Live life as a dog would

At my office, I long ago instituted sharing of "One Thing" that made a positive difference in the life of anyone on my staff.  It didn't have to be about work.  It could be about little league, something that happen in the grocery store or even something they read.  The only requirement was that it had a positive impact on them, which, we hoped, would help them be a better person, a better co-worker, better spouse or parent...  better in some way or any way. If it was good, they were encouraged to share "One Thing" for a better us.

Today, a person on my Help Desk Team shared a message that was sent to him.  I think it is profound.  So profound I encourage each of us to live life as a Dog would.

Hope this gives you as much of a lift today as it did me.

A Dog's Purpose ? 
(from a 6-year-old). 

Repent fand forgive freely

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle. 

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home. 

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience. 

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. 

The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. 
Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, ''I know why.'' 

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. It has changed the way I try and live. 

He said,''People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?'' The Six-year-old continued, 

''Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long.'' 

Remember, if a dog was the teacher you would learn things like: 

• When loved ones come home, always run to greet them, regardless of what happened yesterday. 

Be crazy once in a while

• Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride. 

• Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure Ecstasy. 

• Take naps.

• Stretch before rising. 

• Run, romp, and play daily. 

• Thrive on attention and let people touch you. 

• Avoid biting when a simple growl will do. 

Be Ha

• On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass. 

• On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree. 

• When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body. 

• Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.
  
• Be loyal. 
  
• Never pretend to be something you're not. 
  
• If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.
  
• When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by, and nuzzle them gently. 

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY! 

Figuring Out "What's Really Important"

For quite some time now I have come to a realization I have been blind to many things.  Blind meaning many important things just never got to the conscious part of my mind, or I suppressed them so well I didn't even realize they existed. I'm working hard to correct that personal flaw.  It's likely the underlying cause for much of the suffering I have put others and myself through over the years, honestly, quite unintentionally.

Most recently I have been following the story of a young man named Mitchell Dee Jones on a Facebook page maintained by his parents. Mitchell was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a catastrophic muscle wasting disease which results in progressive muscle deterioration and is fatal by late teens/early twenties, however, Mitchell passed away a month before his 11th birthday.

I can not fathom the strength his parents have.  My God is certainly looking over them and has sent them to this earth on an incredible mission I am barely getting an understanding and glimpse of.  God, please give me strength just thinking about this.

So what am I figuring out?  I'm figuring out, that although I think I may have done a lot of good in my life, I've also made horrible mistakes that have me in such torment and at a loss for what to do...  I dream of forgiveness, love, compassion and help.  I wish that years ago I had looked at or understood things differently.

Today, I am encouraging you to take a deep look at what is important...  if you can't figure it out, find a great mentor to help you.  Don't wait until your life has passed and you find yourself so deep there is no turning back...  no way to recover...  no one to help.

I hope this is not taken wrong, it is not meant selfishly...  I don't have the strength, faith or understanding to be like Mitchell's parents, but in many ways, I feel the same as they do.  I have lost my family, I have lost respect, I have lost the wonderful things I was given and let them slip away.

Cherish all those you have in your life....  it is too short not to.

Memories

A Facebook friend recently made a post which I plagiarized and posted for myself saying:

"Happy New Year my Facebook family... MEMORIES... leave a comment below about a memory we have shared together whether it was recent or long ago... I'd like to build a personal memory blog, help me fill it. Feel free to repost. Looking forward to reading and making more memories in the future"

I've been thinking about different folks and the things they may post which has certainly made me smile often...  wish I was better in many ways quite often...  and also thankful for the things I have learned along the way and been able to pass along.  I wish that post live on forever so people might run across it and add something special they remembered (you need a Facebook account, but you can find it here: http://bit.ly/RememberDan).  I so much reliving those times.

In this blog, I say that says "I'm just a guy trying to do good and to make a positive difference in someone's life...  hopefully at least my children's".  There is nothing that makes me feel better than when I see signs of that success.  In one of Jim Rohn's stories of improving and getting better over the years, he tells how one of his mentors told him, yes, it can happen to you.  When you walk into a room, people will point and whisper, look, there he is, it's him!  There have been a flicker of moments like that with me occasionally, but when I read Emery Gallant's post, I was floored.  I never knew how one small action had such an affect on him.

Emery wrote to me that he: "Was having a REAL bad day at work, and you popped out of nowhere and gave me a "You Rock!" coin...changed my day around instantly and I still keep that close!".  

It can not get much better than that.  I have always tried to treat not only my staff, but those that provide me services, a sense of appreciation.  Not for doing their job, but for doing their job in a way that make the customer or me feel good about what they've done.  Their attitude, their care, their professionalism. They create an experience that makes me want to come back to them...  I enjoy it.

It is stories like this that I try to do what I do...  Emery rocked my world with his post like never before.  I finally got a feeling of why giving more than you take is so important...  why taking care of the need of others is how your needs get taken care of...  Happy New Year to me and it is only day 1.

Thanks Emery.

Its Think... Thank... Thunk... Thursday

Found a post today...  I think there is pretty strong food for though contained, so I'm keeping to reread and contemplate necessary action changes.  Adopted here for the context of this blog.  What part of the message do you think resinates the most?

Think...
Take a moment to think about who you are. Not just who you are right now but who you want to be, and if your taking the steps you need to take to be that person. Every word that comes out of our mouths, every look we give, every social media post we make, every action we take every single day is a direct reflection of our character our integrity and a picture of who we are. What does your picture look like? What can you change to not only fix the picture but to help you as the painter grow, change and become?

Thank...
If in fact you are healthy, your family is healthy and everyone is safe, has shelter, food and water be thankful. If you have health issues or someone in your family or your life does or your missing one of the other things be thankful for that too. WHAT? Why on earth would you be thankful for those things? Trials make you a better person, they train you to become your very best. Embrace with strength the trials that come your way, be thankful for change and struggle.

Thunk...
Impact can be so small you wont even notice or so large you cant help but not take notice. What kind of impact are you making with your life and to those around you? You have the power to change lives in so many ways. Financial, empowerment, social, community, kindness, I could go on for days. The question is what impact are you making? Be conscious of your impacts, most of all don't let your tools go to waste. Use those you are blessed with to facilitate and change lives, and create memorable movements, it's possible!

How do you get a middle initial of J if your middle name is Andrew?

It's really not Marty McFly I'm talking about today, it's Michael J Fox.  Michael was born born Michael Andrew Fox; June 9, 1961, in Canada, where he began his acting career as a teenager.  He was discovered by producer Ronald Shedlo and made his American television debut in the television film Letters from Frank, credited under the name "Michael Fox".   As the story goes, he intended to continue to use the name, but when he registered with the Screen Actors Guild, which requires unique registration names to avoid credit ambiguities, he discovered that Michael Fox, a veteran character actor, was already registered under the name.  As he explained in his autobiography, Lucky Man: A Memoir, and in interviews, he needed to come up with a different name. He did not like the sound of "Andrew" or "Andy" Fox, so he decided to adopt a new middle initial and settled on "J", and thus, he's Michael J. Fox, as we now know him.

That's as far as I intended to go with this version of "As the story goes...", but during my research, I found out a lot more about the actor I knew growing up... I loved him best as Marty McFly.  Michael was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 1991, but hid it until 1999 when the symptoms could no longer be hidden by drugs or acting.  Michael testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee in 1999 seeking a mere 75 million dollars to be to be used for Parkinson's research in an attempt to find a cure.  Here's a link to his testimony:

 http://www.c-spanvideo.org/clip/4271310

I look forward to writing someday, and "As the story goes, that's where it began and how we found a cure for Parkinson's.

As the story goes... Dare to Dream

First, I'd like to say I miss listening to Paul Harvey on the radio.  I especially miss listening to "the rest of the story" when he would tell a story that might be a story of awe and wonder; a story of heroism or something else that would just grasp your attention.  Recently I seem to be running across stories that took me back to the days of Paul Harvey, therefore, I found the urge to tell some of them here because they struck something in me wanting to share good things.

Hattie May Wiatt

The Reverend Russell H. Conwell, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia delivered a sermon on December 1, 1912 that told of a little girl named Hattie May Wiatt.  She lived near a church where she wanted to attend Sunday School, but it was very crowded and often couldn't get in.  Rumors have it that around 1883, the Reverend walked Hattie into the Sunday school because she was unable to get inside, telling her one day they would have buildings big enough to allow every one to attend who wanted to.  Soon after, Hattie fell victim of diphtheria at just age 5 and died.  A small purse was found under her pillow containing 57 cents she had saved.   At her funeral, her mother gave the money to Conwell, which he took to the church and became the focus of his sermon.

Rev. Conwell had the 57 cents turned into 57 pennies, told the congregation the story of little Hattie May and sold the pennies for a return of about $250.  In addition, 54 of the original 57 pennies were returned to Rev. Conwell and he later put them up on display.  This was in 1886 when 57 cents was no small savings account for a little girl from a poor family.  Some of the members of the church formed what they called the Wiatt Mite Society which was dedicated to making Hattie May's 57 cents grow as much as possible and to buy the property for the Primary Department of the Sunday school.  

On June 28, 1886, A nearby house at the corner of Broad and Berks streets, referred to as The Temple because the property owner did not want the house to be called a church until the mortgage was fully paid, was investigated for purchase by the Wiatt Mite Society, which was organized for the purpose of taking the 57 cents and enlarging on them sufficiently to buy the property for the Primary Department of the Sunday school. In that same house, the first classes of Temple College, later Temple University, were held. The house was later sold to allow Temple College to move and The Temple (now the Temple Performing Arts Center to grow, and still more of that money went towards founding the Samaritan Hospital (now the Temple University Hospital).

As the story goes, if you dare to dream, great things can happen.

- - - - -

Note that this story is the result of research and reading of many accounts and descriptions of what happened in those times...  I just collected and replayed the facts as I found them to be, so you'd understand it, as the story goes....

The Glass "IS" Half Full

There is an age old debate of whether the glass is half full or half empty.  Optimist often think half full...  pessimist usually think it's half empty.  When you have a great day, like I'm having today, you just know it is half full.

I could argue that I have felt like life has been dealing me many glasses half empty, but, when you work hard and know you have made an impact...  even if it's "bottoms up" in celebration, stay focused on half full.

As thrilled as I am, all I can do it beat around the bush...  I just have to keep the real story inside, to myself.  I can't share the details because I need to protect the identities of those involved...  but, their lives, when faced with what seemingly was devastation, has been forever changed, in a positive way.  Think  positive.

OK, if you've made it this far, you are amazing too since I have led you down a path to nowhere, saying very little, but you're still around.  Here's the positive gist of what this is all about.  Sometimes, life just kicks you in the pants.  Throws you for a loop and you think there is no way to go...  no answers in sight...  nothing but doom and gloom.  You're okay to feel that way, but understand this, there is always a way out...  answers are available, just ask for them (by prayer or just asking for the answers to come) and there is so much more than doom and gloom.

For the third time this year, today, I saw someone thinking their glass was not only half empty, but they thought it went dry, do a complete reversal.  Talk about the tide changing in a hurry and being on an emotional roller coaster, their cup over flowed!  I'm so jazzed for them, life is good.

Never give up hope... look adversity in the face...  and your glass can be seen, always half full.