Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Wednesday Morning Thoughts on "FREE AGENCY"

I am just sitting here this morning watching a little television before I decide to leave the house to deal with the heat for the day. Its already 98 degrees with the anticipated high expected to be 109 degrees. All I know is that I will be keeping cool thoughts in my head as that’s one way that I know to possibly beat this heat.

You can’t turn on a TV lately without being reminded about NBA players DeWayne Wade, LeBron James, and Co’s impending free agent status. As I was watching some news reports today, I heard an agent talk about how he assists the players in prioritizing what things are important to them when evaluating their decisions; compensation, championships, team chemistry, impact on family, etc. As I continued to listen to the conversations going back and forth, thoughts began to form around a few things that were mentioned.

Whether you are interested in sports or not the free agency concept can be related to things we do in our lives. From birth each and every one of us was born a free agent as we have the freedom of choice to make decisions that affect us. In making most of our decisions regarding our careers, relationships, and lives in general we often place values on what is important to us. The values we place on things ultimately influence our decisions coupled with your desires to be in a certain place.

In the midst of your own “free agency” period in any aspect of your life, ask yourself a few questions. Is there an area that I am willing to compromise? What is most important to me? What is it that I really desire? Do I desire the wrong things?

“Serendipity. Look for something, find something else, and realize that what you've found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for.”

-Lawrence Block

“Desire is the key to motivation, but its determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek.”

-Mario Andretti

“If you greatly desire something, have the guts to stake everything on obtaining it.”

-Brendan Francis

“The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.”

-Robert Kiyosaki

“Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.”

-Napoleon Hill

Monday, June 28, 2010

Sunday Evening Thoughts on "timing" 06/27/10

The weekend is coming to a close and I think I did another great job of trying to beat the heat. Over the next several months one of my main goals will be to stay cool and hydrated as much as possible as the temperatures are averaging 106 degrees daily. While doing my best to beat the heat over the last couple of days I managed to have a few conversations about life that prompted some additional thoughts afterwards.

I had an opportunity to sit down and talk to some older gentlemen this weekend that compared their experiences in their day to my current experiences. It’s amazing to look at the differences in the times that we are living in and how things are interpreted. I bring this up only because it was a situation in which my plan was to do some other things but this conversation just started. As we know in life we try to plan out most things that we do, but timing plays a role in a lot of it. Surprisingly, things don’t always happen in the time that we would like, but we have to learn to appreciate when and why things take place the way that they do.

You are where you are because that where you are supposed to be. So just have patience and trust that everything will reveal itself in the right timing for you.

As the weekend winds down, I wish you an amazing start to your new week. I am also sharing a few quotes related to timing that may speak to you current situation or something you have experienced in the past.


“No-one gets an iron-clad guarantee of success. Certainly, factors like opportunity, luck and timing are important. But the backbone of success is usually found in old-fashioned, basic concepts like hard work, determination, good planning and perseverance.”

-Mia Hamm

“Observe due measure, for right timing is in all things the most important factor.”

-Hesiod

“Your Master Teacher knows all you need to learn, the perfect timing for your learning it, and the ideal way of teaching it to you. You don't create a Master Teacher / that's already been done. You discover your Master Teacher.”

-Peter McWilliams

“Life is all about timing... the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable become available, the unattainable... attainable. Have the patience, wait it out It's all about timing.”

-Stacey Charter

“Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing. There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over.

-Gloria Naylor

Monday, June 14, 2010

Monday Night Thoughts on your "role" 06/14/10

Another week has started and I am trying to embrace it in way to make it better than my last. That’s pretty much the way I try to live each day these days. It’s in the plan to make sure that tomorrow is better than today and as long as I put forth the effort I can rest knowing that that I tried.

Over the course of the last several days I have encountered a few situations and conversations that have revolved around roles. Last week you may have read or witnessed a lot of reports on the late John Wooden and his impact as a coach/leader. I read something that he said, “I wasn’t a basketball coach but I was a teacher.” That statement got me to thinking about where I am currently.

After some thought I began to realize that it’s not your position that defines your role in the grand scheme of things. We are put in situations and places because of the role we were chosen to play at a particular moment. The time has come to embrace where we are and use our talents and wisdom to give life to our role.

Do you know your role in life currently? Do you think your role has been defined? Are you ready to embrace it?

Depending on your answers you may begin to look at your role a little differently in the future. Maybe we were all put here to be teachers in some form or fashion.

“There comes a point in many people's lives when they can no longer play the role they have chosen for themselves. When that happens, we are like actors finding that someone has changed the play.”

-Brian Moore

“I do believe that when we face challenges in life that are far beyond our own power, it's an opportunity to build on our faith, inner strength, and courage. I've learned that how we face challenges plays a big role in the outcome of them.”

-Sasha Azevedo

“Do not worry about holding high position; worry rather about playing your proper role.”

-Confucius

“The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can't be any large-scale revolution until there's a personal revolution, on and individual level. It's got to happen inside first. You can take away a man's political freedom and you won't hurt him- unless you take away his freedom to feel. That can destroy him. That kind of freedom can't be granted. Nobody can win it for you.”

-Jim Morrison

“The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say.”

-Anais Nin

“The role of the teacher remains the highest calling of a free people. To the teacher, America entrusts her most precious resource, her children; and asks that they be prepared... to face the rigors of individual participation in a democratic society.”