YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW.

CIRCUMSTANCES

Many times in our lives it seems that circumstances are absolutely piled high against or sometimes in favor of us. We all wonder sometimes if we have any personal control of our destiny at all.  Many in the Christian Religion believe that it is at times like this we relied on our FAITH and TRUST in God to get thru this circumstances.

I suggest that there are 3 different choices you can make when faced with circumstances no matter which side of the board, (positive or negative) those circumstances are stacked.

     1. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO ACCEPT THE PAST AND REMAIN THERE.
     2. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO EMBRACE THE PRESENT AND BE THERE.
     3. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO LOOK EXPECTANTLY TOWARDS THE FUTURE.

Now I know which of these 3 I try to always choose, but let's look at each choice and see the reasoning behind the choices.

•       If you choose the accept and remain in the past you are saying that nothing you or anyone else can do will change what has happened and you will forget all of your goals, dreams, and desires for life and wallow in your own self pity. 
•      If you embrace the present and fully be there and stay there then you see no chance of improving your situation and you don't even want to consider playing the "WHAT IF" game. You realize the past is gone and forgotten but you discount how you can improve your future.
•      If you choose to look expectantly towards the future then even when you make mistakes today or have made them in the past, you are still free to choose to change your situation and improve your possibilities for tomorrow. You can live life to the fullest possible potential. Even when you make more mistakes or stumble you still know that you control your destiny tomorrow and that your future is still able to happen as you want it.

My plan is to trust my past as experience, live in the present, but always commit to looking expectantly towards the future. Every day I experience the joy of watching how my future plans are coming along and how my past experiences are valuable in helping me correct my path forward. Even in the toughest times, I know that I enjoy that life transforming miracle of tomorrow. What about you?  How do you choose to live YOUR LIFE?  You do have a choice you know.

These are my thoughts on this subject, what are yours?
Steve

Changing Landscape of Business

Before the current recession it was fairly easy to go into business and stay profitable in business (and actually stay in business) due to the amount of money flowing within our economy.  Since 2006/2007 that situation has changed dramatically. In my business, (ceramic tile and stone business) our market has dropped 39% overall. In markets like Georgia it is bad, but unfortunately, it is even worse in some other markets.  I just saw a report this past week that said in Georgia the ceramic tile and stone business lost 33.6% of our contractor businesses and another 31% of our dealer/distributor businesses.

Think for a moment about the food industry, how many restaurants have come and gone in the past few years?  Many of those had excellent food taste and great service, yet they are gone. That is a business that has a very low cost of entry and raw materials are very inexpensive yet making a profit is almost impossible in these times between labor costs, energy costs, and the loss of disposable income for the potential customers.  In most home goods the technology improvements have absolutely killed all the profit margins for businesses.  Folks find something they like, want, or need and then shop the Internet to get to the absolute bottom price, usually doesn't include shipping costs, and the local business that started the process either has to make no money on selling their inventory or they lose the sale - either way they lose.

So what is the answer?  Folks a lot smarter than I am will have to come back with thoughts on that but I can tell you that I'm thankful that (A) I'm not in the retail business today, (B) I have a good job and available income to spend on my families wants/needs, and (C) most days I seem more likely to spend just slightly more to purchase something locally and maybe pay very slightly more, but seem to feel in my mind that I receive MUCH more value for my money then shipping it off via the Internet. I find myself using the local hardware store more today than ever before because when I consider the very small price difference I find the value of the education I receive from the folks working at the hardware store to teach me about the product I'm considering is worth far more than the price I'm paying.  Same with my insurance and my bank - local agent/branch seems to be worth it to me.  Am I alone in this?

Please do some comparison shopping this week and let me know your thoughts on this issue.
Steve

Remembering the Past

Today, September 11th is one of those days when many Americans stop and remember the past. Most of us can recall exactly where we were and what we were doing when the attacks happened.

As a private pilot I've heard many stories about others who were flying that day and ordered to land at the nearest field, no matter how close or far they were from their intended destination.  Some didn't have their radio's tuned into Air Traffic Control and those lucky few were met by military fighter jets who got their attention very quickly and helped motivate them to land with hand signals.

I was down at the Georgia Pacific HQ building in downtown Atlanta getting a few last minute things together for my trip at 11 am to New York City for a trade show.  As I left my office nothing seemed amiss, however at the front lobby desk the security had shut down the building and as I approached dragging my luggage they asked where I was intending on going.  I told them and they ordered me to return to my office upstairs and await further instructions. WOW! Never happened at GP before!  I wondered what I had done wrong.  As I approached the elevators I heard several friends discussing the situation and by the time I'd returned upstairs to my office everyone was gathered around very small TVs watching the events unfold.  I saw the second plane hit the second tower on TV.  SILENCE and complete STUNNED reaction from the 50-60 of us gathered around the TV.  Soon the telephones rang and everyone was ordered to evacuate the building, we heard at that same time on TV that all tall buildings in Atlanta were ordered to evacuate.

Driving back to my home in Peachtree Corners I called my wife and they were watching in her office also and she said they too were leaving shortly - as you can imagine the highways were packed but everyone was driving extremely courteously which for Atlanta traffic was also very different. The next several days passed in a blur, very few folks went to work, everyone was glued to the TV for more details and to see and try to understand this situation.  Today, 11 years later, we are still trying to understand this situation!

Oh, how our lives have changed, yet somehow, even if a little bit, the American Spirit grew even stronger because of this sad event.  Just as other national disaster events like Pearl Harbor have changed us as a country we still grew stronger and September 11th I'm sure will be no different.

Today, for a moment, please stop and remember the past, remember the event, remember who we are as a people and a country. And above all else, please Count Your Blessings.

These are my thoughts, what are yours?
Steve