Sunday Morning Thoughts on What Are You Leaving 7/14/13

Another good week and I know for certain that I'm beyond blessed for many different reasons. The people that I have surrounded myself with continue to validate more and more what my purpose in life seems to be. I am truly humbled by what I appear to be called in the direction of. Life gives us all confirmation and reminders every minute of every day, but it takes the right mindset to see it at times. Not sending out the PQOD for two days was something I didn't think anyone would really notice, but boy was I wrong. I must say that yesterday afternoon I received an email from a young man named SJ and these were his words: "Nick, Lemme get some quotes man.. They still keep me on my feet man..." That message reminded me that I can't slack because I've fostered something over the last several years that has become a part of a lot of people's lives. I guess I forget that even this small thing does make a difference more than I realize. I guess timing is everything considering that there have been a few thoughts on my brain the last couple of days, and my interaction yesterday cemented that I was on the right path with my thinking. Not sure how I arrived here this week, but I started to wonder about what I might be leaving with people after every interaction. Or even what people were leaving me? I know a lot of us think about the impressions that we make on people and the impressions they make on us, but what about what we leave with people or what they leave with us. May take a little bit of thought to transition to this as we have been conditioned for so long to deal with impressions. As we mature we begin to think in terms of value for everything that we do, so it only makes sense to think of the value of every interaction. Are you following where I am headed it. In every aspect of our lives beyond an impression, we are leaving something behind with every action. Are you leaving something good/bad? Are you leaving something of value? Maybe even when we leave something behind still puts us in growth mode because we have learned to get by without something. Who knows, not leaving something behind is something that could be hindering us from getting to the next level. Is there something that you aren't quite ready to leave? Think about your career? Relationships? Your life period? I know that as I thought about these things how much clarity I received about what I have been prepared to leave in this life. I do know that most of the time I leave people with the thought of there is a reason why our paths crossed. A lot of times the reasons are confirmed at a later date, but nonetheless there is value seen in the interactions. Life is too short and I am thankful that I have learned to take full advantage of everything here. I strive to live so that there is mutual benefit for all of my relationships. While we all have different things to give/receive in this life, I trust that over time we are leaving the necessary things with the right people. So again, I ask what are you leaving with the world? What have you left As you prepare to start a new week and embrace new opportunities, I can only ask as always that you live life and be phenomenal. “Spread love everywhere you go: First of all in your own house... let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness.” Mother Teresa “The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he's always doing both.” James Michener “You never really leave a place or person you love, part of them you take with you ,leaving a part of yourself behind.” “Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.” Marian Wright Edelman “Traveling is not just seeing the new; it is also leaving behind. Not just opening doors; also closing them behind you, never to return. But the place you have left forever is always there for you to see whenever you shut your eyes.” Jan Myrdal “False friends are like our shadow, keeping close to us while we walk in the sunshine but leaving us when we cross into the shade.” Christian Nevell Bovee “The fatal metaphor of progress, which means leaving things behind us, has utterly obscured the real idea of growth, which means leaving things inside us.” G.K. Chesterton “Every person has the power to make others happy. Some do it simply by entering a room -- others by leaving the room. Some individuals leave trails of gloom; others, trails of joy. Some leave trails of hate and bitterness; others, trails of love and harmony. Some leave trails of cynicism and pessimism; others trails of faith and optimism. Some leave trails of criticism and resignation; others trails of gratitude and hope. What kind of trails do you leave?” William Arthur Ward

Hump Day Thoughts on What Have You Prepared For 7/10/13

Another weekend has come and gone and we are now on the top side of the 2nd half of the year. Now is the time to get things in gear if you aren't already geared to make your 2013 count. I love the fact that I have surrounded myself with people whose conversations always make me think and leave me with a feeling that it was time well spent. Over the weekend, I spoke with several individuals that reminded me of every moment preparing us for our next moment. It's funny how we can look back in time and now see the things that we were being prepared to do. I never would have thought when I was introduced to the Positive Quote of the Day in 2006, that my big brother VAT was preparing me to create a platform to inspire and touch peoples lives. It's funny that as I talked to Brother Thompson, he thanked me for sending out the daily inspiration as he has been sharing with others along the way. Needless to say, he wasn't surprised that one of my brothers, mentors, and closest friends had inspired me in away that I have taken to a whole new level over the years. There's levels to this thing we call life and opportunities for growth in every moment for us. To grow we have to be prepared for change, but that is something not every one has matured enough to do. I have to ask myself a few questions; What have I been prepared for? What have my past relationships prepared me for? What are my current friendships/relationships preparing me for? Most importantly what have I prepared myself for? Great questions to pose to myself as I begin to see things across the board a little more clearer. I often think about how many people wish to be positioned in a certain place in life, but aren't willing to take the necessary the steps to get there. Ever heard the phrase "luck is when preparation meets opportunity" or "everyone wants to sit at the table, but no one wants to do what it takes to get there." Just for example, we often hear that we are living in the NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND age, but how are we preparing the children to not be left behind? Are you yourself doing anything to prepare them? I guess I used that example considering my thoughts on life preparing me to make a difference in the lives of young people through mentoring. Life prepares you for a lot if you are willing to learn, but do you even see what life is preparing you for? Maybe you have been called to do something? Are you ready to answer the call? Or do you even see it? Do you have an idea of what you are preparing yourself for? Maybe the questions posed here made you think or even change your approach to a few things in the future? I know this for certain that you are prepared to live life and be phenomenal. The choice is yours and always has been. “If you want a place in the sun, you had better be prepared to put up with a few blisters” Abigail Van Buren “People only see what they are prepared to see.” Ralph Waldo Emerson “Life belongs to the living, and he who lives must be prepared for changes.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe “The door of opportunity is wide open if you are prepared.” “To be prepared is half the victory.” Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra “If you are prepared, you will be confident, and will do the job.” Tom Landry “A discovery is said to be an accident meeting a prepared mind.” Albert Szent-Gyorgyi “I am prepared to go anywhere, provided it be forward.” David Livingstone “It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.” Whitney M. Young, Jr

Saturday Evening Thoughts on Feeling Special 6/29/13

The first half of the year is just about complete and I can honestly say that 2013 has been one for the books. The last couple of days, I figured I was going to melt with temperatures peaking in excess of 116 degrees. I can't lie and say this wasn't another great week because it was. When I tell you what made it so great, you are probably going to be like wow I can see how that makes you feel that way. Believe it or not there are just a few things that really inspire me to live the life I live and my relationships with the special people in my life is probably the most important. The highlight of my week was talking to one of my nieces Thursday on her 9th birthday. Its actually funny that with all the stuff I have going on that when I woke up, my most important task on June 27 was making sure I set aside some time to visit with this amazing 9 year old. As I thought about it, with the exception of one year that I was out of the country, I have always shared some special time with her even if just over the phone on her birthday. While I am highlighting how excited I was to visit with her, I began to realize how often I take time out for those that I care about to recognize these special occasions. Define what special means to you. What does it mean to feel special? Do you ever feel special? Do you ever make others feel special? As I thought about those questions I began to think about people that I have encountered over the years and how they have been placed in my life. For me it basically broke down like this. 1) People who know me 2) People I know 3) People I associate with 4) Acquaintances 5) People I just be emailing, texting, Facebooking, or tweeting 6) Friends 7) Family Amazingly enough, over the years I have learned that a lot of the people I consider family don't even share the same blood with me, but they have proved to hold a special place in my heart. There's just something about the way people make you feel when you are around them that makes everything about the relationship seem special. Maybe there's a word or phrase here that inspires you to live tomorrow differently than you did today. I challenge you to create special moments with every opportunity that you have cause you just never know if the opportunity may come around again. Don't ever forget that you are special yourself. Live life and be phenomenal in all that you do. Hopefully you realize if you are reading this right now, that you are special to me for one reason or another. PositiveMovementsForward always! “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 “Distance never separates two hearts that really care, for our memories span the miles and in seconds we are there. But whenever I start feeling sad cuz I miss you I remind myself how lucky I am to have someone so special to miss.” “Life becomes precious and more special to us when we look for the little everyday miracles and get excited about the privileges of simply being human” Tim Hansel “No matter what age you are, or what your circumstances might be, you are special, and you still have something unique to offer. Your life, because of who you are, has meaning.” Barbara De Angelis “The friends who grew up with you deserve a special respect- the ones who stuck by you shoulder to shoulder, in a time when nothing was certain, all life lay ahead, and every road led home.” “Will you ever? I don’t think you will ever fully understand how you've touched my life and made me who I am.I don't think you could ever know just how truly special you are that even on the darkest nights you are my brightest star.” Erica Jong “Never neglect the little things. Never skimp on that extra effort, that additional few minutes, that soft word of praise or thanks, that delivery of the very best that you can do. It does not matter what others think, it is of prime importance, however, what you think about you. You can never do your best, which should always be your trademark, if you are cutting corners and shirking responsibilities. You are special. Act it. Never neglect the little things.” Og Mandino

Sunday Afternoon Thoughts on Seeing Through the Blindness 06/23/13

Let's take a look at where we are right now; spring is in our rear view mirror, the beginning of summer is in our midst, and we are almost halfway through 2013. Surely, some of us have said that 2013 is going to be our year and that may be true if we strayed away from all things that didn't work for us in years past. I have probably had one of my best weeks in a long time and I think it has a lot to do with my family and extended family; Father's Day last Sunday, Big Brother & Sister T celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary, and my Sister Melle Mel appearing on The Price is Right. While I wasn't present for everything that was going on, it was beyond exciting just to know what they were experiencing. This past week I was reminded that sometimes you have to lose one of your senses in order to appreciate everything that you have in your life. How would we see things if we experienced some sort of blindness? Have you ever experienced a moment of blindness that helped you see things clearly? Losing sight even temporarily could possibly be one of the best things for our vision. What have I learned even if just only for me is that we are so dependent on what we see with our eyes that often times we fail to see the right things with our hearts and minds. We are very visual people, but rely solely on what we can actually see and touch. What about those things that we can't see and touch, where do we get our visions from? How well is your sight? What about your vision? Sometimes merely closing our eyes for a moment brings the right visions to life for us. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen and should never be far from your mind. As we move into a new week, I challenge you to appreciate your moments of blindness to learn more about where you are in life. You may see something that you haven't seen before in your career, relationships, and even within yourself. Position yourself to live life and be phenomenal as the #PositiveMovementsForward mindset will carry you through anything that life can throw at you. “Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see” Mark Twain “Love is not blind; it simply enables one to see things others fail to see.” “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” Helen Keller “You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.” “I have always thought it would be a blessing if each person could be blind and deaf for a few days during his early adult life. Darkness would make him appreciate sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound.” Helen Keller “A blind man knows he cannot see, and is glad to be led, though it be by a dog; but he that is blind in his understanding, which is the worst blindness of all, believes he sees as the best, and scorns a guide” Samuel Butler “What spirit is so empty and blind, that it cannot recognize the fact that the foot is more noble than the shoe, and skin more beautiful than the garment with which it is clothed?” Michelangelo

Saturday Morning Thoughts on Being Worth the Investment 05/25/13

My, my, my I woke up this morning feeling quite a bit more refreshed than I have felt in awhile. Not sure what it was, but I feel like I don't have a care in the world right now. As I look around I can easily say, that things could be worse or so glad I don't have to deal with that. For about 2 weeks, there have been a few thoughts on my brain that I was struggling to wrap my mind around. So basically, I put some things down on paper and left them in draft status. The last 24 hours it seems like I have been in living in the midst of an ongoing epiphany revolving around this question, "Am I worth the investment?" Like most people that exist in the world today, there are so many ways of staying connected or in tune with what's going on. I have to ask, have you made an investment in something that is worth checking in on ever so often. If you know me and understand how much I value my relationships with the people that I care about, you know sharing my thoughts is therapeutic for me and its how I grow. Over time, I have learned that if I am not sharing my thoughts that I becoming stagnant with no growth. I have to thank my pro bono therapist Dora G for adding some additional insight on who Nick Jr. actually is.(Doesn't hurt that I have been a patient of hers since '96 lol) Here's an exercise that I am still working on, but is extremely healthy for your overall well being. Stand in front of a mirror and ask yourself, "Am I worth the investment?" Sit down with a blank sheet of paper and write down a list of things you have accomplished in life thus far and ask yourself, "Was it worth the investment?" And last, but certainly not least, count your blessings and you may realize that HIS investment was more than worth it. It's up to us to make the decision that whatever we choose to do is a worthwhile investment that gives us the return that we desire. We all have different reasons as to what, when, who, and why we invest our time, energy, and efforts into. What has been your greatest investment thus far? I would be willing to bet that your answer would be yourself, but I could be wrong. Would you believe that at some point in your life you have been someone else's biggest investment? The thing about it is that you have to be confident in knowing that you are worth the investment and then some at all times. When life happens, you learn a lot about yourself and those around you. I challenge you to go forward, live life, and be phenomenal. “Take time to gather up the past so that you will be able to draw from your experience and invest them in the future.” Jim Rohn “The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes. If you foolishly ignore beauty, you will soon find yourself without it. Your life will be impoverished. But if you invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life.” Frank Lloyd Wright “If you want to be truly successful invest in yourself to get the knowledge you need to find your unique factor. When you find it and focus on it and persevere your success will blossom.” Sidney Madwed “Invest three percent of your income in yourself (self-development) in order to guarantee your future.” Brian Tracy “When you make a commitment to a relationship, you invest your attention and energy in it more profoundly because you now experience ownership of that relationship.” Barbara De Angelis “Invest in the human soul. Who knows, it might be a diamond in the rough.” Mary McLeod Bethune “The question is not whether we can afford to invest in every child; it is whether we can afford not to.” Marian Wright Edelman Sent from my Blackberry on the nation's best wireless network. Can you hear me now? #Boom

Sunday Evening Thoughts on Finding the Joy in Your Connection 04/28/13

Finally, an opportunity to take a break to relax and reflect on this Sunday evening. This was quite the long week with all the thoughts and emotions that were running through my head. Just one of those weeks that you are truly grateful for the problems that you do have as there are so many out here that have it worse than you do. From brain surgery of a member of my extended family to a motorcycle accident that left a young man I know in critical condition for several days, living the life you have was put in perspective for me yet again. At this point in life, I get my strength from my relationships with others. My mission now is all about finding the joy in the connections that I have. Have you ever wondered any of these things? Why did we cross paths? What is it I am here to learn? Or what is it that I'm supposed to be teaching? Or are we supposed to be building something together? Why this connection? Why now? I think back to a conversation that I had with a customer a little over a week ago that really brought things to the forefront about the connections we have. He came in to get his girlfriend's vehicle serviced and he was shocked to see that I remembered what both he and his girlfriend drove. He told me that he rarely remembers peoples names because he is getting up in age, but was surprised that when I see him I do reference our previous conversations as there was a connection there. The customer loves automobiles and has a vanity plate that says "CAR NUT" so he is not an easy one to forget. We have an appreciation for automobiles so finding the joy in the connection in this case was pretty easy. Lately, it seems like the majority of my conversations and thoughts have centered around our networks and relationships with others. I decided to peel back yet another layer of it all and figure out what is it about our different connections that bring them to life. You are probably like me in the fact that there are some connections that seem to come to life in an instant and stay that way all the time, and then there are others that are only alive in certain situations. Do you find joy in most of your connections? Is there pain in some? Why is that? Is it due to a lack of communication? Whatever the reason for your joy in any connection, do whatever you can to hold on to it and the feeling it gives you. Whether it be a smile, a kind word, or a listening ear there's always an opportunity to appreciate a connection. Seems like pretty simple stuff, but you would be surprised at how much we really do take for granted. If you haven't done so already take some time out find the joy in your connections and acknowledge people for what being connected them has given you. Believe it or not sometimes we go through life and never know what just being connected means to someone else. As you prepare to embark on a new week, I trust that you live life to the fullest and welcome the phenomenal things that life is sending your way. And if you didn't know it already, there is a tremendous amount of joy that I have received from being connected to you. “A hidden connection is stronger than an obvious one.” Heraclitus of Ephesus “Joy is not in things; it is in us” Richard Wagner “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 “Joy is increased by spreading it to others” Robert Murray McCheyne “When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another - and ourselves” Jack Kornfield “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” Thich Nhat Hanh “Communication--the human connection--is the key to personal and career success.” Paul Meyer “There is no hope of joy except in human relations.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Sunday Evening Thoughts on Our Time is of the Essence 04/14

Sitting here relaxing and reflecting on a Sunday evening is probably exactly what I needed right now. Life continues to amaze me with how it presents opportunities for you to learn about yourself and others. At the beginning of every day, believe it or not we all have the same opportunity. The thing that’s different for all of us is how you choose to embrace your opportunity. What does the number 86,400 mean to you? Quite often, I think that we forgot that we all wake up with the same 86,400 seconds every day. It’s how we choose to spend that time that differentiates the successful people from the unsuccessful people in this world. Which one have you decided to be? Take a moment and think about how you spend your day. What takes up the most of your time? What takes up the least amount of your time? What do you think it is that makes you allot your time in a certain manner? Does your passion have anything to do with those decisions? Time is probably one of our most valuable assets and once we’ve lost it there’s no opportunity to get it back. Have you ever missed a moment? What were you doing that caused you to miss it? Were you simply not paying attention at the time? I am probably guilty of this like most people of being reminded about how precious time is when a tragic event occurs. What would our lives look like if we really valued our time and the moments that we have to make an impact in this life? As I think about what I need to do with my time from this moment forward, a quote that I heard recently comes to mind; “Look up, get up, and don’t ever give up!” There’s no better time than right now to realize your potential of making this life phenomenal for you and all those around you. Question is are you up for it at this time? “Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” Harvey MacKay “Time goes by so fast, people go in and out of your life. You must never miss the opportunity to tell these people how much they mean to you.” “Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.” Andrew Jackson “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 “Don’t count every hour in the day, make every hour in the day count.” “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Steve Jobs