London Fog

"Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us." -Henri Matisse

There are days when all we do seems to be shrouded in a heavy blanket of fog. Our mind is trying to clear out the haze in order to get a better view on our lives. Yet the thickness of what troubles us gets in the way.

Sometimes those days are due to our own negative way of thinking. We get down on ourselves, on what is happening in our life and on those around us. These are the days when the fog is thickest in our lives.

Even when it sets in like this, you need to find small things to help guide you. Little bits of positive lights that will mark the path you are on. The level of happiness we decide to shower upon our life will determine the amount of illumination that will guide us through the fog.

Do not allow the fog to burden your travel or to dampen the spirit within. Use the heaviness of that fog to heighten and focus your attention on the happiness and goodness. Allow it to make you more of aware what is important in your life.

Soon enough the fog will lift and the rest of this great world will once again be revealed. Stay inspired both in and out of the fog.

Get Out Of Bed

"In these times you have to be an optimist to open your eyes when you awake in the morning." -Carl Sandburg

Today I picked up a few local papers here in London and the headlines are not good. There are antibiotic-resistant infections spreading through Europe. The fashion world is stunned by a high-fashion robbery. We see mass arrests at Occupy protests and the U.N. Nuclear chief says we "must alert the world" about Iran.

There is so much going on that we can become overwhelmed by it all. An old saying that the world is "going to hell in a hand basket" feels so real to many people. At times we would prefer to remain hidden under the covers of our bed. Maybe if we just sleep in longer, all of the turmoil will pass.

It is redundant to say this, but the world has been going "to hell in a hand basket" since the beginning of time. There is always some issue, some disaster, something bad to report about. The fact is that we are going through a tough time right now and all of our senses are heightened.

What makes it even more profound this time and each time a down period occurs, is that bad news sells. As an example, take this article discussion from 2007 by David Blanchard. In it, the headline in question paints a gloomy forecast. But the actual news is rather positive. Lenna Gonya writes that "...while these stories may sell, they don’t do much to improve our moods, our depression, or our outlook on life. More than ever, people are discovering that they are less and less optimistic about life, and the news may be a contributing factor."

Do not get me wrong, there are a lot of bad things happening in the world today. But most surely there are a lot of good things happening out there as well. We need to understand that goodness does exist and that "getting out of bed" is a good and great thing. There are a lot of good things going on in life that we need to focus on.

Yes, we have to be mindful and concerned of the hardships that exist. But we can not allow that type of thinking to rule the day. If we do, clean water will cease to exist, nations will destory each other, cancer will never be defeated and the universe will never be understood.

Possibility exists in our hopes and dreams. It exists in the optimism that greater things can happen in our lives and the lives of others. Possibility exists and that my friends is the good news.

Forgiveness and Rocks

"Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom." -Hannah Arendt

So how often have you walked around in life holding the pain of some past offense? Do you feel offended and carry it with you like a badge of honor, showing all the world your misery?

Why not let forgiveness enter your life and give you the power to move? Why not simply let it go?

We pull our wagon of rocks around ever increasingly heavy with the burden of real and perceived hurt. We just can't seem to let it go. The rocks pile ever higher in our world and our struggle to keep pulling the wagon gets worse and worse.

If we allow ourselves to forgive, inside our hearts and mind, then we are set free from our burden. It allows us to toss those rocks from our wagon and lighten the load that only we have allowed in our lives.

Give forgiveness to those and to yourself; move on in life.

Gathering Firewood

"Confidence is preparation. Everything else is beyond your control." -Richard Kline

As I drive the back roads of New England, driving to the office and back to the hotel, you see the preparation for winter taking place by humans. Their porches are stacked with cords of firewood. Long rows of cut and dried wood line the driveway alongside the garage. Small sheds are filled to the roof line with hard and seasoned firewood. The work required in preparation for winter has been long and hard.

Each of us know that preparing for something is essential in success. Success in making it through the winter by keeping your home warm. Success in presenting a business topic at a seminar. Success in having a great relationship or marriage. Success in raising your kids to be successful as well.

Some of us are better than others in preparing. Some of us over prepare to the point of obsession. While there are those that seem to do very little in preparing for something. For all of the preparing we do though, we have to remain confident in whatever amount of preparing we have done.

Confidence is key to pulling yourself through when you start to question the level of preparedness you have done. Without it, we will never see ourselves through to the end. Confident that you will make it through the tough winter that is part of the road to achieving a goal or vision.

Try to be prepared in all that you do. Be prepared at what ever level you feel good about. But most of all, be confident in the preparation that you have done. Be confident in yourself and see the success you will achieve.