North Platte Canteen

North Platte Canteen

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” - Leo F. Buscaglia

What can love of a fellow person do for their life?

Watch and listen how people in an unknown place touched the lives of so many young men. It began with one person deciding to move forward in care of others.

It turned into a human event nearly unparalleled since.

Stay inspired my friends!

Green Means Go

"In times of great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive." – Lee Iacocca

When an economic downturn occurs, is it a moment to pull back and wait it out, hunkered down in your cave?

When things swing against you, it the time to stop all you are doing with a hope time will not be lost?

No way, because now is the time to keep moving forward in your life. Of course we do not move in a "willy-nilly" fashion, all caution thrown to the wind. Bad economic times or tough circumstances dictate that we become more focused in moving toward our goals.

The light is solid green and your movement should be moving forward.

To wait now would mean lost time and wasted opportunity. The changing dynamics of life will forever be out of your control. By continuing to move forward, new and unique opportunity will be found that otherwise would not have been realized.

There will be rises and falls in your journey, that much is true. Yet the destination will never be reached if you sit quietly in the darkness. Hunter Thompson said, "buy the ticket, take the ride" and it means to stay engaged in life everyday, no matter what happens.

The light is solid green, what are you waiting for?

Stay inspired my friends!

Just Smile

“Smile, for everyone lacks self-confidence and more than any other one thing a smile reassures them.” - Andre Maurois

“A merry heart goes all the day, Your sad tires in a mile-a.” - William Shakespeare

“The joyfulness of a man prolongeth his days.” - Sirach 30:22

“The days that make us happy make us wise.” - John Masefield

In an article published by the American Psychological Association entitled, The Benefits of Frequent Positive Affect: Does Happiness Lead to Success?, finds that 'happy people show more frequent positive affect and specific adaptive characteristics.'

In other words, being happy and having a positive attitude will place you in a better frame of mind to accept new opportunity.

As you make change or movement in your life towards a more positive lifestyle, opportunity seems to just appear. Yet that opportunity was there all along. But with the wrong attitude you simply do not see the opportunity.

As you become happier, you see those opportunities more clearly. And as you take on those new opportunities, additional changes occur and success begins to unfold around you. Of course, success generates more happiness and good feelings within.

Your spirit will tend to rise dramatically. This rising spirit will fill and store inside to carry you through any of the downward cycles that can occur.

So can a smile actually cause success?

Maybe not immediately, but it can start a ripple effect in your life and on those around you. Smile once in a while, carry happiness with you more often and experience a change.

Stay inspired my friends!

Run With Us

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Today we fight. Tomorrow we fight. The day after, we fight. And if this disease plans on whipping us, it better bring a lunch, 'cause it's gonna have a long day doing it.” ― Jim Beaver

Every year my wife and I find inspiration from one source or another to run in the world's largest 10K called The Peachtree Road Race. Each year over 60,000 people from nine to ninety-five take the 6.2 mile trek down Peachtree Street in Atlanta. It is a gathering for sport but it is a gathering of friends and fun on July 4th.

This year the inspiration for us touches my wife and I very close.

Just over a year ago our good friend Belinda passed away from a brain tumor. She battled strong and hard to beat the odds and lived longer than most doctors expected. Her husband Mark devoted everything to her and lovingly held her as she faded to a more glorious existence.

Fast forward nearly a year to the day, her husband Mark was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. My friend so close that I call him a brother. Cancer came out of nowhere and places him in that all too familiar battle many face when it comes to cancer.

Yet as he began his fight, another good friend in our circle named Bill was diagnosed with leukemia. More battles, more belief in knowing that there are great doctors out there helping these two men run the type of race they never expected to run.

Both Mark and Bill are avid runners of the Peachtree 10K Road Race and this year they are unable to run.

So this year, we run for them.

- We run for all those battling cancer.
- We run for those who have won or lost to cancer.
- We run for Mark and Bill

Will you run with us!

Stay inspired my friends!