Victory in ......

I appreciate this excerpt of a speech so much especially when faced with those slow to act and confrontationists. It's not the critic that counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errors and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat. -Theodore Roosevelt We watch movie after movie of entertaining lives of those who have dared to enter the arena in whatever form you want to talk about. I feel it is...

There are many pleading whoas and raging their gnashing teeth in the streets of America. It seems that everyone is either "fed" up or "given" in. As hard times ebb and flow like the waves on the ocean, it is our resolve to prepare for such barreling waves of trouble. Maybe you find yourself under a wave, rolling in what seems like an endless current. You might possibly feel like a Jonah, spit up on the beach in wonderment of how you got where you are. Somehow you have found yourself here, in this place, at this moment. Not hours before or years ahead, but here....NOW. Hard times can befall us all, but we don't end our journey in hard times. You might say, well this is going to be just another motivational post of getting up and dusting ourselves off. I don't reconcile that fact. Yes we must get up, but it is why we get up that lasts. Of all success that I have seen, no one can boost they did it alone, nor should they. We have all had the helping hand of on...

After reviewing the book Compassionate Samurai by Brian Klemmer, I felt the need to post his excerpt on choice. It seems that most in our nation are choosing to not choose. It seems as most are seemingly spiraling out of control to each whim and whirl of the next entertaining episode or media craze of the day. I truly wish for all to find true joy in their ability to choose their outcomes over time as they choose to serve as the samurai did. When we choose to not follow a crowd and decide to stand firm on principles, we indirectly influence the choice of others. A friend and colleague Chris Brady references the ability of a person to become the example of a more straightened line to influence others by showing them the line that you keep as a standard. We have a life to live, possibly a family to take care of, obligations, fears, and dreams. At some point, a choice is to be made. That choice will be to live on purpose or to keep going through the motions as the speeding hour glas...