Are You Ready

“We are not preparing for the world we live in - we are preparing for the world we find ourselves in.” ― Michael Mabee

Today, November 7, 2016 is the day before our presidential election here in the United States. A day which seems long in coming and very unconventional one to say the least.

The pundits, the memes, the arguing and the craziness which have marked this particular election will reach a full crescendo today. There will be last moment appeals for one candidate or the other and enough predictions to fill a rain barrel or two.

What just happened.

Much of what we witnessed over the past year has been both historical and hysterical in nature. The unexpected has happened and the division has widened among citizens and family members alike.

We have our first female presidential candidate who carries with her like any lifelong politician (male or female) both the good and bad baggage of a long career in politics. There are people deeply divided and opinionated of this candidate for these reasons.

On the other side we have a truly non-political candidate who many have referred to as a carnival barker. But there are many things he says which resonate with people due to the failure of our entire political system to address in a meaningful way.

Outside of the United States, many have commented on what they would call the demise of our democracy and the system used to elect a President. And the fear is not as much how we have gotten to this point but what will happen after the election results are in.

What Wednesday will bring.

At some point on Tuesday night, the projections and results will come in and we will know who the next President of these United States will be. The person might be your candidate or maybe not, but how will you respond?

Will you accept the results and implore your fellow believers to join and support the new President. Or will you continue to be a part of the political problem that all of us seem to agree needs fixing?

And yes, much of our change relies upon the politicians themselves. But we can be the ones who start the change by changing our ways, by lowering our own divisiveness in how we use social media and in our conversations with others.

The show must go on.

After we have made our choices on Tuesday and had our celebration or pity parties on Wednesday, the act of getting on with the business of life remains. We can choose to continue our complaints or to hold a victory over others.

Or we can choose to work together in a civil and respectful way to bring the changes all of us can agree upon. If not, life and all of its consequences will proceed without us one way of another.

My belief is we will be better regardless of Tuesday's outcome because we can be.

Vote this Tuesday and stay inspired my friends!

All Generations

“My happiness comes from the donation of my life in many ways for the current and for the future generations.” ― Debasish Mridha

Every generation has a set of challenges encountered which are either created by the past, by the present or by our reluctance to confront the future.

The old might predict the demise of a present generation but fail to remember they were considered the future by an older generation. Even the present generation can fail to put in context the past and what was or could have been achieved by their elders.

What always exists is possibility.

Regardless of the generation, the time or the circumstance, all of us can strive to make life better for others which in turn creates a better life for ourselves. To say we want to return to the greatness of a time long past is to forget the pain and mistakes of that past.

There is only tomorrow and the lessons learned from yesterday. We keep looking to improve upon what we have done and create the best future that we are capable of. The next generation will take up the mantel and proceed as we have.

We can look at life as failure or as success.

I choose to look at life as success and to overcome the obstacles and mistakes we will inevitably encounter.

Refuse to let the wrong happen, believe in what can be and then try to create something better in life for both the present and future generations of us.

Stay inspired my friends!

Where Does Truth Come

"The truth is now an opinion. Unfortunately, thanks to social media, you can live in your bubble of opinion truth for as long as you like." - Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah made the statement above in response to a question regarding this years presidential campaign in that "we don't agree on a truth anymore." And so it is, another meme gets posted by opposing sides and truth becomes a victim of exaggerated context.

We find ourselves normally influenced by the friends we hang around each day. Those people could be co-workers, family members, social friends or acquaintances. Many times there are varied political, social and religious views among all of them.

In many cases, we can have a face-to-face disagreement or discussion. The points being made can become heated but most always, the discussion means to look for a common ground of truth. And granted, it is not always found but the rhetoric has to be defended.

Social media changed and changes the rhetoric.

In the early days of Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets, people would post breaking news or events. It was a time when people would try to post the truth of a situation and when it wasn't others called them out on it. It began as 'the peoples' way to report those things the journalistic community was accused of not doing.

Things changed and people began to understand their own message was drowning in the flood of postings from other people. The ability to get their own view noticed was more and more difficult and the rise of exaggerated posts became more prevalent.

Journalistic or tabloidism in our postings.

The world of social media still has great value as does mainstream journalistic media. But everything the public has decried as unfair reporting, non-reporting or sensationalist reporting has become the exact same thing for social media posts.

We have become the very thing we rail against.

The aggrandized comments, outrageous memes and near lies, absolute lies and misinformed are seen increasingly each day. The ability to correct or discuss becomes an outright civil war of words with each side digging in deeper to their viewpoints, opinions and beliefs. They are right, you are wrong.

Truth is orphaned in the middle.

We create our own truth on each side of the debate. It is not the institution of politics, government, corporations, journalists or any other to blame for the division. We have only ourselves to look at and see where the problems of our society, government and lives need be worked on to resolve.

It is also where the answer to our problems exist. It is within ourselves to find the common ground. It is within us to tone down the rhetoric of discontent and slander in order to find the orphaned truth and bring it back into our life.

We are the problem but we are the answer as well.

We can live within the bubble or we can break free and live a greater life. For many, to live within that safe sphere of our own truth is how we will live until death.

For many others, to break out and find the common truth expands our lives and frees us from being so angry. To free ourselves from bubbles of supposed truth will strengthen us to solve the issues at hand.

It is within each of us to create a dialogue with each other. Only then will we find our way to live a great life.

Stay inspired my friends!

Halloween Smiles

"You have to have a certain persona to be a star, you know, and I don't have that. I'm a banana." - Harvey Korman

A few years back on the day before Halloween night, I had spent most of the day dodging misting rain attempting But late in the afternoon I put away my paint brushes, cleaned up and donned my banana suit. For that night was the night of Trunk or Treat.

Many places have these annual events. Churches, local neighborhoods or businesses invite people to, park their car in the lot, decorate the trunks of their cars and hand out candy to all of the miniature ghosts and goblins.

My role turned out to be comic relief for the kids.

I worked the money box for the "hot dog, chips and a drink" meal we were selling to raise money for charitable events. Sitting their dressed in a banana costume, I had a difficult time convincing the small kids I was actually an apple. It appears our school system had done an excellent job teaching these kids.

There was no fooling the kids and for one enjoyable evening, I could play the fool and get others to smile and laugh. To see a smile light up the face of another person, child or adult, is truly a magical thing to see. Even if a few adults enjoyed themselves at my expense, it was well worth it.

I can smile, they can smile and the evening is a success.

Every day we have an opportunity to put a smile on someones face. It does not mean you have to put on a banana costume to do it. Many times all it takes is a smile upon your own face to cause another person to smile also. Much of the weight of a sullen day can be lifted when we smile.

For me, having been wet and moving a large ladder around all day trying to paint my house was a distant memory once the smiles started. Your own day can be lifted when you smile and pass it along to others. Do not let another day 'slip' by (Did you catch the reference to banana peels?) without putting a smile on your face and the face of countless others.

It may not solve all your problems, but it will make them a bit easier to face.

Stay inspired my friends!