Choices In Response

A full morning of shopping during this holiday season can be enough to test anyone's attitude. The 'sunshine' factor can certainly turn from bright and warm into dark and gloomy. With all of the shoppers and cars on the road, it is a test of will.

I found myself beginning to feel the crush of the holiday rush. Even as I was nearly tripped by a remote control car at the Discovery Store. As I walked on, I actually heard the store clerk start to chuckle. No words of apology and concern to see if I was okay. It was a pure and simple chuckle, a chortle, a snickering of what I thought was the worst kind.

In an instant I was faced with three choices;

1. Continue walking and say nothing.
2. Turn and berate the kid for his insensitivity.
3. Turn and offer my own apology for nearly breaking his merchandise.

Well, I would have continued on without saying anything, sulking in being a klutz and nearly falling. But that giggle just didn't sit well. So already being in a state of edginess from the shopping and I'm certainly not known for any love of shopping, option two was the first one to cross my mind.

As I stopped and spun around...you are free to have slow motion visions from one of your favorite movies if it will help...with a basket of words to say to this person. But as I did it occurred to me that it would not have accomplished anything. I would have been simply frustrated, the kid would have not given it a thought of some older guy berating him.

So I walked back and simply asked if the remote control car was okay. That I wanted to ensure that I had not damaged it. With a smile, it was a way of confronting the situation which did throw the kid a curve. He stuttered a bit trying to come up with words. He said all was okay and then apologized for nearly tripping me.

What effect did this have beyond my little encounter. I'd like to think that the store clerk will think differently and turn my kindness into a lesson for him. It could translate into him being a better person and possibly a better employee at his store. You can do the math for what that could mean for the store. Yet in our bigger world it just makes it better place.

Insignificant some might say, only think it insignificant the next time someone smiles your way and think maybe, just maybe someone else helped put that smile on their face.

Fear Can Be Overcome

"Most people think that courage is the absence of fear. The absence of fear is not courage; the absence of fear is some kind of brain damage. Courage is the capacity to go ahead in spite of the fear, or in spite of the pain. When you do that, you will find that overcoming that fear will not only make you stronger but will be a big step forward toward maturity." - M. Scott Peck, (Further Along the Road Less Traveled)

Keeping on the subject of fear and attitude, it isn't an easy thing to accomplish. Having the courage to overcome fear is quite possible. For fear is defined as, "...an unpleasant feeling of perceived risk or danger, real or not. Fear also can be described as a feeling of extreme dislike to some conditions/objects, such as: fear of darkness, fear of ghosts, etc. It is one of the basic emotions." (from Wikipedia).

In an online article from "Tell Me How", they indicate the following;

• One of the most common barriers to success is simply fear of failure, which either stops us doing something, or inhibits our ability to do it as well as we can.
• The key to overcoming fear of failure is simply persistence. By trying and trying and trying again, you cannot fail, as you will always achieve this goals this way.Determination to succeed always conquers fear of failure.
• So many businesses are so close to success, for instance, when the owners fear failure so much that they stop short of developing something that could have been great.
• And so with individuals, we shy away from the challenge due to fear of failure. Commit to meet challenges head on and you will overcome failure, as it will no longer be an option.

Step forward to meet your challenges, step forward to meet your fears and overcome them. You will be amazed at how much more you can do.

Overcoming Fear To Succeed

In respect for my friend in the previous article, I wanted to wait a couple of days before writing another blurb in my little patch of the world wide web. This great thing called the internet has always fascinated me. To see how ones writings can spread so wide. It starts small like a snowflake but grows and gains speed as time goes by. Pretty soon you find that your daily thoughts are out there on display for everyone to read.

Opening one self to this wide spread forum can be a bit intimidating. I've written previously that it takes courage to overcome any fear you have in making that first step. In creating this blog, my fear was in placing my words out for all to read. The fear of opening oneself to criticism or even ridicule can be a great deterrent to accomplishing things.

I've heard it said by various successful people over and over again, "...don't let your fear dictate." My yearning to help others by providing ideas and encouragement made me over come any fear of doing so. I would go so far as to say, "growth in attitude causes you to overcome, in fact demands that you overcome your fears."

Overcome your fears, one by one, step by step...see the change it will make in your life.

Touching Lives To The End

Back in mid-November, a man you may not have known passed away. Dan Thrasher, was a man who lived and touched people in ways I am sure he never imagined. It happened with me and it happened with many other fellow employees within my company and outside in his personal life. In battling cancer, he kept an amazing attitude towards life and those that he came in contact with. One of his many loves in life was that of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. A good friend of his arranged to have Harley-Davidson shirts from around the world secretly sent to Dan. It is reported that his eyes lit up every time the FedEx truck pulled up.

I knew Dan only slightly as we had worked on site together on a couple of occassions. But when I heard about this gesture of wonderment for Dan, many of us worked to locate and find shirts from around the world. In doing so, fellow employees from around the world were able to hear of this wonderful story. Each of these people were moved to appreciate more of life and their part in it. Each reinforced for me the goodness in life that each of us possesses. Dan set that in motion without realizing it. I'm sure he knows it now.

In one of my endeavors to find a shirt in Germany, with the best of mapped directions and advice from locals it was an adventure. Finding the local Harley-Davidson store put me in touch with many different people. Asking for directions puts one in contact with people one may otherwise not meet. It showed to me that there is goodness in everyone. It was Dan Thrasher that put this in motion. By being a person that touched one person he touched hundreds or maybe even thousands.

Each of you have that ability as well to touch everyone in your daily life. Dan Thrasher dropped a pebble into the still water. The ripple effect has passed through many of us and it will pass through you. As you go about your job and more importantly your personal life, know that you impact everyone you come in contact with. Allow the ripple to flow beyond to all that you touch.

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If you wish, the family requests that donations
be made in Dan's memory to St. Jude Children's
Hospital in Memphis, TN.
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