Two Wolves

"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens." ~ Kahlil Gibran

An old and wise Cherokee Indian is speaking to his grandson one day about a battle which goes on inside people.

He tells the boy, "My son, there is a battle between two wolves going on inside all of us.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith."

His grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old man simply replied, "The one you feed."

We each have the ability to choose a path to follow.

You might feel that the choice of paths is limited. But if you see it that way, you are missing the point. Your attitude is what determines the greatness (or pull you from the failure) of the path chosen.

Do not misunderstand what choosing a path means. If your choice is a destructive lifestyle, the consequences will soon overcome you. In example, it is unlikely a meth addict eventually enjoys having made the choice in the first place. Nor would a fading porn star, alcoholic or any one of a dozen things.

Bad choices, if that is what they are, can be overcome. You have the ability to change, to make new choices.

And when you find your life is not where you want it to be; complaint will not get remove you from the condition. In fact, the energy you exert in complaint will be wasted on the problem. It will keep you firmly stuck on that wrong path.

Choosing to take a more positive approach will allow you to divert your energy towards finding a better path. You will be more focused on what you can change in your life.

As the wise old man said, "the one you feed" will be the life you get. There are so many changed lives out there based upon this simple principle of life. Feed the positive nature of your life and let it grow to greater heights.

Stay inspired my friends!

Feeding The Donkeys

"A positive attitude is not going to save you. What it's going to do is, everyday, between now and the day you die, whether that's a short time from now or a long time from now, that every day, you're going to actually live." -Elizabeth Edwards

Every day the push to success grinds on. The bedside alarm loudly clangs at 5:00 AM to awake your short sleep. The shortness of night is rudely interrupted as you pull the covers back and head off to the bathroom.

You get dressed and head down the stairs only to find time slipping away. You tell yourself that preparing the coffee maker ahead of time is a blessing. Quickly you grab a cold bagel, coffee and belongings as the clock ticks 5:40 AM.

The day will be filled with projects, deadlines and circumstance. With each obstacle encountered, you will successfully overcome each and every one. Your success is true and steady while it is done happily. You know your goals and what you want in life. The express train called "Your Life" is speeding down the tracks to a destination.

But how do you keep yourself from being consumed by the enormity of it all? How do you keep some type of grounding with all that exists alongside the tracks you are speeding down?

You stop and feed the donkeys, that is how.

A film maker friend of mine, David Baker (@davidpbaker) has been on a three year push which has sent him on a speeding bullet train towards great things. He is currently in post production on his latest movie called SCREEN.

SCREEN is a horror film shot on location in Tulsa, Oklahoma with another film maker by the name of Oklahoma Ward, (@OklahomaWard) whose own film called CRAWL is in post production. I'd be remiss in not mentioning the talented actress Nicole Alonso.

While each of these people are streaming forward towards success, they each take time to reflect. They slow down enough to stop the blurring landscape and refocus. And to put it in terms of what David does, they take time to "feed the donkeys." Watch David's video to better understand what I'm talking about.

The important thing to remember is that driving yourself to success requires moments of reflection. The journey requires time to slow down and assess and remain grounded with life. Your high-speed train of life will wait for you because it is your train. You get to dictate where the rest areas are and when it is time to "feed the donkeys."

Stay inspired my friends.

Pay It Forward

"Don't try to be different. Just be good. To be good is different enough." -Arthur Freed

There was a movie released in the year 2000 that many of you will remember. It was called "Pay It Forward." In this tale, a young boy develops a simple plan to make the world better when a teacher gives an assignment to come up with a project for school. It was a great movie and if you have not seen it, you can get a copy of the movie
(Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment) at Amazon.

The idea of "paying it forward" didn't start with this movie of course. The concept has been around a very long time. If you are not familiar with it, the concept is to simply ask that a good deed be repaid by having it done (something good) to others instead. Even an insurance company began using the concept as a theme for their commercials back in 2006.

"Pay it forward" dates back to 317 BC in Athens, Greece. It was used as a primary part of a play called Dyskolos (translated as "The Grouch"). The play disappeared or was lost either in the archives of history or obscurity. It was rediscovered and described by Benjamin Franklin, in a letter dated April 25, 1784:

"I do not pretend to give such a Sum; I only lend it to you. When you [...] meet with another honest Man in similar Distress, you must pay me by lending this Sum to him; enjoining him to discharge the Debt by a like operation, when he shall be able, and shall meet with another opportunity. I hope it may thus go thro' many hands, before it meets with a Knave that will stop its Progress. This is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little money."

The famed Ohio State University football coach, Woody Hayes even spoke of the concept in nearly every speech he made. In the 1986 OSU Commencement speech, he speaks vividly about what it takes to "pay it forward" in life.

In whatever manner you want to view this, I see it as "feeding one" similar to that which Mother Theresa is quoted as saying. If you can not feed a hundred people, feed one and that person will do the same. It doesn't start with the huge and grandiose idea of saving the world in one fell swoop. It starts by saving the world, one-by-one.

Pay it forward in your life whenever a good deed is done for you. Pass it along to others and know that the goodness will come back around to you.

Stay inspired my friends.