So...What Now?

So, what now? Is that a question you ask yourself often? I guess I have had that experience in the past few days or weeks. Last week, I had a complicated ear surgery, which the outcome is still in doubt. Will I hear again in my ear? Will I look different with my ear sewn on? So..what now?

Well, when I take a moment to reflect, the answer is clear. You just get up and move onward. Life deals all of us with a lot of challenges. Big and small and everything in between comes at us each day. Many challenges we just take on without thinking about, while others are so large as to weigh us down and push us over. 

The secret to moving on is to look for every possible opportunity within the challenge. Think about it. If someone has been told they a have life-threatening disease, the challenge is immense, yet they can look at the opportunities to connect deeper with family, take on something they thought they could never do, or embark on a spiritual journey. The opportunities are really endless. For me, well...so what if I look a little different, I can embrace my new-found look, laugh about it and know that it helps make me even more unique than I am. As for my hearing, well, I can always hear from one side, and I can always take the opportunity to see what technology is available to give me more hearing ability with what I have. Point is that nothing is lost, and all can be gained. How about that I can use the challenge to refocus my senses and talents on my other senses, visual and creative. I can move away from self-doubt and move into self-discovery. How exciting is that!!

Late today, an amazing friend of mine, Jim Bowers, sent me the following message that is timely and relevant in so many ways. Jim and I are artists, creators. He is also a dreamer, inspirational and authentic. We are both "perfectly imperfect", as he says. Here's what he had to say:

“Every single human being on this planet (NO EXCEPTIONS) has something BRILLIANT to offer mankind, whether they know it, believe it, or not. It may be obvious, or it may be hidden, deep within an insecurity. Self-doubt renders that BRILLIANT YOU undiscovered, unrecognized, and unappreciated. 

Given time, trust, and commitment, I WILL discover, reveal and then include that uniquely BRILLIANT contribution as an equally integral part of my/our Art. 

Above all else, this is what brings me true joy and my greatest sense of genuine accomplishment.” 

- Jim Bowers, Artist

These are words to live by. So, look at the brilliant YOU and discover your own Art, and say, "What now?"  I think you'll know the answer!!!

Comments please!!

A Thought Of Colors and Words and Life

 Here is another poem of mine. This one was written as I thought of how people see me, and I see them...and how we all see each other. Think about yourself and the colors of our world...and the beauty within.

Paint Me With Words

Paint me with words

What colors will you see

How about bright yellow

Shining just like the sun

Maybe a bit of cool blue

Is that for the mood I'm in

Or orange bold and forceful

A color full of my energy.

Paint me with words

What colors do you see

Did you consider clean white

Pure and simple and bright

There's green like new life

Renewal and rebirth seep out

Or pure red flowing and warm

The love and hope in my heart.

Paint me with words

What colors do I see

As I look outward at you

Funny how I don't see 

Any colors at all now

Black and white and in between

Blend all together into one

Beauty in all and everything.

Paint me with words

What colors do we see

Should we see any at all

Paint me with words

Laughter and tears

Smiles and fears

What colors do I see

I see them all and more

Painting words of love

Painting words of life.

    "Paint Me With Words"  Larry Eiring, Copyright, 2018

So, think about it! What colors do YOU see? I'd enjoy your comments!!! Let's discuss!

A Poem For The Journey

In the years 2012 through 2018, I was wonderfully moved to create several poems/songs that reflected my life and my feelings. Last week, I was thinking that here would be a good place to brings several of these to you in the hope that maybe my words can help you reflect and find hope and value in your life. So, over the next few weeks, I'm going to post these and will welcome your comments!!

The Journey Is Life

The journey is life
Without the journey
There is no beginning and no end

There is no birth and no death

There are no ups and no downs.

Without the journey 

There is no sun and no rain

There is no joy and no sorrow

There are no failures and no successes.

Without the journey

There is no here and no there

There is no light and no dark

There are no challenges and no opportunities.

Without the journey

There is no hope.

Without the journey

There is no you and no me.

The journey is all we have

The journey is us

The journey is life.

  -- "The Journey is Life" Copyright Larry Eiring, 2017 

Yes, our lives are a journey. But what a wonderful journey it can be if we only look at the value within ourselves and in the journey itself!!

Enjoy!

                         

Yesterday? That's so yesterday!!

Today, I was reminded of something that I learned a few years ago. I had someone say to me today that they wish they could go back and fix all of the stupid things they did, and maybe they would not have ended up in the situation they are in now. Really!!?? We can wish all we want. We can lament what we did or didn't do. We can say and think all of the "should haves, would haves, could haves" we want. But there is a reality: It's simple really. No matter how hard we try, we can't relive or redo what happened in the past. So why spend time and energy dwelling on it? What will spending all of that energy get us? Nothing but more aggravation and self-doubt. In fact, when we spend time lamenting our yesterday, we are giving away our own value. And that ends up causing us to spend even more negative energy...or worse. So how about this: Think about today. Think about the good, positive things you can do today, right now. Think about how wonderful your life is now. What?!? You say it's not wonderful? Think about this...you are alive. You have opportunities to be who you want to be. Take the time, even a few minutes to lift yourself up. Smile at yourself. Laugh at your own silliness (I do that every day!). Remember that no matter what, you have today. Make it your day. And...in this today, you will have tomorrow. So, stop dwelling on yesterday and start celebrating today. After all, as my leadership mentor John C. Maxwell says....today matters!!! In fact, it's all we really have.

What do you think? We've all been there. Share your thoughts and how you deal with "yesterday"! 

So....What is the VALUE in you? BTW...Happy Holidays!

 Well, here we are. It's Christmas 2022. Do you feel like you are of value? Do you wonder if anyone cares? Well, first of all, YOU should care. Yes, no matter what you think - you are valuable. I remember ten years ago. Yes, that's right in 2012...I felt like no one cared. But the reality is that I didn't care about myself. Wow...how three-O stupid that was, huh? So, I want everyone to know this.... YOU are valuable. YOU are loved, by someone. And maybe that someone is YOU!! I don't care if you think this is BS, look deep inside of yourself. You KNOW you are worth something. I have worked with a lot of people...and when pressed, they DO find value in themselves. And so will you. Let's walk on this journey together. I promise you; you will find your own value...and a life of hope and dignity!!! Enjoy! 2023 will be OUR year!!

It's Been A Long Time

 Hello!! Yes, it's been a very long time since I have been here. Well, I am back. And...I am better than ever. In fact, I have found the value inside of myself that was there all along. What? You are looking for your value too? Imagine that!! Over the last ten years, I have met so many people who thought they were not of value...to themselves, or anyone else. I thought that about myself, but you know what? I was wrong. And so were they. I found that if I figured out the "whys" in my life, I could...with a lot of willingness and determination, find out the value I have inside of myself. In doing so, I became transformed, evolved really, into the person I am today - valuable, honest, authentic, comfortable, and hopeful. You can get to this too!  In 2018, I developed a program called "A Value Driven Life." In summary, it's a mental wellness, self-help program that helps you figure out the "why's" in your life, so you can build a life of value - a true value-driven life of dignity, respect and hope.

Now that I'm back, I want to share this program, and so much more with everyone. So...hang with me, be patient and come along on an exciting journey of self-discovery, self-evolution, and hope!!

Giving and Taking - It’s All about Balance

I’ve been told over and over that I’m a “giver” in my life. That’s probably true. I love to give of myself, give to others and donate to causes I believe passionately about. But I also enjoy giving to those I love and care about too. In that is the issue. I’ve always given so much, without asking for anything in return, that I end up getting disappointed and hurt. The cause of this discord is that unconscious and unrealistic expectations are created. Our human nature causes us to think that “if you give, you shall also receive”, but the reality is that this almost never occurs. So many of us, myself included who are givers end up waiting for a return that doesn’t equal what we give out. We become disillusioned, disappointed and discouraged. If we let this go on long enough, we become hurt and unhappy with ourselves, even to the point that we feel that the problem is with “me”. At its worse, this spiraling downward and inward ends up becoming self-destructive to the point that we stop giving to the most important person who matters – ourselves.

To begin mastering the art of self-evolution, we (and I) need to take a step back and look at reality. The reality is that a happy, healthy life is all about balance. As a “giver”, we need to know that some people are truly “takers” and will take from us all we have if we let them. It becomes our own choice to let that happen or not. To evolve, we as givers who are seeking and needing balance need to seek out others who are also seeking and needing balance. We then need to open up a questioning dialogue between ourselves and listen to each other. We need to reach a point where we seek mutual understanding about what we need to give and what we need to take. In essence, each of us needs to find a proper balance. Finding this balance is not always easy or comfortable, but it will help each of us grow and evolve. In the end, happiness and contentment can and will come from achieving this simple balance between giving and taking in our lives, but only if we open up to it. 

Don't Change - Self-Evolve!

How many times in your life have you been told you should ‘change’ something or another about you? Maybe it was the way you act or the way you work that you were told to change. Or maybe it was even the way you think that you should ‘change.’  Do you remember your reaction to this outside encroachment on your personal being? Did it make you change or did it make you merely alter the next action and your reaction to it? In the end, did anything really ‘change’ about you? I would bet it didn’t. But if you had approached the situation as an opportunity to review and alter your process of reacting, you would have opened the door to “self-evolution.”

Henry Ford once said, “One who fears failure limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again.” We should all see our failures, no matter how small or how large, as the challenges of life from which we can turn into great opportunities. The key to doing this lies in our ability to recognize every challenge, every failure, indeed every interaction in life as an opportunity for us to evolve our way of thinking, our way of acting and our way of being.  It is a natural human tendency to question everything. We do it every minute of every day with everything we see, hear, smell, touch and think. The answers we derive from these questions then direct how we react. We question the actions that come from our reactions and the cycle starts again.

Like you, I have encountered great challenges on the journey of my life. I question what is happening and then react. When my questioning has been focused on everything except the reasons why I let the challenge affect me directly, I ended up reacting in such a way that the challenge reappeared, often with dire consequences. In those instances, I had failed to question fully and failed to learn from the challenge. However, when I questioned much more deeply and focused on why the challenge affected me directly, I ended up questioning my initial actions and reactions. It was in this act of questioning my own way of questioning that I realized what I needed to know.  I stopped becoming a passive and reactive questioner and started becoming an active and proactive questioner of myself. 

None of us likes ‘change’ because it means that we may have to do something or become someone we inherently are not comfortable with. That’s a very natural reaction.  In fact, Morris Massey in his What You Are Is Where You Were When series very correctly shows that by age 21, our values are ‘locked-in’ and become very difficult to change. He goes on to say that only through a ‘significant emotional event’ can we alter our way of thinking and acting. Yet, I believe we can do this every minute of every day. I believe we can ‘self-evolve’ by making every challenge, every failure, every question presented to us as an opportunity to be a better, more content and happy person leading a fulfilling life. That’s what my blog, dedicated to my thoughts surrounding "Mastering the Art of Self-Evolution", is founded upon. This is my opportunity to share my experiences, actions, reactions and questions, both good and bad, to those challenges of life which have caused me to ‘self-evolve’ and ultimately seek out those opportunities which can lead to ultimate personal satisfaction and happiness.

I invite you to join me on this journey and share your own experiences. Let’s question each other and ourselves. In the end, I believe our own personal self-evolutions will collectively help lift the whole of society to a better future.