Who will you be?

As I stood in the checkout line at the grocery store I read through the titles on the magazine's in front of me. I see two vast differences, many focus on potential dirty little secrets of celebreties, others talk about greatness or ways to spruce things up in your life or your house. I can't help but think these magazine's really represent who we choose to be in our life.

Each day we have a choice, we can focus and worry about others little secrets or we choose to improve our lives everyday. The reality is we all have little secrets, little faults, little challenges, but if that is all we focus on we become little people. Of we choose to improve, to be better then we were the day before we will grow. We can build up ourselves, and become an inspiration. Show our strength to others so they focus on our qualities and our faults can fade away.

Each day we can stand up and be better, worry about how we are impacting others, how we are improving our lives and the lives of others. We need to avoid worrying if others have more faults or more strengths. We all outshine others in one way and others outshine us in others. As we all focus on the good and move away from jealousy we grow as people and as humans.

Motivate, inspire and find your focus!

Positive change

They only cause damage! Take your drama somewhere else! I don't need you in my life.

So often we push people away in a negative way. We assume because we don't connect that they must be a bad person. They must be a negative person. Why do we do this, why is it a negative perspective we take when the piece doesn't fit. How do we change our perspective to a positive twist. We must find a way to realize that just because someone doesn't fit with us, just because we bring out the bad in each other does not make them or us a bad person.

Think of relationships like magnets. Do you remember playing with magnets as a kid, you would be building a train or creating a design and suddenly as you place the one magnet it pushes the rest away, it is a polar opposite. We don't get angry at that piece, we move it around see if it will fit, try a different angle and if it still doesn't fit we set it aside and maybe try it later. Why can't we treat relationships the same way. When it doesn't fit, when we push each other away, step away, don't get angry, don't discount this person or yourself, just walk away and see if you learned anything.

Take time in life to realize that almost everyone has a positive side. We are all human and sometimes we don't fit together, but we fit with someone, we make someone happy and a better person. Stop pushing people away and assuming they are poisonous because you didn't fit. This attitude only adds poison to your life. Any time you reflect an attitude toward someone else you take a bit of that on yourself. So look at them, see the positive but know you have to walk away. Be happy, be positive and remember that we all have value.

Motivate, inspire and find your focus.

White noise

The better you do the more attention you draw. The harder you fight the bigger you challenges will be, and the greater our victories. Everyday we fight to succeed, each of us push to get to our next level! In that fight we face a constant feedback from those around us. The better we do the more people feel they need to give feedback.

How do we sort through that feedback. How do we convert compliments and criticism into motivation? We need to keep our head up, we need to hear the feedback and instantly filter, is their value to be gained or is it just jealousy? Can I take this and become stronger or is someone just trying to pull me down? Most people have the best of intentions so normally with a quick filter we can find feedback, we can learn a quick lesson on how our actions impact those around us. In that though we cannot dwell. We must continue to strive forward. If you stop you will get stuck, for a minute for and hour or for a day, but if you stop you will get stuck.

So learn to know that all criticism and all compliments are only feedback. Filter it and use it to make you stronger, move forward and live stronger.

Motivate, inspire and find your focus!

Knocked down.

One thing I have learned over time is I would prefer to get physically knocked down 100 times before getting mentally knocked down. One can be physically beaten and remain mentally strong. One can be broken and bruised and still have mental resolve.

When ones mental resolve begins to slip it is a different story. It comes with time, little things chop away at it. One day you feel like you are falling behind, but you catch up the next day. Another day you feel like you are slipping a bit, but you but things back together. Then you find you aren't sleeping, too much to worry about. You start to lose confidence, but you find strength and get yourself running again.

Then one day you mentally break, all mental focus falls down, you question your resolve. It may have been the smallest thing, but it knocks you right out. You question your actions, your choices, you go over everything in your head 100 times. You start questioning the things in your life that are working, just because it can't make sense that anything is working at this point.

Now.... How do you reset, how do you start to rebuild. When you question your ability to do everything you know, how do you put yourself back together?

You start small! You do rebuild. You start changing habits, guarantee you are sabotaging yourself now everyday. You are losing yourself in time sinks, you are focusing on your flaws not your strengths. So you start again! You can't and don't want to become who you were before, that person broke, you need to improve, you need to move forward one step at a time and start recreating yourself. Take all the positives and bring them along, use them as your foundation. But every time you find a weakness, drop kick it right out the door. The only way to find your resolve is once again prove that you can rebuild, that the only reason you broke is because you were too strong, you lost flexibility and lost focus. Inspire yourself, motivate yourself and focus on the silver lining.

Motivate, inspire and find your focus.

Moments

A moment passes and we sit wondering where it has gone. A past moment flashes through our mind and a wave emotions sweeps over us. This thing we call life is just a blur of moments all put together.

When we are young we are told not to waste a moment, as we get older we are often told that we won't forget this moment. As a parent we try to capture and hold every moment. And finally we cherish the moments we have had.

As I sit and reflect, as I struggle to find the energy, the strength, that I need to get through I suddenly notice moments slipping past. I realize that in my struggle to find happiness I am actually letting it slip away. Moments are fleeting and our strength becomes just the same. I need to get to my feet, but first I need to take a moment. Now I stop and look around. In my weakness comes my haste, how can I regain my strength, how can I find the answers to get through.

I see now that the answer is in the moments, all the moments around me. I need to take a moment more to love, a moment longer to hold. I need to cherish the moments when I smile, cherish the moments when my loved ones laugh. I start to gather all my moments, hold them close but not lose myself in them. I must embrace the moments I have had and strive to create new memories everyday.

To move forward we must hold what we have, celebrate the moments of love, of laughter and of joy. At the same time we must always move forward, we must search for more love, more laughter and more joy. If we don't see it around us, then create it. Laugh for no reason at all, stand up and dance well after the music has stopped. Scream when you need to scream and cry when you need to cry, but when you are done reflect on a moment that made you smile and carry that forward to make you stronger, not the pain, just the joy. Live in the moment, for the moment!

Motivate, inspire and find your focus.

Through the trees.

As I climbed the hill I stopped for a moment to look out over the area I had come from. Then I looked straight out. I could see a break in the trees but no matter how hard I looked I could not focus on the trees in the distance. My eyes would not move focus from the trees nearest me. For a moment I found focus half way, but could not clearly see the trees out ahead of me. I turned and started to work the rest of the way up the hill, it was steep and I am out of shape. Nearing the top my heart pounded and my muscles asked for a break. I would not stop, I had to reach the top! Finally I crested, I slowed to a walk and worked through the pain the was washing through me.

This run brought a reminder of clarity to me. No matter how hard we look to the future it is never clear. The more that is currently around us the harder it is to understand what the future will hold. Though there was beauty around me, I didn't want to see it, I wanted to move forward and see what was beyond the trees. At these moments we need to remember, we will get there. The trees, the noise around us it where we are, we must see it, slow and recognize what is around us. Focus on the leaves, see the branches. This help make the path more clear. Push forward and in time we will get to where we want to be.

The other point of clarity came in the last steps of the hill. Sometimes life hurts, some times it rips us apart from the inside, sometimes we just want to give in. But we can't we have to push through. There are points that if we stop and feel the pain we will only fall, lose ground and sometimes become lost. If we can keep going, dig deep and find the last bit of strength we will have time to recover, there are breaks, sometime that break is only slowing from a run to a walk, but it is still a break. Look around as you push, find a hand hold, pull with all your strength. Just because you are on your feet, doesn't mean you can't reach out and use your hands. See the trees use them to pull forward.

When we connect the little things when we appreciate what is right beside us, what is just a bit in front of us, we find the strength to get to the next phase. No one ever said it was going to be easy, no one ever said it would be this hard either. But inside we all have strength, around us each of us have trees to lean on. Dig deep, push through, don't forget to look around you, see the trees, and at the same time, keep your head up and know there is a path through the forest. You will come through and you will be scratched, you will hurt and you will be stronger.

Motivate inspire and find your focus!

Strength!

I cry... Sometimes I yell when I am mad. I get scared. At times I don't have the answer. It is not uncommon for me to need help from another. And I have even been known to be outright wrong!

Some have said these are signs of weakness. Some try to hold these things against people. But overtime I have learned that these are signs of being human. Accepting our emotions, knowing our flaws can be our greatest strength. It is funny that in a world of humans, being human can be a strength.

Take control, take your power back and be strong. Know that you are human, trust your feelings, and embrace who you are. Learn to step out and scream to the mountains. Believe in cranking the music and singing your heart you. Release your emotions, once you learn to let them out you can begin to let them out at the right time, you learn to walk away, or to step up.

Our lives are full of too many surprises don't let yourself be one of them. Know you are strong, know those tears are just you letting go of something that need a way out. Express yourself and accept yourself. In a world of surprises surprise everyone with how truly strong you are!

Motivate inspire and find your focus!