My Father - Dad

"It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons." - Johann Friedrich von Schiller

Today is celebrated as Father's Day in the United States and in many different countries around the world at various times of the year. A day when we as men can acknowledge that we can be pretty amazing people in the raising, providing for and protecting our families.

As with any population set there will be those who just didn't get the letter or learn how to properly be a man in this world. And there are varying degrees of our effectiveness. On the whole I think we do pretty well with what biology, evolution and what I believe God provided us with.

There is a man that I will miss for the first time this year. My father William "Bill" Primm passed away on February 17 of this year. An 86-year old man who was a son many years ago, a husband for many more and of course a father to seven children.

My article will not say anything new that a child might say of their father. I had my disagreements and my disappointments in him. I know that he had his own disagreements and disappointments in me. But what we had more of are the proud accomplishments, laughter, respect and love of each other.

He grew up in a broken home and raised by an aunt and her husband on a farm in the southeast farm fields of South Dakota. He worked the horses, the fields and also had his share of mischievousness. He worked hard, made it through high school even playing the trumpet in the school band.

He then met Rose Marie Gale, our mother.

There is much to be said about how he accomplished the role of fatherhood and in raising a family. My parents are together in whatever heaven is to them, but while they were with us here in the natural it worked well. I learned so much from my father I can not begin to explain it.

All that I can do was either taught, encouraged or drilled into me with the hope that it would make me a more successful person in life. It did not always sit well with me. Some of it irritated me quite frankly. Yet I can sit here to day and know that much of who I am, what I do, how I accomplish things are due to my father.

My father William "Bill" Primm, or in my own words Dad.

Thank you for the many years. I am very proud to call you my father and love you with all my heart. Just do me a favor and give Mom a hug for me along with John and Patty. Quite possibly gone from my sight but none of you are gone from my heart.

Happy Father's Day to you Dad and to all of you Dad's out there.

Stay inspired my friends!

Memorial Day 2017

"It doesn't take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle." - H. Norman Schwarzkopf

It is the young who are sent to fight the battles of old men. To those young men and women we remember their ultimate sacrifice and say thank you.

Stay inspired my friends!

The Guest House

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” ― Oscar Wilde

Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, popularly known as Rumi, was a 13th-century poet, jurist, scholar, and theologian. The following poem titled The Guest House explores the idea that all of our existence is of great value. All of the varying emotions, events and experience are valuable and should not be pushed aside as unnecessary or avoidable. Everything that touches our lives has meaning and value and should be embraced for either the good, bad or indifference they bring.

In short, it is the entirety of our lives.

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

- Rumi

Stay inspired my friends!

Surprise The World - Surprise Yourself

"Man is always more than he can know of himself; consequently, his accomplishments, time and again, will come as a surprise to him."
- Golo Mann

Day in and day out, we go about our lives performing many of the same tasks required of daily living. We become so used to it that everything we do seems ordinary.

The thing is, you are not ordinary.

You are an amazing creation that can do surprising things with your life.

The act of performing your job to the best of your ability is not ordinary. Anyone can just show up to a job. But you go beyond and put great skill and effort into making your work the best one can produce.

The act of having a committed relationship with another person. You take great care in nurturing and serving that connection. You do not simply take but you give so the relationship grows and strengthens.

You are not ordinary.

The act of raising children is huge and you understand it as such. You are creating and building a great life for them so that they are strong and ready for the world that lay before them.

The act of helping and serving others in the community. You understand that when you give, much is returned tenfold to you. Having a strong and vital community around you creates a better life for all.

So you see, you are not ordinary.

You have the ability within you to create great surprise in other people with what you can accomplish. That ability makes you more than ordinary.

Go out and surprise the world.

And stay inspired my friends!

Wins and Losses

“On athleticism, God knows no favor. It seems rather he is in the business of teaching winners how to lose and losers how to win.” ― Criss Jami

I need to take this moment to apologize.

I need to apologize to all of those Atlanta Falcon fans who deeply and those who road the wagon during Super Bowl LI.

I need to apologize to the Atlanta Falcons themselves who came so close but a championship slipped away in the late evening hours of Super Bowl LI.

It was I who turned on the television late in the third quarter to watch the game unfold. I gave the New England Patriots a shot at winning this championship and they took full advantage of my bad choice.

I should have continued to watch House of Cards episodes on Netflix and left the football gods to wonder why I was not watching the game.

I should have, but I did not.

I am pretty sure my watching or not having watched had no impact upon the game. And no, I am not superstitious. I feel we give everything we have as the football players did on that field.

A missed block, an unfortunate fumble or drive saving catch all contribute in the end. We are human after all and it is those pieces of the game which decide outcomes. It is those things which determine wins and losses.

And it is our attitude towards a win or loss which determines who we are as a person. Attitude determines the type of winner and type of loser we are in any given situation.

So do I apologize for my possible ethereal impact upon the game, of which it is unlikely.

If it makes one step back and look at the wins and losses of one's life in a more positive light, then please, let my apology stand.

Stay inspired my friends!

Backpack of Lessons

Backpack by Shelley Plum

On my back a pack I carry
In it, all my treasures.
It's what I need

So I can be
One class higher!

Crayons, ruler, scissors too,
And yes a little Elmer's glue
Paper, pencils, in my bag...

Wonder what made mom so sad?
Trapper keeper, nice and neat

Will it really stay this clean?
On my back a pack I carry
In it, all my treasures!

Today I'll be
Just watch and see
One class higher!

School remains in session in many parts of the world today. There will be those who have the day off possibly, sick, holiday or other reasons, but most of school age are attending classes. Millions of kids and adults around the world in school.

As these kids or adults go running out into a world of learning, the big picture of their lives has not been fully painted in. The color of their knowledge only exists in primary and plain tones. As they learn, the varying shades and detail will begin to fill in.

Our own life is also an ever changing picture that fills even more as we learn more each day. The details of everything continue to become ever more clear. Every day brings new opportunity to learn more and to grow more.

Each of us should strive to learn and expand what we know. Even as those children attending school know, it is a lesson that you should never stop learning. Keep growing in knowledge and allow the fine details of your life be painted ever clearer.

Stay inspired my friends!

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!