Big Wheel Birthday

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." -Robert Brault

This past weekend a birthday was celebrated for my son Dan. No longer a young boy but a man in the second half of his twenties. A man that changed around his life and as with all of my boys is making a difference in the lives of other people today.

One thing that always stands out in my mind and his grand father's is an incident way back in 1988. The incident still plays in my mind like it were yesterday. It starts with the thought that serious injury was about to take place. It ends in giggling and laughter.

We were in the process of moving temporarily into a new apartment building until we could find a house to buy. The apartment came with a garage but since it was newly constructed, the interior garage walls were not yet completed. Only the bare wooden studs served as walls, but we unloaded our items from the large rental truck.

My father helped in the move and we placed the long metal ramp such that we could bring items down directly into the new garage. But the truck was at an angle so that others could get around us in the parking lot.

By this time, Dan was old enough to ride those Big Wheel tricycles. It was his favorite thing and somehow we had lost track of Dan as he made his way up into the rental truck. My father and I were down in the garage moving items when we happened to look up. Dan had found his Big Wheel and was zooming through the truck and down onto the ramp.

It happened so fast that neither of us could catch him as he came down the ramp and towards the stud wall. What raced through my mind in those fleeting seconds were the injuries that were sure to occur. He would either come off the side of the ramp and crack open his skull, or slam right into the wooden studs, breaking an arm or even worse.

Down he came though and seeing what was about to happen, he made a sharp left turn and rolled off the Big Wheel right between two wooden studs. He received not a single scratch from the incident. My first instinct was to admonish him, but he came up giggling.

As I look back, that was a sign that he was going to do just fine in life. So it is these many years later, he is doing just fine. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my son and keep on rockin' it with the Big Wheel.

Remembering a Brother

"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man." -Heraclitas

It was on January 4, 2011 that my brother John passed away. It was a day that came as a sudden and unexpected life event. It was a day that changed so much in the life of his wife Karin, son Taylor and daughters Ali and Liz. It also changed the lives of many people in his adopted hometown of Gillette, Wyoming.

Even though life changed that day for everyone that knew my brother, each of us hold the memories of life with him. We replay those moments in which he entered, impacted and moved through our days.

So while we "nor the river" are the same for having encountered John, each of us can hold tight the memories in our heart. In my life, I will always remember and love him. So it is that I delight in listening to the music my brother John loved so much. It was not the only type, genre or group, but one that he did enjoy.

Stay inspired my friends.

That Old Car

"Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it." -Greg Anderson

Recently one of my boys left Phoenix, Arizona on a car drive back to Atlanta, Georgia. The vehicle he is driving leaves me somewhat suspect but adventure was on his mind. He had choices and decided that driving back in his marginal car would be just fine.

I can remember in my younger years that I would have probably embarked on a similar journey. Adventure and possibility were the driving factors in doing what older people may have considered differently. Now, I am one of those older people.

I'm not certain when I lost a bit of that adventure and invincibility. But I work on it daily and push myself to understand that possibility exists at any age. The road ahead can be as long and far as we want it to be. No matter the distance, what really matters is what happens along the way.

Your own journey will look different from others. You will encounter many different sights, sounds and circumstances. The important thing to know is that a journey can be started at any time, any place or any age. Don't limit yourself just because the timing isn't perfect or you have a sub-standard car. Just get up and start moving down the road.

The scenery you encounter will be the most important part of where you are headed. The destination may be the ending point where your goal exists, but how you get there is the exciting part. Enjoy the journey, enjoy the possibility and crank up that old engine and get moving.

Stay inspired my friends.

Bad Habits Out

"The unfortunate thing about this world is that good habits are so much easier to give up than bad ones." -Somerset Maugham

I am like everyone else out there and have some bad habits. It doesn't matter what or which ones. All it means is that they are bad habits in my view and I need to continue working on ridding myself of them. But how does one go about getting rid of a bad personal habit?

There are many habits that we can easily get rid of. The difficulty though is that many habits have multiple aspects to them. This means that one thing will trigger an event that triggers the bad habit. I'm not trying to make this an overly difficult task (ridding yourself of a bad habit). But you need to considered changing other habits that support the one you are trying to get rid of.

Some good ways to find out if the habit you’re interested in removing has other aspects to it is to ask the following questions:

- What are the benefits of this habit?
- If I got rid of this habit, what would change?

A good example is smoking, which is a very social thing. Many people feel that it helps relax them. Additionally, they feel it is a good and nonthreatening way to meet people (“Got a light?”). If the smoking habit was gone, you would than have to find another way to meet people, relax, etc.

What it comes down to is seeing what the triggers are and understanding how to change those triggers. Change the triggers and you give yourself a fighting chance to rid the bad habit. And when you change those triggers, what else will change in your life? Other habits will probably cease to exist, leaving room for better things in life.

If you don't change, there are still consequences associated with the bad habit. Bad habits will tend to beget other bad habits, so on and so forth. The same is true for good habits in that better habits will be born of good habits.

Change is never easy and can be hard to sustain. I'm working on change, every day, evaluating and trying to understand myself. You can do the same and together we'll make our lives even better.

Stay inspired my friends.

The Unwanted Are Wanted

"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat." -Mother Teresa

It has been said by my kids that I have a greater social media presence than all of them put together. I'm still not certain if that's a complement or not. But I will admit that I am tweeting, blogging and on Facebook quite a bit.

If you are on Twitter long enough, you will notice there are certain "followers" that are not necessarily the type you want following you. Normally they are spam porn and the normal "junk mail" folks that come with any type of media. Its relatively easy to spot, avoid or block. Just the kind of attention that is quite unwanted.

The problem that arises is that there are many folks out there that truly feel unwanted. They are isolated either by circumstance or choice. Those people are like a sheep separated from the herd. This separation makes the sheep vulnerable to wolves.

You may think I am over reacting in making that statement, but when we are isolated and unwanted, we are prime targets for the wolves. That is what the rogue Twitter followers and the like are looking for. They are trolling for people that are in search of being wanted. Once hooked, the fangs of these people will sink in deep and painfully.

Wow...not really a great way to think about starting out the new year.

The reality is that there are many people that really do feel unwanted, unloved or unneeded. All they are searching for is connection to something good for their life. And this is where you and I can come into the picture of their lives.

We can make connections to these people, even if in a small way. We may not even realize those folks are feeling unwanted. Which means that everyone we come in contact with is potentially one of the separated sheep.

Now I am not saying that you should treat everyone as a project or as someone in need. What I am saying is that you should treat everyone you run into with grace, gratitude and respect. This will start a process in that person's life which will change things dramatically for them. It will be a positive connection as opposed the bad connections that are out there constantly looking to swallow them up.

Use every day, every contact, every interaction as a means to give others the opportunity to remove the separation. You will be the one to light their way, and to help them feel wanted. It starts with connection, it starts with you, it starts by wanting to be a positive influence in the lives of others.

Stay inspired my friends.

Being the best Streetsweeper

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.” -Martin Luther King, Jr. quotes

We each will have the opportunity to to great things with what we have in life. While we may want to have greater success, greater abilities and greater impact on the world, we have to be good at what we do now.

Being the best at what we do now creates an atmosphere, a learned characteristic, that will allow us to properly handle our accomplishments in life. Without it, we will simply waste anything that we do gain because we will not know how to handle that success.

So take what you are doing today, be the best that you can be with it. As your dreams come true, turn those accomplishments into even greater things in your life. When all is said and done, people will remark "here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well."

Have a great 2012 year and stay inspired my friends.

Family

New Years Day - 2012

"For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. And to make an end is to make a beginning."
– T.S. Eliot

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year."
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true."
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson

25 Days

Your Armor

Four Given

Four Given

New Years Eve - 2011

Stay inspired my friends...through out all of 2012.

Do You Believe

be-lieve

intransitive verb

1: to have a firm religious faith : to accept something as true, genuine, or real (ideals we believe in) (believes in ghosts)
2: to have a firm conviction as to the goodness, efficacy, or ability of something (believe in exercise)
3: to hold an opinion : think (I believe so)

transitive verb

1: to consider to be true or honest (believe the reports) (you wouldn't believe how long it took) : to accept the word or evidence of (I believe you) (couldn't believe my ears)
2: to hold as an opinion : suppose (I believe it will rain soon)

What do you believe in? It is a pretty simple question that can be tough for some to answer. When you are first asked this question, does your mind instantly run to religion?  The question could be religious, but it could also refer to the supernatural, philosophical, or scientific. Basically, in means that we all have beliefs that define how we think the world and life work along with how we should interact with it.

Beliefs bridge the gap between what we "know" and what we "assume" in order to function in the world and make decisions. We have beliefs that can be proven and those that can not. Some beliefs are just that, our own belief in how life functions when proof can not be attained.

What I would like to end out the year 2011 with is this;

"Believe in something."

I have a belief in a God that is greater than anything mere men could envision. My belief is that the Mayans have it all wrong regarding 2012. They simply didn't have a greater vision for our world and humanity. In whatever fashion you believe in a greater power or not, believe that the year 2012 is going to be great.

BELIEVE in your visions so that they inspire you to ACT throughout the coming year. You will REALIZE many of your dreams in 2012.

Have a happy celebration this New Year's Eve, be safe, be happy and stay inspired my friends.

Scream Out for Liz

"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

As the year of 2011 is nearing an end, each of us are looking forward to what will come in the new one. The year of 2012 holds great promise for each of us. And most of us have the luxury of good health, reasonable financial stability and general goodness happening in our lives.

Others are not so fortunate and have a more direct want for 2012. For them, each day that goes by gives hope and promise for greater things, most of which is life. One such person is Liz Rieckmann and when she was only 7 years old, was diagnosed with cancer. Doctors only gave her a 50/50 chance, but she beat cancer!

Then in 2009, she was a young woman interning with the Brown University theater program. She noticed that she was getting extremely winded at work. During a Christmas break, she went home and visited her doctor who had her hospitalized right away due to pneumonia. After several tests and a biopsy, Liz received a disheartening diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that severely scars the lungs.

Doctors have determined that a double-lung transplant is critical to her survival. So while awaiting her transplant, Liz must rely on an oxygen tank 24 hours a day to breathe. Despite these challenges, Liz loves life and is grateful for her supportive network of family and friends who have made her life so special. She is especially thankful for her mom and dad, as they do everything they can to make sure Liz has the best possible care.

Now to the "ask" of my readers.

A good friend of ours, Ruth Perry, is heading up a local fund-raising effort to get the monies needed for the transplant. The needed double-lung transplant for Liz costs nearly $800,000. And that's only the beginning. Even with health coverage, she faces significant expenses. She will need follow-up care and daily anti-rejection medications for the rest of her life. Post-transplant medications are very costly, and they are as critical to her survival as the transplant itself.

I appreciate you sticking with me on this long article, but what can you do?

You can help by donating a few dollars now and encouraging others to do the same. If you wish to read more about Liz Rieckmann and more importantly, make a tax-deductible donation, CLICK HERE.

If you wish to send a check in the mail, please send it to the

NFT Georgia Transplant Fund
5350 Poplar Avenue, Suite 430
Memphis, TN 38119

Please be sure to write "in honor of Liz Rieckmann" on the memo line.

To involve yourself in this or any such noble effort to assist others is important. Many people in need of help or assistance will politely ask others in their time of need. What we are here to do for the Rieckmanns is to be the ones to "scream out" to the rest of the world.

You can help Liz with your generous gift and then "scream out" to others. Together we can help make a huge difference in another persons 2012. We can help give them life.

Dreams for 2012

The end of 2011 is coming quickly to an end. In under four days, 2011 will ring out with a rush of parties, a dropping of the ball in New York's famed Times Square (yes, there are many others around the world), kissing, hugging and resolutions declared. People will declare the start of a new year, new beginning and renewed hope for better times.

While I talked of that new beginning in a previous article, I understand the general consensus will go based upon the calendar. But it doesn't mean that you can't start thinking about it now; starting today with a new beginning and renewed hope for better times.

As we dream of great things and see visions of prosperity, success and great love in 2012, dreaming is only part of the equation. There are those dreams that come to us at night while we sleep. There are dreams that occur during the day as we lazily ponder thoughts in our mind. But as you notice, both are sedentary activities, no movement, only thought. But what I have found is that DREAMS + ACTION = ACHIEVEMENT as you start a new beginning and renewed hope for better times.

As I have said before, you have to "Raise the BAR" (Believe, Act, Realize) in order to achieve your dreams. Do not wait until the blur of 12:01 AM on January 1 or even the hangover of the next morning. Start making movement on the 2012 year. Forget that the Mayans wrote of destruction and disaster. Believe in greatness and a new beginning and renewed hope for better times.

In an article called "10 Tips for Turning Your Dreams into Reality!" by Inez Bracy, Inez Bracy International; those things you need to start considering are;

1. Take an in depth look at your life, who you are and how you show up.
2. Decide if this is the way you want your life to be 365 days from now.
3. Give yourself permission to move in the direction of the life you say you want.
4. Chart your course; set goals toward achieving your dream life.
5. Do something daily that takes you closer to your dream
6. Keep a journal of your progress.
7. Celebrate something daily.
8. This is about you and for you.
9. Ask for help when you need to.
10. Express gratitude daily.

But you have to start now, start today; get a head start on 2012 before the crowd gets in the way. You will be on your way to something greater in your life, your best life.

Stay inspired my friends.

The Beginning

"Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward toward finding the answer." -Denis Waitley

The wondrous day that Christians celebrate each year has come and gone. The marking of Christmas is a Christian holiday that others partake in for other reasons. Christmas breakfast, family close by and a warm fire filling the room. It is a chance and time for people all over the world to slow down a bit and take pause. We take the time to focus more on our God, our family and others. The day creates a moment of reflection on what is important to life.

The timing of Christmas in our Gregorian calendar places the holiday at the end. It takes places on December 25th, a few days short of year's end. In many ways we treat it as the last celebration, the ending of a year and culmination of all our hard work throughout that year of living.

For me it truly marks a beginning to what is to come in my life. It is a birth of new possibility that starts that day. We get the chance to let the previous year be forgiven of any mistakes or wrong turns we took.

Many would argue that we start a new year at the stroke of midnight December 31st. We begin the countdown and as January 1st begins, we sing the song "Auld Lang Syne" as we now begin anew. It marks of course the taking down of one old calendar and unwrapping and hanging of a new one. The song we sing itself asks the question, "Should those we knew and loved be forgotten and never thought of? Should old times past be forgotten?"

"Auld Lang Syne" isn't celebrating the start of something, it is celebrating what has gone by. The song itself tells us that no, those times and people should not be forgotten. We remember those times and people gone, we'll toast them now and always, we'll keep them close; "We'll take a cup of kindness yet." So New Years is a celebration of all that has happened in the previous year. It is a way of remembering those things and people gone before us.

But Christmas marks a new birth, a promise of great things to come and of forgiveness to all that has happened in our lives. This is why you should take this week between Christmas and New Years to reflect on 2011. But you should also get on with your life, moving it forward to greater things. Do not wait for January 1st. Begin now. Birth a new way of living your life.

And stay inspired my friends.

Why Yes There Is

Two days in a row, because I think it bears repeating.

"Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus."

Every year at this time, we start to question if there is any "good" left in this world. The stories regarding politics, the economy, wars and poverty seem to invade the daily news.

But I am here to say that there is quite a bit of "good" in this world. There are many people that make life a great thing to have. The human spirit remains bold and strong in wanting to do "good" everyday.

Whether you are black, white, Hispanic or Asian; if you are Heterosexual or not; if man or woman; rich or poor; there is "good" in life and in those around us.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and he lives in the hearts and souls or more people than not. So have a very Merry Christmas and remember all that is "good" in this world.

And stay inspired my friends.

+++++++++++++++++++++

And now the letter.

+++++++++++++++++++++

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.

"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 [what] 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.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus

"Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus."

Every year at this time, we start to question if there is any "good" left in this world. The stories regarding politics, the economy, wars and poverty seem to invade the daily news.

But I am here to say that there is quite a bit of "good" in this world. There are many people that make life a great thing to have. The human spirit remains bold and strong in wanting to do "good" everyday.

Whether you are black, white, Hispanic or Asian; if you are Heterosexual or not; if man or woman; rich or poor; there is "good" in life and in those around us.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus and he lives in the hearts and souls or more people than not. So have a very Merry Christmas and remember all that is "good" in this world.

And stay inspired my friends.

+++++++++++++++++++++

And now the letter.

+++++++++++++++++++++

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.

"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 [what] 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.

Baking Up A Great Year-end

"Be happy with what you have and are, be generous with both, and you won't have to hunt for happiness." -William E. Gladstone

On a recent trip back to where I grew up, I had an opportunity to visit with family and friends. The town that I spent my early years is small in size but huge in heart. I guess you could say that of most any place, but it seems more so as these are the places I was a young boy.

My sister Pam took me out for coffee with her friends on a Saturday morning. The bakery in downtown Fremont is small, nice and comfy with the smells of fresh baked rolls and pastries. Alotta Brownies sits in the three hundred block of north Main Street. Just the sound of saying "Main Street" brings back wonderful memories. The conversation, coffee and cinnamon rolls pulled those moments from the back of my mind. If you ever happen through Fremont, Nebraska; take a moment to stop in and indulge your memories.

It was very shortly after the coffee and memories that I received a text message from my daughter Sarra. She was checking with me to ensure that I was going to make my annual Christmas batch of fudge. Why of course I am and somehow it has become traditional for me to do so.

I would really like to tell you that my fudge is the best in the world, top class and the thing that bakery chefs long to create. The fudge is typically good enough and I never seem to use the same recipe each year. I'm not creating a great fudge, that is for sure.

What I am recreating each year though is a tradition. It is something that will bring back memories for future generations when they smell fudge being made. When they wander into a bakery somewhere on their travels, a traditional memory will come flooding home to them. It will become a waypost in time as they make their way through life.

This time of year and in fact throughout the year, create traditions for those around you. These will be the lasting moments and memories that make the day easier. They are "you" living on within the hearts of others in the many years that will follow you.

And since tomorrow is Christmas Eve that will flow into Christmas Day, I want to wish all of my family, my sons, daughters, father, brothers, sister, in-laws and friends a Merry Christmas. There are those gone before us that I remember on these days as well; to all of them I have fond memories of many great past Christmas days.

And to you my friends out there, the happiest of Christmas Days and a safe holiday season. Stay inspired my friends.