Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." This faith is one that you have to define. Mine is in a God and the fullness of what I believe he has to offer. Your faith may be defined in other ways, but to succeed in life, you do need to have something that will sustain and motivate you.
A friend of mine just recently found a new job after being out of work for many months. There were many things that life threw at his family over the course of this time. Health, money and home all were attacked by the troubles that plagued him. Many job interviews and coming so close yet being informed by the potential employer they had chosen a different direction.
Yet my friend maintained faith, perseverance, honor and his sense of humor. I'm sure during the quiet hours of night that depression would attempt to take hold. Yet he has weathered the deep canyon of life. When its walls seemed much too high to scale, he kept on and kept that faith. Today life is beginning to become more clear and the climb out of this deep area is becoming easier.
I'm sure he still feels that he has a long way to go. But from my viewpoint, he has come a very long distance already. I have great respect and admiration for this man as an example of carrying his faith the entire distance. To paraphrase from the quote above, "...the end doesn't have to be in site, just the beginning of the path." Begin your journey and if needed, pave your own path.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Don't Be Afraid
This was passed along to me and I thought to share with each of you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did.
You'll cry because time is passing too fast and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.
Don't be afraid that your life will end. Be afraid that it will never begin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did.
You'll cry because time is passing too fast and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.
Don't be afraid that your life will end. Be afraid that it will never begin.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Attitude For Life
This has been around for a long time but I like repeating it from time to time. It is an essay of sort regarding how one can approach life. Most certainly there are circumstances within our life over which we have no control.
We do have power over our own attitude and how those circumstances effect us. It is with that power that one can overcome obstacles or at the very least 'ride through' those tough times.
So read on and see if you can capture the spirit of its meaning. Adapt it within your own life. It will not keep the good or bad from happening. What it will do is allow you to adjust your own path through what life throws at you.
Attitude
The longer I live
The more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude, to me, is more important than the past,
Than education,
Than money,
Than circumstances,
Than failures,
Than success,
Than what other people think or say or do.
It is more important than appearance,
Giftedness or skill.
It will make or break an organization,
A school, a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day
Regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past.
We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do
Is play the string we have.
And that is our attitude.
I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me
And 90 percent how I react to it.
And so it is with you.
- Charles Swindoll
We do have power over our own attitude and how those circumstances effect us. It is with that power that one can overcome obstacles or at the very least 'ride through' those tough times.
So read on and see if you can capture the spirit of its meaning. Adapt it within your own life. It will not keep the good or bad from happening. What it will do is allow you to adjust your own path through what life throws at you.
Attitude
The longer I live
The more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude, to me, is more important than the past,
Than education,
Than money,
Than circumstances,
Than failures,
Than success,
Than what other people think or say or do.
It is more important than appearance,
Giftedness or skill.
It will make or break an organization,
A school, a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day
Regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past.
We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do
Is play the string we have.
And that is our attitude.
I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me
And 90 percent how I react to it.
And so it is with you.
- Charles Swindoll
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Series Of Misfortunes
“My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened.”
Michel de Montaigne (French Philosopher and Writer. 1533-1592)
I recently took my sixteen year old son to the funeral of another sixteen year old friend. A very nice young boy that was in an unfortunate accident. Two of three boys were killed in that accident and those lives remaining were changed forever. The driver of the other vehicle is the son of friends that are close to my brother-in-law.
There was no fault of this other driver and the young man driving the vehicle in which the three boys were in simply over-corrected when his car went off the side of the road. Unfortunate circumstances that brought time to a stop much too early for these two young boys.
Montaigne wrote that his life was full of terrible misfortune. Misfortune as having been party to an accident, having a friend die tragically or other life changing events. But your life is not a series of misfortunes. Do not let the hard things in life convince you that all of life is bad. Take this as a life changing event. Carry on the memory of who that person was, what the event meant and create something bigger and better from it. That something is your life, to carry on in a greater manner.
Bad things will happen in life and it is we who choose the path to follow afterwards. Create a path of greatness from the lessons of misfortune. Remember with fondness the memory of those gone before you and hold onto the dream of a bright tomorrow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My heartfelt prayers and condolences to both families. Your pain and sorrow will ease in time. Take hold of the loving memory that each of your sons gave to you. Let it be a gift from each of them to last your life.
JOHN MICHAEL SEFCIK
John Michael Sefcik, age 16 of Buford, GA, died Tuesday, February 20, 2007 from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Mr. Sefcik is survived by his father and step mother, John and Liuba Sefcik, Buford, GA; Mother, Carmen A. Sefcik, Germany; Brother, Timo Sefcik, Germany; Brother and Fiancé’, Rouven Sefcik and Alicia Newman, Dover Air Force Base, Delaware; Step Brother, Sasha Alov, Buford, GA. Many Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. Michael was born in Pruem, Germany while his father was serving in the U.S. Military and lived in the metro Atlanta area the past 6 years. He was a student at Mill Creek High School.
Hamilton Mill Memorial Chapel (www.hamiltonmillchapel.com)
PAUL COLEMAN
Paul Coleman age 16 of Buford died Tuesday, February 20, 2007. Paul is survived by his parents Jon, Jr. and Ronna Coleman, of Buford; Paternal Grandparents- Jon, Sr. and Pat Coleman, of Hampton, GA; Maternal Grandparents- Don and Donna Townsend, Of Texas. Paul was of the Baptist Faith and attended Mill Creek High School.
Tapp/Tim Stewart Funeral Home (www.stewartfh.com)
Michel de Montaigne (French Philosopher and Writer. 1533-1592)
I recently took my sixteen year old son to the funeral of another sixteen year old friend. A very nice young boy that was in an unfortunate accident. Two of three boys were killed in that accident and those lives remaining were changed forever. The driver of the other vehicle is the son of friends that are close to my brother-in-law.
There was no fault of this other driver and the young man driving the vehicle in which the three boys were in simply over-corrected when his car went off the side of the road. Unfortunate circumstances that brought time to a stop much too early for these two young boys.
Montaigne wrote that his life was full of terrible misfortune. Misfortune as having been party to an accident, having a friend die tragically or other life changing events. But your life is not a series of misfortunes. Do not let the hard things in life convince you that all of life is bad. Take this as a life changing event. Carry on the memory of who that person was, what the event meant and create something bigger and better from it. That something is your life, to carry on in a greater manner.
Bad things will happen in life and it is we who choose the path to follow afterwards. Create a path of greatness from the lessons of misfortune. Remember with fondness the memory of those gone before you and hold onto the dream of a bright tomorrow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My heartfelt prayers and condolences to both families. Your pain and sorrow will ease in time. Take hold of the loving memory that each of your sons gave to you. Let it be a gift from each of them to last your life.
JOHN MICHAEL SEFCIK
John Michael Sefcik, age 16 of Buford, GA, died Tuesday, February 20, 2007 from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. Mr. Sefcik is survived by his father and step mother, John and Liuba Sefcik, Buford, GA; Mother, Carmen A. Sefcik, Germany; Brother, Timo Sefcik, Germany; Brother and Fiancé’, Rouven Sefcik and Alicia Newman, Dover Air Force Base, Delaware; Step Brother, Sasha Alov, Buford, GA. Many Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. Michael was born in Pruem, Germany while his father was serving in the U.S. Military and lived in the metro Atlanta area the past 6 years. He was a student at Mill Creek High School.
Hamilton Mill Memorial Chapel (www.hamiltonmillchapel.com)
PAUL COLEMAN
Paul Coleman age 16 of Buford died Tuesday, February 20, 2007. Paul is survived by his parents Jon, Jr. and Ronna Coleman, of Buford; Paternal Grandparents- Jon, Sr. and Pat Coleman, of Hampton, GA; Maternal Grandparents- Don and Donna Townsend, Of Texas. Paul was of the Baptist Faith and attended Mill Creek High School.
Tapp/Tim Stewart Funeral Home (www.stewartfh.com)
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