Choice Is Everything

"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice." -Wayne Dyer

There have been points, key junctures in my life which forced me to make a choice. Would I choose to be miserable? Would I choose a path to happiness? Would I choose anything at all?

All of us get put into this position of needing to choose whether we like it or not. It might be a choice regarding our relationships, our jobs, or even with our health. The choices will range from the seemingly mundane to those involving life and death.

Whatever the case may be, the choice still remains your own. Yes, you may not have chosen the circumstance, but you have a choice in how you react to the circumstance. It is your reaction that will send you down a good path or hurtling down a bad path.

In my own world, a divorce could have sent me down a very destructive path. There were choices and options circling in my head that could have turned out really bad for me. If I had chosen that route, I would have fallen into a really bad state of disrepair. In doing so, I would not have been capable of supporting my boys or myself.

But I chose not to take what seemed an easy road. I took the hard path of reconstructing my life. It was not easy but the rewards have been so much greater. I can attest to the fact that making a right choice in your life will create a much greater life for you as well.

• Choose not to be miserable in your life.
• Choose to take the right path in your life.
• Choose to be happy in your life.

You will achieve great things with a great attitude and by making great choices in your life. It may look hard at first, but believe me the alternative or easy path will be much more painful in the long run.

Stay inspired my friends and make the right choices in life.

Acting Our Age

"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." -Mark Twain

Theodor Seuss Geisel, American writer, poet, and cartoonist who was most famously known under his pen name, Dr. Seuss, wrote a book called You’re Only Old Once. The story makes you laugh as you follow one man through his checkup with the experts at the Golden Years Clinic.

If you have ever been through a battery of medical tests associated with growing older, this story will certainly lighten your mood. It really brings to light that we take growing old much too seriously. The aging process is not meant to be dull or even dreaded.

The AOA or Administration On Aging (yes, a U.S. government office) indicates that in 2009, persons 65 years or older numbered 39.6 million. This amounts to 12.9% of the U.S. population or one in every eight Americans. This number is estimated to rise to 72.1 million by 2030 or nearly 20% of the population.

Of course you will notice that marketing people are taking notice of this. The advertisements you see on television to make you look younger, act younger and be younger are on the rise. But I say, embrace the aging process, enjoy the fact that you have made it this far.

Do not get me wrong. I am not saying "act your age" at all. What I am saying is enjoy your age while laughing, planning, dreaming and looking forward to a hundred more years of life. The end always comes too soon no matter what age we are.

I have been known to act older than I am, like a child at times and exactly the age that I am. The point is that we should not use age as a limiting factor. Our attitude should never grow old. It should be fresh and looking forward. Whether 50, 70, or 90 years of age, I always want to be looking forward to the next fifty years.

Stay inspired my friends, regardless of your age.

Turn Goals Into Action

"Some people dream of success... while others wake up and work hard at it." - Anonymous

I have talked to many people over the years regarding what they want to achieve in life. They will tell me their visions for success and how they plan on achieving it.

I will listen intently and offer words of support and agreement. Everyone should have a dream for success. Everyone should wnat to achieve their best life. But after they have told me all they have to tell, I ask them one question.

- What have you done to actually move towards your goal? -

Many people will write down those goals on a dream sheet. They will speak in great length about what they wish to achieve in life. The lists made are taped to their bathroom mirrors, maybe up on the refrigerator or attached to the computer screen at work.

The hard truth is that many of those same people will never actually do anything. They will look at those lists every single day and tell hundreds of people about their dreams. But dreams do not come to realization automatically, we must create movement in order to accomplish anything.

In fact, it takes hard work to achieve our goals and visions. You have to actually get up and do something about it. Talking about those goals will only result in talk.

• Goals without actions are only scraps of paper.
• Goals with actions will produce results in your life.

So once you start making movement on your goals, make sure you have one or two people that will keep you accountable to working on those goals. These are people that can offer advice, keep reminding you and also give you encouragement. Without accountability, we will fall prey to failure.

Secondly, do not try to accomplish your goal in one gigantic step. It is impossible to lose 100 pounds of weight in one week. It happens in smaller steps of one, five, or ten pounds at a time. If you are wanting to walk a thousand miles, it starts with mile one.

Lastly, mark off each small step as a successful accomplishment along the way. Remaining positive in spite of setbacks that may occur is important. Reward yourself appropriately with each success and keep your attitude positive along the way.

By following these simple steps, there will be success in your life. The object is to have your best life. Getting to that point will take a lot of little steps in your journey. Now that you have written the destination (goal) on a piece of paper, it is time to get up and put it into action.

Enjoy the journey, enjoy the success and stay inspired my friends.

Leap Into Something New

"Doing is a quantum leap from imagining." -Barbara Sher

Today is February 29, 2012 and if things feel a little bit different, its because this only comes around once every four years. Leap year 2012 consists of 366 days, unlike a common year containing only 365 days. During these special years, an extra or intercalary day is added on February 29.

This happens of course nearly every 4 years is a Leap Year in our modern Gregorian Calendar. The reason behind all of this is to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth's revolutions around the sun. You see it takes roughly 365.242199 days (365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds, for the Earth to circle one time around the Sun.

Since the Gregorian calendar has only 365 days in a year, without the extra day (Leap Day), we would lose nearly six hours from the calendar every year. So in only 100 years, the calendar would be off by almost 24 days.

There are three criteria for calculating when a Leap Year occurs;

• The year is evenly divisible by 4;
• If the year can be evenly divided by 100, it is NOT a leap year, unless;
• The year is also evenly divisible by 400. Then it is a leap year.

This means that 2000 and 2400 are leap years, while 1800, 1900, 2100, 2200, 2300 and 2500 are NOT leap years.

After all of this talk regarding dates and hours and the Earth circling the Sun; what really matters?

What matters is that you have an extra day to do something special in life. You have an extra opportunity to dream big and act upon those dreams. Maybe it is a great time to refocus, reassess and reengage your life.

All of us are working towards having a great life. And this day, February 29, 2012 is the perfect chance for you to get moving forward again. It could end up being that perfect day if you let it.

Stay inspired my friends and check out more of my writing at Street Articles.

Failure to Success

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." -Michael Jordan

All of my life I have had failures of one varying degree or another. I have tried to be the best at everything I do and fallen short many of those times. But what all of my failures have prepared me to be the success that I am in areas I never would have thought possible.

You have the same ability to learn from failure and succeed solely because you did fail. If you let failure take over and prevent you from ever trying again, then failure has won. But if you allow failure to be another learning experience, a lession understood; it will allow you to use failure to succeed.

Never let yourself get down because of failures. Get back up a thousand times if you have to. And remember that success will come to you.

Stay inspired my friends and you can also start reading different types of articles I've written at Street Articles.

Risk Comes With Life

"If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary." -Jim Rohn

Did you ever play the old board game called "RISK" when you were younger? It is a game in which the ultimate goal is to occupy every territory on the board and in so doing, eliminate all other players. It is a game in which there is only one winner. One player gets to dominate the entire "world" and everyone else loses.

About now you might be wondering where a motivational blog such as this could be taking the discussion. Is the story of risk one in which you risk everything and strive to dominate the world or universe? Maybe it is about deceit and cruel one upsmanship in order to get what you want?

Well do not worry about that. I am not here to promote that way of living life. We know that there are people in this world that live their lives that way. There is nothing that I am going to write that could change that fact. But what I can write is how you will have to risk certain things in order to survive and achieve your best life.

The risk I am referring to is having to live and succeed in this world. Life itself is full of risk. From the moment we are born, we are surrounded by all sorts of pitfalls and dangers. Our parents do their very best to protect us. And some parents are as much a risk to their children as life itself, certainly the saddest of situations I can think of.

As we grow older, the risks change and we become responsible for deciding which ones we will take on. You can take the safest of routes and stay on the flat land, moving south around the high mountain tops. Or you can choose to head straight up and over the peaks. It all comes down to which level of risk you are willing to endure.

To achieve so much more in life, you have to be willing to accept and trust that risk can yield more. In fact, you are capable of so much more than you think. We tend to give risk too much of a powerful hold upon our lives. We underestimate our capability to do great things.

You can take on more risk in your life. You can do more in your life. All it takes is believing in yourself and your ability to overcome any and all things.

So take a little more risk in your life, achieve a lot more. And of course, stay inspired my friends.

For Those That Can Not

"Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find out." -Frank A. Clark

This weekend, my beautiful and wonderful wife Laura, will be climbing 52 floors of the John Hancock Building in Chicago, IL. For those counting, that is only half of the full 94 floors of this architectural wonder. But for those climbing the stairs, there are 816 steps to climb starting on the 42nd floor in order to get to the top.

The finish line provides climbers with a majestic view of the Windy city when they enter the John Hancock Observatory on the 94th floor. Tired legs will be forgotten as the full sense of accomplishment takes over.

And why is she climbing stairs of the John Hancock Building?

She is climbing for those that can not. For those that will never know she did it. She is climbing to help raise funds for lung disease research, advocacy and education. So for those that can not, she does.

These funds go to the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago which has been a public health leader since 1906. Today, the association addresses asthma, COPD, lung cancer, tobacco control and air quality with a comprehensive approach involving research, education and advocacy activities.

If you have ever climbed a flight of stairs at work, in your apartment building or at the mall and felt out of breath; now think of this. Think of what that is like every moment of your life. Struggling to breath when you simply stand up or walk to the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

This is why fund are being raised and if YOU CAN, please send in a gift of a few or many dollars. You can place your gift by clicking on the following link:

Laura Primm - Hustling Up The Hancock

Your gift to the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago is tax deductible! This fine organization will send you an e-tax receipt once donation has processed.

Now a couple of fun facts about the John Hancock Building

- Located at 875 North Michigan Avenue in the Streeterville area of Chicago, Illinois.
- Is a 100-story, 1,127-foot (344 m) tall skyscraper.
- Completed May 6, 1968
- At time of completion, it was the tallest building in the world outside New York City.
- Currently the fourth-tallest building in Chicago and sixth-tallest in the United States.
- Is just plain cool looking.

Stay inspired my friends and donate today!

I Am All Things Possible

"If you believe in what you are doing, then let nothing hold you up in your work. Much of the best work of the world has been done against seeming impossibilities. The thing is to get the work done." -Dale Carnegie

There are lots of words we use every day that keep us from moving forward. We use words that diminish our ability and work against us. We use words such as; immature, immovable, impair, impatient, imperceivable, imperfect, implacable, impossible, impotent, impractical, and improbable.

The only thing that these words accomplish are to convince ourselves that everything is impossible. They set us up for a life that keeps us from achieving greater things in our life.

Sure enough, there are words we can use such as; imagine, implement, important, impress, improve, and improvise. But you can also turn the negative words into positive words such as;

I am mature
I am moveable
I am patient
I am perfect
I am possible
I am potent
I am practical
I am probable

I am all of these things which means all things are possible. It all begins by turing your negative words away. It begins by starting to speak positive words into your life, your relationships, your children, your friends and everything else you do.

Eventually you will find that possibility begins to turn into reality.

Twenty One Days

"Never let life impede on your ability to manifest your dreams. Dig deeper into your dreams and deeper into yourself and believe that anything is possible, and make it happen." -Corin Nemec

The twenty-one days are over. I have completed a fasting that lasted those twenty-one days and the human that I am; so glad it is over. This was not a full on no food, just water type of fasting. What I did was skip one meal a day and no caffeine. Yes, I will say that again, no caffeine.

There will be folks that would forsake all food rather then to give up their Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts morning coffee. Mine happens to be Racetrac coffee and Douwe Egberts office coffee and Folgers coffee made at home. I even made sure that I stayed away from any type of caffeine. I only drank herbal tea the entire time.

Some would have tried to sneak in de-caffeinated coffee, but not me. I stuck with my plan and now it is complete. This morning, day twenty-two, I have bought my cup of coffee. It is decaf though, for some reason I decided the full on shock of caffeine might not be a good thing.

You might ask why I put myself though this?

I put myself through it in order to challenge myself. It is part of a wider event our church held (as do thousands of others) but I took it as a personal challenge. If I can do without something personal and self-concerned, maybe I can focus more on having a greater connection with life.

Sounds all new-age and weird doesn't it?

Well don't worry, that is not what it is. What it does is challenge some of the normal parts in my life. Can I dig deep and accomplish something such as this? I can, I did, and so can you.

Twenty-one days is nothing compared to the rest of your life.

If you can push yourself for that many days, you can do anything. The problem is that we give up before we even try. We tell ourselves we can not accomplish goals because we are not good enough, or strong enough or capable. The problem with thinking that way is it becomes self defeating. We set ourselves up for failure because that is what we are speaking into our lives. It becomes a mindset engrained in our life.

Turn that mindset around, accomplish something small or big in twenty one days. You will than realize you can do so much more. You will realize that the impossible is not quite so impossible.

There is so much for you to accomplish in life, so much to do for others, so much good that can be done. It just starts with twenty-one days.

Stay inspired my friends.

End of the Rope

"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." -Franklin D. Roosevelt

You have heard their stories. You have stood and listened for hours and hours to the words of desperation and complaint. You have probably even watched the finality take hold of another person. You even may have been the one getting near the end of your rope.

In either case, you have to hold on or be the one to help another tie a knot and hang on. We each have gone through bad times and had to endure varying degrees of pain or frustration. And I am not here to say that I have been through what you might be going through.

What I do know is that there is more strength inside of you. There is more possibility of getting through. There are others that believe in you. There are others that know you are capable of overcoming anything. All you need to do is hang onto that rope a little longer.

You may be asking yourself, "But I'm not at my rope's end. What can I do?"

The answer is quite simple. Be the knot at the end of the rope of someone's life. Be the one helping them hold on. You may not have the answers or any solutions for that person. But you can help them hang on until they get it figured out. It doesn't mean that you are a crutch for them to permanently lean upon.

And now I'm talking to the person grasping hold of the knot, the person helping them hold on. A knot in a rope eventually frays thin and will slip. So don't depend upon that knot to hold up your life forever. The knot is there for us to regain grasp of our life. It allows us to start that climb back up.

There will be times in our lives when we need someone to tie a knot for us. there will be times when we need to tie our own knot. Just keep hanging on, keep trying, keep believing.

Presidents Day, Really?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.." -William Shakespeare

So why exactly do we celebrate two President's birthdays on the same day? Initially it was (for some) to honor all the American presidents, but most importantly George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. If you look at the Gregorian or "New Style" calendar most commonly used today, George Washington was born on February 22, 1732.

But if you look at the older Julian or "Old Style" calendar used in England until 1752, his birth date was February 11th. And Americans back in the 1790s were split - some celebrated his birthday on February 11th and some on February 22nd. What a shocking notion that Americans were having a disagreement.

When Abraham Lincoln became president and helped reshape our country, many believed that he, too, should have a special day of recognition. The tough part was that Lincoln’s birthday fell on February 12th. And prior to 1968, having two presidential birthdays so close together really didn't seem to bother anyone.

• February 22nd was observed as a federal public holiday to honor the birthday of George Washington
• February 12th was observed as a public holiday to honor Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.

Then in 1968, things changed when the 90th Congress decided that a uniform system of federal Monday holidays should be created. A vote was made to shift all three existing holidays (including Washington's Birthday) to Mondays. This new law took effect in 1971, and as a result, Washington's Birthday holiday was changed to the third Monday in February.

Again, shockingly, not all Americans were happy with the new law. There was some concern Washington's identity would be forgotten as the third Monday in February would never fall on his actual birthday. Others also attempted to rename this public holiday "Presidents' Day", alas this attempt didn't get any support as some believed not all presidents deserved a special recognition.

With all of the holiday changes, Congress had created a uniform federal holiday law but not a uniform holiday title. There was no agreement among the individual states on what to call this holiday. There were some states, like California, Idaho, Tennessee and Texas made the choice not to use the federal holiday title and renamed their state holiday "President's Day."

It was at that point going forward that the term “Presidents' Day” became a marketing phenomenon. Advertisers sought to capitalize on the opportunity for three-day or week-long sales.

There have been attempts since that time to specify that the legal public holiday once referred to as Washington's Birthday be "officially" called by that name once again. All attempts have failed.

So what does this have to do with having a great attitude and success in life?

Most people today accept things as they are. They accept that President's Day is called that because it just is. They accept that their life is what it is. But if you dig a little deeper, you will find out more. If you dig a little deeper into yourself, you will find that YOU are so much more.

Don't accept things as they are in your life. You can get beyond what you currently have and where you are in life. You simply need to dig a little deeper and learn that you are capable of so much more.

So enjoy your Federal Holiday, then move forward in life. And stay inspired my friends.

Build a Home

"Seek home for rest, for home is best." -Thomas Tusser

Coming home, it is a wonderful feeling when one has been on the road. Whether it be a short trip down the road to another city, or a long journey to another country, returning is always a comforting event.

As much as we try to expand our horizons with new experiences and places, we tend to be 'home bodies' at heart. Home is the one place where you will always find those closest to you. A wife or husband, father or mother, child or friend that know you most dearly.

When I travel, the vast majority of people that I run into are friendly, helping and genuinely ready to assist. But the hotels are different from my own house, the food is different from my wife's cooking and the sounds or atmosphere do not have the same familiar feel.

And I find that when I come home, I can slow down from the hectic pace and be amongst family and friends. On the road there is a peculiar tension or stress. Even with the things one does to adjust, there is no place like home.

In your daily life, many of these stresses you encounter can be absolved simply by coming home. So don't make your home a stressful one. Build a home that is a comforting one that nourishes and rejuvenates the soul. “The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned" is how Maya Angelou said it.

Build a home that you will always ache for when you are not there.

Stay inspired my friends.

Connected Clarity

"I think people are isolated because of the nature of human consciousness, and they like it when they feel the connection between themselves and someone else.." ~James Taylor

While I am on the road, filled with business travel, business meetings and business meals, the days start to become a blur. The days are busy, filled with much to do. Many times I have to stop and refocus in order to regain clarity back into my world.

When I begin to focus, clarity is what begins to happen. There is no better way to bring things into focus then by connecting with others. As an example, while on the plane, looking out the window, the details of everything disappear as we rise higher and higher. When we reach a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet, one can see the huge expanses of the earth. It spreads out in a wondrous view.

What I also notice is that the buildings, the people, the cars and the small details disappear. From such a high location, there is no ability to focus on those small details. The people, the cars and buildings are impossible to see. It reminded me that if we remove ourselves from connection with people, we lose that same ability to focus on things. We have no relationships to others around us. We might as well be 35,000 feet in the air.

When the plane begins its descent near the end of the flight, little things begin to reappear. The shapes of buildings became more clear. One can see vehicles racing up and down various roads. I can more clearly focus on all of those details as we drew closer to them. The more we descended, the tighter connection we had to everything around us.

Connection can only take place when we draw closer to others. When we involve ourselves in relationships with other people, the focus of our lives achieves much greater clarity. With this new found clarity, your ability to impact the lives of others becomes so much greater. The ability of others to impact your life becomes greater.

Do not isolate yourself at 35,000 feet. You may feel you can see so much further, but in reality you only see a non-detailed landscape of your life. Draw closer to others by connecting in various ways. Achieve focus through these connections and you will gain a better life.

Stay inspired my friends.

Love Forever

"Love is all we have; the only way that each can help the other." -Euripides

Valentines Day is over. The flowers still have crispness and sweet aroma remaining. Wonderfully worded cards expressing unending love lay upon the counter. Chocolates and champagne, maybe balloons and gifts are the signs of love expressed.

What will happen as the days begin to grow wider between this day and the next? Will you remain firmly in love and express that love? Will you work to sustain your love?

The good news is that love, real love, is truly forever. It is ours to give in unending quantity. It remains within our reach to give in unselfish ways and get replenished the more we let it flow from our heart. Love has been here even before the Flintstones. Love has been here before any of us even knew what love was for.

Keep working on your relationships. Keep showing your love, giving your love and see how sustainable love will be in your life. As the days grow in number after Valentines Day, keep that feeling alive.

Stay inspired and in love my friends.

Valentines 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.

15 Tips For Greater Loving

"To love abundantly is to live abundantly, and to love forever is to live forever." -Henry Drummond

It is the eve of Valentine's Day and today I provide you with some practical tips to go along with my book called LOVE IS. I encourage you to buy the book and read it together with the one you love. It will change your love for each other into one more powerful, one more lasting and one that is greater.

15 Tips For Greater Loving

1. Say "I love you."
2. Don't compare them to anyone, accept their weaknesses and flaws.
3. Be courteous at all times, consider their feelings.
4. Leave notes or send letters, make them laugh.
5. Give them your full attention when talking and be interested in their interests.
6. Say you're sorry and let go any bad experience and anger.
7. Encourage health in all its forms.
8. Be lavish in praise, become their biggest fan!
9. Forget about past mistakes, practice forgiveness and let go of jealousy.
10. Show your gratitude for them, take pride in them, show your pride.
11. Spend time with them, listen to them.
12. Give hugs and kisses, buy a "for no reason" gift.
13. Tell the truth, keep your promises and say what you mean.
14. Pray or meditate together.
15. Say "I love you."

Keep loving one another and stay inspired my friends.

Lessons in Love

“Enjoy the process. In the middle of this is where everything happens.” -Dean Sweetman

In my new book called LOVE IS describes my journey to discover what real love is. I also take a look at other couple in history and their story of love. There are also chapters that examine the greatest love story ever told. So in my efforts to help you learn what real love is, I am including bits and pieces of my book in various blog articles.

In the chapter titled "If I Speak", my days in college turned out to be a mixed bag of discovery. I see failure in the form of not completing my degree and hard lessons learned regarding how to handle different situations. But I also see success in what turned out to be a path to having four wonderful boys and a great career.

So here is an excerpt from my book, LOVE IS.

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The year’s in-between high school and my sister’s death slowly began to have love take hold of me. There were moments of learning and false starts. Even as I graduated from high school, there were still those selfish feelings of “why didn’t I receive more from the high school experience.” No scholarships, no girl friend, no shouts of encouragement or job well done. This caused me to harden my resolve that I would have to do it all on my own. That is not exactly what love is all about and it would continue to take time for the learning process to develop. So off to college I went with a self-centered ambition in mind to succeed on my own terms and that is how I left those early years behind.

Peru State College in Peru, Nebraska would prove to be the application, right or wrong, of those lessons that were building up inside of me. I would enter college with the initial purpose of separating myself from my high school days. I was determined to build a new life on my own terms. College brings new possibility to everything. There are new people, new surroundings and new challenges to conquer. I set out to achieve everything I could by myself since it seemed no one else wanted to be part of my life. It all turned out good and I learned new lessons in life and love even though I was a slow learner.

I jumped into college full steam ahead, becoming involved in many different adventures. There was of course the standard class schedule, much of which I quickly lost control of. This was due to the fact I was becoming heavily involved in many of the other college activities. There was student government, plays to act in, art classes to take and of course parties to attend. It was a collision course with failure to earn a degree that I didn’t see coming.

There were many other successes that came out of my college attendance. I became the Student Body President and also an appointed Student Representative to the State College Board of Trustees. I learned the dos and the don’ts of representative government. I failed miserably at some of my work but succeeded in others. There were people I met along the way that were good and some not so good. All of time I was trying to it all by myself in what I later viewed as righteous indignation.

My love life was on a very slow track as well. It seemed I was falling back into old habits from high school. There were advances and there were a couple of girls that I dated, both of which taught me different lessons about love. There was heartache on my part in never being able to develop a relationship with one. And the other there was heartache on her part when I broke off our relationship. I cannot remember enough to tell you why either relationship failed, but I would say my lack of understanding what love really meant contributed to it. As my relationship with these two women failed, so did my classroom studies. As I transitioned into my second year of college, there was still hope of success in continuing my education.

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I firmly believe that we are constantly on a journey to find the full potential of love. Love is and can be a very powerful force in our life. I would suggest that once you learn the basic tenets of what LOVE IS, it will focus your own journey and make it more enjoyable.

Enjoy my new book folks and as always, stay inspired.

Keep Your Fork

"When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile." -Unknown

There is a story I heard not long ago regarding a young woman diagnosed with a terminal illness. She had not been given much time left to live and felt it very important to get things in order. So she contacted her Pastor to come discuss various aspects of her final wishes.

There were all of the usual things regarding song she wanted sung at the service, what scriptures she would like read, and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. When everything was in order and the Pastor was preparing to leave when the young woman remembered something very important to her.

She said excitedly "I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand." The Pastor stood looking at the young woman, not knowing quite what to say. In response to his puzzled look, she explained. "My grand mother once told me this story, and from that time on I have always tried to pass along its message to those I love and those who are in need of encouragement. In all my years of attending socials and dinners, I always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared, someone would inevitably lean over and say, 'Keep your fork.' It was my favorite part because I knew that something better was coming...like velvety chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance!"

She went on to say, "So, I just want people to see me there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to wonder 'What's with the fork?' Then I want you to tell them: 'Keep your fork....the best is yet to come."

By telling this story, you do not need to be on death's door to understand the meaning. Whatever circumstance you are in, things will get better, the best is yet to come.

So stay inspired my friends and keep a fork in your hand.

Baby Its Cold

Johnny Carson: Man, is it cold out there today.
Ed McMahon: How cold is it?
Johnny Carson: It's so cold I saw a chicken with a capon.

Okay, so maybe it isn't that cold out side but my first day in Germany and the temperature is 14 degrees Farenheit. An artic blast reminding me that yes, it does get cold in various places.

I was warned though and I planned ahead. But having a carry-on suitcase and not wanting to carry bundles of coats, I felt prepared enough. The jacket, scarf, hat and gloves were and will have to be enough. Even with my planning though, the sharpness of the cold cut through me.

That is sort of how life is sometimes. We plan and prepare for what is to come but sometimes it just isn't enough. The sharpness of circumstance will cut through you and change the course of your day. What matters is how you carry forth from the situation.

For me, I could let it ruin my entire business trip. I could decide to allow myself to be miserable but won't. I'll enjoy the feeling of the cold, of artic wind upon my face and the numbing of my toes. It will create great memories and also lessons for next time.

Something can always be gained from your experience. And the great thing is that you get to decide. It is your choice on how you'll respond to the situation. I choose to enjoy it, learn from it and next time I will certainly be more prepared. That is how we move ahead in life.

Stay warm and stay inspired my friends.

Patience Moves

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

The start to a new week was going well. Everything was in order for my overseas business trip. It was an uneventful ride to the train station where I kissed my lovely wife goodbye. It was an uneventful train rider to the airport. It was even an uneventful stroll to the security checkpoint.

I than had to use most of what I write each day to exude patience upon the TSA security checkpoint. The queue up to have my ticket checked was fine and a very uncrowded line up to fill the bins awaited me. And than the TSA agent...

The line was moving very easily, there were no hold ups, no back ups. But all of a sudden she wanted everyone to shuffle along faster. She pushed our items onto the conveyor belt before we were ready. She hustled us for some unknown reason. I was very close to losing my patience but decided patience was the better course this day. Maybe this just wasn't a good day for her.

Patience paid off because I kept my cool, didn't create a scene and got through security with additional hassle. All I had to do was wait out the situation.

In business and every day life, we each are faced with times where that patience is tested. And having that patience is important because we all eventually come to terms with the fact that many things won't happen as soon as we would like them to.

One could imagine themselves as someone who prefers winter when it is currently July. At this moment in time you are unhappy. But you have to reach the point in understanding that the unhappiness is a choice. Will getting upset change summer into winter? Will getting upset really accomplish anything accept making you more miserable?

Winter will eventually come, so maybe it is much better to relax and just wait. Your stress level will fall quite a bit when you learn to accept the things you can not change.

Also, patience is important because some things are better the longer you wait. Uncooked food, marinated for hours and slow cooked becomes better with time. You could simply microwave it, but the marinating and slow cooking will provide you with much more satisfaction.

Lastly, patience will help keep you from acting irrationally. The result of not slowing down can keep you from acting rashly. If you sit back and think before acting, you may realize that there is an alternative solution that would benefit you more. The longer you wait, the more you will be able to control your emotions so that you can think rationally

These principles of patience can serve you well in business and in your personal life. All you have to do is slow down and watch it happen. It won't occur instantly, for if it did it wouldn't be patience.

So keep working towards being a more patient person in life and see how it can truly create a better world for you.

And stay inspired my friends.