a charity.

Many believe it takes solving world hunger or any one of a number of human needs to garner celebration.

Most of what you do each day are worthy of celebration. By holding the door open for someone carrying a package, you have something worth celebrating. It could be offering a bit of encouragement to someone down on their luck. Showing up at your child's school to have lunch with them, to hold the hand of a friend in tough times and dropping a few coins in a street person's cup without questioning.

It may seem prideful or pretentious for us to declare the small accomplishments in grandeur. Others may consider it "putting on airs" (pretend to be grander and more important than they really are). Yet that is far from my point. I want you to feel good about the good you do. We spend way too much time beating ourselves up over the minor infractions. We should spend some time lifting ourselves up instead.

Life is worth celebrating. The good however small or seemingly insignificant should be celebrated. We should walk the red carpet once in a while.

Stay inspired my friends.

Pancreatic Cancer

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein

Life has a tendency to fill the wagon you pull with rocks. These rocks range from small pebbles to large boulders. Each of these rocks are constantly being removed by you in order to lighten the load.

You use these rocks to lay a path for your journey in life.

A few years back in 2008, my family had those rocks fill our wagons with my mother having the largest burden to carry. In her late seventies, she was been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. Yes, the same cancer that received momentary press coverage when the actor Patrick Swayze was diagnosed as well.

It is known that in America,

- one in three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.
- one in two men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime.

Of those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer,

- it is the 4th leading cause of cancer death in the United States.
- it is the 3rd leading cause of cancer death among 40-59 year old men.

Approximately 38,000 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year in the United States and nearly 34,000 people will die from it. The number of Americans diagnosed each year of pancreatic cancer continues to rise unlike other leading cancers where an investment in early detection has led to a decrease in cancer incidences. Survival rates for pancreatic cancer have remained in the single digits for more than 40 years. Today, the five-year relative survival rate remains at just 6 percent.

Reading all of these statistics can overwhelm a person and my intent is not to beg for sympathy for her. My intent is to help raise awareness and to ask you to consider becoming involved. You can visit Pancreatic Cancer Action Network to learn more and donate dollars to aide in research efforts.

My bigger purpose is also to celebrate my mother's life.

Today is the anniversary of her birth and of a great life lived. As you could expect, you know how much each of us love her, laugh and cry while we remember the courageous battle she fought against this cancer.

Life as we understand it is finite at some point, but it does not mean we give up on it. Miracles happen, people live long and healthy lives, and we embrace the time that we have.

As you embark on your own journey of life, take a few moments to do what you can to help others improve their own journey.

Stay inspired my friends!

Band Of Differences

"I know there is strength in the differences between us. I know there is comfort where we overlap." ~Ani DiFranco

I have been trying to stay true to a workout schedule over the last month or so. Running each day for about 40-50 minutes, it tests my resolve to remain consistent. Most of this is due to the Peachtree 10K Roadrace that my wife and I run in each year.

It becomes more of a challenge each year but I keep plugging along. Due to the heat here in Atlanta, I have been running on the treadmills at the gym I attend (C3 Fitness) where its much more bearable during the time of day I train.

Each day I see some of the same folks including a friend by the name of Jim Crumbley. Jim is a former United States Marine and owner of a security firm called Risk Response and a pretty great individual to be around. Being former Marine, he prides in taking care of his body. There he is lifting weights, going through the routines that sculpt a body. Doing the lifts that I have never had much of an ability to do.

I view my lifting ability as just smart enough and just strong enough to get done what I can. Which means I'm not the strongest of individuals. My forte in my earlier years was running. Some may joke that I could quickly evade a situation as opposed to having to test my strength.

I spoke with Jim recently of my admiration for his lifting ability and to my surprise he commented about my ability to run. His knees are nearing the brink of shambles and running is not something he can do much of these days. We then sort of chuckled and celebrated our differences when it comes to the physical abilities each has.

And it is those differences we have, those things which we can choose to celebrate and share. Think of the HBO movie based upon the book called BAND OF BROTHERS. A wide variety of individuals together under a common cause. Each with different strengths and weaknesses, depending and trusting the other to cover those differences.

Everyday life can also celebrate those differences and not in a manner that I'm better or worse than anyone else. The celebration is that we have friends, buddies or others that will stand in for us. In turn we will stand in where another person's weakness exists. In this manner, we all begin to lift each other to greater lives.

To stand alone will get you only so far in life. Standing together with others will return so much more into my life then could be accomplished by myself. I know that standing alongside Jim Crumbley, Mark Creath, David Spell or any one of a hundred men I call my brothers will sustain me for a lifetime.

Celebrate our differences by using those differences to strenghten the other. When you change your attitude, you change your life. Stand with others in a band of differences and together greatness will be achieved.