Of Planets and Comets

"If we would only give, just once, the same amount of reflection to what we want to get out of life that we give to the question of what to do with a two weeks' vacation, we would be startled at our false standards and the aimless procession of our busy days." - Dorothy Canfield Fisher

Here we are nearing the end of the first month of the year. The summer travel season seems so far away here in the United States as people bundle up from the cold while others are shoveling a path through the snow from their front door.

The schools are in full swing, kids are carrying back packs full of paper, pens and books. Learning the great mysteries of life that will give them solid ground to stand upon. The coldness of the air pushes us to huddle indoors.

Winter days cause us to plan.

We take our darken cold nights and plan for the travel season. Those vacation plans require careful planning for each traveling family. Precise planning for two weeks at the beach or mountains and the summer fun we will enjoy.

The details of the route we will take to our destination, the time required to get to and from our destination and trying to maximize the time we will have to relax. There are plans to eat, play and rest; the books we'll read and the activities we will take part in.

So much planning to play.

It is amazing though how little attention we give to our goals and retirement plans. It pales in comparison to the planning of a vacation. It reminds me of the difference between comets and planets circling within the universe.

We tend to treat our life like a planet when it comes to our vacation or even just the next weekend off from work. We have found the center, our Sun, the purpose of those two weeks in summer. Precisely and timely we circle that center, our summer plan.

The rest of the year we wander aimlessly like a comet. Flying through the universe without much purpose or direction until we eventually burn ourselves out. The point at which we end up is as far from what we wanted as could be imagined.

Aimless or stuck in one place.

I would never want you to become stuck in a singular orbit that is not your particular goal. Sometimes the aimless direction will actually place you in a new orbit around the goal you truly speak. We simply need ensure we find the right orbit.

It also speaks to planning and giving attention to those goals. Think of how much you could accomplish if you gave the same vacation attention to the rest of your life. Take those winter months to chart, revise, or put into motion your goals.

Planning can help you reach you achieve not only that summer vacation but a path to something bigger and more amazing. Take your efforts and work on the route you will take and the time required to get to your destination.

Soon you will find yourself there.

And the neat part is that once you get to your destination, you can begin planning for the next one. Just like vacation planning, you will find yourself always wanting to move on to the next goal.

This years vacation was great, but next year is going to be even greater. All through life, it will only keep getting better. Strike a balance between the comets and the planets of your life.

Take some of your energy used to plan a two week vacation and direct it towards the rest of your life. You'll be amazed at how far you will go.

Stay inspired my friends!

A Bag of Tools

“Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine.” ― Roy T. Bennett

Isn't it strange

That princes and kings,

And clowns that caper

In sawdust rings,

And common people

Like you and me

Are builders for eternity?

Each is given a bag of tools,

A shapeless mass,

A book of rules;

And each must make--

Ere life if flown--

A stumbling block

Or a steppingstone.

-R.L.Sharpe

Stay inspired my friends!

Fortune Favors The Brave from Co.MISSION on Vimeo.

Communicate

"Communicate, communicate, and then communicate some more."
- Bob Nelson

This article first appeared in February 2011 and has been one of my more popular posts with nearly three thousand having read it. And six years later it still feels very appropriate for the time. The rise of social media means we are talking in thirty second sound bites. In fact we are yelling at each other in the form of all capital letters, memes and exaggerated news.

The louder and more outrageous is what wins people and elections. The more left or the more right we swing, the more bold of opinion we become. We become more convinced of our own position by either bible thumping conservatives or bleeding heart liberals. You see the label we put on people is easier then exploring the depth because we just might learn something different.

Can we just talk?

You see I can be just as much of the problem as the next blogger, tweeter, Facebook posting person of all ages. I poke and prod people just as they have over the past eight years. And as we did the previous eight years, so on and so forth. And did we really talk to each other or reinforce our own position and allow the middle ground to sink further? The gap widens between us more and more.

Why is communicating with each other so important? Because those who would want to see us destroy ourselves do not want us to. They see the corrosive nature of miscommunication over time. It decays the fabric of who we are more then bombs or violent acts. We do that enough to ourselves, all our enemies need to do is push us against each other and we will take care of the rest.

What was that article I wrote?

Here it is, four sentences that generated so much reading. But can we turn it into action and build back up the ground between us? Can be begin to talk to each other in a meaningful way and loosen our grasp on ourselves so that we can embrace with a handshake and conversation.

It happens to each of us, a situation comes up between two or more people and feelings get hurt or misunderstandings arise. One person thought the other knew something or another didn't give the whole story.

The problem normally is caused by a lack of communication. Its a pure and simple explanation for many of the problems that occur in our life. The lack of communication could be intentional and at other times inadvertent.

But in the end, if we just keep talking to each other we'll avoid many of the misunderstandings that get in the way of a great life.

Keep talking, keep communicating and life will be a whole lot easier. Can you hear me now?!

Stay inspired my friends!

One Hand In My Pocket

“For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

When you feel life has taken a weary turn on you, always know that this too shall pass.

Grab your overcoat, umbrella and be sure to wear your boots in order to weather the elements of life.

A Dream within a Dream by Edgar Allan Poe

Take this kiss upon the brow
And in parting from you now
Thus much let me avow ---
You are not wrong who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away.

In a night or in a day
In a vision or in none
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand ---
How few! Yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep
While I weep --- while I weep!
O God! Can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream.

And "what it all comes down to, is that everything's gonna be fine, fine, fine."



Stay inspired my friends!

End Of The World

“In 5-billion years the Sun will expand and engulf our orbit as the charred ember that was once Earth vaporizes. Have a nice day.” ― Neil deGrasse Tyson

To look back in time and see the fragile nature of humans, we magnify our present condition along the timeline and worry that the end is near. That one man, one election cycle, one event can end it all.

We have come close at times to making our planet a not so great place to live. The threat of nuclear destruction, of accelerating impact climate change and other acts of either selfish nature or exaggerated claim.

Life will go on.

Maybe it will not be a pleasant place to live. Maybe we will just have to put up with the current condition.

When we put our current condition, our current events and our current feelings into perspective, the world will not end at 12:01 PM on Friday, January 20, 2017.

And it did not happen when ...

... eighteen missing seconds and plumbers became a scandal.
... a pardon was given.
... Americans were held hostage and an attempt to rescue them failed.
... hundreds of US service personnel died when barracks in Lebanon were bombed.
... a pledge not to raise taxes became a misguided lie.
... an intern in a blue dress was lied about and became a scandal.
... two large towers and two other acts blackened our skies killing over 3000.
... an embassy was overrun and Americans lost lives.

Nor did it happen four, eight or even through all of the preceding years of our American existence. And it did not happen when many with different opinions said it would.

So tomorrow is not when it will happen.

Maybe 5-billion years from now, but not tomorrow.

Stay inspired my friends!

Train Tracks

“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” ― Will Rogers

There is an old joke about two drunk men who were walking between the railroad tracks. One of them said, "This is is longest stairway I have ever been on." To this, the other replied, "It's not the stairs that bother me, it's the low banister."

Like these two men walking drunk, do we fail to understand where we are walking just as they were completely unaware? The excuse for them is being blind by being drunk. Our excuse could be we simply are not paying attention.

Are we on the right track?

For many of us, just knowing if we are actually on the right track is half the battle. We begin a path towards a goal or direction without giving it much thought. We let life itself dictate those things for us.

We bounce from the left to the right rail and back. We are happy for these guard rails to keep us moving straight but unknowing where it takes us. Even when the junction appears, we follow the course of the tracks laid out in front of us.

Where are we headed?

Once we find out if the direction we are headed is the place we want to go, the tracks will help guide us. In other instances, we can switch tracks to take us in a new direction. Knowing where it leads us is a first and important step.

You must then decide to keep moving. To sit down upon the rail will get you no where and could get you run over. You could build a hut next to the tracks with a nice porch, but all that will provide you is a view of the rusting rails.

Keep moving forward.

If you have ever walked down train tracks - let me state that not only is it dangerous, but walking on any railroad property is also against the law - you will know that it is not always smooth walking due to the railroad ties, rock fill and other things that could trip you up.

Yet in spite of any railroad ties or any other metaphorical obstacles, we need to keep moving forward in life. Movement will take us to where we want to be. Movement will keep the tracks from rusting. Movement will keep us more alive.

Stay inspired my friends!

Life's Blueprint

"If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. If you can't be a pine at the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley. Be be the best little shrub on the side of the hill. Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. If you can't be a sun, be a star. For it isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Here is the speech Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke to a group of students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia. This speech was given roughly six months before he was assassinated. This speech contains his streetsweeper quote and is titled, What is your life's blueprint?

I want to ask you a question, and that is: What is your life's blueprint?

Whenever a building is constructed, you usually have an architect who draws a blueprint, and that blueprint serves as the pattern, as the guide, and a building is not well erected without a good, solid blueprint.

Now each of you is in the process of building the structure of your lives, and the question is whether you have a proper, a solid and a sound blueprint.

I want to suggest some of the things that should begin your life's blueprint. Number one in your life's blueprint, should be a deep belief in your own dignity, your worth and your own somebodiness. Don't allow anybody to make you fell that you're nobody. Always feel that you count. Always feel that you have worth, and always feel that your life has ultimate significance.

Secondly, in your life's blueprint you must have as the basic principle the determination to achieve excellence in your various fields of endeavor. You're going to be deciding as the days, as the years unfold what you will do in life — what your life's work will be. Set out to do it well.

And I say to you, my young friends, doors are opening to you--doors of opportunities that were not open to your mothers and your fathers — and the great challenge facing you is to be ready to face these doors as they open.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great essayist, said in a lecture in 1871, "If a man can write a better book or preach a better sermon or make a better mousetrap than his neighbor, even if he builds his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door."

This hasn't always been true — but it will become increasingly true, and so I would urge you to study hard, to burn the midnight oil; I would say to you, don't drop out of school. I understand all the sociological reasons, but I urge you that in spite of your economic plight, in spite of the situation that you're forced to live in — stay in school.

And when you discover what you will be in your life, set out to do it as if God Almighty called you at this particular moment in history to do it. don't just set out to do a good job. Set out to do such a good job that the living, the dead or the unborn couldn't do it any better.

If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. If you can't be a pine at the top of the hill, be a shrub in the valley. Be be the best little shrub on the side of the hill.

Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. If you can't be a sun, be a star. For it isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are. (From the estate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Stay inspired my friends!

Pulling That Wagon

“The greatest day in your life and mine is when we take total responsibility for our attitudes. That's the day we truly grow up.” ― John C. Maxwell

When did that day come for you? It was the day when you finally figured out that childhood was over. A moment in which you made the decision to contribute to life instead of simply taking. Each of us reach it somewhere along a point in time of our life. Some reach it before others while others probably never will reach it.

The moment is responsibility, that juncture in time when we accept responsibility for not only our own life but for the lives of those around us. I have heard it said the following way, "Maturity happens when you move from being a 'guest in the hotel' to being a 'person serving in your own home', life takes on a meaning."

Meaningful life occurs in different flavors and colors.

A common theme of having a meaningful life is being the type of person who serves others surrounding us and those who pass through our life. It means being productive in some manner and getting rid of selfish attitudes. There are many people who never reach this selflessness and continue to hold on to selfish thoughts and complaint.

A speaker at a conference I attended put it this way, "Anthony Robbins says to 'awake the giant within'. I say to 'slap the weasel within us' and be a part of life." Which means you cannot achieve a greater life until you deal with your own issues and move on to better things.

Pulling that wagon of rocks forever and ever.

One way to describe it could be "carrying your baggage" around with you all day. I refer to it as pulling a wagon full of rocks as you search for meaning in life. So many people will spend all day pulling this wagon looking for someone else to either take the rocks or to pull the wagon for them.

Get rid of the rocks, let it go and move on. Take those rocks and lay them to the side and ease your load. Once you have done this, you can get onto more important things. You can help others unload their wagon and make room for the important stuff in life.

It doesn't mean to replace your rocks with another persons rocks.

It means making room in your life to be more productive, making more room to help others; making more room to have a greater life which is not held back by old pains, old hurts, old and negative attitudes. It means getting on with the life we have been given.

Accept responsibility for yourself and others will be amazed at the transformation within you. When you can take care of yourself, you can then help others. Once that moment happens, meaning will come into your life and purpose will become clear.

Stay inspired my friends!

By Endurance We Conquer

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.” - Marie Curie

There are stories that abound of facing all odds and persevering through even the worst of times. There is a story I have heard many times and came upon once again on the website named Glenn Gleason. It is the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton and how he vowed and succeeded in saving all of his men when they became trapped in the Antarctic waters in 1914.

In repeating Glenn's words, "Shackleton and his crew formulated common goals, and made sure that every choice they made and every action they undertook specifically moved them closer to those goals. They drew upon their strengths to survive throughout enormous hardship. Shackleton’s core belief in a single, powerful dream guided them."

"This story of courage and survival teaches so many lessons. What circumstances are crushing you? Are you making concrete plans to overcome them? Are you reaching out to your “crew” for encouragement? Are you wiling to do whatever it takes to make it back alive?"

"One of the most telling parts of Shackleton’s story is his family motto, By Endurance We Conquer. Too many people simply give up. Take courage, persevere, and never be afraid to follow your dream."

What story do you have to tell?

It may not be the dramatic story of being trapped at sea, but to you the story is real.

Will you give up or will you push forward and realize your dream?

Stay inspired my friends!

How Will It End

“A man is like a novel: until the very last page you don't know how it will end. Otherwise it wouldn't even be worth reading.” ― Yevgeny Zamyatin

The last rites, in Christianity, are the last prayers and ministrations given to many Catholics when possible shortly before death. The ministration known as the last rites in the Catholic Church does not constitute a distinct sacrament in itself. It is rather a set of sacraments given to people who are perceived to be near death.

The last rites are meant to prepare the dying person's soul for death, by providing absolution for sins by penance, sacramental grace and prayers for the relief of suffering through anointing, and the final administration of the Eucharist.

In addition, the priest has authority to bestow a blessing in the name of the Pope on the dying person, to which a plenary indulgence is attached.

Source: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_rites

You are probably thinking, "Wow, what a pleasant way to start a story."

My story is one of my father who is nearing the end of his run in life. His story is in the final chapter with only a few more pages to write. The above information from Wikipedia is because it is tonight that he has requested for a Catholic priest to administer last rites for him. Another paragraph in this chapter.

The details of how my father will finally pass onto what I believe is something different can not be written until of course time has given us the hindsight to write it. I do believe that something exists beyond this natural life for our souls and my faith eases my mind when I think about losing my father.

How will it end?

But all of us want to jump ahead to the end of a story to see if the bad guy gets caught, did the couple fall in love or did the hero ride off into the sunset on a horse. My thoughts of the end have always been inquisitive but overridden by my excitement of the journey. To see what happens each and every day, what is around the next corner, bend in the road and hour of life.

There is so much we can do while we still have a breath in our body. A quote that actually comes from the Bible and has been popular in many movies and stories is "Where there is breath, there is hope." Even when last rites are given, each breath we take provides us with an opportunity to experience something more in our life.

We can create a memory, we can create laughter, we can create love for those around us and within us. Everything you do until no breath exists within you writes what will be the end of the story.

Stay inspired my friends!

Living Out Your Dreams

“Leaving what feels secure behind and following the beckoning of our hearts doesn't always end as we expect or hope. We may even fail. But here's the payoff: it can also be amazing and wonderful and immensely satisfying.”
― Steve Goodier

Every year during the holiday season, that two to three period following Christmas marks a time when resolutions, grand thoughts and new beginnings get discussed. We examine what we may or may not have accomplished during the previous year. We then spend our time and high-spirited thoughts on what we will accomplish in the new year.

It is a time of year when nothing is impossible to us. We have high hopes and expectations. Many of those around us are encouraging and in the same frame of mind to explore new possibilities. We feel very empowered to march off and do those things we have always wanted to do and to make our dreams come true.

We are invincible at that moment.

We then get three or more weeks into the year. Our march towards the new has been progressing with varied results. The past enthusiasm of the moment begins to fade and life starts getting in the way once again. Others don't seem quite as encouraging. Your own excitement is dwindling because old thinking begins to creep back in.

This is a dangerous time to be in as we try to live out our dreams. The holidays, the new year excitement can start to leave us like a thirty second commercial on television. What was it we were selling ourselves? How did we come to a moment of clarity for our lives? Those moments are in peril of drifting away from you.

Hold on even tighter to them.

The expectation of doing great things and of having great change in your life are still possible. Just because the merry Christmas lights, pretty packaging and New Year spirits are no longer the spotlight, your own belief in possibility remains. It remains inside for you to unlock and carry forward.

Others cannot do the work needed to unleash your dreams. They can only encourage or discourage you from them. You are the one who moves forward and lives out your dream. You are the one to make your dreams become a reality. Without you believing and acting upon your dreams, those dreams will never be realized.

Raise the B-A-R in 2017. Believe, Act and then Realize the outcome of your dreams.

Stay inspired my friends!

What Of The New Year

“The chief beauty about time is that you cannot waste it in advance. The next year, the next day, the next hour are lying ready for you, as perfect, as unspoiled, as if you had never wasted or misapplied a single moment in all your life. You can turn over a new leaf every hour if you choose.”
― Arnold Bennett

The year we are about to leave behind has been raucous, contentious and full of surprise. Actually it was very similar to every year we go through. The unexpected happens right along with the fulfillment of dreams and goals.

And while there is much reminiscing we could do, my intent is not to provide a retrospective of the year. There are plenty of people, press and prophets all assessing what was predicted and what actually happened. Each provide their own spin to events most important to them.

A year in time giving way to new beginnings.

What has happened has happened and we move forward in life. The gate is open and we have an unknown path awaiting the tread of our feet. A path which will lead us to parts unknown in 2017. A path that might be easy or tough but nonetheless our own path.

I may have my disagreements and moments of disbelief in what is happening, but I will always have hope and belief in great things. As I quoted in a Twitter tweet a few days back, "Greatness has always existed. It was there before an election and continues after an election. We have always had it within us."

We do have it within us, regardless of what happens around us. Find it within yourself to let it be the thing which overcomes any obstacle in the new year. The year is going to happen whether we want it to or not. So make it a great one!

Stay inspired my friends!

Living With The Fool

“Ask a sage, he will explain. Ask a fool, he will complain.” ― Toba Beta

I have been on a self-imposed respite taking time to relax a bit from the rigors of work and life in general. My wife an I took a trip together and it was very good to revitalize my thoughts and concerns on many fronts.

There has been the presidential election, a multitude of work related activities and the normal, crazy family home-life that goes with having a number of children and grand-children. So off we went on our first ship cruise.

In the course of our travel, we came to port in a couple of destinations which have your typical merchants who are looking to part you with your money. It is capitalism at both its best and worst on display.

There are the standard tourist shops where trinkets next door to upscale fashion shops, each plying their wares to visitors on vacation. Most items are no better in quality or price then could be found at home.

But we purchase as proof we were there.

We also encountered the hucksters, peddling their fake or cheap goods trying to bargain for a price well above the value of those items. They do so in order to capture the unsuspecting buyer trying to garner a great deal.

For the majority of those voting with their dollars, they walked away from these hustlers who were acting the fool. Each person who walked away could see through the true intent of the carnival on display.

The remaining buyers were looking for something different and hearing of the promise that a great deal lay in front of them. So they bought, they paid, they listened to the fool and made their way home with the take.

But they learned they were the fool.

So much can be written about how a hawker with a good story accomplishes his task. In the end, he can go about his way with fresh new money firmly in his grasp. The buyer sits wondering why they bought the story, penniless in pride.

All of us can learn a lesson from the fool dancing his perceived value, his supposed story, his talk of greatness.

But we must also remind ourselves that if we have bought it, we must live with it and the consequences of having done so.

Stay inspired my friends!

Sound Familiar?

“I would rather be a little nobody, then to be a evil somebody.”
― Abraham Lincoln

We have seen it as children and probably experienced. In fact, maybe we were once this type of person in our childhood yet managed to learn and grow out of it. And then there are those who continue to bully well into their own adulthood.

The definition of a bully is a blustering browbeating person; especially, one habitually cruel to others who are weaker.

Those who are bullies in childhood often continue to be bullies as adults. And many times the victims of adult bullying find little or no sympathy from others. After all they will say, we are grown now and should let any little or silly things such as bullying bother us.

But it happens.

What are the marks of a child who bullies others;

- Have witnessed physical or verbal violence at home as a means to get what they want.
- Hit or push other children their means to get what they want.
- Often physically strong, so they use physicality to get what they want.
- May or may not be popular with other children around their same age.
- Have trouble following rules and believe rules do not apply to them.
- Show little concern for the feelings of others.

And as they grow into adulthood, what are the marks of an adult bully;

- Are prone to physical or verbal violence at home as a means to get what they want.
- Hit or push other people when they are unable to get what they want.
- Often physically strong, so they use physicality to get what they want.
- May or may not be popular with other adults around their same age.
- Have trouble following rules and believe rules do not apply to them.
- Show little concern for the feelings of others.

Sound familiar?

There are additional habits that adult bullies tend to exhibit as well. These include political backstabbing, socially undermining someone, publicly belittling others, and ostracism. While the stereotype is that bullies tend to be bosses, there is a reason for it.

People tend to bully because they have power and when we think of power, we think of bosses and their charge over subordinates. But power comes in different forms. Some have more power over peers, either due to a dominant personality or aggressiveness. Others might have a higher social status which gives them more social power.

In its simplest form, bullying means being deliberately cruel to another person or group, for any reason. And while bullying is easy to spot in children, adult bullies are sly, subtle and difficult to expose. The older one gets, the more years of practice.

Some have learned to be very cunning while others hide behind masks of authority, superior knowledge, money or other types of power. Many are very good at finding plausible excuses to justify their cruelty or deflecting criticism of their behavior when called out on it. And in many cases, bullies think highly of themselves.

Bullies like being looked up to and often expect everyone to behave according to their wishes. They like having people parade to their doorstep or whim with all of the pomp and circumstance so others can watch. In childhood, kids who bully were many times not taught to think about how their actions affect other people. So putting others on public display is a thing bullies enjoy and it empower them even though it can have a devastating effect on others.

All bullies have one thing in common: they want to hurt someone.

What can someone do to stop from being bullied? When someone is bullying you, it is unlikely that there is anything you can say or do to make the bully feel differently. The best strategy is to change how you respond to the bullying behavior. In many instances, bullying cannot continue to have its desired effect if the intended victim successfully stands up to the bully.

Once you have identified a bully and know what kind of behavior to expect from this person, you must choose not to be a victim. Expose the bullying for what it is; take a stand, and don’t back down.

- Tell someone you trust and tell them what has been happening to you.
- Name names and give details; make your situation very clear.

This may require a bit of courage, but you can find it.

- Arrange for a witness to the bullying by asking someone you trust to watch or listen when the bullying takes place.
- Confront the bully which you can do yourself if you feel able or have a someone you trust there to support you.

The point here is to expose the bully and call him or her to account.

What you do not want to do is;

- Get into a fight; avoid physical confrontation because someone will get hurt or possibly go to jail. It also is very likely that nothing will be resolved.
- Return the abuse; becoming a bully yourself is a dangerous pit to fall into when you are hurt and angry so resist the temptation to lower yourself to the level of your abuser.
- Acting out in frustration; do not fall into the trap where you have a mean boss, who humiliated you so you went home and shouted at the wife, who slapped the oldest son, who punched his little sister, who pulled then pulled the dog’s tail, who ran down out the door and bit the postman.

Cruelty spreads like a contagious disease and quickly becomes epidemic in nature; so wash your hands of it!

I know life is not easy and we will always have varying degrees of hate. But when we encounter it, when we see it, and when we are impacted by it, we can choose to do the right thing.

Stay inspired my friends!

The Dead Cat

“The eye is diverted from the real business, it is caught by the spectacular action that means nothing--nothing at all.” ― Agatha Christie

In politics there is what many call a "Dead Cat" strategy. In its simplest form, this strategy is a diversionary tactic most commonly used in politics. When things are not going your way or the news is bad for you, throw a dead cat on the table which will divert attention from something damaging to you by giving people something more dramatic or shocking to talk about.

In use and metaphorically speaking (there is not a real dead cat on the table), please will shout "Hey, there’s a dead cat on the table!" People will then be talking about the dead cat, the thing you want them to talk about, and they will not be talking about the issue which has been causing you so much grief.

If you can make a comment or stir something so shocking that it shifts the entire focus of discussion to something else. What you did not want to talk about will no longer be talked about. How can anyone not talk about the dead cat? They have to because it is so outlandish and eye catching.

Very powerful in shifting and gaining media attention.

We have seen plenty of this during our most recent election process and it continues post-election as well. By nature we humans are curious to the wild and shocking noise which permeates our social and news media outlets. My father always said, the squeaky wheel gets the grease and that is very true.

By simply focusing on the squeaky wheel, are we forgetting to pay attention to the other three wheels? The air leaking quietly from one tire or the wear of the tread on another which are equally important. Do we do it to fool ourselves into thinking everything is okay in our lives?

Do we throw dead cats to deceive ourselves?

How many times have we allowed ourselves to be diverted by the bright and shiny things. You want to that new job which promises great sums of money but are unwilling to admit that you do not put in the effort in your current job to advance. It could be a relationship in which you want the handsome attentive man or the attractive fawning woman but fail to measure your own self.

The promises made to us and by us are the dead cats thrown in front of us. They distract us from what is really going on in our life. It could be politics, relationships, our money, job and even our religious beliefs. We deceive and are deceived by the diversions created.

How do we remove the dead cat?

The first thing is to realize that the dead cat is on the table and to ask why was it thrown out there in the first place. We must always question why the topic changed. Is it in order to focus us on something more important or keep us from discussing what truly is important.

Secondly, we must hold ourselves and others to task in understanding and resolving what really matters. The dead cat is not the important thing here, it is a ploy to keep us from holding ourselves or others accountable. We should not allow the diversion to hold our attention.

The last thing is to call it what it is, a diversion of the truth either in social media or the news. Call people out on it and bring the attention back to the important things. Call yourself out on it for only we can allow ourselves to be deceived by the dead cat on the table.

Stay inspired my friends!

The Ass in the Lion's Skin

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave...when first we practice to deceive.”
― Walter Scott

From Aesop ... a story.

An Ass once found a Lion's skin which the hunters had left out in the sun to dry. He put it on and went towards his native village. All fled at his approach, both men and animals, and he was a proud Ass that day. In his delight he lifted up his voice and brayed, but then every one knew him, and his owner came up and gave him a sound cudgeling for the fright he had caused. And shortly afterwards a Fox came up to him and said: "Ah, I knew you by your voice."

Aesop's moral - Fine clothes may disguise, but silly words will disclose a fool.

Stay inspired my friends!

Continue To Make A Difference

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” ― Desmond Tutu

Despite our ever changing world and disagreements we have, I shall continue to do so.

If a man is called to be a street sweeper
He should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted
Or Beethoven composed music
Or Shakespeare wrote poetry

He should sweep streets so well
That all the hosts of heaven and earth
Will pause to say
Here lived a great street sweeper
Who did his job well

~Martin Luther King, Jr~

You can make a difference every day simply by doing what you do to the best of your abilities.

Stay inspired my friends!

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!