Here Comes the Sun!

After a long season of snow and cold accompanied by long dark nights isn't it wonderful to see the first glimpses of Spring! The sun sending warm rays to melt the snow and breathe life back to the sleeping Earth. I love the first spring flowers poking up from the snow. I love the baby deer with the spots on their backs and the birds that resume their usual perches. I love how the daylight begins to last longer. Spring proves that no matter how dark and cold things can become in life a Spring will always be right around the corner ready to bring forth new life!

Dreaming of a White Christmas

One of my favorite songs at Christmas time is the classic song White Christmas. The best version is the original by Bing Crosby. When I hear his timeless rendition of the song it sums up the perfect Christmas.

What is more Christmasy then waking up on Christmas morning to see the Earth covered in a thick blanket of white. The shimmering crystals of ice glistening in the winter sun. It's fun to dress in your warmest coat and wrap a thick scarf around your neck to keep out the cold while you roll balls of snow into a tall snowman.

Even though the song was written several decades ago, it still is one of the most popular Christmas songs. Why is that? It's because in our ever changing world, Christmas is the one time of year where people revert back to their childhood ways. Magic still exists. We still believe that there is a big jolly man that brings gifts to us at night. We imagine that reindeer can fly. When our everyday world is covered with the magic like blanket of crystals it takes on an ethereal look. It's easy to believe anything is possible.

The beautiful Christmas world brings everyone together. Suddenly strangers will smile at one another, they tip their hats and wish each other Merry Christmas. The poor and homeless are remembered and people donate generously.

Each year as Christmas draws near I look out the window hoping to glance at the first sign of the magic white snow signaling that special time of year has arrived. When that first snow falls I smile as I turn on Bing Crosby's classic song and I pour myself a mug of hot chocolate.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know,
Where the treetops glisten and children listen to here sleigh bells in the snow.

The Complexity of Growing Up

When we are younger we have very few choices we have to make. Usually they consist of do we want to wear green or red today? Do we want juice or milk for breakfast? Which friend should I play with today? Simple choices. Most of our decisions had very little affect on us and a very small future outcome.

As we get older though our decisions become much more complex. The consequences of them become far more impactful on our futures. No longer is there a black and white choice. Some choices will never be good. Someone will get hurt, and something will be lost.

Some mornings I wake up and I can't help but think, "Why did I have to grow up?" I would have been perfectly happy staying a child forever. But wishing never seems to help. Each day I wake up I am a day older, faced with another difficult choice, and hopefully be the end of the day, a day wiser.

We all know the story written by Sir James Mathew Barrie, about the boy who never grew up. He lived on a faraway island fighting pirates, rescuing indian princesses, and telling stories to mermaids. His little fairy friend was his loyal companion and he lived with a bunch of lost boys. Sometimes I wish that there was such a place as Neverland. I wish I could go there and never return. Live in a fariytale world where the difficult choices in my life were never a problem.

Perhaps that is why people such as Sir James Mathew Barrie write of such places. When we as people don't like our current situation in life we long to be somewhere else where our troubles are no longer troubles.

Sadly though there is no Neverland. We must grow up and we do have to make tough choices. Life never turns out how we planned and things will always stop us in our path. That is why we must make the most of what we do have. We must always find something to be glad about each day. We must remember the small things we used to notice as children. The ladybug on the leaf, the rose on the bush, and the bright blue of the sky. Life will never be as easy as childhood, but we don't have to loose all our childhood wonder.

The Tapestry of Life

Saying goodbye is one of the hardest tasks we must do in life. Leaving memories and moments in time that changed us or affected us to some degree.

We leave a part of ourselves every time we say goodbye. Part of our hearts stay even though we must move on.

Change is inevitable. We can’t stop it so we must accept it. People move on, places change, events happen, nothing remains constant.

Every time we wave goodbye to another era of our life a new thread is added to the tapestry of life. Some threads are bold colors that remind us of a happy era, others are gray and dull. Those threads remind us of tears. But each thread adds to the unique pattern of life. No one’s tapestry looks the same, but each one is a unique expression of who they truly are. Each one a beautiful masterpiece.

Letting go of some threads are difficult. When your life is filled with the bright colors of joy and contentment you often feel bitter towards the new thread you must now accept. But whose to say the next thread won’t be better? How will you ever know if you don’t try?

Even the dull threads full of sorrow are important to your tapestry. Without the dull threads how will the bright ones ever stand out?

The trick is to accept each thread of your life as it comes. Don’t mourn after the ones gone by, don’t worry about the ones to come. Accept each thread with hope and understanding that this is the right thread for your unique tapestry. The Master Weaver never makes a mistake. He knows exactly what thread to give you at each era of your life. Trust Him with your tapestry for you will never understand his design until it’s through. Then you will finally be able to see your unique exquisite pattern and you will marvel at the Master Weaver’s perfect touch.

Looking to the Sky

I often find myself trapped in school between classes with piles of homework in front of me; people around me talking noisily of all their personal drama. At these times I find myself staring out the sky-scraper windows to the city below.

Cars rush by on the network of streets, people hurrying along to their various jobs and appointments. With all the rushing, bustling, and overwhelming noise and work before me I often find myself lifting my gaze to the sky.

Though the world rushes by the sky changes at it's own pace. Every minute new colors appear and old colors fade. Light and dark dance across the wide expanse creating a new masterpiece each moment.

The sky creates it's own set of emotions. The sunny clear days create happiness, the cloudy dark days create gloom. Sunrises and sunsets invoke wonder and awe.

Artists have tried for centuries to capture the fleeting moments of pristine color and beauty the mysterious sky creates. But although many talented painters have created some beautiful masterpieces, nothing can compare to the original.

Is it any wonder why we refer to our glorious atmosphere as the heavens. A radiant jewel above, constantly changing.

What a marvelous gift the sky is to us mere mortals. What a lovely testament to a more divine power above.

How amazing to realize we all exist under this one beautiful sky. Though we may be miles from those we love, we are all living and breathing under the same atmosphere.

As I eventually have to turn back to my homework and everyday life, I smile to myself and remember this is only a short time of life. The sky has existed in all it's glories for years and will continue to do so. Just as the sky is not always sunny nor are our days always good. But after the rain comes the rainbows, which would never be so beautiful if we hadn't had the rain.

Trials vs. Opportunities

As human beings we are here on Earth to learn, grow, and become something better. As many before me have put it: The most beautiful things in life do not come easily.

For example we all love diamonds. We admire their strength, their worth, their value, and of coarse their beauty. But a diamond was not always a diamond. It started it out as ugly black coal, over years of pressure, heat, and a lot of time it transformed into the sparkly stone we all love.

People are no different. The most successful, most amazing, and most happy people have not lived a perfect life. Life's challenges is what brings out the diamonds in us.

However not only is it the challenges, but also our perspective on them. Many people have been dealt a hard blow in life and they choose to dwell on their misfortune. They try to gain sympathy and drag people into their miserable state. These people do not realize this is part of the heat, pressure, and time to develop their diamonds. Until they do realize it they will not become a diamond. These people have trials in life.

Other people who have been dealt a hard blow except it. They know that they can't become a diamond without the heat, pressure, and time. Instead of dragging others down they learn to build themselves up in order to rise above these challenges. They know that these difficult times are growing opportunities.

So I ask is there a difference between a trial and an opportunity? My answer for you is only in the perspective.

People who have trials have a negative perspective on life's challenges. People who have opportunities realize a chance to work on creating their diamonds. Perspective is one of those things people don't even realize the impact it has.

People that are happy and joyful about life have a positive perspective. That's not to say they never have a bad day or that they never get down. We are human! But they realize at the end of the day that life goes on and things will eventually get better.

So the next time one of life's challenges comes along you have a choice to make, is this a trial or an opportunity?

Is the customer always right?

I am currently enrolled in a business class where we are learning about customer service. My professor is a big advocate for getting the best customer service he feels he deserves. He is constantly telling us that if we are at a restaurant, bank, store, etc. where we feel they could improve their customer service we should go up to the owner/manager/employee and tell them what we think of their service and how they could do better. In his eyes by doing this we are helping the business do better.

However I have to disagree. Although it's true that without customer's opinions businesses will never change what they do, I don't think that bluntly telling a business what they are doing wrong is of very much help either.

I have been on both sides of this ordeal. I have gone into stores wanting to purchase something and have had no service, lack of enthusiasm from the sales clerk, and not received the information or help I desired. I have also been the cashier for some very rude people that feel it is my job to personally provide them with every little detail they need in order to be happy, and when I fail to do so they criticize me, the company I work for, and anything else they can. Luckily for me I am not offended easily nor do I take this sort of criticism personally.

However I have come to realize that people in general tend to be very critical and pessimistic when it comes to spending their money. If they have a bad experience they are sure to tell everyone they know how very poorly they were treated. But when people receive a good service they very rarely tell this experience to anyone.

So why are we all so critical and harsh to those people who serve us, when we our selves hate to be criticized by others? My answer for you is simple. Money. Money runs the world. Money is why we go to school to get a degree, it's why we spend the majority of our life at jobs we hate, it's why marriages fall apart, why people go hungry, why economies decline, why wars rage, why people go to jail, why politics are dishonest. The list goes on and on.

So although we should certainly point out ways to businesses how they can improve, perhaps we should also compliment them on what they do good. And when we see an employee that is having a bad day, instead of criticizing them and telling them of their poor work ethic, perhaps we should try to be sympathetic. After all none of us can have a good day every day and how would you like dealing with grumpy people all day? Don't you think their moods may eventually rub off on you?

In conclusion I just want everyone to think about the people not the business every time you go somewhere. When all is said and done money will come and go but people are always here and what you say will last a lot longer then the memory of your short moment in the check out line. So remember that behind every business is real people just like you who deserve the same respect you do.