Raise the BAR

"The present is the ever moving shadow that divides yesterday from tomorrow. In that lies hope." -Frank Lloyd Wright

Today was one of those days where rocks and boulders kept getting in the way. The rain fell hard at times, the doors all seemed to remain locked. Nothing was going particularly right as circumstance was having a play day with everything you do.

It can become very frustrating and you may feel like throwing your hands up and loudly screaming. But when it does, it really is the time to raise the bar.

You need to keep believing in what you are doing.
You need to keep acting upon the belief by moving forward.
You need to keep realizing that it will get better.

But why do that? Why not just give up? Why not lay down and be run over? Because you are greater then the situation at hand. You have a huge ability to get beyond the things that stand in your way. You are going to have a great life.

Raise the B.A.R. when life wants you to lay it down. Push through and do what you can to keep moving forward. Circumstance will eventually become a mere bump on the road.

Depot or Depot

"Communication - the human connection - is the key to personal and career success." -Paul J. Meyer

Communication has a strange way of getting in the way of a conversation. We can talk to each other all day long and never really understand each other.

The causes of our conversation malfunction are numerous. It could be a misinterpreted email. There are phone conversations with a bad connection. It could be a Tweet that uses an acronym in the wrong fashion. Or maybe its just a cultural difference.

Take for instance a conversation between myself and a British customer over dinner. The English language while very similar in different countries, it does have differences as well. And English is not generally accepted as the hardest to learn.

We talked of the route (British: root; American: rout) from the airport to the city centre (British: centre; American: center). And after a meal including fries (British: chips; American: fries), laughed about the after dinner drink, which was a Cockburns Port (British: coeburns; American: I didn't leave out the 'ck').

So a conversation that should have been simple required attentive listening. It required attentive inquiry between the two parties involved. It required being engaged in the personal connection of two people talking.

When all was done, there was a new appreciation for culture, each opinion and each other. We learned more and we grew more. For me, if we can walk away better for the experience; if we can each earn more from the interaction; our lives are raised to a new level.

So next time you go to Home Depot (British: deh poh; American: dee poh) and happen to have a conversation with someone, listen and improve your life. Make it a conversation that each of you can walk away from better for the experience.

Achieving Adventure

"Adventure is worthwhile in itself." -Amelia Earhart

There is so much in life to experience. From the time we are born, crawling across the floor to a toy all of the way to old age discoveries, we can experience new wonder. It is a great part of living, being an active participant in so much of everything.

A flight for business to Ireland placed me next to a man from Colorado. A man flying back into his past. a man flying back into adventure.

At this time I couldn't tell you what his name is. Nor could I tell you the name of his brother. And I certainly can't tell you the name of their father. But I can say they are on an adventure together, rediscovering their history.

I hope that I hear from them after the trip so that I can write about it. But if not, my imagination tells me that they are going to have a wondrous time together. They will have the time of their lives. They will be adventurous.

Each of us need to experience some level of adventure. It might be taking a canoe down the local river or fling half way around the world. It is pushing your limits slightly past your comfort level.

By stretching ourselves we realize that the impossible isn't quite so impossible. We find that our ability to achieve becomes more real when we push beyond our comfort.

Rapture Thoughts

"This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

This morning my wife and I decided to have breakfast at our local Waffle House. A chain of diners mostly through out the southeast that allows for varied experiences. So this morning was not too different.

As it was quite early, there were few people eating so the conversation was easy to hear. And as any small diner goes, we were drawn into this conversation. I'm not sure if it was tired night shift workers or not enough morning coffee, but the rapture was the topic.

There was news of the rapture occurring tomorrow (May 21, 2011) fresh on the minds of Waffle House patrons. I will state up front that I believe rapture is a personal experience of faith. That our own death is our rapture and if your faith is such, you will do good as much as possible in life.

With that out of the way, even if you believe in the fire and brimstone version of rapture, I am not here to mock or convince you otherwise. And if you have no belief in any of that, I am not here to persuade you of it.

What was interesting is that the Waffle House folks were concerned about what to do and how to prepare. I thought to myself, maybe just start now by being a good person. I'm not suggesting these people are not good and decent. But maybe all of us should just try to live a good life everyday.

Our physical lives are not infinite and our time can disappear in an instant. So why not try to live a good and great life all of the time. Being a good person to your family, your friends, your neighbors and even strangers leaves a great legacy for others to follow.

The rapture may happen tomorrow and I may get hit by a bus, but either way I'll try to do good until it happens. I'll keep going to the Waffle House. Heck, I'll just keep going on and on until I no longer can.