A Sky So Blue

A sky so blue
Arc of the earths horizon
Sun sets west
Ahead of the fading blue
New day will dawn
Once again a sky so blue

- Joseph Primm -

It comes along when you least expect it. A life changing event, an unexpected circumstance, or a path not intended enters into your world.

Each of us will face these moments in time.

It will feel as though your entire world has come unglued. The path you were walking on was well marked and you had a clear vision of where you were headed. Then all of a sudden you find your self in unknown territory. The path looks completely different and frantically you try to find where on the map you are standing.

You look around and question your changing life. All you can see is the setting sun and a fading sky. You feel unprepared for the change and the pressing weight can seem unfair, a burden you didn't ask for.

Yet life is simply going on around and to you.

There is an old adage which says "the sun will rise again" and it does not mean life goes on without you. It is meant to say your life will go on and you will get to see another blue sky. All of the possibility which existed before still exists now. New opportunities have also been placed in front of you to discover.

So take this change and energize yourself with a new attitude today and each coming day. Walk your new path with the excitement you have always had. Shake off the fear and discover it remains a sky so blue.

Stay inspired my friends!

All Those Police Officers

"If you run, you'll only go to jail tired." - Unknown

As we start a New Year, there are quite a few law enforcement folks out there who get to relax a bit themselves for a moment or two. Many of these fine people were out keeping the streets safe during the holiday season. This means many of them had to work during the holiday celebrations, away for family and friends.

Law enforcement personnel worked while we partied.

All of this got me to thinking about a book written by Dr. David Spell titled STREET COP. It is one of those books which tells the tales from nearly 30 years of life in law enforcement.

A life you thought you might have understood a police officer goes through. This book is personal and brings you right into the action. And it is that action for which I'm thankful for people like Dr. David Spell.

Each day we get up and go to work, the store or any of a hundred different things. The visible life of police officers is one in which we see them involved in catching speeding cars or showing up at our fender benders.

A job some criticize as interference in your daily life.

What we fail to see and maybe choose not to understand is one in which bad guys do bad things, ugly things, to other people. The bad guys rob you; they beat up their spouses; sell drugs to our children, and they shoot to kill in bloody messes. These same bad guys are confronted every day by good guys just like David Spell.

Every single day, the good guys are chasing down bad guys and keeping you and I safe. It is only in their spare time do police officers get the chance to try and slow us down on the roads. Only in their spare time do police officers get the chance to help write up an incident report from your fender bender.

Wonder why police officers are so careful when pulling you over?

One police officer is quoted as saying, "In God we trust, all others we run through NCIC (National Crime Information Center)." When you read STREET COP you will see just how much danger they put themselves in. This goes on each and every day.

"TO PROTECT AND SERVE" isn't just a line from a movie.

Get your copy of David's book today and see what happens as we go about our daily life. And than thank a police officer next time you see one. Thank your 'lucky stars' they are out there chasing down the bad guys and the occasional dog.

Stay inspired my friends!

Resolution Numbers

"People need revelation, and then they need resolution." - Damian Lewis

What do we resolve to do each year when a New Year comes upon us? The statistics are actually quite interesting as provided by StatisticBrain.com from 2015. My guess is this list remains fairly consistent year after year and 2016 will be not much different.

1..........Lose Weight
2..........Getting Organized
3..........Spend Less, Save More
4..........Enjoy Life to the Fullest
5..........Staying Fit and Healthy
6..........Learn Something Exciting
7..........Quit Smoking
8..........Help Others in Their Dreams
9..........Fall in Love
10........Spend More Time with Family

How many people make or never make resolutions? The other 17% are those who once in a while decide to make a resolution.

45% - Percent of Americans who usually make New Year's Resolutions
38% - Percent of Americans who absolutely never make New Year's Resolutions

Success rates of those making resolutions.

8% - Percent of people who are successful in achieving their resolution
24% - Percent who never succeed and fail on their resolution each year

As you can see, success rates are low and the majority of people have mixed results. Sort of like life, our achievements are not always exactly as we intended. We try and end up somewhere different after trying.

Yet is is found that people who explicitly make resolutions are ten times more likely to attain their goals than people who don't. Of these people, here are some success rates for selected resolutions people make.

47% - Self Improvement or education related resolutions
38% - Weight related resolutions
34% - Money related resolutions
31% - Relationship related resolutions

Young or old, all of us resolve to do something.

Here are numbers regarding success rates for two different age groups. I would guess the in-between ages have a lot of other things going on in life. Their results are going to be mixed.

For those over 50 could mean we have learned to adjust and the resolution we started on has changed so the accomplishment is different from where we started. Just a thought!

39% - Percent of people in their twenties who achieve their resolution each year
14% - Percent of people over 50 who achieve their resolution each year

Keeping to your resolutions is probably the hardest part.

Life gets in the way, new and brighter shiny things come along and many times our will subsides. Yet in looking at these numbers, I am pleasantly surprised by the reasonable longevity of many folks in working to achieve what they set out to do. The drop-off is not all that surprising either.

75% - Resolution maintained through first week
71% - Past two weeks
64% - Past one month
46% - Past six months

So here we are, five days into the new year and you are feverishly working on you resolution. And my advice is to be as consistent as you can but not to beat yourself up if you need to make adjustments. Life is not going to be consistent. Trying to maintain consistency is like trying to put a square peg in a round hole.

Believe, adjust and realize the accomplishment.

And resolve to stay inspired my friends!

Resolution To Start

“To make any year, your year, keep it simple:
1) Count your blessings first
2) Whatever you did last year, Do it better
3) Go step by step, One day at a time.
4) Create/make your own opportunities.
5) Believe in your abilities at all times,
6) Quitting is not an option. Keep Going.
7) Finish what you started”
― Pablo

res·o·lu·tion, ˌrezəˈlo͞oSH(ə)n/noun

1. a firm decision to do or not to do something.
"she kept her resolution not to see Anne any more"
synonyms: intention, resolve, decision, intent, aim, plan; More
2. the action of solving a problem, dispute, or contentious matter.
"the peaceful resolution of all disputes"
synonyms: solution to, answer to, end to, ending to, settlement of, conclusion to
"a satisfactory resolution of the problem"

You know what the word means.

You have a list of items to guide you.

You now should start.

Stay inspired my friends!