Hello and Goodbye

“Every goodbye makes the next hello closer.” - Unknown

Greetings between people are the greatest way to establish connection. Whether it be hello or goodbye, it acknowledges the other person will be or was a part of a personal connection. It is two or more people establishing a bond at some level.

Hello says you are ready to connect and will provide your undivided attention to the other person. This connection then occurs with both our eyes and verbally an exchange begins.

The hello in our connection can uplift another person beyond what you might expect. As humans, we all have a need to be acknowledged. It provides us with belief of our existence and that we matter. Even when you connect for the four-hundredth time, it is like saying hello for this first time all over again.

A rush of remembrance comes flooding in and the connection is reborn.

And when you complete the conversation, a goodbye signals an end to this connection but another will take place again. It creates an anticipation with each other. I have a friend whose father never said goodbye on phone. When he finished what he had to say, he simply hung up. This left the other person hanging there wondering, "was it something I said?"

When my friends father passed away, so many chances to say goodbye were lost. It leaves us without completion. This is why goodbye becomes so important to be said. The chance to say hello again may never come.

So say hello, say goodbye and let people know you will connect again and again. Never let the moment pass.

Stay inspired my friends!

Life Written in Ink

"You have to forgive yourself for everything you do in your life because you made that decision based on what was happening at that instant." - William Shatner

The definition of regret varies slightly from one place to the next. Most commonly it is to experience regret on account of; to lose or miss with a sense of regret; to feel sorrow or dissatisfaction on account of (the happening or the loss of something); as, to regret an error; to regret lost opportunities or friends.

Regret is your conscience speaking to you. Going over what you have or have not done relative to some incident or event. The regret part comes along when you decide internally that you should have done things differently. Life is like writing with an ink pen. You can not erase the ink, but you can learn from it.

What we must also understand is that most times our regret happens in the fresh light of new information. We have at that point benefit of having seen the results or outcome. You could call this having twenty-twenty hindsight. We than beat ourselves up with regret and do not allow ourselves to get past it. Do not misunderstand, regret serves a purpose in evaluating what we have or have not done in life.

We can not allow regret to chain us down from ever moving forward.

In addition to the above quote, William Shatner tells the following story as an example. "I lived close enough to where Marlon Brando lived that I could have walked to his house. I always wanted to talk to him. Never did. I knew a lot of people in common with Laurence Olivier. I could have talked to him. Never did. I know they would have taken my call. I could have taken them to lunch. But because I thought they might not, I didn't do it. I wish I had."

This story gives us insight to a couple of things; one is that regret serves a purpose of learning and the second is to move on with this new learned experience. You learn from examining (in one way) your regret and how things happened. Regret is not something you can linger on. You made your decisions based upon what you knew or thought you knew at the time.

Learn, move on.

You now have more understanding from having learned, you do not let the regret hold you back. The new found revelation or knowledge allows your life to grow; you make that phone call, send that letter or change your behavior.

Break the chain of regret that holds you back in life. It is a heavy stone that would make a perfect stone for your path in life. Lay it down, empty your wagon of those regrets and move on to greater things.

Stay inspired my friends.

We Love, We Laugh, We Eat Fruity Pebbles

"We Love, We Laugh, We Eat Fruity Pebbles...is that not life." - Joseph Primm

My latest book, number six, is now available for you to enjoy. Both paperback and Kindle versions are orderable and let me know what you think. My hope is that the stories will motivate and inspire you to have a more full and enjoyable life.

Stay inspired my friends.

Walk the Red Carpet

"The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate." - Oprah Winfrey

Roll out the red carpet.

Let trumpets blare your arrival.

Crowds cheer from the left and right while paparazzi clamor for your attention.

Could all of this really be for you?

Accomplishment whether large or small are worth celebrating, if only taking simple pleasure in feeling you have done a good job. Every little thing you do can be deemed a success. Every time you cause another to smile, to laugh or ease even their smallest burden is worth celebrating.

Many believe it takes the grandest of accomplishments such as raising millions of dollars for a charity.

Many believe it takes solving world hunger or any one of a number of human needs to garner celebration.

Most of what you do each day are worthy of celebration. By holding the door open for someone carrying a package, you have something worth celebrating. It could be offering a bit of encouragement to someone down on their luck. Showing up at your child's school to have lunch with them, to hold the hand of a friend in tough times and dropping a few coins in a street person's cup without questioning.

It may seem prideful or pretentious for us to declare the small accomplishments in grandeur. Others may consider it "putting on airs" (pretend to be grander and more important than they really are). Yet that is far from my point. I want you to feel good about the good you do. We spend way too much time beating ourselves up over the minor infractions. We should spend some time lifting ourselves up instead.

Life is worth celebrating. The good however small or seemingly insignificant should be celebrated. We should walk the red carpet once in a while.

Stay inspired my friends.