"All Men are Created Equal"...

America is truly a great country. There are things about the government that I am not in favor of, but the country itself, is great! I am eternally grateful that I know no other country to really live in other than the grand ol' USA.

I recently had the privilege to travel through the western half of the US and saw some GREAT places! From the arid areas of New Mexico, to the canyons, to the trees, to the hillsides, to the mountains, to the Ocean, to the rock formations - it was all great! I also saw a great man-made attraction in Hoover Dam (built in 1935).

As we celebrated our country yesterday, may this quote also encourage you...

Fourscore and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. ~ Abraham Lincoln

I join several thousand who like Lincoln. He had some great quotes, aside from this portion of a speech. I think we have a lot to continue to pursue in understanding the equality of man.

May this be something we continue to pursue to "get right" in our country as we see generations come and go into the future.

Now it's your turn...what do you see as an obstacle in accomplishing this feat?

The Labyrinth of Achieving Goals

The list of successful failures would include the following: Bill Gates, Abraham Lincoln, Isaac Newton, Ludwig van Beethoven, Thomas Edison, Frank Winfield Woolworth, Michael Jordan, Walter Disney, Winston Churchill, Steven Spielberg, Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, John Grisham, Henry Ford, Soichiro Honda, and Akio Morita (see a more detailed description here).

Each one of these would have come to their fair share of dead-ends and then had to back up and decide how to make it successfully to their goal.  That brings us to this week’s quote…

When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there.  ~ Zig Ziglar

How would history be different without these individuals continuing to pursue their goals?  Some accomplished more than one goal and probably had many dead-ends.  Their labyrinth of achieving their goals were possibly paved with many dead-ends. However, no matter how many dead-ends they experienced, the ended up making it to their goals.

Obstacles are high, wide, or deep opportunities in disguise.  How we deal with those obstacles will determine the outcome of the opportunities. 

Do not let your goals be dead-ends, but rather turn around, try again and again until you reach the end of the labyrinth. 

Do Your Best - Don't Worry About the Rest

My parents always told me to "do my best". They didn't expect perfection, but just that I try my best. As I have chosen a field which involves constant expectations, I still keep in mind what my parents said to me many years ago. This week's quote inspired me to do my best and not worry about the rest...

I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and mean to keep doing so until the end. If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won't amount to anything. ~ Abraham Lincoln

There was another phrase my parent's said a lot, "Don't worry about others, worry about yourself". Pairing that with the first phrase creates a concept that when you are trying to do all you can, what other people think is meaningless.

We must be confident enough in our own decisions that we are not overly concerned with what other people think. I know I am not perfect and I make mistakes, but I am confident of the goal that I aimed to achieve. As a minister, there is never a time that I do something that I do not have a purpose and a goal in mind.

As you go through life, may you "do your best" and be able to look back and not worry about anyone who may say something against you.

Doing my best...