My good friend shared a quote with me that reads, “If the whole world was blind, how many people would you impress?” I was moved by this quote because it is a reminder that people are most impressed with your heart, your intentions, your authenticity. True success is not determined by the watches you wear, the car you drive, or the house you live in, but rather how you contribute to the greater good, your community, the world we share. Empathy, compassion, kindness, and service are among many of the traits found in sustained and meaningful success. The most impactful gestures and measures of success can sometimes be unseen, but clearly felt. Our goals should always be aligned with contributing to something bigger than ourselves and to make the world better simply because you’re in it. Your contribution matters. You matter!

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When we think back to an earlier time, decades ago, when we recall those who provided a service, whether it be our local butcher, gas attendant, or mailman, for example, they went above and beyond when they did their job. They had a relationship with those they served. There was a connection between client and service provider. They may have known you by your first name, or who your family members were, or what you liked and disliked within the products they sold. Is that still your experience today? Do you ever wonder why that has all changed? What if the answer lies in the realization that as we sit back and wait for those people to resurface today, it dawns on us that we may be the person we’re waiting for? Not just in our professional service, but how we interact with people in our neighborhoods, in our communities, going above and beyond to help provide a community experience with whomever we interact. This is the process of building a connected community.

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Many of us question if we can stand out from the generations of people who have achieved great things before us. If we want to be a writer, singer, speaker, or artist, is there room for us? Can we be successful among the thousands who have found success doing what we believe is our true purpose? The answer is yes! We are all unique. Even more unique than our message is the genuineness of our delivery, our voice, and our medium of choice. Like a fishing lure, we are uniquely painted and have special actions, or talents, that is appealing to a group of people who we most resonate with. We would never use a bass fishing lure to catch a swordfish. We are all painted with special gifts and our message delivery is unique to who we are. Be you and cast yourself out to the world. Many who relate to you will bite and you will live a life that is completely self-fulfilling.

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Like that of the great Phoenix who combusts and rises again from the ashes of its former self, we, too, experience a renewal, rejuvenation, and a re-creation from what we once were to what we are intended to be. This occurs after experiencing great fires in our life. Throughout our journey, we experience countless tribulations, challenges, and adversity, only to overcome, prevail, learn, and grow. Ashes to ashes, we burn and rise time and time again, building upon who we once were. We live cumulative smaller lives that make up our greater life. To learn and grow and become more, our former self must be dissolved in order to embrace our new self. The fires in our life help us resiliently rise up beyond what we ever thought possible. Like the Phoenix, we rise from our most fundamental selves to fulfill the brilliance of our greatness.

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Many of us find ourselves as oak trees in a flower pot. We have greatness in us, but we place ourselves in circumstances and the mindset of smallness. We give justifications to why we shouldn’t pursue our dreams. Excitement drains from our hearts when we adopt what many call “reality” as a real justification. Remove yourself from the flower pot. Place yourself in the soil where your roots of greatness can take hold. The greatness in you needs to be exposed to nutrients that fuel you and your true purpose, your “why”. Unstifle your greatness. Become the person only you can be and the one the world is waiting for. You are a mighty oak.

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We are regularly taking in information from our surroundings. How we ingest this information, siphoning it into our mind and spirit through the filter of our attitudes, beliefs, and values is extremely significant to how we process it and give it back to the world. If we are not in our most powerful mindset, a state of complete balance, we can take in the messages and experiences provided to us, contaminate them through our compromised thought process, and give them back with hopelessness and fear-provoking toxicity. However, we can take in the same messages and experiences from the world and filter them through a different set of values, attitudes, and beliefs, and release them back with hope, possibility, and opportunities for growth and change. You are the point where the taking in and the giving out occurs. You have the power to make a difference with not only what it is you’re giving power, authority, focus, and attention, but how you’re processing information in your mind, heart,

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Stress management can be most effective, not when a stress invoking experience occurs, but far before that. Knowing our history, knowing what our button-pushers are, knowing what lies ahead and taking an intentional moment to reflect, can help prepare us for effectively managing our stress. If we keep doing what we’ve always done, we’re always going to get what we’ve always got. Going into stressful moments presents opportunities for growth. Try a new approach, adopt a new perspective, confront challenges head on, knowing you will be stronger, wiser, and more capable having worked through the challenges you face. If you are presented with an adverse situation, take time to reflect, regroup, refocus. By exercising this moment of reflection, we alleviate the impulse to respond without thinking, which can lead to a series of regretful behaviors. In all stressful circumstances, we benefit most when we approach them with intention and a calm spirit.

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This is a reminder to be sure to take time in your life to celebrate the small and big successes along the path of your life’s journey. It’s important to exercise fun in our life and we can do this by way of comedy (laughter, humor), chords (music, listening to music, dancing, singing, playing instruments), and creativity (play, drawing, painting, riding a bike, hiking, etc.). These are the conduits through which we can reconnect with our child-like, explorative spirit. Rejuvenate, recollect, and re-create ourselves through one of our basic needs, fun. Celebrating our life through comedy, chords, and creativity heals our spirit, feeds our heart, and fuels our happiness.

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Where are you right now in relation to your personal storms? Are you going into one, in one, or coming out of one? Regardless where you are in relation to your storms, you have the capacity to gain from the adverse experience unlimited lessons. We can all gain powerful insights into who we are, what’s available to us, what we’re capable of, and so much more from difficult circumstances. Much is in our control and much is not. Knowing what we can do, while surrendering to what we can’t is key. In the Serenity Prayer, we plead, “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” We will find peace, serenity, and solace when we are able to distinguish how we’re going to manage hardship and challenges in our life. We always have the human freedom, the right, to choose our response to whatever life offers us at any given moment.

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We can easily convince ourselves as to why we shouldn’t move forward to achieve our life ambitions. We judge ourselves by categorizing our circumstances; for example, being too young or too old, having limited resources, having too many responsibilities, and so on. We judge ourselves and begin to justify our perceived inadequacies. These are faulty thoughts that are nothing but toxic to the quality of our life and a hindrance to our personal life journey to fulfillment. We need to strip ourselves of these self-judgments and protect ourselves from the devastating and debilitating judgment the world can give out. Regardless where we stand in life and what is immediately available to us, we must overcome these self- fabricated hindrances and not be overwhelmed by them. We have the power to change the soundtrack and motion picture in our mind that is influenced by our fears and insecurities and turn it into a story of triumph, victory, and perseverance.

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