Creative Inspiration for Passionate Living

One evening I wanted to hear a new song "Closer" by Cor inne Bailey Rae.  I jumped back and forth between the three radio stations that would likely play it.  While station surfing, I heard another song I like (can't even remember what it was now) and took a pause from my search to enjoy it.  When I commenced to surfing again, low and behold, I caught the tail end of the song I wanted to hear in the first place. Dang IT!! Today's Inspiration Only A Planted Seed Grows Into A Tree   Ever feel like you're floating like the leaf fresh blown from a tree?  So many things to get done, so many obligations and desires.  Life is good at pulling us in different directions and frankly, can wear out the strongest of us if we're not careful. When we have goals, we must plant our feet and nurture ourselves firmly with the thoughts and actions that will help us achieve them.  It is easy to be distracted by noise or discouraged by slow progress.  If real obstacles or di

When I lived in Illinois, I would often pass through Blue Island to reach my mother's home in Robbins. I chose a path riddled with train tracks because it was always the quickest route - except when there was a train.  One particular time, there was an assembly of train cars stalled on the tracks.  I waited in vein for the train to move then, after more than 10 minutes, decided to circle around another way to get pass.  As luck would have it, the train was so long that it blocked two crossings and showed no signs of moving.  I had to either wait it out or go back home. Today's Inspiration We often meet our destiny on the road we take to avoid it We move, change jobs, file bankruptcy, etc. to get a fresh start in life.  Though most of the major shifts we initiate are justified, sometimes we simply feel frustrated with our current circumstances and figure a do-over is all we really need. It feels good and makes sense to start from scratch when we incur irreparable damage.

My older daughter was once involved in a sport where bickering, gossiping and negativity were the norm for her team.  Don't get me wrong, they were one of the best in the state - they could join forces against rivals and come home with first place bragging rights.  Aside from the competition induced moments of unity though, my daughter rarely had more than her disheartening experiences to share when I asked "so how was your practice."  She was argumentative at home and had turned into somewhat of a negative ninny. On her own volition, she traded the bickering bunch for a different group of young ladies in an altogether different sport.  These young ladies are pleasant toward each other, encourage each other and keep personal opinions off the record.  Not surprisingly, she comes home full of compliments about her teammates and coach.  She shares stories about the encouragement she gives/receives during competitions and how they stick together both in and outside the spor

Today my oldest daughter shared sad news.  Her track coach lost his mother, her trainer lost his grandmother and her father's co-worker lost a loved one.  There's nothing like death to put life into perspective. Today's Inspiration Don't Let Life Pass You While You're Making Plans to Live It We are where we are, we are who we are.  That truth comes with a set of circumstances - some favorable, some we could live without.  In either case, we must make the best of every set-back and give praise for our portion of grace.  Note: all set-backs are set-ups for blessings.   Because each of us has an unknown, finite number of days to walk this earth and share our gifts, we cannot afford to paralyze ourselves by waiting for the world to be perfect before we shift from existing to thriving. Get up, take action and make moves today.  It doesn't matter if your plans are perfect.  An imperfect plan in action yields more than an unexecuted, perfect plan.  T ake  steps i

Over the weekend, my nephew Josh came to visit his best cousin Robert (my son).  Usually, Robert and Josh play video games, ride bikes and shoot hoops in the driveway -- this weekend started out as any other.  Somewhere between Thursday evening and Friday morning though, Robert began to misbehave repeatedly.  After the first couple of warnings, I confiscated his video game system.  When that didn't seem to sting him into compliance, I made him stay inside - no hoops, no bike, no fun. For the rest of the weekend, poor Josh sat in front of the television bored instead of playing basketball until he smelled like a puppy or pushing game controllers till his thumbs hurt. Today's Inspiration One Tossed Stone Causes Many Ripples Most of us are raised to be kind and considerate of others. We usually behave in this manner.  Every now and again though, we make decisions without regard for how others may be affected - as if how we feel in the moment is all that matters.  It is an act

The kids and I gathered in the family room with blankets for this week's movie night selection "Nightmare On Elm Street". When it was released in 1984, the movie had everyone scared to go to sleep - people were dying in their nightmares! I was fully prepared to have at least one kid in my bed before the night was out. We started the movie and eventually, Freddy Kreuger started slicing teenagers with his creepy steel fingernails.  My kids chuckled a bit instead of jumping  - they weren't even slightly scared.  They started frowing before long and complained that the blood and gore looked so phoney.  We cut the movie short (after the 2nd killing scene) and turned back to cable. Today's Inspiration Never Become Complacent With Today's Victories The world changes constantly. With so much change, its no wonder that beauty of today seems dull against the colors of tomorrow. In everything we do, we naturally want to do our best.  Regardless of our starting

My youngest daughter is quite vocal about things that displease her - especially her little brother.  One particular day when she was really riled up, I shared an observation.  "He must be pretty cool the way you talk about him all the time." Oh, you would have thought I put lemon juice on her tongue from her reaction.  With her forehead wrinkled, lips twisted, neck extended and eyes bucked she objected "NO HE AIN'T, HE GET ON MY NERVES!" I just smiled. Today's Inspiration Give the Enemy NO Free Advertisement Bills, kids, relationships, work. Set-backs, struggles, dilemmas - life!  We all have issues to resolve, questions to answer and obstacles to overcome. We can make it seem as if our challenges outweigh our blessings when we only express the unfortunate aspects of life. Problems exist - they may only get worse if ignored.  Sometimes it can feel as if all we have is a rain cloud over our heads - like nothing is right.  When we navigate toward th

I recently realized that I am a busy body - especially when I'm completing household chores.  On one particular Saturday, I started cleaning my bedroom - it was the start of Spring and I wanted everything to look and feel as fresh as the season - I had music playing and I was ready to go. When I went downstairs to fetch the broom, I stopped to wipe off the kitchen counter top, pulled out meat to thaw for dinner, swept the kitchen floor then sat down in the family room for a bit.  At the end of the night, after dinner and a dozen other errands, I finally made it back to my bedroom feeling spent.  I couldn't believe just how little progress I made toward the main room I intended to clean. Today's Inspiration Though We Can Go Anywhere, We Cannot Go Everywhere At The Same Time  When we visit amusement parks with children, the adults are usually very organized.  We synchronize watches, utilize maps and set out on a redetermined course to ensure we have enough time to visit

I remember when my oldest daughter decided to try out for the color guard.  Color guard is the activity where groups toss flags, wooden rifles and knives (called sabers) to the rhythm of music.  Not only was she starting 8th grade in a new neighborhood where she had relatively few friends, at that point in her life, she had never tossed a ball  let alone a flag.  She tried out and made the team in spite of her inexperience. As it turned out, she was granted a solo in her first season.  In her freshman year, she continued with guard and accomplished a feat no freshman had before her - she made it on the varsity guard where she did well. Today's Inspiration In Order to Explore Oceans, We Must Lose Sight of the Shore Learning and growing can terrify even the bravest of us. As we reach new levels in life, we leave our comfort zone and enter into uncharted territory. When we find ourselves in those spaces we always have a choice - plow ahead or retreat. If we retreat, we return

There came a point in my daily work responsibilities where I had to edit a Wiki page. A wiki is a website that allows the easy creation and editing of web pages using a markup language or text editor.  I'm not a web designer or developer but I have tested and even written basic HTML so I figured wiki creation would be a breeze.  Before starting on my first page, I looked over existing wiki pages, reviewed the mark up text and asked a subject matter expert for tips and tricks that would ensure I did everything properly. When I finished my Wiki page (that I copied from an existing page by the way), there were so many things wrong that even the most seasoned Wiki editors in my department couldn't figure out how I made such simple page look so... WRONG.  They don't let me touch wiki pages anymore. Today's Inspiration Knowing Your Limitations Can Be Your Greatest Strength As children, many of us were taught to try our  hardest and be the best. We were rewarded with gold

When my brother, the ever-frugal consumer, got married a few years ago, he searched Craigslist.com for a photographer.   Not only did he find a qualified photographer that saved him hundreds, the photographer was kind, professional, personable and took unbelievable photos that will last a lifetime. When a friend of mine announced that she was engaged to be married, naturally, I contacted the photographer my brother used.  I visited his web site and eventually contacted him to find the following comparison: 2006 photo package: $400 2010 photo package: $3000 or $250/hour (minimum) Today's Inspiration Know Your Worth, Act Accordingly It is said that one of the greatest problems in society is that we know little of our worth.  When we are starting off our careers it is common that we accept less than what we would like in exchange for the experience that will help us rake in cash at a later date.  Recognition and experience are both requisites of earning top dollar in most any

I got into work this morning and realized my computer mouse wasn't working properly.  I wiggled it around, checked the connection to my laptop dock and hit it against the desk a couple of times but couldn't get the cursor on my screen to move.  Finally, after unsuccessful attempts at trouble-shooting the problem, I turned the mouse upside down.   Ah Ha! A very nice coworker of mine placed a post-it note on the bottom of my computer mouse that read "April Fools Day" - indeed it is.  April 1st is considered the ultimate day for playing pranks and practical jokes but it also marks the beginning of the second quarter of the year. Today's Resolution Regularly Check Progress to Ensure Success For those who set an annual goal this year, whether it be a New Years resolution or any other commitment, April first is the perfect time to check progress against goals.  The year is broken into four periods of 3 months each.  Within each of those 90 days (approximately) we s