Posts

Showing posts from 2012

"Be beautifully YOU. Everyone else is already taken."

Image
"Be beautifully YOU. Everyone else is already taken." The above line is a little saying that I have been telling friends & family for years. I am a believer that we are all beautifully & uniquely made.   Sometimes in life we worry more about what others think about us than what we think of our own reflection in the mirror. We act or say things that we think others want rather than what we do. Sometimes at the pressure of others or at other times with just pressure we put on ourselves. I know for me, I really struggled with being a people pleaser saying 'Yes' to really anything that sounded good. I would run myself down and then realized that if I didn't take care of myself then I really couldn't take care of other or responsibilities that I agreed to. It was very freeing to finally get to the point in my life where I could simply say 'No' to request and not feel bad about it. I looked at it as giving others the opportunity to step u

Gratitude Challenge

Image
“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” ~  Ralph Waldo Emerson This Sunday at church we were all challenged for the next 30 days to write down 5 things we are grateful for daily, with the catch that we can't us the same thing twice. Me, being the math nerd that I am did some quick mental math and realized that I will have to come up with only 150 things that I'm grateful for. This seems way more manageable to me than I first thought. I mean, if I can't come up with 150 things that I'm grateful for then I must be living my life with blinders on. I feel truly blessed in life, no matter what my circumstances are once I look at the big picture.  This is going to be a fun journey and exercise for me and if you're up for the challenge I encourage you to join in. Just think about it;

Community

Image
"We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own."   ~ Cesar Chavez   These last few weeks I have been reminded a a few things that I feel are huge in living a full life that stays healthy. First, I am blessed with a truly amazing family that is big, loud and always around. We are a little loco at times and that's what makes it even sweeter. I know some people aren't very connected with family and my heart goes out to them. I know over the years many of my family has been that one to welcome in others that didn't have a family and they have become part of ours. It's truly special.  I'm also blessed with a great group of friends. We have had soo many shared experiences throughout life that the bonds have just grown stronger over the years. I truly believe that my friends are an ext

Connecting the Disconnect

Image
So as I was relaxing this weekend camping with friends and hanging out with family I was reminded of how much I truly enjoy the little things in life. The fact for me is that I believe the little things are much larger in true significance. As I thought about this more I was reminded of a quote that was sent to me a long time ago. I found it on-line & have pasted it below. The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. • We spend more, but have less. • We buy more, but enjoy less. • We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. • We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. • We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too

Time Well Spent? You Decide

Image
Time is the the only thing that I can think of that we all start the day with the same amount of. Some people have more talent, money, creativity or energy, but we all are equal when it comes to 24 hours in a day. How we spend those 24 hours is 100% up to us. How many times to we find ourselves saying "I wish I had the time to _____." The truth is that we do have the time to do whatever that "it" is, is just that we haven't made it a priority or a high enough priority to let something go in order to cleave to the new. There could be a myriad of reasons that you either aren't letting go of something currently or making time for something that you say you want. There is no need to go into that, though I think one of the biggest reasons is fear. I've always thought fear isn't a bad thing at all, it's just a matter of how much control you allow fear to have in your life. Fear is present in battle, before public speaking and many other things. I bel

New Things in 2012

Image
So I have seen this new year (which I can't believe is already half over) as an amazing revamp for me personally and professionally. Personally I believe I have become more self aware, expanded my vision & am happy with the reflection in the mirror every morning. Professionally I was secure enough to walk away from a job that was secure in order to achieve what I wanted. (We should all enjoy what we do as we spend a lot of time doing it) We are never 'stuck' in a situation, it's just that at times the only way out is a big risk or my be uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong, I loved all of my co-workers and consider them family and the industry was and still is great, the company was poorly executing therefore I couldn't deliver the service levels that I felt my customers deserved. After taking three months off recharging, doing volunteer work, spending more time with my family all the while growing a sweet beard I was ready to get back into the industry t