Daily THOUGHT #62 "Excitement In Variety"

"The fruits of Life will only be discovered when you release the chains that imprison your mind!"

Hello there my people! How are you? I am pretty well. You know my motto...One day at a time. I like to believe that by looking into the future while reflecting on the past this will allow you to pace yourself in the everyday journey of life, piece by piece and experience by experience. It's the middle of the week, so if you have something pressing to do by the end of the week, at least go ahead and start on it today if you hadn't already. If you haven't made plans for the weekend, think of something exciting that would be beneficial to your personal growth and then let things happen, something will probably come up anyways.

Anyone who knows me understands that I love tradition. I adore the history behind events, organizations, cultures and people in general. These are the foundational elements that build our everyday society. What traditions have influence on your life? Is it the school that you attend or graduated from? Are you a member of a club or social/service group? Or do you just have a long cherished family lineage? Either of these fall into the same category of continued tradition. I know for myself, each day I start with a reflection of all the things that the Lord has done for me and I know it leads my path to what I endure as the time progresses. This is a tradition for me per say.

As I examine fashion, style, music and television it's amazing to me how different things are compared to decades ago. The type of programs that are on various networks, the songs that are on the radio and of course you already know how intense the internet life is. It seems like everything is so accessible nowadays...but do we really reach out to see what else is out there in the world? I know that I have trouble doing that a lot because we all tend to get complacent in our individual territories. See my typical day will include ESPN, The History Channel, Centric, facebook, YouTube and all forms of music. I guess it's safe to say that these are my daily necessities.

I like to believe that everything in the world is pretty accessible. It depends on the approach, who all is involved and of course the timing to determine how the outcome will be. We as humans, tend to base opportunity off of our personal experiences rather than acknowledging the moment. Like today, I have been calling several service lines, only to be welcomed by bad attitudes and unanswered questions. Most people would respond according to how a reaction was received...please understand this will probably only result in more drama and you still being at point A, versus making progress. We have to learn to remove our personal issues from various encounters with our fellow man. You never know, the person that you are communicating with may be the person that will change your life in a direction that you never imagined.

Why not find ways to explore cultures and different ways of living? Why not go eat somewhere that you have never eaten before? Why not listen to a radio station that you would normally despise of and of course why not interact with people that you assume would have nothing in common with you. I like to reflect on the April 27 tornado disaster in Alabama. I had never really spoken to my neighbor other than the daily "What's up man, how you feeling?" simply because I thought we would not be typical friends. Come to find out, this man plays the violin and cello and had been playing for twelve years before he gave that up to travel to Italy and pursue the culinary arts. Mind you he is currently the kitchen manager at a local Ruby Tuesday. What's significant about that? Ruby Tuesday was my first place of employment. I used to say how ironic coincidences like that used to be, but that was before I REALLY realized that God just works in mysterious ways.

As I always say, you are put in a particular location at a particular time for a particular reason! Embrace that in your everyday life and allow there to be room for variety. When you buy the bulk bag of chips, there is a variety of flavors on the inside. This gives everyone a chance to not only pick there favorite, but have options if one has a different desired taste. In school, our places of employment, churches and neighborhoods we are blessed to be surrounded by so may different personalities, backgrounds and opinions. Love that you can contribute to the make up of our local and international communities. Find where people can help you out and make the effort to uplift others. With variety you create spunk, life and reasons to be enthusiastic. Don't be afraid to try or do new things in life. You may find that your next move was all you need to jump start yourself in the direction that you have be waiting to travel for quite some time. Be nice to the people you communicate with, even if they are ill mannered to you. All that you sow will be reaped. Peace!

-rjhii