Using an Escalator

"Assume that whatever situation you are facing at the moment is exactly the right situation you need to ultimately be successful. This situation has been sent to help you become better, to help you expand and grow." - Brian Tracy

There was a great commercial on television that was so good at amusing me, it failed to actually help me remember what was being sold or promoted. The advertisement showed a few people riding an escalator which stopped in mid-movement.

One person sullenly asks "what shall we do?"

Another yells for help.

While another cries out that her cell phone is dead.

The immediate problem they face has them frozen in fear of not knowing what to do. They are locked in indecision, unable to clearly think or make a choice.

As they stand there, a fourth person bravely ascends the stairs on his own power. Walking up each step, happily making his way to the top. The stranded people watch in amazement as this person moves past them, boldly and without hesitation.

This scene is sort of like watching someone rise and achieve success. We stand still wondering what we should do. Yet if you watch those achieving success, they keep moving despite any obstacles.

If an obstacle emerges, it may cause us to deviate from our chosen path.

We keep moving though, adjusting to the changing conditions.

We keep moving, we keep pushing forward not allowing obstacles to stop our movement.

Never let a failed escalator stop your climb to achievement. Keep moving. And stay inspired my friends.

Crossing Calm Waters

"The winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators." - Edward Gibbon

As I was thinking about what to write today, it occurred to me that change happens in my life sometimes without even realizing it. Your thought is probably "well yeah, no duh." Certainly my thought was not one of those moments of enlightenment. It is something I have always understood just beneath the surface.

What occurred to me is that we forget about this fact of change.

Even as I accept and manage changes that I am making, other unseen forces are causing change in my life. If you think about the "ripples in the water", something set in motion elsewhere can have a ripple effect on our own life.

The ripple could be disruptive to our own movement.

The ripple could be just the right push we need.

So what happens when these ripples or waves cross paths with our own? They can upset and knock you off the course you had set. It is one of those things which could destroy a person, but only if they let it. You could be crossing calm waters only to be swept away. Knowing and understanding that the wind will shift, or that waves could come crashing over the side will help you better navigate your life.

Life and circumstance can bring change in the blink of an eye.

The outcome of your experience in life is the result of how you respond to events that occur in your life. Once you realize a calm sea will not always exist, you can prepare for and adjust when the calm is disrupted.

Be at peace in the crashing waves and you will come through into the calm stronger, happier and even more focused on your life goals.

Stay inspired my friends.

Enthusiasm for Your Life

"Enthusiasm is the energy and force that builds literal momentum of the human soul and mind." ~ Bryant H. McGill

When building a great life, we have to approach it with enthusiasm.

We need to have a pure joy for the process of living life.

We have to love living.

If we hate our job, if we hate our circumstance in life, if we just hate being; then our life will remain stuck with no chance of improvement. There has to be a change in those circumstances. You have to alter your view of life and how you feel about it. Always complaining and bickering about your lot in life will only yield an unlikeable life.

Try changing all of that around.

Try being a better person your self.

Try having a little more enthusiasm.

Try to enjoy the life you have a little more.

If we start by being slightly amused, maybe we can begin to get past the negativity in life. It is up to each of us to change our thoughts and behaviors. If we remain negative about all that is around us, a negative life is what we will get. If we choose to enjoy life and rid ourselves of the negativity, a greater life can be ours.

It sounds easy but the reality requires a lot of work on our part and many people are not willing to put in the work required. But the point is, it takes work to be negative and the result of that work will be a negative life.

Why not direct that enthusiasm; that energy; towards doing something greater for your life? Start laughing a bit more, start being less critical and start by just having more enthusiasm for your life.

Stay inspired my friends.

Perfect Game

"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies." ~ Mother Teresa

A baseball pitcher named Roy Halladay became only the second person to ever throw a no-hitter in post-season play on October 5, 2010. It was quite an accomplishment when you look at the history of baseball. It was made even more amazing because on May 29 of that same year, Halladay pitched the 20th perfect game in Major League Baseball history.

As they say, "27 up, 27 down" for a perfect game.

So what does pitching a no-hitter in baseball have to do with living a great life? Most certainly having that level of talent brings adulation and lots of money which helps make life more comfortable. But this story has to do with the person behind the talent; their character is what makes this a great story.

Roy Halladay did more than just receiving acclaim for his accomplishments.

After pitching the perfect game in May that year, he arranged to commemorate the accomplishment of a perfect game. Halladay presented roughly sixty Swiss-made Baume and Mercier watches he had purchased to everyone in the clubhouse. Each watch was presented in commemorative boxes bearing the inscription,

"We did it together. Thanks, Roy Halladay."

To top it off, each watch was engraved with the date of the game, the line score, and the individual recipient's name. And if you are not aware, there are only nine players on the field at any one time. He gave out sixty of these gifts which were not just given to his fellow ballplayers.

These sixty people were the coaches, the trainers, and down to what may seem to be the most insignificant people to some. But not to Roy, he understood and acknowledged that even the smallest have a large impact on our success in life.

Your own life involves both ends of this spectrum.

While you toil away at something, you may feel insignificant in what you do. But know that even the smallest flower along the roadside serves a grand purpose. The nectar a bee consumes, which creates food for the hive yet sustains the bee to carry on the pollination of other plants. The smallest flower is involved in the circle that will carry life forward.

And if when we achieve greatness in our life, remember and acknowledge all the other people who helped you accomplish it. For without others, our accomplishments are hard to achieve. Without the smallest flowers, the bee has less to draw upon. In time, the bee will not have the ability to sustain its grand work.

The largest depend upon the small as do the small upon the largest.

Know that your life is never too big to have done so on your own. Nor is your life too small not to have an impact on the life of others. Not all of us can pitch a no-hitter, but each of us can make a difference in the life of another. And when we impact the lives of other people, its as good as having a "27 up and 27 down" great life.

Stay inspired my friends.