Thursday Night Thoughts on Getting There, Being There, and Staying There 8/1/13

Seems like just a short time ago it was July 1st and I can only ask where did the month of July go. Here we are staring right in the face of a new month and that much closer to closing out 2013. A mere 5 months remain and hopefully you are on track to hit all your goals for the year. Today was a great day for me as I started it in one of the best ways imaginable talking to my mother sometime around 4 am considering we are still nine hours apart. I don't know about you, but when I talk to my mother it seems like I don't have a care in the world. Must be something about being the 1st born child and knowing that she is always there for her baby boy.(Yup, I will always be my mother's baby boy) Over the last several months, I have been having a lot of good conversation with my family, friends, and extended family about what it means to be there for one another. Without question, life happens and in the midst of our living there are opportunities for us to be there or not there. There are a ton of different directions that I could take as I think about getting there, being there, and staying there that deal with so many aspects of our lives. Relationships? Career? Are you there yet? Where is there? Why do you want to be there? Where is it that you are striving to be? Who is there for you? Who are you there for? Why have you decided to be there? What does it look like to be there? Kind of interesting how I ended up asking myself these questions after making what appeared to be a simple phone call to wish Deacon Alvin Battle a happy birthday this morning. Here I was calling to celebrate his day, and he is asking me questions about what I am doing and why I was still holding back on sharing my talents with the world. Deacon Battle also left me with this nugget to think on; "Sometimes the blessed tend to be more selfish than selfless." Funny how even when you aren't around people, thoughts of you keep a presence in their lives. The same is probably true of you when people aren't around you. I am blessed in the fact that I know even when I don't believe I need someone that they are always there for me. It's a great feeling when you know that not if you need someone, but when you need someone they are there for you. Look around and ask yourself do you really know what's there? Are you appreciating the place where you are? Are you appreciating the people that are there with you? As you prepare for the weekend ahead, I can only challenge you to live life and be phenomenal. In everything that you do, don't forget the #PositiveMovementsForward lifestyle. “I like to think that the moon is there even if I am not looking at it” Albert Einstein “Somewhere there is someone that dreams of your smile, and finds in your presence that life is worthwhile, so when you are lonely remember it’s true, someone somewhere is thinking of you.” “For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.” Ivan Panin “There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart...pursue those.” Michael Nolan “Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there; they cause change. They motivate and inspire others to go in the right direction and they, along with everyone else, sacrifice to get there.” John Kotter “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” Beverly Sills “There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.” Denis Waitley “To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.” Jim Valvano