A Special Moving On note to my friends..

"Welcome every morning with a smile.
Look on the new day as another special gift from your Creator,
Another golden opportunity to complete what you were unable to finish yesterday.
Be a self starter.
Let your first hour set the theme of success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day.
Today will never happen again.
Don't waste it with a false start or no start at all.
You were not born to fail." Author Og Mandino   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Og_Mandino

I have always looked at life as one adventure after another. My wife and I, for nearly 39 years, have had many adventures together. Adventures come in so many forms. Some I would just as soon not like to repeat, but I would have to say that everyone, even the bad ones, have had an influence on the direction of our lives. As Helen Keller put it “Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” Our adventures started a long time before we were married. In fact, we believe we may have been in the same confirmation class and even had Catechism classes together when we were in middle school. As I tell my wife now, if I had been slightly interested in girls at that time, I surely would have asked he out on a date. But I had other adventures to conquer in those days, like neighborhood baseball, hide and go seek, kick the can and skate boarding into walls. I could go on and on with stories about our life adventures and as I develop this  Blog I will share a few, but the topic of this “moving on” blog this time has to do with the adventures that many of my friends are now experiencing.

Some of you are right now experiencing reduced hours, reduced pay, tough working environments and even layoffs.  Believe me; I understand the impact that these things have on your life. However, I have to tell you over the last two months I have discovered that life moves on, and there are adventures away from what you have been doing. I have had some great adventures with my family and friends since May 15. I have spent more time enjoying what I think life should be all about. The pace of Life has slowed down. There is the money issue. But I have a different kind of motivation this time around.  I have started some work, and some great opportunities are in development, but as my oldest daughter has advised, it’s best to take on projects that I will enjoy, that pay the bills and not to get carried away. I really enjoy just being available, not tied down to someone else’s schedule and most definitely not on an airplane every week to someplace. I have also been doing some reading. Maybe some of this will help inspire you to not give up, believe in yourself and don’t let the current situation get you down.

Og Madino wrote this book back in 1968, “The Greatest Salesman in the World”. I remember my Dad saying something about this book. But, again I had other adventures to keep me busy in those days and besides we had school books to read.  In Madino’s book he composed “The Legends of the Ten Scrolls”. Not that I have read all of these scrolls. The Author suggested that you read them over a 10 month timeline. But, I do believe that his overall philosophy of “do it now” is very relevant to today’s issues of moving on with your life in a favorable way after a devastating adventure. Here are his Ten Scroll titles:

• Scroll I - The Power of Good Habits
• Scroll II - Greet Each Day With Love In Your Heart
• Scroll III - Persist Until You Succeed
• Scroll IV - You Are Natures Greatest Miracle
• Scroll V - Live Each Day as if it Were Your Last
• Scroll VI - Master Your Emotions
• Scroll VII - The Power of Laughter
• Scroll VIII - Multiply Your Value Every Day
• Scroll IX - All is Worthless Without Action
• Scroll X - Pray to God for Guidance

I was introduced to a second book called “The Dip” by Seth Godin, by an email from gapingvoid.com . I get an email every day from them and it has the greatest “life” cartoons. The book is about “being the best in the world”. It is a short read but very inspiring.

I read this quote today “If you expect the world to be fair with you because you are fair, you’re fooling yourself. That’s like expecting the lion not to eat you because you didn’t eat him.” Make sure you have friends that can support you and family that can be with you and most of all believe in yourself.