What a Week!!

Over the past week we have experienced a holiday centered on giving thanks and I wanted to reflect upon that thought for just a few moments today. I have been talking to many people over the past week about opportunities seized and opportunities lost. You know what I mean, there are many things we can look at our lives and recognize where we have been in the zone! Things we have excelled in and made an impression on us as an accomplishment we are proud of, a goal met we have honor for or simply a recognition that we did something others see as noteworthy.


All of these events in our lives we should be thankful for but what about the majority of time in our lives when these things are not happening? What are we thankful for during those times?

I was talking to someone this week who was frustrated with their current position in life and what they see as their less than desired outcome verses their absolute belief in what their talents should be rendering. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever felt as if you know your talent is not being rewarded fully? Have you ever felt like you are struggling to get back to where you have been before or where you know you should already be? I have and I think about those struggles with great fondness NOW.

At the time it is sometimes difficult to realize how awesome life is and how the opportunity to struggle is just as awesome! I found myself talking to one friend the other day and I felt like Dr. King when I said your real issue is "you have been to the mountain top" meaning he had been as high as most performers could imagine as success and recognition for a job well done. A million dollars or more in a years personal income is a great accomplishment for so many people but it has drawbacks standing on the mountain top as well. It has drawbacks when the people in the valley can look up and give you praise for a job well done. There are drawbacks when we are so high that celebration is appreciated more than the struggle is appreciated.

You see the mountain is a hard climb, rock by rock, step by step, slide by slide it takes fortitude and perseverance to reach the top of the mountain you see in your head. The challenge with feeling on top of the world is sometimes we are now able to lay down and take a rest. I mean we deserve it after all don't we? We busted our butts getting to the top! Let me take a little nap so I can just rest for a LITTLE while and then I will look for new mountains. If the feeling of yourself reaching the top ever sits in, be careful because you are likely to find that when you wake from your nap you have rolled off of the mountain top and are back sleeping in the valley. The people who gave you glory and praise now stand above you in the foothills and you realize your struggle must begin all over. The key to winning any struggle is always in your disciplines.

What does your day look like?
What have you built into your routines that insure your ascension?

Everyday I get up and now know that as much as I enjoy life and like to play and as much as I enjoy using my talents to give to others around me. My number one task is to take care of me!!

I must read daily
I must exercise daily
I must have devotional daily
I must be taught daily
I must be motivated daily
I must be grateful daily
I must celebrate my life daily
then and only then must I remember that...
I must give unselfishly to others daily!

Do you have a structure for your day, your week, your month that says you have dedicated time to you before anyone else?

You get to choose how you spend the hours of your day and I promise that in the course of your day, your week, your month and your life situations will rise and fall that are depending upon you to be your very best. Situations that will cause you to struggle in your climb to the the proverbial top of the mountain. If you have not been preparing yourself for these struggles routinely with discipline you could find yourself in the valley looking up to the foothills. Its up to you! What does your day look like today? Is it busy with tasks to get done? Your number one task in life is becoming a better you so whats your chosen course of development?

If you have been to the top it is sometimes harder to climb the second time than it was the first. The first time it was in conquering and the second time it is in returning to conquer. I have done both and I know that getting there the first time was sweet but getting there the second time was transforming me into an individual of certainty knowing that the decision to win is mine and mine alone. 

If you are one starting the climb today remember your disciplines and be so thankful you are making the climb with every step and every slip and you will surely arrive at the top.

If you have been one who has fallen off of the mountain it can be overwhelming at times, it can be deflating at times but you should be thankful because you have two things many around you do not have....

You have the memory of what it feels like to be on the mountain top and you have the memory of which path you took to get there. If you will learn to have thanks for these two things today you will begin to rise to new heights and hopefully never be completely on top again!

I am thankful for the climb and each and every opportunity I face to hold on tight and grow and I look forward to never reaching the top again!!
Video to showing it's up to me!!!