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COME SILENTLY, O’ SILENTLY

 A gentle stillness can fill our heart.  It is within us...awaiting our attention to deepen our awareness...beyond busy, anxious, or upsetting thoughts.  It comes to silence worries and put aside concerns.  If only for fleeting moments...we can glimpse the ever-so-gentle Light of Hope and Lamp of Care...ours to hold closely.

Nothing is easy about our world right now.  We all know this is true; we just can’t easily escape it.  It’s quite possible on this Christmas Eve the ‘nothing easy about our world’ has your attention with an ill family member, a life-long friend facing divorce, a neighbor who just received an unsettling health report or watching someone you just happened to notice pushing a shopping cart down the street loaded with all of what is theirs...but no more.     

An unsettling anxiousness has overshadowed us for over a year now as we have learned to cope with COVID.  And, yet, here we are again, bombarded with a new COVID story that has quickly caught us off guard and on edge asking what does this all mean as we enter 2022.  Unsettling? Yes. 

Can Christmas Eve Day quiet a mind that wants to wander...wondering about tomorrow, next week, next month, next year?

I am going for The Wonder of Christmas Eve Day. My intention is clearly before me.  I am choosing to live in the mystery and beauty of the greatest story of Love’s Expression and choosing to put my attention on the well-being that is mine to claim simply by choosing.

No, I’m not talking about the Hub-bub of non-stop activity.  I am speaking into the intention to be present to the message of Love expressing through me in my warm smile...appreciative words...attentive eyes...all nestled in an abiding feeling of childlike innocence that knows...This day is special and its mine to choose.

Yes, the most poignant, historically significant and ever-present message of Christmas is about Love incarnating human awareness. This event is the most enduring Headline in the history of humanity. It is forever relevant.  But, what I know really matters is that Humanity’s Greatest Headline does have my attention with a heart that welcomes the invitation to live in the Light of God’s Love.  

“O Come, Emmanuel”  I invite you, once,again, to find your place in my Heart.  

Russ Williams, The Inspiration Impulse...This really is The Last One.  My Pastor’s heart got the best of me.

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Saying Good-Bye To ‘The Inspiration Impulse’ & Thanking You For...Coming My Way!

Dear Friends,

“Whose woods these are I think I know.   His house is in the village though;   He will not see me stopping here   To watch his woods fill up with snow.

“My little horse must think it queer   To stop without a farmhouse near   Between the woods and frozen lake   The darkest evening of the year.  

“He gives his harness bells a shake   To ask if there is some mistake.   The only other sound’s the sweep   Of easy wind and downy flake.  

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   But I have promises to keep,   And miles to go before I sleep,   And miles to go before I sleep.”                                                              Stopping by Woods On A Snowy Evening    Robert Frost ~1923

This poem is my All-Time Favorite that I first read in Mrs. Sharp’s 8th grade English Class in 1959.  For me, it captures my sentiments in this Deep-In-December, 2021 Moment as I officially sign off writing the Inspiration Impulse Posts for Passkeys Foundation and its Institute for Community Impact.

Yes, it is time to say Good-Bye to this expression of my writing journey.  On December 31,2021, I retire from my 53-year professional career that began in 1968 that included 5 years Elem.& MS.teaching; 23 years in church ministry, and 25 years leading the non-profit,Passkeys Foundation.

In my 48 years of church ministry and foundation leadership, my greatest joy has always been picking up the pen and musing on life and, in doing so, seeking to express the Heart of Russ.   

What are The ‘Why’ Themes that capture the thousands upon thousands of words I have crafted over the last 48 years?  Let me take a stab at defining them: Personal Life Lessons, Spiritual Inquiry, Life Discovery & Mystery, Gospel Exploration, Mystical Experiences,Encountering Extraordinary & Amazing Individuals, Life Values, Unforgettable Moments, Wisdom Keeping, The Hero’s Journey, and chronicling inspiring insights learned from multiple Mentors. 

Yes...without a doubt...the written word has been my life-long companion with whom I have partnered to chronicle a personal and professional journey that has allowed me to observe and comment on...This Thing Called Life.

Gratefully so...You,My Reader, have been there taking an interest and even, periodically, penning a note to me with a thoughtful, insightful comment.

Moving forward in 2022?  As I retire year-end from my professional life representing Passkeys Foundation, I do know I want to create a writing platform to continue noodling on my life musings. 

While I have yet to define The What & The How of this post-professional life writing chapter, I’m letting this Post be my personal stopping by woods on a snowy evening moment with you...for the purpose of simply saying...as Robert Frost elegantly captured in his last stanza...I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep.

Yes, the soon-to-arrive New Journey Train is nearing the depot to pick up a  passenger.  After I settle in...find my seat on the train...and pull out of the station...I know I will have my laptop with me ready to bang the keys to re-fine...re-define...and reach beyond in discovery: What’s Up Now That Matters Deeply Within Me that I want to share with you? 

Do you want to know about my post-retirement messages...once I define The What & The  Platform? When I’m ready I want to connect with those who want to hear from me. So, If that’s you...please send a quick email today to: centerjcce@aol.com.

In closing...Thank-You, My Friend...for coming my way!  

Merry Christmas, Russ Williams                                                                                                

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Do You Know? YOUR PRESENCE IS THE PRESENT!

The holidays are upon us....and I am eager to dawn a Santa Elf’s Hat of Love’s Expression and pay close attention to the most important ‘Little Thing’ that so deeply enriches the sharing of this season of holiday blessings.

I  absolutely adore the delight in the eyes of this Little Guy!

Look at those eyes and feel their pure joy!  For me, it’s worth noting that at any age...those young eyes can be ours...as we refresh our imagination and open ourselves to the message of giving and receiving...the very Heart of this Season. 

Long, long ago, the Heavenly Hosts announced the special gift of God...a child coming to be a Light Bearer to Humanity.  This Child’s gift to humanity, unlike any other child’s birth,revealed a most significant life lesson for all of us...you and I are here to...Receive the Light and Be The Light of Love’s Expression. 

I became acquainted with this lesson long ago. I have shared this life story before and I believe it is worth sharing again...simply because...it is so easy to understand at any age...yet timelessly important...to intentionally nurture our understanding and participation in the eternal rhythm of God’s Grace

My Receiving & Giving life lesson occurred at Christmas time in Arcadia. I was 9.  I had no more than $2.00 in my pocket...maybe less...as I entered the Hardware and Gifts Store near my childhood home.

Briefly, I walked the aisles looking for something to buy my mom for Christmas.   Then an older man, who worked at the store, came up to me and said something like, “Looking for a gift?”

“Yes, for my mom.”   I am guessing he saw the money I was holding. It was no more than a couple of dollars. It was not long before he said, “I think I have something that your mom might like to receive as a gift.”

Here is my remembrance of the experience I had.  It captures the eternal feeling of the Forever Learning of receiving and giving!

The older man and I walked to a different aisle...where there were kitchen items.  He pulled off the shelf two plastic dispensers...yellow and red...one for mustard and one for catsup. 

“Do you think your mom might like these?  Instantly, I knew she would.  And, they were priced perfectly for my small Christmas budget!

“I think you’ve got a good gift to give her.  But don’t you want to disguise them so she won’t know what she is getting?” That sounded great to me!  And so, the older man took me up to a counter and magically brought out two unusually-shaped  plastic containers.

“See if you can put your two gifts into these two containers.  Your mom won’t have any idea what you got her until she unwraps them.”

I was thrilled. Surely, this was the best Christmas present I could give my mom.  I thanked the older man as he gave me the containers and dispenses.  Off I went home for exciting Christmas wrapping.

Was It a Christmas surprise for Mom?  Oh, yes!  I was so thrilled she liked them. The older man at the Hardware Store was so right...a true angel in disguise!

Here’s an interesting observation I carry about this story...now 66 years later...I can only remember this one Christmas present I gave my mom.  It is the One Gift that captures the eternal message of the rhythm of love...Receiving and Giving...with joy in our heart.

The Light in this...our 2021 Holiday Season can...and I hope will find...special moments for you and for me as we bring life to the remembrance of our One Gift To Receive and Give.  It is the timeless story of Love’s Expression!

Yes, let’s awaken our hearts to Love’s Expression...in little ways of holiday meaning-making...at home,at work and in the communities of our influence for good.

Joy to our World as WE communicate the Light of Love’s Expression.

Best and blessings,                                                                                        Russ                               

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Let Your 2021 Thanksgiving Reveal Your THANKS-LIVING Motivations!

This week is a Timeout Week across our Fruited Plain for families and friends to gather together for a  special national holiday, Thanksgiving.  Yes, WE, Americans, have this 4th Thursday in November set aside on our national calendar to celebrate the blessings of a grand nation...America!

Note those three words...a grand nation.   This year, as Americans come together in festive Thanksgiving celebrations, it’s not difficult to anticipate  seeing another story about America...no doubt to be found in on-line articles, Op-Ed newspaper columns and personal social media posts that communicate a dramatically different story about America’s Thanksgiving heritage...not defined by national blessings but, rather, by societal shortcomings. 

Yes, clearly, 2021 America is a year for many voices who seek to redefine and re-state our national heritage as a distinctly deficient failure.  This Inspiration Impulse Thanksgiving Week Reflection is not penned with such a viewpoint.

So who is America today?  The current recorded 2021 US population is 332,915,073. That’s us!  This is THE WE of 2021 America.  A question? What viewpoint do you hold about how many millions of Americans hate our national historical biography and believe that America is, and always has been, a misguided nation forever divided by a polarizing, never-ending national story of The Haves vs.The Have Not’s?    

No, I don’t have an answer to my question.  But, I do carry a viewpoint that I am confident represents the sentiments of millions of Americans in 2021, namely...

Our annual national Thanksgiving Day is a unique story of one nation’s desire to give thanks for The Good that Is The WE.  America’s WE has continuously pursued growing The Good in the individual lives of its citizens. I have a name for these motivations: They are our 2021Thanks-Living Noble Motivations!

Yes, these Noble Motivations are treasured life choices for all Americans...to explore...as WE re-commit and re-new our capacity for personal clear-seeing: 

(1) CHOOSE: I have this day. (2) CARE: I find your dignity and discover mine. (3) CONTRIBUTE; I offer my gifts and talents. (4) CHALLENGE...I let go to grow. (5) COMMIT...I pursue a path. (6) COOPERATE...I place my hands in yours. (7) CONTINUE...I step forward, again.

For a moment...imagine...the 7 Thanks-Living Noble Motivations are life awareness vitamins for you and all Americans to activate daily at home, at work and in their communities of influence. 

How do these Noble Motivation awareness vitamins work together?  Quite simply, they focus on one compelling viewpoint: If It’s to be, it’s up to me! 

This powerful viewpoint is America’s Story. If it’s to be, it’s up to me! is America’s psychic DNA seeking expression in our thoughts and actions as we focus on these 7 Noble Motivations.  

Is 2021′s national Thanksgiving Day an opportunity for WE...you and I... to nurture our civic opportunity to live nobly...not angrily?  Yes,  If it’s to be, it’s up to me!

Is that really so...are WE, you and I, Shapers of a grand America that is our nation’s history.  Are WE committed to pursue our national journey with 7 noble motivations?  If It’s to be, it’s up to me!

I encourage you to pass along this Post to individuals in your sphere of influence.  America’s national heritage is worthy of celebration...not simply with feasting but, more so, by contributing to a national dialogue about the WE that is America’s Grand Goodness to be pursued with the 7 Thanks-Living Noble Motivations.

Best and blessings to you!                                                                                   Russ Williams 

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REVITALIZING AMERICA: You + Me Equals WE!

It’s Fall, 2021.  Is it time for America to revitalize itself?

“I have no right, by anything I do or say, to demean a human being in his own eyes. ” Antoine de Saint-Exupery

This Fall, are WE, Americans, watching and experiencing a steady, explosive prairie-fire in American society?  I am guessing you have your observations and opinions about the societal tumult. 

Civility is on the ropes. 

Is our American Society leaning mean?  I am confident that millions of people are finding the endless drama as an indicator that WE, Americans, are losing our WE and instead pursuing the vitriol of You vs.Me.  WE wonder if America’s great Republic is slowly closing the door on its immensely rich cultural heritage as WE turn toward endless bashing and blaming.

In some ways, WE may be witnessing the major story-line/outcome of a covid-weary America.  Yes, it seem that WE are being consumed with unyielding and intensifying condemnation, ridicule, and scorn.  Bashing is not new to our public discourse, but, clearly, it is wildly and dramatically more apparent.  And, yes, our access to 24-7  social media tools offer the means to communicate the venom of condemnation.  

Perhaps you, my Inspiration Impulse Reader, might find it useful to reflect upon your viewing of the America you see in the Fall, 2021 and ask a question:  Am I advocating, seeking, choosing to be a creative voice of the Wisdom Keeper  in the midst of the struggles of an America at odds with itself?

Such self-reflection reminds me of the Wisdom Keeper guidance of Mahatma Gandhi.  He understood anger and despair as a catalyst for constructive, life transforming reflection leading to noble WE action.

As a young lawyer in England, he renewed his life and went on to expand his understanding of wisdom keeping to shape a public life that sought to demonstrate moral clarity found in doing no harm to others. As a national leader of India during treacherous years of leadership  in the 1940′s, Gandhi unleashed his authority as a Wisdom Keeper by not humiliating or holding contempt for others...foes or friends. 

What was the fabric that Gandhi wove into his Wisdom Keeper mind over many years?  Two words describe it: moral intelligence. Individuals who grow the fabric of moral intelligence learn that one cannot thrive while condemning self and demeaning others. Intellectual arrogance expressed as ever-so-clever, skillfully-worded contempt, putdowns and takedowns present absolutely no understanding of moral intelligence. Rather, it signifies moral bankruptcy.

How does moral intelligence behave? Fundamentally, it seeks No Harm... toward self and others.

Here is a question to encourage your exploration of choosing to Seek No Harm in the midst of an America that is doing otherwise.  Can moral intelligence that seeks no harm claim the Driver’s Seat of my life?   And, the answer?  Activating our moral intelligence is a daily choice of re-engagement.  Literally, it must belch into our awareness daily to proclaim its powerful presence.

Yes, moral intelligence is a Higher Order awareness...seeking expression through thoughts, words and actions in our daily doing. Moral Intelligence always pursues The Good that seeks no harm.  

You and I, WE, are equipped to behold and proclaim our moral intelligence...for self-encouragement to renew our own inner well-being and to strengthen our relationships with others.  Be ready this day...for your personal encounter with this great priority.  Notice the affirming and arresting belch of your Moral  Intelligence Remembrance that grabs your attention:  Am I a destroyer of respect for myself and others  or do I champion the well-being of myself and others. Do I harm? vs. Do I  choose not to harm!  

This is re-engagement work practiced in the silent dialogues you have with yourself daily as well as with your interactions at home, at work and in the community.  The Great Priority of Moral Intelligence? Do no harm to self and others...knowing moral intelligence builds up and strengthens vs. tears down and and destroys.  

Take a moment to pass along Today’s Post to someone who you think might value reading it.

Have a great week.  

Russ Williams

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THE EVERYDAY HERO: Is It YOU?

Do you know your bottom-line...inviolable clarity action to be The Everyday Hero at home, at work, on the road, at meetings, in phone conversations, in your personal and professional negotiations, and communicating on your social media platforms?  Do you have skin in the game as The Everyday Hero?

YOUR #1 FUNDAMENTAL ACTION IS:The Everyday Hero: I willingly and courageously treat others respectfully. 

This singular heroic action is Life’s #1 Differentiator. Willingly is the operative word that serves to differentiate our understanding between choice vs. conditions. Choice is purposeful; Respect for others is a purposeful choice.

Take a look at the image above. That’s the hand of The Everyday Hero. This Hero willingly and consistently reaches out to greet their world purposefully.

The Everyday Hero makes an unconditional life choice: live Life’s #1 Differentiator each day...treating others respectfully.

For those pursuing the path to become The Everyday Hero, the journey is treacherous. It takes years of self-observation to understand that neither moods, nor pressing commitments, nor health issues, nor wealth, nor friendships, nor political persuasion, nor achievements...individually or collectively... lead us to the discovery of The Everyday Hero Discernment: willfully and willingly choosing to respect others. 

Let us notice: The Everyday Hero’s willingness to choose respect for others is not conditioned by life’s turbulence nor calm seas.

Imagine,for a moment that The Everyday Hero discovery to treat others with respect could be compared to living our life in a monstrous darkened room not knowing there is a light switch hidden somewhere that can instantly bring light to the entire room.  Discovering the light switch transforms our knowledge of the room and how we can move creatively and purposefully in the room.

And what is the room in which The Everyday Hero moves..You know it well...it’s wherever you are in every moment all day long…interacting with people you know well, casually, or not at all.

Why is The Everyday Hero so difficult to master?  Human awareness spends most of its time in a Darkened Room of disregard and distrust of others as we stumble to seek an advantage by minimizing someone. Why? We falsely believe that dignity and respect must be earned...not willingly and unconditionally given. 

What is the foundation of  The Everyday Hero?  It requires courage wed to a discipline.

(1)  Courage to see and seek see the Good in Others and praising it.

(2)  Discipline to silence the voice of condemnation.   

It’s Fall, 2021. This is an important time for us to ask if we will renew our commitment to be a catalyzing influence of The Everyday Hero.  We are all aware that the national dialogue is dominated by the clanging clutter of voices of disrespect.  Daily, the clutter of disrespect fuels all forms of media.  Avoiding this media clutter is a helpful starting point. Activating your personal commitment to be The Everyday Hero is the energizer...wherever and whenever daily you find yourself with others.

Yes, That IS the time to step up The Everyday Hero game plan to be the courageous caring voice of respect for others.  

The Everyday Hero:  This is who you are; This is who you choose to be.  This is your daily story line.   This is defining your value at home, at work and in the community as an Influencer for Good. 

The Everyday Hero.  Today is your day to step brightly into the life of others as a vibrant voice who offers…encouraging, engaging, energizing respect.

Best and blessings,                                                                                       Russ Williams, The Inspiration Impulse 

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A Life Secret:  When An Eighty Year-Old Mind Is Gradually Approaching Eighteen!

Just got back into town late Saturday night after spending a most enjoyable time on the sands of Maui.  Yes, Judy and I found, once again, that the Aloha Spirit has its special lure to fill our cup to overflowing.

I knew I had an Inspiration Impulse Post to prepare upon my return. I thought I might find something tantalizing to share from our time away...allowing  renewing Aloha breezes accompanied by a Let Life Flow In Anyway It Wants  vacation mentality to give birth to a Return-From-Vacation nugget of Inspiration.

So let me frame this post-vacation musing with a quote from the great American Humorist, Mark Twain.

Oh, how delightfully enticing are Twain’s  words.  They capture the wisdom of what happens when our mind turns down the temperature of ‘going after life’ with demanding eagerness versus Savoring and Beholding Moments Of Subtly Rich Steadiness...as revealed in those extravagant Maui sunsets. So, let me take a moment to paint this Inspiration Impulse Post with a broad brush of extravagant appreciation.

No, I’m not 80 yet...but, I do know these old eyes of mine are the lenses through which extravagantly rich colors can view the western seas as the sun slowly slides into the evening spectacle of colors while I sit and appreciate a sovereign quiet mind is helping me behold nature’s exquisite palette.

The experience of awe and wonder viewing nature’s wondrous beauty is a gift of discernment not found with a Doing Mind. Yes,  moments like these provide a glorious interruption of the endless chatter...known as the Doing Mind. 

So, let me go a bit deeper into the extravagance of such moments.   Sitting on a Maui Beach at sunset is a wondrous setting to awaken our understanding of Twain’s words.

What is the nugget of wisdom Twain is nudging us to explore?  What is timelessly available for discovery...not defined by setting...yet available for  re-birthing, over and over again in our life, when we encounter the unique mind that Twain described  as...an eighty year old mind gradually approaching eighteen?

What is the 80-year-old mind gradually approaching eighteen?  First...It’s a grand awareness that is subtle and real. We all have the capacity to experience this awareness. Yet, for many, it is locked up or forgotten.  For others, it opens and shuts haphazardly, conditioned  primarily by perceiving life as a tightly defined journey of achievement and/or failure.  For all, the 80-year-old mind gradually approaching eighteen is ageless...that views life with an intention of renewal defined with fresh anticipation and alert expectancy embracing the full measure of the ever-present Now that makes no demand that Tomorrow be better than Today or Yesterday.

The 80-year-old mind gradually approaching eighteen is never lazy, dull, or slowed down by unceasing life responsibilities and achievements. Rather, this mind holds an ever-renewing smile about life, even in the midst of life’s challenges, hurts, and setbacks. 

The 80-year-old mind gradually approaching eighteen can find a bit of sugar of life sweetness in the dreariest or dullest of circumstances.  The 80-year-old mind gradually approaching eighteen knows that Today slides gently into tomorrow where there is goodness to be received and to be offered.

Finally, with thousands of encounters of its presence in our life over many years, the 80-year-old mind gradually approaching eighteen becomes who WE are.

And, as its awareness begins to compliment and then...overshadow... Life’s Demanding Doing...we find a rich gratefulness and ever-renewing knowing that each day offers special moments to receive a gift from Life...fully awake and alert to its boundless wonder.

Shall WE,you and I, be alert this week for unique moments when WE, you and I, are living our 80-year-old mind gradually approaching eighteen?

Best and blessings, Russ Williams

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FINDING YOUR WISDOM: The    Battleground Of The Mind

“Be as smart as you can, but remember that it is always better to be wise than to be smart.”  Alan Alda

I bet you already know where I’m tracking with this Inspiration Impulse Post. So, let’s get after It!

Yes, you and I...everyone...hold a cup of awareness...defined by our capacity to focus on ever-changing thoughts, feelings, experiences and  interactions that produce our Story of Life Awareness. 

From my armchair observations, there are two primary streams of life awareness:

Stream #1: I am The Source of My Thoughts: As a Thinker thinking...my mind is a self-creating source of ever-changing awareness.

Stream #2: I am The Vessel of Thought: As a Thinker thinking, my mind is a  receptive-vessel of ever-changing awareness.

What about these two Life Awareness observations?  I have two distinct viewpoints after 75+ years of life inquiry: I gave more attention to Stream #1 in the my first 30 years while, in the last 45 years, Stream #2 has become the guiding force for understanding my life journey.  Why so?  The over-aching reason: Stream #2 revealed itself as a spiritual journey which became more central to understanding the purpose of my life.

However, spiritual inquiry is not, necessarily, the causal agent of every person’s exploration of Stream #2.

In an on-line article titled Wise Mind, five key elements define the journey into the waters of Stream #2...rooted in behavioral theory and Eastern philosophy. Here are the 5 Wise Mind elements of awareness.

Observing / watching your thoughts and feeling without pushing them away.

Describing without definitively interpreting what you observe.

Participating fully... Now...in the present moment.

Taking a non-judgmental stance by not evaluating Good vs. Bad.

Being effective without allowing emotions to control your behavior.

It’s revealing to notice that these 5 Wise Mind elements of Stream #2 awareness skills are rooted in not allowing emotions to define action...which brings me to my personal footnote about swimming in Stream #2 .

The Footnote: Our personal discovery of not allowing emotions to define our actions is a major life lesson. This discovery focuses on quieting a busy, frantic or agitated mind...and, instead, encountering the deeper waters of a  contemplative mind.  Life skills disciplines like meditation, prayer, breathing exercises or other practices are all powerful awareness tools for the discovery of the Wise Mind.     

I know...I’m sure you do, too, in any hour of any day we have the opportunity to re-orient our agitated mind with Wise Mind life skills that take us directly into Stream #2.

In this stream the agitated mind moves quietly, gently along...to receive guidance revealed as our Greater Good...always awaiting our hungry interest.  

It is here where Wise Mind Wisdom abides. It is here that the battleground of an agitated mind says. Wow! This is good. I want to move my life more in the the waters of Stream #2.  

Best and blessings to you, my Inspiration impulse Reader!                                  Russ Williams

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“TELL ‘EM ABOUT THE DREAM, MARTIN”

Last Saturday, August 28th, was the 58th Anniversary of Martin Luther King’s historic speech on the Washington DC Capitol Mall before a gathering of 250,000 Americans.

It is chronicled by Dr. King’s confidantes, who were with him on Aug. 27th, that Dr. King envisioned crafting remarks which would carry the weight of history like Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address proclaimed nearly100 years earlier in the dark days of America’s Civil War.

Dr. King worked alone preparing his remarks until 4am on the morning of August 28th.  It is remarkably compelling that Dr. King did not include in his prepared text the words I Have A Dream...words which he had used in previous addresses.

That afternoon as he spoke to the immense crowd, Dr. King was halfway through his prepared, scripted text when he heard a near-by-voice speak aloud to him. The messenger was the renowned Gospel vocalist, Mahalia Jackson, who had performed I Been ‘Buked And Scorned  earlier in the program.

Dr. King heard Mahalia shout these words directly to him: “Tell ‘em about The Dream, Martin.”

At that moment Dr. King ceased delivering his prepared text which was only half-completed.   Instead, what occurred was Dr. King’s extemporaneous, timelessly compelling statement of Humanity’s Becoming and, specifically, America’s groaning racial suffering seeking healing...I Have A Dream.

It could be said...I am saying it...the last half of Dr. King’s message was delivered From Beyond Time...into the nation’s 1963 flashpoint of racial struggle.  And yes, like Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg, Dr. King delivered the Timeless Voice of an awakening humanity and, in doing so, defined the Civil Rights Era in America.

He stated: “Now is The Time...to make real the promise of democracy...to rise from a dark and desolate valley...to lift our nation and make racial justice a reality to all of God’s people.”

The prophetic voice speaks into humanity’s pain...with a vision of hope.  Throughout history such messages have offered a place, a time, a moment, and an understanding of humanity’s painful journey...from the darkness of suffering to the shared awakening of Belonging...the sacred Regard of WE...that identifies a timeless calling. 

Humanity’s prophetic voice is ours to envision, embrace, explore, and execute  proclaiming a common purpose: Engage our lives in a shared mission on this tiny sphere called Earth. The prize of the mission?  Demonstrating humanity’s Higher Self...rooted in the inherent dignity, worth and value of all.

This journey is a calling...Humanity’s Becoming...painful birthing called consciousness awakening to Itself. Now in 2021 America and the world community know the painful flashpoints...nationally and internationally...where suffering continues...not unlike 1963.  Clearly, the world is seeing this international story on display in Afghanistan.

Our international mutual pain begs for an answer: Will we ever experience humanity’s noble self?  The answer to this question rests with each one of us

Yes, the question is an invitation for reflection that I likened to Mahalia’s long-ago shout out to Martin...capturing his attention...to speak into the higher calling of consciousness to ask:  How Then, Shall I/WE Live?

WE, you and I, men and women of Goodwill must courageously face dark times like those we are experience internationally in the summer of 2021 and be touched to live beyond personal opinions...political convictions...the need to be right at the expense of constantly calling out those who we believe are wrong. The call of WE is not a milk toast message of sugary sweetness.  No, not at all. Hopefulness to be the WE is about the awakening of awareness that lives beyond treacherous, turbulent waters of continuous complaint and condemnation. 

Yes, condemnation needs a Time-Out...a Resting Place.  Let’s give this Resting Place a name...Daily Contemplative Courage.   Perhaps, it can be a starting point self-directed invitation to ask: What is My Dream?

Do I dream to become a skillful reactionary voice of animosity, resentment and outrage directed at all of the jerks who seem to regularly show up in my life?  Or, do I dream of a Calling to a different Self...a Calling that carries daily contemplative courage to stop the rapid-fire resentful,reactionary mind for the purpose of pursuing the WE.

The choice?  Box #1 Standing For or Box #2 Standing Against 

Standing For takes ownership of ugly, troublesome issues born of ignorance failures, shortcomings. Standing For takes action with hopeful conviction.  Standing For boldly dreams anew...acting upon what our senses cannot reveal. 

Standing For activates a mission-driven mind that is ready to own new life choices and  pursue those choices which need our attention.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Standing For Activist.  He dreamed beyond the painful struggle of an awakening humanity. And,yes, it is true...Standing For Activists do not pursue the Hope-Filled Good in isolation.  Never.

Standing For Activists become Custodians of God’s Goodness and engage their actions to present the timeless Good.

Can WE hold God’s vision?   In America this vision is revealed with these words:  Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness. Globally it is humanity’s mutual discovery of this same message.  And, yes,painfully so, WE have miles to go before WE sleep...miles to go to find ourselves in the womb of WE.  

This Inspiration Impulse message ends with a question: Will you and I use our life to be a Standing For custodian of the timeless Good...rooted in the vision of WE?   

Best and blessings                                                                                        Russ Williams

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MY WAY...THE WAY?  What Say You?

“I’ve lived a life that’s full I traveled each and every highway... And more, much more than this, I did it my way.”

It was Paul Anka who discovered a version of the song, “Comme d’habitude” recorded in 1967, when he was in France.  Anka re-wrote the lyrics and gave the song to Frank Sinatra, who recorded it in on December 30, 1968.

We all know The Chairman’s musical classic: My Way

I was fortunate to see Frank Sinatra perform at The Sands Hotel, Las Vegas in the Fall of 1964.  On that particular evening Sinatra and and his Rat-Pack...Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis Jr. joined The Chairman on stage for some fun shenanigans, singing, and dancing. Yes, it was a memorable experience!  

It’s been chronicled that Sinatra never liked the My Way lyrics. Yet, there’s no doubt the world came to know that this song became synonymous with Sinatra’s musical legacy and life.  You and I only need to view his classic performance of My Way on You Tube performed in New York in his latter years...to listen...and observe how the man and the lyric merged with singular clarity: He branded My Way as his way.

So let me ask a curious question for you, my Inspiration Impulse Reader.  Is living your life ‘My Way’  the purposeful pinnacle of an individual’s life journey?  

I put this question before you to invite shared self-reflection...yours-mine.  My comments are not presented to provoke a Right-Wrong response.  The My Way life journey focuses on the freedom...to create...to chart a course...to define a path...to climb life’s mountain with grit, determination, courage and, perhaps, at some point along the way, to triumphantly claim I got something accomplished! I achieved it!  I did it...My Way...declaring life’s noble victory in the face of life’s treacherous adversity.  

Clearly, self-determination, perseverance, dedication to a cause...these life skills...constitute the greatness of the My Way Life Playbook.

Now in my life’s 4th Quarter, I am quite mindful that my personal My Way journey has been used to explore the waters of a huge question:  What’s The Why underlying our My Way journey?  Yes, I have purposefully pursued that question, personally and professionally   

Specifically: Are WE...you and I...charged to use our years to pursue our personal My Way to answer a deep question? How is my life journey a piece of the puzzle of humanity’s  journey?

Are WE, ultimately, invited to pursue our personal one-of-a-kind My Way Game plan for the purpose of a mutual calling...pursuing a mutual life lesson?  Are you and I given a My Way game book of years to encounter and become engaged in a fundamental, life-transformative discovery. I’ll give it a name... The Way!

The Way Discovery?  There is a fundamental Life Presence...The Creative First Cause...seeking to partner with us...through us...in a grand adventure of discovery in the midst of our personal triumphs and challenging failures! 

The partnering Life Presence invites our discovery of a fundamental life insight: Belonging, Beholding, Believing...and ultimately KNOWING  that this Life Presence is intimately available to be engaged in our life journey in the midst of all moments...including our grand accomplishments, mindful meanderings, relationships, education, skills and aptitudes, crushing failures and personal heartache.

At age 18, I was unexpectedly and profoundly presented with the Belonging, Beholding, Believing Life Presence inquiry.  It grabbed me...anchored me...and defined a context for life-long exploration of the interaction of My Way and The Way. 

Now, in 2021, with fifty-seven years of traveling down the My Way highway while purposefully exploring the Life-Presence Inquiry shaping The Way,  I remain a Forever Learner while giving voice to the purposeful Life Presence at work in my life...Belonging, Beholding and Believing!  

The major chapters of my professional life have focused on discussing, dialoguing and communicating about the Belonging, Beholding, Believing Life Presence...engaging hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people...over many years...through counseling, sermons, public addresses and writings. 

What is the crown jewel insight of The Way?  WE are accompanied in our life’s journey; we do not solo our life.  The Wisdom teachers throughout humanity’s history have communicated one major and magnificent observation: There is a timeless Knower...revealed in faith-believing, who offers us purposeful guidance and clarity to live creatively confident for the benefit of ourselves and others.  

While each person’s life story is distinctly unique, we are invited to discover the profound Presence revealed in the world’s faith traditions:  This all-nurturing Presence moves with us offering the clarifying awareness that defines the difference between soloing a life...My Way...or partnering with life...The Way. 

Perhaps you have My Way/The Way observations.  I’d love to hear from you about your My Way /The Way life explorations. Send me an email at centerjcce@aol.com.

Have a great week!                                                                                               Best & Blessings,                                                                                              Russ Williams

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National Priority #1: GETTING ALONG WITH EACH OTHER

“The ultimate measure of an individual is not where he /she stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he/she stands at times of challenge and controversy.”  Martin Luther King, Jr.

I never anticipated living in the America WE live in right now...The Summer of 2021. Incivility is King...everywhere!  The incivility epidemic is not simply political polarization. America’s daily social media communications is a cesspool of intolerance.

You and I, the THE NOBLE WE, need to clean up our act. The treacherous road of incivility is destroying the fabric of America. WE are thriving on attacking the Other...whoever the Other is with whom We disagree.

This treacherous issue is happening right now in America, 24-7.  It demands our personal action.  WE, you and I, need to understand our role in taking on the task of civility as a personal contribution to our nation’s well being. 

WE can’t assume the incivility crisis is someone else’s problem. It’s ours...yours and mine.  WE CAN do something...You and I can BE the WE of civility in the midst of a country at odds with itself.  

This Inspiration Impulse Post is written as a call to action.  Every Reader needs to take on the challenge to BE The WE...with the focus on civility toward others. This is our Summer of 2021 national challenge.

As a founding, first-year (1946) member of the Baby Boomer generation, I remember my first experience of being a young American encountering a moment of national challenge.  It was mid-October, 1962; I was a Sophomore at Arcadia High School.  In my afternoon English Class, my teacher, Miss Robbie,  spoke with her students about a potential imminent threat to our nation, informing us we needed to practice hiding ourselves underneath our school desks to prepare for what might be a national nuclear attack.  Yes, I am talking about the Cuban Missile Crisis.

On that October afternoon in 1962...many young Baby Boomers across America found themselves in the midst of something much larger than the weekly Friday Nite Pep Rally preceding a high school football game.

In the Summer of 2021 the national crisis of incivility is a treacherous moment in our nation’s history. WE are not at war with an enemy beyond our shores; WE are a nation at war with ourselves.  Unlike the 1860′s when America experienced a war with itself, the growing tensions of today’s America is being fueled by the voices of millions and millions...who have the power of social media to communicate  hatred, vitriol, contempt, and condemnation.  

If those words I have chosen to describe America’s public discourse seem too strong ...then simply ask yourself this question with unvarnished self-reflection: How often do WE, you and I, use our voice in conversations, discussions, emails and text messages to pass along our personal disgust, disagreement, anger, resentment about someone or something? Yes, millions of Americans have an addiction to Condemnation Communications.  WE are skilled at trashing someone or something WE don’t like, feeling justified and compelled to tell the world WE are right; you are wrong.  

The Crisis of Condemnation is at play big time in America in the summer of 2021: The Need To Be Right by Making Others Wrong is the pandemic.  This problem, in my social observations, is a bigger one than the vaccination issue.

The question: What are you and I,WE,going to do to get the wolf...Making Others Wrong...out of the Hen House? And, please, don’t be naive and exclude yourself from noticing the Making Others Wrong Wolf does appear in your hen house at times...daily or weekly.

Here is The Inspiration Impulse Call to Action: THE KINDNESS PRESCRIPTION.  It focuses on your sphere of influence with whom you interact with daily.  Your primary sphere of Influence is...family, friends, professional associates, daily acquaintances.  

WE have one compelling, consistent daily responsibility of communication to our Sphere of Influence: Use  words for one purpose: To be kind, respectful,  caring and considerate...allowing no justification to communicate anger, resentment, or condemnation toward someone.

And what if WE fail...what if WE unload on someone?  WE consider it our responsibility to re-communicate to the person with whom WE have been unkind and correct our communication...to that person within 24 hours.   WE do not justify any uncaring, disrespectful, inconsiderate communication.  

Why a Kindness Prescription? One compelling reason...prioritize goodwill as the purpose that underlies all of your communications, verbal and written.

This Kindness Prescription is premised on the writings of the great theologian, Martin Buber, who wrote an essay called I-Thou.  Buber’s words underscored the fact that there is a compelling, deep thread of Goodness that seeks expression in our relationships with others...All Others...not just the Others we know but the Others we don’t know and will never meet.  

Buber’s essay elevated the story of  WE...focusing on a jewel of awareness: There is One of Us present...within all of Us.  This deep nurturing bond of sacred regard seeks  to connect with others.   Our words, verbal and written, are tools for creating the I-Thou bond that binds us.

Can WE, Americans, in the summer of 2021 take up the challenge to use our out-of-control societal dis-ease as an opportunity for renewed clarity to positively engage Being The WE?

I encourage you to do so and I invite you to send along this message to your Sphere of Influence.  

Best and blessing, Russ Williams 

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RENEWING THE “COURAGE” INSTINCT!

Last week in the Northern California mountain vacation setting of Strawberry...pop. 86...nestled in a curve on mountain Hwy108 that winds its way over the Summit to connect to Hwy 395 on the Eastern Sierras...a momentous Williams Clan Family Moment occurred, just exactly as it did in the same rented mountain cabin.   Triumphantly and joyously our almost-one-year-old grandson, Ira, took his first steps exactly as his Uncle Brett, my son, did in 1983.

Yes, after trials and stumbles, little Ira achieved the status of an Upright Human,  joyously displaying his new life skill to the cheers of onlooking family members.

How often do we become discouraged...pushed down...empty...of the innate human story of triumph-born-of struggle. And the result? We settle on mediocrity, rather than soar toward life success.

Van Gogh’s statement captures the energy of what it means to choose soaring.  Soaring demands courage.  Soaring believes that Our Yesterday does not define Our Today. Soaring says Yes to New Possibilities or solving old problems. 

Life Renewal is the courage to not look back...and choose to look forward...in spite of yesterday’s hardships.

At the upcoming Olympic Games we are going to hear inspirational stories of how Olympic Champions like Simone Biles has shaped a life of triumph overcoming treacherous life challenges.

But, let’s know...Olympic Champions are not the only individuals who harness the story of courage to look expectantly forward...Today...and not wallow in the stumbles of Yesterday ! 

My young grandson, Ira, just like you...instinctively knew that adversity was not an enemy...but an opportunity.  Ira didn’t think falling down was failure in his quest to walk upright. Neither was  Ira being denied achieving his goal by falling down! Instead, he was gaining neuro-muscular skills.  He was challenged to learn and practice and acquire new skills to reach his goal of an upright human being!

Every courageous challenge you and I face...physical, emotional, relational, professional, spiritual...is an invitation to grow our life skills...to re-new, re-vitalize, re-envision, re-create LIFE. 

Courage is born on the wings of recreating our LIFE. Examples?  Challenging hip replacement demands the courage to seek uncomfortable physical therapy.  Creating new job skills demands the courage to redefine time to acquire new abilities. Every addiction demands the courage to seek help.  Overweight demands the courage to redefine health priorities.  A troubled marriage demands the courage to pursue the emotional discomfort of counseling.  End-of-life fears, doubts, unresolved life issues opens the door to reconcile the Past and invite conversations that have been held tightly away in our mind.  

Van Gogh’s quote is right on!  It is never, ever too late to courageously renew one’s life.  And, Yes, absolutely so...taking courageous action on any expression of life renewal is a challenge.

Our courage...yours and mine...everyone’s...demands compelling motivation. It’s a Get up & Go Decision because the time to re-create...act boldly moves on the impulse of NOW. 

Best and blessings,                                                                                                     Russ Williams

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The Boys of Summer Reprise: My All Time Most Read POST

We’re less than a week away from one of America’s favorite summer events: MLB’s All Start Game.  In a salute to our Grand Old SummerPast time...I am reprising my All Time Most-Read POST. 

Here it is: You may remember it; you may not; Either way you’re in for a treat as we remember an American Icon of Baseball...Yogi Berra and  a handful of Yoggiisms to put a smile on your face and maybe pass along to some friends as well.

From 1946-1984 Yogi appeared in 21 World Series as a player, coach and manager. He won 10 World Series rings as a player and played in 75 World Series Games.  He was the catcher for Don Larsen’s Perfect Game in the 1956 World Series and he won the American League’s MVP on three occasions.  Finally, Yogi was the perennial All Star who was selected to play in 15 consecutive games from 1948 to 1962.

At next Tuesdays All STAR festivities, Yogi  Berra will show up somewhere...somehow in conversations at the 2019 All Star Game  as well as in the hearts and minds of countless Babyboomer Baseball Fans tuning in, like me, to recall the long ago   American landscape of their youth and their heroes. And, yes, Yogi was a childhood hero of mine.  His voice of decency, goodwill and wit...which carried an uncanny, quirky sense of humor... remains part of American Baseball’s  culture and folklore.

And so, with that brief Intro, I want to reprise some Yogiisms that I shared in an Inspiration Impulse Post  two and 1/2  years ago along with a few more. That Post was the most passed-along-post of any Inspiration Impulse  message.  Maybe it says something about the virtue of lightheartedness!

So, let’s enjoy, once again, some timeless YOGIISM’S humor and wit.

90% of the game is half mental.

I want to thank everyone who made this day necessary.

When you come to a fork in the road, take it.

Always go to other people’s funerals. Otherwise they won’t come to yours.

You can observe a lot by watching.

You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you.

A nickle isn’t worth a dime anymore.

I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.

Congratulations! I knew the record would stand until it was broken.

I usually take a two-hour nap from one to four.

It ain’t the heat; it’s the humility.

The future isn’t what it used to be.

Ninety percent of all mental errors are in your head.

If I didn’t wake up, I’d still be sleeping.

Okay, you guys, pair up in three’s.

He must have made that before he died.

I’d give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

If you ask me anything I don’t know, I’m not going to answer.

He hits from both sides of the plate. He’s amphibious.

Little League is a very good thing because it keeps parents off the streets.

If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up somewhere else.

Yogi just may have gotten it wrong with his most famous words…It ain’t over till it’s over…now part of America’s vernacular. Yes, he’s gone from among us. We no longer see his rich smile nor hear him speak his convoluted sentences. But who he really was remains with us…the legacy grows as his words move among us as a rich reminder of how the voice of Influence for Good seeks expression...from each and every one  of us!

Thank you, Yogi, for coming our way...and never going away!                                 Best and blessings,  Russ Williams

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Glimpsing The Light From The Basement of Discouragement

There are times we lean on Life’s mysterious moments to move us from deep discouragement to renewed hope. Perhaps this experience from my life can remind us that there is Light to be found in difficult, dark circumstances.

Such a moment occurred in mid-Spring 1983 following the birth of our third child.  It was a busy personal and professional time period as our family expanded to embrace another ‘Little One’ while I, simultaneously, faced ever-demanding responsibilities with a growing congregation.  

During this time a middle-aged woman...experiencing significant emotional distress...had briefly been attending church services.  In a pastoral care meeting, she informed me she was entertaining suicidal thoughts. Very quickly, I became the agent of getting her into a healthcare facility. She did not want to go but I encouraged her to receive clinical care.

Early the next morning I got a phone call from the health facility.  I was informed  the woman had somehow left the facility, gone to her car, taken a gun from the glove compartment and killed herself.

The incident left me emotionally paralyzed. Unwisely and unfairly so, I  took on responsibility for the woman’s actions. My thoughts ran wildly with I should have; I could have; If only I had.  Clearly, there was nothing reasonable about my harboring guilt about what had happened...but, I did.  This tragic event, in the midst of a whirlwind time period, left me overwhelmed.  I had never felt so discouraged by life.

The night following learning of the suicide, I experienced an extraordinary dream. Yes, we all have dreams...most are forgotten.  But this one...I shall never forget.   Surely, it was a dream to take my mind from a tossing turbulent sea into a lagoon of still waters.  This dream was filled with wisdom to guide me from the darkness of life’s pain into the Light of abiding Hope.

Here is the dream:  I was swinging from a rope suspended from the sky moving  freely between two treacherous stone walls of a deep canyon.   As I swung back and forth, I was looking down...knowing I could not hold on much longer and that soon I would fall into the abyss below.

As I swung precariously, the moment came when my hands could no longer grasp the rope. Now, I knew I was  going to fall.  As I let go of the rope in despair, I knew, for sure, I would fall to my death. But,I did not fall down...I fell up...rising, rising, rising into the Light that was above the deep canyon walls.  As I fell up into the Light, I  experienced incredible comfort and gratitude.  The Light above saved me from the treachery of the dark abyss below.

I awakened from the dream. Immediately, I knew I had received an extraordinary  dream.  The Author of Light had informed me of His Way...to restore and educate... to reconcile and guide.  

Why does Tough Stuff happen to good men and women?  Why do we fall down into deep, inescapable despair about Life, as this woman experienced?  Is it possible that Falling Up is Humanity’s Story for glimpsing the truth of Life beyond  struggling hurt and pain?  

My Falling Up experience so many years ago oriented me to a fact: Hopefulness is always available...to lift us up...sometime mysteriously...to encounter unexpected new Knowing to help us understand and maneuver in deeply troubling moments. 

Our task? Look for the Hope...when troubled.  Invite hopefulness to soften harsh moments...lifting us...guiding us...and,ultimately, abiding with us. 

Yes, I do now know...Hope looks up with attentive, awakening discernment. 

Best and blessings,

Russ Williams, The Inspiration Impulse

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DISCOVER YOUR STORY OF... LIVING LARGE

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is my all-time favorite short story that I first read in the 8th grade. Written by James Thurber and published in The New Yorker on March 18,1939, this extravagant, imaginary tale underscores the life dilemma of our inability to take action on Life’s grand opportunity: Living Large.

Living Large are two powerful words to describe the opportunity we each have to unlock the box of self-limitation defined by mediocrity, ambivalence and unrealized desires so that we might release the genie (genius) of grand life exploration awakening to our unique capacities to live large in the Game of Life.

The genius of Thurber’s fanciful tale is his creation of a character, Walter, who lives his daily unfulfilling, pedestrian life while escaping into his mind’s imagination where he encounters a grand and exciting world.  Walter does not...nor is he capable...to allow his powerful imagination transform himself.

Walter lives Small while his imagination lives Large.  In his flights of imagination, Walter meets...as one  commentator described... four life wisdom accelerators about Living Large.  These accelerators, I believe, are life learning dilemmas you and I are invited to engage and master. 

The Living Large Accelerators: (1) Let go...one by one of the things holding you back. (2) Stop Dreaming; Start Doing. (3) Find the courage to step into happiness...taking a first step followed by a next. (4) Discover that Having More Time is always your enemy because it moves your attention from the precious Now.   

These four accelerators are personal tools to stake your claim to Today’s Best Me Is Here Right Now ready to take action with one essential motivator:  I CAN!

Living Large is the I CAN of everyone’s everyday story line. What is your I CAN?  Perhaps, Living Large is your step toward better health. Living Large may engage you in preliminary explorations of a professional change you have been thinking about for years.  Living Large may look like reaching out to help a special friend move through a hard spot in their life.   Living Large could require investigation into a desired class to expand your personal or professional skills.  Living Large may demand planning a weekend Get Away to recharge and re-ignite your enthusiasm and joy in life!

Living Large does not settle in!  Have you settled in and unconsciously decided that The Who I Am Today is not going to change? Wait a minute...Think again!  The habits, ambitions, hopes and dreams of Yesterday have brought you to Today. Yesterday is not an anchor; it can be your Springboard to leap...forward.  Why leap?  When we leap forward, we grow our capacity to be a blessing in the world we touch daily. 

Living Large!  It’s a daily invitation!  Let’s renew our I CAN to expand how we can bless our world! 

Best and blessings, Russ

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Are You Stumbling With Your... IF ONLY?

There is one challenging life experience that often reaches our doorstep.  No doubt you have encountered it. Maybe you have learned how to manage your If Only’s.  If not, this Inspiration Impulse message may be helpful and encouraging to guide you to put your If Only’s in the backseat of your life as you journey daily from here to there.   

Some of my Inspiration Impulse Readers know, I experienced many years of my professional career as a church pastor.  During those years, I spent countless hours meeting with individuals...listening and accompanying them with their life challenges.  Far and away the #1 Theme that showed up in those 1-1 sessions was the story of life suffering dealing with If Only. 

The major life challenge accompanying If Only is emotional suffering born of regret.  The rear-view mirror of If Only is shaped by one image: Self-condemnation nurtured by one very powerful, yet misguided, belief: I could have...should have...made a better decision, choice, action. This misguided, harmful belief can be exposed for what it is...false understanding.  So, let me explain the roots of If Only’s false understanding. 

Defeat & Victory: Clearly these two words are an Odd Couple.  And, yet, in my life journey accompanying others manage If Only, I have found meaningful, lasting encouragement, guidance, and truth by helping others understand and embrace  the two major If Only Lessons...one defeat; one victory...in order to let the glory out...using Edwin Markham’s sage counsel found above in his quote.

The If Only Defeat: Imagine that every day you and I are making moment by moment decisions...some decisions are routine and feel inconsequential.  Other decisions are complex and challenging requiring action defined by “what is true for you in the moment you take action.  Each and every daily moment-in-time action is about our Present Truth based upon action we take in this moment,right now!

Every Right Now action (thought, feeling, behavior) is the Knowing we hold right now. Present Knowing always carries consequences...good or bad...useful or unuseful that always reveals either (a)wisdom learned or (b) ignorance of not  owning our daily decisions and actions which leads us to: Becoming the victim of our life choices. 

The If Only Victory: As you and I learn to embrace and take ownership of our life, we  discover something powerful: Life is constantly moving with choices and actions. Your life...every person’s life...is awareness in action!  Hour by hour, decision by decision...experience by experience...conversation by conversation...highs and lows...victories and setbacks...it’s all the story of our awareness in motion...right Now. Awareness knows no Yesterday.   Nor is there awareness to hold for tomorrow.   Awareness holds only the present Now.    

Discovery: Learning to know and trust this gem... Life Awareness is Right Now... begins to teach you that your life is constantly in motion defined by new and old experiences, observations, insights, discoveries and re-confirmations of habits shaping YOU...Right Now.

The Challenge:  Why is If Only such a debilitating belief that can take us into a cul-de-sac of self-defeat and failure?   If Only moments of misery are always premised on self-condemnation and guilt of not knowing...Then...what we know...Now. 

The Glory of Life Renewal: Accompanying many individuals over the years, I have discovered that Glory Comes Out...liberating freedom to move forward ...as an individual grows their knowing...in heart and mind always in motion.  The Glory Comes Out  knowing we can see life anew realizing Today’s You is never Yesterday’s You.  Today’s You is fluid with thoughts, feelings, and experiences that inform and guide the you who is Now.  

It is not easy to move beyond the regret of what we did not know yesterday that we know Today.   That is life’s journey.  To be liberated...not defeated... by Yesterday’s Not Knowing invites us to appreciate  the ever-renewing YOU that is alertly present Now.   

Most assuredly every If Only moment  initially packaged with emotional regret is...upon re-exploration...a doorway to discover You present...Now.

Yesterday’s You?  It is complete.

Today’s You? It is always in motion with new life...Now. 

Letting the Glory Out?  A newly awakening You awaits a fresh encounter with life this day...every day.   It’s yours to claim Now!

Best and blessings, Russ Williams                                                                             The Inspiration Impulse                                                                                                

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CHANGE: Are You Hanging On To An Old Life Chapter But  Know It’s Time for A New One?

Is it unusual to be unsure about turning the page to define a new chapter in some part of your life?  Absolutely not!  Rather, the unsure is likely the signal that you are ready to dig deeper into the What’s Next in some part of your life.

All Change is initiated or restricted by the whispering mind:   Here are four Whispering Questions of Change found on an online quiz to stimulate your personal self-exploration on Managing Change & Your Attitude Narrative: Consider your answers to these 4 questions before I give them to you below with commentary:

1. The most powerful and compelling objective of every human being is the desire for:________ 2. What are the four major barriers to change? (A,B,C,D)  3.  What is the most common reason a job seeker resists change? 4. ________belief serves as the greatest deterrent to change.

Stop: Don’t peek below just yet!  Give yourself a minute to consider your thoughts about these four significant Change Whispering Questions.  Go for it!

Change Whispering Answers are: 1. Most Compelling Objective: Desire for Happiness  2. Four Barriers: Laziness, Anxiety, Ignorance, Confusion  3. Job Seeker Resistance: Fear of Unknown 4. Belief: Limiting

As I sit at the side of these 4 Common Change Whisperings Answers,  I have one major observation.  Life Direction Change (Job, Relationships,Moves,  Desires) are muddled in turbulent waters of anxious uncertainty.  Said differently, We want something new while we are fearful about taking action Now.

The power of such a life season is filled with conflict...Uncertainty vs. Expectancy.  How? When?What’s next? What if I make a wrong decision?  Many years ago I was in the midst of such a time...related to a professional change.  I had lunch with a good friend who knew what I was working on and thought I could benefit meeting a friend of his who he highly respected as an excellent Life Coach.

The three of us met for lunch. My new acquaintance listened intensely as I shared  my thoughts about an upcoming  Final Interview for a new Position.   When I finished, he said, “Russ, you are on the wrong path with the way forward on this job exploration. You need to understand a Principle of Change which he shared as a metaphor: It’s Yes Until It’s No.

“Russ,” my new acquaintance stated, “pretend you are taking a cross-country trip from LA to New York. You make the big decision to take the trip.  You intend to head quickly to New York.  However, three days later half-way across the country as you arrive in St. Louis, your car needs unexpected repairs.  Do you stay in St Louis for awhile?   Do you abandon your trip altogether and return? What do you do?

“St. Louis is the current YES on the journey to New York.  The YES that began the trip is now the YES or NO in St. Louis.  Always find and affirm your YES in the present.  Let it empower and inform your next YES or NO.

“The YES is always Now!  YES involves contemplation, consult, considerations, choices NOW to inform the YES or NO of What’s Next.  Learn to embrace, not react, to the YES before you Now.  Let Now be your teacher to inform and direct you. 

“Our life is not about where we ought, or could be today, nor where we want or believe we should be tomorrow.  Life fulfillment is when?  Now!  We are where we need to be...Now!  Our YES right now frees us to explore It’s Yes until it’s No!   .  

“Russ, your upcoming job interview is soon.  Explore your interview process for what it offers you...YES or NO considerations that will lead you to your new, life-affirming YES

And the huge life discernment lesson about Life Change?  It’s learning to trust that unceasing life movement is always about an old YES to a new YES. 

Best and blessing on your Change Journey of YES, Today!                                   Russell Williams, The Inspiration Impulse