Tuesday, September 06, 2016

Where Does The Buck Stop


"When you blame others, you give up your power to change." - Robert Anthony

When things go wrong, some people will refuse to accept the blame or consider themselves to be at fault. They prefer to blame external factors, forces, people, situations, or circumstances.

In extreme cases we may deny that there is a problem. In other cases, we may try to reduce the reasons for its severity or as for our involvement by assigning the blame elsewhere so that fingers are not pointed at us.

There is an old saying, "When you point a finger at somebody you point three fingers at yourself."

More times then not, the idea that three fingers are pointed back at you is a subtle reminder that you may need to accept responsibility.

Someone who carried responsibility was United States President Harry S Truman. A sign on his desk was there to remind him. It simply said, "The buck stops here." There was no one else to blame. As president, he could not kick the blame higher.

This is not the case with the rest of us.

We tend to assign blame to others. Yet why do we do it? Are we taught to do so? How does it affect us? How does is keep us from becoming better individuals?

There are three things you can think about when it comes to stopping the blaming and accepting responsibility for your life;

1. Learn to accept and value yourself just the way you are now. Even though it continues to be important to maintain goals for your future, self-esteem is how you can evaluate yourself here in the present.

2. Learn that people should not be blamed for their human frailties. Meaning people will have faults, no one is perfect. So don't blame people simply for not being perfect.

3. Learn how to acquire and appreciate positive reinforcement. When you treat others with dignity and respect, it is very likely you will receive positive treatment in return.

There are many other ideas on how to accept responsibility in your life.

There could be others at fault at various times, but be quick to understand your part in all that happens. You will find that you learn more and take away more from the situation then would have occurred by blaming others. Blame does not advance our lives, it only holds us back.

Assume responsibility for your life and take it farther than before.

Stay inspired my friends.

Monday, September 05, 2016

Labor Day Affair


"If all the cars in the United States were placed end to end, it would probably be Labor Day Weekend." - Doug Larson

Labor Day pays tribute to the contributions and achievements of American workers. It was created by the labor movement in the late 19th century and became a federal holiday in 1894. Labor Day also symbolizes the end of summer for many Americans, and is celebrated with parties, parades and athletic events.

But yet, there are many who work on this day so that many of us can enjoy the day off.

So thank you to all of the hard working people out there. Thank you for being a part of what makes life great.

Stay inspired my friends.

Friday, September 02, 2016

This Week Was


Try to make at least one person happy every day. If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word. If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought. Count up, if you can, the treasure of happiness that you would dispense in a week, in a year, in a lifetime! - Lawrence G. Lovasik

It was a very long week for me as business kept me from having the time to write. I cherish being able to write every day and connect with people through my articles.

Sometimes it just doesn't happen.

But I do take the time when I am out at the store, walking into an office for a meeting, or talking with others to leave them with hopefully one good thing.

Each of us can this.

Every single day you have the opportunity to impact someone's life in a positive fashion. A smile, a good word, a helping hand or simply listening to them.

Every good action counts.

Try to be the type of person who lifts, encourages and makes the day a little bright for someone else. Your own day will be brightened if you do.


Stay inspired my friends!

Thursday, August 25, 2016

Beyond Mediocrity


Mediocrity will never do. You are capable of something better.
Gordon B. Hinckley

Do not strive for mediocrity.

Strive for greatness beyond what others may do.

You can achieve so much more.


Stay inspired my friends!

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Credit Card Theft


"You want 21 percent risk free? Pay off your credit cards." - Andrew Tobias

I was recently defrauded of my credit card in a local eating establishment, or at least I believe that is where it occurred. I have since been cleared and made whole by my financial institution.

So what could go wrong?

As it is, you've been out shopping during the day spending part of that bonus from work. It is much easier to carry a credit card rather then cash. So conveniently we pull out our credit cards.

You head home and while thinking about it over night, you decide that to really go back and get that one other item. So two days later you head back out to the store, pick up the item and attempt to use your credit card.

But your credit card is denied.

The card is over its limit but you are sure there is plenty of room left. You call the credit card company and find that several unauthorized purchases have occurred. None of these purchases were yours and now you have joined the ranks of credit card theft.

Its hurtful, its stressful and its just a big pain.

I have had this happen along with identify theft some years ago. I have known people who have had the same things happen as well. So what can you do to limit the probability of this happening?

Use cash only is the safest answer.

But reality means this will not always work due to credit card requirements for many things such as rental cars, hotels, etc. And a search of the internet can provide a vast array of solutions and tips to safe guard your credit card.

Utmost in all of the rules is to safe guard, your credit card number. Anyone who gets this number can pretty much buy what they want...so protect that number.

Ensure you are safely purchasing both online (internet) and offline (store). Check to ensure the website is secure and look for that 'closed lock' at the bottom of the screen although crooks are pretty sophisticated these days.

And don't send your card information via email, this is terribly insecure and can be intercepted.

With offline (store) purchases, keep an eye on the waiter or salesperson to ensure they are not writing down your card number. And last, try not to give out your card number over the phone unless absolutely necessary.

Be wary of identity theft by keeping track of your identification papers, etc. While protecting yourself, do the following;

- Keep PIN numbers secret and don't let your small children type them in at the ATM.
- Keep photocopies of the front and back of credit/debit cards...but not in your wallter.
- Cross check your credit card statements and report any discrepancies immediately.
- In the event of credit card loss or theft, report it immediately.

Most of all, be alert.

It isn't a huge effort or task to protect yourself. Just stay alert when using and taking care of its usage. Doing so will help prevent the grief you'll endure otherwise.

Stay inspired my friends and be safe!

Monday, August 22, 2016

The Life Aquatic


Life wants you to touch, taste and see the grandeur of the world's unfathomable variety.” ― Bryant McGill

Some time back my family and I toured the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. This facility holds a very impressive display of aquatic life presented in an amazing way. I have included a few pictures. What I found interesting are some of the correlations one can draw to our own lives.

There are so many of us in many different shapes and sizes. We become drawn to one another based on similarities and similar beliefs. There is also variety of life in both a population of fish as well as humans.

The type of people we encounter range from the nicest persons one would ever want to know, all the way to some of the cruelest people on earth.

If you look at a tank full of fish, you can see aggressive fish to those that go about their business not bothering others.

Some people will blend into their natural surroundings much like the Leafy Sea Dragon trying to go about life unnoticed. While others you just can't help but notice.






There are so many of us out there and life will present challenges when connecting with the wide variety of others. Many of these connections will be unexpected. Just remember there are quite a few fish in the sea.






There will be plenty of opportunity to cross paths with different people. Your impact on them and the resulting impact on you in many ways. So jump into life, the water is fine.

Stay inspired my friends!

Walk In The Rain


Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet.” ― Roger Miller

The evening ends as a slow rain begins to fall. The gentle patter of its rhythm pulls you into a wonderful hypnotic sleep. This is going to be a great and refreshing night of slumber you think as you drift off.

Then at 5:30 AM, the alarm pulls you rudely from a dream.

The new day is upon you and it all begins once again. As you look out the window, you notice the rain continues. The first thought is that traffic is going to be awful. Ready to go and heading out the door with a cup of coffee in hand, fumbling in the rain you are seated in the car. Now you find that you have spilled some coffee on your clothes.

Yes, you tell yourself, it is going to be one of those days.

Not even 6:30 AM and your attitude is sinking. One bad attitude can beget another. It is enough to really ruin your day and those around you. But it is your choice if this is going to make or break your day though. For one good attitude can beget another as well.

In an article, IT’S YOUR MOVE: THE ATTITUDE HAND, there is an excerpt from a book by Cyndi Maxey and Jill Bremer which discusses setting 'real life' expectations. The authors list 'UNREAL LIFE' rules that people get caught up in. They also give us some 'REAL LIFE' rules, those which can truly help to change your daily life.

UNREAL LIFE RULES
I must never fail.
I must always look smart.
I must work very hard at all times.
I must never get angry.
I must always look thin and attractive.
I must always play it safe.

REAL LIFE RULES
You can’t have everything.
Things won’t always go your way.
Life is unfair.
Some people will never understand you.
You can’t please everyone.

Real life rules are not meant to say, "okay, no use in trying."

Far from it, the rules are meant to release you so that you can succeed. Once you understand there will be ups and downs, that fairness is not a guarantee and all of the other things that happen in life, then you will be able to go forward and make change.

Be a person of purpose and change. Let your good attitude come to the surface. A little rain is going to fall on everyone's life, so walk in the rain!

Stay inspired my friends!

Thursday, August 18, 2016

The Blind Side Chance


"Chance is always powerful. Let your hook always be cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be fish." - Ovid

There is an old song titled "Take A Chance" by the group ABBA. It is a song that delivers a plain and simple message. It says what each of us want in life and that is to be given the chance to prove ourselves.

Love, school, sports or work but each of us want that chance to be given.

There was a movie a few years back based upon the book titled Blind Side by Michael Lewis. It was an Oscar nominated film that earned Sandra Bullock the Oscar's Best Actress award in 2010.

If you have not yet read the book or watched the movie, SPOILER ALERT.

This story can make a pessimist declare the family had motive for taking in this poor kid because they were a family depicted as very driven. The husband and wife were Ole Miss University graduates who saw possibility in developing a sports talented kid for the "Rebels".

What better way to give back to your alma mater.

If you believe that is what happenend, then you miss out on the great story that truly took place. When Michael Oher was noticed "on a snowy November day in 2002, ...a 16-year-old Oher walking in 3 inches of snow wearing shorts, a T-shirt and tennis shoes, they had no idea he was one of America's most gifted athletes." In th families eyes, he was a child in need who was basically raising himself.

His single-parent mother had bounced in and out of his life due to drug addiction. His grades were hanging on by a thread, living a life on the edge that could have fallen in either direction. I leave the story with this fact, Michael Oher is doing just fine today.

You may wonder what it this has to do with you or me.

Does it mean we should go driving down the streets looking for someone to take in? Should we be looking to save someone like Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy? No, that is not my point to all of this. It means to do what your heart is telling you to do. Just as the Tuohy family did, they saw a need and acted upon it.

Do not let a fleeting chance pass by what your hearts is telling you.

There are many needs in life which pass us by each day. There are those fleeting moments in your mind that you should have done something. I am not here to describe those needs in life, but to suggest that you to act upon them. Do not let it pass by, the chance to impact the life of someone else. An unexpected meal to a young couple, a car ride home from the grocery store for someone carrying bags or other random acts of kindness.

Let your heart guide you.

The kindness you show today will circle back around eventually to you. All it requires is taking a chance.

Stay inspired my friends!

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Mend The Broken Bridge


"He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven." - Thomas Fuller

Some years ago, my life had taken a pretty painful turn for me. After twenty years I lost my marriage which was very painful and gut wrenching to say the least for me. There is a great verse from a song by the group Elbow which goes, "I must have been working the ropes, when your hand slipped from mine."

During this time period, I went through an awful lot of anguish, anger, and angst. I said and did not say a lot of things and could feel myself letting the situation consume me. I was at a point of either spiraling downward into a cold river below me or rebuilding my bridge to something far greater.

My life appeared pretty much like an old bridge that no one would buy, if even for a dollar. I could choose to let the pain tear apart that bridge or begin a process to rebuild it and strengthen it.

What started the process was forgiveness.

I wrote in one of my books titled CHANGED LIVES about the experience and I am continue to work on that bridge. This past weekend I did some further repair by opening up a conversation with some of the people I had bitterly wanted nothing to do for what had occurred.

And my bridge is looking a whole lot better. As I exercise more forgiveness, I am able to pass over my bridge more safely.

Why foregiveness though?

As Mary J. Maciejewski wrote, "...the choice not to forgive but instead to cling to anger, bitterness and resentment, can cripple us. Those negative emotions are powerful and destructive, and as long as we hold on to them, they will escalate and keep us trapped in the past"

It really does a number on us no matter how hard we try to push it to the back of our mind. Forgiving someone doesn't mean you have to face the other person and say the words. What it means is you have to face yourself and allow forgiveness to take place.

Doing all of this will help free you from external forces having this hold on your life. Those are the external forces which are destroying your bridge to a greater life. They cripple you from repairing or building a sound and stable structure, keeping you bound by past hurt.

You have control over how you choose to deal with the pain.

However bad or horrible it may have been, you stand on one side of a deep chasm while your future lay on the other. A broken down, ramshackle bridge lay before you. It now becomes your choice to allow forgiveness into your life. It is then when the process of rebuilding your bridge really begins.

Find it within yourself to forgive others, then forgive yourself.

A broken bridge can be mended so that a greater life can be reached. Start rebuilding it now. And stay inspired my friends.

Friday, August 12, 2016

Confidence To Move Forward


"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours." - Henry David Thoreau

A few years ago I was traveling on business with quite a few meetings at many different locations in the Redmond, Washington area. You can probably guess at which company and by doing so, probably understand how large their campus is. There are buildings spreading over a large part of Bellevue and Redmond, Washington and something on the order of forty some thousand people (on these campuses alone).

Still can't guess which one?

It does not matter, only to know that getting from one building to another meant figuring out where things were and getting there as quickly as possible. I would find one building, a place to park, get inside, do my one hour presentation then rush off to the next location.

My goal was to see as many groups as possible and get my message out in front of them. This can never be done unless you have a clear goal and direction in mind. In my case, I had printed out each of the meetings and information surrounding them.

It was about preparation to confidently push in the direction of my goal.

It is the same for me as it is for you. Without choosing a direction and confidently going towards it, achieving goals will be difficult. Certainly the hardest part can be moving at all. And choosing to change is scary as it pulls us from what is our comfort zone.

Once we do decide to change our lives, we need to move with confidence in the direction we have set forth for ourselves. Don't be afraid that the direction might be wrong. You can correct your course as you move. As you gain momentum, your confidence will be strengthened.

Obstacles become smaller and reality of your goal will come in view.

So move with confidence in the direction of your dreams. Eventually you will find the treasure of your dream is right in front of you, within reach, a reality.

Stay inspired my friends!

Tuesday, August 09, 2016

The Wear Level Of Negativity


When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” - Wayne Dyer

As described by National Geographic, erosion is the act in which earth is worn away, often by water, wind, or ice. A similar process, weathering, breaks down or dissolves rock, weakening it or turning it into tiny fragments.

In our daily life, negativity is the weathering which breaks down our lives. It changes the way we view and approach our daily lives in mostly destructive ways. Until we are worn down with only tiny fragments of support left.

Eventually the imbalance causes us to fall.

In an article written by Rick Riddle titled 6 Signs Your Subconcious Negativity Is Sabotaging Your Well-Being, he states, "This is the power of your subconscious. It has been programmed with either positive or negative thoughts, put there by you, and it will bubble up to affect you in any current situation."

He writes that we fill ourselves with negative thoughts in six distinct ways.

1. Black and White Thinking
2. Your Moods Change Significantly and Often
3. You Adopt Some Bad habits
4. You Consistently Speak and Think About the Past or the Future
5. You Have Worries, Anxieties and Fears
6. You are Judgmental of Self and Others

Can you see the traps these six habits can create the view of nothing will ever go your way. These thoughts fill your head and you begin to respond to every event in a negative fashion with little hope of changing the circumstance.

Changing your perspective, changing your response, changing your attitude will change everything.

Stay inspired my friends!

Monday, August 08, 2016

Compassion Follows


"Compassion brings us to a stop, and for a moment we rise above ourselves." - Mason Cooley

Each of us have witnessed on television the devastating images from Japan when a tsunami hit their shores in 2011. An earthquake and then a large scale tsunami wreaked widespread death and destruction.

One could not help but be moved to compassion for those affected.

The Wednesday before this natural disaster occurred, I was flying through Tokyo on my way home. During my four hour layover an airline club representative told me I had just missed the rumblings of an early morning earthquake.

Little did I or anyone around me know what was about to happen.

As I have written before, the unexpected will happen in life. But it can be in our hearts to spill over with compassion when others are hurt. And compassion not only happens during great disasters, but compassion can be an everyday piece of your heart.

There are people all around us in need.

Some more then others have great needs and others with smaller needs just to help them get through the day. It does not mean we are ranking the needs of people. Just know that everyone has needs which are important to them.

When you rise above yourself, compassion for others will naturally follow.

Individually we can not solve all or even many of the worlds problems. But start small, start with yourself, start by simply having compassion where it is needed. Eventually you will find yourself among others doing great things.

Stay inspired my friends!

Friday, August 05, 2016

The Unexpected Will Always Happen


It is strange how new and unexpected conditions bring out unguessed ability to meet them.” ― Edgar Rice Burroughs

John Lennon, a member of the 1960's group The Beatles once said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." A subtle but true reminder of how we live our lives as we attempt to control and plan all aspects of life.

Life itself has a tendency to do other things.

It might be attending college working towards a degree, a new girl or boy in your life and suddenly a baby is on the way.

Life changes your plans and now your life is raising a family.

It might be as a child with parents seeing your life ahead of you and then a divorce occurs changing everything.

Life sets you on a course much different then you had imagined.

A job career progressing and than a downturn in the economy and you become a statistic on a balance sheet, no more job.

Life just handed you a new opportunity to embrace.

Each of us plan and chart where our lives are going and want to be. Just remember the unexpected can and probably will occur. Be of good nature and understand it happens to everyone throughout their lifetime. It will happen to you, but knowing this and staying positive will help pull you through once again.

Stay inspired my friends!

Thursday, August 04, 2016

Our Inner Attitude


There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.” – W. Clement Stone

When will all this great stuff happen?

I made a change three weeks ago and things are still the same.

What about me, what about the great life?

These are comments I have heard from folks who have not caught the true essence of what a great attitude is. Achieving success or a great life is not about instant results or even sometimes visible change.

Most of this is about inner change

It is about being different within which allows the outside to take care of itself. Robert Browning said, “The aim, if reached or not, makes great the life: Try to be Shakespeare, leave the rest to fate!”

There will be changes which begin to happen in your life that can not be expected. Time will flow by and all of a sudden there will be a realization that things are good. When you concentrate on the inner self, the rest will begin to take care of itself.

Life will come to you with greater opportunity.

Greater friends, greater success and you will reflect one day and realize life is good. At that moment, what having a great attitude means will become clear to you.

Stay inspired my friends!

Wednesday, August 03, 2016

The Joy Of It All


"A cheerful spirit is one of the most valuable gifts ever bestowed upon humanity by a kind Creator. It is the sweetest and most fragrant flower of the Spirit, that constantly sends out its beauty and fragrance, and blesses everything within its reach. It will sustain the soul in the darkest and most dreary places of this world. It will hold in check the demons of despair, and stifle the power of discouragement and hopelessness. It is the brightest star that ever cast its radiance over the darkened soul, and one that seldom sets in the gloom of morbid fancies and foreboding imaginations." - James H. Aughey

Every day you rise and go about your day. Each of those days will be different.

Some days will be filled with mundane ordinary events while others will be filled with stress. Days of glee and happiness can be followed by pain and sorrow.

For every one of those days we will have emotional and physical responses to deal with. How you choose to handle these daily changes determines just how good or bad the day will be. The daily effort to move forward with life will be affected by these day-to-day changes.

With some level of cheerfulness in your heart, those days will be made better when all of the world seems upon you. But while you work at living, do not forget to enjoy life along the way.

Even with the ups and downs, the trials and tribulations, the joy and sadness; try to enjoy life along the way for it passes much too quickly.

Stay inspired my friends!

Tuesday, August 02, 2016

What Caution We Take


"I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." - Henry David Thoreau

What would you exactly do if you encountered miniature donkeys in the course of your travel? What if it were large boulders from a rock slide? Or what if you fell asleep and the plane you are flying in lands at a completely unknown destination?

What if?

There are so many unknowns in life which can block the path we are on. Just when you begin to think you have accounted for everything, the unexpected crosses your path. It seems ludicrous that it could happen to us, but it does.

Our reaction is to become overly cautious and begin to watch out for wild or weird maladies. This reaction to fear of the unknown causes us to avoid a possible encounter with the unexpected. We create walls of caution around our life. Soon enough we stop moving for fear of the unexpected.

What if?

So what if the unexpected were simply ourself standing in the way? What if it was our own fear keeping us from moving forward? This small but significant road block is one of the hardest things to overcome; and that is fear.

But once we get out of our own way, there is so much more we can do. We can conquer what seemed impossible before. The doors seem to open when once they were tightly shut. Life itself becomes more clear and in focus to new and greater possibility.

Yes, we can always proceed with caution and moderate the speed at which we move forward. But when you encounter the unexpected fear of yourself, find a way through it. And most important, keep moving. Overcome the unexpected whether it be your own fears, the unknown or even a herd of miniature donkeys.

And stay inspired my friends!

Monday, August 01, 2016

Be Inspired


"You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore." – Christopher Columbus

Can a ten-minute video inspire?

Yes, I believe it can so here today for all my children, grand-children and for anyone who have dreams of achieving a great life. Many of these lessons are ones I learned growing up, but took many years to understand how to use them.

Ten minutes to be inspired and use to inspire yourself to a better life.



Go beyond hearing the words but use them to create a great life.

Stay inspired my friends!

Thursday, July 28, 2016

The Secret Revealed


"If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees." - Kahlil Gibran

I really do like those secrets which are held until the right moment. Secrets such as a surprise birthday, a proposal or the birth of a boy or girl; the secret is then revealed and all is placed in front of us.

There are also those secrets which seem to hide from us. Those which never seem to be revealed or taught. From the day we are born, some are given the secret by their parents, teachers or mentors. For some people it takes a discovery well into their lives.

Than a greatness is revealed.

The excitement cast upon you by the secret comes first. It builds within and you wonder why it took so long to discover it. The doubt is cast aside and you see life in a whole new bold and courageous way. For you the secret has been revealed.



So do you want to know a secret?

Don't wait or be patient. Learn the secret and it will fill your life with happiness and greatness.

Stay inspired my friends!

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

A Fish Named Louis


"All there is to thinking is seeing something noticeable, which makes you see something you weren't noticing, which makes you see something that isn't even visible." - Leo Strauss

Several years ago, I was on business for a few weeks in India. At the hotel where I spent my sleeping hours, typically I would eat lunch in the hotel restaurant prior to meeting my driver for the drive over to the office.

A fish named Louis.

It was a daily ritual during lunch time that if sitting by yourself a fishbowl with a single goldfish was brought out and set on the table with you. Each day they brought a bowl with a fish named Louis. I know his name was Louis as his name tag was on the bowl.

Everyday a different card attached would be inscribed with an amusing phrase such as "Try the fish, I used to have a mother-in-law". It was meant to keep you company and if you wish, write a message on the card for Louis. My response one day for Louis was to write "Life is a bowl of cherries, but in your case a bowl of water. So sorry!"

A turn of the bowl.

One particular day something happened which changed my perspective. Sitting down for my customary lunch time meal, Louis was set on the table. As I was reading the newspaper I took a quick glance, acknowledged the fish bowl and carried on. I even ate part of my meal when the waiter came by and asked how the meal and conversation with Louis had been.

I looked again and thought...where is he?

The waiter looked and there was no Louis in the fish bowl. An empty fish bowl had been brought to the table except for the water and few pebbles at the bottom. I had become so oblivious to this friend accompanying me at lunch time. How had I taken Louis for granted, for always being there?

A new fish bowl was brought to the table and Louis was there this time. I firmly acknowledged his presence, said 'hello' to him, asked how he had been and then went about my meal. And before you think I had lost my mind, the point of it did not go unnoticed.

Do we tend to take for granted those around us?

I had become so used to this fish being there, that when he was not I did not notice. Can the same thing happen in our real life 'person to person' relationships? Do you fail to notice or acknowledge those around you? It is one of the worst feelings a human can have, one in which people ignore or fail to notice you are there.

What about the everyday encounter with people we meet or interact with each day? In your daily walk, do you ignore or fail to notice people around you? Think about it, you have probably walked past a door man for the fortieth time this year already. Have you said hello, sent a smile his way, or simply acknowledged their presence?

I have seen it happen many times and admit I've done it myself.

We look past those we might feel are beneath us, the low wage worker, the homeless and those we feel we don't want to be bothered with. Take a moment and reflect on that...am I so great that I should not even acknowledge those I pass each day?

If you are doing this with those outside the home, it is probably happening inside home as well. You become complacent with the ones closest to you. You become complacent with those you work with or go to church with. And we miss each day the opportunity to impart some goodness within us upon others.

Improve and make their day a bit brighter.

I am not sure that Louis, my goldfish friend had much despair over my inattention. But you can be sure that your inattentiveness to others is noticed. Mostly by the person you love and might be overlooking each day. In Proverbs it is written, “If you wish your merit to be known, acknowledge that of other people.”

Acknowledge those around you and stay inspired my friends!

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Eccentricity In Paradise



"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures." - Henry Ward Beecher

Amid all of the crazy news of political conventions, people killing each other, baseball uniforms being destroyed; a little bit of eccentricity can be good. And there once was such an artist by the name of Howard Finster from Summerville, Georgia.

A famed folk artist.

Howard died back in 2001 but his art is remembered both in it's style and commentary on life. Not long ago, my wife and I visited his last home and the place he called, Paradise Gardens. It has fallen into disrepair and in need of monetary donations to keep it alive. But to walk through and see his handiwork is a marvel. You can see he touched many lives with his art which fit quite nicely with the eccentricity that is life.


As someone said in a review of his work, "Howard Finster is probably the best-known unknown artist in America. An eccentric whose evangelical work appeared on album covers for R.E.M., Talking Heads and landed him on The Tonight Show."

God's junk man.

"He called himself 'God's junk man' and spent a good part of his life bringing new meaning to the phrase 'Jesus Saves.' His Paradise Garden in Summerville, Georgia is a scrap collector's heaven in which broken glass, rusted bicycles, and cement-filled 'tater chip boxes' fueled his artistic and religious whimsy."


For art fanatics and people who would like to visit the gardens, the folks who work to maintain the property could use your help. The Paradise Garden Foundation is an effort to restore and preserve the work of Howard Finster; meant to keep his legacy alive, promoting education in the arts and extending its enrichment through the unique spirit, setting, and message which is Paradise Gardens.

If you have the heart and willingness to be a part of their efforts, visit the website. Art lasts a life time and the memory of those who bring it to us can as well. Howard took a step to change the lives of other people through his art work. Take a step yourself and see how you can as well.

Stay inspired my friends!