Keeping Secrets

As a Life Coach for many years one of the exercises that I give my students is to write the clues that God has given them about their purpose; their gift. I realized that as long as I have been teaching this principle I have never been 'the man in the mirror' and taken an honest look at my own life. But today it finally hit home...it all made sense. I have always loved writing and I have an aptitude for it. I am a writer! In spite of all of the things that I've done, I am a writer.

Why pursuing your dream should never be a sprint!

When watching a sprint during a track meet a lot of effort and energy is expended in a brief amount of time. Marathon runners; on the other hand talk about the importance of pacing oneself. Marathons also have obstacles like the steeplechase. Life has obstacles as well. Unlike the steeplechase, however; sometimes those obstacles come with no warning. You can't prepare or plan for them. Some people call this serendipity. Other people throw up their hands and shrug their shoulders and say, "Caca happens..." (Most people don't say Caca...) It is said that 10% of life is what happens to us and 90% of life is how we deal with it. Take your time and stay focused.

Consistently consistent

I'm posting this for one reason and one reason only. I want to be consistent. Consistency is critical to achieving success. It has been said that 'practice makes perfect'. Someone once told me that perfect practice makes perfect. I abandoned any illusions of perfection and chose instead to focus on consistency. Consistency breeds success and success breeds happiness.

Time: How Will You Measure It?

"Kairos (καιρός) is an ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment (the supreme moment). The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. While the former refers to chronological or sequential time, the latter signifies a time lapse, a moment of indeterminate time in which everything happens." Think back to the song "Always and Forever" by Heatwave. Or "September" by the elements Earth, Wind and Fire.

Chronicling my observations on a daily basis.

When I made the decision to become a professional writer I asked myself; what are the attributes of a professional writer? This caused me to ask a more basic question. What is a professional? A professional is someone who has put the time in their craft (refer to the 10,000 Hour Rule), and usually gets paid for what they do. Do they have a God given talent or gift? It helps, but not necessarily. The person is simply willing to write over and over on a consistent basis until they become a professional writer. That's all. No magic.

Show Some Love!

Show some love is a popular phrase uttered when introducing a musical artist or other performer. Most of the time the audience stands and begins to applaud the arrival of the performer. What does, "Show some love!" mean? Do we as individuals need to do a better job of showing love to our fellow brothers and sisters?

Why Boredom Isn't In My Vocabulary

I am sitting here thinking; why isn't boredom in my vocabulary? Why am I never bored? I answered the question by realizing that there's always something to do. I am constantly reading a new book or updating the list of books that I want to read. I often explain why I don't use the word with a simple analogy. I ask the question that if you had a fully fueled Lear Jet and a qualified pilot who was willing to take you wherever you wanted to go; would you stay at home? Of course you wouldn't! This same is true with your brain. We can use our thoughts and imagination to transport anywhere that we want to go, at any time! The only question that you have to answer is where are you going to go?

Releasing Yourself

As I approach the end of my fifty-fifth year on the planet, I am beginning to realize something very poignant and obvious. I'm a grown man. It's time to release myself from this self-imposed prison that I have put myself into. I have the key and I literally went into the cell. Closed the door and threw the key through the bars out of my reach. Self-imposed imprisonment is imposed by not establishing clear boundaries.

Is your friendship really contingent on a click?

With the rash of cloned Facebook accounts and the number of new friend requests I get from people that I'm already Facebook friends with it made me ask myself a fundamental question. What would happen if I didn't accept the request? Would we cease being friends in reality? Is our friendship really contingent on a click?

Miracles

What is a miracle? The odds of you being born means that your sperm and egg had to overcome insurmountable odds for you to exist as a person. "The odds stacked against any single sperm cell making the grueling journey to the egg can be offset by producing a large number of sperm. While just a small fraction of the sperm will reach their destination and do the job they were made to do." We take our existence for granted instead of giving thanks. You won a neonatal lottery on the day you were born! Perhaps that is what we should celebrate! Most people in Western culture take it for granted and we feel as though we deserve the right to live in this country. We feel a sense of entitlement. Each of us are unique. Each of us are wonderful! Each of us...all 7 billion of us are special. The fact that no two people have the same fingerprint or DNA is a miracle. Don't ever take it for granted. Neil Degrasse Tyson said it best when he said that most people have an inflated sense of self. You are a miracle. Act like it. Don't take it for granted.