Give Light

“Give light, and the darkness will disappear of itself.” - Desiderius Erasmus

You've been assigned to lead a group of people with a task to accomplish. It could be related to your work place, church or maybe a volunteer group of some sort. Those assigned either by choice or not are as varied in background as there are stars in the sky. With this wide ranging group of people, one important thing needs to get done. You're in charge and faced with the question of getting everyone working towards a common goal or task.

It may be that you are wondering how you ever got into this position. This could be your first real venture in leading people. Maybe you are asking yourself how you got into this predicament. But it is most likely that others recognized your qualities. Otherwise, you would not have been asked to lead.

Think about that for the moment.

Someone else saw potential and other qualities in me.

Enough so to put you in charge of completing the task.

Knowing others see it in you, take that and believe in yourself. Do not be afraid to fail because we all fail from time to time. It is in attempting to move that we are able to cause change in our lives and in other lives. When others affirm their belief in you, belief in yourself becomes easier. This in turn creates confidence. Confidence that equips you for the challenge ahead.

How do we turn this into completing the task?

The same way you gained confidence, by entrusting those you have been assigned to lead. You state what the end goal must be and allow all to be heard. When people know that their ideas are going to be taken seriously, that their insights matter, they will become more comfortable and confident.

In turn, your group of people become better equipped to deliver their best. Being stressed and uncomfortable results in detrement to not only the task, but also to the personal lives of those around you. As a leader, you have to inspire and provide an atmosphere in which others can perform at their best.

There will be those that complain and in their actions attempt to drag the group down. That type of behavior creates adversity not only for the task at hand, but also in the lives of those surrounding it. If you focus on the adversity, that is where you will surely stay.

Focus on the good and that is where you will travel to.

Now that you have taken this first step in completing the task, know that the task I speak of is life itself. Each of you have the ability to be great and with it the ability to inspire others to greatness. Believe in yourself and live life inspiring others to believe as well.

Stay inspired my friends.

Fear in a Clown Nose

"When a resolute young fellow steps up to the great bully, the world, and takes him boldly by the beard, he is often surprised to find it comes off in his hand, and that it was only tied on to scare away the timid adventurers." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Recently, I was involved in a conversation regarding clowns. One of the people in that group had been expressing their fear of clowns. They truly had coulrophobia, which is the scientific name for their fear. It did tend to send a bit of a chuckle through out the conversation.

While I know and understand that fears can have a traumatic effect upon people. It can be serious and very debilitating for people. Fear is also something that can be overcome. And sometimes we need the ability to laugh about our fears.



Life is certainly full of obstacles that are different and distinct for each one of us. Those hurdles, those fears, get in the way of success and of having a great life. We need to find a way to overcome them. We need to pull the nose off that clown and chase away the fear.

When you reach that moment, it will be a great achievement on a path placing you closer to your goals. It will create a greater life for you. So find a way to pull the nose off that clown and get past the fear. And maybe we can also laugh a little along the way when we do that.

Stay inspired my friends.

Engaged In Life

“The notion of looking on at life has always been hateful to me. What am I if I am not a participant? In order to be, I must participate.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Do you sit on the side lines and watch life simply pass you by?

Too afraid or too stubborn to become an active participant in all that happens?

Maybe the idea of becoming involved overwhelms you?

There are many reasons one may have for engaging (or not) in the lives of others and in the peculiar things that go on around us. It is sad to me if you don't take part. There is so much you have to give to others that know you and to others you don't even know yet. There will be times when you speak out on a subject or perform some random act that makes a difference in their lives.

What I'm talking about is 100% participation in life.

This doesn't have to be large impactful things. It could be in many small ways, in the little things you can do everyday. Opening the door for someone that is struggling, voicing an opinion to help someone decide, a big monetary tip to the waitress trying to raise two kids on her own, or maybe just listening.

Each of us can make a difference. So be a part of life. Be an impact on life.

Stay inspired my friends.

Motivate In Which Direction

"Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it's always your choice." -Wayne Dyer

John Deering is the genius behind the comic panel Strange Brew. I have always enjoyed his humor and the occasional message that one get. You can read this particular comic and simply be amused at the face value of it. But you can also read this comic and find what many of us fail to understand about ourselves.

Your attitude can motivate in a good way, or in a bad way.

Many times it is not quite this obvious but you can certainly see the signs. If you listen to the tone of a person's speech, to the words a person says, you will recognize the negativity. The opposite is true when that person is uplifting and their actions are positive. You certainly don't have to be a sign maker to figure it out.

Motivation can indeed work both ways.

So how do you react to such a person. Should you sit that person down and tell them to straighten up and fly right? Probably not. That type of confrontation is not always the best method. The subtle and easier way method is to confront it with a positive response.

Turn the conversation into an uplifting one.

It won't happen immediately. You need to be positive every time you speak to this person. It could be be that this person is unhappy with their current condition. It could mean that they need a change or simply someone to make their day a bit brighter.

You might be surprised to see how this can have a big impact on someones life. It is the type of impact that will also effect you. Your life will grow bigger when you see what having a great attitude has on someone else. You will see what having a great attitude has on yourself.

Motivate others and you'll motivate yourself. And stay inspired my friends.