The Secret To Life Stabilization… Friends

Posted on March 30, 2009 | Filed Under Philosophical Reflections

One of the basic ingredients to a healthy and balanced life is friends.  The people we call friends should add something positive to our life and bring a sense of balance to who we are.  The quality of a person can be determined by the company they keep.  There are three basic types of friends:  medicinal, neutralizing, and toxic. 

The medicinal friends are those who when you come into contact with them they make you a better person.  They have a healing effect that assist you in reaching towards your goals.  You will always know them because when you achieve something they are genuinely happy for you and want you to achieve more.  With this friendship, there is often a give and take.  You will experience times where you are helping them and then there are times they are helping you.  This is the type of friend you want in your life.  Build more of this friendships and watch your life become greater than you can imagine. 

The neutralizing friends are those people who we hang around with who really don’t add anything to our life and at the same time do not take anything away.  They may share your joy in accomplishments; however, there really isn’t an exchange of any sort.  These people simply fill up space in your life so we are not alone.  This type of friend should either be taken to the next level (medicinal) or gotten rid of.

The last group of friends is the toxic friends.  These are the friends who everyone has and yet it seems like you can’t get rid of them (like a bad cold).  The friendship revolves around who they are or what they want.  If something good happens to you or you achieve a goal, they may say congratulations; however, they quickly move on to when they did that or something they achieved.  When you want to do something new they are the friend who tells you all the things that can go wrong.  While they may not seem negative, they slowly suck all the joy of life out of you.  They are not a support and the best thing you can ever do is to get rid of them. 

Fill your lives with positive and uplifting friends.  Make them the medicine to heal your soul.

Get Out What You Put In

Posted on March 27, 2009 | Filed Under Philosophical Reflections

There is a principle that called GIGO.  GIGO is an old computer programming term that means “garbage in – garbage out.”  The theory resides in the fact that you can only get out of something what you are putting in.  Thus, if you put good stuff into your life, then you can get good stuff out of it. 

One of the places that your emotional and energy output can be an indicator of inward reserves is in moments of crisis.  Have you ever seen a person go into crisis?  One person is calm, cool and collected.  The other is an emotional mess.  One has the ability to make decisions.  The other is systematically paralyzed.  One pulls from an inner strength.  The other falls apart.  What is the difference?  The difference is what the individuals have been putting into themselves.  Positive stuff needs to be constantly put into your life in order to pull the more positive sense of balance out in crisis.   

Look at your life and try to determine what is flowing into your life.  Does your music have a positive message?  Do your friends have a positive attitude?  Do your television shows and movie have positive messages?  What about the books you are reading? 

A conscious effort to ensure positive stuff is coming in is a choice to ensure you are getting positive stuff out when things are going the way you want them to go.

Surrounding Yourself With Good

Posted on March 25, 2009 | Filed Under Philosophical Reflections

If you were cooking a gourmet meal with all the fancy frilies, it doesn’t take much to ruin it.  Add double the salt, let the pepper shaker top fall off, or add a 1/3 cup of vinegar.  It can ruin the whole meal.  The same thing can happen in life.  There are people who have a positive outlook on life and people who are negative.  There are people who spend their life doing good things and people who become indifferent.  Our lives reflect the people we spend our time with. 

Want to do something great?  Find someone who is doing something great and hang around them.  You will find motivation in their energy and strength in their resolve.  You can find inspiration at someone who fights the odds and achieves great things.  It will help you achieve great things. 

The difference between people who are able to maintain a positive attitude, achieve great things, fight the odds, and break through the barriers of change to succeed is who they surround themselves with.  Surround yourself with people who have vision and people who are going somewhere.  You might just be suprised where it takes you!

The Power of Searching

Posted on March 24, 2009 | Filed Under Philosophical Reflections

A young man who had been down on his luck and didn’t have enough money for his next meal began to try to find a solution.  He figured he would go through the house and find enough spare change to feed himself one more meal.  He began by lifting up the cushions on the couch.  Then he started going through the pockets of all his pants.  He came to this pair that was hanging up that had not been worn for some time.  They no longer fit him and so he almost skipped over them; however, his search was intense and so he pulled them down and slipped his hands into the pocket.  He was amazed when he found two twenty dollar bills.  Now instead of one more meal, he would eat for the rest of the week.

It is only when we begin looking for something that we even have the slightest chance of finding it.  No body ever won the lottery who didn’t buy a ticket.  In the same respect, if we want to find something great, then we must start looking for it.  The power of our own intentions determines our direction and our success. 

A couple that is broke and focuses on cutting the budget will find exactly what they are seeking – places where they are losing money.  The same couple when faced with the shortage begins looking where they can make more money will find that, as well.  This is a small but significant difference.  When someone is unhappy with their life and they begin to take inventory of it, the will find many reasons to be unhappy. 

So if you are not achieving what you wish, then ask yourself what you are looking for.  You are seeking it whether you realize it or not.  Then make a conscious decision to look for your dream.  Amazingly, you will find that too!  Go seek and you will find.

Our Most Precious Asset…Integrity

Posted on March 22, 2009 | Filed Under Philosophical Reflections

You can call it your reputation, your word, or whatever you wish.  It takes years to build and moments to lose.  It is at its truest form when no one is watching.  It is often underestimated.  The poorest of people can own it and the wealthiest of people can’t buy it.  It is your integrity.

 As children we used to ask silly questions like, “would you rob a bank if you knew you could never get caught?”  The question is a loaded question.  It is an insight into who we really are down deep inside.  Integrity is doing the right thing when no one else is looking. 

Integrity is not taking something that doesn’t belong to you (including the inconsequential office supplies from your job) and not taking advantage of an opportunity simply because you can. 

The one thing that I have learned is that your integrity will shine like a full moon on a dark night.  It always comes out.  If you don’t protect it, then it always surfaces to humiliate you at the most awkward moment.  If you protect it and treat it as a valuable asset, then it can pull you up from the depths of failure to give you a second chance. 

Integrity is not negotiable without being lost.  It is not compromised without it losing value.  It is not bent without being broken.

Therefore, guard your integrity with the greatest of your strength.  Make as though your very life depends on it.  A person of integrity is worth their weight in gold.

The Most Precious Commodity of Life… Time

Posted on March 19, 2009 | Filed Under Philosophical Reflections

Success is not a principle of your bank account.  Finances come and go.  Someone who is financially broke simply needs to make more money.  If you are time broke, there is no ability to make more time.  Time is a measured asset that we are all given equally.  From the richest to the poorest, the infamous to the forgotten… all have twenty-four hours a day.  The measure of our true worth is how we spend our time. 

I was recently told a story of two men who were diagnosed with a fatal disease and told they only had six months left.  One man took his six months to live a life.  Spending time with people who were important and doing things that created moments to remember, life was his choice.  The other man took his six months to die.  He felt sorry for what was and talked about the inevitable.  He pulled away and began to be depressed.  Two men, equal time, two different lives!

Find inspiration…  Sing a Song… Dance to a Beat… Lay in the Grass… Begin to Live!  It is YOUR TIME!

A New Perspective

Posted on March 3, 2009 | Filed Under Philosophical Reflections

It is so important to keep your perspective on life new and refreshing.  You change your clothes because they began to smell if you don’t.  Life perspectives are a lot like clothing.  If you don’t change it, then it begins to stink.  When life becomes stale, your attitude can grow stagnant.  Those are the times you may not feel like doing anything.  Those things that you know that are necessary… they just don’t get done.  This is often the predecessor to stinkin’ thinkin’. 

You can revitalize our outlook by engaging new experiences.  Just like when you desire to bring excitement to your wardrobe, wear some color.  Same thing applies to life perspectives.  When you need to bring a new zeal, then bring the colors of life into view.  Find something that you have passion for and give it all you have.  Find something that brings a smile, and fill your life. 

It is up to you what perspective your life has today.  You can choose the grey and dreary OR you can choose the colors of life.  What will you choose?

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