Friday, August 07, 2015

Welcome To The Gang


Just when you think that a person is just a backdrop for the rest of the universe, watch them and see that they laugh, they cry, they tell jokes...they're just friends waiting to be made.” - Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein

There are lots of people in the world you pass by each day. As you drive down the street or walk through the store going about your daily life.

Those people you see; you smile and exchange a quick greeting.

Day by day these people fill your world and are a part of all that happens around you. It can become easy to be oblivious to their existence. The fact remains you become a "movie prop" in the background from their perspective as well.

Maybe we should stop and look at others not as "movie props" but as potential friends.

A friend who has a good thing to say or someone to offer support when in need. With so many people moving about in the world, having a friend around every corner is a pretty comforting thought.

Try to create new friends from the everyday background of your life. Every one of them will count as a great new addition to your life.

And stay inspired my friends!

Thursday, August 06, 2015

Weaving Your Life


"We sleep, but the loom of life never stops, and the pattern which was weaving when the sun went down is weaving when it comes up in the morning." ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Was there a time in your life when a person or group of people did you wrong? The kind of wrong which sends all of your belief in others shattering into shambles.

Life itself all of a sudden seemed to matter very little anymore.

I recently read again the tale of Silas Marner, considered a classic tale and written by George Eliot many a half moon ago. Silas was a young talented man with the promise of a soon to be new bride. He had talents within a trade and talents in care of his fellow man.

Silas had everything figured out and life was perfect.

It happened one such day that a close and dear friend turned out to be none too close or dear. Silas was set up for failure in the eyes of his community, friends, and worse his soon to be bride. His trust in others had been betrayed and it fell on him as a ton of bricks upon the ground. With the loss of friends, community and his love, all that was left to do was leave and embark on a life of solitude.

It is a story with many similarities that erode parts of our lives.

There can be mistrust, betrayal, loss of love, and loss of faith when we encounter pain each can cause. It can force us into a mere existence of just getting by. It sends our life into a spiral of meager existence within the shadows, while the sun shines brightly elsewhere.

Different forces can be quite cruel if we let them win the battle. The battle I speak of is your own life. Life can be wondrous and amazing but it can also be depressing and dark. Either can happen based on what we allow to enter.

The doorway to your life is controlled by you and not external forces.

It may take time to overcome the hurt in your life. It is not an easy process, but the reward of a great life awaits you if you let the goodness in and push out the pain.

Silas came to trust and love once again. Your life is also worth living in the bright sunshine as opposed to the cold shadows. Find a path to overcome the pain. Allow your life to be full of greatness once again.

Spin your yarn into a wonderful quilt of memories which last a lifetime.

Stay inspired my friends.

Wednesday, August 05, 2015

Mary Poppins From A Different Vantage Point


He knew, the moment he opened his eyes, that something was wrong but he was not quite sure what it was.” ― P.L. Travers, Mary Poppins

I would suggest many things depend upon your perception.

Real or not, how life gets presented to you can alter what we think. What if the movie trailer for Mary Poppins had been presented in a different manner?


Has your mind been changed regarding how naughty or nice Mary Poppins was?

Always look on both sides of the story to figure out where the truth normally exists. As we all know, each of us have a gut feeling about things and sometimes we just aren't sure what it is.

Stay inspired my friends.

Tuesday, August 04, 2015

Ready, Aim, Connect


Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories.” ― Laurie Anderson

I have this thing for technology and what it can do in our lives. It can help us find our way to Grandmother's home, provide instructions to repair a leaking faucet or measure the steps we take each day.

The possibilities seem endless to how much we can do today.

Our lives are also about connection and technology can help us with that on a daily, hourly and even minute-by-minute basis. We have the ability for instantaneous connection regardless of where we are in the world.

Connections crossing the globe connecting each of us.

Telegraph and then the simple use of a phone allowed us to move from sending a message to actually conversing with other people miles away. Some may say we have converted the smart phone of today into a modern day telegraph.

As we send text messages back and forth instead of actually talking.

When I travel either here in the U.S. or abroad, my smart phone provides an ability to connect with family and friends at any time. My parents would get a special thrill whenever I called from overseas. They were simply in awe of what communication could do. Once I called them from inside St. Paul's Basilica at the Vatican.

Just think of what you can do with technology.

I was walking and describing everything I could see, relating my experience to what they had only seen in pictures. That is until the Vatican folks caught me and asked me to put away the phone. I gave an excuse about having once been Catholic and forgetting my Catholicism of 'thou shalt not talk in Church'.

The Vatican folks were nice enough to let me stay.

It is also interesting when friends call me on my cell phone. Think about it. Fifteen or twenty years ago, the one thing you never heard someone ask was the question "where are you?" Back then you were located at the place where the phone was tethered.

With cell phones, you can be almost anywhere.

Not long ago, I was in London working and did the tourist thing. I went to Abbey Road Studios where The Beatles recorded much of their best work. Knowing web cams exist everywhere in the city, I knew Abbey Road would have one. In the picture above people can watch you strut across the famous street crossing made famous of course by The Beatles album cover artwork.

Making new friends by stopping local traffic while taking pictures.

So I called my wife Laura, had her get online and watch me real time walk across the street. Sure, geeky cool is all I can say. But today one can do this with something such as FaceTime on the iPhone.

Technology advances faster than we can sometimes grasp.

You can and should us the available technologies we have today and the ones we will have tomorrow. Use them to stay connected with family; use them to stay connected with friends.

It is a great world we live in.

Life can only get better as we take it all in as you connect and grow your life to greater levels with everyone around you. All of those folks are waiting to hear and see you. So ready, aim, and connect.

Stay inspired my friends.