Keep The Wheel In Motion

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." ~Walt Disney

Can you believe it, January is half over and the ringing of the new year bells are fading. The hangover has likely subsided and work or school returned to fill your days.

Resolutions made for the new year on December 31 are still fresh in your mind. You are probably still loyal to the promises made to yourself. Heading each morning or evening to the gym, working off those ten pounds. Maybe you are reading a new book and watching less television. One less beer or bowl of ice cream each day is still doable.

But will you keep moving forward with those resolutions as the year goes? Will you be true to yourself and make those changes promised?

It is easy at this point. Only half a month has transpired, barely a few breaths of the new year. Life hasn't come in quite yet and tried to interfere with your plans. But you know life will try to get in your way, life will try to throw you off course.

What I encourage you to do though is keep the wheel of your life moving. Keep pushing forward with your plans. You have started building momentum and the hills will approach. Momentum will get you over those times and with each success it gets easier.

You have an amazing year ahead of you, full of change, full of new adventure, full of greatness. Keep moving forward, keep the curiosity of your success pulling you to the next level. Pretty soon it will be December 31 and you'll be fondly thinking of a great year gone by. But you will also be jumping with excitement for what's to come next.

Dick Winters Brothers

"We are paratroopers Lieutenent; we are supposed to be surrounded." ~Dick Winters

If you have never heard of Dick Winters or the men he served with in World War II, then you should. January 2, 2011 is the day he passed at the age of 92.

The way he lived his life, the way he served his country, more importantly the way he served the men he fought with speaks volumes of the man. I would venture to say that Dick Winters would rather the attention be placed upon all of the men he served with.

He knew all too well that the life he lived was a life accomplished with his brothers. It was together that they accomplished and survived the war. It was together that that lived great lives well beyond that war. It is together they will have peace well beyond anything we can imagine.

There are very few words that I can say about this man or those he served with. All were heroes and all knew the spirit of brotherhood. For it is together that we can accomplish great things. It is together we stand when times are tough. It is together we stand when times are good.

I know that my brothers (siblings and friends) are there to my left and to my right. Should I need them to grab my arms to help me carry on, they will be there. The same can be said that I will be there to grab them when need arises.

Not to steal the pride of paratroopers, but in life you are surrounded. Surrounded by circumstance, surrounded by all of those things that life is going to throw at you. Realizing that "...we are supposed to be surrounded" and knowing that others stand beside you make the fight all that much more winnable.

Rest in peace Dick Winters, rest in peace my brothers; rest in the knowledge that each of you are heroes.

Big Expectations

"There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow." ~Orison Swett Marden

You have had it happen before, probably many times before. You go to bed at night having an expectation of something happening in the morning. It could be waiting on news from a doctor, word of a new job or anticipation of reuniting with family. Quickly you fall asleep and slumber takes over in a comforting way.

And then it happens, something startles you awake from a deep sleep. You clear your senses and look to the clock on the bed stand to find it is only 11:00pm. Not to worry, you snuggle back into the covers and fall asleep only to wake again. This time it is only 1:45am, far short of the rising sun.

This goes on and on while you start to think ahead to the new day's events. The expectation grows in you and it only makes sleep harder to achieve. You worry and stare at the clock as the alarm draws closer and closer.

Expectation of things to come can have this type of effect upon us. We draw up grand thoughts of what is to come. We then start to concern ourselves that the reality will not meet the expectation. Over and over again we do this and eventually we stop trying to expect good things in our life.

This is when we stop living a life geared as movement towards a great life. We stop realizing our dreams, stop acting on our dreams, we stop dreaming.

Don't ever let the reality of something win over the expectation you may have. Expect grand and great things for your life. Always expect more then what the reality may provide.

When reality hits, understand that it is providing you with the opportunity to shoot for even more in life. If the reality doesn't rise to meet the expectation, keep believing in more, keep trying for more.

You can give up when reality doesn't meet the expectation. Or you can still get up when the alarm goes off at 7:00am and go meet the reality. Once you have met up with reality, then dream some more, expect more and spend another night with great expectation of greater things in your life.

Cabin Fever

"Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other." ~Walter Elliot

To carry on my conversation slightly from a previous day, snow here in the Atlanta area crippled much of the area. For three days schools have been closed and many government and private businesses as well. The roads have remained pretty slick and dangerous to travel upon.

There is relief in sight as the sun makes an appearance today and warmer temperatures are expected the following day. But everyone keeps talking about cabin fever. When will this ever end, will we ever be able to get out and get moving again.

One could say that working towards a goal for your life can have periods of 'cabin fever' also. It is that point in your journey when nothing seems to be working quite right. You hold off on trying anything because you have become discouraged. You huddle and hide behind closed doors in dimly lit rooms wondering what next.

That discouragement is like an ice storm outside, keeping you from moving forward. It keeps you locked up inside while you question yourself and your goals. And the longer it goes on, the more it tightens its grip on you.

The trick is to fight the discouragement and persevere. Instead of allowing yourself to think of what is going wrong, concentrate on what did go right. And if you can't find anything positive up to this point, then focus your energy on new ways, new things, new paths to try.

It takes just as much energy to concentrate on positive steps as it does the negative steps taken. So if you want to "get out of the cabin", then use your energy to find new positive things for your life. You can't change what has already happened.

The past is just that, the past. What you can affect is your future; that is for certain. So put on some snowshoes or maybe some cleated shoes, but either way keep trying. Keep moving forward, keep trying new things, keep advancing towards your best life.