RESOLVE to Live Forward

Our "Character" is built one choice at a time. We are not born with a specific type of character. Our personal character is learned, and as we learn, we make more and more choices about that character. This brings us back to the beginning question: Do you like the person you see in the mirror? In most cases, I think we all, for the most part, like ourselves, BUT if we are Forward Living...

What is SELF-TALK? Simply put, self-talk is what we say to ourselves about ourselves. If we speak unkindly or harshly about ourselves we have a "Negative" self-talk. This kind of personal, inner conversation creates and fosters limiting beliefs. YES! People will say terrible things, but the greatest stories of invidual success come from people who were treated the most harshly. And yet,...

The one person that gave your life meaning and purpose is gone. Where do I go from here? That's the expected question of the brokenhearted, but maybe the more important questions is, "WHO AM I NOW?" I've said it before and I will continue to say it, this is not the end of the life that you were meant to live. It's the next chapter of the life you are meant to live. 

What if I thought that I was healing, but suddenly I'm hurting again. I am learning that when I hurt again, it does NOT mean that my healing has failed or even had a setback or relapse. In our journey of grief, the healing process is not a straight line. Today, I want to share with all of you how the sudden and unstoppable death of a precious four-legged fur friend (a cat who was my constant...

Presence communicates things that words cannot. A text can convey information. An email can convey an idea, but eye-contact, a compassionate voice, a shared silence, even a hand on a shoulder, can communicate humanity. If you are waiting for the right time to connect, in person, with someone, especially someone who has suffered great loss and sorrow, you may be waiting for something that will neve...

I've often said that living forward is not random. It does not happen by accident. LIVING FORWARD IS A CHOICE. However, it is also important to understand that living forward is not about big steps or decisions, but about small steps of faith, hope, and positive momentum. These are the "Baby Steps" that create the results, later, that we will thank ourselves for. 

After a personal heartbreak in our lives, we find ourselves not particularly motivated to live forward with a meaningful purpose. Maybe we hope that "some thing" will show up and gives us new motivation to live with purpose. Usually, that's not the case. I am reminded of Andy's line to Red in "The Shawshank Redemption." Andy turned to Red and simply said, "Get bu...

They said to me, after my wife died and I was alone with my heartbreak, "It's time to move on." Sounds cruel. It wasn't meant to be cruel, but it felt that way. Grieving isn't something we "move on" from. If it's real grief, you can't moved past it, hude from it, or imagine it away. Beware of the LIE OF MOVING ON.

The experience of devastating loss is not something we asked for. Heartbreak, failure, sorrow, disappointment, fear .... we did not ask for these things to shatter our lives. And yet, here we are. Life is asking us two questions: 1) Are we going to stay right where we are, or 2) are we going to live forward? My TEDx talk, back in February, was entitled, "Living Forward is a Choice", and...

The practice of living forward, especially after a life-shattering event, is a choice. For the griever, it is about choices lived one step at a time. It's not about a clear path, but clear step of faith. Are we waiting until we have all the answers? Absolutely not! If we wait until we "think" we have the answers, we'll never start. The comeback about commitment. To commit is ha...

Yes, grief leaves us sapped of our stength, lost in hopelessness, and being unable to do even the most mundane of things. The motivation has seemingly left us. I todays episode we look to a "Choice" of intentional discipline. It's not about many steps. it's not about take a long stride. It's about choosing to take one step, the first step, not because we're motivated...

As I have traveled my journey of loss, sorrow, grief, and finding a way to somehow LIVE FORWARD, I have finally begun to realize why I am so tired and so often unmotivated. Sometimes the smallest of chores seems like a ton of bricks have been put in my emotional backpack. If you have or are experiencing this kind of "FATIGUE" you are perfectly normal, in most cases. Moving and living for...

I only realized how disruptive words can be in our times of grief after I had my devastating grief experience in June 2019. It's not that I had never experienced grief, but that I had never know utter loss and brutal anguish to this degree. People, well-meaning people, would try their best to console me, but most of the time, they didn't understand nor were they comfortable with knowing...

The first handful of days after a devastating personal loss are strangely chaotic, even frantic. Decisions you don't care to make and a schedule that is less about purpose and more of a destraction. Then, suddenly, it all comes to a complete stop. Even worse, there is a silence that steals your will to live forward. Today, I talk about the emptiness of solitude. The silence is deafening, but...

If you've already experienced a loss so deep that it has changed how you see everything, then you already know what I will be talking about. But for those of you who haven't experienced great grief or simply don't understand, I want to help you get a little bit of insight into the journey of the grieving. I also want you to understand that grief is far more than just exclusive to de...

You heard right! Living forward almost always is very hard work. The experiences of life can leave us badly damaged, not just physically and materially, but emotionally. Those of you who follow my podcast know my story. As much as life has thrown rocks at me, grief has, BY FAR, permenantly crippled me. It's that disfigured scar that will never go away. I have said that LIVING FORWARD is a CHO...

I will start by saying that it took longer than I intended to get this podcast published, and for that, I am sorry. I am a "Boomer" by birth, retired from the world of 9 to 5, and am easily identified as "ELDERLY." However, I'm not helpless or dependent. Even though I have experienced a long life, I am not bullet-proof. No single experience in my current lifetime has left...

Are you having a GREAT DAY! Perhaps not. Growing up I once thought enthusiasm was something that happened in response to exciting news, people, places, things, etc. Although we can be stimulated into feeling enthusiastic, life has a way of draining our enthusiasm from us. Which begs the question; "Can we choose to be enthusiastic, and if we can then how do we best do that?" Over the next...

Interesting concept. "Vision gives today a destination." I remember reading the book, "How to Live In The Now". The author spoke of the power of focused living in the moment. It's the classic message of yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, and that's why we call it the PRESENT. Do we visualize how great we want to make today become? Visionary...

Your personal visionary mindset give each day a "Destination." Let that soak in. Please don't confuse your visionary mindset with your EGO. Selfish thinking and living are not Forward Living best practices. A visionary mindset is at the heart of a definite, firm plan of action. It builds clarity of purpose and awareness of moment-by-moment growth. Today, we chat about the action of...

I once heard it said, "The day you stop learning is the day you start dying." Why do we learn? What's in it for us? Why does it matter? I've asked all these, and more, questions. I love to learn. I need to learn. I LIVE TO LEARN. 

The definition of RESOLVE is, "... one having a definite, firm plan of action." The middle letter in RESOLVE is the "O". It stands for organization. The traits of good organization touch all facets of our day-to-day lives. Some find this habit early, while other struggle to grasp it. I always struggled with organization in my personal and professional life. Perhaps you have too...

So much anger in our world today. Everyone is screaming to be heard, but they're not willing to listen to differing viewpoints. This is NOT NEW. Throughout the recorded history of mankind, there have always been conflicts that erupted because neither side, or only one side, would agree to a civil conversation while seeking, not just to be heard and understood, but to hear and understand the o...

The best practice of service is done without the expectation of receiving anything in return, and yet it is full of blessings that pay dividends throughtout the course of our lives. There will always be service opportunities that provide reimbursement, and that's not a bad thing at all. Selfless service pays a very different benefit or asset. When you learn the JOY of GIVING, you learn the gr...

When we experience a tragic loss, living forward becomes one of the most difficult things we can do on a day-by-day basis. That's just the first step in Living Forward. The second step is to get out and engage LIFE & PEOPLE. I felt the need to stay inside, alone, and taken hostage by my grief, but because of my RESOLVE, I "got busy living." If you exercise the ciurage to to enga...