Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Atmosphere of Attitude

"The atmosphere we create within ourselves is the life we live, the thoughts we think and emotions we feel. We create our own atmosphere with the words we speak, the attitudes we hold and the songs we sing. We create our culture with the vision we have, the people we are with and the values we live by." - Fergus McIntyre

To be a person working to achieve a great life for yourself and those around you, it starts from within. Your own thoughts and emotions drive what you express outwardly. If you have an attitude of woe and despair. If you are always feeling that 'the worst is yet to come', then your entire being will be shaped in this manner.

Those thoughts and emotions get spoken and expressed outwardly when you engage in life. To have a better image of what life is and can be will get expressed that way. When you speak to others, your words will lift instead of depress. In a woeful place of misery inside yourself, do you really want the outside world to be this way? Likely not, so turn around your internal spirit - turn around to a positive way of thinking.

A positive view will get expressed outwardly causing others to 'want' to be around you. People that are like-minded and looking for this greater life. More opportunity will come your way, more positive reinforcement will come your way. Soon you will find the atmosphere around you and your world creating a culture of greatness.

I have heard it said that there is a place of influence upon each of your lives. The many people you touch and encounter in your life at different levels - you effect each of them. If your influence is one of woe and despair, it will be one of woe and despair that you place upon others. In return it is likely you will only receive woe and despair.

But to be a person of greatness, of encouragement and aspiring attitude - surely you will receive all that and more in return. A great life is one which each of you deserve but it doesn't come free, it isn't a right but it is one that can be achieved. One that everyone can achieve at one level or another. For the great life is different for everyone. Be different and choose greatness, choose now.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Commitment To Change

Anyone can be an ACE: Attitude + Commitment = Excellence” - Robert Inman

You have now decided to start adopting some of the changes I have expressed at various times. I have to congratulate and commend you for taking that first step. But doing so is like anything that you have decided to embark upon. You must resolve to be committed to carrying through with your decision.

Your progress will never go forward if you don't stay focused and fully committed to the change. Like 'Twelve Step' programs or an athletes drive to finish a long distance marathon, both require commitment to the end result. Starting and stopping will never get you where it is you want to be. It will cause delays and frustration along with increasing self doubt.

So resolve to make a change and stick with it. There will be the ups, the downs and the seemingly lack of progress at times. But long-term commitment to a change will result in excellence within your life. Now all you need is the attitude....more next time.

Monday, July 31, 2006

Life In The Trenches

Life is not a continuum of pleasant choices, but of inevitable problems that call for strength, determination, and hard work.”
- Indian Proverb

A couple of days off from writing due to a water line break at my home. It is interesting that life will some times interrupt your enjoyment. Of course I could bore you with the details but I will try to pass along something that you can learn from.

Late afternoon on Friday the inevitable 'wet' spot in the ground surfaced. One will try to deny the existence of it, hoping that the problem will go away. Many of us have the tendency to face life this way. Ignore it, close your eyes and just maybe it doesn't exist. No such luck this time, out came the shovel to start digging dirt and mud.

Part of me felt while digging that I was back on the farm. Cleaning out hog pens shoveling that which fills most hog pens. A wonderful way to spend an evening but the birght spot being that I found the water line right away. Found the leak, a mad dash to the hardware store and the leak was fixed...for fifteen minutes...another leak sprung.

Murphys Law of course dictated the moment, for where one leak appears there will always be one more. This water pipe was made of plastic and nearly twenty years old, best to replace the entire length down to the water meter. Only 75 feet from house to meter, between two trees and through hard Georgia clay.

The digging would begin the next day with two of my sons working hard on a three inch wide trench. The good news is we only need to dig down about one and a half feet, a small positive in the miserable heat and humidity. I was proud of how they worked and it is the first time I have ever seen someone bend a Pickaxe. But how were we ever going to get through this. The area of tree roots seemed almost unbearable.

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.” - Newt Gingrich

So why not call in a plumber or go rent a trenching machine? Well, I am my father's son and you can save money by putting in some hard work, the money saved is worth much more. It took a lot of thought and self encouragement to continue and complete the trench. A new water pipe, no worries of another leak due to an old pipe. Time with two of my sons watching their hard efforts and physically, it was good exercise for me.

The job finished and the yard landscaped, the feeling of accomplishment was good. The same can be said of anything you do in life. When faced with an obstacle that seems too great to overcome, keep pushing through. You will find it very rewarding on the other side.

Life grants nothing to us mortals without hard work.”
- Horace (Ancient Roman Poet. 65 BC-8 BC)