Tag: opportunity

What’s The Point of Dreaming If You’re Never Going To Let Your Dreams Come True?

Will our potential ever be anything more than something we’ve failed to live up to?

Thankfully, that’s up to us.

My Honda can go 160 miles per hour. That’s it’s potential, according to the speedometer. For various common sense reasons my car has never reached 160 MPH. Not even close, actually.

Something about a speed limit.

There are a lot of limitations placed on driving. Signs tell us how fast we can go, which lanes we can drive in. Enter Here. Do Not Enter. One Way. A lot of restrictions placed upon our desire to get where we are going.

I understand the need to regulate the rules of the road. (Ever drive in Massachusetts?) For the common good I can appreciate all the limitations and restrictions placed upon us.

But what about the limitations and restrictions we place upon ourselves?

Continue reading “What’s The Point of Dreaming If You’re Never Going To Let Your Dreams Come True?” →

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” →

The Importance of Being Selfish

Trust me, you want me to be selfish.

And I want you to be selfish, too.

Being selfish doesn’t seem like a good idea. Especially if building community and relationships is important to you. After all, being selfish is about being self-centered. It’s about the “me” and not the “we”. The focus on individual accomplishment and development can’t possibly be beneficial to the collective good of our society.

I disagree.

Continue reading “The Importance of Being Selfish” →

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!

The Perfect Gift: 3%

Looking for the ultimate gift this holiday season?

Give yourself 3%.

I just purchased my all-new 2010 calendar. Just waiting for December to end and up on the wall she goes.

It was about this time last year that I purchased my all-new 2009 calendar, waiting for 2008 to run its remaining course. In some ways 2009 was a breakout kind of year. Certain goals, such as starting this blog, transitioned from concept into reality. LivingHalfFull.com has been read in 49 US states (hello W. Virginia?) and in 59 countries around the world. As much as I look back upon the successes of 2009, in other parts of my life, the only thing that changed was my age.

All I have gotten is older.

A STINGING REALIZATION This past year’s 365 days presented themselves to me as opportunities for growth in so many areas of my life. Yet in many areas of my life all I am is just another year older. Years, like life, can easily just slip away, one innocently wasted unfocused moment after another. I’ve incorporated the “I’m just too busy” mantra into my life for years. I’m really quite good at it. But of the 8,760 hours we have in a year, couldn’t I have found even a little time to work on areas of my life I’d like to improve upon?

Continue reading “The Perfect Gift: 3%” →

So, How Great Could You Be?

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”

— T. S. Eliot

Have you ever wondered how far you could go? How much you could accomplish?

Usually, the need to accomplish is a function of ego driven by competition. Many derive their own self worth and self esteem by measuring their accomplishments against what others have or have not achieved.

I am reflective in quiet moments contemplating Eliot’s words. How far could I actually go? What is actually possible for me to accomplish? In my contemplation, ego is absent. I am no longer concerned with achieving to impress either myself or the world. I am inspired by the possibility of fully living up to my most advanced self.

Each of us has been created and sent into this world with a unique combination of talents, gifts, and abilities. With these talents, gifts, and abilities comes the capacity for fully expressing such talents, gifts and abilities. Our greatest challenge and responsibility is maximizing our capacity to express ourselves fully…to live up to the greatness that lies within all of us.

Continue reading “So, How Great Could You Be?” →

Counterpunching Adversity

“The most authentic thing about us is our capacity to create, to overcome, to endure, to transform, to love and to be greater than our suffering.”

— Ben Okri

The human spirit is amazingly resilient, so long as we remember that we are all stronger than we often give ourselves credit for being.

Some days the world just seems like it is out to get you. One test after another, challenging and pushing you. These tests are designed to measure your faith in many things, including yourself and your ability to deal with life’s unwelcomed jabs and uppercuts that can put you on the ropes.

At some point in life we’ve all had to overcome, to endure, to transform…relying upon hidden sources of inspiration and strength that we never even knew we had. Those hidden sources remain within, always available to help us move forward and past that which threatened to bring us down.

At times of adversity and uncertainty, embrace the source of strength which lies within you. Yes, you really are stronger than you think you are.

It’s a great day to be you!

Something To Think About…#20

“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

— Abraham Lincoln

Your level of happiness is predetermined. The good news is that you are the one who gets to predetermine it. Happiness can mean many different things to many different people, but the one thing about happiness is that it is a choice.

Your choice.

It’s the decision to see opportunity in times of change. It’s the decision to be grateful for what you already have. It’s the decision to see the beauty that already exists within you. It’s the decision to celebrate the wonderfully unique collection of talents, gifts, and abilities that only you possess.

Material things can sometimes make you feel good for a short while, but they will seldom ever make you truly happy. True happiness comes by simply making the choice to be happy and living accordingly.

It’s your choice.