The Sky Is Falling

“When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Are you scared yet?

Have we panicked enough now to send everyone into seclusion?

There are many things that could befall us as humans with varying degrees of probability. Such as the odds of winning a single state lottery are roughly 18 million to 1. While the likelihood of being killed by lightning is roughly 2,650,000 to 1. I would be more alarmed by going to the store to purchase a chance of a winning the lottery.

There is an abundance of things one could worry about. We currently have the Ebola scare going around that in and of itself is dangerous. But there are many others that we could contract and fall ill, even die from with greater odds than this virus.

More importantly to me, if you are scared and figuratively running around saying the sky is falling, are you not part of the problem? Sensibility and reason will solve issues more readily than finger pointing.

Are you scared simply of your own inability to handle the unknown?

Is the panic you feel driving you into seclusion or to help solve it?

Fear can be a motivational part of life but it quickly becomes debilitating. It spreads like a virus through your words, your actions and can paralyze your very life. You can overcome fear, you can live life again without the anxiety of a virus, a lightening strike or even death to some degree.

Find out what is behind the fear; meaning what are you really afraid of. There is always something behind it, a real reason for the fear. Just be clear on what your are "really" afraid of. Knowing and expressing the fear makes it easier to confront.

Next is to understand what you are saying to yourself about the fear. If you are saying, "this final exam is hard and I am going to fail the test and not earn my degree", you are already setting yourself up for the failure. Say something positive about it. You will pass. You will earn the degree.

Now exaggerate the worst thing or things that could happen should the fear be realized. You fail the test, you do not earn the degree and you end up living in a van down by the river. After catastrophizing for a few minutes, you'll probably begin to realize that the world couldn't possibly be as bad as your imagination can make it.

Relax now for a few minutes and think of the good things that can result from letting go of the fear. You'll get on that plane. You will ride in that elevator. You will help people that are truly sick. You will make a difference because you are freed from the shackles of fear.

Lastly, you will need to actually approach the thing, person, or situation head on. This doesn't mean changing your entire behavior in one big step. You can break it down into a number of steps. But you now need to actually get on that plane, ride in that elevator, or help people that are truly sick.

You can live without fear when others are shouting in panic.

You can trust that living without fear is living a greater life.

Are you no longer scared?

Stay inspired my friends.

Movement Is Where Memories Live

“She took a step and didn't want to take any more, but she did.” ― Markus Zusak

It has now been a few weeks since a very good friend passed away and similar to only a couple of other occasions in my life, I couldn't move. I was going to work, shopping at the store and doing those things one does to live.

Getting back to really living was the difficult part.

Grief and loss can have that effect upon you. What I felt is nothing compared to my friend's family and telling you this story is not meant to compare levels of hurt and pain. It is meant to express that life can stop you in your tracks.

Life may go on around you, but the circumstance can make you feel like you are stuck in your tracks. Unable to think clearly, unable to grab hold of living, unable to breathe.

Movement is what springs us back into going on with our lives. The act of getting up in the morning, having breakfast, going to work and all of those other things we do are what make us live. Those acts of living shake us from standing still.

Memories of a loved one, a friend or whatever the loss occurred stir within you. These memories push from your soul, to your heart and it beat with anticipation of movement once again. Pushing you to live again, to think more clearly, to breathe once again.

Memories living through your movement, your life.

Soon you will find your life in elegant motion. Clarity will be restored. Life will be birthed again in joy.

Stay inspired my friends!

Keep Learning

"Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new." - Og Mandino

Our lives are filled with new experiences and new challenges nearly every day. As we grow older, we sometimes forget that each of those experiences is a chance to learn something. We become ingrained with the idea that with age we are automatically instilled with wisdom.

Yet wisdom is a collection of learned experiences and as we grow older, those experiences can teach us new things. Those experiences can also correct or enlighten what we thought we already knew.

So never stop learning, never stop growing; find something new each day.

And stay inspired my friends!

Get Back On Board

"As happens sometimes, a moment settled and hovered and remained for much more than a moment. And sound stopped and movement stopped for much, much more than a moment.” - John Steinbeck

We move through life at a pace comfortable with the progress we want to make. In search of our dreams we keep moving forward through the maze of others. The focus of that movement is towards the goals we have established for our lives.

Then one day you get tired of the movement, feeling no progress is being made. We stop and wonder about our life which sometimes turns into self pity. All the while, life keeps moving past us even faster. We can stand on the side of the tracks watching the train go by, or choose to engage in the movement once again.

If we stop, as Steinbeck says, the moment becomes much more than a moment. So much opportunity passes us by if we adapt a victim mentality. The type of mentality which believes the whole world needs to stop just for them.

Very much like a train stop, people engage to see how you are doing. They will genuinely care for your situation but the train can not stay still for long. The whistle blows and the train leaves the station, leaving you standing alone once again.

Be willing to get back on board the train should you have had cause to pause for a moment or two.

Choose not to be a victim in life and become fully part of it.

Find out where the train can take you and experience the wonder of it.

Stay inspired my friends.