Nicodemus Moves Furniture

"Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them." -Orison Swett Marden

My wife and I recently moved into a new home after many years residing in a former house. It was a challenge for us as it would be for anyone. Change of any kind will do that to you. It can create anxiety, doubt and obstacles you may never have thought about. For us, this change was planned and it gave us a reasonable amount of control over that change. Some people are not as fortunate.

Change is sometimes thrust upon us by circumstance.

For this particular move, we hired a moving company famously and simply known as Two Men and a Truck. Two guys and a big truck show up at your house to help you move from one place to another. It was a perfect solution for me as I get a bit older, the lifting, the heat, the up and down stairs takes its toll. Having two younger guys doing the heavy lifting worked out great.

One of the guys was a 23 year-old named Nicodemus; Nico for short. He informed me that yes, he had indeed been named after that Nicodemus. So it had peaked my interest to hear more. I soon learned through the small talk of the humidity, heat and long day that he was married, with a small three year-old daughter and going to school working to earn an Associate's Degree in electronics.

As the work day ended, the paperwork was being drawn up, we sat at the kitchen table talking. I find it soothing that even though we had no food on the table, we were gathered at a table where so much is shared. It is here I learned that he had attended two years at a west Georgia college after he left high school.

What he said next set me back in my chair.

His short college career mimicked my own in many ways and as I listened, I couldn't help from being drawn back in time. You can read about my own similarities in Changed Lives. But simply put, he dropped out of college to support a new family. Now at the young age of twenty-three he has a beautiful three year-old daughter.

Nicodemus talked a little bit about the obstacles he has had to overcome. He spoke of circumstances of his own doing and others that life throws at us. It is his daughter and wife that continue to be his driving force as he puts it. So he works days moving other peoples furniture and nights going to school working on that degree.

There will be more circumstance, more obstacles to overcome I told Nicodemus. I gave him encouragement as I talked of my similar road to where I am today, sitting at that table, talking of success and victory. I told him that the day will come when he is not the one moving the furniture. It will be success that he finds, as all of us can by walking through the obstacles that enter our lives.

He was grateful for the encouragement and as he was leaving I asked him if he knew what the name Nicodemus meant?

In the heat of the mid-afternoon, he turned to me, smiled and said, "Of course I do. It means 'victory of the people'." With that Two Men and a Truck drove away in the light rain.

Will you overcome the obstacles in life or cower to them in fear? I say be fearless and push through to victory, to success.

Stay inspired my friends.

Victory Achieved

“Victory is won not in miles but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later, win a little more.” -Louis L'Amour

There are hundreds of small victories won each and every day. All you have to do is look for them and accept them for what they are; victory in your life.

We spend way too much energy and effort on acknowledging our failures. There is cause analysis done and much angst over that which we fail to achieve. To look at and understand what we may have done wrong is okay. To review and see what it was that went wrong is just fine. You then need to move on from it.

But lots of times we dwell on it, which gives it power over us. It causes us to lose confidence in little bits and pieces. So why not give as much time and acknowledgement to all of the little victories. With each and every one, we build a bigger mountain to stand upon. We deserve those victories. We deserve to acknowledge and accept those victories in our life.

So get on with letting go of the failures, any and all. Get on with adding up your victories in life, large or small. One victory after another will lead to achieving those goals in life.