Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains taken to bring it to light.

- George Washington

I thought it fitting to supply a quote from our first president on Presidents day.  I think that striving for truth has value, not only in proving you to be an honest person, but also to expose honest people to you.  What do you think?

Majestic Lake

I saw this picture and just had to share it!

The greatest crime in the world is not developing your potential. When you do what you do best, you are helping not only yourself, but the world.

- Roger Williams

I've always worried that I'm not living up to my potential.  Sometimes I realize I'm not trying as hard as I should and other times I know I'm pushing too hard.  I guess it's a matter of finding balance without complacency.  What do you think?

Expect the Unexpected

It’s funny how some clichés still have the power to make you think.  Life as we know it has twists and turns that effect the course of our journey.  We all know this, but sometimes, the unexpected hits us when we least expect it.  Now I know that sounds ridiculous, you might be asking yourself, ‘how can we expect something when we are least likely to see it coming?’  Well, that’s a great question and if I had the answer to that I’d probably be a billionaire.  What I do know is how you adapt and overcome those unexpected happenings is really what makes the difference.  Our US Marines use that mantra often; Adapt and Overcome.  I would say that the more you experience, the more you can apply those lessons to new and possibly unexpected scenarios. 

Today I woke up in pain.  Don’t ask me how I did it, but I must have pulled a muscle or pinched a nerve in my neck.  It hurt like hell, actually it still bothers me and it’s been about three hours now.  Anyway, I wasn’t really expecting to deal with an injury today.  Hey, I’ve got work, personal responsibilities, chores, etc to deal with, I don’t have time to worry about being hurt.  But guess what?  I don’t have the choice Not to.  Such is life I guess.  Now it’s obvious if I was in excruciating pain I’d go to the doctor.  This minor pain should go away soon, but it was unexpected and I do have to deal with it. 

If you have a life that seems to throw things at you all the time, and those challenges just knock you off your feet, maybe you should take a second out, re-evaluate how you prepare for the daily challenge of living and change your Modus Operandi (that’s Latin for mode of operation).  For me, I think it’s better to be proactive about life instead of reactive.  The more you prepare and learn, the less likely you’ll get blindsided.  You’ll still get surprised from time to time, but that’s to be expected, right?

Nobody says you must laugh, but a sense of humor can help you overlook the unattractive, tolerate the unpleasant, cope with the unexpected, and smile through the day.

-Ann Landers

A sense of humor can get you through a lot.  Sometimes things get very serious and that's when you need a good laugh the most.

It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.

-Sir Edmund Hillary

Achievement can be considered the pinnacle of effort.  That which you have strived for, worked for, endured much, promised little and sacrificed to accomplish all becomes secondary to the pride and joy that comes with Achievement.  You’ve done it!  All feats, great and small bring with them a sense of satisfaction.  Once you’ve experienced that sense of wonder and awe at your own abilities you will finally understand what it means to be self-reliant, resilient, and persistent.  Picking a goal and powering through what life gives you to accomplish that goal has no substitute. 

Once you have reached that level of accomplishment and know what it takes to get there, you must push yourself even further.  You may have heard the old cliché “don’t rest on your laurels.”  Well basically that means you need to keep challenging yourself.  If you don’t, your achievement will fade.  I believe a fundamental goal in life should be to continually strive and push yourself to achieve ever greater accomplishments.  I can tell you personally, after 4 years, I’ve finally finished my Master’s degree.  I just received my diploma in the mail and it is now hanging on my office wall.  It means a lot to me, because I went through a lot, professionally and personally while trying to achieve that goal of getting my degree.  Now that I’m finished, I’m thinking of what my next challenge should be. 

Sir Edmund Hillary’s quote is quite apt, at least for me, but at the same time, I’m reminded of that little ditty we’d sing when we were kids “…The bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain… to see what he could see.  He saw another mountain, he saw another mountain, he saw another mountain, so guess what he did.  The bear went over the mountain…”  Life is full of mountains.  Go climb them, and conquer!

Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.

Hennry Wadsworth Longfellow

Sometimes, we make a quick judgment about someone and decide they just aren’t worth our time.  Their disposition and demeanor seem to be so outside our comfort zone we can’t relate.  It may be however, that we’ve only misinterpreted them.  People sometimes present themselves as hard and unlikable simply because they are unhappy.  That doesn’t mean they’re not worth knowing.