Like most others that I know I made it to see another day, and I am thankful for it. It happens to be Thanksgiving, but I know we all have more to be thankful for even if today wasn’t nationally recognized as a day to give thanks.
When I woke this morning, I was reminded by one of my best friends of how blessed I was. For a few minutes we went back and forth reminding each other of how blessed we felt the other was because of what we see. When it was all said and done, we could both say that we are extremely blessed and have a lot to be thankful for.
Sometimes it takes a moment like this to put things back in perspective to appreciate your life and what you have. I could tell by checking the inbox on my blackberry, that I was given reminders of just how thankful I should be on a daily basis.
I am so thankful for where my life has brought me thus far. Life has not always been easy, but through the good and the bad I am thankful for the experiences that I have shaped me to be the man that I am today. Often times in life we forget that thanksgiving is really everyday and not just the fourth Thursday in November.
If you haven’t done so already, adopt a new philosophy for yourself and your family see if you can sustain the actions of this week and this particular day year round. I am up for the challenge and we can do it together.
Remember to be thankful everyday and for everything that comes your way.
Have a wonderful and safe holiday!
“Celebrate the happiness that friends are always giving, make every day a holiday and celebrate just living!”
-Amanda Bradley
“We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”
-Frederick Keoning
“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.”
-Albert Pike
“Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.”
-W.T. Purkiser
Sent from my Blackberry on the nation's best wireless network. Can you hear me now?
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday Morning Thoughts 11/23/09
After arriving home safely on Saturday, I am starting to get settled. My luggage finally arrived and I have clothes to wear now. I was at the airport on Sunday morning and had my Alabama Crimson Tide sweatshirt on and a older gentleman approached me.
The gentleman commented on my sweatshirt and he asked did I go to school there. The conversation morphed and I remember him saying you know what even though I live in mississippi I respect the University of Alabama and wear my Bear Bryant hat from time to time. I thought that was cool to hear him talk about how wearing a Bear Bryant hat and seeing the racial barriers disappear by a mere hat on his head.
While this may not seem significant to you, maybe it will be by the time I have finished my thoughts. As I see things, there was a reason that my luggage was missing for a period of time as it was meant for me to have this conversation with a complete stranger.
We didn't talk about anything significant, but I gathered quite a bit from the 5 minute conversation.
So it seems like from the conversation I started to form my thoughts around the feeling of being welcome. Let me expound a bit and you can see where I am going.
How often are you greeted with a smile by complete strangers? Do ever wear one of those t-shirts/sweatshirts/button with a saying/phrase that could be a conversation starter? Do you ever have people to seek you out for various reasons? Is there something about you that is sends an invitation to others? Wonder if you have a welcoming spirit?
Everything that happens in our lives is by design. Whether it is a new person or new challenge, we must welcome those things as there is a reason that it is happening at that time. We may not understand why at that moment, but later on things may make sense.
I have welcomed you into my life and look forward to what the future holds.
“You must welcome change as the rule but not as your ruler.”
-Denis Waitley
“Welcome anything that comes to you, but do not long for anything else.”
-Andre Gide
“Welcome those big, sticky, complicated problems. In them are your most powerful opportunities.”
-Ralph Marston
“Welcome the task that makes you go beyond yourself.”
-Frank Mcgee
“Welcome every morning with a smile. Look on the new day as another special gift from your Creator, another golden opportunity to complete what you were unable to finish yesterday. Be a self-starter. Let your first hour set the theme of success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day. Today will never happen again. Don't waste it with a false start or no start at all. You were not born to fail.”
-Og Mandino
The gentleman commented on my sweatshirt and he asked did I go to school there. The conversation morphed and I remember him saying you know what even though I live in mississippi I respect the University of Alabama and wear my Bear Bryant hat from time to time. I thought that was cool to hear him talk about how wearing a Bear Bryant hat and seeing the racial barriers disappear by a mere hat on his head.
While this may not seem significant to you, maybe it will be by the time I have finished my thoughts. As I see things, there was a reason that my luggage was missing for a period of time as it was meant for me to have this conversation with a complete stranger.
We didn't talk about anything significant, but I gathered quite a bit from the 5 minute conversation.
So it seems like from the conversation I started to form my thoughts around the feeling of being welcome. Let me expound a bit and you can see where I am going.
How often are you greeted with a smile by complete strangers? Do ever wear one of those t-shirts/sweatshirts/button with a saying/phrase that could be a conversation starter? Do you ever have people to seek you out for various reasons? Is there something about you that is sends an invitation to others? Wonder if you have a welcoming spirit?
Everything that happens in our lives is by design. Whether it is a new person or new challenge, we must welcome those things as there is a reason that it is happening at that time. We may not understand why at that moment, but later on things may make sense.
I have welcomed you into my life and look forward to what the future holds.
“You must welcome change as the rule but not as your ruler.”
-Denis Waitley
“Welcome anything that comes to you, but do not long for anything else.”
-Andre Gide
“Welcome those big, sticky, complicated problems. In them are your most powerful opportunities.”
-Ralph Marston
“Welcome the task that makes you go beyond yourself.”
-Frank Mcgee
“Welcome every morning with a smile. Look on the new day as another special gift from your Creator, another golden opportunity to complete what you were unable to finish yesterday. Be a self-starter. Let your first hour set the theme of success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day. Today will never happen again. Don't waste it with a false start or no start at all. You were not born to fail.”
-Og Mandino
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday Thoughts Before Dawn 11/19/09
It's early on a Thursday morning and I am preparing for another day. Another of those nights where I shut it down early and my body clearly has had enough rest.
I woke up with this morning revisiting some thoughts that have stayed with me the last couple of days. Over the last couple of days through conversations and watching others, I found myself thinking about admiration.
In our lives we have many opportunities to feel admiration toward someone/something in our personal, professional, and spiritual lives. What is it that gets you to the point that you begin to have admiration? It could be different for everyone, but at the same time I think we all share similar foundation which admiration is built upon. I think I heard it best from a friend who said, “we show admiration towards people and things in which we can relate to.”
Maybe you are sitting there asking yourself a few questions like I am asking myself.
Are you living a life to be admired by others? Do you even want to be admired? Who do you admire? Who admires you? What things do you admire?
Once you find the answers to these questions specifically for your life, you will be surprised to find a fresh perspective on a few things.
For one reason or another I have admiration for something that I have witnessed you do in your life or mine, and that’s probably why you are reading this right now.
Admiration:
1. a feeling of wonder, pleasure, or approval.
2. the act of looking on or contemplating with pleasure: admiration of fine paintings.
3. an object of wonder, pleasure, or approval: The dancer was the admiration of everyone.
4. Archaic. wonder; astonishment.
“I have always been an admirer. I regard the gift of admiration as indispensable if one is to amount to something; I don't know where I would be without it.”
-François de la Rochefoucauld
“Tell me who admires you and loves you, and I will tell you who you are.”
-Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
“Admiration begins where acquaintance ceases”
-Samuel Johnson
I woke up with this morning revisiting some thoughts that have stayed with me the last couple of days. Over the last couple of days through conversations and watching others, I found myself thinking about admiration.
In our lives we have many opportunities to feel admiration toward someone/something in our personal, professional, and spiritual lives. What is it that gets you to the point that you begin to have admiration? It could be different for everyone, but at the same time I think we all share similar foundation which admiration is built upon. I think I heard it best from a friend who said, “we show admiration towards people and things in which we can relate to.”
Maybe you are sitting there asking yourself a few questions like I am asking myself.
Are you living a life to be admired by others? Do you even want to be admired? Who do you admire? Who admires you? What things do you admire?
Once you find the answers to these questions specifically for your life, you will be surprised to find a fresh perspective on a few things.
For one reason or another I have admiration for something that I have witnessed you do in your life or mine, and that’s probably why you are reading this right now.
Admiration:
1. a feeling of wonder, pleasure, or approval.
2. the act of looking on or contemplating with pleasure: admiration of fine paintings.
3. an object of wonder, pleasure, or approval: The dancer was the admiration of everyone.
4. Archaic. wonder; astonishment.
“I have always been an admirer. I regard the gift of admiration as indispensable if one is to amount to something; I don't know where I would be without it.”
-François de la Rochefoucauld
“Tell me who admires you and loves you, and I will tell you who you are.”
-Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
“Admiration begins where acquaintance ceases”
-Samuel Johnson
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Saturday Afternoon Thoughts 11/14/09
It's a relaxing Saturday for me in the Valley of the Sun. Although, I don't know how accurate the Valley of the Sun label is today as it is not quite as bright as usual. Regardless of the level of sunshine, its not going to determine how my day will go. A breath of life in my body and fresh perspective on the way it is, I am ready for whatever Saturday brings me.
Sitting here at the computer and I was listening to a song in my music library and the hook, “People see me, but they just don't know… People see me, but they just don't know,” stuck in my head. As I heard this a couple of times and started to sing it a few thoughts started to form.
Much of our lives are filled with moments where we are dealing with the moment and what is on the surface. Often times we are so busy with challenges of everyday life that we don't have the opportunity to get beyond what's surface level.
How many times have you been shocked by people in your life for one reason or another? It's a natural part of life as there is always more to any situation/person than meets the eye. These thoughts that began to form had me thinking that we are all icebergs going through life. At any given moment in time, we can only see the tip of the iceberg, and often times forget what's below the surface.
Its ironic to think that there are people in your life that only care about what they can see, with no concern about what's below the surface. What is it about you that would make someone be curious about what's below the surface? What kind of things do you look for before you become concerned with what's below the surface in others?
We encounter so many iceberg situations on a daily basis, but I wonder if our focused changed from above to below how different things would be. Maybe its time to reevaluate things as it seems like the meat to any persons being is easily visible to the eye.
I know for a fact that the iceberg of your life has revealed quite a bit to me above and below the surface. I thank you for that.
“If it is any use to know it, I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it under water for every part that shows. Anything you know you can eliminate and it only strengthens your iceberg. It is the part that does”
-Ernest Hemingway
“The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.”
-Sigmund Freud
“Two parts of empathy: Skill (tip of iceberg) and Attitude (mass of the iceberg).”
Sitting here at the computer and I was listening to a song in my music library and the hook, “People see me, but they just don't know… People see me, but they just don't know,” stuck in my head. As I heard this a couple of times and started to sing it a few thoughts started to form.
Much of our lives are filled with moments where we are dealing with the moment and what is on the surface. Often times we are so busy with challenges of everyday life that we don't have the opportunity to get beyond what's surface level.
How many times have you been shocked by people in your life for one reason or another? It's a natural part of life as there is always more to any situation/person than meets the eye. These thoughts that began to form had me thinking that we are all icebergs going through life. At any given moment in time, we can only see the tip of the iceberg, and often times forget what's below the surface.
Its ironic to think that there are people in your life that only care about what they can see, with no concern about what's below the surface. What is it about you that would make someone be curious about what's below the surface? What kind of things do you look for before you become concerned with what's below the surface in others?
We encounter so many iceberg situations on a daily basis, but I wonder if our focused changed from above to below how different things would be. Maybe its time to reevaluate things as it seems like the meat to any persons being is easily visible to the eye.
I know for a fact that the iceberg of your life has revealed quite a bit to me above and below the surface. I thank you for that.
“If it is any use to know it, I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it under water for every part that shows. Anything you know you can eliminate and it only strengthens your iceberg. It is the part that does”
-Ernest Hemingway
“The mind is like an iceberg, it floats with one-seventh of its bulk above water.”
-Sigmund Freud
“Two parts of empathy: Skill (tip of iceberg) and Attitude (mass of the iceberg).”
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Thurday Thoughts Before Dawn 11/12/09
I sit awake on this Thursday morning at the computer putting my thoughts together. I have been under the weather for the last couple of days, but it seems like no matter how ill I become I still manage to have a few thoughts on the brain.
Since I was up, I found myself flipping through the channels and ended up watching several shows on VH1. On this particular day, VH1 was running a 6 hour spotlight on rapper T.I. which showed an episode of ‘Behind the Music’ as well as several episodes of T.I.’s ‘Road to Redemption.’
As I watched the shows, I began to remove his celebrity and view him as a regular person like you or me. All throughout his life he encountered crossroads where he had choices to make and he didn’t always make the right ones.
In every aspect of our life on a daily basis we are presented with many opportunities to make decisions. Choices surround us and ultimately we have to live with the choices that we make.
How often do you ask yourself why am I where I am? Why do these things keep happening to me? Why does it seem like the people around me are bringing me down?
Hopefully, we have learned lessons from our prior choices in life that have allowed us to grow. Choose wisely as your decisions today shape your tomorrow.
You can choose to be or do anything in life, but YOU are the only one that can make that decision.
“There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.”
Henry David Thoreau
“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.”
-Tennessee Williams
“The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose.”
-J Martin Kohe
“The truth is that we can learn to condition our minds, bodies, and emotions to link pain or pleasure to whatever we choose. By changing what we link pain and pleasure to, we will instantly change our behaviors.”
-Anthony Robbins
Since I was up, I found myself flipping through the channels and ended up watching several shows on VH1. On this particular day, VH1 was running a 6 hour spotlight on rapper T.I. which showed an episode of ‘Behind the Music’ as well as several episodes of T.I.’s ‘Road to Redemption.’
As I watched the shows, I began to remove his celebrity and view him as a regular person like you or me. All throughout his life he encountered crossroads where he had choices to make and he didn’t always make the right ones.
In every aspect of our life on a daily basis we are presented with many opportunities to make decisions. Choices surround us and ultimately we have to live with the choices that we make.
How often do you ask yourself why am I where I am? Why do these things keep happening to me? Why does it seem like the people around me are bringing me down?
Hopefully, we have learned lessons from our prior choices in life that have allowed us to grow. Choose wisely as your decisions today shape your tomorrow.
You can choose to be or do anything in life, but YOU are the only one that can make that decision.
“There is no value in life except what you choose to place upon it and no happiness in any place except what you bring to it yourself.”
Henry David Thoreau
“Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.”
-Tennessee Williams
“The greatest power that a person possesses is the power to choose.”
-J Martin Kohe
“The truth is that we can learn to condition our minds, bodies, and emotions to link pain or pleasure to whatever we choose. By changing what we link pain and pleasure to, we will instantly change our behaviors.”
-Anthony Robbins
Monday, November 9, 2009
Sunday Evening Thoughts 11/08/09
Today was one of those days where I just love living here in Arizona. This morning when I woke up the weather was a bit cool, but then the sun came out and it warmed up to about 84 degrees. The day was so perfect that I found myself asleep on the couch and actually missed the 2nd half of my Arizona Cardinals game against the Bears.
By the time I woke up from my nap, I was able to celebrate the Cardinals victory. During the post game press conference, Coach Ken Whisenhunt made a statement that brought back memories of the last time the Cardinals and Bears played. “The Bears are who we thought they were…..And we didn’t let them off the HOOK.”
While this statement may not mean a lot to you, but it is a recollection of the frustration of former Arizona Cardinals Head Coach Dennis Green. In the fall of 2006, after a Monday Night Football Game in which the Cardinals gave up a comfortable lead to the Bears and eventually lost the game. Coach Green had a memorable meltdown after the game and made some statements that are forever etched in history. That ended up being the last season that he coached in the NFL. While this not have been a great memory initially for Coach Green, he has been able to capitalize on it as they have featured his blow up in a couple of commercials.
So my thoughts over the past several days have revolved around memories. We are always creating memories whether they are good or bad. Enjoy every experience you have in life for what it is. After its all over regardless of what happens you will still have the memories, so cherish them.
I have memories of you that I am sure will never leave me. Make it an amazing week.
“Always remember to slow down in life; live, breathe, and learn; take a look around you whenever you have time and never forget everything and every person that has the least place within your heart. ”
“A moment lasts all of a second, but the memory lives on forever.”
“It's surprising how much of memory is built around things unnoticed at the time”
-Barbara Kingsolver
“We cannot change our memories, but we can change their meaning and the power they have over us”
-David Seamands
By the time I woke up from my nap, I was able to celebrate the Cardinals victory. During the post game press conference, Coach Ken Whisenhunt made a statement that brought back memories of the last time the Cardinals and Bears played. “The Bears are who we thought they were…..And we didn’t let them off the HOOK.”
While this statement may not mean a lot to you, but it is a recollection of the frustration of former Arizona Cardinals Head Coach Dennis Green. In the fall of 2006, after a Monday Night Football Game in which the Cardinals gave up a comfortable lead to the Bears and eventually lost the game. Coach Green had a memorable meltdown after the game and made some statements that are forever etched in history. That ended up being the last season that he coached in the NFL. While this not have been a great memory initially for Coach Green, he has been able to capitalize on it as they have featured his blow up in a couple of commercials.
So my thoughts over the past several days have revolved around memories. We are always creating memories whether they are good or bad. Enjoy every experience you have in life for what it is. After its all over regardless of what happens you will still have the memories, so cherish them.
I have memories of you that I am sure will never leave me. Make it an amazing week.
“Always remember to slow down in life; live, breathe, and learn; take a look around you whenever you have time and never forget everything and every person that has the least place within your heart. ”
“A moment lasts all of a second, but the memory lives on forever.”
“It's surprising how much of memory is built around things unnoticed at the time”
-Barbara Kingsolver
“We cannot change our memories, but we can change their meaning and the power they have over us”
-David Seamands
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Saturday Evening Thoughts 11/07/09
I sit on this Saturday Evening enjoying some of my favorite things; football and chatting with friends/family. This weekend is Homecoming at my alma mater Jackson State University as well as Tennessee State University and I have heard that quite a few people have returned to the respective areas to celebrate. Although I did not make it for the experience this weekend, technology kept me up to speed with everything that was going on.
As we get older and start new chapters in our lives, we often leave home. Leaving home could be just growing up and leaving your parents house or moving away from the city you call home. Whatever the case may be it is a special feeling inside of us when we return home.
Do you remember that tree where you first carved your initials and the initials of your first love? How sweet does it feel to wake up in your childhood room and smell your mother cooking homemade biscuits on a Saturday morning?
Wherever home is, it will always be a place that you can go and get a feeling that can’t be re-created in too many places. Often times we return home for occasions that aren’t so joyous, so try to make it for a good occasion and enjoy yourself.
“Homecoming unites the past and the present.”
~Author Unknown
“Homecoming means tradition.”
~Author Unknown
“Homecoming means more than winning a competition or a sporting event. It provides an opportunity for every component of the university to come together to celebrate as a whole.”
~Author Unknown
“Homecoming means football, festivities, and friendship.”
~Author Unknown
“Nostalgia is like a grammar lesson: you find the present tense, but the past perfect!”
~Owens Lee Pomeroy
As we get older and start new chapters in our lives, we often leave home. Leaving home could be just growing up and leaving your parents house or moving away from the city you call home. Whatever the case may be it is a special feeling inside of us when we return home.
Do you remember that tree where you first carved your initials and the initials of your first love? How sweet does it feel to wake up in your childhood room and smell your mother cooking homemade biscuits on a Saturday morning?
Wherever home is, it will always be a place that you can go and get a feeling that can’t be re-created in too many places. Often times we return home for occasions that aren’t so joyous, so try to make it for a good occasion and enjoy yourself.
“Homecoming unites the past and the present.”
~Author Unknown
“Homecoming means tradition.”
~Author Unknown
“Homecoming means more than winning a competition or a sporting event. It provides an opportunity for every component of the university to come together to celebrate as a whole.”
~Author Unknown
“Homecoming means football, festivities, and friendship.”
~Author Unknown
“Nostalgia is like a grammar lesson: you find the present tense, but the past perfect!”
~Owens Lee Pomeroy
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Thursday Morning Thoughts 11/05/09
After a great nights sleep I am up early and I guess I should have been ready for this day. Last night the New York Yankees won their 27th World Championship in their brand new stadium. For the next several days, you will not be able to go many places without hearing mention of this World Series or the Yankees winning it all again. Over the course of Major League Baseball history, the Yankees have been home to some of the greatest players to ever play the game.
When you take the time to look at all 27 of the titles for the Yankees, you may see some individuals that standout to you, but it was really a team effort to accomplish the task. In Major League Baseball the Yankees have the most World Championships than any other team. How is this even possible? This is possible because of a collective effort of the players, coaches, and front office.
Individual success is great, but is only one person responsible for their success? There is teamwork involved in so many aspects of our lives from professional to personal. Recognize the power of working together and realize the things that can be accomplished individually and collectively. Together we have the opportunity to make a difference in this world.
I am ready to start the journey and was wondering if you would be willing to join me.
“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”
-Ryunosuke Satoro
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
-Henry Ford
“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”
“When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality.”
-Joe Paterno
“There is no such thing as a self-made man. You will reach your goals only with the help of others.”
-George Shinn
When you take the time to look at all 27 of the titles for the Yankees, you may see some individuals that standout to you, but it was really a team effort to accomplish the task. In Major League Baseball the Yankees have the most World Championships than any other team. How is this even possible? This is possible because of a collective effort of the players, coaches, and front office.
Individual success is great, but is only one person responsible for their success? There is teamwork involved in so many aspects of our lives from professional to personal. Recognize the power of working together and realize the things that can be accomplished individually and collectively. Together we have the opportunity to make a difference in this world.
I am ready to start the journey and was wondering if you would be willing to join me.
“Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”
-Ryunosuke Satoro
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
-Henry Ford
“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.”
“When a team outgrows individual performance and learns team confidence, excellence becomes a reality.”
-Joe Paterno
“There is no such thing as a self-made man. You will reach your goals only with the help of others.”
-George Shinn
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Early Morning Thoughts on Hump Day 11/04/09
I am sitting here at the computer reflecting on another day gone by and flipping through my music library. By now, you probably can sense that I have hopped on my soapbox and have a few things that I would like to talk about.
As I settled into the evening, I begin to think about how often we focus on the beginning and the end. How is it that we lose sight of what has transpired between the start and the finish. Even when we leave this place our tombstones show the date we came into the world and the date we left. Once we are gone the only thing left to show that we were here only focuses on the beginning and ending of our life.
There are many times in our lives that we are so caught up in situations fixated on where we started and where we will finish that we miss some things along the way.
We all have heard the phrase its not how you start, but how you finish. Its those things that occurred after the start that make it able for us to finish. We have to appreciate the things that take place after the start and before the finish. Don’t lose sight of the middle as that is where the real meat of life lies..
Don’t be so concerned with a great start and a strong finish that you forget to appreciate how you actually ran the race.
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
-Albert Einstein
“Beginnings are usually scary and endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts. You have to remember this when you find yourself at the beginning.”
-Sandra Bullock
“Yesterday brought the beginning, tomorrow brings the end but somewhere in the middle we've become the best of friends.”
“There’s always the chance you could die right in the middle of your life story ”
-Chuck Palahniuk
“Refuse to fall down. If you cannot refuse to fall down, refuse to stay down, lift your heart toward heaven like a hungry beggar, ask that it be filled and it will be filled. You may be pushed down. You may be kept from rising. But no one can keep you from lifting your heart toward heaven-only you. It is in the middle of misery that so much becomes clear. The one who says nothing good came of this is not yet listening.”
-Clarissa Pinkola Estes
As I settled into the evening, I begin to think about how often we focus on the beginning and the end. How is it that we lose sight of what has transpired between the start and the finish. Even when we leave this place our tombstones show the date we came into the world and the date we left. Once we are gone the only thing left to show that we were here only focuses on the beginning and ending of our life.
There are many times in our lives that we are so caught up in situations fixated on where we started and where we will finish that we miss some things along the way.
We all have heard the phrase its not how you start, but how you finish. Its those things that occurred after the start that make it able for us to finish. We have to appreciate the things that take place after the start and before the finish. Don’t lose sight of the middle as that is where the real meat of life lies..
Don’t be so concerned with a great start and a strong finish that you forget to appreciate how you actually ran the race.
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
-Albert Einstein
“Beginnings are usually scary and endings are usually sad, but it’s the middle that counts. You have to remember this when you find yourself at the beginning.”
-Sandra Bullock
“Yesterday brought the beginning, tomorrow brings the end but somewhere in the middle we've become the best of friends.”
“There’s always the chance you could die right in the middle of your life story ”
-Chuck Palahniuk
“Refuse to fall down. If you cannot refuse to fall down, refuse to stay down, lift your heart toward heaven like a hungry beggar, ask that it be filled and it will be filled. You may be pushed down. You may be kept from rising. But no one can keep you from lifting your heart toward heaven-only you. It is in the middle of misery that so much becomes clear. The one who says nothing good came of this is not yet listening.”
-Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Sunday Afternoon Thoughts 11/1/09
Nothing in life is by chance. There is a reason that most things happen in our lives even if we can not explain it. I woke this morning and began to see more answers as to why some things are the way that they are.
Being the football fan that I am, I am preparing to watch Brett Favre play his first football game
at a place he called home for 15+ years. All this week on the sports channels they talked to the Green Bay fans about how
they felt about Brett wearing the jersey of their fiercest rival. The results were mixed as some were still fans of Favre and others loathed him for where he is now.
Sports often times allows us to see our tendencies to be fair weather people. We have all heard it said before about fair weather fans and supporting their teams in times of success and being absent in the low points.
The majority of our lives are spent sorting through all kinds of relationships. In life just like in sports we encounter situations where we tend to be fair weather.
Are there areas in your life where you tend to be fair weather? Do you have some relationships that may be fair weather? Are there times that someone could see that you as a fair weather friend?
Through the storms and the fair weather, I am thankful for all my friends and family. I enjoy being there for you and I appreciate you being there for me! Life ain't easy and I ain't to big to say that WE DO THIS TOGETHER!
“A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain.”
-Robert Frost
“Diplomats are useful only in fair weather. As soon as it rains they drown in every drop.”
-Charles de Gaulle
“Some are atheists only in fair weather.”
-Thomas Fuller
Being the football fan that I am, I am preparing to watch Brett Favre play his first football game
at a place he called home for 15+ years. All this week on the sports channels they talked to the Green Bay fans about how
they felt about Brett wearing the jersey of their fiercest rival. The results were mixed as some were still fans of Favre and others loathed him for where he is now.
Sports often times allows us to see our tendencies to be fair weather people. We have all heard it said before about fair weather fans and supporting their teams in times of success and being absent in the low points.
The majority of our lives are spent sorting through all kinds of relationships. In life just like in sports we encounter situations where we tend to be fair weather.
Are there areas in your life where you tend to be fair weather? Do you have some relationships that may be fair weather? Are there times that someone could see that you as a fair weather friend?
Through the storms and the fair weather, I am thankful for all my friends and family. I enjoy being there for you and I appreciate you being there for me! Life ain't easy and I ain't to big to say that WE DO THIS TOGETHER!
“A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain.”
-Robert Frost
“Diplomats are useful only in fair weather. As soon as it rains they drown in every drop.”
-Charles de Gaulle
“Some are atheists only in fair weather.”
-Thomas Fuller
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