A Good Friend

“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.” ― Helen Keller

Recently we visited the new home of some very good friends. It had been a while since we were able to sit and enjoy the company of each other. It reminded me of just how lucky and privileged we are to have friends in life. If you have no friends, it would seem a lonely and dull life one lives. Friends when gathered represent a strong bond with life itself.

It helps to reflect upon those friendships from time to time. So here are a few quotes to help you with that. When done, give your friends a call and get on with being friends again.

"The best kind of friend is the one you could sit on a porch with, never saying a word, and walk away feeling like that was the best conversation you've had." ~ Author Unknown

"Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend." ~ Plautus

"Strangers are just friends waiting to happen." ~ Rod McKuen

"Fear makes strangers of people who would be friends." ~ Shirley Maclaine

"A good friend is a connection to life - a tie to the past, a road to the future, the key to sanity in a totally insane world." ~ Lois Wyse

"The best time to make friends is before you need them." ~ Ethel Barrymore

"A friend accepts us as we are yet helps us to be what we should." ~ Author Unknown

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive." ~ Anäis Nin

"A man's growth is seen in the successive choirs of his friends." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world." ~ Thomas A. Edison

"The essence of true friendship is to make allowance for another's little lapses." ~ David Storey

"A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere. Before him I may think aloud. I am arrived at last in the presence of a man so real and equal, that I may drop even those undermost garments of dissimulation, courtesy, and second thought, which men never put off, and may deal with him with the simplicity and wholeness with which one chemical atom meets another." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Turn those strangers into friends and develop a great life time of friendship.

Stay inspired my friends!

Colliding Worlds

"Collide: To strike or dash against each other; to come into collision; to clash; as, the vessels collided; their interests collided."

There are many different ways we come in contact with other people.

It could be at a grocery store, gas station, work or on the street in front of your home.

These collisions of human interaction can be great and wonderful experiences. Both people can come away with a greater view of the world around them. Each may have found a new friend or learned a new lesson to guide them further in life.

Other collisions can have tragic consequences. A misunderstanding of another persons intentions or a supposed slight. Any of these can have horrible outcomes. A serious argument, fight or worse can change the lives of two people forever.

Not only do these collisions impact the two involved. They also have a cascading effect on those near and those far from the actual collision.

These collisions can also have a positive effect if we make the right choices.

It doesn't have to end in each person losing something.

When we seem close to colliding with another, try to think what type of outcome you want. Will your interaction result in something horrible happening or will something great come from it?

Don't allow any one of these daily collisions to adversely effect your life. Create something greater from it. If that can't happen, then maybe its best just to avoid the collision if possible.

Stay inspired my friends!

Hope Lives

“Hope is the thing with feathers, That perches in the soul, And sings the tune without the words, And never stops at all.” ― Emily Dickinson

There they were, thirty-three men trapped in a mine roughly 700 meters underneath the ground. A distance of almost eight football fields with tons upon tons of earth and rock seperating them from daylight.

For nearly 69 days they endured the process of a rescue hole being drilled and prepared. Then each man was rescued one-by-one, being lifted in a capsule to the surface.

There were many facets to the survival and rescue of these men. The work they did themselves while trapped, the technology of the drills, and so much more. Included in all of this was hope. There was hope that rescue would come and loved ones would be reunited.

Helen Keller said, "Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence." Hope and confidence that dark days will be overcome by achievement. Hope and confidence that whatever we face is but a passing moment towards something greater.

Each of us may not have to face what these miners did, but the darkness and isolation can feel the same. Just know that there are people out there pulling for you, willing to provide a hand. And while hope is not a solution, it is a support mechanism to help push you through.

Without hope, confidence is weakened and optimism lost. Keep hope alive when things go sour, when the path you are taking collapses and the darkness envelopes your life. Keep hope alive while others come to your rescue. Keep hope alive for a new and brighter day.

Stay inspired my friends.

Sail Past Your Icebergs

R.M.S. Titanic leaving Cobh from Jamie McGinlay

“Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.” ― Robert H. Schuller

On April 10, 1912, the largest ship ever at that time, left Southampton, England on her maiden voyage to New York City. It was a magical and wondrous ship that was last seen by those on shore when it departed its final European stop of Cobh, Ireland. This sleek ship was to achieve a record setting six-day trip across the Atlantic Ocean.

On the night of April 14, 1912 at 11:40pm, the ship struck a massive iceberg. In only three hours the entire ship had sunk. What was thought to be the safest ship, the RMS Titanic became completely submerged about 2:45 AM on the morning of April 15, 1912.

Of the 2,228 people on board; 1,343 were passengers and 885 were crew members. There were only enough lifeboats on board the ship to hold 1,178 people. A number of the lifeboats were lowered at less than full capacity, resulting in a significantly small survivor number.

The exact number of survivors tends to vary, however the most common reported number is 705. Which means 1517 people lost their life on the Titanic. And with this tragedy, lives upon lives were changed forever. All because of a single iceberg floating on the currents of a vast ocean.

Each of us go through life, constantly on the lookout for any icebergs that may cross our paths. Watching for an obstacle or event that could impact our lives is a part of being prepared. Yet somehow, every once in a while, the tip of the iceberg slips by our cautious view.

And then it happens to us; job loss, relationship dissolves, an accident or sickness and worse yet death of a loved one. The level of unexpected circumstances vary like the size of an iceberg that lay beneath the water line. All events that may have been unavoidable even if you did see it coming. Your 'unsinkable' life has just been put into crisis.

You can't avoid some of the unavoidable, but you can prepare. In the case of the Titanic, there were only enough lifeboats to accommodate half of the ships people on board. Your ship is the safest and unsinkable. But being prepared for what life will send your way is the best thing you can do.

Job loss; keeping yourself connected to a network of people and up-to-date in skills will give you a head start on the next job. The competition for that new job will be intense, but you will have the tools to recover as opposed to sinking.

Relationship dissolves; keeping yourself connected to a network of people and maintaining a sense of self worth. The emotional pain will still occur, but you will have the tools to recover as opposed to sinking.

Accident or sickness; keeping yourself connected to a network of people and healthy ahead of time. The recovery will still take place but being healthy to start improves your overall ability to rebound.

Death of a loved one; the hardest one to give advice on because it varies widely on its effect as well as cutting so deep on a personal level. Yet keeping yourself connected to a network of people and having a strong faith will give you greater strength than you might imagine.

Each 'iceberg' we encounter is eased by having this network of people. The ones that will drop what they are doing and be there for you. Each 'iceberg' event has in some way a corresponding spoke of life that will see us through. When all of these spokes are well-balanced, the more balanced we will be to recover.

The 'icebergs' are out there floating on the currents of life and when we encounter them we can be prepared to handle them. We can be one of the survivors that are 'unsinkable'. We will sail further in life.

Stay inspired my friends!