Monday Morning

"When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love." -Marcus Aurelius

Here it is, Monday morning and I can hear the collective groan that comes with the rising sun. The alarm shatters our peaceful slumber and no matter how hard we try, the day must start.

Is it lack of sleep that causes our angst in getting up? If so, maybe you need to adjust your sleep pattern to obtain the right level of sleep. Maybe depression has entered your life and you haven't realized it. If so, then read up about it but more importantly, go see your doctor.

Could it possibly be that you simply are not satisfied with the amount of stress in your life? When we feel stressed and overworked, we try to "plow on through" the list of things to do. This causes additional stress which in turn can turn our motivation into a lack of it. It is these moments we need to stop and step back to relax.

Maybe you need some new techniques to recharge your life. Psychology Today provides some helpful tips to do just that. In an article titled How to Recharge and Get Motivated, it offers advice on just that. A dip in your personal motivation will work against you and make those mornings more difficult. Try something new in order to lift the stress from your life and raise the motivation.

Monday morning is always going to come, as is Tuesday, Wednesday, etc. While we may not want to jump up in joy with the birds, taking care of ourselves will make all mornings a little easier to enjoy.

Brush With Something

"With the brush we merely tint, while the imagination alone produces colour." -Theodore Gericault

Once in a while you get the chance to brush by fame. In this case, it was Salman Rushdie. Or so I believed it was him when having breakfast at my hotel in London one morning.

I was on a business trip and due to my frequent hotel stays, the club room is a convenience that makes the trip much easier. I was always asked, why not ask to take a picture, why not engage in a conversation, why not....

But I did not ask and here is why.

In all of my travels, it is very rare that I come within ear shot or even see famous people. For all of the media exposure that so many get, there are so many others that are average, everyday people like you and me.

So it was with great interest that the man sitting one table away from me seemed very familiar. In my hotel in central London, the business lounge provides breakfast on the top floor for members. This particular morning I chose a later time to arrive.

With only three of us in the room, there was no particular reason that I sat near this man. The only thing that drove me that direction is that it was close to the television. It also gave me a clear view of the Thames River. Well then again, maybe I did have a reason for sitting where I did.

Something about the presence of the man sitting near me and his familiar face told me he was of some importance or celebrity. After a short while it dawned on me that it could very well be Salman Rushdie. Yes, that famous auther who wrote the Satanic Verses which became the scorn of many Muslims. So much that in 1989, Ayatollah Khomeini, (leader of Iran at the time) issued a fatwa or decree telling all Muslims to kill Rushdie and his publishers.

Salman Rushdie was placed under police protection by the British government. As of this year (2010), Salman has not been harmed, but it is said that 38 others connected with the book have been killed.

So my mind kept thinking and rationalizing his presence in this place. No body guards and such. But after so many years, I had to think he had slipped back into obscurity and maybe it just wasn't as big of a concern anymore.

But was it really Salman Rushdie? I never asked because I've always felt that there are times of approach and there are times of quiet. This seemed like a time of quiet. We both nodded a good morning to each other and left each other to our quiet and peaceful breakfast.

He may have simply been a person that looked extremely similar to Salman, but I'd like to think otherwise. That I had breakfast with Salman Rushdie and that we enjoyed the peaceful quiet of the morning.

Each of us need those quiet moments in time. To pull ourselves back from the hurried and noise filled life that surrounds us each day. A time to reflect on things that matter to us. A time to just let down our guard a little bit and not be looking over our shoulder.

Maybe next time I'll ask to be sure, but then it might disappoint me. Then the peaceful and quiet breakfast that I had with Salman Rushdie will disappear forever for both myself and for him.

Another Brass Ring

Picture comes from The Brass Ring Poem, by Janet Boyd.

It is well worth a read when you finish here.

"We dance around the ring and suppose, but the secret sits in the middle and knows." -Robert Frost

This article was an early one in my blog writing days. It shows that I was still learning how to structure the pictures, the quotes, the links and my thoughts. But I found it to be a good one that even today gathers a fair amount of views.

I was recently reminded of the article while watching a show about amusement parks. One in particular was the Looff Carousel at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk amusement park in Santa Cruz, California. It features a brass ring dispenser that was interesting to hear about.

So without anymore ado, the original post titled "Grab A New Attitude - Grab The Brass Ring".

Ever sit around thinking about how your life could be different. Going round and round in your mind, like sitting on a merry-go-round.

Maybe daydreaming at work regarding how much you may not like what it is you do.

Maybe sitting in traffic between your place of work and home wondering if your well used vehicle couldn't be replaced by a new one.

Maybe at home watching television on that 25" envisioning what it would be like to have a large screen version with surround sound.

Maybe just wishing you had more meaning or purpose in your life.

Daydreaming, wondering and envisioning is good. Everyone should have dreams and goals for a better life. But you wonder how can I ever achieve them? How am I going to grasp that 'brass ring'?

Stop and think about the merry-go-round. Around and around and around and around in circles with the same music. As an amusement ride, I love them for the memories it brings back growing up. For the simplicity of the ride, for the safety of the ride. What can go wrong in a round the circle ride. I had always wondered why the 'brass ring' was there. It hit me years ago that it is there to add a bit of excitement to the ride.

For those that dared to, they could reach out in an attempt to grab it. Maybe earn a free ride or a prize. Many wouldn't try, simply content to hold on tight to go around and around and around. The ones that did keep trying to grab the brass ring eventually succeeded. They had the courage to overcome fear and reach out. What then was left? To move on to another more exciting ride. To take a chance at something different. To move on from the same thing over and over, around and around, again and again.

Get out there and make a move. Sitting still, not changing the way you do things results in just that - nothing changes. Another year goes by, around in a circle on the merry-go-round watching the brass ring pass you by.

Don't wait - reach out and make a change in your life. Reach for the brass ring, do something to help someone else, move your attitude to a higher plateau. Start moving and change will occur.

Fishing Advice

"The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself." -Oscar Wilde

The following article was originally posted on February 13, 2007. I thought it was a pretty decent article about taking care of your relationships. What I didn't expect was how the title "Mending Fishing Nets" would become a search item for fishermen.

I was getting so many hits to the article, I had the sense that maybe it was a great article. Yet I tempered my excitement and soon realized the majority were from coastal locations. These were people actually looking for advice on mending a fishing net.

To make sure I didn't turn away those people, I changed the articles to give links to some actual sites offering that advice. I also gave these people an offer to return to my site later for motivation and inspiration.

I still get quite a few hits to these articles. So hopefully I'm providing a good service. In a way maybe I'm helping fishermen become fishers of men.

So here is the original posting:

Your life is like a series of connections, like the knots of a fishing net. Each knot is a relationship with another person. As these knots or connections grow, the larger the net becomes. Your impact on other peoples lives grows as well.

But you can't simply create a connection and forget about it. Each knot of the net has to be tended to. When a weak spot develops, a hole can develop. Not only your relationship but a piece of your life slips through.

When this happens, what is left will be difficult to gather back in. So mending and caring for each connection is important.

These relationships are more important than having all of the money in the world. These relationships define who you are. An old saying goes something like this, "he who dies with the most toys wins." But the reality of it is that "he who dies with the most toys still dies."

Tend to your life net connections, those relationships that will improve your life and others. The net will be there when you fall and help you when you recover. It will impact and connect many people to many others. It is your impact on other lives that will mean the most when life ends...a lasting memory to guide others when you are long gone.