Tag: motivation

But, Why?

But, Why?

New year. New goals. New intentions.

Old results?

I tend to take my new years quite seriously. As someone who has often meandered aimlessly in life, it was only recently that I started taking the gift of time quite seriously. I’ve wasted a lot of time in life trying to figure out what to do with the time I’ve been given to live my life.

Through the years I’ve refined my system of getting ready for a new year. I gather the hopes and dreams and wishes, compile lists of things I tell myself I want to do and experience, both personally and professionally. And then I ask myself one question for each of these items.

“Why?”

If I can’t find a good reason why I should commit to a goal I know that I probably shouldn’t. It won’t end well.

Knowing me, I need to understand the motivation behind the desire. If I tell myself I want to run my first marathon, I’ve learned to Continue reading “But, Why?” →

Why You Really Need To Hug Your Toaster

Why You Really Need To Hug Your Toaster

Perhaps your toaster is trying to tell you something?

I never think about my toaster. Even when I’m plugging it in. Even when I’m putting my English muffins into the over-sized slots. I never think about my toaster.

My toaster is just sitting there on the counter. It’s always been on my counter. Probably always will be, too. It’s just one of those props on the set of my mornings, just like the coffee maker and the can opener.

My relationship with my toaster is decidedly one-sided. It’s always been about what the toaster can do for me. White, wheat, or Continue reading “Why You Really Need To Hug Your Toaster” →

Relying On The Darkness

“It wasn’t cancerous after all.”

We got some great news from my uncle’s doctor about the tumor growing in his right leg. It had been a few weeks since the biopsy with several follow-up appointments rescheduled because the results were still not conclusive. But in the end we got the news we had been praying for.

Like with the biopsy results, sometimes life makes you wait. And waiting can be an emotionally dangerous thing, especially when you’re waiting for news that can change your life forever.

My uncle’s good news did change his life. I’ve never seen him happier or more alive. A stark contrast to the weeks between his initial diagnosis and the the moment before we heard the doctor’s good Continue reading “Relying On The Darkness” →

How Much of You Will Be Thrown Into The Great Dumpster in the Sky?

I imagine the story would go something like this:

It’s Judgment Day. You have a final interview with God, at which time you need to turn back in any of your unused potential. Any excess capacity that was never utilized. Any unused gifts that were bestowed upon you but simply never used. And I can see God cringe every time he asks to see what’s been left unused. He knows the answer already. Not just because He’s God, but because He knows that the vast majority simply never  live up to the greatness they were designed to achieve. God simply shakes his head as he throws the unused potential into the big rusty steel dumpster behind him.

Continue reading “How Much of You Will Be Thrown Into The Great Dumpster in the Sky?” →

How I Lost 50 Pounds on the “Beer, Pizza & Donut Diet”

“Absolutely amazing results!”

“And it will work for you, too!”

I’ve discovered an eating program that allows you to eat absolutely anything you want to eat and still lose weight. In fact, not only can you eat anything you want to eat, you can eat as much as you want to eat and still shed pounds.

How liberating…walking through the never-ending aisles of my local grocery mega-mart free to throw anything I want into the basket. Or sitting in my favorite restaurant free to choose anything I want off the menu.

Continue reading “How I Lost 50 Pounds on the “Beer, Pizza & Donut Diet”” →

Life Lessons from the Number 643

“…A united self moving forward towards fulfilling our own unique divine promise…”

There were many things I learned in school that at the time made no practical sense to me. You know, the “am I ever going to use this in real life?” question. Several decades later I can confirm that for the most part time has not made what I considered then to be impractical anymore practical.

As a dad with school-aged kids I actively get involved in their studies. I like to be aware of what they’re working on. I like to be there to help out if they get a little stuck. Dad 101…here for the kids. A more secretive motivation is to see if ol’ dad still remembers the stuff, especially when it comes to math. My math skills back in the day weren’t that good to begin with, and the newer methods of Continue reading “Life Lessons from the Number 643” →

So, What Will You Bring Into The Next Moment?

The Next Moment can redefine us.

Or go obliviously unnoticed. 

It’s all up to us.

So here we stand on the edge of a new moment. Moments, if defined as seconds, happen 86,400 times per day. We move from one moment to the next almost seamlessly, as one moment morphs into the next, and then the next. The busy pace of life today causes us to misplace entire days, let alone notice a single individual moment.

Transitioning between the moments is done without much thought or reflection. As we blindly enter the Next Moment, we bring with us the contents of the previous moment, which contained the contents of the moment prior to that one. Each moment is a clean Continue reading “So, What Will You Bring Into The Next Moment?” →

2,134 Ways To Be Happy: Confessions From The Functionally Unhappy

WARNING:

This post contains a BIG BOLD STATEMENT.

It seems like a lot of people are looking for happiness. Walk through any bookstore and count the number of times you see the words “happy” or “happiness”. If you had $5 for each time you saw those words you could probably make a mortgage payment. Just for fun, Google the word “happiness”. The last time I did, Google came back with over 75,400,000 entries. I found sites about happiness quotes, happiness poems, happiness articles, happiness blogs, happiness affirmations, happiness posters, happiness videos, even happiness retreats. I found happiness everything.

I can’t help but wonder…with such an overly abundant supply of happiness support materials, are we in the middle of some sort of Continue reading “2,134 Ways To Be Happy: Confessions From The Functionally Unhappy” →

How Tomatillo-Red Pepper Relish Can Change Your Life

I don’t know how to eat.

You’d think after some 50,000 meals that I’ve had in my lifetime I would have figured out this eating thing. It’s not the physical act of ingesting food that’s got me stumped. It’s not the chewing, and my fork skills are excellent.

It’s the tasting.

Food, for the most part, is something that I simply consume. It’s no different than regular unleaded is to my Honda Accord.  When the tank gets empty it’s time to refuel. Spending a great deal of my time on the road affords me the opportunity to sample a wide variety of not-so-good-for-you fast foods.  Far too many of my meals begin with a static-filled conversation involving a speaker and a window.

Continue reading “How Tomatillo-Red Pepper Relish Can Change Your Life” →

This Will Make You Think…#24

“I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.”

— Lucille Ball

Up until recently most of my own regrets were related to the things I have yet to do. Things I’ve thought about and backburnered or simply dismissed for various “justifiable” reasons. Dreams and ambitions never allowed to be anything more. In the context of our own capacity to maximize the talents, gifts, and abilities we all have been given, things yet undone is greatness unrealized. It is capacity unfilled.

What is it that remains undone for you? How much of your own greatness remains unrealized?

Today is not a time for regret. Rather, it is a time for recognizing and recommitting to fulfilling the divine promise that resides in all of us. A time to rediscover and to nurture the greatness that lies within.

Waste no energy looking back lamenting what has yet to have been attempted. Instead, use that energy to propel you to maximize all that you are capable of accomplishing. Begin getting done what remains undone. It’s the first step towards fulfilling your purpose.

It’s a great day to be you!