A Cup of Coffee

“Life is a beautiful and endless journey in search of the perfect cup.” ― Barbara A. Daniels

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases, it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups. And then you began eyeing each other's cups. Now consider this, life is the coffee; the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life and the type of cup we have does not define, nor change the quality of life we live.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee life has provided us. "Life brews the coffee, not the cups.......... " Enjoy your coffee!

"The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything."

To Choose Kindness

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” ― Desmond Tutu

Ask yourself one question. A question that is simple enough to answer if you are honest about it. There are no points awarded, no right or wrong answers, just a way to reflect on what it is you do on a daily basis.

Ask yourself, "Do I impact all of the people I come in contact with in a positive way?"

If you stop and think about it, say for two or three minutes each day, your life will automatically begin to conduct itself in a positive manner.

You may find yourself at first realizing you don't act with others in an uplifting way. But when you constantly ask the question of yourself, it start a process inside causing you to reflect upon the reasons you did not. It isn't a bad thing being in a bad mood from time to time. All of us go through it and some days we treat other people very indifferently.

To ask the question of yourself is to acknowledge that you have good days and bad days. Doing this on a consistent basis will enable you to assess why your mood was either good or bad on a particular day. Over time, you will find ways to avoid those unkind, bad mood days just a little more often.

Today, I feel good about those I have and will come in contact with.
Tomorrow I will ask myself, did I accomplish that task.
Forever I will try to be kind.

The world will come to your door if you do. Stay inspired my friends.

Enjoy the Ride

"Buy the ticket, take the ride..." - Hunter S. Thompson

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our safety net of daily patterns, we forget to live and experience life. I am just as prone to this as anybody. When change occurs, or the pattern is disrupted, I have to remind myself that the "edge" can awaken our senses if we just allow ourselves to come close it.

This past week was my wife and my annual "Grandma & Grandpalooza" event for the grandkids. We take all of our grandkids into our home for the week. We let their parents enjoy some time off as well. We plan out activities and other exciting things for them to do. In many ways we are trying to give them great memories before they are too old to be bothered with Grandma and Grandpa.

My wife always gets excited leading up to the week. She gets to have all of her sweet babies around her and all that stuff Grandmothers do. Myself, I get a touch of nerves as my slight affliction with obsessive compulsive disorder can set off alarms in my psyche. There will be a disarray of toys, clothes and divided attention required. I prepare and steady myself as the time approaches.

The day arrives and events of the week unfold in a perfect non-pattern enjoyment.

We effectively buy the ticket and take the ride during the week. No matter what happens, we enjoy and allow life the happen in a somewhat unscripted fashion. And today is the last day of a fun-filled ride. No scrapes, no bruises or broken bones; well maybe a few scrapes. But the grandkids, grandparents and even our pet dog have enjoyed the week.

You might be saying, "Wow, that's really living out on the edge Joe!"

Experiencing the edge does not have to mean going through a dazed week in Las Vegas or even throwing caution to the wind. It means changing up the normal and making sure you experience life in different ways.

The "edge" I speak of is and will be different for everyone.

It is at the "edge" where you might find a great idea that will take you in a new direction.
It is at the "edge" where you might find a new place to achieve greatness in life.

Buy the ticket, take the ride and enjoy life. Stay inspired my friends.

Front Window View

"See life through the front window, not through the rear window." - Brett Favre

Life tends to rush past us in a seemingly endless stream of blurred images. We look behind us to see what we missed, trying to capture what has already gone by.

Much of this happens due to our busy lives. Working hard in order to earn a promotion at work, trying to improve all that we do consumes so much of our time. The days and people in our lives simply disappear into the rear view mirror.

If you can simply slow down just a bit and allow your self to see life coming at you. It will give you more time to appreciate those around you, it will give you more time to enjoy your life.

Stay inspired my friends.