Prepare

"I will prepare and some day my chance will come." ~Abraham Lincoln

You get up in the morning, shower, dress and eat breakfast. Some then start the car while others head off to the bus stop. You arrive, grab a coffee or other drink and sit at your desk. Or you put on gloves and a hard hat, making your way towards the task at hand.

Lunch arrives, you open your lunch pail or the menu. Maybe a personal phone call or two and then back to work until the time to leave arrives. So back into your car or to a bus ride home. The dog needs to be walked, the supper cooked, maybe a school meeting or catching up on your reading.

The time for bed comes around finally and pajama dressing, teeth brushing and setting the alarm for the next morning. All of this happens day in and day out, most times without even thinking about it.

But everything you do or have done required some level of preparation. It took some planning, some thought and some decision making. You then put each of those things into action.

Now think about your visions or dreams. Have you prepared? Have you planned? Have you put them into motion?

Paperwork of Life

"We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming." ~Wernher von Braun

Recently I spent a day with my wife going to her pre-operative medical visits. She was going to have surgery in a few days and these visits were a necessary part. So together, we bravely marched on towards the day.

Now I will admit that previous medical visits required numerous forms to fill out. We know that a visit to the doctor is probably also a date with paperwork. Even in today's 'electronic' age of computers, the need for paper still exists.

And again, as we made our way to each of three appointments, additional paperwork to read and sign. I am certain there are legislators, regulators and lawyers out there earning a very good living by the looks of it.

But in all of the ink and pulp, the human factor remained. People in a profession (medical) doing a professional job and being friendly. Each and everyone of them, happy, pleasant and just enjoying the work. We may have been 'another patient and husband' but we certainly didn't feel that way.

Do you project a positive image in your daily work? Will people get the impression that they matter and that you enjoy your work? If not, then one of two things need to happen. You either need to change your attitude or find new work. It isn't worth being miserable just to earn a paycheck. It isn't worth living your life in that manner.

Change the way you approach your work. Make it an enjoyable experience not only for you but for those around you. If you can not do that, think about finding something that does bring joy to your daily work life. Most of us are going to spend nearly forty years or more working.

That is at least half of your life time. Don't spend those years in a miserable way. Spend those years enjoying the days.

You are the only one that can make that change. It is not your boss, it is not your co-worker, and it isn't even the money. It is you that controls your own attitude.

Get on with the paperwork that will always be there. But also get on with a great and enjoyable life. It is your choice. Initial those pages, sign at the bottom and get on with it.

Tuesday

“I always give 100% at work:
13% Monday
22% Tuesday
26% Wednesday
35% Thursday
4% Friday”

Not really.

It is 100% all of the time because that is how you live life. You give 100% to work. You give 100% to your relationships. You give 100% to yourself.

You live life and you work at it. Whether it is Tuesday or Friday, you live life to its fullest. You live life at 100%.

Compassion For Others

"Compassion brings us to a stop, and for a moment we rise above ourselves." ~Mason Cooley

Each of us have witnessed on television the devastating images from Japan. The earthquake and then a large scale tsunami wreaked widespread death and destruction. One can not help but be moved to compassion for those people affected.

The Wednesday before this natural disaster, I was flying through Tokyo on my way home. During my four hour layover, I learned that I had just missed the rumblings of an early morning earthquake. Little did I or anyone sitting around me was was about to happen.

It is in our hearts to spill over with compassion when others are hurt. This compassion not only extends to great disasters, but should be an everyday piece of your heart.

There are people all around you in need. Some more then others and some with just a little need to get them through the day. This does not mean that I am ranking need. I am only saying that when you rise above yourself, the compassion for others will naturally flow from you.

Individually we can not solve many of the problems of the world. But start small, start with yourself, start by simply having compassion where its needed. Eventually you will find yourself among others doing great things.