History is the Judge

“Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.” - Winston Churchill

A few years ago I took a trip to visit the Chickamauga National Military Park in the state of Georgia. It is a somewhat forgotten piece of American Civil War history. Taking the tour of the battle fields and listening to what happened among the trees of those north Georgia hills is truly amazing. It was the last major battle that the southern Confederate forces won during our Civil War in the 1860s.

As you listen, you hear stories of courage and determination from both the northern and southern forces. The men that fought those battles died with valor for a cause that each believed in. The generals and politicians each had opposing views of what was right and just for our country.

Those differences are similar to current events and many of the same arguments can be seen. Historians still judge the events from past wars such as our own Civil War. And history will be the judge of our present day conflicts and disagreements. What we do though is continue to move forward with the decisions we make and try to learn from that history.

Your own life is a reflection of the decisions you make. Those decisions will be influenced by your own history and perception of events. Study and learn from your historical experience. You will grow and improve your life if you do.

Stay inspired my friends!

Your Crisis

"A crisis will reveal who we really are in life. Pressure squeezes out the reality of us. But it also allows us to learn and change what is revealed." -Dean Sweetman

It will happen eventually. There will be a time when crisis comes into your life. Money, relationship, health or any number of things could give rise to stop you in your tracks. Each will have varying degrees of pain or suffering for different people.

Who you are as a person will come to the surface when it happens. Are you good at handling each crisis. Can you see through it and find a way to overcome? Or will you crumble either in desperation or anger, only to worsen an already bad situation?

I have seen people crumble in the face of pain. I have crumbled in the face of pain. What I eventually came to was a decision point. It was the proverbial "fork in the road" point of life that presented me with two choices. They are basically the same two choices each of us face.

One is to sit and do nothing, forever wallowing in despair until our time is over. The second one is to stand up and get moving on with life. Changing our life in order to overcome our current circumstance and to better prepare ourselves for any future challenges that may come along.

It may sound simple. A "left or right", "yes or no", "stay or go" answer is all that is needed. But it can be the hardest choice you'll ever make.

Choose to move on, find ways to inspire yourself. The road is littered with those that gave up. Choose not to be one of them.

Stay inspired my friends!

Overcoming Your Fear

"So I will find my fears and face them or I will cower like a dog." ~Bright Eyes "Another Travelin' Song"

So many times we are confronted by our own fears. We encounter them and we are stopped in our tracks. The path we are on, the one that we felt was finally going to take us to a greater life becomes complicated by fear.

When it comes to fear, another lyric from the song above also says, "I'm not surprised but I never feel quite prepared." We travel our path of life and learn not to be surprised by obstacles. We learn that these things are going to happen. We even learn from past events to ready ourselves for these moments. Yet somehow we end up feeling never "quite prepared" for that moment.

But when the moment arrives, will you cower from it or will you stand up and overcome the fear? And why should we overcome fear? There are four reasons why we should overcome fear.

1. Fear Limits Our Full Potential
2. We Can Never Fully Run Away From Fear
3. Fear Is A Waste of Our Energy
4. Fear Is All In Our Mind

There are probably a hundred other reasons to overcome your fears. My belief is that the most important reason is because fear 'limits' our life. It prevents us from fully enjoying and having a greater life.

Overcome your fear and achieve more in your life and stay inspired my friends!

Sing Away

“Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.” -Emory Austin

There are days we simply do not wish to sing, struggling to engage in the dance of life or to love all that we have. Those days come and those days go.

How you choose to live those days is yours to make. You can take the path of despair letting the day pass like a floating soap bubble being popped. Lost and nothing to show for the time spent. A day lost in the short span of our lives. A lost opportunity to experience the greatness that life has to offer.

The other choice is to grab hold of each and every day. To dance through our problems with a joyous step. To love all that happens and all around you. To sing of the joys that do exist in your life. To live a life full of wonder and expectation for what this day and the next will bring.

Stay inspired my friends!