When I saw this quote, it sure made me chuckle. It did get me thinking about how many groups we belong to. Whether we voluntarily join them, or in the case of Wally World, are forced to become a part of them. Here is the cool thing about it. The more groups we recognize that we belong to, the better off we are. When we only think about one group, say a political or religious affiliation, and define ourselves solely by that, we create division. “That person is X and I am a Y.” However, if we see that person stuck in the self-checkout waiting for a human to come fix their transaction, just like us, suddenly they become more familiar.
With the advent of the internet and other such technologies, the world is becoming smaller than ever. I can turn on my television in the United States and tune into a Ugandan television station. We can go on social media and chat with someone halfway around the globe. You often hear me mention my friend who reads this blog in Italy. He is an Italian, married to a Filipino woman. I am an American attached to a sweet French, English, Irish (among other things). We could point out many differences. You know what I notice? We are both gentleman with impeccable music tastes that are interested in bettering ourselves, exploring the natural world around us and creating a great relationship with our ladies.
In any situation, we can find many differences among us. We can also find many different souls in one of the groups we find ourselves in. It is ironic how foreign a person and their ideas may seem until we find that common ground. Even challenges, such as a medical condition, can bring us in the company of others we may not think about otherwise associating with. Next time you are tempted to discount another person based on their political beliefs, sexual orientation or religion, remember, they may be at the Walmart Self-checkout just like us.
Uplifting Wednesdays! My favorite day for this site. Every Wednesday we look to lift each other up. Today’s thought is so powerful. Often, a change in our life is no more complicated than a change in perception. This is not to say it is not challenging, but it is not all that complicated. A perfect example is the quote above. We often miss the miracles in life because they have become ordinary. As I write this, I am sitting in a local Starbucks, where I do most of my writing, and I can see countless things that could be considered miracles.
To many of you, this may sound like it is putting on a pair of rose-colored glasses. Maybe, but there is also a great deal of truth to it. Plus, ask yourself this, what does putting on a pair of rose-colored glasses do? It makes the world look rosy! What does that do? Make us feel good. Would you rather go through life feeling good or feeling bad? So how do we get fitted for a pair of these wonderful spectacles and start seeing the miracles that we are missing all around us? I have 2 suggestions to start!
My first suggestion is to indulge in a little bit of time travel. Don’t worry. You will not even have to leave your seat to do so. Take a look at the picture above. The top shows a man in a Ford Model T. Sometime during the early 1900s I would guess. Below is a Bugatti Divo, or as we will refer to it, my next car. Can you imagine taking the man from the top machine and putting him in the bottom car? He would think it was nothing short of a miracle. Even if you put me in the bottom car I would consider it a miracle. This holds true of so many of our modern conveniences. How about a device that would reheat food in mere minutes? Can you imagine how much a mother in the 1930s would have found this helpful? A device in your hand that contains a camera, a computer, a telephone, a pedometer and many other things yet only weighs a few ounces? How about the fabulous internet it runs on? These are all miracles! Look around you and notice how many things would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. As the pace of change in the world quickens, the number of things that will be ‘modern miracles’, as those in the advertising world like to say, will continue to increase.
Although my mother does not enjoy me bringing up the subject, a few years ago I underwent open-heart surgery. In the course of this, I briefly expired and then returned. The whole story is available in my book, The Beat Goes On. Above is a picture of me recovering from such an ordeal. Having tubes stuck everywhere, including in my neck, was not the joyous experience you might imagine it to be. What a gift is was though! Why? It allowed me to really change my perspective on a lot of things. In fact, the whole process occurred due to a string of miracles. Had they not occurred, I might not be here to write this. Steve Jobs said, “You can never connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect the dots looking back.” This can often be true about discovering the miracles in life.
There are so many events that can help us see the miracles all around us. I recall news stories of hostages being released. When they return to their native lands, they often kiss the ground at the airport. Why? Because the freedom they thought they had lost forever was suddenly returned. Do you think they would kiss the ground at that airport when say going on vacation? Probably not. The freedom was still there, but they did not notice it until it was taken away. Same when the Berlin wall was taken down. People rejoiced, deservedly so, at the new-found freedom they had acquired. Do you think many of those people are dancing in the street for that freedom now? No, it has been taken for granted.
Lastly, loss is a powerful way of helping us see the miracles in our life. There is a line from the song “Life is Beautiful” by the band Sixx A.M. that I think illustrates the point quite well. The line reads “There is nothing like a funeral to make you feel alive.” As dark as this may sound, it is uncomfortably true. How many times have you walked away from a funeral with a new appreciation for how fleeting life is and what a miracle it is to be alive. It also helps us appreciate the miracle of those we share life with. When I learned I was to undergo my surgery, and how risky it was, I was at the movies with the love of my life. I recall looking over to appreciate the miracle of her smile. The way her eyes light up when she is happy. The way her cheeks get rosy. These things are miracles. On any given day, I find it a miracle that such a beautiful and amazing woman loves me. Does that mean I never take that for granted? Although I do my best, I am human. All it takes is some time away from each other or reflection on what we have been through to refresh that miraculous feeling.
How about your life? Have you been letting miracles pass you by? I don’t even know you, but I can assure you that you have. There are so many miracles, disguised as ordinary things, that we can’t possibly notice them all. My suggestion for you? Spend some time each day where you stop, put on a pair of the old rose-colored glasses, and look anew at all the miracles around you. It will refresh your soul and may even help heal some of the pain you have. Feel free to share any of the miracles you are celebrating in your life with us.
One of the many great lessons you can pull out of my third book is this one! When I was told I needed a risky open-heart surgery and that there was a chance I could either have a stroke or die, a lot goes through your mind. They did tell me that it would most likely be a mini-stroke, so nothing to worry about. I recall jokingly asking if there was a mini death that wasn’t much to worry about. That was all too accurate, but that is a story for a different post. If you can’t wait, feel free to read The Beat Goes On by yours truly.
I was given two months notice before the surgery would take place. What was I focused on? Was it making more money? Not at all. Improving my looks? Nope. What became most important was loving the people closest to me and enjoying every last drop of time I could with them. The closer the day came, the less I wanted to even spend time sleeping. Granted, there is not much of that in my life normally. When you know how much sand is left in the hourglass and are keenly aware that it is running out every second that passes, there is a sense of urgency that you otherwise don’t have.
Here is the truth, that is the situation for all of us. Normally, we don’t know how much sand is on top of the hourglass. It could be a week, it could be a decade or more. We don’t really know. Yet, the majority of us walk around as if we have an noncancelable contract with life. Not to be the bearer of bad news, but yours will end someday and we don’t know when.
I did end up briefly expiring. Again, that entire story is in the book. Obviously, I came back to join you all here on the website and type this blog. Hopefully, that wasn’t the sole reason I was brought back, but I digress. Having another chance to bring joy to the world, and extract it from life is quite a blessing. I had to undergo months of physical therapy to be able to get back to living life again. Let me tell you that not a single workout goes by that I am not reminded that even going to the gym is a blessing. Actually, all of life is. It is also a precious one that far too many of us take for granted. Today, you are the youngest you will ever be. Don’t waste it.
Way too many of us can find ourselves in the cycle of waking up, paying bills, sleeping and repeating. We are in survival mode. I am as guilty as the next person on occasion. Life can come at you fast these days. I am working on changing that. Not only with this blog, but with my upcoming fourth book. We need to switch from surviving to thriving. Yes, that sounds like a cute self-improvement saying, but what does it really mean?
Thriving means different things to different people. What is universal is that we thrive when we are in the right environment for one. If you put an acorn in a one foot pot, it will not grow to be a huge oak tree. It doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with the seed, it is just limited by its environment. You and I are much the same. What is the right environment? So glad you asked. First, it is being surrounded by the right people. We discussed this a few posts earlier. We need people the both encourage us as well as push us. Haven’t you just been around someone who makes you feel better about life? Spend more time with that person!
Contribution. You want to talk about feeling on top of the world? Find a way to contribute to it. By being the most authentic version of yourself and sharing that with the world. If you bring the best ‘you’ that you can to the world, everyone benefits. There are so many ways to contribute and each one not only makes the world a better place, but makes us better for it! You can contribute your time. This can be helping a cause you believe in, or just giving time to listen to your friends. You can contribute positivity to your community. This can be your online community, or your real community. Better yet, how about both? You can contribute by sharing your story and letting others know they are not alone!
Raise your hand if you have heard that love is the most powerful force in the universe? You can put your hand down now, as people may be wondering why you are reading with one hand in the air. It really is! If you want to raise your vibration, that is start feeling amazing, show someone else some love. This doesn’t have to be buying your spouse flowers for no reason, although might not be a bad move. No, love can be so much more! The great thing about love is that there is an endless amount of opportunities to show it.
Let us take a look at a few. Asking someone to text you and let you know they got home safe, that is love. Going for coffee or a stroll with someone and doing nothing but actively listening to what they have to share. That is love. Sending someone an encouraging text, or card. That is love. Posting encouraging or motivational content online to bring hope to those who may need it, that is love. I can tell you that being an independent author, when someone promotes my books, or leaves a positive review on Amazon, I feel the love. You can show love to friends, your family, your spouse, you coworkers or even complete strangers. Buying a coffee for the person behind you, letting someone go ahead of you in line or even just sharing a smile, these are examples of love.
Living your authentic self, contributing and showing love. These things will not only make you shine, they will make the world a better place for all of us. If you are reading a blog like this, you already know how to do many of these things. Let us be the light for others. In turn, it will help to feed our soul. Please share ideas how you go from striving to thriving so that we may all take advantage of them. Just another way of both contributing and showing love! Leave them in the comments below.
The old cliche says that “Youth is wasted on the young.” I think all stages of life have their place and their wisdom you can only gain at that time. Almost nowhere do I believe this is more true than in the area of love. We all remember early crushes and all those crazy days in our teenage years. Hormones barely allowed us to understand ourselves, much less have a healthy constructive relationship with another person experiencing the same thing. They sure could be intense though! Like a fire that burns so hot it eventually consumes itself. Intense? Yes, but often fleeting. It is easy for teenagers to spend equal amounts of time in both heartache and falling in love.
The secret to lasting love, I have been told, is to create a slow-burning fire. Warm embers, if you will. It may not have the extreme passion of the relationships of youth, but it will keep you warm and you will not get burned. I respectfully disagree. While being warm has its advantages, as I write this it is around freezing where I live, sometimes you just want to be hot. True? What is my plan? How can a relationship burn hot but not end up consuming itself? I say, buy a fire-proof suit and find yourself a bunch of kindling. Let us look at both of those shall we?
Getting a fire-proof suit is something we don’t think, or know, about when we are young and first experiencing love. It is an investment many of us never choose to make, despite the lessons love will teach us. A fire-proof suit is protection from the fiery flames of passion. You may be thinking “I don’t need protection from passion!” You may even being wishing there was a little bit more of it in your relationship. We will get to that next. What we must understand is, much like fire, passion can give our relationship life, or burn it to a crisp. When there is a lot of passion in a relationship, everything becomes more intense. That means in addition to levels of romance and sensuality, negative emotions can be just as intense. It is this experience that can cause the end of the “Honeymoon period” of relationships and why that is even a thing.
After getting burned by the flames once too often, many couples decide if things were a little less intense, it may not be a bad thing. While this seems to work great for arguments and hurt feelings, it creates collateral damage. Passion is generally an all or nothing affair. You cannot take it out of disagreements without it affecting the romance and sensuality. That is why you will not see many older couples in heated arguments, but you also won’t see them displaying intense forms of public affection either. They have sacrificed passion for longevity. It is a bittersweet proposition indeed.
They lowered the flames because they did not want to get burned. What they should have done is invest in a fire-proof suit. What on earth do we mean by a fire-proof suit? Investing in tools that help you channel the passion you will experience into a healthy and growing manner. It is literally the difference between starting a fire in the fireplace, or starting your house on fire. Both will warm you up, but one will leave you hurt and homeless. Is that what you want for your relationship? I have listed 3 amazing books that can help you in that regard. The first was a recommendation from one of the readers of this very site. Eduardo in Italy brought this book to my attention. It is currently on the way from Amazon. Creating miracles in the communication of your relationship? That would be helpful. The other 2 are favorites of mine. The 5 Love Languages helps you understand the way you, and your partner, both give and receive love. Do you think that might be just a little helpful? I have learned more from this book than almost any other. I say that because the other book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, is my favorite book of all time. I have read it more than ten times. It gives you tools and strategies to effectively communicate your emotions and feelings. Fellas, this could save your relationship.
The second part is to find more kindling to keep the flames burning. This is a challenge that grows more difficult as the years go by. It should be a fun challenge, however. Kindling is anything that increases or just adds a dose of passion to your relationship. This can be trying new things intimately. It can be discovering new ways to make your partner feel intense love. It can involve things that strengthen your connection. Perhaps showing your partner the beauty, sexiness or pride that you feel towards them in new and exciting ways. In some ways, this becomes more difficult the longer you have been together. You have done and tried so many things, how can anything be new and exciting?
Much like trying to burn the same piece of wood over and over again, doing the same things over and over again in the relationship will generate less heat until it doesn’t do anything at all. What is the solution? It is going out and finding new wood, or kindling. What the hell is that? It is finding new restaurants to try. It is cooking new dishes at home. It is taking classes to learn something new together. It is going to the movies, seeing a comedy act and dates of all kinds. It is finding new things your partner may find romantic. That could be flowers or jewelry given for sole reason that you love them. It can even be as simple as taking the time to create a personalized poem that expresses your unique love for each other. Reading classic poetry, such as the Brownings, may inspire you. I would go into details of intimate adventures you could try, but my mother reads my blog, so I will leave that research up to you personally.
One of the ways that this will become easier as you grow older is that your knowledge of your partner should also increase. How does this happen? In so many ways. Look at your partner as a mystery to solve. Which, at the heart of it, mysteries aren’t we all? You are the detective. A good detective hones their skills of observation. Watch your partner. When you go to the grocery store, what brand of mayo do they go for? This may seem unimportant, but knowing what brands they like can help you come home with just the right surprise. Use active listening with your partner. When they are telling you a story, maybe even one you have heard before, look for things that you can learn about them. Are they telling you things they like? Things that make them upset? Listen with the intent to learn. Ask questions if there is something you need clarification on.
All this may sound like work, but it is really fun once you get the hang of it. There are many other fun activities that can allow you to learn great things about your partner. I like those books of personality tests. I always find them amusing. They now have conversation decks with open-ended questions. Some specifically geared towards couples. Taking a class together can be fun. Even a walk in nature can allow you to get to know your spouse better.
The great thing is that people are always changing and evolving. Yes, this means you will never completely solve the mystery. Why would you want to? Relationships should not be something you stop working on. Just like your physical fitness, if you stop working out, you do not stay the same. You need to keep working on it. Same with your love fitness. Is that even really a term? It is now. The more that you learn about your partner, the more magic you will discover. The more I learn about my lovely lady, the more magical and beautiful she becomes.
Here is a bonus tool to use to see more magic in your relationship – gratitude. Finding as much as you can to be grateful for in your partner is one of your best uses of time. I suggest taking at the very least 5 minutes a day to do this. It can be on the drive to or from work. It can be first thing in the morning, or last thing before bed. It is not only about being grateful for all the wonderful things that your partner does, but even some of the things that drive you crazy. If you can find the gratitude in that, your relationship will be a never-ending source of magic. Margie and I wish you the greatest luck in your quest to discover the magic. We look forward to having you join us in living in a relationship full of passion.
Have you ever had something you really wanted to do, but life kept getting in the way? That is the story of this post. The idea came to me at work a few days ago. The more I let it bounce around in my head, the more I realized how important it was to living an amazing life. I could not wait to sit down behind the keyboard and put my thoughts together. Then, life happened. There was a DJ gig for elementary school children. That was two straight hours of screaming. There was checking in on someone’s cat in a snowstorm. FYI, I am not a fan of cats or snowstorms. It seemed like every time I wanted to sit down and write, something came up.
Today, I determined that after my 9 hour shift, I was going to stop at a coffee shop on the way home and get these words out today. Only to discover that the Wi-Fi at the coffee shop was not working with my computer. Ironically, this plays into the very subject that we are going to discuss today. As the title says, one word to make all of the other words better.
It began with a text conversation I was having with this lovely lady right here. Margie and I have a really great relationship, but just like everyone else’s, it needs looking after and requires a lot of work and effort on both of our behalf. This particular morning, I was mentioning that we could stand to focus more on a certain area that was getting slightly neglected. Margie agreed, and we began to come up with solutions to do just that. I began to think of what are the aspects of a relationship. You have friendship. You must be able to be your partner’s best friend and all that goes with that. There is romance. You must find ways in which to capture their heart and make them feel like they are floating. Lastly, there is sensuality. That is what separates a romantic relationship from a platonic one.
The crazy part of having a successful relationship is that one of these areas always seems to need a little attention. If you have been supporting your partner, trying to places for dinner and exploring new museums together, the friendship side feels pretty strong. Then your partner asks if you still love them? Your first thought may be, “What the —–?” Before you realize that all of those things, while enjoyable, were quite platonic. So, you become diligent with expressing your loving feelings, maybe even brought home some flowers and spent hours walking in the park holding hands. You are starting to feel confident when you partner asks, “Are you still attracted to me?” You realize that although you have been loving, you need to be more sensual. You plan a weekend a weekend getaway, a nice bottle of wine and some alone time in bed with the two of you. After a pleasurably exhausting weekend, you partner asks if the two of you should spend more time working on your connection, by say exploring new places to eat or museums together.
It occurred to me how much an ideal relationship is a balancing act. Yes, balance is the word that makes every word better. When you pay attention to one aspect of your relationship, another gets less attention. When you start to pay more attention to the one that is being neglected, then a third pops up, and so it continues. We need to discover what are the important areas of our relationship and work on providing balance to them. Often, when one person in a relationship feels unhappy or even unsatisfied, it is not that anything is wrong, it may often just be unbalanced.
You could literally go through the dictionary and pick out a word and discover the important balance needed in a relationship. Let us take communication. To me, that is one of, if not the, most important aspects of a relationship. There must be many balances in communication. You must communicate your love in both verbal and not verbal ways. You must balance what kind of communication you are giving your partner. Is it loving? Is it supportive? Is it encouraging? I think we could all agree a little of all of those would make a great relationship.
While reading this, and even while I was thinking of it, the fact that there is a lot of work involved here did not escape me. Do you know what that means? There is also a lot of opportunity to make your relationship better! Even if it is great right now, there are ways in which you could use a little more balance. In what areas could your relationship use a little more balance? Can you imagine how much more loving and strong your relationship would be if you worked on creating that balance?
Here at Secret2anamazinglife, we focus a lot on self-care. The reason being is that by taking care of ourselves, we put ourselves in the best position to take care of others and the world at large. In addition, by practicing self-care, we are far more likely to become the best version of who we are. This includes taking care of our physical bodies through diet and exercise. This gives us the energy and vitality to pursue our goals and dreams. It involves taking care of our minds. Keeping our intellect sharp, and constantly developing, will position us to grow and contribute more. There is one more area that we need to focus on. This area will not only give us energy like our physical body can, it will also help us reduce stress and increase inner peace. This will allow us to grow and develop and help safeguard our mind.
What is this area? This area is that our our soul, our spirit. It is important to take care of the fire that burns inside of you. There is no right or wrong way to do this. The only right is to do it. The only wrong thing is to not do it. For some of you, this may be rituals involving your faith. For others, it may be connecting with certain people. Some may find that spiritual connection in the woods. Some may find it in all of these. I would like to share one of the ways in which I refresh my spirit.
This past weekend I attended the Hunting Moon Pow Wow. For those of you who may not be familiar with what a pow wow is, allow me to explain. A pow wow is a gathering of Indigenous people that allows them to share traditions, celebrate their culture and honor their ancestors. It has a great sense of community and many people look forward to seeing each other at these events. There are drumming and dancing competitions as well as moments honoring veterans and an invocation blessing all of those in attendance. They used to have several where I live, but now are down to this one a year.
One of the best ways to really feed your soul is to do this with others. That is why many religions gather in groups. Being surrounded by others also looking to feed their soul only amplifies the effect it has on everyone. I am so lucky to be able to share this event with the love of my life, the beautiful Margie. Doing this together brings so much joy and happiness to my soul, it is hard to even convey it in words. Not only to a feel ‘spiritually refreshed’ for lack of a better description, but it strengthens the love I feel for her. We tend to meet and make friends with many new people. During grand entry, which is when the dancers enter the arena, we sat next to a very nice family and shared some stories. We also met a very helpful lady who runs a great charity. More about that next post. All in all, we left feeling very happy and also very full from the amazing food.
Today, make taking care of your spirit and your soul part of your routine. Whether that is reading from a spiritual book that speaks to you, attending gatherings of faith, prayer or meditation of your faith or a day at the beach or in the woods, take care of your spiritual side today. Without doing so, you will not be the best version of you. By doing so, you will be able to do everything better.
Today, at least in part of the country, we celebrate Sweetest Day. It is a holiday that started in Ohio in 1921. It was started as a way to encourage women to treat their male romantic partners with sweets and candy. This really wouldn’t work in my case as I am not a huge fan of sweets and candy. This is a good thing when you live with a woman who is an amazing baker. I fear if I was a big fan, I would be bigger than my house right now. The holiday has expanded in recent years to include showing love and appreciation to anyone in your life. This includes family, friends as well as significant others.
I am going to take it one step further. I think we should show love and appreciation for everything sweet in our life. Right now, I am sitting in the sun, with a nice cup of coffee typing away. To me, this is a very sweet situation. I was recently asked to speak in front of a congregation for a church I do not even attend. That was also pretty sweet. I have a job that pays me a pretty good wage. Not exactly what I want to be doing, but still it is pretty sweet that I am employed. I have great friends that care about me. I have three books that I can use to reach and inspire people I do not even know. This particular blog is viewed by over 100,000 people in over 200 countries. That is sweet!
Many people just cynically say things like, “Oh, that is just a Hallmark holiday.” As a note, although the holiday started in 1921, Hallmark did not start making Sweetest Day cards until the 1960s. I am sure confectionaries and floral shops have a vested interest in keeping holidays like this alive, but who cares? Instead of dismissing something as an example of corporate greed, why not put it to use in our own lives? Why not use this holiday to fill our lives with more joy and love?
Here is another way to do so. In addition to thinking of all the things that may be sweet in your life, how about thinking of how many different ways things are sweet? Above are pictures of my beautiful lady, Margie. How many ways is she sweet? In addition to the fact that she is often covered in powdered sugar from baking, there are so many ways she is sweet. The first picture is of her sweet smile. It always melts my heart and brings a smile to it as well. The second is one of the million silly faces she makes. Not only does she always look cute as can be, but I am happy she shares them with me. That is quite sweet! The third one reminds me of her sweet kisses. Some of the best medicine that money can’t even buy! Sweeter kisses? I don’t know of any. The fourth and last picture is of her after one of her tough workouts that she does. Keeping herself healthy and working hard on herself? That is sweet indeed! Those were just 4 things about my amazing lady. I would share more, but I am already going to be in trouble for posting these four pictures. There are so many sweet things about her, I could go on for hours. That, in and of itself, is something sweet!
It doesn’t have to be your significant other. It can be your child, your friend. It can be a coworker or someone who means a lot to you. Here is the great thing, it doesn’t even have to be a person! It can be your favorite place to relax. It can be a park or beach you really like. It can be your favorite book. It can be your favorite coffee. There are so many things in life that are sweet. If we think about even a few of them and ponder what we love and appreciate about them, guess how we will be feeling? You guessed it, pretty sweet! I would love to hear some of what you find sweet in your life! Forget the cynical view of a Hallmark holiday. Use this to fill your heart with love, appreciation and gratitude!
I apologize in advance for two heavy posts in a row. Part of the reason we, at Secret2anamazinglife.com, exist is to give you new ways of thinking. Marcus Aurelius, whom we get the quote above from, has given us a lot of things to ponder. If you have read my book, The Beat Goes On, you will know how this quote was really brought home to me. If you have not read that amazing book, what are you waiting for? In all seriousness, I was faced with the possibility, and it turned out probability, that I would die while undergoing open-heart surgery.
When I share that story, people often compliment me on my perspective of the whole event. I hear things like, “I wonder if I would be the same way if I was faced with that situation?” Here is a fact to consider, you are facing that situation. Sure, nobody may be coming to saw your chest in half and slice and dice your heart, but we never know what is around the corner. When you were born, the hourglass was tipped over and the sand began to run out. Here is the tricky bit, we never know how much sand is on top.
While the above may sound a bit doom and gloom, it really isn’t. Every morning we put our feet on the floor, the sand is running from top to bottom. When we do things like assuming people know how we feel, or how much they mean to us, we could be doing them a great disservice. Marcus Aurelius was quite correct when he said, “You could die right now.” Not a very cheery outlook, but that does not make it any less true. In my case, I had an aneurism, which had it exploded, the game would have been over. I honestly had no symptoms. If it were not for a slightly related item, I would have never know until I fell over dead.
How much sand is in the top of your hourglass? When are you going to slip into the great beyond? How is it going to happen? If you answered anything but “I don’t know.” to these questions, you have a power unknown to most humans. Here is another thing to consider, the same holds true for everyone else you know. One day they could be here, the next they could be gone. Again, kind of morbid sounding, but true. This is why we should be living our life to the fullest each and every day. Do not be afraid to ask the deep questions. Do not be afraid to make yourself vulnerable and share those feelings. What if it was your last chance to do so? At one point, it will be.
It is my suggestion to take the quote above and make it a guide for the rest of your life. When I was looking at what could possibly be my end, I discovered what I thought was important was not at all what was in my heart. It is not about obtaining a certain level of success. It is certainly not about reaching a certain monetary or material level. I can only share what was important to me at that moment. When I realized I may only have a few months to live, it was about leaving people with the knowledge of how important and beautiful they were. This was true especially for my lovely lady and those closest to me. It was also true for all of you reading these posts. I wanted the world to know that each one of us has a gift and something beautiful worth sharing. Something that will be lost when we are gone. My focus was on creating lasting memories. Remember your last breath may be your next one, what will it be used to say? When you find yourself a little too focused on the material things that the world wants you to believe is important, think of this quote from Denzel Washington.
One of my favorite poets, thanks to Mr. Earl Nightingale. I love the point made here. Life is about what we can leave behind. Making a true difference in the world comes down to creating, or in this case planting, things that we may never benefit from, but that can make a great difference for generations to follow.
This week as we go about our work, let us keep this question in mind, “What are we planting?” Are there things that we are creating that we may never see the benefit of, that will make a difference to future generations? This is the importance of being a good parent. You may not live to see all of the wonderful things your children will do, but raising them right and giving them the tools to do so can change the world after you are gone. Knowing that what you are doing makes a difference, can give hope and inspiration to your day. I would love to hear what you are planting.
SECRET 2 AN AMAZING LIFE 