It constantly amazes me all the ideas folks have for ways to pass the time. My family has choosen the lake - we've spent every Memorial Day at the lake since I was a child and for 35 years now Christy and I have continued this (except the one year our daughter Jen was born - Christy and I spent that weekend at the hospital) but this year I've learned of a new way to spend time.
There is a place near our lake house in Tiger, Ga (yes this is a real name and a real place) called Goats on the Roof. It is obviously a family enjoyment place (look it up at: WWW.Goats-on-the-roof.com ) and great fun for everyone. This place isn't too far from Helen, Georgia, our replica of an old German Village and also not far from Cherokee, NC. Several of our friends are spending this holiday weekend as tourists viewing these many funny places.
One "connection" that I seem to find is that this free time is a great opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends. In this fast paced world today we should cherish each and every opportunity to slow down and enjoy our relationships while building new ones.
Make it a safe holiday weekend.
How are you spending your holiday weekend? Share with us your comments.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Is this going to last forever?
Yesterday while flying to Atlanta from Baltimore a woman with a small child was ahead of me boarding the airplane. At the end of the ramp she took the boy's stroller and folded it up so it could be stowed with the luggage below, and the boy started to cry and yell "Mommy it's MY stroller don't leave it."
Children don't realize that most things are only temporary. No matter how much Mom tried to explain it wasn't until they got off the plane in Atlanta and the boy saw HIS stroller again that he understood. Children just don't have enough experience in life yet to have the proper perspective on many things.
Unfortunately, it's not only children that sometimes lack perspective. To one degree or another many of us suffer from that same problem. When we are facing a difficulty or crisis in our lives it is hard to know just how important that situation may turn out to be (or not be) in ghe grand scheme of our lives, or in 5 years. Many times what seems so critical today will be forgetten completely next week. Problems come and go in most of our lives, yet many of us tend to over react and lose perspective of the situation. I tend to believe our lives are the sum total of the choices we make and the things we do each day. Yes, sometimes situations arise that throw us a curve ball, and we cannot avoid that, but we do have a choice of how we can react to that and what we do with that curve ball. The choice is ours.
Make this a great day and remember to keep your perspective.
Steve
Children don't realize that most things are only temporary. No matter how much Mom tried to explain it wasn't until they got off the plane in Atlanta and the boy saw HIS stroller again that he understood. Children just don't have enough experience in life yet to have the proper perspective on many things.
Unfortunately, it's not only children that sometimes lack perspective. To one degree or another many of us suffer from that same problem. When we are facing a difficulty or crisis in our lives it is hard to know just how important that situation may turn out to be (or not be) in ghe grand scheme of our lives, or in 5 years. Many times what seems so critical today will be forgetten completely next week. Problems come and go in most of our lives, yet many of us tend to over react and lose perspective of the situation. I tend to believe our lives are the sum total of the choices we make and the things we do each day. Yes, sometimes situations arise that throw us a curve ball, and we cannot avoid that, but we do have a choice of how we can react to that and what we do with that curve ball. The choice is ours.
Make this a great day and remember to keep your perspective.
Steve
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Connections and Communicating
I've just spent several days in Florida working with a tile distributor rep to help educate him on one of our products. During the time we rode together in his car from place to place we were able to talk and discuss our careers and the paths we both took. As we talked I discovered that I have several connections that could be very helpful to him and so I shared that information with him and then made several phone calls to complete the connections. As it turned out he now has a potential new customer for his company, and I have two folks who are happy with me for getting them together and helping them both.
As I reflect on this I realize that this is what life is all about - learning of others wants/needs/desires and helping them obtain them. This is made easier by you yourself having made many connections and by sharing those freely. When you help others get what they want you benefit at least as much as they do.
As I look at my address book on my BlackBerry I see names of folks from my past who have helped me at times when I needed it, and I in return have helped them. One of those friends happened to be the person my distributor rep friend (now) wanted to connect with. As I see names in the directory I also visualize the past friendships and relationships I have with those folks and sometimes think about a connection that just pops into my mind to help them.
It makes me feel wonderful, useful, and most of all grateful to be alive and to have such wonderful connections in my life.
I have heard it repeated many times :The happiest people are those who serve others and help them get what they desire in life. Somehow life just seems to pay you back many times over for your efforts. Try it today for yourself.
Steve
As I reflect on this I realize that this is what life is all about - learning of others wants/needs/desires and helping them obtain them. This is made easier by you yourself having made many connections and by sharing those freely. When you help others get what they want you benefit at least as much as they do.
As I look at my address book on my BlackBerry I see names of folks from my past who have helped me at times when I needed it, and I in return have helped them. One of those friends happened to be the person my distributor rep friend (now) wanted to connect with. As I see names in the directory I also visualize the past friendships and relationships I have with those folks and sometimes think about a connection that just pops into my mind to help them.
It makes me feel wonderful, useful, and most of all grateful to be alive and to have such wonderful connections in my life.
I have heard it repeated many times :The happiest people are those who serve others and help them get what they desire in life. Somehow life just seems to pay you back many times over for your efforts. Try it today for yourself.
Steve
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Thought from history.
At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new
constitution, in the year 1787, Alexander Tyler (a Scottish history
professor at The University of Edinborough) had this to say about "The
Fall of The Athenian Republic" some 2,000 years prior.
"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a
permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up
until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves
generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the
majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits
from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will
finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, (which is) always
followed by a dictatorship."
"The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the
beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years,
these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
From Bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."
Does this sound familiar my friends? We need to look no further than Argentina to see this still holds true. Argentina 50 years ago was as productive and fruitful as the USA. Today, after a series of Socialist agendas by various elected officials the country and its citizens continued to vote for free government give a way programs and forgot that SOMEONE had to actually pay for them. Greece is the latest country to discover this truth also.
I pray to USA and our citizens wake up soon enough to learn from these mistakes before our country too becomes merely a memory of what we used to represent.
constitution, in the year 1787, Alexander Tyler (a Scottish history
professor at The University of Edinborough) had this to say about "The
Fall of The Athenian Republic" some 2,000 years prior.
"A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a
permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up
until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves
generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the
majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits
from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will
finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, (which is) always
followed by a dictatorship."
"The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the
beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years,
these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
From Bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
From abundance to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage."
Does this sound familiar my friends? We need to look no further than Argentina to see this still holds true. Argentina 50 years ago was as productive and fruitful as the USA. Today, after a series of Socialist agendas by various elected officials the country and its citizens continued to vote for free government give a way programs and forgot that SOMEONE had to actually pay for them. Greece is the latest country to discover this truth also.
I pray to USA and our citizens wake up soon enough to learn from these mistakes before our country too becomes merely a memory of what we used to represent.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Rejection and Fear.
Rejection and Fear, these twins of evil seem to come hand in hand as a set when they make an appearance in our lives. Today I personally feel neither of these, my life is good and I am feeling confident without having to deal with excess ego and pride ruling my emotions. However, I am seeing the results of these emotions today and as I think about them, without the emotional baggage of me being personally invested in them, it becomes very apparent to me how evil these two really are.
Sometimes however, we will find ourselves in circumstances where we are just uncertain of what to do. In those times, fear can take hold of us and prevent us from taking the next logical step into the place that we are being drawn toward.
Even when we take that next step, we can then be overcome by second guessing and doubts about whether what we did was the right thing to do...and fear works at us to keep us stuck in those places of doubt and uncertainty.
I'm sure you, just as I, have been in these difficult places countless times in life. I'm also confident that you, just as I, have made both good and poor choices when in those difficult places.
The rejection part of fear is mainly being concerned with how "Others" in the various corners of our lives will view our decisions or actions. We empower this fear by allowing others to have that power of approval over us when quite frankly, it just does not exist. It is acceptable to be aware of our actions/decisions as they affect others close to us (like a spouse or parent/children) but when we feel the fear from those who have no real stakeholder position to be judging our actions then it becomes quite a huge negative effect in our lives.
My hope then for each of you today is that you will quickly recognize and become aware of the fear when you begin to feel it and deal with it quickly. The power of your lips (your words) and your mind (your thoughts) are far stronger than the power of fear or rejection in determining your path today. Think and verbally (yes, out loud) say only positive and helpful things about your decisions today.
Besides, if you really screw up and make a horrible decision just remember that tomorrow is another new day and you can choose to make a "U" Turn and correct that situation.
Peace my friends.
Sometimes however, we will find ourselves in circumstances where we are just uncertain of what to do. In those times, fear can take hold of us and prevent us from taking the next logical step into the place that we are being drawn toward.
Even when we take that next step, we can then be overcome by second guessing and doubts about whether what we did was the right thing to do...and fear works at us to keep us stuck in those places of doubt and uncertainty.
I'm sure you, just as I, have been in these difficult places countless times in life. I'm also confident that you, just as I, have made both good and poor choices when in those difficult places.
The rejection part of fear is mainly being concerned with how "Others" in the various corners of our lives will view our decisions or actions. We empower this fear by allowing others to have that power of approval over us when quite frankly, it just does not exist. It is acceptable to be aware of our actions/decisions as they affect others close to us (like a spouse or parent/children) but when we feel the fear from those who have no real stakeholder position to be judging our actions then it becomes quite a huge negative effect in our lives.
My hope then for each of you today is that you will quickly recognize and become aware of the fear when you begin to feel it and deal with it quickly. The power of your lips (your words) and your mind (your thoughts) are far stronger than the power of fear or rejection in determining your path today. Think and verbally (yes, out loud) say only positive and helpful things about your decisions today.
Besides, if you really screw up and make a horrible decision just remember that tomorrow is another new day and you can choose to make a "U" Turn and correct that situation.
Peace my friends.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Return to the world
I've spent the past week at the Coverings Show in Orlando. It was fantastic to see and catch up with so many of my friends from the tile and flooring industry, but as always at these events, very rushed and only surface discussions. Friendship, I have come to believe, is absolutely one of THE most important aspects of life. Everyone is connected to everyone else by, I believe, only 6 links. To me that means that the more friends (relationships) you have the closer you are to everyone you meet daily.
Now some folks may feel this isn't a good thing, but I believe it is and I value meeting someone new and finding out we have a mutual friend somehow somewhere. The longer I live the more important and valuable my friends become to me. I can easily buy new "stuff" but replacing a friend is never the same because we all have different values/views/opinions that we alone bring to the relationship.
One friend at the show commented that he did not ever read "Blogs" because he doesn't care about other peoples opinions unless they are noted "Experts" in their field. I felt sad for him, I believe he is missing a great value in his life because of that opinion. I have found I can improve and gain from everyone, no matter their status in life or business. It reminds me of that old saying: You can learn something from everybody - some teach us what to aspire to, others teach us what to avoid becoming!
Make this a fantastic day, go make a new friend.
Steve
Now some folks may feel this isn't a good thing, but I believe it is and I value meeting someone new and finding out we have a mutual friend somehow somewhere. The longer I live the more important and valuable my friends become to me. I can easily buy new "stuff" but replacing a friend is never the same because we all have different values/views/opinions that we alone bring to the relationship.
One friend at the show commented that he did not ever read "Blogs" because he doesn't care about other peoples opinions unless they are noted "Experts" in their field. I felt sad for him, I believe he is missing a great value in his life because of that opinion. I have found I can improve and gain from everyone, no matter their status in life or business. It reminds me of that old saying: You can learn something from everybody - some teach us what to aspire to, others teach us what to avoid becoming!
Make this a fantastic day, go make a new friend.
Steve
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