Doing Right

"In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." - Theodore Roosevelt

In the late 1930s, Jewish refugees were fleeing a country where persecution and death was almost certain. And during that time, many countries including the United States wanted to deny these people access to a safe place.

Even in the latter half of 1941, as yet to be confirmed news of mass murdering being inflicted by the Nazis, the US Department of State placed even stricter limits on immigration based on national security concerns.

Now many will argue there were no terrorists in the waves of Jewish peoples wanting to escape the horrors being perpetrated upon them. If so, then why deny entry of those persecuted on grounds of national security ... at that point in time.

Fast forward through years of other smaller yet similar mass immigration from the Bosnian conflict to the many de-stabilized African countries. There are political, economic, and religious reasons for many of these conflicts of cause. And now we have a current exodus of Middle Eastern peoples of all faiths who are being persecuted in their journey.

So what is the right thing to do?

Well the gray permeates on both sides of the issue. In fact most debates are never black and white as Facebook posts, Twitter comments and the multitude of blogs (including this one) would have you believe. Social media has taken this into a dimension of absolutes on both sides with very little middle ground.

So the idea of doing what is right remains debated.

Whether it be in daily decisions we make or the big debates of our time, we should all try to do what is right. The absolutes of either side when brought together in the gray mix will yield what is right. There will be plenty of time to sort out the dysfunction which inevitably comes from doing the right thing.

Doing what is right should always be the first thing we do.

Stay inspired my friends!

What If

“If you can...” ― Rudyard Kipling

Have you ever asked yourself: "What if?"

The retrospective question in which professors Jeremy Black and Donald MacRaild defined as: "It is, at the very root, the idea of conjecturing on what did not happen, or what might have happened, in order to understand what did happen."

It is when we take a look at our life, history or other incidents and try to determine how things may have been different should something different had occurred at that point in time.

What if Germany had won the war for Europe?
-- Would world events have unfolded as they did?

What if we never embarked on a race to the moon?
-- Would we be probing Mars today with robotic machines?

What if I had decided to attend a different college?
-- Would I have achieved the same great life I have today?

What if, what if, what if could be asked over and over again. It could be used to bemoan the condition we find ourselves in today. We might even be able to find an excuse for not having achieved or possibly attribute to our achievements.

Either way, to question what if is to live in the past of our choices. That would mean we are allowing our past to control our present and our future. We have a tendency to define ourselves and our future self by the past. The choices we made created certain outcomes and we believe the choices create a determined destiny.

The good news is that the present provides us with the ability to create new choices. New choices that can set us on something new, something better. Maybe what we should be doing is asking the "what if" question in the context of where we are here and now.

What if I apply more time to my college studies?
-- Will I achieve better grades and subsequently a better job?

What if I worked harder at my marriage or being a better father?
-- Will I achieve a more solid relationship and happier home?

What if I simply chose to be a better person to others?
-- Will I achieve a more peaceful and happy life?

What if can be a powerful thing to ask oneself. It can change your opportunities, it can change your life.

Stay inspired my friends!

Believe In The Impossible

"Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail." - Charles Kettering

The new year is upon us and I was wondering, what are you believing in during the coming months?

- Are you looking for prosperity?
- Are you looking for renewed health?
- Are you looking for love?
- Are you looking for happiness?

No matter what it is, everything is possible. And you should begin now to tell yourself that yes, all things are possible. It is the belief in oneself where it begins. The ability to say inside, in your mind, in your heart, that you can achieve much more.

Many times we create purposely or inadvertently negative habits. If we fail to achieve something, we blame ourselves and if we do succeed, we tend to put it off to external factors. In doing so, we never establish positive belief in our own ability.

Act as if you can if nothing else.

In a Psychology Today article written by Amy Morin, she clearly indicates, "If you've spent 30 years believing you're a loser, then simply telling yourself, "I'm a winner," isn't likely to be helpful. You can't unlearn deep-rooted core beliefs that easily. Instead, you have to challenge your beliefs by testing them to see if they're really true."

She suggests as others have to use a skill called "acting as if" which can help you break through. In example, if you are not a health conscious person, "act as if" you are and do the things a healthy person does. Act the part of it and watch yourself develop the traits of a healthy person. Soon enough you will no longer be acting but will be the person you want to become.

I am not here to say that you fake being someone else. But act the part of what others who are successful do. This is not the only method as there are many different ways to achieve all sorts of things in life.

Again, it starts with you.

It starts with believing in yourself and moving forward towards it. Little steps, little changes, little moments become bigger the more you keep pursuing your dreams. And I will help you by providing a small bit of encouragement that everyone needs in saying, "I believe in you."

Now that may not seem like much, but all of us need to know someone believes in them. So let me know how you are doing, send me an email, comment. Share your success with others. Above all believe!

Stay inspired my friends.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

"May your walls know joy, may every room hold laughter, and every window open to great possibility." - Mary Anne Radmacher

'Tis the season to be jolly, Fa la la la la, la la la la

There are several different celebrations this time of year. Each of these celebrations present "teachable moments" and many of these happen each year: Bodhi Day, Hanukkah (Jewish), Christmas Day, Kwanzaa, Omisoka, Yule, Day of the Return of the Wandering Goddess, and Winter Solstice.

Yes, there are Christians, Jewish, Atheist, Pagan, Buddhists, Kemetic Orthodoxy, Native Americans, Aboriginals, Neo-Pagans, and Muslims all with a holiday celebration. It might be religious oriented, or the celebrations could be centered on other end of year beliefs. But all are meant to "celebrate" something.

When you think of popular songs this time of year, one I have always enjoyed is "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas." It is a song for me which says we should reflect and simply enjoy the moment, our each moment at this time of year. To be joyous and thankful of what we have been given throughout the year.

Joyous and thankful, but ...

If you read the history of this song though, the original lyrics were not quite as joyful in its original writing. Those lyrics were more of a lament of a family moving many miles away to a new job. In example, the original lyrics included the lines:

Faithful friends who were dear to us, Will be near to us no more

Not a very happy way of thinking and Hugh Martin, who had written the song for a 1944 movie titled “Meet Me in St. Louis.” That really is not a very merry way of enjoying your Christmas or celebrated morning. So the lyric was changed to the following.

Faithful friends who were dear to us, Will be near to us once more

And while the song is reflective, is also does not promise that these joys or merriment will be handed to you. What it does say though the holiday is one in which you must simply let it be. Whatever the year has brought to you, whatever you have at this moment, "happy" holidays are something you have to make for yourself. All of this joy and merriment is not simply handed to us.

We have to choose to be joyous.

When we accept our own joy, when we are thankful for what we have, when we let it be ... we release ourselves from the anxiety of trying to make everything perfect. It gives us the ability to be at peace with ourselves and with others. It allows us to celebrate whatever the celebration is. My wish is that you allow yourself to simply enjoy.

What I also wish for everyone is peace, happiness and to "have a merry little Christmas" even if you celebrate something different this time of year.

Stay inspired my friends!!