Remembering to Appreciate during a "storm"......

Sorry It's been a while; it just seems like life can get away from me sometimes! 

Lately, things haven't been exactly smooth in my life.  Various things have combined into making life feel like a storm right now.  The lyrics of the song "storm" by lifehouse have been stuck in my head for days now.  "How long have I been in this storm.  So overwhelmed by the ocean and shapeless forms.  Water's getting harder to tread; with these waves crashing over my head.  If I could just see you everything would be alright.  If I could see you, this darkness would turn to light.  And I will walk on water and YOU will catch me, if I fall.  And I will get lost into your eyes, and everything will be alright".

Those lyrics ring so true.  Sometime's life feels overwhelming and unbearable .  It's during those times that I have to actually exert real Faith.  During sunshine it's easy to sing about how great God is, and how great life is.  Try doing that and finding things to truly appreciate when there are few; that's real faith.  Sometimes just remembering that i'm thankful for waking up in the morning or for having wonderful friends and family around me is the most grounding experience. 

Another eye-opening thing that going through a storm does is that it seems to make you evaluate your life and if you are living it the way you want.  If you are pursuing things that are important for you, if you're spending enough time with loved ones, if you're acting the way you want to.  These are things we never seem to think about when things are good.  Self-evaluation is hard, but worthwhile when you realize there are things you should be doing to create a happier existance. 

By changing my mindset about the importance of a storm being in my life I have changed my outlook on life itself.  It's an incredibly freeing feeling and I am happy to share it all with you.

A Key to Growth is Slightly uncomfortable

What a weekend!  I said "I do" again to my lovely bride of 5 years.  It was such an amazingly joyous occasion for us.  Thank you to all who joined us and were there with us in spirit.  While I was writing my vows I realized a profound thing:  The reasons we were able to experience this event was God's grace, our love and our dedication to growing together as a couple by going through uncomfortable times. 

It sounded odd to me reading it back.  Are relationships supposed to be uncomfortable" at times?  It sounds opposite to everything I thought love was.  It was a fresh way for me to look at it.  In analyzing it I saw that there was no way for us to be together again without having uncomfortable conversations, revealing uncomfortable hidden emotions and being uncomfortably exposed to each other and vulnerable to the other person's thoughts, words and actions.  Without that uncomfort, we would have never been able to enjoy our vow renewal, let alone 5 years together. We most surely would be divorced, like the near 60% of the marriages now.

Today I encourage you, if you are looking for personal, relationship or business growth; allow yourself to pass through the realm of uncomfortablilty, allow for yourself to become intentionally vulnerable, let go of control and allow for growth.  Happy Monday Everyone!!  :)

The only regret should be actually having them

I've noticed people carry a lot of necessary baggage around.  Now, everyone has baggage; I absolutely understand that but one item I've noticed quite a bit is regret.  People seem to carry around regret about bad decisions, decisions they didn't make or just choices they feel in hindsight weren't good.  I'll be the first to admit I've made some poor choices throughout life and made some bad decisions.  Where I differ however is I don't view them as entirely bad.  See, the thing about mistakes and poor judgement is not only have you (hopefully) learned that life lesson, but most importantly that decision has lead you to who you are today.  I feel that all the "bad" things I may have done are more like detours than wrong way turns on this road of life.  Sure, the detour may be a bit bumpy and uncomfortable at first, but ultimately it leads me to a road that is much more smooth and safe to navigate.  Today, if you're holding on to regrets that are weighing on you, I encourage you to change the way you view those decisions/events/poor judgement calls.  If you look at it like a lesson to enhance your character or wisdom then it's much easier to bear going through.

It's a GOOD morning!!

Hey everyone!  Hope you all enjoyed a peaceful nights sleep. Today I have on my mind a few things I noticed as I was riding in and as I bought my energy drinks at the store this morning; Nobody really acknowledges each other as they pass by.  With Nearly 6 billion people on this earth it's pretty well a given that we're going to pass by quite a few people every single day.  The thing is, we really don't know what they may be going through, or visa versa.  They may be having a terrible day, or worse yet, feel like don't matter.  One of the worst feeling in the world is to feel out of touch or like you don't belong. Today I encourage you (and myself) to smile and greet everyone you (I) pass by today with a "hello" or a "how are you today"; catch is I am going to be truly interested in their response and not just say it in passing.  People can feel sincerity.  When is the last time a stranger asked you how you were and truly took an interest in what you had to say (without trying to sell you something)?  How did that make you feel? Few things feel greater than when someone cares without personal gain.  I know it sounds very corny, but if you can bring joy and turn one person's day around, not only will that be incredible for them but you will find your day is that much brighter as well! Happy Wednesday everyone!

My First Post!! Let's see how this thing goes.....

    Watching Run's house (on MTV) I saw him writing these daily positive posts on his blog and I thought "That would be a wonderful thing, to be able to share with the world and try to bring some joy to people by showing some love one has inside".  While I am not, nor claim to be as insightful or cool as Reverend Run, I am going to give this thing a go.

    It occurred to me at about 3am this morning as I kissed my 3 year old Audrey on the cheek when she crawled into bed with us and glanced over to see my sleeping wife and baby that I am a blessed man.  Not to say that life is easy by any stretch of the imagination, but I am blessed.  Having a career in sales I am wired (like many others) to always want and strive for the bigger and better thing.  Whether that is a bigger and better house, car, job, etc I have an internal motor that just has me go, go, go!   Last night it occurred to me that while that has allowed me to be mildly successful in my career in the past, it has hindered me in my home life.  I realized at that moment that I am living the Bigger and Better thing!  Too often I notice that even when I have things pretty good I wanna just try and tweak this, or perfect that, when really the focus should be giving thanks and fostering those relationships to ensure growth.

     So in the first of my daily (I hope) posts, I leave you with this: Instead of focusing on how much better your life will be if you just had that raise, or just had another $1,000 in the bank, focus on how to let the people around you know how thankful you are they are in your life.  Spend some time in conversation with them, spend time with them and grow that relationship.  If you learn to find happiness in love that you've surrounded yourself with, the trials of life become less and less trying.

Til Tomorrow Guys....