Character

Wikipedia defines it as:

Moral character or character is an evaluation of an individuals moral qualities. The concept of character can imply a variety of attributes including the existence or lack of virtues such as integrity, courage, fortitude, honesty, and loyalty, or of good behaviors or habits.

So, Good Character in a person can be defined as a person having the following traits:

• Integrity
• Courage
• Fortitude
• Honesty
• Loyalty
• Good Behaviors and or Habits

I believe that character is what defines a person. I believe that these are more than just words, these are the traits that we should strive to live by. I believe that a person of high moral character is a person to be admired. I believe we should live a great life and achieve great things, but we should do it while upholding our high moral character. We should do it by taking the road less traveled, by taking the high road.

I will be talking about each trait listed above in greater detail in future blogs. I will end this blog with a quote from the United States Air Force Academy

We define character as the sum of those qualities of moral excellence that stimulates a person to do the right thing, which is manifested through right and proper actions despite internal or external pressures to the contrary.

Man in The Mirror

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,
And think you're a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you've cheated the guy in the glass.

Dale Wimbrow 1895-1954

Brother and Sisters

I have been blessed in my life to be the youngest child in a family of six. Throughout my life they have all played an influential part at different stages of my journey. They each seemed to help me with their God given gifts at the right time and when I needed it the most.

During different times of my life and during different struggles my brothers and sisters each seemed to take a role in helping me along with my life issues. As a young boy and into my teenage years my Oldest sister gave me a glance of a better life and it opened my eyes to the world outside of my small town. I had never been on a family vacation that I could remember and at age 14 she took me to Hilton Head, South Carolina. I swam in the ocean for the first time and stayed in a hotel and condo. This was a small act of kindness, but a major life event to a young teenage boy. As I became old enough to drive, my oldest brother became influential in my life by helping me get my first car. He taught me how to work on cars, but more importantly he taught me that I could do anything that I wanted to do. All I had to do was just start doing it and I could figure it out as I go. This has been an extremely important life lesson that I have been able to use over and over in my life. During a lonely time in my life my sister (youngest sister) helped me in two critical times of my life. In my first year of college I was having a hard time with keeping my grades up and completing the requirements. I was 21 years of age and had went into the service out of high school and then went on to college. I felt that I was not going to be able to do it and that I was too old to finish my education. She talked me into staying and completing the 5 year degree. She did that by telling me that I was going to be 26 no matter what and that I might as well have a degree at 26 then be 26 without a degree. It seems like a little thing, but It was the motivation I needed to finish that freshman year and finish my degree. A short time after graduation I was going through another very tough time in my life and that same sister gave me motivational cassette tapes. It was a small gesture but a large influence in my life. It set me on a path working towards bettering myself both mentally and physically that continues on even to this day. My middle sister played an almost immeasurable part of my life by just loving me unconditionally and never judging me. No matter what had happened in my life and or what I needed she always showed that she truly cared and loved her little brother. I didn't know how it was a truly helpful thing until later in my life. Finally, my oldest brother becoming a Christian and showing me through his faith that it is okay to be a Christian man helped me immensely when I felt Jesus pulling at my heart strings and I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior.

My brothers and sisters have helped their baby brother in more ways then they could have ever have known. I have grown to appreciate them more in my older age than I ever did when they I was young and they have influenced my life in so many positive ways.

I hope when they think about their youngest brother they realize that their love and acts if kindness has helped create the person I'm today.

The Buzzard, the Bat, and the Bumblebee

THE BUZZARD:
If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.
THE BAT:
The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.
THE BUMBLEBEE:
A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.
PEOPLE:
In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up!Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, But faith looks up!Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly and trust in our Creator who loves us.

Today is God's gift, that's why we call it the present.

Anonymous Email

Stop and Smell the Roses

Someone I work with today told me that their son-in-law died Sunday of a blood clot. This was a sudden and unexpected death. Other than thinking about the anguish and sorrow that his family will feel for the lost loved one, I found my thoughts thinking about slowing down and appreciating my own life. What I mean is that we all need to "Stop and Smell the Roses", we need to treat each day as if it is our last. Because only the good Lord knows how many days we have left in this life. We seem to get concerned about so many petty things that in the scheme of the big picture just do not matter. The only thing that really matters is to:

Mark 12:30 NIV

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 'The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

That is really all that matters, not what are we wearing, not if I will get my work completed, not if I can pay my bills this month, all that matters is to love one another and love God.

Who are we to worry, we do not even know if we will be alive tomorrow, so kiss your loved ones often and enjoy the day that the good Lord has made.

Yard Work

I have never enjoyed yard work, mostly because I'm always busy and yard work is way down my list of important items. But I have avoided the mundane task long enough and it is time to get my yard back into some shape of decency. I must:

• Fix the hole at the bottom of the fence, the dogs are escaping from the yard
• Fill in the holes the dogs have dug in the middle of teh yard, some are so deep they are front row seats to the Beijing Olympics
• Move and stack some lumber

As I was doing the yard work, I decided that instead of looking at it like it is a hated task to be despised, I would treat it as a good time to exercise and enjoy the outdoors. With this new mind set I began my chores. I was completely covered in sweat from the hot and humid deep South day and I felt good about my work. Instead of having grumblings inside about having to do something I don't like I enjoyed it and treated it as a chance to get a physical workout outside.

It is amazing how something is perceived and how we feel about it all depending on our mindset. I know I wont be able to do only things I enjoy in life, but I will try and make the best of it and give thanks to God for the day I'm living.

Precious Time

I have been wasting the most precious thing God can give one of his children - Time! I have been going through the motions of life and not really living each day to its fullest. It isn't something that is noticeable to the casual bystander. But, through slow creep I have been using my time as Americans use oil, like there is no end. I have wasted so many of my days and nights either doing something I despise or sitting in front of the TV like a mindless zombie trying to be stimulated. Assuming that watching someone else live on TV is the same as living. I have for the last 20 months once a week had to drive 3 1/2 hours to a project for work. Once there work from 6 - 8 hours and then drive back 3 1/2 hours for a 13 - 15 hour day. This day is grueling, the drive is long and the work is predictable and boring. The whole ordeal drains me for the rest of the night and usually into the next day. I dread the day when I have to go and I try not to think about it. When I do get home I'm usually exhausted and in a bad mood so I'm short with my family. This causes me to feel remorseful for being short with my family and it causes them to be hurt and confused because they do not know why I'm irritable and short with them.

Is it worth it to spend 15 hours a week for 20 months doing something you despise. I mean is it worth (20 months x 4.33 weeks per month x 15 hours per week = 1300 hours) 1300 hours of my life doing this one thing a week that I truly despise. If you think about it, doing a job that is not fulfilling is spending one year wasting 2250 hours of your life. In a normal year you only have (18 hours day x 365 days a year = 6570 waking hours) 6570 waking hours and almost a third of it is at work. How do we go through life squandering the one thing we can never get more of - Time. We can always get more stuff, more money, more whatever, but nobody can get more time. Once our time on Earth is over it is over, why do we waste it?

I can not go on wasting my life, I do not know the plan yet, but through prayer, study, and hard work I will make my plan. Once I have the plan, I will work my plan and create a life that I'm compassionate about living. I know I will succeed because God desires this for his children.

I will not keep doing the same thing and expect different results. I will break my insanity and create a life worth living.

What Really Matters In Life?

I have been thinking about what really matters in life? Is it your job? Is it your family? Is it your religion? Is it your stuff? Is it your health? I guess to a lot of people they may not think that materialistic and or frivolous things are the most important thing to them but it is. What I mean is that I hope most people would say that the following list in descending order is their list of important items:

1. God



2. Health



3. Family



4. Friends



5. Work

We say these things listed above are our most important, but our actions says otherwise. We work long hours at the expense of our family, health, friends, and God. We put friends in front of family and or neglect our health for anything and everything. We rush around all day staying busy and not doing what we is really important. No one has ever said they wished they had spent more time at work and less time with their family, friends, etc. You can love your work, but it should never be greater in your life than God, health, family, and friends.

I feel that we should put God in the forefront of everything we do. Being mind full of our blessing and constantly thinking of and thanking God for the day we are living. We should take care of our health by eating and exercising and resting properly because without our health nothing further down the list matters. We should put our family above all other items except God and fitness, but we don't, we let our family suffer the most when time is tight. We should care about our friends and build meaningful relationships instead we neglect them because of time constraints with work and or other things.

I'm not saying that I prioritize my time to reflect my priority list, more times than not something down the list like work and or even something as wasteful as TV watching takes precedent over time praying, exercising, and even time with my family.

I think I will try to be mindful of what really matters and keep that list of importance in my heart and mind when making my decisions. I will not let an item farther down the list interfere with a item further up the list. I will not let 80 % of the stuff I do interfere with the 20% of the stuff that really matters. (80% - 20% Rule)

Good luck with your time, because all of our days are numbered and only God knows when the curtain will be pulled.

Live everyday to the fullest, but make sure it is lived doing what really matters.

Olympics make me Patriotic

Patriotism - Love of country; devotion to the welfare of one's country; the virtues and actions of a patriot; the passion which inspires one to serve one's country.
Concern for the common good of one's political community.



I can't help but cheer when American athlete's in the 2008 Summer Olympic games do well. I feel good to be an American again (Presidential Race and our energy policy are wearing on my Nerves).

Everyone in my family is yelling and clapping and cheering for the American athletes during the different events. My youngest child always ask which color uniform are the Americans wearing so he can be excited with the rest of the family. We get to watch Michael Phelps, which may be the greatest swimmer of all time, break record after record in his quest to win the most gold medals in a single Olympic game.

What a great time for the world, a small time in history where we all compete against each other in athletic endeavors for bragging rights and not on the battle field or in the courts. When it truly feels like all the different countries and nationality's could live together in this tiny fish bowl we call mother earth.

I know this is a rambling post, but I just wanted to express my Patriotic feeling during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

Go USA!!!

Goals - It is a Marathon not a Sprint

I have been thinking about Goals lately and how exciting it is to make them and how easy it is in the short term to keep working towards those new goals. You feel good about yourself knowing that in due time you will be; thin, in shape, debt free, bilingual, and or anything else that you may seem worthy to achieve.

Than something breaks the new pattern of training, reading, saving or whatever it is that is required to obtain that wanted goal. Business, family, friends, or some other seemingly important thing encroaches on your time and or resources and you quit training, dieting, etc.. Sometimes you get back on track towards the goals but most times the goals fall to the wayside and we revert to our old patterns of living. Time passes and soon another year is gone and we are no closer to achieving our wanted goals than we were at the same time a year ago when we made the goals.

I have some goals that I have been wanting to achieve for some time:

• Lose 20 lbs


• Run a 10k race


• Become Debt Free


• Learn a Second Language

A few are easier than others, but they all share the same characteristic, it takes time to achieve these goals. I didn't get out of shape and gain weight in a day and I won't loose weight and or get back in shape in a day. So, we go out and go hog wild at working towards our goals, we push ourselves, we over exert ourselves and we end up feeling miserable and dreading the next meal and or the next work-out. Than through those unbearable pain glasses we are wearing we start looking at how long it will take and we feel discouraged and quit altogether.

I believe it is all a frame of reference we have in our minds, that if we think about training, dieting, saving, etc., for a whole year we become overwhelmed and think what is the point. I will never be able to do those things and suffer for a whole year and we give up.

I have decided to achieve the following goals in the next year:

• Lose 20lbs


• Run a 10k Race

I choose those two goals from the list above because I feel they are easily achievable in a calender year. I will try a different approach and that approach as Buddha would say is the middle path. (Avoiding the two extremes)

I'm going to change my habits little by little so that the pain is not so great that I quit. I will eat healthier and if I slip, so be it, but I will go back to eating healthy. I won't beat myself up that I had a brownie, but will tell myself that it is okay as long as I don't make it a habit. Same for running, I'm starting out very slow and I will tell myself repeatedly that over time I will be running like the wind.

We all start out too drastic with our goals and that creates too much pain and we end up reverting back to our old ways. I will try and change gradually with a manageable pain threshold and work consistently for the long haul for my goals. Slowly and easily pushing myself so that I enjoy the next year. It may take me twice as long to achieve these goals than if I killed myself, but isn't life as much about the journey as the destination. No matter what and with God's good grace I will be a year older, so as I might as will get there and have something to show for my time on earth.

Wish me luck and forge your own destiny - make and work towards some new goals.

Dream, Act, Work, Live

In my previous blogs concerning work:

Golden Handcuffs
Toil is Meaningless
Just Do What

I talked about how we feel trapped in our current situations and how God wants us to live a full life. How we should have an occupation that gives us pleasure, fulfilment, and joy. In this blog I will be discussing how we might find what that job should be so that we can live a life worth living.

The ideas above have been on my mind for weeks if not months, what to do? I wish I had a template for everyone to plug in some variables and the answer be available at the bottom of the spreadsheet, but I don't. I'm just like everyone else who has ever contemplated and or day dreamed about the perfect day of work.

I read a book called "No More Mondays" by Dan Miller, this really open my mind about possibilities for how to spend 40 - 50 hours a week of my time. (Work is about 40 -50- hours per week every week) In this book Dan talks about all the possibilities that exist in our world for providing an income. He more importantly talks about how we can get to that chosen field with out quiting the job we have now and become financially ruined. That we can break the bondage of the Golden Handcuffs if we believe and act on our dreams. In this book Dan refers to another book he wrote called "48 Days to the Work You Love" I have this book and in the next 48 days I will do the exercises and see where it leads me. I will not be blogging about my journey, unless I feel a certain part of that journey needs to made public.

I hope if you are wondering if there is more to life than the day to day toil you call work that you use these last few blogs as motivation and make the life you deserve.

Dream, Act, and Live!

2008 Olympics - Live Your Dream

Commitment, Passion, Discipline, Determination, Stamina, and Love - Some traits of an Olympic Athlete.

I have never gave myself wholly to any athletic endeavor nor committed my whole life to one pursuit. So, I can not understand the commitment, discipline, and love for something that the Olympic Athletes have for their sport. I'm going to watch the 2008 Olympics to see the triumphs and defeats and to know as I'm watching that all the athletes who are representing their countries are already winners. They have already accomplished more with their life and dreams than 99% of the world's population.

Let's watch and celebrate with the athletes in the 2008 Olympics and be inspired to dream and more importantly to act on our dreams.

LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST!

John Edwards - Virtue Sold for Ambition

Virtue is moral excellence of a person. A virtue is a trait valued as being good. The conceptual opposite of virtue is vice.

I know we all make mistakes in our lives and those mistakes can have devastating consequences. It can crush family and friends by the feeling of betrayal, hurt, and sadness. This blog is not about mistakes it is about character and doing the right thing.

John will not be president and or vice president this election year due to his mistakes. That in itself is a large price to pay for his mistake, but the deep wound he cut into his wife and kids hearts is the largest tab he will pay. Remember we reap what we sow:

Galatians 6:7-8 (MSG)

Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.

I hope he makes amends with his wife and kids and I hope his wife has a full recovery from her cancer, I wish the best for them and their family.

During this election year, vote for what matters the most to you, and I hope that is a candidate that has VIRTUE.

Live a Virtuous life for yourself, for your family, for your friends, and most importantly for God.

Just Do What ?

Everyone knows about the successful slogan from Nike "Just Do It". The slogan that tells us to get off our rears and get out and do something. It is very catchy and makes a lot of sense, just go out and do something.

This blog is not about sports or leisure activities, but about what do we do for a paycheck. From my previous two blogs, Golden Handcuffs and Toil is Meaningless I talked about why we feel trapped and what God wants for his children. This blog is going to start discussing what that work could be and why it must be.

I believe that it is our God given gift to be satisfied in our work, anything less would be doubting God's greatness and kindness. So, it is a divine right to be satisfied in our work. Therefore, the question of weather we deserve to happy, fulfilled, and satisfied with or jobs is answered - YES!

The bigger question is what type of work and how do we get that job?

The next few blogs I will be exploring what type of work is right for you and why and how we might transition to that career.

Toil Is Meaningless - Find God's Gifts in your Chosen Job

There is a passage in Ecclesiastes that I feel summarizes what God wishes for our toil (work);

Ecclesiastes 2:24 (NIV)

A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God.

Ecclesiastes 2:24 (NLT)

So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God.


Ecclesiastes (NIRV)

A man can't do anything better than eat and drink and be satisfied with his work. I'm finally seeing that those things also come from the hand of God.

As you can see above from the different translations that God wishers for us to enjoy our work. That doesn't mean that we should quit our current jobs and not be a provider for ourselves and our family, but it means that we should find pleasure, fulfilment, and joy in our work.

As my early blog about Golden Handcuffs shows how we are trapped in our work situations, I feel that it is God's intent for us to free ourselves from the Golden Handcuffs and to live a satisfied life. The journey than is finding that work that makes our mind, body, and soul come alive and living the life God wants for all of us.

Golden Handcuffs

Why is it that everyone is paralyzed at the thought of quiting their jobs and doing what they feel want and or dream about doing to earn a living. It seems that everyone does some type of work that they began doing by happenstance. They gave their life occupation no more thought then what can they do to earn the most money at that moment. Then they wake up and realize that they have spent 40 - 50 hours per week for 5 - 10 - 15- 20 or more years doing something they could care less about. They did the work just because the money was good or the job has good benefits. Then they find themselves at a point in their lives were they can't quit the job they hate because the money supports a lifestyle they and their family have become accustomed to living. This is how they end up in Golden Handcuffs with no apparent way out of this day to day routine until their life is over and they pray for the day of retirement.

Golden Handcuffs are when your current income level would be reduced by taking another occupation with entry level pay and you would have to drastically alter you current living conditions for this change.

You make enough money to support your current lifestyle and if you quit or changed occupations than the short term money loss would force your current living standards to change. This fear of change keeps you bound to your current job. So, you can't change jobs, start a new occupation, or new business due to sudden short term monetary factors. LOSS OR REDUCTION OF INCOME!


Where does the Golden Handcuffs get its strength to bind and paralyze the captive:

• Weekly Paycheck - High enough that change downward would be painful


• Home Mortgage - Must be paid every month or lose home


• Car loans - Must be paid every month or lose car


• Eating Out - Makes you feel special, being served


• Leisure Activities - Takes your mind off the dread of another long work week ahead


• Changes to Lifestyle - Fear Paralyzes

It could be any thing that your pay check supports. But, I would say that the strongest and most influencing part of the list above is just the fear of the unknown.

I'm sure when people think about changing jobs and or careers the Devil fills their minds with the following thoughts and fears:

• If it doesn't work out I'll lose everything, my house, my stuff in my house, etc.


• If it doesn't work out people will think I'm a failure


• We will have to move and my kids will have to be displaced from their friends


• Wife tells you to keep working and not fill your head with fanciful thoughts


• Your Mother, Father Brother, Sister, etc. tells you that the economy is too risky right now and it is better to have any job that pays steady and is stable

The reasons could be anything, the point is that everyone is scared to death of change. Change is the unknown, the untried, the area of our life where we have never been.

The only way people make changes in their lives is when the pain is greater than the fear of chnage. I would guess the pain never becomes greater than their fears and people don't change jobs and or career paths.

But I tell you that the risk involved with your job is greater than most people realize. Your job could change in a moment, see an partial list of possible items that could change your life:

• Fired


• Corporate Downsizing


• Company Buy-out


• Corporate Bankruptcy


• Lay offs

It could be any thing of which are not under your control, this to me is scary. The thought of my life changing in an instance due to other peoples decisions and actions and through no control of my own.

So, what do we do, stay where the we know what the pain is of our current occupation where we can tolerate the pain until we have a slow death. Or do we risk the known for the possibility of the unknown and make a change to see if the new life is the life of our dreams. That is the question and that is the key to unlocking the Golden Handcuffs.