Into 2021 We Go

Gregorian calendar says we are ending the year of 2020 tonight,
And overnight we enter 2021,
All with the same hope and excitement that a new year brings. 

The past year of 2020 challenged everyone in many different ways,

And it would be easy to dismiss,

A year deemed bad or maybe even a year to forget. 

We should not so easily turn our backs on this most challenging year,

Even as many endured so much,

Health, family or simply the impact of our isolation.

Each of us would have good reasons to curse the year,

One that was meant,

A year we thought, would be a turning point of greatness.

It was a year the futurists and prophets of positivity had said,

This year would bring,

But life determines how life itself is going to unfold.

I would rather look back on 2020 and view the challenges,

As growth, of changing perspective,

To view 2020 for the good things happened as well.

The year brought me off the road to spend more time with family,

To find new ways to connect,

To listen to people and to cherish more important things in life.

The year gave all of us celebrations, births, birthdays, accomplishment.

There was more of people talking, 

Sometimes angrily but talking is a way to start resolving differences.

We adapted and created ways to accomplish in spite of,

COVID isolation, social injustice, and pain,

Even as all of this occurred we moved forward, we did it together.

We did all of this working with each other, leaning on each other,

Trusting each other.

By sharing our human experience with each other to push through.

Now 2021, new year, new hopes, goals, dreams and opportunity,

Yet the year is but a number.

And we make of that number, the year, what we want of it.

Life will create what it does for us in the coming days and months.

There will be challenges just like in 2020,

But there will be opportunity, there will be joy, there will be success. 

As is customary, I wish the best for each of you in the new year.

I wish so much,

Health, happiness, love and peace to you, your families, your friends.

Most of all I wish for each of you to find greatness in yourself.  

To know you are great,

And to be happy in yourself with what you have and in what you do.

If you can find that, you can overcome anything.

Life really is great.

Let that be your wish, your goal, your success in 2021.

Stay inspired my friends! 

Another Year To Remember

We started the year full of hope and promise,

We do so each year, a given, written in sonnets.

With joy we entered the year of 2020,

With increasing pain and disaster aplenty.

We wondered what hit us as March it came clear,

We sorted exaggeration and dealt with our fear.

With adjustments some wore masks to limit the spread,

With others their freedoms meant more than the dead.

We asked then deflected to others as the source,

We said no not us, was them, the fervor and force.

With so many deaths does not fully matter,

With focus we changed and wrote a new chapter.

We made it this far, a new year approaching,

We come to it wishing with hope ever promising.

With leaving 2020 and entering 2021,

With much more to do, our lives will move on.

Stay inspired my friends!

Life of Sharing

 

I sit and ponder of all the wonder,

When once was fret and anger and thunder.

With time and age, to ease my burden,

Of things too small to worry or bother.

The troubles of life are no less thought of,

Goodness fills more than the other.

With burdens eased with mindful change,

To lessen pain, allow joy to reign.

A wish for all is a change in heart,

To lay down the hate and make a new start.

If only to lessen the madness we carry,

And live a life of peace, more sharing.

Stay inspired my friends!

Beatitude of Turkey

Came from the woods in feathered glory.

First just one, tom leading the way.

Soon was joined, the rafter, the flock.

Noisy gobbling, at distance would warn.

Where next to end upon a table.

Call it gobbler, a tarnegol hodu, kalkoen, moan barang, pelehu, shichimenchō, Truthahn, or plain old Turkey.

Bird is sacrificed, we celebrate the food,

Table full, no turkey alone, true thanks for all given,

From feathery beginning, to the corn, the cranberry.

Our family to all, here or there, cheers to your Thanksgiving.

Stay inspired my friends!

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!

Winters Divide

 

The day is cool but humid breezy,

Closing days of autumn nearing.

To sit and wish against the change,

Each leaf it falls to winters calling.

Nature speaks with change of season,

Bending to the inevitability.

Winter comes, we wish for warmth,

Too soon to sit beside the hearth.

 Plants and animals adjust in tune,

As humans fight in divide and gloom.

As life goes on with winters hold,

Can mankind solve our bitter cold.

Stay inspired my friends!

Exercise Your Voting Right

 

The day is near to cast your voice,

A way to state your choice.

Tuesday is your voting right.

We've heard the arguments,

Two sides have made their statements.

Tuesday is your voting right.

The right, the left, the middle swings,

Our right to vote means everything.

Tuesday is your voting right.

Results it brings to our grand nation,

For some disappointment, others elation.

Tuesday is your voting right.

Get up and vote your belief, your choice,

Whatever the outcome, we all had a voice.

Tuesday is your voting right.

Stay inspired my friends!

Greatness in Action

 

A word, an adjective, used so much,

The best, the most, the largest of all.

We get it, its great,

A word used so much.

Economy, jobs or acts of decision,

The policies, the orders, the grandest of all.

We get it, its great,

A word used so much.

Accomplishments, failures, 

Life's normal occurrences.

Can all things be great,

A word used so much.

The word used so much,

Like watered down juice.

The meaning becomes nothing,

A word used so much.

Defined by a dictionary,

Means action not bluster.

Live life in greatness,

Not just a word used too much.

Stay inspired my friends!

Extraordinary People

It was said there are no extraordinary people.  

That there are only those who pray, 

And then there are those who do not.

It was said there are no extraordinary people. 

That one side owns morality, 

And the other does not. 

It was said there are no extraordinary people. 

That goodness belongs in only one fashion, 

And the other pure evil. 

It was said there are no extraordinary people.

But in life we all are extraordinary, 

Those who believe they are and those who do not. 

 Stay inspired my friends!

Breathe, Just Breathe

 

The air we breathe, when we take a knee.

The pew, the field, whichever we believe.

A common theme is the air we breathe.

The air we breathe, when we protest our grief.

The street, the park, in social media we talk.

We do so using the same air we breathe.

The air we breathe, when differences reign.

The shouts, the tears, our moral outrage displayed.

All that is left is the air we breathe.

Stay inspired my friends!

It Is What It Is

 

In winter it came so quiet and growing.

We gave it no notice nor heeded the warnings.

Under control, not worse than the flu,

We gave it no notice nor knew what to do.

In spring it was loud and so deadly serious. 

We laughed at the masks, our freedoms, we choose.

Such simple steps but oh how we mused,

We laughed at the masks, so many we will lose.

In summer we said it will go away, you fools,

Yet the echoes of death, so many are dying.

It held on firm, it continued to spread.

The echoes of death, it is what it is, was said.

With fall now upon us, debate it runs on.

We fools of the virus, remain to get stricken.

A leader is touched, like millions of others.

We fools of the virus, how many get taken.

Stay inspired my friends!

Clouds of Grey

Grey clouds swirling in random quiet,

Filling days with covered notions.

My mind it drifts with all their passing,

To places of so many emotions.

The sky will fill with gentle rain,

Like tears of joy or tears of pain,

The day continues mostly silent.

The Sun it sits above this blanketed sky.

It settles then onto the horizon,

Darkness falls, still stars are hidden.

And tears still fall on ground so sodden,

To wash and cleanse that which I feel.

The night continues mostly silent.

The day returns the rain has settled,

Upon the earth so dry now fertile.

It springs forth hope of new direction.

My mind is filled with eased conviction,

To watch the sky now cleared of grey.

Each day it passes, each one is new.

My life continues mostly silent.  

Stay inspired my friends!

Burning Fires

If the sky screamed colors of orange and red,

would we take notice.

If the winds grew hot and unrelenting,

would we take notice.

Nature's voice resonates its truth,

with years beyond our own.

If the forest crumbled into black ashes,

would we take notice.

If the birds soared with no branch to land upon,

would we take notice.

Earth so magnificent and wonderful, 

takes care alone in spite of us.

If we cried out from the smoke,

would we take notice.

If it all ended with nothing left,

would nature take notice.

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.

To Fly

The bird so high in a blue sky,

No wings flapping, moving smoothly in flight.

The trail it leaves marks a path,

From one destination to another.

To see from so high, so very high,

A world so small, its largeness so immense.

I long for a return to flight,

To see a world I thought I once knew.

From feet in the cool green grass,

Gazing to see a bird so free in flight.

Longing for the lift to let the dew release,

Seeing the curve of my earthly wonder.

My flight will return, to soar above the birds,

To feel the air beneath my feet.

Rising above the noise and chaos,

To return and nest in the comfort of a lover.

-- Stay inspired my friends.

Waiting At The Door

With the many years removed, 

Your gentle calming voice still rings in my ear. 

The comfort and tears you wiped from my face, 

My heart remains full of your love.

 

You always stood at the door, 

Waving goodbye until gone from sight. 

Seeing you there one more time, 

Is what I long for but will wait. 

When you left, we stood at your bedside, 

Knowing you were leaving for a while. 

We stood there waiting, 

Until you were gone from sight. 

And when the time arrives,

When my life returns to another.

I know that I will find you at the door,

Waiting for me there.

-- Stay inspired my friends.

Hummingbird

This day to sit and gaze at the waning summer days. 

Of a season cautioned by masks and six foot deep pain. 

The isolation of quarantines, rioting and politics,

And yet the hummingbird still flitters about. 

The air is filled with the noise of human discord. 

Our existence, our righteousness is on display,

For all of nature to watch and wonder.

And the hummingbird still flitters about. 

When autumn change appears at a sunrise,

Will the change bring our own in some way. 

Or will the ensuing cold only bluish our hearts,

While the hummingbird still flitters about. 

As it goes, we will find a way to have a life,

To be a short lived member of this great world. 

And when the beating is gone from us,

We will flitter about as the hummingbird. 

— Stay inspired my friends. 

Our New Normal

“Today, the sun will rise on all your doubts.”
― Marty Rubin

It was Friday morning, December 13 of 2019 when I took this photo from my hotel room in Shanghai, China. Yes, Friday the 13th and no, I am not a superstitious person. I just thought I'd get that out in front of any comments my readers may have.

This was my last day in China after a week long visit with customers and team members of the company I work for. It was a beautiful morning, the kind that photographs can do no justice to let alone a smartphone camera. But I wanted to capture the moment for it serves me with a great reminder of a successful week. The business connections were productive as were the team meetings inspiring along with also being productive.

Little did I know a mere 500 miles to the west, something was brewing that would change our lives today.

When I returned home to Atlanta, the holiday season was upon us. There would be gifts exchanged, gatherings for family meals and the various holiday parties of revelry and togetherness. The year of 2019 would end with the usual champagne toasts to a year gone by and the good tidings of a new year. That year was to be 2020, a year marked on calendars and written about in predictions, prognostications and prophecy.

January 1 came and went like any other new year day and our lives in the new year began as it always does. The football games, the return to work and the planning that goes into starting a new year fresh with hope and optimism. Myself, I had another business trip to Japan to meet with other team members and more customer visits. This was a great trip to meet old business friends, spending time as we always do dining and talking of those things which matter in our lives. It was a time of reconnecting and strengthening our long distant relationships.

I have been lucky in my line of work to have traveled to most places in this amazing world. All but two continents have been my pleasure to have visited and I am continually amazed. Setting aside governments and religions, people around the world are pretty much the same. All of us are getting up in the morning, having breakfast, getting the kids off to school, fighting traffic to get to work and dealing with the rest of our daily lives.

In all of those similarities, we are all simply living our normal lives but then the virus.

Everyone had seen the news of this thing wrecking havoc upon a very large city in China and we went about our normal lives. This thing then began to spread to other pockets of communities around the globe and we went about our normal lives. Some thought no worse then a new strain of the flu and we stayed in our normal lives. But down deep I think many of us were also starting to believe there was more to it.

In late February, another business trip would take me to London and onto Ireland with a final stop in Germany. I would only make it as far as Ireland. We had all heard of the changes coming. Of people wearing facial masks and taking care to wash your hands to the tune of Happy Birthday. I had been trying to take care while also continuing with my normal life. Then came the call for all employees to effectively end their business travel and return home.

A new normal was taking shape even though we were not fully aware of it just yet.

I grew up on a farm in east central Nebraska. Hog farmers is what we were with the small town life you read about in books and on Sunday TV news feel good pieces. We felt as many I am sure do to this day, safe. Safe from the concerns of the busy world of the big city or even other countries. When I moved away, it was first to the big city and a job that job leading to even larger cities and different countries. My belief is the world is much smaller then you can imagine and yet, it is still amazing.

After returning home from Europe I was concerned with my health and of those I would be around. I did the precautionary things one should do and yes, I had my normal airplane sniffles upon return. Was it the virus, did I have it, was I infecting others? Nothing could be done but to wait it out and the new normal we were reading and hearing about was growing and spreading to even the remotest of places.

And now, here we are in our new normal. Working from home, businesses closed, stay at home orders, no gatherings and social distancing. A new normal that all of us are coming to terms with. Some more reluctantly then others. A new normal that has us teaching our kids at home, conducting Zoom meetings with the dog barking in the background and getting used to wearing a facial mask at the grocery store, still amazed at the empty toilet paper shelves.

Will we return to the old normal we had grown accustomed to?

There will be some level of previous normalcy in our lives eventually. And there will be a new normal to contend with. The global economy will have to find its way back into a healthy state. People who have lost their jobs will have to claw their way back from financial ruin. Your favorite restaurant or department store may no longer be here. More and more delivery trucks will cruise through our neighborhoods. And the new normal will be just that, our new normal.

For me, I always hold onto the goodness this world can give us. The beautiful yellow pollen of a spring day in Georgia or the goodness that really does exist in humanity. Just hold on and know that the sun will set each day but rise in a spectacular fashion whether you are in Shanghai or in your own hometown.

Stay safe, healthy and stay inspired everyone!

Do Not Go Gentle

Do not go gentle into that good night ~Dylan Thomas

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

As described in many places, Dylan's poem is a strong summoning for us to live boldly and to fight. It wants us to not simply "go gentle into that good night," but to fight against it.

And even at the end of life, when "grave men" are near death, we are instructed to burn with life. The poem's meaning is life affirming.

Stay inspired my friends!

In A World That Can Always Use It

So much to be thankful for. So much ability to give kindness.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.”
― Plato

Do you remember that feeling when someone, a complete stranger did something such as holding the door open for you? Or maybe there was another, small and random thing they did which put a smile on your face. The thing that occurred was an unsolicited and random act of kindness.

Kindness does not have to be random though, it can be intentional.

Kindness whether given or received has a biological impact on our well being. Studies by neuroscience show that kindness triggers higher levels of endorphins. These are the chemicals that make your body feel good. They also activate a part of the brain that is associated with enjoyment. Over many years, researchers have consistently corroborated the benefits of doing good. And what are those benefits?

It can make you happier.
A study done at University of California Riverside, had subjects practicing five small acts of kindness each week. Small things such as donating blood, thank you notes or helping someone in a small way. The results showed an increase in happiness but those in the control group, who did nothing, reported a slight decrease in happiness.

It can make you healthier.
This chemical releases within our body by being kind will produce a hormone called oxytocin, which helps keep your heart healthy by relaxing cells along the walls of our arteries, allowing more blood to flow through and be delivered to the heart and other organs. This will reduce your blood pressure and lower risk of heart disease.

It might even lead to a longer life.
There have been studies showing those who volunteer their time tend to achieve better overall health outcomes than those who do not. For those people, it lead to a 22% lower death rate when researchers checked back with both groups many years later.

You should try to make it a goal to enact some level of kindness towards others each day. The following list are examples to possibly inspire you.

- Give a genuine compliment
- Treat a friend or coworker to coffee
- Pay for a stranger’s parking
- Send an unexpected thank-you or "thinking of you" note
- Hold the door open for someone
- Call a friend to ask about their day
- Let a stranger cut you in line
- Offer to take a task off of a coworker's plate
- Share a funny or uplifting video
- Cook a meal for a friend or loved one

Want even more ideas?

- Choose forgiveness
- Grab lunch with a new coworker
- Give up your seat on public transportation
- Lend an ear to someone who needs it
- Visit an elderly relative
- Donate to a non-profit
- Send a thank-you note
- Leave a quarter in a laundromat
- Send a care package
- Share an umbrella
- Offer words of encouragement to someone who needs them
- Support a local business
- Leave a generous tip
- Host or organize a gathering for your community

Doing something good is good for everyone involved. Make the change in our world by you being the change that happens.

Stay inspired my friends!