TODAY I CHOOSE TO HEAR THE BELLS

I did not grow up Catholic, as a matter of fact I didn't grow up much of anything.  What faith upbringing I received was the few years after my Mother moved us back to Etowah when I was five.  My Granny, my Mother's Mother, took us small children to the local Church of Christ every Sunday morning and night and we attended Vacation Bible School too.

In my teens, I sought on my own to go to the local Baptist Church after my Mother contracted Cervical Cancer.  I was looking for answers and found solace in God there on my knees.  I stayed in that church until I graduated and moved away from home.

For several years I did not attend church at all as I didn't see the need.  My life was good---or so I thought.  Then at 21, I renewed my conversation with God and began searching again.  During this time I felt the call to preach (I will say here that just because one feels the "call" does not mean that the call is genuine.  Seek advice and pray) which later, mercifully for the people who heard me preach, I found to be a need for deeper relationship, not a call to preach.

When my wife was pregnant with our first child, I began to search for my roots.  My father was Catholic and my mother had told me that if the Catholic Church had not been in another city, she would have continued going there when we were children.  It is there that I began to search for what became my 15 year journey with the Catholic Church.

Over the next 15 years, I started as a novice and read everything I could about the Church, tradition and the Faith of the Church.  Not everything I learned was what I believed and I knew that many things were just "tradition".  I never changed my core faith I had learned as a child, however I did add to my love of the Church and God by using the traditions I learned.

The Mass is a solemn and wonderful experience.  While some may call it repetitious and not meaningful, I would tend to disagree.  There are moments of repetition but it is precisely those moments that keep in the forefront of my mind why I believe.

As a 'for instance', during the Mass, there is a moment called the Transubstantiation.  It is the moment during the Mass where the Priest prays over the gifts of bread and wine, and they become through Transubstantiation, the actual Body and Blood of Christ.  At that exact moment during the Mass, the bells are rung by the Altar Servers to Symbolize the Change.  Do I believe that the bread and wine become the ACTUAL BODY and BLOOD?  What I believe is that God can inhabit anyone or any thing and whether the actual Change takes place, it is the symbolism, the solemnity of the act that I remember. 

There is something magical and spiritual about accepting that you just took Jesus' Body and Blood into your own.  It demands reverence and respect, despite what one may personally believe.  It is the same in my mind as someone "asking Jesus into your Heart".  To the Non-Catholic, this is tantamount to partaking of the Eucharist.  You are accepting the person of Jesus into your heart.  In the non-Catholic, the act is taken as symbolic but never-the-less, it is believed that Jesus actually enters into your heart.  So who is right to say that partaking of the Eucharist, which Jesus instituted at the Last Supper by saying "This is my Body" and "This is my Blood", is not just as real?

In a world where many of us who claim to be Christian, and who act polar opposite, I think sometimes that it is good to be a little repetitious and follow Tradition.  It keeps in the forefront of our minds what we are supposed to be doing here on Earth.  I honestly think I was much more mindful of others and more spiritual when I practiced the traditional Catholic rituals.  It may have been borne of obligation but it became a genuine search for answers.

 It is why to this day, even though I have been out of the Catholic Church almost as long as I was in it, that I still wear a Crucifix rather than the traditional Protestant cross.  The Protestant belief is that Jesus was resurrected and is no longer on the Cross.  I believe every time I place that Crucifix around my neck and see the Corpus Christi, I am reminded of why He had to go to the Cross and why He is no longer there.

It is why I miss the daily Eucharist and the weekly Mass.  The church I go to now celebrates the "Lord's Supper" quarterly as the minister believes it becomes rote and meaningless if practiced too often.  I will never agree with that.  If the true searching of the heart and the contrition for our sins are followed, then how can remembering the final words Jesus Spoke before the Crucifixion, even if done Daily be repetitious and meaningless?

Still, when we do partake, I Choose to Hear the Bells.  I choose to hear them as a reminder of what I really am partaking of.  I am asking Jesus to forgive my sins and come back into my life where I have pushed Him aside. This Christmas, as I enter the Advent season, I pray that I hear the Bells daily.

TODAY I CHOOSE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

This is an open letter to all Americans. It does not matter what your political party is, you need to hear me out. This is the future of America at stake!!!

Both parties will tell you that only they can win this election. It is this kind of mentality that makes a mockery of the political system. For over two centuries the two party system is the only thing we have known. Americans have been tricked into believing that they just vote either Democrat or Republican. This is not the case. Often, there are other candidates on the ballot; usually they are noton all 50 states ballots and as such, they are not viable candidates.

This year, Gary Johnson, the Libertarian candidate is already on 47 of the state ballots and the District of Columbia. Only three states are holdingout and they willsoon admit Johnson. For the first time in decades, there is a viable candidate in serious contention for a third party. I have heard many people on both sides of the two party fiasco there are a lotof people on BOTH sides of the debate that are fed up with their party candidate. Either they don't feel the candidate is right (as is my case for Mitt Romney) or they are dissolusioned about Preesident Obama. In the 1980 Elections, Ronald Reagan got a significant amount of what became known as "Reagan Democrats". These defectors of the party were fed up with the donothing policies of their own party and they decided tomake a change. They crossed party lines and did what they thought was best by voting for the man that they thought best suited their criteria for the ofice ofcommander in chief. Reagan won by a landslide forthe next two elections.

Now days, we are told that a vote for a third party candidate is a "spoiler" that will automatically give the election to the incumbant. This is not necessarily the truth. A serious look at the candidates will inform you that Gary Johnson is indeed a man of honor, integrity and experience. The first Governor in New Mexico to be elected to two consecutive terms, Johnson won by being fiscally conservative and by using his veto power to veto the most pork barrel spending of ANY governor in the country. He has vetoed more than all other governors combined during his two terms.

He is conservative enough to win over the people who think our government is headed to bankruptcy. He is also, being a Libertarian, liberal enough to win over the people who think that the government has its nose in everyones bedroom. I cannot agree with every position he has, but there is nothing he stands for that I cannot live with:

Johnson is for Fiscal convervatism--He wants to have a balanced budget.
He believes that the DOE and NATO have served their purpose and he wants them gone.
IRS? Get rid of it. Medicare? Fix it, before it is beyond repair.
Tax equity? He wants a expenditure tax. Abolish the income tax and cut out all the loopholes.
Parents should have a right to choose and school vouchers will allow parents to get their children into better schools.
The wars? Bring our people home from the countries that hate us anyway and secure our country. Stop involving our service men and women in wars that do not threaten the American way of life.
Johnson wants to stop sending money and weapons to our enemies....a wise choice in my opinion.
There are a few contentious issues that the Liberals will lioke but the conservatives won't:
He wants to legalize marijuana and tax it. This will stop the flow of illegal drugs and help stop illegal immigration.
Speaking of illegal immigration, he wants to provide a simple way for immigrants to obtain citizenship, where they are required to become taxpayers and be productive. He has a strong ONE STRIKE policy for immigrants who break our laws.
He believes in a woman's right to choose up to the viability of the fetus. WHILE I DON'T BELIEVE IN ABORTION, IT IS BETTER THAN WHAT THE FAR LEFT PROPOSE AND TOME, IT IS A START.
He believes in Gay Marriage. While I know the Bible speaks of homosexuality as a sin, there are many Americans who are not Religious and we who are Christians cannot expect them to abide by our beliefs. I believe sin is a personal matter between a person and God and that when the judgment day comes each man, woman and child will be accountable for their own personal sins---not those of others. I am most certain that there will be many "Christians" guilty of sins too. God never made a differentiation between sins. Growing up Catholic, I know the belief is that there are "mortal" or serious sins and "Venial" or not so serious sins. In truth, sin is sin and there will be a lot of people who were guilty of gossip just as guilty as the homosexual. I say let's follow Jesus' example and just love one another and allow Him to be the judge when that time comes. If we put as much energy into the real problems of this world (feeding the homeless, training people for new jobs, looking for ways to cure cancer and other dieases, stopping child and spousal abuse, etc) as we do in trying to "Save" the homosexual from the fires of Hell, what a wonderful place this world would be.

Back to my purpose for this message. There is no one candidate that will fit the bill for every American. What we have to do is find the one that will stop tearing this country apart. President Obama and Mitt Romney are the Status Quo--or as my mom used to say "Same old, Same Old".

While I believe President Obama really believes in what he is doing---I do NOT believe him to be a Muslim and I think he was born in the USA--He has done more to bring America to the brink of bankruptcy that even Jimmy Carter. Worse, he has done the exact opposite of his promise in 2008 to bring the country together. The atmosphere of division and the "us against them" caste system he has thrust the country into is the most reprehensible thing he could have done. Today, you are either FAR Left or FAR Right. You are Rich or Poor. THE 1% OR THE 99%. You are Racist or Inclusive. You are a "critical thinker" or an idiot. You are For or Against. There is no Middle or Common ground. I for one am sick of it.

NOW. THIS ELECTION. It is time for those of us who are in the middle to stand up and be counted!!! You do not have to choose between the lesser of two evils. I am not a racist just because I disagree with the president and his social re-distribution of wealth and government run everything and I resent being classified as such. I am not an idiot who cannot think for myself because I believe a man who has run his own business should be the man who runs our government.

A vote for either Obama or Romney is a vote for four more years of the same--division, division, division. If all the Ron Paul voters and all the Democrats and Republicans who are tired of the CRAP we have dealt with over the last three decades will stand up and vote for Gary Johnson, then Johnson would indeed become a "Spoiler" in the truest sense of the word. We would have a President that truly is for the people, by the people and of the people. Gary Johnson is not allowed in the debates because the MEDIA do not consider him a contender because he is not on the ballot in all 50 states--yet. This is exactly why he needs to be in the debates. The MEDIA decides who the president is going to be. They are afraid that if Johnson were allowed to debate, he would show up both candidates and their candidate of choice (Obama) would not win. True critical thinkers can make up their own mind by going to http://www.garyjohnson2012.com and read his platform and make up your own mind. It is time to tell Washington that we have had enough and to let Johnson in the debates so America can decide. Please feel free to post this blog on your Facebook, Twitter, Google +)

TODAY I CHOOSE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!!

TODAY I CHOOSE TO RISE ABOVE!

Another Election year is upon us and like the last one, it is the worst I have ever seen in my lifetime. Our President in my opinion, is a man who sincerely believes what he is doing is right. His policies are Socialist and he firmly believes that government running things and having the populace dependent on government for everything is what is best to bring economic equality to the United States.

I happen to disagree. First, there will never be economic equality in society. There are those who have a desire to succeed and those that are happy to work for others and that is alright. There is a new class in America today brought on by the entitlement mentality our government has force fed us.

The Constitution says "all men are created equal". What exactly does that mean? I can tell you what it does NOT mean. It does not mean that all men are to make the same pay and the government will take from those who have to give to those who have not. It means that ALL MEN (and WOMEN)have the equal opportunity to make what they will of themselves. If I choose to go into business for myself, then I can. If I make it then I can reap the benefits of my efforts. If I fail, then I will suffer the loss and that is alright too.

Somewhere along the way, perhaps due to our sordid history as a nation when slavery was indeed legal and profitable; we have decided that anyone who ever had a reason to be claim they had no advantages to get ahead is OWED something. The problem with that is that firstly, no one is OWED anything.

Slavery was wrong and it was a horrific practice. However, over 160 years have passed since the practice was abolished and the Emancipation Proclaimation was signed. Affirmative action was established and there are laws in place to prevent discrimination. In fact, laws have been created so that now the classes that were once maligned are now given an unfair advantage over all other classes. Discrimination is and should be a crime. However, it should also be a crime to say that 160 years after the fact that the class who held the slaves should still be at a disadvantage because of something that happened nearly three generations ago.

It is absurd in this day and age to say that anyone is OWED anything other than the opportunity to succeed or fail on our own merits. I have heard the argument that those living in the inner cities, on government subsidies, have no hope of succeeding without government handouts. To say that those successful people who are wealthy, whether by inheritance or their own hard work, owe the poor a portion of their wealth or that because of their wealth, they continue to keep the poor, poor is a fallacy.

Microsoft was started in a recession. Bill Gates is now one of the wealthiest men in America and he GIVES away his fortune. No one has to force it from him, he gave and continues giving because it is human nature to help the less fortunate. On the other hand, it is human nature to hoard what you have when someone tries to take it against your will.

To say that the poor have no way of getting out of their circumstances is ridiculous as well. Some of the poorest people have become the wealthiest in America. Take Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart and Sam's Clubs. He was a poor Arkansan who worked hard and built an empire that is a global monolith. Sam Walton had no advantages over anyone else. If anything, he could have claimed that being from the poor south he had a disadvantage. Yet, this man of no means became the richest man in America before he died. He chose to rise above his means and he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

I was born to a poor family and was raised by a single mother who worked in a sewing mill to put food on the table. This was before food stamps, WIC, Medicaid, and other government subsidies (now called "Entitlements") and even if they had been available, my mother would never have taken them.

If it had not been for the thriftiness of my mother and the help of her FAMILY, then we would have been doomed to poverty for life--according to todays mentality. My mother raised 4 children on what she made in the sewing factory with no support from my father. Her mother and sister gave us refuge when she first left my dad for a few months. Then for years we lived in what we called "the projects"--government subsidized housing. It was not until I was 14 that my mother and my step-dad bought the first house we ever owned.

My mother could have claimed poverty, and lived on what she earned, the family gave us and in the housing subsidized by the government. However, she decided that she could rise above her means. She worked hard at her job, was promoted to supervisor and eventually went back to school getting her GED and graduating the same year as my older sister. She then went to beauty school. Later in life she became a retail manager and spent the last 20 working years doing that. My point is that she could have just accepted her lot in life and continued to wallow in poverty but she chose to do something in life and get off her tail and not feel sorry for herself. She was never rich, but she overcame her poverty and ended up as a middle class citizen. My mother, a staunch Democrat, never once felt like anyone OWED her anything but a chance.

I had two brothers and a sister growing up. Only my sister went to college and graduated--and that after she was married and had children of her own. I, who from the projects,rose above my means and became a successful businessman. I have owned partnerships in two businesses at an early age and now, after 22 years with my company, I have risen to the top position available to me. As V.P. of Operations, I answer to the President of the company.

I could easily said that since my parents couldn't afford college, I was doomed to be poor. Even though there were more government programs available to me than to my mother, I chose to work hard and I believed that my hard work would pay off. Sometimes it did and at other times, I felt I was taken advantage of. When I felt that way, rather than complain how unfair my bosses were, I chose another place of work where I felt I had a better chance to succeed.

The unemployment rate in the US is about 8% now and as a businessman, I can tell you that there are jobs out there. Granted, the jobs are not all high paying jobs but if someone truly wanted to work, they could. The problem today is that the government teat is too lucrative for people to work when they can easily sit at home and draw as much benefits as someone making $35,000 a year. As a matter of fact, they are penalized if they do work. A minimum wage job could cost them all of their food stamps or medical assistance. This is how the government keeps people dependant on itself. Instead of giving them the benefits IF they get a job, we take them away IF they work. This is WRONG!!!!

We as a society should assist those less fortunate and the government taxes we pay should go for part of that assistance but, as Former President Clinton said--Welfare should be a Hand UP, Not a HAND OUT. So long as we penalize people FOR working, then we will continue having the poor class and as long as the government and our President continue to blame the rich for keeping the poor that way, we will continue haveing a CLASS Warfare like Occupy Wall Street.

Bill Gates and Sam Walton did not make me poor, and they did not Keep me poor by making money for themselves. I was poor because of decisions my family made prior to my birth and I am no longer poor because I Chose to Rise Above my means and get off my rear end and WORK!

Our government, BOTH parties, have created an "Entitlement Mentality" in America and we no longer give people an incentive to get up and work themselves out of poverty. In fact, if we continue to TAX the Rich to the point of people giving up their citizenship to retain what they rightfully earned, then we as a society will crumble just as every great nation before us.

This November, we have a means to turn this country around and make it strong again. No matter your affiliation, vote for people that are for LESS Government and who will create Jobs and give incentives to the Job providers to stay here and grow. We need to weed out the officials who want to keep Class Warfare alive and who will give incentive to our citizens to take a chance. We can choose to accept the Status Quo and continue the Great Division our current President and Congress have begun, or we can choose to Rise above our means. TODAY I CHOOSE TO RISE ABOVE!

TODAY I CHOOSE TO BELIEVE IN THE IMPOSSIBLE!

It has been a few months since my last post. I am sorry for the inconsistency but I have taken on many new responsibilities since my last post. In February, my company lost our long-term Vice President of Operations. It took us all by surprise because I think all of us thought he was going to outlive us all. God had other plans and took him home, leaving a great void in our company.

In April of this year I was asked to take on the position my boss's death created. I had long ago resigned myself that I was as far up the corporate ladder as I could get with this company. The only people above me were my boss and the owners. Since no one expected my boss to retire, I had sold myself a bill of goods where I could not go any higher.(In truth, had he not passed away, that probably would have been the case.)

God has a way of turning our thoughts into mush just when we get comfortable with them. I was happy to be where I was in life. I had a good job, a great family including a beautiful wife, two sons and two daughters and three granddaughters, and I was happy.

Sometimes when we get happy, we get complacent. I had begun to get comfortable in my job and life and the turmoil of February this year had a great effect on all of us. In my new job, I am responsible for the operations end of our 42 unit franchise. I have two Regional Directors and a Training director immediately reporting to me and four District Managers reporting to them. There is a saying that with great wealth comes great responsibility. The same is to be said for Position. With greater Position comes great responsibility. Responsibility that I embrace and take great pride in.

I, who has just a High School Diploma along with some scattered College credits, have the responsibility over the operations of my entire company. Growing up, I had no idea I could achieve this kind of position or responsibility. Conventional wisdom says I should not be where I am because I am not educated enough. History says I should not be where I am because business is just not done this way. I was chosen to do the job because I have believed in myself over the last 21 years and took on responsibilities that convention says I did not deserve and didn't have the education to obtain. Because I believed in myself, I have excelled in my previous positions within my company. Each successive promotion took me to new places I had never been until I arrived where I am now.

My point is this: While society and convention say I was never deserving or qualified to do the jobs I have had, facts and results say otherwise. Many people who have become successful entrepreneurs have had the tenacity to do what they were not qualified to do; to try what they had not been trained to do; to dare to believe that they deserved a chance despite all the naysayers told them. They never asked for approval to try, they just did it!

When I was growing up, I spent most of my youth in what we called "the projects". Yes, public housing for the underpriveleged. I lived a stigma that effected my self-esteem for many years. I got invited to spend the night with friends and then suddenly uninvited because of where I lived. In those days, poor people lived in the projects just as they do today. The difference is that many got out of the projects and went on to buy houses of their own, send their children to college, and become productive members of society.

Today, that is becoming harder to do because we have allowed Government to tell us we will never do any better because we had bad circumstances in our lives and we should just shut up and suck on the Government supplied teat and not try to succeed on our own because we will fail without Government help. This is the beginning of Socialism and we are conveniently becoming a Socialist country. When Government rewards the people for doing nothing by taking from those who have done something or; when Government takes away from those who try to better themselves, making it better to do nothing, we are conditioning them to depend on Government to get by. A government that can give you anything you need can also take away anything you have.

Government gave me nothing of what I have worked to achieve, and what I have achieved has been by the grace of God and the sweat of my brow. I came from the bottom of the economic scale and I have moved to the higher end of the Middle Class. Government and convention saying I do not deserve what I have earned and that people who suck on the Government teat should get a share of what I have earned because they can do no better.

This country was not founded on Government subsidies, rather we revolted from Big Government and chose to live our own way without Government interference. This is the country where Sam Walton came up from a poor man to be the richest man in America before he died. He created the icon that is Wal Mart. I came from being a poor boy in the projects to be the Vice President of Operations for my company--without a college education and without Government subsidy. Sam Walton was a Billionaire. I do not aspire to be but if I did, I know I could. We do not have a lot in common except that we both believed in the Impossible. We believed we could even when society said we couldn't. No one can take away our achievements because we worked hard to attain them. If you believe in your self, you can obtain that which we are told is impossible. TODAY I CHOOSE TO BELIEVE IN THE IMPOSSIBLE.

TODAY I CHOOSE SET THE EXAMPLE

Today at the risk of alienating many people I respect, I feel like I must say something. Christians today have the most unique opportunity to share the love of Christ to an entire world. Over the centuries, there have been many who devoted their lives to just that cause. Many gave their lives in the effort.

We have computers, Internet, 24/7 news channels and a whole slew of other ways to communicate. In the beginning, there was only word of mouth and letters. We have come a long way.....or have we?

During this bitter election cycle there have been a lot of people pleading their case for their preferred candidate, myself included. The left has picked their GOP champion, the one they feel least likely to beat Mr. Obama. The right has chosen their candidate, the one that most represents their values. I have often joked that Liberals are the most tolerant people I know...so long as you agree with them. Sadly, I can now say the same for many of my Right leaning friends.

I agree with the Right that this current president has been a Great Divider rather than a healer of our Nation. We are now in the middle of a Class Warfare that has totally ripped this country to shreds. It is the Haves versus the Have-nots; the Left versus the Right; the Christians versus the world; you get the idea. Neither side is giving in and both are determined to win even at the cost of destroying this nation.

While I agree that President Obama has done much to divide this nation, I believe he is as sincere in his beliefs as the other side. The problem is that both have some good and many bad points, however like a couple of siblings fighting over a toy neither is willing to give in.

I personally voted for Newt Gingrich because I felt he had the best chance of bringing this nation back to center and healing the huge rift that has torn our country in two. Many on the Right refused to forgive that his past was not impeachable. On the Left, they called him a Crony, a career politician, and worse.

I would like to address a few things to both sides of the aisle.

Mr. Obama is the quintessential Crony politician. He has hired more of his buddies and donors than any president in recent history. He has rammed through the Congress, in the name of humanity, a massive insurance "reform" that mandates everyone must purchase insurance. There was no debate and the only way people could see what was in the bill was for them to pass it into law...curious as to why most items do not take effect until AFTER this election. He has made it clear that the views he takes are governed by the poll numbers. His positions change often.

Mr. Romney began the GOP debate cycle with the air of a right of assertion to the throne of the GOP and he has played every dirty card he could at every opportunity to sling mud at his opponents. In short, I call him Obama Lite. A friend posted on Facebook yesterday that every time he sees Mitt, he has the urge to buy a used car.

Mr. Paul has a few good views but his stance on homeland security is scary to me.

Mr. Santorum while a good man as far as I can tell, is too far right to ever win the office. He has the backing of the far right, which in my opinion would be like being endorsed by Rush Limbaugh at the moment.

Many of my friends have pushed for Santorum and are very vocal as to why. He is a "Godly" man who agrees with their values. There is a saying that the marriage of politics and religion make for an ugly baby. I don't know if the baby is ugly but the outcome of the marriage is a train wreck waiting to happen.

I do not mean to demean the "values" voters. We all vote our values to a certain extent. I for one, would not vote for anyone who espoused abortion as a means of contraceptive or choice because a life is involved. Those are my values. I personally do not like Capitol Punishment, but there is at least criminal activity involved in the taking of this life...still, if life unborn is to be valued, then all life is to be valued.

Voting your values is what opens up room for coming together. What divides us is when neither side is willing to budge on their values. I mentioned to someone yesterday that I could vote for a candidate who advocated gay marriage or civil unions so long as they could balance the budget. I was immediately hit with many replies that the reason America does not have a balanced budget is the "Godless" actions of this nation. Meaning abortion, an something called the "Homosexual Agenda". As if all the homosexuals in the world were plotting to overthrow the US Government and make us into another Sodom.

Many think that by my not calling out all gays as sinners, I am being untrue to my values. Nothing could be furthe from the truth. In fact, it strengthens my commitment to my values. When Jesus walked this Earth, he called out the Religious leaders more often than the sinners. I am beginning to see why my Savior hated Religion. Religion is the perversion of the faith. WHAT? Somewhere someone just said "Oh no, he didn't just say that!"

Let me explain. Religion is taking the faith and organizing it into a set of tenets that one chooses to follow. This is why there are so many different religions in the world. We all have different ideas of how our faith should be practiced. If not there would be one big religion and there would be no reason for Catholics, Baptists, Muslims, Mormans, Pentacostals, etc.

Just because a man or woman is a homosexual does not make them "Godless". Is homosexuality inborn or acquired? That is for the scientist and God to determine but I would lean to the thinking that we all have things which are born into us that we have no control over. The color of our skin, genetic diseases, mental illness, cholesterol and maybe even homosexual tendencies. None of those make a person Godless. Do I believe homosexuality is a choice? Yes. Everything about life is a choice. Even the things we have no control over directly, what we choose to do as a result of those things, is our choice. So I guess I am saying I can see both sides of the born this way or not argument.

Getting back to the Godless argument, the definition of Sin is the absence of God. (If you do not have faith in God, then you most likely will call sin by another name such as morals, conscience, etc.) in the eyes of God, all sin is equal and none is greater than the other. By this reasoning, if I call a homosexual Godless then I must also call a liar Godless. Likewise, a thief, an adulterer, a tax cheat, a murderer, a white collar criminal, ad infinitum. All of those people choose to commit their sin so by the above definition they would all be Godless. According to my detractors, homosexuals and abortion advocates are the Cheif of the Godless hordes. But in the strictest sense, even the liar makes this a Godless nation. Which in turn gets me back to the fact that Jesus despised religion. Religion allows us to pick and choose what we will follow and it also allows us the superiority to call anything we choose to dislike as sin.

It was good enough for the Catholic Church during the Crusades and the Inquisition. It was good enough for Adoplh Hitler and his followers, and it is good enough today to tear this country apart. it is good enough for a select group of radicals perverting Islam to justify killing the "Infidels". Religion or opposition to religion is tearing this country apart and if common sense does not prevail, then the world is doomed, and the United States specifically.

It is ok to have faith and beliefs. It is ok to not have faith and beliefs. I have faith and I believe God gives us all free will to choose how we live. I believe our lives are determined by our choices (hence the name of this blog) and our choices determine our outcome in life. Now that being said, I also believe others can and do make choices that directly or indirectly affect our lives. By this I mean a drunk could drive a car and maim me by his choice to drive drunk. I had no say in the matter and if I had the choice, I would not have chosen to be hit. But since I was hit, my reactions and choices determine whether I live a productive life or a poor pitiful me kind of life.

There are all kinds of people in this world. People of faith and not. We all must live together. Whether you believe in God or not, there is a basic moral principle that is taught in All major religions: treat others as you would like to be treated. Jesus said it; Mohammad said it; Buddah said it; and many Atheists or Agnostics said it too.

Why do we call out homosexuals as "Godless" yet we ignore the "Godlessness" of the person that cheated his employer at work today by surfing the internet at work? How about the man who has lunch with a woman not his wife, in a quiet restaurant? Or the woman who bought a dress at the mall today but hid the receipt from her husband? All are guilty of a sin, which makes them Godless.

There is also the fact that not everyone on this earth is a person of faith. It is okay to vote your values no matter which side of the fence you are on. We all have the right to believe as we do. What we do NOT have is the right to force our opinion onto others. We should agree to disagree on certain issues. Not everyone on this earth looks at Homosexuality as a sin, even some people of faith. And while it may be a sin in your eyes, it does not endanger a life. It is between those two people and their God. If you are a person of faith then believe they will answer for their sin to their God. If you are not a person of faith, then believe they will be happy together. A person of faith must remember, God did not appoint YOU the judge of the world. You can not judge a person by your standards because you are not their judge to begin with. You especially cannot hold a non Christian to Christian standards. You are not the police of the world.

To the non faithful person, by the same token you are NOT the conscience and INTELLIGENCE of the world either. Just because you do not look at abortion or contraception as wrong, does not mean you get to police the world and force them to do things against their beliefs.

The United States is made up of people of all possible mixture of faith or lack thereof. We must strive to work TOGETHER! Neither side has all the answers and neither side should be able to force their opinions onto the others. If homosexual marriage or civil unions are legal, then Christians can still be opposed, but that does not make this a Godless nation" destined to be the next Sodom. However, calling people names because they do not agree with you is wrong....no matter which side of the fence you are on.

As a Christian I have stated my view on homosexuality that the tendencies may be inborn but the choice is up to the individual, much the same as murder or theft. The Jesus I know ate with the sinners and called out the "holier than thou" religious. Granted, he did tell the sinners not to sin anymore but he still chose them because they recognized their own faults and the religious tended to call out the faults of others. He even quoted one in the bible who said "I am glad I am not like that other guy." (I am paraphrasing) in essence, when a Christian calls out someone who is different as a sinner or Godless, then they are essentially elevating themselves above the others and saying "Thank God I am not like them, I am without blemish."

America is NOT a Christian country. It is a country made up of all kinds of people and while a majority are Christian or other people of faith, that does not make us a Christian Nation. If we want to go back to the America that exhibits values identified as Christian but are really just Moral values, then it is time we began to follow the Teacher who told us to love one another and stop trying to be the conscience of the world. A true Christian will be known more by their actions than their hate filled words of love. If you want to win converts, stop trying to beat them to your way of thinking and give them an example worth wanting to know more about. Actions really do speak louder than words. TODAY I CHOOSE TO SET THE EXAMPLE!

TODAY I CHOOSE TO NOT LAY BLAME!

Today I have to admit that I had to become the student rather than the teacher. For months now, I have been advising others to grasp the moment and get on with their lives. I have advised people to take their circumstances and make the best out of them.

What happens if everything you have done has led to the point you are at now and it has been successful? What happens if your success, hard work and diligence is not enough to get to the next level? That is the point where I am now. I have a situation in my life that I have worked hard to get to. It is a situation that I thought would never come and now that it has, I realize that even though I am totally prepared for it, the situation most likely will not end as I would like it to. It is a situation that I have no say in the final outcome. All I can do is hope that my record speaks for itself and sit back and wait for the result.

All of us at one time or another have something we hope for and work hard to attain and yet, no matter how hard we have worked, no matter how prepared we are, we just can't reach that goal. Does that mean we are a failure? Does that make us less than qualified? Does that make us less than the best? The answer is a fat resounding "NO".

No matter what happens in the situation I am in right now, no matter the outcome, I am still the best I can be and despite all my efforts, there are just some things that are beyond my control. I cannot make someone take notice of me and change their mind unless they want to do so.

What I do with that knowledge is what will make the difference in my life. I can choose to throw a pity party and say I "Deserved" it and I "Should have" received it and "It isn't fair" ad infinitum. While there may be some merit to those sentiments, (And there may NOT be merit) the fact of the matter is: LIFE IS NOT FAIR! Let me repeat that: LIFE IS NOT FAIR!!!

There are always going to be things that happen to us that we feel are unfair or things that happen beyond our control. Whether it is fair or not we have to deal with it. Choosing to dwell on the negatives; Choosing to whine about how I was overlooked, more qualified, had better results, etc. will not change the outcome and it will only serve to make me bitter; and If I am voicing these opinions out loud, I will alienate everyone around me.

Instead I have chosen to hold my head up high and take whatever comes my way. I may not get the thing I have worked for and if I don't, I will still get up tomorrow and act like I did today. I will refuse to let one incident define the person I am. I will not let one disappointment belittle everything I have strived for in my life. If I look back on my life, I have had many blessings. In fact, probably more than I deserve. No matter how I perceive my ability, others may not see it that way; and that is okay. I do not have to depend on the acknowledgement of others for my self worth. It is nice to be and feel appreciated but my self worth is not defined by someone else's words or actions. My success is not dependent on anyone other than myself.

Our society has trained our youth that if we fail, it is someone else's fault and as long as we lay the blame correctly that we can justify our own mediocrity. I lay no Blame for not achieving my goal. I know I did all I could to be where I am and that no one could do what I have accomplished any better. I may not have been able to change the outcome, but I can pick myself back up and move on with my head held high. TODAY, I CHOOSE NOT TO LAY BLAME!

TODAY I CHOOSE TO LIVE LIFE ALL OUT!

Today we pay respect and celebrate the life of my boss of 21 years and my friend of 30. Last Saturday evening he had a massive heart attack that mercifully was quick and he went home to be with his Lord and his family that passed before him.

Too often we feel like people are taken from us too soon and such is the case with William Dwight Peeler. He worked for our company for 31 years and he was a dedicated man, not only to his company but also to everyone whose life he touched. Even in the work place, where you have to compartmentalize and be "The Boss" he managed to show compassion. Over the years I have been privileged to witness this compassion in action.

Many times he would take the lead and become a big brother for one of the children of our management by taking them with his boys group from church on camping trips. Often he would hold fund raisers to take kids annually to Washington, D.C. to allow them the privilege to see the museums and historic sites. I have seen him roll in the floor with a child and play at their level, never once acting too old or big to play. He had three grandchildren and a great grandchild and he was devoted to them as well as his wife of 39 years and his brothers, sisters and extended family. Recently, he had been tutoring a young boy from his church trying to help him overcome his recent aversion to school.

He loved to camp and he and his family took what I would call "extended family" vacations where all the children, spouses and grandchildren would go as a group. In most families this is called a family reunion but the Peeler family took a family reunion every year. This year, he had been looking forward to taking the entire family to Disney World.

More importantly on a personal note, he was my Boss but he was also invested in me as a person. Over the last 21 years, he was my sounding board as I lived through being a divorced single father. Often when my ex-wife and I were at each other's throats, he urged me to act with reason and civility when the opposite was what I really wanted to do--all because he could see the big picture of what my desired reactions would do to my still pre-teen children. He was a confidant as well. I knew I could talk to him about anything and it would go no farther. I like to think I shared that relationship because we often would sit and he would blow off about a particular thing that was bugging him, and then he would be fine. He just needed someone to allow him to vent his frustrations.

Mr. Peeler sang in his church, led children’s groups, led the kid’s choir and entered competitions with them. He was a former Sunday School Superintendent. He took part in a weekly men’s prayer dinner.

Mr. Peeler, as he was called by everyone including HIS boss, was well respected in the company, his church, his family and in his community. While we will all sorely miss him and we feel he was taken too soon from us, we can all rest assured that he will continue looking out for all the people he cared about from his corner of Heaven. There is a quote that to me identifies Mr. Peeler as well as anyone or thing could:

"Do not be afraid of death, but rather of a life half-lived." Laird Hamilton

This is the man we all knew as Mr. Peeler. He was sure in his faith and he was not afraid to die and most assuredly, he did not have a life half-lived. He lived live all out and he was an example to us all. TODAY I CHOOSE TO LIVE LIFE ALL OUT!

TODAY I CHOOSE TO CHASE MY OWN DREAM!

This morning I got an email from a site I follow called Launch My Day and It was a message so simple and so true I had to share it with you. In the story, the writer, Eric Scheibeler tells a story of chasing his dog around the neighborhood and finally bringing him home only to find out he had the wrong dog. He likened this to a man chasing his dream in life only to realize one day that his dream turned into someone else's dream and that his own dream had somehow fallen by the wayside.

A sad story to be certain but for many of us, myself included, it is our story. I too had a dream a long time ago to own my own business and be able to do the things I wanted to do. To be certain, I have been a partner in two such businesses in my past. One was a shoe store in Savannah and the other a Sonic Drive-in in Missouri. The first partnership was a dream made for my 26 year old self. I was young, newly married and had my own business. I was ecstatic to be so blessed. That partnership lasted 2 years and I had started making plans to buy out my partner but because of some shady dealings from my own family, the partnership dissolved before my dream was finalized. I went back to work for my old firm and moved to Tampa in time to see my first child born.

Fast forward two years later. I had moved back to Tennessee, changed employers and my wife had just had our second child. I was offered a second partnership at age 31 with a few of my co-workers who were leaving the company and buying into a Sonic franchise. I did my due diligence and felt like it was a good fit for my family. I should have checked further because in less than eight months, I was totally broke financially, moved back to Tennessee from Missouri again and starting over once more.

My "Partners" didn't want a partner, they wanted a manager that would give his every waking moment to the business. My wife and I worked opposite shifts and took turns watching the children so we could devote our all to making the business our own. After six months of this, we went home for a holiday weekend. When we returned, the locks had been changed, the partnership dissolved and all my investment lost. All because I took a weekend away from work. Not really, that was just the straw that broke the camel's back. My partners wanted my wife and I to fire all the employees and work open to close (9AM to 1AM), placing our children in daycare so we could realize a bigger profit. We had gone home to decide if we wanted to continue in the partnership and while we were gone, the decision was made for us.

Back in Tennessee, I took the first job I was offered. It was not meant to be a permanent job, I was just trying to feed my family until something better came along. Twenty-one years later, due to being in the right place at the right time and an aweful lot of hard work I am still there.

Let me say that I am very fortunate because my job is not a hard one. It is a job that I have worked hard to obtain and I feel like I have gained respect and despite not having a college education, I have attained a level that pays well and usually requires a degree.

Now back to chasing one's own dream. It was always my dream to own my own business and to be independent of someone else deciding what is important in my life and what is not. Somewhere along the line, I crossed over from chsing my own dream to chasing someone else's dream. First, I got comfortable with a steady and decent paycheck. I was able to feed my family and my wife was able to stay home with our kids until they started school. It was tight financially, but it was manageable. Then one day, I am not sure I can pinpoint the exact time, I began to chase my employer's dreams instead of my own. I stopped dreaming of my own business and I started fearing not having that steady income. I became used to living the life I had carved out. I got older, divorced, remarried, married off all our children but one, got fat, got skinny again, got fat again, you know the drill. I became complacent.

Then one day, I experienced an ephiphany. It was soon after my Mother died last year. If tomorrow, I lost everything: Home, car, job, and everything I use in life; If everything was gone but my family, I WOULD bounce back. The thing is, I might take a smaller job "till something better comes along" just to pay some bills and eat but this time, Something Better would come along. One of my favorite quotes is from George Bernard Shaw which states: "The people who get on in this world are the people who look for the circumstances they want and if they can't find them, make them up."

This time around, I would look for the circumstances I want and if I fail to find them, I would make them up! While I am thankful for my job, I do not like it that someone else decided I only deserve 2 weeks vacation after 21 years. I did not like having to work the day I buried my Mother and the day after I buried my Father because someone else decided I did not deserve time to grieve after 21 years of service without taking vacation time and mine was all used up.

I have no complaint about my employer. I love my job but I am living their dream, not mine. As long as they pay me, I will give my all at work. BUT, as for me, I have made a comittment. TODAY I CHOOSE to CHASE MY OWN DREAM!

TODAY I CHOOSE TO LAUNCH MY DAY!

I recently ran across a blog I felt worth mentioning. This blog is by Eric Scheibeler and in my opinion, he is well worth following. Here is a link to his blog; drop by, read it and let me know what you think. http://www.launchmyday.com/

TODAY I CHOOSE TO STOP MAKING EXCUSES!

My wife and I were talking last night after leaving the Memorial service of a friend's wife. They had been married for 22 years and although I met his wife only once, I know she was his best friend, much the same as my wife is to me. As best friends, we do most everything together. Not because we have to but because we want to.

As we discussed the things we enjoyed doing together, the one thing we have not been able to accomplish is to work together. I think it would be awesome to have a business where we were able to work side by side as a team. We both had businesses with our former spouses but we have not had that opportunity to do it with each other yet.

I have over 30 years experience in Retail Management with 10 years as a multi-unit Supervisor and over 11 as a Corporate Trainer. My wife has experience as a Corporate Trainer and in finance. Why we were never able to see that we both have similar backgrounds is strange, but what brought it to our attention was our dinner last night.

We were eating at a restaurant after the memorial and to say the service was less than spectacular would be an understatement. It was not horrible but it was not good either. The food took forever to arrive and both of us had food that was cold or to be more precise, lukewarm. The bread we ordered never arrived beofer the food. The food was brought by the manager and when she was asked for bread, she then went into a long explaination (read: excuse)as to why the bread had not arrived and she promised it would be out soon. We finally got it when we paid the check and asked for a to go box and the bread we never got. The waitress told us she hoped our experience next time would be better. No apology and we never complained, so it must have been obvious to her that things were not right. Still there was a missed opportunity for a better tip and a possible return visit.

The restaurant was not crowded and they were not understaffed to my reckoning. What seemed to be the problem was that there was no organization of the people there. There also may have been a training (or lack thereof) issue at play here. The waitress got a mediocre tip (and I tip well when it is deserved) and we would not recommend the restaurant to friends. Since we don't live there, it may not make a dent in their business but I assure you if the service continues at that rate, they may not last much longer as a business.

On the way home, my wife and I began a conversation about Customer Service. More specifically, where has Customer Service gone? Growing up, we didn't eat out much but when we did, the service was top notch. Today, it is getting harder and harder to find a place with good customer service. I am not just talking about restaurants here, though they stand to benefit the most from outstanding customer service since the waiters and waitresses make a bulk of their money via tips.

No matter where you go today: (Walmart, Sears, the grocery store, the car dealer, the post office, ad infinitum) customer service seems to be the last thing on their mind. Walmart has 24 lanes and five cashiers. When Sam Walton started Walmart, it was all about the American made goods and the service. The first Walmart in Athens, Tennessee used to call extra cashiers if they had more than two people in line. Now they call cashiers and managers and they never arrive. The self service check out lanes are a joke. For every item you scan, the next three will not scan or will require some form of cashier intervention. Now Walmart is all about Chinese made goods and very minimal customer service. I only shop there if I can't find what I need elsewhere--even if the price is higher. It just is not worth the effort or the time. A company that was made based on quality and service is now reduced to making us do all our own service and the quality is less than good on many items. To make matters worse, try and get an exchange or refund on a defective item. That will get your blood boiling!

Walmart is not the only one like this. Nearly any place you go, you will experience the same kind of thing. Customer Service is dead!

That is where my wife and I came up with the idea for our new business. Using our considerable experience in Corporate Training, we are starting our own business as Management Consultants. We will be offering any business the opportunity to turn around their business by applying the principles of effective leadership to their management team.

Most businesses now cut costs by buying cheaper goods and paying smaller wages to part-time employees so they can get by without paying benefits as an effort to bring more to the bottom line. I believe that by reversing the trend and paying more for better quality (both help and goods) and by giving the best customer service possible, that ANY BUSINESS could turn their profits around and shoot them through the roof.

More businesses fail than survice today and one main cause is the lack of customer service. I have seen people open a restaurant because they love to cook but lose the business because they don't know the first thing about running a business. Knowledge of product does not translate to success in business if you don't realize one simple rule: The Customer IS KING!!!! Giving the customer the best product possible, with the best service possible, will translate into a profitable business. It is a choice, like many other things I discuss on this blog. The choice you make to be a Customer Service Giant or a squeeze the bottom line for a buck is the difference between profit and closing your doors.

I am all about Customer Service. I know it and I know how to teach it to others. So the order for business cards and stationary are going in today. We start canvassing the neighborhood businesses here first and then we will branch out. I am sick of lousy service and I look forward to working with my wife as well. If you have a business or know of a business that could use a good dose of Customer Service Training, reply to this blog and let us know. TODAY I CHOOSE TO STOP MAKING EXCUSES! It is a conscious choice, what choice do YOU make today?

TODAY I CHOOSE TO RESPECT LIFE!

Yesterday in my hometown, a sad event happened to someone I did not have the opportunity to know. I am not privy to the details it seems that a young girl in high school was bullied to the point she felt she couldn't go on living and she took her own life. There is ABSOLUTELY NO REASON this should have happened!

My heart goes out to the family and the friends of this young girl. No matter what happened, they have a loss that will haunt them for the rest of their lives. I only hope it haunts the people who bullied her to the point of suicide because her life is ended and their actions pushed her to the limit of her ability to withstand the taunts.

No one knows the extent of the taunts or what was her reaction. Did she seek help? Was she ignored if she did? Regardless of the answer to those questions, what gives any of us the right to make fun of another person? Who appointed us the judge and jury of what is or isn't acceptable? Who gets to choose who is cool, or pretty, or otherwise socially acceptable?

With the recent flux of cases in the news, it should be obvious that bullying has taken a new viscous level that has never been seen before. Part of this is due to the Internet and 24/7 news coverage. The Internet has also been used to implement several bullying cases. No matter the cause or the reasoning behind bullying, where is human decency? Surely some of the people who bullied are just following others but what possesses any human to deride someone to the point that they feel overwhelmed? Have we become so ensconced with outer appearance that we feel anyone who does not conform to our idea of beauty, or coolness deserves to be mistreated. If so, then God forgive us all. There are many who are outraged and rightly so. However this outrage needs to be turned into action. It is time we enact laws that allow the bully to be tried for murder and regardless of age, be sentenced to life. Sch blatant disregard for life is reasons for a similar punishment. Until we begin to respect life like God intended, then we are incapable of respect ourself. TODAY I CHOOSE TO RESPECT LIFE!

TODAY I CHOOSE TO BE AMAZED!

A friend of mine I have known for years is in the hospital and is not doing so good. His family is continuing to pray for his recovery as are many many friends of the man himself and his family. There a many views of God's role in the lives of people and to be honest the only way we will know which, if any of those views is true is when we arrive in heaven one day.

My friend is a God fearing, and God believing man. I don't mean he fears God in a way we fear death or bad things happening. What I mean by God fearing is simply he is in awe of God and his power. A healthy respect if you prefer. My friend respects God and His omnipotence and omnicicience. I know those are big words but it takes a big word to describe God in the terms my friend (and me too) understand Him to be.

God is not some obscure being that looks down on us and never interacts with our lives. He moves within our lives in a way as to not force His will upon us. We have to choose Him. It is like a friendship. When we meet someone new, it is not enough to just choose them as a friend, we also have to be chosen by them. God has already chosen us to be his friend, He is just waiting on us to choose Him back. This is a concept my friend understands well.

My friend introduced me to God in a personal way 38 years ago when I was just 14 and still in need of a mentor to help me through life. I credit my friend with giving me the tools I needed to survive in this world. Faith in God and someone who had faith in me. That was all I needed at that time.

Now some 38 years later, it is still all I need. My faith in God has evolved as I grew older. I now have a better understanding of God's participation in my life. That faith in God has gotten me through many bad times: the loss of both my parents; a very bad divorce after nearly 18 years of marriage; a child who spent almost a year in a hostile country fighting for our country. It has also brought me into some very great periods: I have a wonderful wife who believes in me, and however blinded by her love for me, she believes me to be a better person than I feel I am. More importantly, I have come to believe in myself. Not in my importance or greatness, but in my ability to take what God blessed me with and use it to make it through life.

Each day in life, my friend has chosen to live his life in amazement of a God he loves, admires and reveres. This outlook in life he passed on to his sons and also to me, his mentee from 30 odd years ago. It is a legacy I will forever cherish because he took the time to invest time in me.

Getting back to the different views of God's participation in our lives, many people look at God as a being that is all powerful but they feel you can't really know God. Others look at God as a friend in time of need, but rarely ever interact with Him otherwise. Those are the ones we labled C & E Christians (for Christmas and Easter) because that was the only time they came to worship. Still others, like my friend, look to God as a confidant, a friend, a redeemer. Still others look at God with a little g. A mere figment of our imagination, an invisible friend to help us through the things we don't understand. What it all boils down to is something called FAITH, either you have it or you don't. I have no physical proof God exists that would satisfy a non-believer. What I do have is my own faith and the one thing that while it proves to me the existence of God, it wouldn't prove it to someone without faith. That thing is the life of my friend. Every day of his life has been a testament to the existence of God to me and those who have been fortunate to know him.

As my friend struggles, I am not sure if God will answer the prayers of family and friends the way we wish for him to and allow a complete recovery. One thing I do know is this: my friend is a friend of God's and he has already won this battle. If he recovers, he wins. If he does not recover, and God calls him home, he wins. This battle is already won. See we will miss our friend, but he will be forever with his friend and his God.

We are praying for a miracle but the miracle already happened. The miracle is that I met this man and he became my friend. Regardless of the outcome of this battle, I am amazed at the life I have had because someone took the time to care about me. I am amazed at the chance he took on me and the time he chose to spend with a young man like me who had no one to guide him in the way he should go. He took the time to be amazed at the wonders of God and passed them on to me. TODAY I CHOOSE TO BE AMAZED.

TODAY I CHOOSE TO GET BACK UP!

Yesterday someone new was told that their job was being downsized or that it no longer existed. Most of them cried, some were in shock and disbelief, some chose to be angry, some took to violence or name calling, some might even have become depressed enough to take their own life. Still, some took time to grieve for their loss and then dusted themselves off, pulled their shoulders back straight and decided it might be the best time to go into business for themselves.

A scene from yesterday, or a page from history? Hopefully both! History is full of examples of people that were either handed bad news by someone else or they experienced the loss of their own business. In today's society, these scenes are happening more and more every day. People who have worked for years for a company, through no fault of their own are let go because their job has been eliminated or because their company can no longer afford to pay them. When this happens we look for someone to blame. Is it the fault of government for regulating and taxing businesses to bankruptcy? Perhaps it is the greedy businessman who thinks their livelihood is more important than yours? Whatever the reason, laying blame will not reduce or reverse the loss and might possibly be the most detrimental thing you might do.

Stuff happens in life that we have absolutely no control over and despite all the PC RHETORIC and all the little league games that stress everyone gets to win, LIFE IS UNFAIR! Let me repeat that: LIFE IS UNFAIR and there are just some things that make no sense or have no rhyme or reason to us. Now let me repeat some sound words of advice from my little league coach when we lost a game: "Get over it". That's right, GET OVER IT! MOVE ON! Make your life about the next phase, not about the past. It is okay to grieve for your loss....for about a day then you have to get up and move on and MAKE something happen.

In the face of adversity, some will look for another job, some will collect unemployment, others will sue their company, and there are a few that will begin their own business. They will look at this as their one opportunity in life to do what they always dreamed of doing but never had the guts to try. Face it, if you are comfortable most people are content. It is not until they face adversity that they are willing to try anything. Many entrepreneurs became entrepreneurs because of some adversity in their lives. It was only when they faced the prospect of no job that they realized their dream of being their own boss. Ask one of those people today and they look at their old company laying them off as a blessing, not a bad time of their life.

In today's society, there will be many more jobs losses before the economy improves. Those that survive the recession will be the ones that decided not to lay down and take their loss personally. Rather they will be the ones that looked at their glass as half full and immediately began to look at how to fill it the rest of the way and keep it full for a lifetime. They decided to stop depending on their J.O.B as their meaning for existence and decided to make their own meaning for existence and means of support. They decided to get back up. As Les Brown says "when life knocks you down, and it will...try and land on your back because if you can look up, you can get up". TODAY, I CHOOSE TO GET BACK UP!

TODAY I CHOOSE TO BE RESPECTFUL!

Yesterday I had the chance to reply to a post on Facebook that I was disturbed by, not because I disagreed with the person for believing what they did but for the blanket statement they made. I have a hard time dealing with people who make "One size fits all statements" about anyone or group. Since this is an election year, I have plenty of fodder.

In the post yesterday, the poster called Arizona Governor Jan Brewer a witch for attacking Mr. Obama verbally. I commented with a question as to why she was a witch and was it because she disagreed with the President? The reply was even more inflammatory in that he said no, any American has the right to disagree with the President but "Her fascism is abhorrent and that's what makes her a witch. The Eva Braun of Arizona maybe?" This blew my mind.

I went to Dictionary.com to make sure my understanding of the word Fascism was correct. It was and I copied and pasted the definition into the conversation. I also questioned wasn't Eva Braun Hitler's mistress? I asked if maybe he was suggesting Brewer was Mr. Obama's mistress and he was the Fascist? Okay, I went too far with the last comment, but the point is Americans have a tough choice to make this year. The last election had turned into a muck-fest where both sides chose to sling mud at the other. I personally did not vote for the President and I had many friends who did. There were some lively debates that year! I think I have never been called a racist so much as when I told someone I either wasn't voting for Him or I disagreed with one of his policies!

This election is a serious one and I for one, along with many Americans are scared for our country. I have listened to both sides for nearly 6 years and I have come to the conclusion that BOTH sides have some GOOD ideas and BOTH sides have some BAD ideas. What we need is a leader that will bring the country together, rather than further divide it.

I will start this off with a disclaimer: I am a registered Republican, but I do vote for the best candidate regardless of party. With that said, I would like to address the things that have bothered me during the last political election:

Mr. Obams is NOT a Muslim and he IS a U.S. Citizen. Saying He is a Muslim because his Dad was a Muslim is akin to saying I am a Catholic because my Dad was. Okay, I was Catholic for 15 years, but that was a conscious choice, not a birthright. The thing is here, I was no more a Catholic than Obama was a Muslim just because of our Father. As for the U.S. Citizenship thing, there is no way in this country and all the reporting that has to take place to run for office,that the man could have slipped into the race without providing a valid birth certificate. END OF STORY.

The second thing from the last election that bothers me is this: Just because I disagree with a Liberal, the president, or Democrats in general does NOT make me a racist. The President is Black--Big Deal! I disagree with most Liberal leaning agendas and have for a long time and before Mr. Obama, no one ever threw the race card at me. Sure I was called a bumbling idiot and a buffoon but never a racist until now.

The Far right made the last election about Religion and Citizenship and the Liberal Left made it about Race. Thus began the Great Divide. The country has continued to split down the middle between race, ethnic,age and socio-economic lines. The country is more more divided than at any other time in History other than the Civil War. Even more divided than the Viet Nam War era!

The country is at such polar opposites between the parties that we could very well be looking at a class war. The Far Right has continued to make this election about Religion and Citizenship (immigration) and the Far Left has made it about Race and Class (Occupy Wall Street and Obamacare). The truth is, it is about to get ugly!

In my opinion, we need to think about one thing this election: The economy! Until the economy is back on track, we are not going to get the other things accomplished. We need someone to bring both sides together and get people working again. That is the main priority. All else depends on it.

As for the other issues we hear about: Obamacare--everyone needs to be able to go to the doctor when they are sick but demanding all people buy insurance is not the solution. Stimulus money: throwing money at people just to say you did something is not the solution, expecially if it increases the debt load. Taxes: If I earn more, I should pay more period; but penalizing me for being able to make money and save it is just theft by the government. Welfare reform: The only way to really reform welfare is to pay people TO WORK, not pay them LESS IF THEY WORK. I would rather pay a man a stipend if he were working than to pay him to sit at home or take his stipend away IF he tries to work. If you ask most Americans on welfare, they would rather work than draw welfare but the government penalizes their benefits if they do work so there is no incentive to work.

Getting people back to work is the real solution to our economic problems. One solution I would like to see is the SBA giving loans for new business startups for all the people who come up with a way to make their own business work. No matter how small the business. A one man shop is one less person out of work and one more paying taxes. Even if they fail, at least they tried. It is better than to never have tried at all. We gave loans to people that couldn't afford houses to begin with, so why can't we take a real chance and give people the chance to start their own business. If they succeed, there will be more taxes going into the government coffers.

In this election season, we need to look for the right person who will grow the economy and NOT further divide the country. I may disagree with you the way to accomplish that, but I will always try and be respectful of your opinion. TODAY I CHOOSE TO BE RESPECTFUL!

TODAY I CHOOSE MY DESTINY!

There is is saying that a man's destiny is predetermined by God. Others belive that a man's destiny is determined by his surroundings. I say that a man's destiny is His (or hers, for a woman)to choose.

It is not God Who chooses our every move as if we were puppets. He gave man free will to choose which direction we will take our lives. We are born with an inate ability to make our own decisions, good or bad and as a result of those decisions our lives take shape.

There are certain things that affect our lives that ARE beyond our control--laws of nature and the decisions others around us make--but it is not the things themselves that make our destiny, rather it is the way we respond to a situation that makes our destiny.

I was raised in a broken home in "the projects" where my mother raised three kids for several years on a seamstress's production paycheck. I had an absentee father and an absentee step-father. I was a screw-up during high school and after high school I couldn't even get into the Air Force due to an undiagnosed medical condition. I never attended college and by all that society tells us should be my fate, I should be in prison or stuck in an hourly job with no future. In fact, several of my friends from school have been a guest of the state.

But the conventional thought did not turn out to be true. Despite all my very real circumstances, I did NOT meet expectations for my life. I say this not to brag on my life, which in my mind has been pretty awesome, but to prove a point that my situation did not determine my outcome.

All it took was for me to be open to the opportunity and just one person to believe in me. Yes, I had one person to believe in me even when I didn't believe in myself. That was my sister and my best friend up until the day she died. Because of her belief and caring I was able to see the potential I had and the dreams I dreamed became more than just dreams.

A spark of hope is all we need in order to overcome our obstacles. We need not be bound by what society tells us we can or can't do. Our destiny is not restrained by our circumstances, rather our reaction to our circumstances is what controls our destiny. I refused to believe the naysayers who said I couldn't do it. No one has the right to choose your outcome but you! Today I choose MY DESTINY!

TODAY I CHOOSE NOT TO MAKE EXCUSES!

An excuse is just a reason to justify failing. TODAY I CHOOSE NOT TO MAKE EXCUSES!

TODAY I CHOOSE TO SAY I CAN!

TODAY I CHOOSE TO BE STRENGTHENED!

   When something bad happens, you have 3 choices: you can either let it define you, let it destroy you OR YOU CAN CHOOSE TO LET IT STRENGTHEN YOU. Which will YOU CHOOSE?

TODAY I CHOOSE TO BE LIKE TIM TEBOW

This is copied from an article noted below.  I am not the copyright owner of this piece.  What if ALL of us were like this?

I've come to believe in Tim Tebow, but not for what he does on a football field, which is still three parts Dr. Jekyll and two parts Mr. Hyde.

No, I've come to believe in Tim Tebow for what he does off a football field, which is represent the best parts of us, the parts I want to be and so rarely am.

Who among us is this selfless?

Every week, Tebow picks out someone who is suffering, or who is dying, or who is injured. He flies these people and their families to the Broncos game, rents them a car, puts them up in a nice hotel, buys them dinner (usually at a Dave & Buster's), gets them and their families pregame passes, visits with them just before kickoff (!), gets them 30-yard-line tickets down low, visits with them after the game (sometimes for an hour), has them walk him to his car, and sends them off with a basket of gifts.

Home or road, win or lose, hero or goat.

Remember last week, when the world was pulling its hair out in the hour after Tebow had stunned the Pittsburgh Steelers with an 80-yard OT touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas in the playoffs? And Twitter was exploding with 9,420 tweets about Tebow per second? When an ESPN poll was naming him the most popular athlete in America?

Tebow was spending that hour talking to 16-year-old Bailey Knaub about her 73 surgeries so far and what TV shows she likes.

"Here he'd just played the game of his life," recalls Bailey's mother, Kathy, of Loveland, Colo., "and the first thing he does after his press conference is come find Bailey and ask, 'Did you get anything to eat?' He acted like what he'd just done wasn't anything, like it was all about Bailey."

More than that, Tebow kept corralling people into the room for Bailey to meet. Hey, Demaryius, come in here a minute. Hey, Mr. Elway. Hey, Coach Fox.

Even though sometimes-fatal Wegener's granulomatosis has left Bailey with only one lung, the attention took her breath away.

"It was the best day of my life," she emailed. "It was a bright star among very gloomy and difficult days. Tim Tebow gave me the greatest gift I could ever imagine. He gave me the strength for the future. I know now that I can face any obstacle placed in front of me. Tim taught me to never give up because at the end of the day, today might seem bleak but it can't rain forever and tomorrow is a new day, with new promises."

I read that email to Tebow, and he was honestly floored.

"Why me? Why should I inspire her?" he said. "I just don't feel, I don't know, adequate. Really, hearing her story inspires me."

It's not just NFL defenses that get Tebowed. It's high school girls who don't know whether they'll ever go to a prom. It's adults who can hardly stand. It's kids who will die soon.

For the game at Buffalo, it was Charlottesville, Va., blue-chip high school QB Jacob Rainey, who lost his leg after a freak tackle in a scrimmage. Tebow threw three interceptions in that Buffalo game and the Broncos were crushed 40-14.

"He walked in and took a big sigh and said, 'Well, that didn't go as planned,'" Rainey remembers. "Where I'm from, people wonder how sincere and genuine he is. But I think he's the most genuine person I've ever met."

There's not an ounce of artifice or phoniness or Hollywood in this kid Tebow, and I've looked everywhere for it.

Take 9-year-old Zac Taylor, a child who lives in constant pain. Immediately after Tebow shocked the Chicago Bears with a 13-10 comeback win, Tebow spent an hour with Zac and his family. At one point, Zac, who has 10 doctors, asked Tebow whether he has a secret prayer for hospital visits. Tebow whispered it in his ear. And because Tebow still needed to be checked out by the Broncos' team doctor, he took Zac in with him, but only after they had whispered it together.

And it's not always kids. Tom Driscoll, a 55-year-old who is dying of brain cancer at a hospice in Denver, was Tebow's guest for the Cincinnati game. "The doctors took some of my brain," Driscoll says, "so my short-term memory is kind of shot. But that day I'll never forget. Tim is such a good man."

This whole thing makes no football sense, of course. Most NFL players hardly talk to teammates before a game, much less visit with the sick and dying.

Isn't that a huge distraction?

"Just the opposite," Tebow says. "It's by far the best thing I do to get myself ready. Here you are, about to play a game that the world says is the most important thing in the world. Win and they praise you. Lose and they crush you. And here I have a chance to talk to the coolest, most courageous people. It puts it all into perspective. The game doesn't really matter. I mean, I'll give 100 percent of my heart to win it, but in the end, the thing I most want to do is not win championships or make a lot of money, it's to invest in people's lives, to make a difference."

So that's it. I've given up giving up on him. I'm a 100 percent believer. Not in his arm. Not in his skills. I believe in his heart, his there-will-definitely-be-a-pony-under-the-tree optimism, the way his love pours into people, right up to their eyeballs, until they believe they can master the hopeless comeback, too.

Remember the QB who lost his leg, Jacob Rainey? He got his prosthetic leg a few weeks ago, and he wants to play high school football next season. Yes, tackle football. He'd be the first to do that on an above-the-knee amputation.

Hmmm. Wonder where he got that crazy idea?

"Tim told me to keep fighting, no matter what," Rainey says. "I am."

Follow Rick on Twitter @ReillyRick Love the column, hate the column, got a better idea? Go here.

Rick Reilly is the 11-time National Sportswriter of the Year. He contributes essays and commentary to "Monday Night Countdown," "SportsCenter," and ESPN/ABC golf and tennis coverage. He's also the host of "Homecoming," ESPN's unique, one-hour interview show set in the hometowns of legendary athletes. For more Rick, check out the archive.
Feel like taking a detour from sane sports? Try Rick's latest book, "Sports from Hell."

TODAY I CHOOSE TO BE GOOD TO MY BODY!

This past weekend, my wife and I stayed near the house all weekend, only venturing out to go to Church on Sunday and lunch afterward.  The entire rest of the weekend we stayed at home catching up on our rest. 

Over the last several weeks I had been getting a new store ready to open and then there was the unexpected trip to Louisville to send my father home to his Lord.  My wife had been stressed out at work over the same period and we both just needed the time to unwind and de-stress our bodies.  By Sunday night we were feeling a little lazy but much more relaxed and ready for the new week.

In todays fast paced world we are always moving at the speed of life and we sometimes feel if we slow down that we might get behind or at the very least miss something.  While God did not intend for us to just sit around and become couch potatoes, He also intended for us to regenerate our bodies through rest.  He was the first of us to take a day off.  After He created the universe, God took the Sabbath as a day of rest.

The human body is a resilient piece of craftsmanship.  With all its intricate parts and inner workings, it is designed to give us a full day of work and support our efforts.  However, as I said IT IS a delicate piece of craftsmanship so it also needs a few things to keep it running.

First the body needs fuel.  Food and water are the fuel that keep the body the well oiled machine that it is.  If we fail to feed the body, then it is like a car that we fail to put oil and gas into.  It runs out of that fuel and it stalls.  If you consider food as the gas and water as the oil, then like a car, without proper food nutrition the body will begin to be sluggish and non-responsive.  Americans take in the equivilent of 142 pounds of Sugar (in all its forms) according to a 2003 study.  Type 2 Diabetes is an epidemic in America and our children are getting fatter every year. 

Water is the oil for our body and without it, the body will shut down on us.   Like a car without oil, our body will lock up and shut down on us.  Coffee, tea, soda, and other liquids may refresh us but they may also be slowly shutting us down.  The human body is nearly 60% water in a normal sized man but it can be up to 75% in a newborn infant.  When we work our body, we lose water through sweat.  When we replace our body water with other fluids we throw off the delicate balance of water in the body and it does not tend to work as well.  Think of the oil in an engine being replaced with soda.  Oil is designed to lubricate the engine and keep things running smoothly--much like the water in our bodies.

Water does for our body what oil does for a car engine.   It keeps our body lubricated and hydrated. The average American consumes 46 Gallons of soda a year as of 2009. Not only is the soda laden with sugar, but it replaces the natural water content and replaces the water with fat. Even diet drinks contribute to fat because they fail to trigger the brain to feel satisfied and they lead to over-consumption. Since the soda is laden with sugar, it replaces the well lubricated body with a sludge that has the same effect as it would if you replaced the engine oil with soda.

Soda and sugar are not bad in and of themselves, but anything in excess is not good for us. We need to read the lables of our food and stay away from added sugar as much as possible. Anything on a lable ending in -ose (Dextrose, fructose, etc) is a form of sugar that many people do not know are sugars.

The third thing the body needs is rest. If God took a day of rest, what makes us think we are any better? Like a good Father, He set the example for us by teaching us to rest. Without rest, the body does not function well. It becomes sluggish because the body did not have enough time to regenerate and recharge itself.

People who are sleep deprived tend to be more sedentary and without proper exercise, they function at a lower level than intended. This leads to people eating and drinking more, and this becomes a cycle that if not corrected will lead to obesity.

I have made 2012 my year of reclamation for my body. I have pledged to greatly reduce the consumption of sugar and to make the majority of my sugar intake be from fresh fruits and vegetables. I have pledged to 64 ounces of water a day minimum and while I still drink other drinks, try to keep them to mealtime and water otherwise. I have also pledged to exercise a minimum of 3 times a week with at least one of those days being cardio training.

In the Bible in the Old Testament there are plenty of mentions of people living hundreds of years. There is a philosophical debate as to whether people lived longer then and could not do so now. I happen to believe if we ate like God intended, worked and rested like our ancestors did then we too might live a much longer life. Maybe not hundreds of years but possibly a lot more reaching the century mark. TODAY I CHOOSE TO BE GOOD TO MY BODY!

TODAY I CHOOSE TO GET BACK UP!

"If I could just win the lottery, everything would be fine."  "If I had been born rich..."  "If I was the boss, things would sure be different."  Sound familiar?  Well, it should because every day we hear one more person tell us why they can't do something.  There is always some reason why someone can't achieve their goals; or why the economy is in the shape it is in; or why we remain poor in the richest country (still!) in the world; Or why we can't afford go to college, ad infinitum.  There will always be EXCUSES as long as there are people to offer them. 

There is an old saying, "It is not whether you win or lose, it is how you lay the blame."  This is as true today as it was when the phrase was first coined.  It is much easier to give EXCUSES why we fail to achieve than to take ACCOUNTABILITY for our failures.  For some reason, it has become a shame to fail at anything, so somewhere along the line we began offering EXCUSES as to why we failed.  It makes the failure much easier to swallow.

There are a couple of things about failure that I want to make clear.  First and foremost, there is no shame in failure so long as you tried and gave the very best effort you could give to the project.  Thomas Edison did not invent the light bulb on his first attempt.  It took many failures before he succeeded in making it work.  Still, if Edison had had the common mentality of today, he might well have said "I tried and it didn't work, so I am just going to give up and try something else."

The second thing about failure is that it is good for us to fail--sometimes.  Life is not fair and there are times that you are going to fail.  Sure it may seem that there is always someone that never seems to fail because they have what some of us perceive as an unfair advantage but rest assured, everyone fails sooner or later.  If there is truly an unfair advantage, it will soon catch up to them.  More often than not, that person who  never seems to fail is in reality, someone who has already paid their dues to the god of failure and they have learned the secret to failure. In the next paragraph, I will share the secret to success.

Every successful businessman, actor, doctor, athlete, etc. knows this secret to success. It has nothing to do with someone else. It has nothing to do with privileged inheritance. Success depends on one person---YOU. Success depends on YOU and no one or nothing else. The people who fail, gave up before reaching the prize. The people who succeed simply got up one more time than they fell down.

So the next time you fail at something, GET BACK UP! The next time you fall, GET BACK UP! You can't be knocked down, if you refuse to stay down! GET BACK UP! Be like Rocky in the movies, GET BACK UP! failure can not defeat you if you refuse to give up. Resolve yourself to say TODAY I CHOOSE TO GET BACK UP!

TODAY I CHOOSE TO LIVE LIFE OUT LOUD!

"Maybe someday we'll live our lives out loud
We'll be better off somehow
Someday"
Rob Thomas' song Someday

I lost my Father on New Years Day this year and my Mother justb a year ago last October.  One thing I have learned from their deaths is just how they lived their lives.  When they were young, they were vibrant and alive.  They worked hard and they played hard.  Then somewhere along their lives they told themselves they were old and needed to slow down.  They slowed down so much they stopped Living!

At my Dad's funeral, people talked about a man that loved to dance and bet on the horses.  A man that was a practical joker, a free spirit.  A man, sadly I never got to know because by the time I was 30 and got to know my dad after 25 years estranged, he was not the man I got to know.  The man I knew worked, watched TV, read the paper,ate, said his prayers, slept and then did it again--until he retired and then he just did more of the rest.

My Mother on the other hand was also a woman who played softball, coached young girls, worked in a garden, danced, bowled, and did a number of other things when I was growing up. She too, one day began to slow down and soon her life became one continous circle of work, eat, watch TV, sleep, only to get up the next day and do it again. When Mother retired, her life also became one less thing. She at least did travel for a while with my aunt. Then that too, stopped.

Both my Dad and Mother were heavy smokers and smoked up until the day they died from Lung Cancer. I could insert a diatribe about smoking here but that is another post for another day. The entire point is that both of my parents stopped LIVING long before they DIED! I loved them both and I will miss them deeply. However, these two vibrant, life living people one day just stopped living and began dying a little more each day.

I am not talking about the Cancer here, rather I am referring to the fact that they became sedentary, lonely souls that just "existed" along with the rest of the world. It wasn't the cancer that slowed them down--no both of them lived the slow painless death of just being and not much else long before the Cancer consumed their bodies.

My Mother did still do family things, though not quite as much. My Dad and Step-Mom seldom left the house after a few years retired except to go to doctor visits and hair appointments or the grocery store.

It was hard to watch my parents wither away and I am not sure if there was any one catalyst that caused the shut-down on life for either of them. The sad part is that they both had about 10-15 years after retirement to live life to it's fullest, yet for whatever reason they chose not to do so.

It isn't just old people that give up on life. middle-aged and younger people do it too. For the past eight years I have lived a failry sedentary life and I have put on 80 pounds. I kept telling myself that I was getting older and my body was slowing down. I worked, ate, watched TV and slept only to do it again (Sound familiar?). I started having breathing problems, I started snoring again and Sleep Apnea reared its ugly head for the second time in my life. Then a few months ago, I started having knee problems in my right knee. It turned out to be a torn meniscus but the orthopedist said I would need a knee replacement in 5-10 years. This was my wake up call. I decided I was going to defy the doctor and prove him wrong. I began to really watch my eating, stopped sitting in front of the television every night, I began exercising and in general started reclaiming my life.

It was at my Dad's funeral that I realized I could either keep the momentum going or be like my Dad and Mother and just die a little more each day. I did not want to end up in a rut, doing the same things every day as I gave up my will to live. On the contrary, I decided to Live my Life like it was my last day on Earth. I decided to Live my Life out Loud! I will not go gently into that good night. No I will go kicking and screaming all the way--just like the passengers in my Grandfather's car--Just kidding.

Still, while I know that I am going to a better place when I die, God did not intend for His children to die a little each day, rather, He intended for us to LIVE every day to its fullest potential, and that is just what I am going to do! If you see some middle-aged man passing you on the greenway or skydiving or hang gliding--move over. It is just ME, and TODAY I CHOOSE TO LIVE MY LIFE OUT LOUD!

TODAY I CHOOSE TO FORGET!

As the Sun rises today, let it remind you that each day is a new beginning. Everything that is past is just that.  Every disappointment, every hurt, every person that let you down is a part of the past and TODAY is a new day full of new challenges and second chances. Don't look back at the past but say TODAY I CHOOSE TO FORGET THE PAST AND EMBRACE THE FUTURE!

TODAY I CHOOSE TO SUCCEED!

My worth is NOT determined by your (or anyone else's) opinion of me.  I refuse to allow anyone to form my opinion of my own worth.  I am unique and I am worthy of respect. My status in life, the color of my skin, my sex, race, religious beliefs are part of who I am but they do not define me either.  I can do ANYTHING and the only thing that will hold me back is my failure to believe in myself.  TODAY I CHOOSE TO SUCCEED!.