Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’

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Knowing Yourself

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Think of all the experiences you have been exposed to during your life. When you start thinking about these experiences, you begin to realize that you have been exposed to a great wealth of information and knowledge, knowledge you can apply to your individual and community goals and dreams.

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People who have a willingness to tap into their personal wealth of knowledge stretch themselves and step off into the unknown as a way to increase their learning experiences and base of knowledge.

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The brain files away everything we experience or that we are exposed to, yet we only use about 10% of our brain’s potential. Your lifetime collection of knowledge has tremendous potential to support you in achieving your inner most desires.

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We all have a Shadow. Our Shadow is everything that is deep inside of us that is unconscious, repressed, underdeveloped, and denied. This is the dark side of ourselves, and like all things in life it also has the potential to become the light inside of us.

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If I am going to stop repeating the negative patterns in my life I am going to have to take a hard look at my Shadow so that I can learn more about myself.

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Life will always present you with opportunities for growth and learning to occur whether I ask for it or not. We all have the choice to learn from these opportunities or to ignore them. In any case, they will not go away until they are dealt with.

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When we pay attention to the Shadow side of ourselves we have an opportunity to see and accept who we really are, enabling us to positively develop the person that we were meant to be. To “know thy self” is one of the most important things we can do. It is impossible to become a balanced person and reach our full potential without understanding and embracing our Shadow side.

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The goal for all of us, the goal for you, is to become all that you can be, to reach your full potential, and to make a difference in this world.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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What’s Your Attitude?

Friday, May 15th, 2009

The kind of life you are creating for yourself, whether or not it is positive or negative, depends very much upon your attitude.

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A positive attitude is the great differentiator between those that achieve and get what they want from life and those that don’t.

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The choice to have a positive attitude, no matter what situation you find yourself in, will make all the difference in the world.

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It is easy to have a positive attitude when things are going the way you want them to go. It is when things are not going so smoothly, when there is adversity in your life, that a positive attitude makes the greatest difference. A positive attitude in times of adversity has the power to inspire others, to move mountains, and to change the course of history.

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People who are positive through difficult times think differently than those that get down during hard times. They see the light at the end of tunnel and focus their attention on that light.

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My positive attitude, even when I have been in a negative situation, has allowed me to reach for something more, something of value and greater meaning. It has enabled me to be open to new ideas and to be creative in my response to the challenges that have been presented to me.

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When you know a truth, live it! The truth can set you free. Use the truth to make a difference in the world. Focus on what is possible. Move toward what you are called to do. Follow your instincts and intuition, for this is where the truth hides.

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It is an individual and unique experience that you are living. When you make searching for the truth a priority you come closer to living your purpose in life.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Expecting Success

Saturday, May 2nd, 2009

Have you ever wondered why some people have greater success than others or asked yourself why they appear to be blessed with getting everything they go after? Why is it that some people seem to have that special something that allows them to achieve more than others?

Think about this. Behind every overnight success is 20 years of hard and, in some cases, torturous work. No one achieves success without some level of sacrifice, effort, determination and persistence. You have everything you need inside of you to achieve whatever success you can imagine. You are no different than the person who owns a car dealership, develops land, creates a franchise, or invents the next big product line. You can do anything you set your mind to. What do you want to create for yourself?

“To dream anything you want to dream, that is the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do, that is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits, that’s the courage to succeed.” Bernard Edmunds

One thing very successful people have in common is that they focus positive energy on the expectation of success. When they go out into the world each and everyday they expect success no matter how small that may be. They focus their energy on the ideal outcomes they desire from a meeting before entering that meeting. They think positively about how their ideas will be received and embraced. They know that if they focus positive energy on the expectation of succeeding that it will bring them that much closer to realizing success.

The power of focusing on positive outcomes in life cannot be underestimated. When you project positive energy on something you want to create for yourself or the world you are one great big step closer to making that goal a reality. Successful people will visualize in their minds the ideal outcomes they are looking for, allowing those outcomes to become real in their imagination.

“Our imagination is the only limit to what we can hope to have in the future.”

Charles Kettering

For example, if you want to win a bass tournament like The Elite Series Sooner Run held on Grand Lake, you will come one step closer to winning by imagining where the bass are going to be caught, the casts, the smells, the feelings and catching the big one. Imagine being on the stage with the winning weight, being handed the trophy and the oversized check, the applause from the crowd and the celebration that follows. When your imagination makes this so real that when you come back to reality you are not sure if it was real or not, you are on your way to winning the tournament. Athletes have used this technique for centuries. Whatever success you want to achieve, visualize it in your mind and imagine it being real over and over and over again. Eventually it will become a reality.

The other thing successful people have in common is that they know when they don’t succeed, which will happen more often than not, they will not give up and they will continue to keep the positive energy flowing. They look for the lessons they can learn from their failures and then apply those lessons when they try for it again. This is not always easy. The falls of life can be hard, but this is where the possibility of success and giving up takes place. They get themselves back up and dust themselves off with an attitude of “keep on keeping on.”

“Nothing can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genus will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the work is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” Calvin Coolidge

You have read it before in What Box? and you will continue to read it: “We all have a purpose in life.” Many successful people have discovered and embraced their purpose in life as a way to gain continued and growing success. There is quite possibly nothing more important in your life than focusing on understanding and living your life’s purpose which will make it easier for you to focus on the positive through what you may perceive as negative experiences. As a result, you will find that will become easier for you to expect success in whatever you do and your ability to stretch and take risks in life will enable your successes to grow and increase the older and wiser you get.

Next time you are looking towards creating success in your life go ahead and imagine what that success looks like before it takes place. Focus all your energy on the outcomes being real before they are imagining the success over and over again. Place your intentions on living your purpose and never ever give up. You can do it!

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Finding Inspiration in Nature

Monday, April 20th, 2009

Nature is a powerful place to gain inspiration and insights into the true essence of what it means to be a human being on this planet.

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Taking walks in the woods, listening to the wind singing its songs through the leaves, or just sitting on a rock taking in all the life that surrounds you has a very pleasant way of connecting you to something greater than yourself.

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Being in touch with nature helps us to be more relaxed, to make better decisions, and to embrace and act upon our unique and creative talents.

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Clouds inspire us to use our imagination and tap that creative side of ourselves that sits idle when we focus too much of our energy on the man made world and not on nature.

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Awakening to nature has allowed me to understand what it means to be present in the moment, what it means to let go of the past and the future, and allows me to focus on the power of just being.

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Nature is the doorway to understanding ourselves along with our role-in-the-whole. This door is always open for those with open hearts.

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Nature is one of our greatest gifts, which has the ability to teach each of us about our unlimited potential and ourselves.

Let me know what you think.

Remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create for yourself.

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To Begin Your Day

Friday, April 10th, 2009

Just a few minutes of peace and quiet can help calm the soul and relax the mind, allowing you to open up to new and inspiring thoughts.

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Breathing is one of the most powerful ways we have to change the way we are thinking or feeling about something. It can actually change the chemistry of our brain, causing it to slow down and affect the way we behave, react, and respond to any given situation.

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Focus on that which you most desire in life and open up to the inspirations that surround you. Let the inspiration run through you so that the passion and energy can be a catalyst to greater action. You can do anything you want to do and more when you are inspired!

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When you concentrate on what you are doing each and every moment, you gain the power of insight and the awareness of being alive.

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Many of us tend to live our lives either thinking about the past, how we could have acted differently, reassessing past behaviors, wondering about “what ifs”, or thinking about the future, where we ultimately want to live, the kind of job we desire, I would be happy if… etc. Here is the thing. All that exists is this moment, the right here and right now.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Realizing Your Dreams

Sunday, October 26th, 2008

Each and every moment in your life is extremely precious. Each moment represents unlimited potential for creating the life you have always dreamed of, the life you were meant to be living, the life that fulfills your purpose on this planet.

If you are one of the few people that has figured this out, congratulations. If you are among the many who continue to think that there is something more to life than just going through the motions, then now is the time to start working towards living your life’s purpose. What are you waiting for?

What is your dream? What is it that you most desire but don’t currently have in you life? What is it that you are meant to be doing with your life?

“Nothing happens unless first a dream.” Carl Sandberg

None of these are easy questions to answer, but once you ask them you will begin the process of opening the doors of perception and begin to naturally move towards reaching your full potential.

I know that for some of us it is just too hard to even start the process of thinking about how to achieve what it is that we dream of for our lives. It is just easier not to think about it. Finding the answers to these questions might mean that we have to change what we are currently doing, change who we live with , change our careers or even move to another location. These are just a few of the reasons why so many people settle and never take the powerful steps needed to reach for something more in their lives in order to discover what the purpose of their life really is.

“To change one’s life: Start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions.” William James

Even if we want to change we can get stuck in a rut. Like a broken record we continue to do what we have always done because it’s more comfortable, like our favorite pair of old worn jeans. At some point you have to make the change and throw those jeans away or find a new use for them. You need to change elements of your life every once in a while otherwise you will start to get tired, worn out, and bored. This leads to complacency and a mental plaque that prevents you from seeing the opportunities around you. You are unique, you are special, you have a purpose in life and it is important to you and the world that you pursue your purpose in life and live it.

What are you waiting for?

You can start by writing down everything you have dreamed about what your life could be. Write down all that comes to you as fast as you can. Don’t think about how whacked out your dreams may be. Don’t stop and think, “This is just too much for anyone to think is real.” Don’t worry at all about what it is you are writing down. Just do it! You can do it!

“We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter’s evening. Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; they nurse them thought bad day until they bring them to the sunshine and the light that always comes to those who sincerely hope that there dreams will come true.”Woodrow Wilson

After you have written down your dreams, even if just one, post them on the mirror in your bathroom. Look at them each morning. Think about what it would be like if your dreams became real. How would you feel?

The next step is to write down what you need to do to make your dreams real. Start taking these steps. It may take weeks. It may take months. It may take years. It may take a lifetime. It doesn’t matter because you are living your dreams and nothing could be more important.

“Allow yourself to dream and fantasize about your ideal life; what it would look like, and what it would feel like. Then do something everyday to make it a reality.” Brian Tracy

What are you waiting for?

In my life I work everyday to live my dreams and my life’s purpose. The more I work at this the easier it becomes. Really. I will say this. Your life will never be the same once you embark on this process because you will enter into the great unknown and the world will open up for you. You will start meeting people who are aligned with your dreams and will want to help you. You will start to experience new challenges that will stretch you, enabling you to grow. You will start going with the flow of life. You will start living your purpose. What could be more important?

If you desire to live your life with greater meaning and purpose there is no time like the present to start. You can do it!

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his own dreams and endeavors to live the life that he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Henry David Thoreau

What are you waiting for?

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Believe and Trust in Yourself

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

Inside of you is the ability to do and accomplish the most remarkable things. Anything. Everyone, no matter if it is Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, George W. Bush, or The Grand Lake Bum, is just like us. They too have to put their pants on one leg at a time.

Some people may have more resources, some may have less, and some may have none. Nothing changes the truth that we all have the capacity to achieve great things if we desire and are willing to work hard enough to make our dreams come true. You can do and create anything you can image if you put your mind to it and believe in yourself.

“People become quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves, they have the first secret of success.”
Norman Vincent Peale

What is it that holds many of us back from doing and achieving the things we want in life? Is it because we are scared to fail? Is it because the goal is perceived to be too much work? Is it because we don’t believe we can do it? Or perhaps we are scared of success?

This can be on of the trickiest parts of life’s success. When we are young we are all told “NO” a lot, “You can’t do that,” or the ever-popular “It will never work.” This kind of messaging is pounded into our brains so much that many of us start believing in our heart of hearts that we can’t do what we know we CAN do. As adults we perpetuate this undermining messaging, telling others that they can’t do something, all because of our programming as children. Following this negative and unproductive line of reasoning for yourself will only result in achieving far fewer meaningful accomplishments in your life than if you choose to live a life of “I CAN do anything!”

“Life begins as a quest of the child for the man and ends as a journey by the man to rediscover the child.” Lauren van der Post

Believe in yourself and you will be unstoppable!

The challenge is to find the courage not to be influenced by the naysayers and believe deep down inside that you can accomplish anything no matter what people might say.

What if the Wright Brothers had listened to all the people who said, “You’ll never be able to fly.” Instead, they chose to believe they could. When you are able to believe that you can do anything, it does not mean that your life will result in instant accomplishments. Success comes in small steps, in small accomplishments that eventually add up to big accomplishments, big successes. It is said that every overnight success takes 20 years. The Wright Brothers had to work very hard and experiment many, many times along the journey to human flight. They never ever gave up and continued believing they could and would fly. Just like the Wright Brothers you have everything you need inside of you to reach your dreams. It is never too late to start.

“Every achiever that I have ever met says, my life turned around when I began to believe in me.” Robert H. Schuler

In so many cases people believe that they will not succeed even before they start something. What a travesty. Instead, create a mindset of expecting success even before you start. All achievers, no matter what their game, start with the expectations that they are going to succeed. Achievers say, “I want to do this and that I CAN do this,” not “I would like to do this, but I don’t think I can.”

What do you think about yourself and your abilities?

Say you CAN and you WILL. Say you CAN’T and you WON’T. This is a universal truth we can’t hide from.

Try this. Next week become a Possibilitarian and say YES to those things that the week before you said NO to. Say “I CAN do this”, “We CAN do this” and see what happens.

You CAN and WILL do what you think you CAN.

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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Living Life

Friday, August 1st, 2008

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Just suppose you were living life exactly the way you have imagined you want it to be. What does that look like? Are you traveling around the world? Are you swimming with dolphins? Where are you living? What kind of car are you driving? How are you helping the world? Are you taking time to just be? Are you creating that piece of art you have always wanted to create? What kind of career do you have? How are you spending your leisure time?

“Prepare your mind to receive the best that life has to offer.” Ernest Holmes

If you are already living your life exactly the way you have imagined it, congratulations. You are among the select few in the world who have achieved such bliss in life. For the rest of us who continue to dream about a life still not fully achieved there is hope. For each new day has the potential of opening new doors of possibilities. The key is to stay optimistic even through the dark times, the times when our path to living the life we know is possible is shadowed by the daily challenges of living.

It is easy to gain enthusiasm for a dream in the short term. It is a very different thing to remain enthusiastic for that dream through the passing of time. Creating and living the life you want and imagine takes time and hard work. Very few things worth obtaining in life are easy to achieve. This is why so many people fall short, giving up and settling for what is instead of what can be. Don’t let this happen to you. You have too much to give back.

When you stay optimistic you are able to see the doors of possibility opening up in front of you. You are able to go through these doors and explore the possibility to see if this new opportunity supports you to live the life you have imagined and are supposed to live. You will start to see your continued perseverance begin to pay off. Each day you make choices that either support your drive to live the life you dream of, or work to hold you back from living that life. We all need to be vigilant to keep the daily stuff that fills our lives from taking over and limiting our ability to see new opportunities.

Just living in today’s “super human” environment is enough to drag anyone down. When you let skepticism and pessimism take over your state of being, you derail your efforts to living the life you have imagined. I have met many people who have let the challenges of living take over and suppress them from becoming what they know they can become. They have given up and, worst of all, in many cases only complained about their situations as if they had nothing to do with it. They did and you do too.

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

Suppose for example, that you are making only the best choices for your life from this point forward. What choices will you make? Who will you choose to hang out with? Who will you choose not to hang out with? What health choices will you make? What will you choose for your life?

I suppose life is a journey of ups and downs, highs and lows. It is how we choose to respond to these highs and lows and ups and downs that allow us to appreciate the highs that much more. Sometimes this may mean taking a day as a do over or just going to bed, looking forward to tomorrow and a new day. When you are able to focus on the positive even during the times when your path to living the life you know is possible is shadowed by the daily challenges of living, you are on your way to making the most out of your life and the life of those around you.

“Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.” Anon

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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232

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008

If you are like Mike Long, Brian Ruth, and many of the other folks on Grand Lake, Independence Day means it is time to celebrate the day our country came into its own by blowing some *&%$@ up.

Nothing else can excite the soul like a great fireworks show. With this in mind it is not surprising that Americans import over $200 million worth of fireworks from China each year. It would not surprise me if at least 1% of those fireworks will be exploded right here on Grand Lake. Love it!

This year we will celebrate the 232nd anniversary of our founding fathers signing the Declaration of Independence. This act set the original 13 colonies on the road to national sovereignty and laid the foundation for the lives we enjoy here in America today.

“I am whatever you make me, nothing more. I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a people may become…. I am the clutch of an idea, and the reasoned purpose of resolution. I am no more than you believe me to be and I am all that you believe I can be. I am whatever you make me, nothing more.” Franklin Knight Lane

In 1776 we had 2.5 million people living in our newly independent nation. Today over 300 million people are living in America. The incredible growth that has taken place only highlights how much things have changed in such a short period of time, 232 years. Our founding fathers were wise to create a Constitution that is not only very complex, but at the same time broad in scope. The foresight of these men gives us an opportunity to interpret the greatest law in our land in a way that is adaptable and relevant to our changing nation. The choices that we make today will determine whether or not our country will be able to provide a healthy and meaningful environment for future generations of Americans and set a continued example for the rest of the world.

“My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!” Thomas Jefferson

When Benjamin Franklin was helping to shape the Constitution he could not have known that we would become the greatest military force on the planet. That we would put a man on the Moon, and, at the time of this writing, analyze in real-time minerals and soil on Mars. How could he have known about the Internet’s ability to share information at the speed of light? It took Ben over three months traveling by sea to get a message to France.

Thomas Jefferson could not have foreseen that the average American would be producing 52 tons of garbage by the time they reached 75 years of age in 2008. In his day people bought their food in the local market often packaged in materials that could be reused for quilts or clothing. Back then people traveled days or perhaps weeks by horseback, stagecoach, or train. The idea that over 28,000 planes would be flying through the friendly skies each day taking people all across this country and around the world and would be using over 2 million plastic cups every 12 hours was out of the realm of possibility.

James Wilson could not have conceived that Americans would drink water from over 2 million plastic bottles ever 5 minutes since water in those days was pumped from wells in and round their towns. He could not have predicted that we would be using cell phones to communicate with each other in real-time anywhere in the world, disposing of 426,000 cell phones every day so that we could keep up with the modern technological advances of the day. Communication in those days was by horse messengers like Paul Revere and mail took weeks if not months instead of days to arrive at its destination.

John Adams would have been laughed at if he had suggested that Americans would shop so much that they would go through over 60,000 plastic bags every 5 seconds, or that office workers would print over 15 million sheets of paper every 5 minutes of every day.

Things have changed a lot since the Declaration of Independence was signed 232 years ago. The amount of change that American has experienced in the past 232 years is phenomenal. What is even more amazing is the fact that in the last 40 years there have been more changes than all the changes that took place before the late 1960’s. This is a wake up call to the level of accelerated change that we can expect to see going forward in the months and years ahead.

“Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth but of the world we were young in.” Peter Medawar

Our country has been an inspiration to the rest of the world. We have inspired a world to live the American dream, a dream that has fueled some of the greatest inventions and a spirit of giving that the world has never seen before. We have promoted this dream and excited countries and people worldwide who want what we have been so good at creating. Think about China for just a minute. At the current rates of purchasing there will be 1.3 billion cars in China by 2015. To put this into perspective there are only 800 million cars operating in the entire world today. It will take half of China’s rice fields to be turned into roads to handle this number of cars, and India, with its 1.1 billion people, is working just as hard to capture and live the American Dream.

We are blessed to live in this country, and with these blessings come the same kind of responsibility and influence of our founding fathers. If we are to leave an America to our children like the one we have experienced we are all going to have to change. Besides taxes, change is the only thing we can count on for sure.

This year as you are watching the fireworks bursting in the sky over Grand Lake think about the kinds of changes you would like to create to insure a healthy and meaningful life for you and that of others in your community. You have the power within you to do anything to which you set your mind and heart. You have unlimited potential and so does America!

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Author unknown

Let me know what you think.

Until next week, remember the only boxes that exist are the ones you create yourself.

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