When was the last time you went out of your way to do something nice for someone else?  We get so much back when we do for others, yet we tend to not gravitate towards this behavior on a recurring basis.  This universal law has been in effect for a very long time and it is good to be reminded at times about how we can make a big difference in other people's lives.  The holiday season is usually when a lot of us think about giving more of ourselves.  I think we should challenge each other in trying to do more for others through out the year, in addition to those special seasons.  There are many worthy causes in any community and people of all walks of life can benefit from your time, resources or generosity.  If you have an opportunity, do this and don't seek attention from anyone else other than engaging in it with a pure heart.  You will feel amazing afterwards and the best part is that this feeling lasts a lot longer than you think.  I have seen chain emails asking people to send an email to 10 people or more in order to receive a breakthrough.  I believe that we are more powerful than believing in a chain of communication and we can actually be the miracle others are wishing for around us.

When I was young and in school I remember thinking that the school day and the school year lasted way too long.  I would daydream about being older and no longer having to meet school deadlines. I think we all had those thoughts about completing school and not having to study, while realizing the freedom to do as you pleased.  When I look at my life now, I always seem to be learning something new and realize that learning is part of the evolution of my life.  It has become second nature to inform myself of new philosophies, technology or things that help me become more efficient.  When I talk to people that have retired, I am always amazed to see how busy they seem to be and have very little down time.  For the most part, they are engaged in activities that allow them to continue to learn new things.  I am resolved to know that the learning process will continue and that wisdom continues to be the result of this work.  Knowledge is power and our minds need to be nourished in order to achieve higher results.  Remember to always keep learning, keep reading and keep your mind toned with an active regimen.  This could be one of the keys to keeping ourselves young at heart for as long as we live.

One of the definitions of perseverance I found in a dictionary stated, "continuance in a state of grace leading finally to a state of glory". I am a fan of this word and what it stands for, as tells me that you march forward with grace and look forward to achieving a desired result. The result may not come when you want it and not getting it right away usually teaches us other important things. The world is obsessed with speed and information through improved technology and communication is now instant. However, we face things that we want to achieve through perseverance and a byproduct of this is being patient. For some people, things come very quickly and it always amazes me how someone can spend little or no time in looking for a desired result before they achieve it. I on the other hand, have had my share of opportunities when my road was anything but easy. I stopped asking the universe a long time ago as to why and decided on focusing on what the lesson was and how to share what I had gone through. The result has been fulfilling, in that I now understand that my journey through some things taught me a lot more about myself and the purpose of those trials. Be resolved to persevere no matter what and continue to do so with grace, for the glory will come as a result of your diligent actions.

Today we remember the many men and women who served our country and selflessly put others first in order to protect our freedom.  Our country has a long history of many brave people who felt that in order to achieve freedom that they were willing to sacrifice everything for what they believed.  We have many examples across the world, where they do not value the things that we do and many people lose their lives because of oppression and lack of freedom.  It is important for us to realize that freedom comes at a price.  Sometimes that cost is far beyond what we contemplate paying for.  The value of a human life is priceless, yet our ancestors believed in a dream and that we should be part of their legacy as a result of their selfless acts.  This day honors the brave of our country and I pray for those that we have lost and the safe return home of those that continue to fight for our freedom in various parts of the world.  We are eternally indebted to our true hero's that served and sacrificed far beyond what anyone expected them to.

    

As we near the end of Spring, I was thinking to myself about some of the annual rituals that come with this season as we prepare for Summer.  The rains came and cleaned the grounds around us and brought us new flowers, trees and plants.  The newly hatched birds chirp loudly and let us know they have arrived as well.  Before we head to the next season, I would suggest we all do some spring cleaning before we get there.  In addition to the traditional removal of clutter, I think it would also do some good to get rid of old habits and non productive relationships.  If you set goals previously and did not reach all of them, then re-set those priorities and don't feel bad about not completing them.  Reaching goals is a process and if you did not reach them through your previous path, then choose a new one.  I know we can all get there, it is just a matter of re-prioritizing.  Don't let the season change without you doing some changing along with it.  If nature is any indication of how this works, your life will be in full bloom when the next rains come your way.  

Do you ever talk to people that leave you feeling like you are completely drained afterwards?  Perhaps you have some of those in your life that only speak to you when they need a favor.  As you proceed in your life's journey at some point there comes a time when you have to set some boundaries with respect to those individuals.  You want to have an inner circle of people that support you and continue to add value to you.  Some people are also better than others at saying the word no.  Saying no does not mean you have to justify why you say it, you just do.  I believe that we get hung up sometimes on justifying saying the word no.  Saying no does not have to be done with a harsh tone or disrespectful in any way.  You just need to begin to use it more often and begin to shorten the conversations among those that leave you feeling drained.  Don't worry about what people would say or think about you if you said no to them.  A famous person once said, "What other people think about me is none of my business".  People who want to say things behind your back will and you have no business worrying about them, as there are other more important things to care about in life.  

Today I am revisiting a previously published column.             

Inventing Your Life

“Purpose”

By

Rob Claudio

There have been many books written to discuss the reason one must be on this earth.  I know I have read a few that were quite inspiring to me and that made me think a little deeper about defining what my purpose was.  It is an interesting review, when you think about your life’s accomplishments and what still remains to be seen. Since the future is vast and unknown to us, I maintain that living by doing what’s right in the “right now” time frame, may be the best platform for us to proceed.  In prior years I did some training on “Excellence” and it's meaning to my life. The shortest version of it, meant doing the right things for the right reasons.  One example that I always spoke about is the mere effort of returning a shopping cart to the shopping cart section at a store.  Living an excellent life begins with doing small excellent things on a daily basis. I was once at a Target store and it was raining, I was walking around my truck and putting things in the back seat while holding an umbrella.  After I was done, I was so tempted to leave the cart there and just take off. I figured nobody is watching me. However, being that I taught and spoke about this in my training sessions, I knew I had to walk that cart to its designated spot in rain and puddles.  A lady saw me as she was getting into her car by the cart section and told me, “I have never seen anyone do this, especially in this type of weather.”  I smiled and simply responded, “I have to, I teach about it,” and I walked back in more rain and stepped in more puddles.  I thought to myself as I drove off and laughed, that lady must have thought how weird to run into someone who teaches about shopping carts.  Interestingly, when you do the right things for the right reasons, you will find that it is hard to go back and regress to not doing things the right way.  I think our inner-self realizes that we can live a much more peaceful existence and sleep well at night knowing that we have done the right things.  There are lots of examples of where to begin this process if you have not already done so.  Allowing people to merge on the freeway; opening the door for someone who is having difficulty doing so; thanking people for an act of kindness while looking into their eyes, or perhaps giving of yourself or your talent to a worthy cause.  The possibilities are endless; the rewards are great.  You get to choose every day how to proceed with the rest of your life, I hope you choose wisely.       

“Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like”

– Will Rogers