Ride the River

Carolyn Derstine

“Life is like the river, sometimes it sweeps you gently along and sometimes the rapids come out of nowhere.” ― Emma Smith

Life feels very melancholy these days as a good friend battles most bravely against illness. The strength of his faith is an inspiration to me and is an example for many to learn from.

With no promise and no guarantee of what your outcome will be, faith is very powerful.

Faith helps ease the many transitions we go through in life. It gets us through the harsh river rapids of circumstance we each go through. Some might call faith a way for the heart to trick our intellect into submission.

I believe it is our heart and intellect coming into agreement, allowing us to float more peacefully down the river.

Floatin' down that old river boy, leaves me feelin' good inside,
Floatin' down that old river boy, tryin' to get to the other side.
"Ride The River" - JJ Cale

Stay inspired my friends.

Enjoy the Ride

"Buy the ticket, take the ride..." - Hunter S. Thompson

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our safety net of daily patterns, we forget to live and experience life. I am just as prone to this as anybody. When change occurs, or the pattern is disrupted, I have to remind myself that the "edge" can awaken our senses if we just allow ourselves to come close it.

This past week was my wife and my annual "Grandma & Grandpalooza" event for the grandkids. We take all of our grandkids into our home for the week. We let their parents enjoy some time off as well. We plan out activities and other exciting things for them to do. In many ways we are trying to give them great memories before they are too old to be bothered with Grandma and Grandpa.

My wife always gets excited leading up to the week. She gets to have all of her sweet babies around her and all that stuff Grandmothers do. Myself, I get a touch of nerves as my slight affliction with obsessive compulsive disorder can set off alarms in my psyche. There will be a disarray of toys, clothes and divided attention required. I prepare and steady myself as the time approaches.

The day arrives and events of the week unfold in a perfect non-pattern enjoyment.

We effectively buy the ticket and take the ride during the week. No matter what happens, we enjoy and allow life the happen in a somewhat unscripted fashion. And today is the last day of a fun-filled ride. No scrapes, no bruises or broken bones; well maybe a few scrapes. But the grandkids, grandparents and even our pet dog have enjoyed the week.

You might be saying, "Wow, that's really living out on the edge Joe!"

Experiencing the edge does not have to mean going through a dazed week in Las Vegas or even throwing caution to the wind. It means changing up the normal and making sure you experience life in different ways.

The "edge" I speak of is and will be different for everyone.

It is at the "edge" where you might find a great idea that will take you in a new direction.
It is at the "edge" where you might find a new place to achieve greatness in life.

Buy the ticket, take the ride and enjoy life. 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.

Two Days

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.” ~Henry David Thoreau

Two days and one blog article, it sounds like a confessional or apologetic musing asking for forgiveness to my avid readers. I failed to write yesterday as I was travelling home to Atlanta with my wife from Los Angeles. Could I have written yesterday, most certainly.

We made it to the airport, settled into the lounge to wait for our flight and thought to myself, "I really don't feel like writing today." I was enjoying the simple pleasure of sitting and talking with my wife. This was a short window of time before we would both return to our busy lives. Even though I worked a fair bit while on vacation, it was a very relaxing and enjoyable time with our daughter and her husband.

But here we were, sitting in an airport lounge enjoying the remaining moments before we launched back into our lives. This was us waiting upon that 'wave' Thoreau spoke about. Preparing to grab hold of the everyday and new experiences coming towards us. The preparation for these moments of launch may seem like an eternity, but they fall upon us ever so quickly. So enjoy those quiet moments just prior to the launch.

Your moment might be in the early morning hours before the day begins. It might be as the day is ending, the countdown is your time to reflect and prepare. Get ready to launch with every moment, take your life to a new level and enjoy the ride.

Stock Market Tumble

Our doubts are traitors,
And make us lose the good we oft might win
By fearing to attempt.

-William Shakespeare

The events of the last day and what could turnout to be a couple of bad days is nothing new to the world at large. The good and bad economic times tend to 'come and go' in sporadic cycles. As the picture depicts, the 'bubbles' are chased and eventually those 'bubbles' break.

The hardest part is trying to keep your wits about you and to not let fear grip your entire being. Marie Curie, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903 said, "Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less." This current economic crisis is no different.

Now is the time to read and learn as much as you can. In doing so, you will better understand what is happening, it will lessen your fear and give the ability to make smarter choices. There is a great cartoon by Gary Larson, which shows a bunch of lemmings walking down and into the water. About half way up in the crowd of lemmings, one is wearing a life preserve ring. He is going where circumstance is taking him, but he is prepared.

As Hunter S. Thompson wrote, "Buy the ticket, take the Ride." You're here and life is not going away. Prepare yourself, let go of fear and enjoy the ride.