We All Endure Tough Times

We all go through tough times. It doesn't matter if you are a professional athlete, a movie star, a business coach, a stay-at-home Mom or even the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

We give up on our dream . . . We fall out of love . . . We, or someone very close to us, gets diagnosed with an incurable disease . . . Or we simply lose our vision - the future we hope to have.

In spite of the immense struggle these life changing events can create for us, they do not define us. Nor do they define anyone else on this earth.

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Viktor Frankl was not defined by his captivity in Nazi Germany.

However, his resiliency and ability to survive did define him.

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Hellen Keller was not defined by the childhood disease that took away her sight, hearing, and ability to speak.

She was for the gifts and ideas
she has given the world
in spite of her disabilities.

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Christopher Reeve was not defined by his tragic horse jumping accident.

He will be remembered for his will to survive and be a role model for thousands who suffered spinal injuries like his own.

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A lesson that I have had to personally re-learn is:

No matter what difficulties you might face, no matter how hard things may seem, others have faced similar problems. Some choose to let the struggles dominate their lives and let those moments define the rest of their lives.

While others, those we call tend to call "Heroic" and "Inspirational", choose a different path. Rather than giving in to the circumstances which they faced, they stood up (sometimes even when they didn't have the strength to do so), and took the first step of the rest of their lives towards the dreams they have - towards the life they choose. Not the one that choose them.

Maybe, someday I'll be looked at as inspirational, but that's not why I choose to move forward. I choose to move forward because I choose to make my dreams come true - to be the person that I want to be, not the one that many others have thought I should be . . . or the one that life is / was steering me to become.

Thank you all who are reading this blog. I have been away for a month or so - lost in my own world. I hope that you find your way back to reading my ideas and thoughts again in the coming days, weeks and months.

Bless You.

Where Are You In Your Life?

Where are you in your life?

Are you at the beginning with your whole life ahead of you?

Are you in the middle, with as many days behind you as you have ahead of you?

Or are you nearing the end with much of you life's story already told?

But more importantly, does it matter? Is the value of your life defined by the time you have already spend on this earth, the quantity of time you have left, or what you make of the time that you are blessed with?

It will probably come as no surprise - I personally feel all that really matters is how you spend your remaining time on this earth - not what you have done before or how much time you have left to do it.

Two, amazingly true stories that most people are familiar with that define this idea of quality of your time remaining are about Randy Pausch and Alexandra Scott.

Randy Pausch, a Computer Science Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, took his final days in his battle against pancreatic cancer to deliver a moving speech, his last lecture as a Professor, that made the world stop and take notice. The speech which he ended up giving a number of times to numerous audiences afterwards, was hit with millions of people around the world and passed on a legacy to his children that will shape their live forever. (click here to watch a reprisal of Randy Pausch's last lecture).

Alexandra "Alex" Scott, a young girl who, just two days before her first birthday, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a pediatric cancer. During the remaining seven years of her life, with the assistance of her brother, Alex raised over $1,000,000 to help other children who are fighting cancer selling lemonade. Today, her passion to make a difference is the inspiration behind, Alex's Lemonade Stand, a non-profit foundation that has raised over $25 Million. Their motto is fighting Childhood Cancer, one cup at a time.

These two stories are inspirations. But YOU don't have to wait to find out that you are going to die, to do the same. Rather than just waking up every morning and living the same day you lived yesterday, "make a difference". Grow and become who you want to be - whomever that is.

Don't wait for someday. Because although the time you have left on this earth doesn't matter to how much of a difference you can make, it is limited, and there is no guarantee for another tomorrow.

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If you are interested in reading a great true story or watching a wonderful movie about the making a difference with your life, even if it is from your own bed with Lou Gehrig's Disease, check out "Tuesdays With Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man, and LIfe's Greatest Lesson". A fantastic story, that is a must read. And an amazing portrayal by Jack Lemmon of Morrie Schwartz in the made for TV movie of the same name.