Shifting Sand

"You cannot tailor-make the situations in life, but you can tailor-make the attitudes to fit those situations." - Zig Ziglar

In the throes of all your plans being washed away, what would you do? The circumstances we find ourselves in can ruin a pretty good day for sure. But in the bigger scheme of your life, you should not let it have an overbearing impact on your attitude.

Take for instance a wedding planned to be held beach side. What was to be a great sunset ceremony along the beautiful Pacific ocean is over run by a coming storm. All hope and happiness could be lost.

Yet to keep your life moving forward, maintain the best attitude possible and in the last minutes think through your options. You know someone that may know someone that is able to get you a banquet room overlooking the ocean. It happens, the guests arrive and a beautiful view of the Pacific ocean is still a reality.

One could have wallowed in despair over the lost opportunity. It might have been a missed chance to stand on the beach to exchange wedding vows. Staying frozen in that despair would have left you with no ability to take advantage of other opportunity. Your energy would have been consumed by thinking what could have been instead of what can be.

Did one miss out on something wished for? Sure, but keeping a great attitude about the situation a new opportunity opened up and you were able to see it. By keeping your eyes and mind open even when things are not going the way you want, other things will open up in front of you.

Opportunity is there for you to see if you keep looking forward. Eventually you will get to walk along the beach with the sand between your toes. Your life will have leaped forward beyond your original expectations.

Stay inspired my friends.

Tell a Story

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." -William James

Many times we go through life believing that the path we are on was pre-chosen for us. All we can see is one narrow vision of a road that leads off in a direction that we simply are not happy with. So we try to adapt to the road, to the scenery and make the best of our travel.

We may pass an intersection along our way and wonder. We stop at this crossroads and see something different on the horizon of the other path. Our interest is heightened but the Garmin in our mind tells us to 'stay on our own path'. So we continue down the same path, but with a growing sense that this isn't the correct one.

The feeling grows until one day you are standing at another 'crossroads of life' and make that decision to make a change in life. It is this change that I want to hear about. I want to hear your story of change in attitude, in personal revelation or change in direction.

These stories of change can impact other people and that's what we can do together. We will impact others with our stories of what we did to change the course of our lives. I have heard some say things such as, "no one would want to hear my story", or "it was such a small and insignificant thing." Those are precisely the stories I want to hear about. They are precisely the stories that other people need to hear.

Leave a lasting impact for all of time for others to hear. Send me your story of change, the thing that happened which changed it all for you. Share with those that might be standing at their own crossroads and are unsure.

Send your story to me at josephprimm@bellsouth.net. You will find yourself helping others with something as simple as your own story. If you are unsure, then guess what...you may very well be standing at your own crossroads looking down the path at a new horizon.

Make a difference, make a change, tell your story.

Planting Seed

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." -John Maxwell

In many of the books I have read and the speakers I have listened to, each speak of "sowing seeds for the future." And it occurs to me that the by-product of having a positive attitude is the planting of hope and goodness. What starts out as a 'me' adventure turns into a 'for others' epic.

John Maxwell says there is an essential part of your success journey and that is in helping others. Without this, your journey will be lonely and quite a shallow experience. The joy you will receive is hard to describe. Albert Schweitzer said, "...the purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others."

All of this means is that you begin right where you are; doing the little things. That can mean spending more time at home watching television with your kids, spending more quality time with your spouse, encouraging someone at work or volunteering to do something for your community or church. Every little thing you do is the planting of another seed.

And while you are pursuing what your own purpose is, you help others along the way. Danny Thomas (for those of us that go back far enough) would say that "...all of us are born for a reason, but all of us don't discover why. Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It's what you do for others."

Continue the journey for me, for you and more importantly for others. Stay inspired my friends.

Raise the BAR

"No one determines vision for you; vision is yours to see, believe in and grab hold of." -Me

This morning I had the opportunity to speak at a business breakfast called Pathfinders. I was invited to talk about "Raising the BAR" in your personal and business life. If you have not heard about it, check back next week to this blog as I talk more about it. In fact I will be putting out an eBook - free for a limited time - that you can get by subscribing to my blog.

Getting up and speaking to the folks this morning was an absolute joy. After the meeting, I was able to talk to some of the attendees and found their stories amazing. You see each of us has a story to tell or experience to share. Every one of those stories can provide us with a new idea, a new way or new hope that we can overcome any obstacle in our life.

The BAR gets set in your life that must be cleared before the next one is attempted. So each time we accomplish one thing, the BAR lifts higher. Staying connected, networking with other people, being strong in belief of your vision will give you the ability to get over any BAR that is set in your life.

Raise the B-elief A-ction R-ealization of expectation in your life and stay inspired my friends.