Order this costume from Oriental Trading!
Trust me, you’re gonna want to buy this costume. OK, maybe not.
Whether you ever wear this or not, you should leave a comment with your caption for the picture. It’s a real beauty!
Caption, please!
Be more specific!
“I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.” ~ Lily Tomlin
I seem to have a knack for asking difficult questions.
Sometimes I ask people “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” I’m constantly surprised at the variety of answers I get. Mostly I hear a lot of vagueness, generalities and uncertainty. Granted, I know that sometimes people get blindsided by unexpected life events. I’m aware. If you’ve lived for any length of time, you see that sometimes it takes longer to get there than you think. I feel you on that one.
But… why is it that we have allowed the unknown to swallow up our vision?
The unknowns should be irrelevant to our vision. So what if my 5 year plan takes 8 years or 10 years to play out? At least it’s a plan with attainable goals and recognizable milestones. (Think of attainable goals as your “to-do” list and milestones as landmarks or road signs on the journey.) The time it takes to get “there” isn’t as important as getting there. What is important is knowing the difference between short-term and long-term goals. Big difference.
So how can you tell the difference between short-term and long-term goals?
Good question (if I do say so myself.)
In my life, short term goals are ones that are actionable with steps and order. I tend to see my long term goals more like a jigsaw puzzle. Usually there are pieces I see very clearly, but don’t really understand yet how they connect to each other. Over time, the picture becomes clearer and understanding comes regarding necessary action steps to get “there.” At that point, it moves over to the short term goals.
No goals, no vision, no plans is unacceptable. Not good. No bueno.
If you don’t set goals and make plans, how will your dreams ever be achievable?
If you don’t know where you’re headed, how will you know when you get there?
It’s time to get specific with your vision, goals and plans. Don’t worry about the unknowns. Deal with them as you become aware of their potential, but by all means PLAN. Be realistic. Be strategic. Be thinking.
Be specific.
After all, you never know when I’m going to ask you a difficult question like “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?!”
Defy your limitations!!!
Image by Julian Bialowas
Who says your limitations are REALLY your limitations?
Who told you?
They are probably wrong… whoever “they” is.
Every day YOU get to decide how far to push the envelope. Nobody else gets to decide that.
You are capable of far more than you ever thought or dreamed possible.
Be your own biggest fan.
Be your own coach.
Be your own personal cheering section.
Defy your limitations.
Got a great idea? Do something with it!
“I have far more respect for the person with a single idea who gets there than for the person with a thousand ideas who does nothing.” ~ Thomas Edison
We’ve all witnessed this scenario. You are talking about some cool new innovation, invention or product and someone says, “I thought of that a long time ago. I even told so and so about it. Man, I should be getting royalties on that!”
Not so much.
Here’s the truth. Ideas are useless without action. Action, or as I like to call it, WORK is what gets rewarded. Ideas don’t ever help people unless they are followed up with the work it takes to give birth to them.
Let’s get something straight.
Just between us.
Having ideas should never be the goal. The true prize goes to those who actually do something with the ideas that float through their minds. Just one concept could be a life-changer for someone if you actually followed through on it.
Ideas don’t bear fruit. Work does.
Ideas are not the end, but the beginning. I believe that God gives us inspired ideas and hands them over to us for our part – work. Our goal should be to take ideas and bring them to reality in the earth.
It could be the reason other people invent the things others think about is this: God releases ideas into the earth to see who will catch them and decide to turn them to labor. When one doesn’t respond, perhaps he whispers it in the heart of some else who will carry the torch. This process could happen over and over with just one idea.
I wonder how many people it takes. You know, before God finds someone who will say “yes.” Someone who will take one of His suggestions and commit to make it their work?
I think it’s time to put our hand to the plow.
Here is some food for meditation:
“… a person receives God’s approval because of what he does, not only because of what he believes.” (James 2:24 GWT)
“Like billowing clouds that bring no rain is the person who talks big but never produces.” (Proverbs 25:14 MSG)
“A tree is identified by its fruit.” (Luke 6:44 NLT)
Ummm. You forgot to put on some clothes!
“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” ~ Mark Twain
Have you ever laid out your clothes the night before a big something the next day? I bet when it was time, you remembered to put them on. If you didn’t… well, that would just be wrong. And weird. And foolish.
No matter who you are, clothes are just a necessity when you’re in public. But, even in the awesome outfit you’re sporting right now you might be naked.
On edge?
Crabby?
Short-tempered?
Touchy?
You forgot to put on some of your clothes.
“Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.” (Colossians 3:12-14 NLT)
According to this passage, Paul tells us we should be wearing:
- Tenderhearted mercy
- Kindness
- Humility
- Gentleness
- Patience
- Love
What a list. If you forgot them, it’s not too late to put these clothes on today.
You should. It’s your only hope of having the kind of influence you hope to have. Plus, we all like you MUCH better when you’re wearing all your clothes.
Sleep? Who needs it?! You do!!!
“Personally, I enjoy working about 18 hours a day. Besides the short catnaps I take each day, I average about four to five hours of sleep per night.” ~ Thomas Edison
Brilliant as he was, Edison was wrong about this one. If you identify with his statement, you’re wrong too. And dangerous. And DRUNK.
Drunk? Yep.
Maybe I should explain. Research shows that trying to function on a lack of sleep will give you the mental capacity of a serious drinker. Actually, more like a drunk. Your thoughts will be fuzzy, with no real clarity. You know… like… drunk. Really drunk.
BBC Science recently reported the following findings on sleep deprivation:
“With continued lack of sufficient sleep, the part of the brain that controls language, memory, planning and sense of time is severely affected, practically shutting down. In fact, 17 hours of sustained wakefulness leads to a decrease in performance equivalent to a blood alcohol level of 0.05% (two glasses of wine). This is the legal drunk driving limit in the UK.”
Ouch.
They go on to say…
“Research also shows that sleep-deprived individuals often have difficulty in responding to rapidly changing situations and making rational judgements. In real life situations, the consequences are grave and lack of sleep is said to have been be a contributory factor to a number of international disasters such as Exxon Valdez, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and the Challenger shuttle explosion.”
There you have it. You would never allow yourself to stay drunk on the job, drunk behind the wheel, drunk all the time. At least I hope you wouldn’t.
You should take a serious look at your own sleep deprivation.
Sleep is not a luxury. You were built to require it. It’s time you started paying attention to your need for it. Ignorance is dangerous. So are you if you ignore the warning signs your body and mind are giving you.
I hope this post inspires you to re-think your relationship with sleep… and the get some. As soon as possible.
Have you had a dangerous close call because of exhaustion? What was it?
Phenominal! Bike Parkour!!!
I’m sure by now you’ve heard of parkour. You know, that sport where people run up the sides of buildings and such.
How about BIKE parkour?
This video is not for the faint of heart. Not gonna lie, I got a little nervous watching this. I can’t even imagine the skill it takes to do this. I shouldn’t have to say this but… DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME.
It does make me wonder – how does one go about practicing this kind of thing. Without serious injury or death?
So cool. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did, my friends!
They put WHAT in the fine print?!!!
“Nothing in fine print is ever good news.” ~ Andy Rooney
Things are not usually as they seem on the surface, especially if there’s fine print involved. Case in point: have you ever actually read all of the user agreements that come attached to social media, software and such? Right. Me either. So how we really know the terms of the agreement? There might be stuff in there you would never agree to, but you don’t know if you skip that part.
We should really be reading the fine print.
Take the picture above. It’s one I took recently near my house while putting fuel in one of my cars. Looks delicious, right? I mean – what could possibly be bad about a meal that you buy from a gas station. Pshhh. That sandwich looks AMAZING. But… there was a little disclaimer stuck on the poster. And by little, I mean tiny. About the size of a few postage stamps.
Here’s what the disclaimer said:
Raw chicken lips?
OK, this was obviously a prank. Right? Or was it? The devil might be in the fine print. Chicken lips could be in there, too. Read it, or you may never know for sure.
“If you’ve impulsively promised the shirt off your back and now find yourself shivering out in the cold, friend, don’t waste a minute, get yourself out of that mess.” ~ Proverbs 6:2-3 (The Message)
Let’s keep ourselves out of trouble. We should know what we’re agreeing to when we agree to it.
For the record, I would never agree to chicken lips.
You?
