Greatness in Action

 

A word, an adjective, used so much,

The best, the most, the largest of all.

We get it, its great,

A word used so much.

Economy, jobs or acts of decision,

The policies, the orders, the grandest of all.

We get it, its great,

A word used so much.

Accomplishments, failures, 

Life's normal occurrences.

Can all things be great,

A word used so much.

The word used so much,

Like watered down juice.

The meaning becomes nothing,

A word used so much.

Defined by a dictionary,

Means action not bluster.

Live life in greatness,

Not just a word used too much.

Stay inspired my friends!

Christmas Love of Others

“This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life.” - Unknown

What a wonderful gift to give another person.

A wish for others to fill their day, to fill their hearts.

We makes choices daily on either to pull people up or to put them down. Pulling someone up is a much better choice to make if you think about it. Each day we have a grand opportunity to brighten another person's day. Every day you have the opportunity to make a positive impact on another person's life.

Make life better for those around you, make life better for you.

Stay inspired my friends!

Christmas Saddles

"“There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” ― John Holmes

As we live our lives, we get wrapped up in the everyday burden of just surviving sometimes. It is an effort to maintain a job and just keep the bills paid. Worse yet, it could be your effort to find a job after being laid off and keeping the bills paid.

We each have something in our lives to contend with.

Some of us have much more on our plate than others but it isn't about your struggles being greater than mine. All of this is about knowing each of us have our struggles. And this common bond comes with understanding we are not alone in those struggles.

By reaching out to others, the power of connection will pull us up.

Before you know it "... you'll be back in the saddle again. Out where a friend is a friend." The world will look more manageable from on top. And when we receive help from others, we are also giving back.

Together we will ride that dusty trail.

Together we'll make this a great life and a great journey.

Stay inspired my friends.

North Platte Canteen

North Platte Canteen

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” - Leo F. Buscaglia

What can love of a fellow person do for their life?

Watch and listen how people in an unknown place touched the lives of so many young men. It began with one person deciding to move forward in care of others.

It turned into a human event nearly unparalleled since.

Stay inspired my friends!

Six Degrees

“No one has ever become poor by giving.” ― Anne Frank, diary of Anne Frank

There is an organization doing what it can to help others. Sure, there are many other great organizations doing the same thing. Same, but this one is different. It is called www.sixdegrees.org and owes its roots to a game.

A popular trivia game called Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon in which you played a connection game that ultimately led each participant to be connected to a celebrity by the name of Kevin Bacon.

In an attempt to turn it into something for a better good, Kevin took the idea and turned it into doing something for others. Six Degrees is about giving people the opportunity to promote charities which help others. That is the whole idea.

From their website they state, "Any one person (including me, Kevin Bacon) is connected to any other person through six or fewer relationships, because it's a small world. SixDegrees.org is about using this idea to accomplish something good. It's social networking with a social conscience. Through this web site, you can support your favorite charities by donating or creating fundraising badges — as well as check out the favorite causes of other people, including celebrities."

Here you have another opportunity to involve yourself, another opportunity to make a difference. Not only can you donate to your charity but now you can promote that charity. Just another way to make life a little better for those around you.

So get on board, find a charity and get it posted. You'll do good and in turn, goodness will come back to you.

Stay inspired my friends.

What Was I Thinking

“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.” ―Charles Dickens

Oscar Wilde is quoted as having said, “I am so clever that sometimes I don't understand a single word of what I am saying.” Yes, it happens to all of us and I am no exception. Every day I try to come up with something new to inspire and encourage at least one single person I encounter. There are days in which I actually make a good statement and their day or life is changed by what I've said.

There are also other days when I think what I've said was "cleverly" stated and then I think about it some more in a day or two and say to myself, "what was I thinking?"

The same is true for anything you do in life. There are days when it all seems so clear and things are progressing like clock-work. All that you touch, all that you say - each thing works perfectly. Then there are days which come along that you try and it just doesn't have the same touch, the same feel or impact as the day before. You think back and wonder, "what was I thinking."

Do not worry about it because the attempt, the kindness, the good words are all coming from the heart. The fact that you are trying to help another person, lifting someones spirits or just trying to make the world a little better is goodness in itself. We are each human, fallible and will never get it right 100% of the time.

Yet we try and over time, we make a difference.

So never give up on yourself, always see yourself as a life changing force. Life is a roller coaster for emotions, for success and for relationships. Enjoy the ride and life itself will be enjoyable.

Stay inspired my friends!

Creating a Wave

"The life I touch for good or ill will touch another life, and that in turn another, until who knows where the trembling stops or in what far place my touch will be felt." -Frederick Buechner

If you take even the smallest amount of time out from your day to help another person, well it is always a great thing. There will be different points in our lives when opportunity comes come along to do just that, help another person.

There is a great commercial that depicts these "opportunities" and shows them occuring in the most mundane ways. I would hesitate and state that commercials are not necessarily the best forum to learn about life. Yet at times, advertisements can teach us basic principles about living even though the intent is to sell us something. It is really no different than me writing about ways to live life I would suppose.

But beyond that, this particular commercial is from an insurance company entitled "Responsibility". The advertisement is from an insurance company called Liberty Mutual. They have a few versions of this but it primarily depicts one person making a choice to do one thing for another person. Others notice and it starts a ripple effect of others helping others.

In previous articles I have written of this same thing, this "ripple effect" of choices and actions you take in life. It is like a pebble dropped in the water. Small vibrations of water begin to flow out from this one seemingly insignificant pebble. As the ripple continues to move out further, the vibrations grow into waves that eventually create a great wave breaking at waters edge.

You can have this same impact in life, with small actions such as helping others. Your actions will be noticed and be carried by others further and further. It is unlikely that you will see the large wave on the outer edges. Sometimes you do and it is a wonderful feeling. But even if you do not, grab the vision that it does occur.

Like surfers riding atop these giant waves crashing with final impact upon the beach, your own simple movement results in waves of final impact on a greater world. Others will ride this wave of movement to a destination of greatness. The great thing about it is your actions create the same thing in others.

Other people will create pebbles in the water with circles of change moving out from their own center. You will get the ability to ride those waves to greatness when they come along.

Some might say that it creates a rough pool of water. Yet my belief is that calm water means the boat remains still, motionless with little chance of getting anywhere. But a breeze comes along and the boat begins to move, your movement begins and waves begin to form.

Change begins and your life will never be the same for you are moving towards something great. Create waves in your life by helping others and than catch the waves of change which come back your way.

Stay inspired my friends.

Quiet Good

"You don't have to know somebody to do good for somebody."
-Mennonite Woman

I was watching a nightly news story about Mennonite's from Central Pennsylvania that went to Diamond, Louisiana to assist those still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. They are rebuilding homes for many folks, which in turn is helping rebuild lives. All without payment, all without banners and celebrations. Quietly going about doing something good.

It is something that happens more often than you might think. There are individuals doing good things quietly. Many times people are helping those they know from family, church or work. Maybe a friend or other person through your child's school are being attended to. People helping other people within the community.

But as the unknown Mennonite woman said, "you don't have to know somebody to do good for somebody." It is giving for your fellow human being. It is helping out someone in need. It is doing all of this for the sole purpose of just doing good.

So many people have their stories of doing something for another; quietly and without trumpets and horns heralding their deed. If you would like to anonymously share your story, let me know. Send me a private email to josephprimm@bellsouth.net and I'll share the stories with others.

Help

"When you're drowning, you don't say 'I would be incredibly pleased if someone would have the foresight to notice me drowning and come and help me,' you just scream." ~John Lennon

I came across the above quote from John Lennon, part of the famed rock group The Beatles and found it an interesting view on life. Screaming through the pain tends to overwhelm our ability to ask for help.

I remember my own experience years ago. The pain of need is your sole focus. It can become so powerful that you forget to eat, sleep. In general it is the sole thing in your life that even blocks out your ability to ask for help.

My life was heading in a downward spiral and couldn't even see it happening. But other people did. Other people entered into my life and gave me focus to see that I did need help. I'm not ashamed to say that I read as much as I could and also sought professional advice.

The advice I sought was online as well as a few books. The advice I sought came from family, friends and professionals. The important thing that I wish to impart on you is to ask for the help. It isn't a sign of weakness, it is a sign of strength. Knowing your weaknesses will only give you new life to overcome anything.

The Beatles sang, "But now these days are gone, I'm not so self assured,
Now I find I've changed my mind and opened up the doors." You can open up more doors in your life by asking for the help you need when you need it.

Help is out there waiting for all of us. Ask for it when you can, others will step in when you can't.