Sowing Positive Seeds

Each day we have the possibility of taking the gifts given to us and sowing them in others. As the painting above called "Sowing Seed" by Louis Hébert shows, our lives are much like the one that sows seeds. The sowing of seed is done to replenish the landscape and provide nourishment once again where there was none

You have that ability to sow into others lives, both good and bad. By the bad, I mean there are those that can have a tremendously negative effect on others. This past weekend, a young couple was driving by my home in a van. The young girl was driving and saw me as they slowly drove by. Whether they were married or not, from half a block away I could hear the young man yelling obscenities and hurtful things. The look upon her face was one of despair and pain.

Like the withered plant which is lacking in water and is being choked out by the weeds, my guess is the young man was like that weed destroying the roots of her existence.

Yet to sow a positive wave upon others is much like the careful tending of a garden. Watering when appropriate, clearing the field of weeds and allowing the plant to grow. When this is done, we reap the fruit of having given of ourselves to another. In love, knowledge or money, the sowing of each will be returned to you tenfold.

Be a sower of the positive, plant the seed of knowledge or love or even money into the lives of others. Your life will be enriched by the process and life will grow in abundance.

Change Your Life

“Whatever you hold in your mind will tend to occur in your life. If you continue to believe as you have always believed, you will continue to act as you have always acted. If you continue to act as you have always acted, you will continue to get what you have always gotten. If you want different results in your life or your work, all you have to do is change your mind.” -Unknown

When you live the same way and think the same way and believe the same way - your life will tend to remain the same. So if you are looking for change in your life, you will need to change the way you think. An example of how this can happen is given by Dawn Fields in an article titled Change the Way You Think and Change Your Life.

Ms. Fields provides the story of a man that wanted to become a writer and why he initially failed. She also provides four easy steps to follow. The steps are easy to remember, but it takes work to follow and stay with them. But if you do, chances are change will come your way and you will find yourself in a better place.

Over ten years ago, I made a change in the way I was thinking and doing things that set me on a course to where I am today. It effected family and friends but it also had an impact on new people we encountered along our path. Today I am looking to change once again, to change the way I think about my career. Those around me will be effected but like before, new people will be impacted by this change as well.

I look forward to this change and have learned to flow with change. Life will create change for you whether want it to or not. But you can also create change within your life by adopting a new way of thinking. Change the way you think about your life, adopt a new attitude and live a great life.

Mothers Day Revisited

I will start today asking each of you, "did you call your mother yesterday?" Or if she is no longer with us, did you stop and think of her? It is one of those things that as a child, you can never forget what she has done for or gone through for you.

Motherhood is one of those things in which one person (your mother) gives of herself to you. A serving attitude all in the course of raising her child. In return she will reap the benefit of undying love and adoration.

Mothers are as total as the sky;
Older than the earth, and more enduring.
They're rooted in our hearts like ancient trees,
Halfway down to seething lava seas;
Emblazoned on our sail, and on our mooring.
Returning home, we dwell within their sigh:
So maddening, so rich, so reassuring.

Happy Mother's Day to my Mom and all of the moms out there. And yes, I did call her yesterday!

To Serve Another

“The most infectiously joyous men and women are those who forget themselves in thinking about and serving others” -Robert J. McCracken

Within our life time, each of us will need to place our needs or wants to the side. It may be at a point when we have kids or some other obligation. This may be due to unforeseen circumstances or by choice, either way, you will be in a position requiring effort to help other first.

“Balance, peace, and joy are the fruit of a successful life. It starts with recognizing your talents and finding ways to serve others by using them.” -Thomas Kinkade

When this happens, you will have moved from a 'taking' environment into a 'serving' environment. This does not mean that you lose everything and nothing is gained. Far from that, you will reap benefits of having this serving attitude. It will impact you and those that you are serving.

“Happiness... consists in giving, and in serving others.” -Henry Drummond

Find a serving attitude in your heart and you will be rewarded with a fuller life. It is in the giving of yourself that your success will be measured.