Archive for May, 2009
What are you doing with your life?
Posted by: | CommentsToday is Memorial Day which seems appropriate given my thoughts this morning. My father and my brothers were in the armed forces. My older brother, Joe, served in the Army as a Linguist. They taught him Russian and German because he was so smart. In the first Gulf War he acted as an interrogator. I always found this ironic since he was the kind of guy who would capture a fly in the house and let it go outside instead of squishing it.
Joe died a year ago at the age of 41 from lung cancer.
It is still a shock to me. How did this happen? Why did this happen? As you can imagine, it had a deep and lasting impact on my parents and four other siblings. He was 16 months older than me. I know this may be morbid but after his death I figured out what day I would die on if I lived as long as he did. That day is today. Memorial day.
I woke up this morning with a dream about him fresh on my mind. He was getting into an elevator and looked like he did when he was 20 years old. I yelled out to him to wait but he just smiled and waved. I ran as fast as I could to get to him before the doors shut. As they closed, I stuck my arm in to stop the elevator. I was able to hug him. It was a wonderful moment. However, we both knew we were going different places. I stepped out and watched him disappear. Gone again.
My brother was the motivator for our catch phrase, “helping you identify and create your ideal life now”. There is no guarantee of tomorrow. We must all live life full out now while you can.
It’s okay to feel frightened taking a risk. It’s natural. The important thing is you take a step forward anyway. Have faith it will all work out in the end. Doubt is the enemy of accomplishment. The life of your dreams can be drawn or repelled depending on what you chose to think about, the words you chose to speak and the actions you chose to take. Where you are today is a direct result of this. Are you happy with these choices?
While certain situations can make you feel out of control…the economy, the weather or even who hurts you in life, you can chose your reactions to these events. Forgive everyone everything and focus on becoming the best you can be.
If you fail it’s not the end of the world. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep going. All it means is you learned one more way how not to do something. It doesn’t mean you should stop trying. That would be a shame. Take the lesson from the situation and keep trying.
Memorial Day is a great day to reflect on where you’ve been, where you are and where you want to go. Write down your ideal life and get to it! I’ll be here cheering you on 
Words of Wisdom
Posted by: | CommentsWritten By Regina Brett, 90 years old, Cleveland , Ohio *
“To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.. It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written.”
My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here goes:
1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will.
Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood… But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ‘In five years, will this matter?’
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone
else’s, we’d grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.”
50 Greatest Entrepreneurs of All Time
Posted by: | CommentsHow many of these entrepreneurs do you recognize? Might be a fun activity to research the ones you don’t recognize. It always pays to study the truly great!
Do you agree with Success Magazines assessment? Did they forget someone?
50 Greatest Entrepreneurs of All Time According to Success Magazine:
1) Fred Smith
2) Jeff Bezos
3) Steve Jobs
4) Bill Gates
5) Adolphus Busch
6) Sam Walton
7) Larry Page
Aaron Montgomery Ward
9) Pierre Omidyar
10) Martha Stewart
11) Phil Knight
12) Walt Disney
13) Thomas Alva Edison
14) George Lucas
15) Harland Sanders
16) Louis B. Mayer
17) Sergey Brin
18) Richard Sears
19) Herb Kelleher
20) Asa Candler
21) Oprah Winfrey
22) Berry Gordy Jr.
23) Eberhard Anheuser
24) George Eastman
25) Benjamin Franklin
26) Michael Dell
27) Amadeo P. Giannini
28) Conrad Hilton Sr.
29) Ralph Lauren
30) J.W. Marriott, Jr.
31) Steve Case
32) Andrew Carnegie
33) Ray Kroc
34) Henry Ford
35) Paul Greene
36) Juan Trippe
37) David Sarnoff
38) Milton Hershey
39) Levi Strauss
40) W.K. Kellogg
41) Robert L. Johnson
42) Alva Roebuck
43) Cyrus McCormick Sr.
44) J.P. Morgan
45) P.T. Barnum
46) Madam C.J. Walker
47) Charles Merrill
48) Ross Perot
49) Estee Lauder
50) John D. Rockefeller
50 Famous Parental Sayings
Posted by: | CommentsWho as a parent can’t relate to this?
Can you think of any other’s he missed? Get ready to laugh.
Did You Know?
Posted by: | CommentsI am in that “sweet spot” age wise where it comes to technology. I am not a technology native like my children but am young enough to embrace all the Internet has to offer. I love social media. I have made real friends with people I met on Twitter, Facebook, FriendFeed, Linkedin, etc. I like the reach it represents. I’ve even sent my son emails via Facebook because I knew he’d see it there.
When I first started working the office computers were in a separate room not one on every desk. We used DOS. I never did like that program. lol.
I remember the Dewey Decimal system at the library. Now I check books out online or have them delivered to my door via Amazon. Life certainly has gotten easier in some ways and perhaps a bit more intense in others. Watch this video. It’s an eye opener!