Category: Uncategorized (Page 6 of 159)

What if I wasn’t born in this country with all of the modern conveniences as well as the privileges baked into my day-to-day activities called my life?

What if I didn’t have the parents, family and friends that I was so fortunate to have been surrounded by growing up?

What if I had never met the Love of my life when I was 5 years old, then go on to be her schoolmate for the next 12 years of my life, only to become high school sweethearts that developed into a long-distance college relationship testing the bounds of who we were and who we were becoming?

What if I had broken her trust, decided to flee from difficulty or indulge in selfish behavior satisfying the ego through dead-end one-night stands?

What if I had blinked at the moment of facing a long-term commitment to her and the possibility of settling down?

What if I had chosen not to share my most intimate dreams, fears and desires with her?

What if I hadn’t seen her courageously give birth to our four beautiful and healthy children and raise them with love, patience and kindness?

What if we didn’t have our health to see them grow up into fine young adults?

What if we couldn’t laugh at ourselves and our foibles as we grow old and begin to gray?

What if I wasn’t able to celebrate 30 years of marriage to the woman of dreams and look upon our journey with Love, admiration and pride?

I have no idea. But, I dare to think of such a life as I count my blessings each and every day for the one I have.

I’m not sure if it’s important to be right. Maybe it is. Then again maybe it’s not.

Certainly when it comes to safety we want to be right, but being right can come at the cost of inflated confidence. I’m not sure that helps.

I’ve found this lesson out on the golf course repeatedly. No matter how good your playing, it has no bearing on your next swing. Yes, you feel good. You feel loose and even a bit a confidence is running through your veins. But, you could be having a career round and it takes just one hole for the train to come off the tracks and turn into a spectacular fiery disaster.

Maybe the better approach is to take each shot/situation at a time. Assess the situation with the knowledge and experience you have within you and make an educated decision and hope for the best.

Maybe being effective trumps being right. I would rather be effective in every aspect of my life. Maybe I would make more of an positive impact on the world.

Being right seems a bit hollow.

Often we find the value in people only after they’re not in our lives any more.

Whether that is professionally and/or personally. And that’s a shame.

Maybe instead of making comparisons of that person with someone else in our life, we can realize their value by imagining them NOT being in our lives. In doing so, maybe we can see a little clearer how much they bring to us.

It’s never too late to appreciate those around us, in addition to letting them know how much you enjoy having them in your life.

Who doesn’t want to feel appreciated and valued?

Although we can complicate the entire process of life with all of the information coming at us from so many different directions constantly, so much of our day-to- day distills down to this: Remembering.

Remembering what we already know from our own experiences.

Remembering what our intentions are in that moment.

Remembering to stay focused on the task at hand.

Remembering what and who is important to us.

Remembering to take it as it comes, to roll with life and that patience wins out over all.

Remembering what it felt like to be in your neighbors shoes not so long ago and every dog has his day.

Remembering the sun is always shining behind the clouds.

Remembering we’re only on this earth for a short period of time.

Remembering how good or bad the current situation is, nothing remains the same forever.

We are all blessed with skills and talents that others can find difficult to demonstrate themselves. However, many of us take our proficiency for granted because it comes easy to us.

Why are we so quick to cut ourselves down, yet we can find it quite challenging to genuinely and objectively assess our skills for what they are? Now, I’m not talking about arrogance. I’m talking about valuing what we have and being able to intelligently equate and compare that skill with the outside world and how it relates to your personal life, work life and other people.

There may not be a lot of people with the same emotional IQ as you have. So, in conversations with others you may be able to pick up on subtle emotions or queues that others may not. This may in fact lead you into a connection with that person others would not be aware of.

There’s enough negativity in the world today. So, maybe we can begin to build ourselves up little by little by recognizing our value with the skills we are blessed with and share them with the rest of the world in order to benefit everyone.