Expecting Good

"Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me." ~Carl Sandburg

We each have this tendency to go through life expecting bad things to happen to us. We figure that when times are good, something bad is about to happen. And when things are going bad, we expect them to continue to go bad. It is a self defeating attitude that gets you no where.

What if you expected good things to happen? What if encountering an elephant on a bus were a good thing and not bad? What if you looked beyond the rough exterior of another person and found something good?

Take the story of Simon Cowell. Most know him by his prickly persona on American Idol and the UK’s X Factor, which has made Simon Cowell richer than Midas.

Yet if one were to expect the unexpected, underneath the seeming brusque exterior is actually a kind and generous gentleman. Back in 2008, Simon saw the story of a three-year-old cancer patient and family in a video on The Oprah Winfrey Show. He decided quietly to help. The family had been traveling 100 miles per day for their daughter’s radiation treatments and was financially at a dead end.

Simon stepped in and gave the girl’s family enough money to completely pay off their mortgage and allow them to focus their efforts on fighting the disease. He credited Oprah with teaching him to enjoy giving and said, “I never knew that doing good could feel so good.”

The unexpected good that we find from giving, the unexpected good we find from looking beyond the outer exterior can bring new light to everything. The flat tire you get may be placing you in opportunity to meet someone that can change your life. That painful divorce may be opening a door to meeting someone so wonderful. A job loss could be a gateway to starting that business you always wanted to.

We have to begin to expect the good within the unexpected. All that appears bad on the outside is not always bad on the inside. We'll get what we expect in most cases. If we expect the bad all of the time, then it is likely that which we will find. But to start expecting something good in most everything will begin to yield better things.

Expect the unexpected and expect that it will be good.

Take Off

"I knew that I did not have to buy into society's notion that I had to be handsome and healthy to be happy. I was in charge of my "spaceship" and it was my up, my down. I could choose to see this situation as a setback or as a starting point. I chose to begin life again." ~Warren Mitchell

Many great accomplishments in life are marked with first failures. The kind which make you question if success will ever be a possibility. The American space program was formed in 1958 and had its share of failed rocket launches, failed missions and a few individuals died along the way. But the vision of space flight was never given up. The journey pressed forward with the risks known.

Each of us have set backs and failures along the way as well. There will be those times when accomplishment seems furthest from our minds. The light at the end of the tunnel feels like a freight train coming towards you.

Yet we press on, we continue to move towards our goals. That light may be a train coming but I would choose to enjoy the light in a very dark tunnel. If only for a few moments, my eyes are opened and I can take the opportunity to assess where I am. The train will pass and I will be returned to darkness, but I will have renewed hope in my journey.

And then the tunnel will come to an end. The light of day will return and a big blue sky will open up before me. It is then I will light the fire of a rocket and spring skyward. Greater heights for life; for your life.

It is a choice we make to overcome that darkness. It is a choice we make to press on with our lives. There is so much more for you in life then the limits we impose on ourselves. Release yourself from those chains of gravity you place on life. The setbacks will occur, the failures may happen even when you get moving finally.

Just know the view will be more wonderous and amazing then you could ever imagine.

Stuck In The Mud

"Being stuck is a position few of us like. We want something new but cannot let go of the old - old ideas, beliefs, habits, even thoughts. We are out of contact with our own genius. Sometimes we know we are stuck; sometimes we don't. In both cases we have to DO something." ~Rush Limbaugh

Have you ever encountered those moments in life when you feel like you are stuck in the mud? Your boots are mired deeply in the muck with little chance of moving forward or backwards. A moment that could make you decide to give up.

Life isn't meant to be stuck in one place, one circumstance or as one unreachable destination. Life is meant to be getting out of the mud. Never giving up and always moving beyond the current situation.

If you have ever become stuck in the mud, you can just about guess what happens when the mud begins to dry. If you fail to keep moving or stop trying, the mud will harden around your feet. And it can happen when you delay in making a choice to keep moving.

But what happens if you find yourself stuck in a dry field of mud, unable to move? You keep trying, you look for ways to free yourself. Opportunity in the way of rain could come along and loosen dirt. But why wait, why not keep trying to break free?

The mud and the harden dirt are only obstacles to overcome. They are not answers to your life. You were not meant to be stuck in one place. You were meant to succeed. You were meant to find your destination, your goal and your vision.

So when you find yourself stuck, your boots holding tight to the mud; pull your feet out and keep moving forward to solid ground. Get your life unstuck and keep moving.

Fly On The Window

"Take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly, and try another. But by all means, try something." ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

I happened upon a story recently on a blog site called "The Rat Race Trap" in which a story is repeated from Price Pritchett (You Squared).

The story goes;

There’s a small fly burning out the last of its short life’s energies in a futile attempt to fly through the glass of the windowpane. The whining wings tell the poignant story of the fly’s strategy – try harder.

But it’s not working.

The frenzied effort offers no hope for survival. Ironically, the struggle is part of the trap. It is impossible for the fly to try hard enough to succeed at breaking through the glass. Nevertheless, this little insect has staked its life on reaching its goal through raw effort and determination.

This fly is doomed. It will die there on the windowsill.

Across the room, ten steps away the door is open. Ten seconds of flying time and this small creature could reach the outside world it seeks. With only a fraction of the effort now being wasted, it could be free of this self-imposed trap. The breakthrough possibility is there. It would be so easy.

Why doesn’t the fly try another approach, something dramatically different? How did it get so locked in on the idea that this particular route, and determined effort, offer the most promise for success? What logic is there in continuing, until death, to seek a breakthrough with ‘more of the same’?

Many of us do this same thing, day in and day out. We pull an idea into our mind; a word, a vision or a dream. We set out on a particular path and find that we are not getting any closer. The struggle to push on has us trying harder and harder with less and less success.

We try with ever increasing futility, wondering why we are getting no where. Maybe the answer is in setting a new path for ourself. It could be that a new direction is required.

When you find yourself hitting the window, stop. Step back and look around to see other possibilities. The wind never blows exclusively in one direction. It changes constantly with variations that can take you new places.

Keep trying, but keep trying new ways.