BIG DREAM

MY friend told me that they just don't see any
sense in thinking about things that ain' gonna
be anyway.  "Why put yourself through it
man, you know that S*%# don't work."
It's not like folks don't say that to me
all the time, I hear it all the time; and
after while, you get to where you don't
really hear it, because you've heard it
so often you just shut the cynic out- and
you begin to pray that somehow - some way, they'll hear again?  That -that old heart of their's that's gotten like a rock, when it used to be like a marshmallow-will thaw a bit, and they'll see, BUT, the
way things go, what do you think they'll do?

SO what do you think is really going down?
Because I think I see it, very clearly, it's the
death of the inner dream, it's the way that
people are slowly taught that they can't- so
they don't try.  It's how the ones who used
to have hope, lose hope, and then turn the
ones who still have hope, onto, their
hopelessness?  It's the death of the inner dream.

I grew up so poor that most folks wrote me off-
in fact, most of the people who know where I've
gotten to, can't believe it, still today- they all say
the same thing, "we figured you'd get
killed man." They were right- I was
not a good person at all,
but inside me, something was burning,
a desire to get into better, somehow,
to grow to achieve, to not be alone,
to learn to earn, and then to
give back as my friend Anthony Robbins says.
There were folks who tried to steal my dream
as Zig Ziglar calls them; but I wouldn't let them,
I clung to it, "life," I said, "has to be about more."
And guess what?  It is...

So when you read this - please focus on these three
items- for a while- just think about them- you can't
spend a dime here- there's no way to do it, that I 
know of, so this is completely and totally free-
FREE- I just want you to consider these three
items and then - after you've thought about it-
AFTER - you've thought about it- call me.
SIMPLE- don't care what you decide, either,
by the way- BECAUSE these three are FREE-
1)  If you stay just like you are, will that be cool?
2)  If you don't stay just like you are, what might
     be different?
3)  Do you know what love is?

Think on them for a while...maybe a few days,
then call me, let's talk, that's free too ...BTW...
Love to you always

Get On With It ...

My family is like many families in America
today, in fact, we may be just like millions
of other "middle income," families.  We
are seeing what we used to have in savings,
going down, while we are seeing our no
longer "full time," work hours, going up,
without, so called, benefits?  Our dollar
is getting thinner as it's stretched out, and
our brain is getting less patient as it's
stressed out.  Our ability to reason and
remain calm is getting called upon every
second now, instead of every minute,
and it used to be every hour, or every
day, or every week, or every month, in fact
there was a time patience was measured in
years- now it's measured by the length of
time it takes a certain hamburger maker to
get your order out to you - OR ELSE!

Is it possible to slow down, just a little?
Is it worth it to slow down?  Here is something
that I share with someone whom I've known
for years, a person who used to care more
about living life, and enjoying it, than work-
but who now spends more time at work-
than anywhere else?  Why- because this
person knows, nobody on their death bed
says "man if I'd just worked one more hour!"

What can you do to slow down?  Here are three
suggestions:  1) Call a friend and ask them to
have lunch with you.  2)  Call a friend that
you haven't called in a while and spend ten
minutes with the cubicle door shut and
actually listen to what they say.  3)  Go
to the one you love and tell them you
love them, and listen, to what they say.

Issue Based? How real - or unreal is that?

We live in a world where the reality
that we go through is defined for
us, and the tough part is, the defining
is done through powerful forces
of thought.  Thought, the process
of looking inward at what you
are coming to know, that can be
influenced, and is influenced by
the culture that you exist in.
We might like it, or not like it,
but the choice is often fronted
for us in forces we don't really get-
like comic book heroes that seem
to always come out on top- we
are led down a false trail that
says that things have to have a
happy ending, when in reality the
ending is often anything but.

You are probably familiar with
the idea that you control your
own reality.  That's a type of
thinking that is particularly strong
in our westernized view of how
things must be.  There are other
ways of thinking, though, even
though, those aren't presented
as often, or, in as nice a light,
let's say, as, you controlling your
own destiny is.  What that means
in your life is that media is very
powerful, but so is your mind.
When you put those two into
the same mix, I'm not real certain
that anyone really gets what comes
next, but my suspicion is pretty
strong that we're not ready for it.

While I don't agree at all with what
takes place in the plot, the movie
Lebanon PA is sneaky- it sneaks
up on you through some interesting
acting- it has a sense of being fairly
genuine, which is remarkable given
the extreme nature of cinema.  Yet
I've got to compare it to some other
shows I'm familiar with, but that's
my nature, it might not be yours,
but my suspicion is that you're
deeper than you let on, and quite
possibly - if you haven't seen
Lebanon PA - this review might
head you that way?  Can't say what
your conclusion will be, mine was
that I didn't like the plots axiom.

Different View

Two people are talking, 
the first one says, "did you hear that?"
The second one says, "what?"
"That boom - it was loud, didn't you hear it?"
"Of course I did..."
"Then why'd you say what?"
"What is it, that's what I was asking..."
"How should I know - but we both heard it..."
"If we didn't we're both hearing things..."
From one meaning to the next in one sentence,
one says, didn't get it, the other says, got it
but what was it.  How fast can confusion
get into the mix?  Pretty fast...

In an age when we talk across the globe
this means that it is possible to have
enormous misunderstandings happen
so quickly, and so intensely, that by
the time they've calmed down to
getting the point, lines have been
crossed that shouldn't have been.

So are there any references that you
know about, which address such?
I've been personally blessed by Mari
Smith's work, "The New Relationship
Marketing," which it seems to me gives
us a really decent reference about how
to handle online communications.  If
you haven't seen it you might want
to pick up a copy.  In fact Mari has
scheduled a special presentation webinar
with Guy Kawasaki- below-
which if you can make it will bless
your life- guaranty it.

Buildings that last...

So many of my friends are in the virtual

world and know nothing of the real.

I feel so much like Morpheus talking

to NEO in the Matrix -"NEO, you've

been living in a dream world..."  Now

let's really class it up and say that 

even those who believe they get the

real world, are probably missing

it- and that's where my sadness is

hanging out- check this logic...

I have a friend who is spiritual, meaning

(it seems) that they consider the nature of

things beyond the strictly physical.

They are nice, they are hugely contributing

to peoples lives, and yet, because of an

odd statement that Jesus made in his

ministry, there is a tinge of sadness to

the fact that this person who is indeed

good if ever there was such a thing,

unless they follow the instructions-

they will not have an eternity of peace,

but one filled with horror beyond my

ability to see horror.  I cringe at such-

and cringe at the theology which makes

it mandatory to see it.  But the truth is

the truth- No man can come to me, 

except the Father which hath
sent me draw him: and I will
raise him up at the last day.

Jhn 6:44

What frightens me even more than

this, is the fact that some really believe

that it isn't important to continue to 

dwell with this person, but rather, 

"just plant the seeds," and they think

that because my heart breaks for such

people, and that my dwelling is to be

with them, in so much as it is possible

to do so; that my actions are not motivated

by a true love of Jesus?  That's a little

bit different - isn't it?  And it occurred

to me that this type of concerned and

lifestyle evangelism as some have termed

it is rather like this example:

Suppose you met a really nice billionaire-

and they proceeded to change your life, as

that much power and money can do.  It 

might be fun, huh?  So they say to you one

day, "friend, I like you, I really do, and so

what I'm going to do is bless your friends

as I've blessed you.  Go get them, bring

them to me, and I'll take it from there."

"Well sure I will, but what shall I actually

say to them?"

"Tell them you have a friend who wants

to get to know them, and the blessings

are going to be amazing."

"Can I tell them your rich?"

"Tell them whatever you want, the 

truth is the truth, what can we do about that?"

So what do you do?  I go to find my friends-

and begin to share with them what my

billionaire friend has said.  At first they

are a bit cynical, doubting that it's for real,

but as one of them gets the blessing of

a million bucks put into their account,

word gets around.  How long do you 

think it would be before all my friends

had told each other?  How many of them

do you think wouldn't get a million?

NOW that's just money-

you can't eat it, you can't build a thing

with it, other than what you purchase to

build with it, obviously, but beyond

that, it is useless except to exchange for

something else- right?  (In fact if I hear

folks right about a dollar...if you were

to eat it...you'd catch a sampling of 

cocaine?) And Money won't be around

after the fire...the truth says

that everything we know will go...

NOW, that's a little bit scary...but

not if you know Christ...we count

on Him to save us from such...

don't we?  Don't you?

So now you get the point I know-

and it's not an easy one to take in-

and there are a lot of angles to the thing-

but do you see where I'm coming from?
My friends matter to me- they are doing
the good things of life for others, they
are giving back- and giving and giving
some more- I've seen it- so yes, it might
seem "trite" but I don't think so, this
"good news" of Jesus is indeed a two
edged sword just like the Romans used.
And indeed - it does cut, both ways.