Regain Your Balance

“If positivity is not your mindset, then reset” ― Josh Stern

When I was growing up on the farm, we had an over-sized black Labrador Retriever dog named Butch. He was and remains to this day the best dog I have ever been around. Each day when the school bus would pull up at our farm to drop me off, Butch would be laying near a Mulberry tree waiting for me. As I stepped off the bus, he would come galloping up to meet me at the bottom step.

A big and goofy dog at times, he could be very protective of all that he watched over in his domain. It was very comforting to have such a dog out on the farm. In terms of being mans best friend, the term certainly applied to this dog named Butch.

My mother would call him a big lummox.

Butch could be big and clumsy at times, but through that clumsiness, when he regained his balance there was a true sense of his reliability and abilities. Interesting enough each of us have those same moments of clumsiness. It is like being a big lummox, similar to my dog Butch from so many years ago.

I myself have had those moments when I felt like a clown tripping across the stage. Nothing I did seemed to make sense or work in a rational manner. A feeling such as this can put you in a state that just seems very much out of the ordinary.

To regain your balance, think of pushing a reset button on your thinking.

Take a moment, relax and re-adjust your thoughts to get back to your abilities. The stumbling feeling we get can be debilitating when we know we can do better. That feeling will go away when you reset. And be assured, you are not a big lummox.

All you need to do is take that moment, re-adjust, reset and regain control of your domain.

Stay inspired my friends!

Two Coffee Cups

Coffee and Cigarettes

"Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

There are times in our life when we just struggle to get through the day. For some reason, maybe we know why, maybe we simply do not know, the day seems to be in perfect alignment against us. The act of even placing one foot in front of the other is a battle against the weight of our struggles.

It is during those times that we could use the helping hand of another.

You could be that person, to enter into the life of another. You could be the one that will help burden some of that person's load. That is the type of person we need and should be. It does not take much to be a person that cares.

You can have a significant impact on another person's life when things are going bad for them. Use your smile, provide a word of encouragement or maybe just buy them a cup of coffee to ease the day. The little things can impact big.

Stay inspired my friends.

Defeat

Defeat III - Self-portrait by Todd Marinovich

"Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure." - George Edward Woodberry

Failure is one of the biggest fears that many people have in life. Failing at work, failing in relationships, failing at school or failing at trying. It grips us to the point that we settle back into a stagnant frame of mind. The safety of not trying to do anything takes over our lives.

It is at this point we stop growing. Our life will be as it always was and change can never happen if we allow the fear of failing to overtake our mind. We have now accomplished true defeat if we let it happen.

When we step out and try, defeat is merely a teaching point on our road. We take the lessons learned and turn them into an experience that places us closer to success. But you will never know unless you step out and try.

Let go the fear of failure and gain more in your life. The dark walls you surround yourself with will fill with the brightness of light. As you make your attempts and failures occur, your steps forward will not cease. You will continue moving forward with the new found knowledge towards greater things.

Stay inspired my friends!

Surprise, Surprise

"Surprise is the greatest gift which life can grant us." ~ Boris Pasternak

Life can be full of surprises. A surprise visit from a brother to his sister's birthday party. A surprise from a son on Father's day. A surprise is what you get in return for gifting others. There is a reaction of happiness that will fill your heart with joy.

The act of giving or surprising others can really feed back great things into your life. You should give it a try sometime. Give without expectation. Surprise without expectation. As I said, it will fill you with wonder, excitement and happiness.

And as Gomer Pyle would always say on the Andy Griffith Show, "surprise, surprise, surprise."

Stay inspired my friends!