Riding Life

“With peaks of joy and valleys of heartache, life is a roller coaster ride, the rise and fall of which defines our journey. It is both scary and exciting at the same time.”
― Sebastian Cole

All of us know there will be both high and low points in life experienced by each of us. The high points will come and the low points will follow and then high ones again. It is very much like a roller coaster of emotion and a test of your resolve.

It would be wonderful if we had a map of the ride pointing out where the twists, turns and drops will be. But we do not get that advantage to see ahead in our future. We have bought the ticket and now get to take the ride.

What does matter is how we learn to push through the times when the ride doesn't feel like very much fun. If we fail to learn anything from each of the twists and turns, the ride will remain difficult. Failing to push through, the ride will be long and miserable.

The ride is meant to be enjoyed in all that happens. Even the heartache and pain can bring new perspective as the experience girds you for the next one. Life is a learned event. With each rise, you will gain confidence and strength to pass through the next valley more easily.

Enjoy the ride folks and 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!

A Little Rain

"Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet." ~ Roger Miller

There is an old song with a lyric that says "upon us all, a little rain must fall" within the body of a wonderful song. I find it to be a reminder that life happens to all of us.

How we choose to confront the rain is a reflection of how handle life.

My confession is that I love sleeping to the sound of rain. Whether it be a storm or gentle rain, it comforts me. My siblings will probably be shocked to read that. You see, growing up I was horribly afraid of storms, the pending doom of what might happen. You could say that I cowered under the umbrella, never wanting to feel the rain upon my face.

It is difficult living life that way. Always dreading the gathering clouds.

Yet I carried on, enjoying only the good days and trying to make the rainy ones disappear. My life then changed, which I talk about in my book Changed Lives.

I learned lessons that taught me to enjoy the rain as much as the sunshine. Someone entered my life that taught me the joy of walking through mud puddles. I learned never to waste a single day (sunshine or rain) in enjoying life.

As the quote above from American singer and songwriter Roger Miller says, "Some people walk in the rain..." I am one of those people today, walking in the rain. I am pushing forward through what life throws at me, knowing that the rain is good; knowing that the rain isn't here to make my life miserable.

For those who "...just get wet", you are missing out on the joy.

Don't throw away an opportunity. Don't throw away another day that can be truly enjoyed. Life is not going to be endless days of warm sunshine. Nor will it be endless days of rain and mud.

Enjoy each and every day for "...that is the mystery of the quotient - upon us all a little rain must fall."

Stay inspired my friends.

A Cup of Coffee

“Life is a beautiful and endless journey in search of the perfect cup.” ― Barbara A. Daniels

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups. And then you began eyeing each other's cups. Now consider this, life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee life has provided us. "Life brews the coffee, not the cups.......... " Enjoy your coffee!

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."

Wide Sky

“Sometimes I go about pitying myself, And all the while I am being carried across the sky, By beautiful clouds.” - Unknown

When the day seems to be going wrong in every aspect, remind yourself about the beauty of nature. Think of all that is right in this world and let yourself be carried away from a troubled mind.

The picture above was taken near the Ashfall Fossil Beds close to the city of Royal, Nebraska. The area was formed some 12 million years ago when a volcano in southwest Idaho spread a blanket of ash over a very large area. One or two feet of this powdered glass covered the flat savannah-like grasslands of northeastern Nebraska.

The landscape lays out in front of you in a wide vista of possibility. The wonderful sky above this expanse of land is quite beautiful and also covers the wide open space in other parts of Nebraska.

Take delight in the wondrous things that nature can offer to us.

They are like gifts to us which can brighten our day.

Stay inspired my friends.

Green Grass

"When you accept that the grass is greenest where you stand, you will then be able to see greater possibility." ~ Joseph Primm

We go through life always viewing what is on the other side of the fence.

- The neighbors have a nicer car.
- The people down the street have a bigger house.
- Your co-worker has an easier job.

The list can go on and on, always yearning to have something that others have. Yet we fail to first appreciate our current place or condition in life.

What our life is composed of has certain qualities to it. The pieces of our life have made us who we are. So the need exists to appreciate our current place in life before we will ever have the ability to appreciate anything beyond the present.

Having an appreciation for our current circumstance allows you to see more clearly what exists on the other side of the fence. It gives you a focused view both in directions and what you really need in life.

Without a view that the grass is green under your feet, you will never find green enough grass, you will never be satisfied.

Accept what you have now and work from that place. Enjoy those things you do have and give yourself a new start on a journey to what you will enjoy in the future.

As always, stay inspired my friends.

The Road Ahead

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much." - Helen Keller

In a song called "Home" by Phillip Phillips, the opening lyric is "Hold on, to me as we go, as we roll down this unfamiliar road." And as we begin a new year, 2014 will have its share of hills, pot holes and stormy weather. Through each and every twist or triumph, we will be successful together.

I will do my best to motivate you.

I will do my best to inspire you.

I will do my best.

No matter the road we take, if we take it with others the journey will never be lonely. The journey will be exciting and fruitful because of our joined experience. The destination will wait for you so enjoy the road side distractions, the rambling conversations and the unexpected encounters.

Stay inspired throughout the year my friends.

Whats That In My Coffee

"I wake up some mornings and sit and have my coffee and look out at my beautiful garden, and I go, 'Remember how good this is. Because you can lose it." -Jim Carrey

Not long ago, I was sitting in the morning sun drinking that first cup of coffee. A wonderful Saturday with a slight fall coolness in the air and leaves turning bright red and orange in color. The warmness of coffee was soothing and tasted wonderful in the setting as the cacophony of the day began all around me.

As I neared the end of drinking my coffee, I noticed something in the bottom of the cup. It could have been a piece of coffee bean or possibly a tiny piece of a leaf may have floated into my cup. Worse yet, maybe it was a flying insect of some sort seeking out the warmth in the steaming coffee mist. Any which way you wanted to view it, all I could say was "whats that in my coffee"?

The discovery did not cause me great alarm as the object was still in the cup and not inside of me. It did sort of intrigue me for a very short amount of time until I rinsed the cup and filled it once again with more coffee.

One small "something" did not change the enjoyment I had in drinking that cup of coffee.

As we live our life, each day, each week, month and year, there will be "something" that ends up in the bottom of our cup. Circumstance and other stuff will occur. Will you let those things ruin the enjoyable moments of your life? Will you let those "somethings" dictate the day?

When you find that "something" in the bottom of your cup, never mind it. Wash out the cup and fill it full once again. Enjoy the taste of the coffee, enjoy life!

Stay inspired my friends.

Life Enjoyed

"Simply enjoy life and the great pleasures that come with it." -Karolina Kurkova

I do believe that life is meant to be lived with enjoyment. Sometimes you just need to let loose a little bit. Life needs to be fun and enjoyed.

I have heard it said that "People should feel free to be expressive more often. If they did, life would be more fun."

Enjoy your life a little more and stay inspired my friends!

Flying Upside Down

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” ―Seneca

When you step out into the unknown, there will be fear encountered both real and imagined. A few years back, many of us attended a couple's retreat in the North Georgia mountains. The camp had what is referred to as a challenge tower, four stories high and with various climbing obstacles to overcome.

During that retreat, a friend by the name of Belinda conquered something greater than the tower that day. She accomplished it in ways that you can not imagine. In fact, I think what she overcame that day was fear. In doing so, it set her up to overcome years later a brain tumor.

You can read about her miraculous story by picking up a copy of Bwenna - A Story of Hope and Faith.

Overcoming her fear of climbing prepared her for the fear that could grip even the heartiest of us when a doctor says the word cancer.

It could be fear of failure to reach the top or fear in your own physical ability to accomplish the climb. It could be that "step off the platform" for the zip line ride that grabs hold of you. For others, it may be the fear of simply reaching the top and being so high up in the air.

It was during this same event that I watched in amazement as another friend scaled the tower with little problem. She had reached the top and quickly we all learned that she had a fear of being so high. It caught me by surprise, but she had conquered it. She conquered that thing which holds her from moving forward in life. She had let go of fear and created the path to achieving so much more in life.

For me it was a certain fear of not being able to make the climb. After watching so many others ascend and questioning my own ability; fear was beginning to creep in. Yet I made that step forward; actually up the tower. My focus became the goal, my focus became ensuring my wife made it to the top, my focus was to overcome.

Once achieved, everything became much more clear to me. It seemed to me that my ride down the zip line was now the reward. Stepping out from the platform, taking the ride upside down was the only way. Flying upside down, everything was crystal clear to me at that moment.

Take a chance by stepping out into the unknown. Let go of the fear and know that even if you find yourself flying upside down, everything will be clear. Enjoy the ride!

Stay inspired my friends.

Enjoy More

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

The office area in which I work has a pretty open floor plan. Low cubicle walls grace our desks enabling interaction among people. It allows for easy communication and collaboration while building great connection between these same people.

At times, the conversations can get lively with a lot of jocularity. The laughing and general good nature relieves the stress of the work. I normally take the opportunity during these times to jump into the fun. I will pronounce that everyone should quit laughing...work is supposed to be serious. They will stop, realize its me and then gleefully continue.

The point to be taken is that everything we do should have some level of fun attached to it. The same holds true for school-work, our work-work, along with our non-work, and just about any type of work. Life is work and it should be interrupted with moments of fun.

There is enough stress and seriousness in life, so take some time to relax a bit with laughter. Enjoy everything you do just a little more. Enjoy your life a little more.

Time Passing

"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is." -C. S. Lewis

Wednesday comes like a wishful gift to a work week for so many. It is likened as "hump day", in which we've climbed a hill that represents the work week. Many feel that if they can just make it to this day, the rest of the work week will be easy. But experience tells us that life doesn't play by our rules.

We can plan to have a nice slide down the hill towards Friday, but circumstance can alter the topography. It could very well be a Sisyphus kind of week in which we are constantly pushing the boulder up the hill. Only to find that the weekend is short and the boulder is once again ready for us.

The good thing in all of this is that time is truly a constant. The minutes, hours, and days come at us in the same constant fashion. We can't wish it to slow down nor can we jump past the present. It is an equalizer of sorts amongst all of us. We each must live the minutes, hours, and days in order to reach a future point in time.

So before we get to Friday at 5:00 PM, all of Wednesday, Thursday and the waning hours of Friday must be experienced. So whatever life and circumstance is going to throw at us, try to enjoy each minute of it. The good, the bad, the ugly are all part of the life experience.

***Yes, that was a link to one of my favorite movies.

Time will pass on its own. It is up to us to make the most of it and not wish it away. How we live during those moments is what matters. I say choose to enjoy those moments and in the collective end, our time here will have been more enjoyable than not.

Relaxing - Enjoy The Weekend

The big lights, the city full of fun and excitement. The weekend is here and for many people a couple of days of relaxation. The same goes on every where around the globe. From the smallest of cities to the large metropolis, people are shouting out, "Thank Goodness Its Friday."

Take time to reconnect with your wife, your kids, your friends and others in your life. Take time to reconnect with yourself, to decompress and let the worries of the week melt away. Use the chance to maybe attend a church service or to gather with others.

The coming week looms ahead but for now, two days await you which will recharge your body and mind. Myself, its the start of a vacation week and there will be much to enjoy. Live life and enjoy it, not only on the weekends but everyday that you can.

It really is a great life you live and there is much to enjoy. Take care and have a great weekend.