Change Again

"All change is not growth, as all movement is not forward." ~Ellen Glasgow

Another election cycle and another change, no more a surprise then the sun coming up in the morning. A change that is touted as the one that will mark a difference. This time we'll get it right, this time we'll truly make a difference.

Funny thing is that several times we have made these party changes in control of our federal government.

United States House of Representatives
1920-1933 Republican Majority
1933-1947 Democrat Majority
1947-1949 Republican Majority
1949-1953 Democrat Majority
1953-1955 Republican Majority
1955-1981 Democrat Majority
1981-1987 Republican Majority
1987-1995 Democrat Majority
1995-2001 Republican Majority
2001-     for one month Democrat Majority
2001-     for four months Republican Majority
2001-2003 Democrat Majority
2003-2007 Republican Majority
2007-2010 Democrat Majority
2010-     Republican Majority

U.S. Senate
1923-1933 Republican Majority
1933-1947 Democrat Majority
1947-1949 Republican Majority
1949-1953 Democrat Majority
1953-1955 Republican Majority
1955-1981 Democrat Majority
1981-1987 Republican Majority
1987-1995 Democrat Majority
1995-2001 Republican Majority
2001-     one month Democrat Majority
2001-     four months Republican Majority
2001-2003 Democrat Majority
2003-2007 Republican Majority
2007-     current Democrat Majority
2009-2011 Democrat Majority

So you look at the lists and wonder, what really has changed? What have we truly accomplished? There are those bits and pieces of movement here and there. But from one party affiliation to the other in control, the change merely becomes change for the sake of change.

So many times parties and candidates talk of change that is needed. They talk of the great things that are finally going to happen. They talk of a mandate from the American people. But nothing truly changes other then the title under their name plates.

As an individual, if all you did was change your hairstyle or clothes, does that really constitute change in your life? Probably not as real change comes from the inside and moving forward with it. Real change consists of not going back over old ground again once the lights fade. Real change means just that, real change.

Change can happen but real change means you never have to make the same change over and over again. How we move on from our old way of doing things makes a difference. If you truly seek change in your life, then vow to never repeat the same habits and mistakes.

So watch out, there is change ahead. What you do with it will make all the difference.

An Experiment

"Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

There are those well known experiments that little kids perform. The young lad with a magnifying glass seeing just how much sunlight an ant can endure. Or the little girl trying to figure out just how far she can kick a soccer ball over the fence.

Each of these acts are the mind trying out new things, figuring out what works and what doesn't. Life is pretty much like that regardless of the amount of formal education we achieve. We step out of safety of knowledge onto a ledge of uncertainty.

But without this urge to try new things, a door to opportunity will always be a barrier to us even when it is open. Sometimes we simply have to go on faith and learn through experience. Not always will it work out the way we had planned, but you will have learned what doesn't work for your life.

So experiment with chance by stepping out of your normal and experience something different. You may very well be surprised by the outcome.

I'm Possible

"It always seems impossible until its done." ~Nelson Mandela

What do three thousand bottles of water, three thousand bags of chips, three thousand buns and three thousand hotdogs have to do with the impossible?

Less then two weeks ago, the church my wife and I attend were asked to do do what seemed by many impossible. A decade old event on the city square in Lawrenceville, Georgia provided a safe and fun family event to celebrate Halloween. At the 'last minute' the event was in jeopardy and our church was asked if we could pull it off.

Fearless as we tend to be, the answer was a resounding yes. And then for a few moments you feel like the dog that finally caught the car. What are we going to do now?

But the impossible is only impossible if you let it be. We jumped to it and a lot of great people pulled off an amazing event. In pulling off that amazing event, thousands of families were impacted with a touch of goodness. Why yes, everything was free to these families, the food, the water, the juice drinks, the chips, and yes lots of candy.

Each of us can accomplish so much we overcome the fear of the impossible. We each can step forward and face it head on and achieve something greater. For us it was impacting a community. For you, it can be as simple as impacting just one person.

Don't fear the impossible in your life. Don't let others convince you that things are impossible. Take the word impossible and turn it into "I'm Possible."

Cheers To Your Journey

"Is fhearr fheuchainn na bhith san duil." ~Irish saying

Translation: It is better to try than to hope.

We each live our lives the best way we know how. Today there are students at a bible school that are headed out on The Journey. It is a program that will help them discover more of whom they are. Each knows that there will be difficult obstacles to overcome this weekend, but each knows that there will be great mountains achieved as well.

The journey of life itself provides different outcomes for different people. Each of us will find something inside that either we didn't know existed or were too afraid to let out. But isn't that really what all of our lives are about? Isn't our own journey about getting beyond our fears and concerns in order to get on with a greater life?

The potential in each of us exists and yearns to be released. We can sit silently, hoping that the greatness comes to us. All the while the greatness is inside waiting to be let out.

As the Irish say, "it is better to try then to hope." So let go and make movement in your life. Get out on your journey to greatness and "Slainte" (cheers) to you as you live the journey which is your life.