He Came, She Sat

Willie came and Willie went,

Even with his crooked bent.

One eye it was closed,

For how long, no one knows.

Yet Willie came and Willie went.

Ethel stood and Ethel sat,

She sometimes lay down on a mat.

Had an ear, was oh so deaf,

Was even hard to hear her breath.

Yet Ethel stood and Ethel sat.

Willie came and Ethel sat,

One eye, one ear, and love did chat.

Two perfect people sharing a moon,

Hearts together, beating in tune.

Yes Willie came and never went.

Stay inspired my friends!

Taught Me

In a moment of wanting,

I turned to ask a question.

To ask the man who taught me so much,

A man who taught me so much.

 

No longer is he here to tell his truths,

To give me the turn of a tale.

But forever as my heart beats,

He will be the man who taught me so much.

-- Stay inspired my friends.

Colors Of Our Life

“When you photograph people in color, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in Black and white, you photograph their souls!” ― Ted Grant

The picture above shows my Grandpa Gale, my mother Rose, my Grandma Gale and my Uncle Art. I believe it was taken back in 1950 in Sioux City, Iowa which seems eons ago.

For many years, I wondered if color even existed in those early days because all of the pictures were in black and white. Even television had no color early on.

Yet I know color existed if only because my mother Rose Marie was here on earth. She brought the beauty of color into life with her presence and I do miss her smile.

Happy birthday Mom and love you.

Love, hug and smile with others while you can. Embrace the colors they bring into this world and stay inspired my friends.

Christmas Days Before

“My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?”
― Bob Hope

Twas three days before Christmas, when all through the office not a computer was whirring, not even a mouse on a surface. The files were stacked on the desks with care, in hopes that quitting time would be there. Yes, a very quiet day at my office and many business offices around the world.

Many have taken the week off leading up to the Christmas holiday and those still working, the quiet is very nice both in terms of traffic and the general mayhem of a work day. The majority of mayhem is contained to the shopping malls and grocery stores as people make final preparations for the holiday.

In all of this madness, in all of this three days remaining before the Christmas holiday, let us not forget to have grace, kindness and love for those around and among us. Let us have a heart of goodness during the holiday season and throughout the year.

Stay inspired my friends!

We Love, We Laugh, We Eat Fruity Pebbles

"We Love, We Laugh, We Eat Fruity Pebbles...is that not life." - Joseph Primm

My latest book, number six, is now available for you to enjoy. Both paperback and Kindle versions are orderable and let me know what you think. My hope is that the stories will motivate and inspire you to have a more full and enjoyable life.

Stay inspired my friends.

Capture the Moon

“Love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.” ― Khalil Gibran

If I could capture the moon for you, I would. But to hold the moon captive would keep me from experiencing a sunrise or sunset. These are the things we wish to hold closely but can not be held firm.

They must come and go.
They must be free to fly and roam.

When we experience a birth or a death, our deepest expressions of love are exposed.

There is ecstatic joy of a new baby entering this world. A grand and glorious sunrise that holds expectation of possibility.

There is heart breaking pain of someone passing into another realm which is the sunset on the here and now, only to be revealed as a beautiful full moon.

The stars, the moon, and the sun.
Our lives, our family and our friends.

Yes, if I could capture the moon for you I would. But I know you will always be there just as the moon. You will be in the sunrise, you will be in the sunset, you will be inside my heart.

Stay inspired my friends.

Blink of an Eye

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a smile.” - Bernard Kelvin Clive

In the blink of an eye, a child is born, raised and gone from our home.

In the blink of an eye, a sun rises and sets on a day.

In the blink of an eye, each moment of our life passes.

In that blink of an eye was the life of a friend who passed away very recently. A life cut short, but not overshadowed by his greatness. The current pain of loss is hard but will ease with time as wonderful memories take hold within our hearts.

In the blink of an eye, Bill Rowlett.

In that blink of an eye, Bill would smile and give you one of his uncompromising hugs. It was always sincere and filled with love for the person on the receiving end. Life was better after each and every encounter with Bill. My life is better for having been around him.

In the blink of an eye, there will be no more smiles, no more hugs.

In the blink of an eye, Bill taught me kindness and happiness that will last forever inside each of us.

In the blink of an eye, my friend Bill, a friend to everyone as a matter of fact, remains with us in the memories we carry. He remains through the eyes of his wife Luanne, children and future generations. He remains in our hearts because of that blink of an eye we got to share with him.

In the blink of an eye he was here, but in each blink he will always be here.

Welcome Dear Child

“A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on.” ― Carl Sandburg

The world is waking this morning to another child, another chance of beauty and the wonders that life has to offer.

The world can be a cruel and ugly place if one wishes to view it that way. One can argue and believe their country or values are worse today then yesterday.

We can choose to believe that.

Or we can choose to believe otherwise.

We can choose to believe life is full of goodness and greater possibility each and every day. A budding flower in spring, fruit growing upon the vine, a child being born all offer proof that life continually offers hope and goodness.

I see hope and greatness in all of my children.

I see hope and greatness in all of my grandchildren.

I see as well that the world should go on.

And for our newest granddaughter Madilyn Rose, a rose from the south. May you dance and laugh and sing and love as your great grandmother Rose Marie did. As we all should.


Stay inspired my friends.

What is Love - In Your Eyes

"I hope some day to meet God, because I want to thank Him for the flowers."
- Robert Brault

Today is the day of pretty flowers, of chocolates and loving cards. Today is the day you get to renew your love for all that is in your life.

Shakespeare's 18th Sonnet

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.

So to my loving wife Laura, for me Love Is in your eyes.



Stay inspired and loving my friends!

Why Not Smile

"Men of action, above all those whose actions are guided by love, live forever."
- Jose Marti

All attribution to Andy Andrews for the content in this article. I truly enjoy his writing and every once in a while, I like to share some of his thoughts and ideas. After you read this article, take a few moments to follow the link provided to find out more about Andy.

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Learning How to Express Our Gratitude
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There are so many invisible people in our lives who provide services and never get thanked. You will stand out when you stop and say, "I just wanted to say thanks for what you're doing." The possessor of a grateful spirit, who gives that gratefulness to others, will not have to daily choose to be happy. It will be a conditioned effect. You'll wake up happy. You have to choose to be happy at first, but the conditioning will take over and soon you will BE happy.

How does this translate into personal, business, and financial success? Happiness leads to opportunities. Become somebody that other people want to be around. People want to be around happy people. That's why happy people receive opportunities. Opportunities translate into success.

Nobody expects you to be happy every moment of every day, but you can make a choice to smile. You will attract people in your life and when you become a person other people want to be around, you will attract their opportunities as well.

I've been asked, "What one thing can somebody do to change their life? It's going to blow your mind because it's so simple:

"Smile while you talk."

Very few people do this. Even when people tell jokes, they don't smile while they talk. Most people talk with a serious or bland expression on their face. Get in front of a mirror and learn to smile while you talk. Add a little chuckle while you're talking, and have laughter coming through in your voice, and everything will change. When you smile at people, they will smile back.

And I dare you to have people not participate in whatever it is you want them to participate in. If you want people to sign the deal or be your client forever, learn to smile while you talk. Your spouse, your kids, your neighbors, everybody will react to you differently when you smile as you talk.

Happiness is a choice and you are making that choice today. The bubbling laughter in your soul is an expression of enthusiasm, the fuel that moves the world. Your smile is the most potent weapon you have. Always remember to be the possessor of a grateful spirit, and to share that gratefulness liberally!
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So today, choose to be happy and stay inspired my friends.

Check out more on Andy Andrews. He is a great author and can help you change your world for the better.

Dance, Love and Sing

“Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.” - Emory Austin

There are days we simply do not wish to sing, struggling to engage in the dance of life or to love all that we have.

Those days will come and those days go.

How you choose to live those days is yours to make. You can take choose to be in a state of despair letting the day pass like a floating soap bubble being popped. This will ultimately leave you lost and with nothing to show for the time spent. It will be a day lost in the short span of our lives. It will become a lost opportunity to experience the greatness that life has to offer.

The other choice is to grab hold of each and every day.

It is an opportunity to dance through our problems with a joyous step. It provides us with a chance to love all that happens to and around our lives. It urges us to sing of the joys that do exist in our life.

Live your life full of wonder and expectation for what this day, the next, and everyone one beyond will bring. Stay inspired my friends!

Time and a Word

"...vita ch'è una cosa bella, non è la vita che si conosce, ma quella che non si conosce; non la vita passata, ma la futura." - Giacomo Leopardi

It is December 31, the final day of another year gone by. Time gets labeled with points to indicate its passage. We have dinner at a particular time, we wake in the morning at a particular time, we have to be to work at a particular time. We set an alarm to mark a point in time, we write down events on a calendar, we celebrate each and every moment as it arrives and leaves us.

Time could be considered purposeful only for the marking of those events and to order our lives. But time simply exists and exists only for a fleeting moment, a minute, a second, a nanosecond and then it is gone. It can never be repeated, it can never be captured in a bottle and it can never be undone.

Time leaves us only with the future.

If we were to call this, December 31 the last day would be to say there is no future. And of course we all know that tomorrow will occur. The Sun will rise on January 1, an alarm will go off awakening someone to the new day, others will be peering at their watch in hopes of arriving at work on time.

The future will happen.

You have a grand life laid out in front of you. Time is moving you towards that life which is your's to discover. There will be three-hundred and sixty-five days in a year to pursue and enjoy life. We will be hear again at the end of that "mark in time" to remind ourselves that continues to deliver us a future.

Go after your future with the knowledge that time will forever give us opportunities to live it to our fullest potential. Enjoy your new year, enjoy what lay ahead of you, enjoy your life.

Stay inspired my friends.

The English translation of the quote above is, "...life which is a beautiful thing, is not the life that you know, but what you do not know, not the past life, but the future."

Yes Virginia

“Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas...perhaps...means a little bit more!” ― Dr. Seuss, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

I have always enjoyed the message in this story from New York's THE SUN newspaper and as such I share it with you.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus.

Eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun, and the quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history's most reprinted newspaper editorial, appearing in part or whole in dozens of languages in books, movies, and other editorials, and on posters and stamps.

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DEAR EDITOR:
I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.'
Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA O'HANLON.
115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

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Have a joyous Christmas and Holiday season full of life, love, generosity and devotion. Stay inspired my friends.

Care of Others

“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

I give you a simple thought on this Friday. The care you give someone in even the smallest way can change their life. And when you do, chances are pretty good that it will change your life as well.

Stay inspired my friends.

Giant Smiles

"What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life's pathway, the good they do is inconceivable."
-Joseph Addison

How much would you spend on coffee to see a person smile?

A man in Michigan by the name of Dan Dewey has spent $10,000 of his own money to do just that. And it seems this weekly habit causes the line to back up at a local Starbucks each and every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Others may at first be put off by the long wait until they learn he is there to buy coffee for patients undergoing chemotherapy at St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital in the town of Pontiac, Michigan.

All of this began in 2007 when his father was a patient at the same hospital. It just so happened that every Thursday at the same time, his father was undergoing chemotherapy and Dan was there each time. One particular trip, with his father sitting in treatment, Dan offered to get his father a coffee from Starbucks.

As Dan recalls, “I took a look around. There were several other people there, and they couldn’t go anywhere. So I said, ‘Anybody else want a coffee? He’s buying; I’ve got his wallet.’”

This became a weekly event in which Dan would get coffee for his father, other patients and staff in the cancer unit. When his father had completed his treatments, Dan asked his father if he should continue coming back to get coffee for others. His father replied, “Yeah, go ahead."

Dan says he will never forget his father's words and while his father passed away the following year at age 87, his memory inspires his son to comfort other cancer patients with his weekly trip to the cancer treatment facility which has become known as “Dan’s Coffee Run.”

Those that know Dan also note that Dan Dewey does not have a lot of money, but it does not stop his generosity. He does get fan mail and some donations from those that have never met him. There are the occasional gift cards and letters from those he has never served coffee to but have undergone cancer treatment as well.

But it is the coffee and friendly nature of Dan that rewards him with new friends and lots of smiles. And more importantly as Dan says, "I feel like I’m having coffee with my dad every Thursday morning. That’s all I need.”

Many times all it takes is a friendly gesture, a little conversation and a gigantic smile to make all of the difference in a person's life and your own.

Stay inspired my friends!

Floating on Time

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal." -Irish

On Sunday, my wife and I were able to witness a moment of transition for a husband, a family and friends that lost a wonderful woman by the name of Belinda. She loved the ocean and the peace it brought her. She would lay for hours upon her raft, floating in the emerald gulf waters. All of us would laugh, wondering when the day would come that she floated all of the way to Cuba on that raft.

This day would be that day in which she floated forever upon the currents of time. Her husband Mark would take her ashes out into the deep and allow the waters to carry her for eternity. Some may call it letting go, but I say it is a "locking in" of the memories. Those that we love, while no longer with us physically, they live on in our hearts, in our minds, in our memories.

These things we do in honor of our loved ones both honors them but more importantly establishes more lasting memories. Those are the memories that will keep us connected long after the pain of losing them leaves us. Those are the memories that will forever live on through us, through our children and generations of family.

Let your love of family and friends live forever.

Stay inspired my friends.

Sing Away

“Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.” -Emory Austin

There are days we simply do not wish to sing, struggling to engage in the dance of life or to love all that we have. Those days come and those days go.

How you choose to live those days is yours to make. You can take the path of despair letting the day pass like a floating soap bubble being popped. Lost and nothing to show for the time spent. A day lost in the short span of our lives. A lost opportunity to experience the greatness that life has to offer.

The other choice is to grab hold of each and every day. To dance through our problems with a joyous step. To love all that happens and all around you. To sing of the joys that do exist in your life. To live a life full of wonder and expectation for what this day and the next will bring.

Stay inspired my friends!

What is in a Jar

"Go for it now. The future is promised to no one." -Wayne Dyer

A Saturday morning in fall, the sun starting to spread its warmth across the landscape and breakfast at the kitchen table comes to life. The coffee is done brewing, a short glass of orange juice and two slices of toasted bread are before you on the table. The butter melts across the browned grains and you wonder which type of jam to use this morning.

It is a great morning to relax.

Where did you get that jam or jelly? It is very likely that you got it from the heart of a man whose passion was birthed in that jar. If you listen closely to the opening of the jar, you will hear the love escape from it. You see this is a story of a man that loves a woman into something special to share with others.

This man, Big Papa, cared for his wife as she battled sickness. Every day he would come home to care and tend to her. For many of those hours she would sleep but he kept attentive to every breath she took.

In all those hours he found a passion for canning. The jams, the pickles, the various things that one can; pun intended. With each jar, a piece of their love went into each. Big Papa lost his wife but their love and passion fills each jar.

All of us have the ability to bring a passion to life.

The passion you bring to your life can create great things from the sorrow or pain that life sets at our door step. We could simply sit at an empty table and do nothing or we could get up and make toast and coffee. All we need is a jar of jam to open on that Saturday morning in the fall.

Stay inspired my friends!

If you are interested in meeting Big Papa in person, visit him at Suwanee Days if you are in the Suwanee, Georgia area this Saturday (09/21).

Love's Legacy

"Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do... but how much love we put in that action." -Mother Teresa

Today Meg Lynch writes about Belinda Creath and the legacy left. Not only is a legacy left, but a legacy that lives on in anyone that came within Belinda's reach. It is Belinda's legacy of love that Meg writes about.

Enjoy the words of a great young writer and grab a piece of the love that is Belinda's legacy. Stay inspired my friends.

Family Ties

"Family is not an important thing. It's everything." -Michael J. Fox

Families come in all shapes and sizes. They come in ways you may view as non-traditional. To others, your traditional family might very well be considered non-traditional. It could be considered matrilocal (a mother and her children); conjugal (a husband, his wife, and children); or even consanguineal (extended family) whereby parents and children live together with other members of one parent's family.

There have been studies showing that:

- Having social support is greatly related to psychological well-being. What this means is the more one feels they have family and friends that will be there for them, the less likely one will become depressed and anxious.

- Having high levels of social support is a predictor of greater job satisfaction and a higher number of years staying within a particular job as opposed to those without the social support.

- Healthier living is much more likely with greater social support which translates into greater odds of living longer and much more productive or active into older age.

We each understand that there can never be the "perfect" family, regardless of the style or makeup of that family. We have our differences and friction can take place. But the family environment should allow for that friction to take place in a safe place. Being able to express, learn, laugh and love is what the family can do for us.

Your family is not always contained to "blood" relationships. Families can grow to be close friends, a community family or a church family. Each are in support of one another, in good times and in troubled times, each are there to support one another.

Find your family to be a part of. It is a two-way street in which you give of yourself to but also get to receive in times of need. There will be disagreement, but there will also be laughter...and there will always be love.

Stay inspired my friends.