The Road to Lifestyle

"I may be sitting in the corner, but I'm standing up on the inside." - Unknown

There is no better time than NOW. The time to live is NOW. The time to dream is NOW. The time to imagine and forget the past is NOW. The time to shine is NOW. -Unknown

I was not able to find an official copy of this story... but it went something like this... An old alley cat spies a little kitten chasing its tail and asks, "What are you doing?" The little kitten replies, "Well, I have just returned from Cat Philosophy school where I learned the two most important lessons that any cat can learn!" "And what, my little friend, might those be?" the alley cat said with a grin. "First, that the most important thing for a cat is Happiness and secondly, that Happiness is located in a cat's tail," said the kitten. The kitten continued, "So I surmised that if I chase my tail until I finally catch it, I will have Happiness forever!" The old cat replied, "Well, I haven't had the same opportunities as you and I have not had a chance to go to Cat Philosophy school; I have simply wandered the alleys most of my life. But amazingly I have been able to come to the same conclusion as you! Happiness is in f...

Have you ever considered the possibility that "the way we see the problem is the problem" as Stephen Covey discusses in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People ? When I was in elementary school I remember one particular exercise that had a tremendous impact on me and quite frankly, has shaped the way I view the world. I remember being given close up shots of photos to look at and I was asked to give my honest reaction to each one. One particular photo had a car parked in two parking spots; the car intersected the parking spots diagonally. My initial reaction was, "How rude! They are taking up two spots!" Next I was shown the same photo however instead of the close up of the car in the parking spots, I could now see the building that the car was sitting in front of. The sign on the building said "Emergency Room" and I was told that someone's wife was about to have a baby and they had just pulled up to the hospital. I was again asked for my rea...

This evening I went to the gym. A friend called me as I was about to exit my car and I told him how excited I was about certain happenings this past week. I told him that I loved life! That little things make all the difference... that a small goal realized can be such a tremendous joy in of itself. We finished up our conversation and out I went into the chill of the evening air. As I walked up to the building I noticed a small bird sitting on the sidewalk. I walked up to the little bird, squatted, and stroked his back gently with the back of my index finger. I assumed it was a boy. I asked, "Are you OK?" He fluffed up a bit... I stroked his back again, he spun around, and took flight. I watched as he disappeared into the darkness and smiled to myself, grateful for the experience. I continued on to my intended destination. As I left the gym, I texted my friend... I briefly related the story and said, "You know, I think he just wanted someone to ask him if he was OK....

So it went something like this... I know millionaires... I know millionaires that look like they just lost their dog. And I know folks that are so low they could swing their legs sittin' on a dime. But they have found the joy in their lives; they feel blessed even though they have little. Just remember one thing: take time... take time. My son taught me that. I see the dollar signs in your eyes and I know you keep slidin' that decimal place to the right... but not for me, money isn't what I'm after. I stopped chasin' that paper. Don't forget... take time .

The encouraging thing is that every time you meet a situation, though you may think at the time it is an impossibility and you go through the tortures of the damned, once you have met it and lived through it you find that forever after you are freer than you ever were before. If you can live through that you can live through anything. You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' The danger lies in refusing to face the fear, in not daring to come to grips with it. If you fail anywhere along the line, it will take away your confidence. You must make yourself succeed every time. You must do the thing you think you cannot do. - Eleanor Roosevelt