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!

Build a Road

"You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space." - Johnny Cash

I was driving home from work one day and came upon some construction workers. They were bricklayers piecing together an intricate stone wall. It was interesting to watch them and I had the time to do so. There was road construction ahead and stopped traffic, so I sat there watching.

As the bricklayers did their work, complaint was bubbling up inside of me with the annoyance of delay. It could have been quite easy to fall into the trap of getting upset about the situation. So I turned my focus to watching these men as they built their wall.

The bricklayers picked up each unique piece of stone and carefully laid it within the wall. Each piece was selected in order to fit and complete another section of the wall.

Do we build walls in our lives by using complaints and disappointments?

In relationships, we take little dissatisfactions with each other and place it on our wall. These are the small stones of objection, petty differences or disagreements added to the construction. Soon we find we have built a wall between ourselves and the other person. It may seem like we are trying to build a majestic wall when in reality it will be a wall that separates us.

We may not even realize the wall has been built until such time we can no longer see beyond it. At this point we may come to our senses and begin the process of tearing it down. But some of us will choose to cap the wall and finish the separation, walling ourselves off forever. It is a choice eventually made.

Know that these walls do not build themselves.

We are the ones who create and choose which stones to use. Maybe it is time we choose to use those stones differently. Maybe instead of using them to build a wall, we choose to build a road on which we walk, leaving the stones of discontent behind us. Maybe we let the complaint go and lay a path to better relationships instead of walls.

I never had the opportunity to see how the completed wall looked. I am sure it was going to be a majestic wall. It would be a wall that would enclose all within.

For me, I had a road being built ahead of me.

A road which will lead me past those walls that would seek to confine my life. A road that enables me to leave all the complaints and disappointments behind. A road built to carry my relationships, my dreams and my life to greater places.

Do not use your complaints, disagreements and disappointments as material for a wall. All that creates is confinement in your life.

Take the stones and build a road to your future.

Use it stone pavers for the road you are constructing for your life. Put up a sign in your life that says "Road Construction" and see where you can take your life; a far greater place for sure.

Stay inspired my friends!

Your Level of Vision

"Realize that if you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it." -Anthony J. D'Angelo,

In life, all of us have complaints and concerns regarding various issues that occur around us. It may be the way that someone at work seems to rub you the wrong way. Or possibly at church you find that the "music is too loud." What about complaining of the next door neighbors that seem to always have a newer car than you?

Each of us will fall into this bad attitude trap at various times in our life. It will come to pass that you find your self in a state of perpetual complaining or yearning to have something beyond what you already have. Just consider what a friend of mine, Graham Fletcher, said, "the level of your complaint is the level of your vision."

If you complain about the situation, it is within that situation you will remain. Stop complaining and do something about it. You want that newer vehicle, then adjust your attitude and work towards having a new car. The music is too loud, then move to a different part of the church or find a church that is more suitable. One that you will be able to grow in, both in spirit and attitude. Maybe that person at work could use more cooperation from you or possibly mentoring. Doing so will increase your skills, the boss likes what you've done, possibly get a better pay raise next time. Then guess what, you just might be able to afford that new car to drive to church in.

Do not think that we can't complain in life. It is the idea that simply complaining and not doing anything about it that restricts you. One way to deal with it is to "see the answer and not the problem", get up and do something to correct the situation in order to achieve a greater life.

There is a lot of good out in the world and a lot of potential in each one of you.

Move to make change and leave your complaints behind. Reach out for a greater vision that is obtainable by choosing not to hold onto complaints. Do it today for now is the time.

Stay inspired my friends.

Shout It Out

"As selfishness and complaint pervert the mind, so love with its joy clears and sharpens the vision." -Helen Keller

It is December 31st, the final day of the year, the final chance to do one great thing for your life this year. And that one last great thing is to let it go. Let go of the hurt and complaints that crept into your life during the year. Today is the day to pour out any pain or disappointment that remains.

Your life is like a bucket, some shiny new while others are getting old and tarnished, but both capable of holding great things. But we carry complaint like a full bucket of water, heavy and cumbersome. We carefully carry it so as not to spill any of it from our lives. The only problem is that while we are concentrating so hard on the complaints, we lose sight of the great things in our lives.

Now that the year has come to an end, pour that complaint out of your life. With an empty bucket to start the year, it DOES NOT mean we fill it with complaint for the coming year. In fact, pour it out, turn the bucket over, stand on top of it and shout out all of your worries, your complaints and your doubts.

Shout out the complaints from the past year.

Shout out the complaints you are sure to have in the new year.

Let it all go now, today and let it seep deep into the ground and out of your life. The bucket will be ready for all those great things to happen in the year to come. This empty bucket will now be ready for you to fill it with goodness, no complaining, no regrets, no looking back.

The end of a year is like a paved road ending. All that stretches out in front of you is a dirt path. It is an uncharted course, with the unknown but something of great promise around the bend.

Take this final day and unload all of your complaints from this year. Unload all complaints for the coming year. Be done with complaint and free up your year for all of the good that can happen.

A new year awaits you filled with many great things. Take your empty bucket into the new year and fill it with all of those great things.

Stay inspired my friends! Have a safe and happy New Year!

A Sore Knee

"Life's real failure is when you do not realize how close you were to success when you gave up." -Unknown

I was listening to Jill Sweetman speak the other day and she related a story I found interesting. She was speaking about having worked out in our new fitness center. Afterwards, she was talking with some folks and indicated that her knee was quite sore. A physical therapist was in the group and told her that it was very likely not the knee but a muscle above the knee causing her pain.

It was interesting to me because when we have a complaint in our life, it is likely not the complaint but something else that is the real cause of the issue. What we see at the surface is not the root cause. You need to look beyond and find what the source is.

To look at where the complaint or failure originates will allow us to see just how close we are to success. Success is just beyond complaint or giving up. The source of failing may not be what you think it is. Resolving the source of the complaint may require change on your part.

Whatever it is that causes your complaint should be the focus of your attention. If the knee is sore, concentrate on the muscles associated with it. If you are annoyed by others driving on the road, concentrate more on your behavior and attitude towards it. Focus on the source and make changes which will place you closer to success.

Until you deal with the real cause, the knee will remain sore. Boldly resolve to get beyond the complaint and closer to your dreams.