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Daily Gratitude

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Daily Gratitude: “The aim of life is self-development.”

Notice that this doesn’t say anything about being fully developed. It’s an “aim”, a goal. Of course we should always be trying to be better people. Part of that, though, is being happy with the process and not requiring that we become perfect in order to have some happiness.

I see this all the time. People are trying to learn, to figure out their lives and how to get better. But even when they are making progress they aren’t happy. Why? Because they haven’t reached their goal yet so they don’t think they deserve to feel happy.

Shhhh….here’s the secret they don’t know. There is no end in this goal. There is always room for more self-development. There’s only one perfect being and it’s no one you know.

I would suggest that the first aim or goal of self-development is to decide to be happy just because you’re trying to get better. There’s really no competition and no rules. So, by simply deciding you’re going to “work on yourself”, you’ve made great progress and should celebrate.

Once you decide you’re going to be happy where you are and in the present moment, the process of self-development is easier. There’s not much, if any, resistance because you are staying in the flow by being happy. Sure there’s more you want to discover but there’s plenty for you to revel in right now.

Don’t always be “wishing”. It gets you absolutely nowhere. Wishing without action is like affirmations without action. It’s disappointment and discouragement. If you wish for something, decide how important it is to you, make a plan to go for it and begin to take action.

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Impact – An Essay

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Impact

There was a crash. It was an ending. It was a beginning.

A 14 year old girl named Emma Cruse ceased being a young lady and began her life as an angel, a guardian angel to so many.

Love, courage, inspiration. How can one person I’ve never met represent all those qualities? I don’t know. Does it really matter, though?

It was an early Sunday morning on Day 3 of my Vol State trek across Tennessee. The day was bright with plenty of sunshine. Not a cloud in the sky. A car pulled onto the road’s shoulder, facing me. I wasn’t worried. I guess you could say I was wary.

A woman exited the car and was heading towards me.

“I wonder what this is all about” my fatigued and hypervigilant mind queried. It’s not unusual for people to stop and want to chat about what this long meandering line of runners and walkers are doing in their towns. Was this going to be one of those encounters?

When she neared me, she asked if I had a minute. Remembering my manners I replied “Of course.” I was also always grateful for a valid reason to stop walking and rest.

How incomplete and empty my soul would be had I either missed her or brushed her off, in a hurry to cover one more mile. The 3-5 minutes I spent listening to the story Mary Cruse was unraveling through her tears remain the most valuable and precious minutes of my life.

It was obvious that Emma’s grandmother was channeling Emma to all of us along the road that day. I still have her photograph – it’s my talisman. I carry it with me every year. But I don’t need a photograph anymore, for Emma travels with me wherever I go. She and Suzanne (my other guardian angel – a tale for another time) ride along on my shoulders, working magic, infusing me with strength and courage.

“She loved being a Road Angel” her grandmother bragged. “She and her dad used to drive up and won this road, helping runners along the way.”

For some reason, the dam broke then, and the next thing we knew, we ere both crying and hugging. Hugging really does meld two hearts into one. Not only did the dam burst but the door also opened. The door to my heart. And in march Emma, taking up residence…forever.

This 14 old girl, the one I’d never met, began to fortify me. Since she inhabits my heart and not my mind, I don’t have to “think” about Emma. She’s just always there, always surrounding me with love, always whispering “you can do this, Terrie. I’m here and together we can overcome anything.”

And for some reason, I believe her. I feel her. I move with her. I feel stronger because of her.

You want to know something even more special? She’s had this same impact on so many other Vol Staters all around the world. Everyone who’s heard of Emma has a part of her within. It’s as if we’re lost puppies and the pound and God has “chipped” us with a cherished Emma chip.

This 14 year old girl may have left one body but I assure you she’s now in hundreds more, encircling the earth.

That, my friends, is impact.

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Daily Gratitude

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Daily Gratitude: “We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.”

I imagine you might be doubting this quote’s Legitimacy. If so, read it again. Then think about it.

You could have an impactful experience such as jumping out of the way of a car missing being hit by inches. But do you learn from that? Not necessarily. If you don’t think about it and how it happened, you could just as easily make the same mistake again.

But if you think about it you might see that you were trying to cross in the middle of the street and maybe around a bend where lines of sight weren’t that good.

Maybe you were sleep deprived and not able to make decisions as quickly as usual. Maybe you just shouldn’t have tried to cross on that street at all.

Who knows. There could be a ton of things that go into it. But until you reflect on the entire thing you won’t know.

What experiences have you had that ended up repeating because you didn’t reflect and learn from what happened?

Always take time to look at what you’ve experienced and see what you need to change, if anything. It’s called growth.