Today is the Day

"Today, I'm leaving all my troubles behind." - Joe Pringle

Today is the day you will do it.

Yesterday it could have been done but it wasn't.

So make today the day you let it all go. Let the pain and indecision leave you forever.

Today is the day you will unload the pain and worry you have carried all these years. You will become more than what you or others have let yourself be.

There is nothing to hold you back and it starts today.

You are greater than the sum of all your worries and doubts. The only thing holding you back today is you. Let it go and get on with your life.

And today is when it will happen.

Today is the day...

Stay inspired my friends!

All is Okay

"And all your future lies beneath your hat." - John Oldham

He stood there, a man standing on the gravel drive way. He was near the house about half-way down towards the country road. I remember him as being tall and statuesque in his pressed pants and starched white shirt. The top button of his shirt was undone with no tie, the sleeves partly rolled up. His round wire-rim glasses reflected the afternoon sun as he smiled his wide smile towards me.

What I remember most is the fedora hat which covered his mostly bald head. It was probaby an attempt to keep his Irish skin from turning red. But he lifted his hat and waved to me. A gesture that seemed so comforting to me. A gesture I believed was meant only for me, his grandson.

I was only five years-old at the time as I stood in the open door-way of the corn crib. It seemed I had known Grandpa Gale for a lifetime. I guess I had known him for all my five years, but it seemed much longer. And now the wave of his hat seemed to say it would soon be over.

Soon Grandma and Grandpa would be moving to California. It would be quite some time before I would ever see them again. This final wave seemed to be telling me everything I needed to know. It was everything needed to guide me in life, all in the wave of the hat, telling me everything would be fine.

It is an image I can recall clearly in my mind to this very day. At the time so many years ago, I am sure the full impact back then was never fully comprehended. But as I recall the day, the moment, the image, I fully know that Grandpa was giving me his final bit of advice. A year later he would die in that far away place called California. A heart attack would take him from so many. Death would replace him with memories.

As I look back and recall the day, I am sure that regardless of what happens to me, everything will be okay. The wave of his hat telling me everything would be okay. It is an image he left for me, that I can go back and remind myself that yes, everything will be okay.

When even the cruelest of life's circumstance enters your day, think of Grandpa Gale and the wave of his hat. A smile given to tell you that things will get better; that life for you will be okay. Grandpa would want it that way not only for me, but for you as well.

Stay inspired my friends!

Fire Drills

"A fire drill does not demand a fire." - Nancy Cartwright

Do you remember those old school days when you practiced evacuating a building in case of a fire? Fire drills were always fun as it got us out of school work. We lined up and walked quickly without running to our designated safety area. We performed these drills 'just in case' a fire eventually broke out and our lives truly depended upon getting out safely.

Back in the 1950s, the threat of nuclear war was pervasive. People practiced 'duck and cover' in order to save themselves from the nuclear fallout. They would crawl under their school desk and cover their heads. I am not sure if that would have saved us, but we were prepared.

Yet we practice constantly in the event that something bad will happen in our lives. Those things may never happen, but we are prepared because we have taken the time to prepare.

What if we took time to prepare for the good things that could happen in our life?

Maybe we should practice how to handle the large amount of money we will earn.

Maybe we should practice what it will be like having great relationships.

Maybe we should practice having great children and a great job.

What I am saying is that maybe we should practice being positive about life.

Stay inspired my friends!

Build a Road

"You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space." - Johnny Cash

I was driving home from work one day and came upon some construction workers. They were bricklayers piecing together an intricate stone wall. It was interesting to watch them and I had the time to do so. There was road construction ahead and stopped traffic, so I sat there watching.

As the bricklayers did their work, complaint was bubbling up inside of me with the annoyance of delay. It could have been quite easy to fall into the trap of getting upset about the situation. So I turned my focus to watching these men as they built their wall.

The bricklayers picked up each unique piece of stone and carefully laid it within the wall. Each piece was selected in order to fit and complete another section of the wall.

Do we build walls in our lives by using complaints and disappointments?

In relationships, we take little dissatisfactions with each other and place it on our wall. These are the small stones of objection, petty differences or disagreements added to the construction. Soon we find we have built a wall between ourselves and the other person. It may seem like we are trying to build a majestic wall when in reality it will be a wall that separates us.

We may not even realize the wall has been built until such time we can no longer see beyond it. At this point we may come to our senses and begin the process of tearing it down. But some of us will choose to cap the wall and finish the separation, walling ourselves off forever. It is a choice eventually made.

Know that these walls do not build themselves.

We are the ones who create and choose which stones to use. Maybe it is time we choose to use those stones differently. Maybe instead of using them to build a wall, we choose to build a road on which we walk, leaving the stones of discontent behind us. Maybe we let the complaint go and lay a path to better relationships instead of walls.

I never had the opportunity to see how the completed wall looked. I am sure it was going to be a majestic wall. It would be a wall that would enclose all within.

For me, I had a road being built ahead of me.

A road which will lead me past those walls that would seek to confine my life. A road that enables me to leave all the complaints and disappointments behind. A road built to carry my relationships, my dreams and my life to greater places.

Do not use your complaints, disagreements and disappointments as material for a wall. All that creates is confinement in your life.

Take the stones and build a road to your future.

Use it stone pavers for the road you are constructing for your life. Put up a sign in your life that says "Road Construction" and see where you can take your life; a far greater place for sure.

Stay inspired my friends!