There are things in my own life, that coming from my background, that many would have said, “it is not possible to have the position and success I have”, without the formal education.

What I have come to realize is that every excuse that we come forward with – each proof that we can’t do something – is just that we don’t yet have the faith to see the bridge or staircase. It is always there, we just don’t see it. Fear keeps us blind. Faith removes the blinders and helps us see clearly that we just need to take the next step. One step forward at a time and with faith we make it across the bridge and up to the top of the staircase.

We are all on our own hero’s journey. It is a journey made by faith. When you hear about someone doing something like lifting the car off a child, or bringing someone out of a burning building, they all say the same thing. When asked weren’t you afraid? They say, I just saw something that needed doing and I did it. I didn’t think about it.

When you think about something, you engage fear. Don’t think about it, just take the next step in faith and surprise yourself. Once you see that you aren’t falling down the ravine, it is easier to take the next one.

And remember, none of the hero’s in the stories are perfect, perfection isn’t what is required. What is required is to just do something that needs doing. As the Nike commercial says, “Just do it”.

The good days we get a lot done, but there are some days when one thing after another delays what we are trying to do.
Acknowledge when this happens, that we are going through a rough patch of weather and know that shortly the weather will clear – it always does. Once the weather clears we can get back on course. This is far better than bemoaning the delay and ranting that we will never arrive at our destination.

Drama does nothing but give you a headache. Instead consult your charts and lay out a new course to get you to your destination. Be proactive and positive instead of reactive and negative.

True joy is found on the journey as well as the destination. As Buddha says “It is better to travel well, than to arrive.”

Is is a silent belief and prayer that no one knows about? Or is it a belief that you excitedly tell everyone you meet?

And what happens when you tell someone that downplays the possibilities of that belief? Do you step back from it or do you plough right on tilling the ground and planting seeds?

And what happens when you meet someone that takes that belief and like a balloon that was barely filled with air, makes it into a giant hot air balloon that it ready to take you to the mountain tops? Do you back away, afraid of the size of the dream? Afraid of the heights that it will take you to? Saying to yourself, I’m not ready, or good enough to make a dream of that size come into the world?

What do you do with your beliefs? Do you shout them out into the mountains and the canyons and listen with estatic happiness when they echo back to you? Or do you whisper them into your pillow or to your friends that also whisper their dreams back to you – the same ones that you and they have had for 20 yrs?

You can dream big, and pray silently for them to come true, but to make big things happen you have to believe big.

Big beliefs that drag you forward into the world making the big things hapopen. You ask for help in bringing the dream into reality. You look for people to partner with to make it happen. You take big steps. And then BIG things happen. Amen.

We stress ourselves out over a perception, not a reality. We get so caught up in our version of the story that we don’t let the other person even know or understand what is going on in our head. We might think that we are fighting with someone else, but we are fighting with ourselves first. Then when we have engaged our fight to a nice hot flame in our heads, we engage the literal person we were fighting with in our heads. Sometimes we have even rehearsed the fight in our head – “I will say this and then they will say that and I will come back with a thrust to the heart and show them how superior or righteous I am!”.

Isn’t that just hysterical? Instead why don’t we have a “how can I make them feel better” rehearsal in our heads? We could assign the perception that the person who just walked by us as though we aren’t there is actually deep in thought (which they probably are). Practice what positive things you could say. Are they having a rough day and need a laugh? How about a hug and a smile? Could you just take a walk with them and let them know that you are available if they need to talk? Making someone else feel better, makes us feel better. Helping them overcome what is bothering them, will naturally help us! Isn’t it better to conquer ourselves, than to take the fight to others?

It is the difference between the helium in your birthday balloon and the air in the hot air balloon. The helium is short lived, it dissipates, it isn’t renewed. The next day it isn’t hugging the ceiling anymore and by day two it is lying on the floor.

The hot air balloon by contrast could take you around the world. It is renewed and it elevates you to a height that allows you to see where you want to go. If you need to go lower you can, you can guide it (subject to the wind of course) in the direction and heights that you want.

It means that on Sunday night you aren’t wondering if you are coming down with the flu and should have a sick day at work. You can’t wait for Monday because it means that you are going to be spending the day living the life you love – just like you did all weekend. So if you are having “Manic Mondays”, “Terrible Tuesdays” and “Weeping Wednesdays” maybe it is time to find that idea that elevates you into space. See you there!

The professor then produced two glasses of chocolate milk from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things…your family, your children, your health, your friends, your favorite passions. Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.”

“The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your home, your car.”

“The sand is everything else…The small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are critical to your happiness.”

“Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house or fix the disposal.”

“Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities, the rest is just sand.”

I firmly believe that it is all about how we look at things that happen in our life. Does life happen to you (it is beyond my control) or do you happen to life ( I am in control)? I believe (at least at this moment) that it is a combination of both.

When drama has entered “through stage door left”, sometimes it knocks me on my butt. I sit there experiencing the emotions that the drama triggered. Heartbreak, fear, anger, angst…, etc. At some point that emotion washes through and I start back up the emotional ladder into more positive vibrations. I don’t sit there wallowing in it. I pick myself back up and look for what I can use to get back on track. I review what happened. Was it something that I caused, or was I just in the way of someone else’s causation? What can I do to bring the whole experience out of the refuse and into something that can be used?

That is the way that my mind works. Is this a good story? Is there a hero here or is this just a comedy of errors? What is so fantastic is the tapestry that life weaves in our background when we aren’t paying attention. Look at a medieval tapestry and there is so much happening. All of these different scenes/dramas are in the background each telling a different story to each one who views it. What story is life telling you? Look again and I know that you can find whatever kind of story you are looking for. That is the beauty of “how we look at life” – it is all in the interpretation.

In today’s world we often see that some of the qualities that resonant with good character are in short supply. Many in the efforts to provide for their family might feel pressured at work to cut corners and so damage their integrity. It always starts with a small thing, but those small things seem to grow into larger and larger things until we realize one day that we have ruined our good character.

Taking this back to destiny – we can take any dream that we have and it can become our destiny – the key to living a fulfilling life
1) We can transform our character to have the qualities needed to fulfill that destiny;
2) We can use these good character traits to help us go beyond any perceived limitations to fulfill that chosen destiny;
3) We can take all of life’s lessons experienced so far and use them to bring us forward in our development of ourselves to fulfill this dream/destiny.

One of my sons had a change in behavior when he was young. I noticed and began asking questions. As my sons could tell you, once I started asking questions, I didn’t stop. I would stay in their room for hours if that was what it took, until they finally started talking. When he finally opened up about what happened, we took the steps needed to help him. He became a happy boy again .

Listening to my friends story I thought about the many times I would go into one of my boys rooms and sit on the bed and ask what is wrong. I think about how if I had just accepted the answer, nothing – would they have had buried anger and shame? Would they have turned to drugs or alcohol to run away from their feelings?

When those we love are hiding in pain, do we help them shine the light of awareness on their situation? Or do we just look on wanting to help, but accepting their answer that nothing is wrong?

Do we shine the light of awareness on ourselves? Sometimes it is necessary to lance the wound so that it can drain out the poison and heal. It never helps to run from what we don’t want to face. Expose those unwanted feelings to the light of healing and drain out the poisons that we have been hiding from – whether they are our own pain or that of someone we love.

Chose life and awareness like my friend. You have great things to do in this world.

I heard a story once of a woman that was going to write a book of recipes that she used in her restaurant to share with the world and she died with her book unwritten and many mourned that no one knew any of those recipes. Don’t die with your story untold.

What book is in you that hasn’t been written? What are you being called to do – that you haven’t answered the call to?