Signs Everywhere

"There are no road signs to help navigate. And, in fact, no one has yet determined which side of the road we're supposed to be on." ~Steve Case

I tend to have my father's penchant for maps and is something that has tended to help me through out life. When driving, it helps to have already mapped out where you are going. I am also lucky enough to have a pretty photographic memory of where I have travelled such that I can remember in most cases and describe the routes.

I'm not sure if that makes me 'special' along with my 'counting steps' while walking, but it does make getting from point A to point B easier.

Growing up I would watch my father take a yellow highlighter pen and mark the routes to be taken on a trip. And when I got older, my excitement grew at getting my annual road atlas from State Farm. Yes, the simple joys in life one might say. As I've grown older and technology grows, the use of Google maps and the satellite views gives me an added advantage. I can actually map and see what the route looks like before I ever get there.

Even with all of the maps and technology we have, there are still the signs along the way to guide us. There are exit signs, distance to, airport locations, hospitals, and street names. We have signs to tell us how fast we can go or where not to go. Sometimes there are so many signs it can be overwhelming.

Its too bad we don't have those same signs to help us with our lives. Sure, there are the "Don't Drink And Drive", "Click It or Ticket" signs to remind us to be safe. But why not signs to remind us that life is pretty good? Or why not signs telling us which decisions to make in life to get us to our vision or goal?

If we listen and pay enough attention though, signs do exist out there. There are people in your life that are signs standing out as great examples. All we have to do is place ourselves in position to see and submit to those signs. Even deep inside of us there are signs that tell us what the right thing to do is. Don't under estimate your own intuitions.

Sounds all too simple I'm sure. In some ways it is and some ways it isn't. But then again, if everything was easy, everybody would have everything ever wanted out of life.

The road to your vision isn't going to have all of the visible signs needed to guide you. But if you look hard enough, you will find them and eventually your destination.

Seuss Simple

"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.” ~Dr. Seuss

I have been trying to figure out what to write today with very little luck. It probably didn't help that I was very busy with the work that pays the bills in our family. Sometimes the words simply do not come along.

Then something out of the blue happens. I was working on trying to find the answer to a question posed to me. I struggled for a good share of time on it and set it aside for a while. It is in those moments that I will go do something completely different. It tends to take my mind off the issue.

Typically I will research another issue or read part of a book, or even surf the web just throwing out search words. In this particular case I put up the search words "doctor seuss answers" for I figured he always had an answer for most anything. As I read through information on him, the above quote struck me as simple enough.

So I went back to the work problem and started from scratch only looking to the most basic and simple of solutions. To my delight, the solution came fairly quickly. It was also a reasonably simple solution as well.

Was it Dr. Seuss that helped me find the answer or dumb luck? I tend to think it was a matter of looking at it from a different perspective; the easy perspective. We tend to over complicate our lives and over think them. Sometimes the answer is truly simple and it's the question that we made complicated.

Try not to over complicate your life. Sometimes the best way to get past the complicated is by simply choosing not to let it be complicated. By taking the simple path you can get to your destination quicker. If a boulder sits in the way, it might be easier to walk around it rather then trying to roll it out of the way.

Removing Envy

"Envy comes from people's ignorance of, or lack of belief in, their own gifts." ~Jean Vanier

The city of Toronto casts a look very similar to the one portrayed in the movie Blade Runner. The movie in which Harrison Ford plays a crusted 'detective/bounty hunter' tasked with eliminating some rogue 'replicants'. In that futuristic city, flight from the city isn't out to the suburbs but upwards.

The higher up you get in this type of world, the cleaner the air, and the better view. The street or ground level is for the poor and disadvantaged people upon which criminals prey. The way to gain a better life is to lift yourself up out of the gutter of the city, up into the high places away from the street clutter.

The only problem is that escaping upwards or even out to the suburbs is temporary. Many times the flight is only a means to mask what is happening inside of us. Even the wealthy and sophisticated people have issues. Expensive homes, fancy cars, and the club membership are distractions hiding what's holding them back from having a truly great life.

You may wonder what isn't great about having all of those nice things? Because many times the rich have the same problems as you or myself; it's just that their problems cost more. And are you really prepared to take on the problem of envy in your life?

On this we all have a commonality; envy of something or someone else. While our lives and the paths we have taken may look worlds apart, envy can swing both ways. When we have very little it is easy to want what someone else has. But maybe there is a price to pay for having it.

My mother used to say, "sure they have a lot of nice things, but would you want their credit card bills?". She should know since she worked in credit collection and retail management for a large part of her life. The well-heeled can envy the simple life in which the need to keep up with the folks next door are gone. Yes, all of us have the same struggles in life. It is in choosing how we battle those struggles that determines the life we achieve.

Money, bills, job, health, relationships, fear, and most anything else you can imagine. Life doesn't know if you are living at the street level, high up in a building or way out in the suburbs. Life affects all of us and the only way to deal with it is to deal with it inside first.

Change your attitude first by not worrying or envying those around you. Change it by looking inside to what is important to you in life. Accept what you have, both the good and the bad.

You can then begin the process of changing the bad things in your life. It may require giving up some of the good, but the goal is to better your life. By removing the bad, by changing attitudes, by appreciating what you have and not what someone else has; only then will you grow and start achieving a better life.

The journey starts with you, so drop the envy from your life. It can only drag you down and keep you there.

Seize Your Fear

"A lot of people are afraid of heights. Not me, I'm afraid of widths." ~Stephen Wright

Each of us are different in what concerns or bothers us. There are those that share some of those concerns and others that tend to be out on the edge. But any of those things we are afraid of can be overcome. Even being afraid of widths!

Some overcome these obstacles quickly and others take years to overtake them. Myself, I have signed up for swimming lessons. Yes, at this age I am working to overcome my fear of water. To be more precise, my fear of drowning.

I have reached the point where I have decided that this fear will not be my undoing. You can reach the same point for your fear. All it takes is deciding within yourself to not let the fear rule your day.

My own fear has deprived me of experiences with my sons while they were growing up. My fear has deprived me of adventure with friends. My fear has had it's day and now it's over. I am reclaiming my life from that fear.

You do not deserve to let fear rule your life. Overcome your fear and let your life blossom into it's greatest potential. Carpe diem or better yet, carpe vereor, "seize the fear."