Floating on Time

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal." -Irish

On Sunday, my wife and I were able to witness a moment of transition for a husband, a family and friends that lost a wonderful woman by the name of Belinda. She loved the ocean and the peace it brought her. She would lay for hours upon her raft, floating in the emerald gulf waters. All of us would laugh, wondering when the day would come that she floated all of the way to Cuba on that raft.

This day would be that day in which she floated forever upon the currents of time. Her husband Mark would take her ashes out into the deep and allow the waters to carry her for eternity. Some may call it letting go, but I say it is a "locking in" of the memories. Those that we love, while no longer with us physically, they live on in our hearts, in our minds, in our memories.

These things we do in honor of our loved ones both honors them but more importantly establishes more lasting memories. Those are the memories that will keep us connected long after the pain of losing them leaves us. Those are the memories that will forever live on through us, through our children and generations of family.

Let your love of family and friends live forever.

Stay inspired my friends.

We Can

“It isn't all over; everything has not been invented; the human adventure is just beginning.” -Gene Roddenberry

How much would you pay for an old pickup? Take a close look at the picture and imagine plunking down 140,000 U.S. dollars for a 1958 Chevrolet Cameo pickup truck. What if I told you it only had 1.3 miles on the odometer? That's correct, less than two miles and sat inside a building for basically fifty-five years.

Sure, it has a little bit of dust on it and the windows might need to be cleaned, but would you turn down an opportunity to own a small piece of history. Most times we only get to read about these types of things in books and old text books. It is living proof of what mankind has been able to build with the prevailing technology of their time. It might be easy to say "big deal" given what we know and have today.

But go back to the 1950's and think about those things we did not yet have.

- Cordless phones, Mobile phones, Cell phones or Home computers
- ATM's and ATM cards, you had to go to the bank or write a check
- Zip codes, believe it or not not until 1963
- VCR's, DVD's, CD's, MP3 players, iTunes or renting movies
- Cable TV, Satellite TV, even color TV was in its infancy
- Flight to the moon and the space shuttle

Now think about all the great things human innovation did come up with in the 1950s.

- First electric power from U.S. reactor,
- Introduction of Coast-to-coast TV
- Automation of the auto industry begins
- Proposed structure of DNA announced
- Solar batteries unveiled
- First supersonic flight by a military aircraft
- Vertical take-off and landing of jet aircraft
- All transistor radios introduced
- Discovery of cold fusion
- First U.S. satellites
- Stereo record technology developed

So when you look at an old 1958 Chevrolet Cameo pick up truck, with dirty windows and fading paint, think of the human innovation that went into building it. Then consider the issues we face today and know that human innovation still exists. We can solve and change the world with the dreams and innovation that exists in each of us.

We can constantly improve the world we live in. We can.

Stay inspired my friends!

Enduring the Typhoon

“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” -Molière

Sure enough, that is right where I had flown into, sitting in a 24th floor hotel just on the north side of Hong Kong. It was early on a Saturday evening as we drove from the airport to the hotel. The streets were dry, the winds seemed a bit strong and strangely there was very little traffic.

After traveling for eighteen plus hours, it took me a while to come to the realization that I had arrived just prior to a storm. A storm called Typhoon Usagi that would eventually cause the death of twenty-five people and pack 100+ mile per hour winds. I had entered into the path of an obstacle that was not standing still but about to overrun me.

The choices were clear at this point; run or endure.

The idea of running was actually not much of an option as airline flights were being canceled, trains were already scooting out of the area and getting on a boat didn't seem to make sense. So endure the storm is what it would be. The high winds, the water coming through the seals of my window and knowing that my meetings would be canceled.

All of us will encounter a storm at one point or another. Many times, the storm will come to us and we'll have to make a choice. Either we run or we endure.

When we overcome, push through or defeat our obstacles, the outcomes will be greater than you could imagine.

Stay inspired my friends!

Tornado of Kindness

“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.” Seneca

You have probably heard the expression, '...that kid is going to grow up to be a hell raiser' when referring to a young child. It is reference to a child that always seems to be getting him or herself into a lot of trouble. It could even refer to someone older and again always seems to have 'trouble' surrounding them.

Most of us never get to see exactly how that person's life turns out. Families and friends close to that particular person get a front row seat to all of it though. Each of us probably know someone like that, either a young person or an older person that seems to fight life every step of the way.

I have always held that in every person there is a seed of goodness. Something that exists in the heart which can stir their emotion. In the hardest of troubled minds, we can not always find that goodness. The person themself may have buried it so deep that they are unable to find it.

It could be that you bury goodness for one reason or another. But if we feed and cultivate that seed of goodness, it can grow into something bigger. By leaving it unattended, the goodness will wither and harden. Granted it is an over simplification of why there are just simply 'not very nice' people in this world.

To keep goodness in your heart and to help others, we have to extend kindness at times. The smile to another, holding of a door, letting the other driver into the lane or kind words to another will nurture goodness. Not only will it grow in you, but it will grow in others. Take time to be nice once in a while.

Stay inspired my friends!

“Each time you step off your path and give someone an act of kindness...then your road to happiness just got a little smoother.” -Donna A. Favors