Are You Thirsty Yet?

Are You Thirsty Yet?

Behold thirst!  It demands to be quenched.  Experts say we can only survive 3-4 days without water.  Some days, it seems I can’t last even a few hours.

For what do you thirst?  You do know we are not just talking about taking a drink here, right?

I had a thirst for thirty or more years to be a writer.  I took sips of writing from time to time but never took a serious drink till in my sixties.  And now, this fount of words still flows very steadily. 

~Bill Gates and Paul Allen had a thirst.  We call it Microsoft.

~The Wright brothers had a thirst … flight.  Look where that lead them, and us.

Thirst is a good thing.  It takes us in search of cures, books that have never been written, corporations than needed starting, new restaurants with tasty new entrees, and small businesses that fit the right niche for the right clientele. 

Are you thirsty yet?

Perhaps it is time to quench that thirst of yours.  You’ve dreamed of it for a long time.  You’ve got visions of your dream, of what, where, when, and how much it will take. 

Now, it’s ‘toe in the water’ time.  As I learned a long time ago…

Plan your work and work your plan.

Go ahead.  Take a long drink.  You may become addicted to your drink of choice.

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Leaders Aren't Always Managers

Leaders Aren’t Always Managers

At first read you may think this is yet another business article.  Then, again, read and find out.

I’ve known managers and I’ve known leaders.  They aren’t always the same.  There was a man in my home church that I admired, once upon a time.  His name was Joe.  I don’t remember how much of an education Joe had, and I don’t think it was even up to high school graduation.  And yet, Joe had an uncommon way of thinking like a practical, smart common-sense man.  My father was the pastor of this church and he often said of Joe, “He has a lot of common sense about him.”

Joe had no title.  He had no authority to speak of.  He just led.  He thought through whatever the issue of discussion might be, and his thoughts and ideas were sound and well-put.

If you are waiting for someone to come along and crown you King, or declare you “The Manager”, then you may have a very long wait.  Start leading.  If you are true and accurate you’ll soon be leading the parade yourself. 

Wherever you are, in whatever role you are playing or position you have inhabited, lead.  We need leaders, good and thoughtful, accurate, grounded-thinking leaders.  We’ve got too many managers.  We need leaders instead.

Now how about that?

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

What Are You Made to Do?

What Are You Made to Do?

Every year at this time, thousands upon thousands of students are graduating and facing their future.  They have their tidy degrees in hand and a head full of knowledge and can now say “I am a graduate.”

The big question they now need to answer is this:

What are you Made to Do?

I can DO lots of things, and I have.  I’ve been highly fulfilled in some of my pursuits and also highly frustrated.  Today, I know what I am made to do.  I am made to encourage mankind.  I do it through writing, speaking and podcasting.

This picture captures my message today.

 There are lots of ventures in life that I could pursue, and I would be highly frustrated in pursuing them.  Ah, but I have found my place in this world, and I think I’m doing lots of it.  And, the world needs what I do. 

People need validation, encouragement, a huge dose of hope.

I can do that.  I want to do that.

I CHOOSE to do that.

What do you choose?

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Keep Throwing Darts

Keep Throwing Darts

Figuring out life is the GREAT challenge for all of us.  And now, at my ripe old age of 71 I have come to this conclusion. 

We keep throwing darts at the dart board.  The goal is to hit the bull’s eye.  I rarely hit the bull’s eye, but I kept throwing.

It took me a while to figure out what my real magnificent obsession in life was.  I’ve chased many obsessions.  To name a few …

~A great minister of music

~A producer of musicals and dramas

~A great drummer

~A stellar business man

~President of a certain publishing company by age 45

~Minister to ministers of music

~Writer of best-sellers in the motivational and self-development vein

~A great encourager

~A great music clinician

~A world-famous orchestral director

Oh, there have been other pursuits along the way.  And where have I ended up?

It hit me one day that in all of my pursuing, in all of the dreams I chased, the one thing I kept coming back to was this … I simply wanted to help people.  I wanted to encourage people. 

I accomplished that in some ways through many of these pursuits, and for that I am grateful.  However, once I settled on my major chief aim in life, my magnificent obsession, I feel I began to make some real progress in my own sense of self-fulfillment and had a sharply defined focus of how I wanted to spend the rest of my life. 

I believe that was the day I quit throwing darts and began focusing on the one talent in my hands and in my heart that mattered most.  I began focusing on ways to benefit mankind, to help and encourage mankind.  I realized that many people I met had a great need for validation, self-esteem, self-confidence and to know that there was at least one other human being in this world who cared for them.

I must confess, it took a lot of dart-throwing to finally narrow my focus, my aim and see the bigger-than-life target for which I had been aiming all along.  I am very thankful I discovered this magnificent obsession.

Now, my friend, I turn to you.  Have you been throwing darts in search of a target, an obsession?  By all means, throw those darts.  Throw as many darts as you can.  Some will stick, some will fall off.  Some will hit dead center and some will miss by a country mile. 

And when that fine day comes, and you finally hit upon that one obsession for which you have been seeking, then stop throwing.  Look closely at what you’ve discovered, and set your cap for a fresh journey toward your life’s purpose.

And become that person you have desired to become.  Move in the direction of your dominant goal and dream.  It matters not your age, now how much money you’ve spent, now where you live, what your dress is, your language nor your favorite food.  The main focus for the rest of your life is this … how can I best serve mankind with this fresh focus of my attention.

That is graduation day, my friend. 

Celebrate!

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Tomorrow Comes Every Day

Tomorrow Comes Every Day

This idea is not rocket science.  It’s a simple fact of life. 

Seth Godin said it. 

Tomorrow comes daily.

But we don’t have to take

the same route to get there."

We are free to choose.  This morning is new and fresh, and I get to make my own choices.  I can eat the same food as yesterday, or branch out.  I can go to work on the same road, or I can take a more scenic route.

Whatever we did yesterday was, perhaps, only for yesterday.  Ah, but what new thoughts might I allow to enter my mind today? 

This is worth considering, today and every day.

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Don't Turn in Your Heart

Don’t Turn in Your Heart

Bill Gaither, noted icon in Gospel Music circles, related this story recently and I grabbed onto it.

Larry Gatlin, another noted singer, song-writer and music icon in Nashville was having a conversation with a young musician friend of his recently.  She had been in Nashville for three years, had become known for her singing voice but her song-writing was yet to be acknowledged, and that was her real passion.  She was ready to pack it in, give up on her dream, and leave Nashville behind.

Larry listened, and asked … “But where are you going to turn in your heart?”

That grabs me somehow.  You see, if we have a strong vision and passion for some achievement, and our hearts have fully embraced that dream and desire, I don’t think that vision ever goes away. 

We may be tempted to give up and walk away, but as Larry asked, “Where are you going to turn in your heart?”

I’ve not found a place that specializes in broken hearts.  There is no re-sale value in them.  The dreams never die. 

I guess that just leaves us with one option.  We keep trying.  We keep singing, writing, building, inventing, practicing.  We keep TRYING.

I have yet to achieve my major goal of writing the blog heard around the world, and yet I keep writing.  I’ve had some good blogs with some large numbers of clicks, and for those clicks I’m thankful.  I’ve been at this now for ten years.  Surely, many would think, in ten years’ time one would have more to show. 

I don’t think that way.  My take … I still have something to say, and I must write, or be a highly frustrated man.  This is an outlet for me, you see.

I hope you don’t ever think about parking your heart and dreams somewhere on a deserted road and then try and walk away.  I believe your heart might just break into.  This I do know.  That dream and passion of yours will always call out to you.  ALWAYS!

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Scratch an Itch or Embrace an Itch

Scratch an Itch or Embrace an Itch

I have a good and sturdy back-scratcher in my drawer, and I use it almost every night before going to bed.  I have learned to manipulate it to hit the itchy spots on my back.  An itch demands to be dealt with.

I’ve had other itches.  I wanted to drum like Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich, so I practiced, studied and listened to their drum licks.

I had the itch to write for over thirty years, yet all I did for much of that time was scratch the itch a few times.  Finally, I decided to embrace that itch.  Now, four books and a whole passel of blogs later, I suppose one could say I am a writer. 

See the point?  We ‘artist types’ ultimately have to embrace the itch, an idea, a proclivity.  We have to recognize the knock of a potential call and open the door to whatever that itch has to offer.

Oh, we may not be very good, at first, but with a bit of effort, and practice who knows what might happen? 

Got an itch?  Perhaps it’s time to embrace it.

(This blog is based on a quote from Seth Godin’s book – What to Do when It’s Your Turn.)

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Your Inner Voice Speaks

Your Inner Voice Speaks

Before he became Randy Travis, Randy was rejected by every major record label in Nashville twice.  Can you imagine that?  He heard more “no’s” than he ever thought a person should hear.

So, what happened in the meantime to turn little-known Randy into Randy Travis, winner of seven Grammy awards, eight Dove awards, and a whole string of other awards and accolades.

Randy believed more in himself than he believed in the naysayers of the music world.  He knew he had the stuff within to become a super star, and he persisted, he honed his craft, he practiced, and practiced some more, until his break came.  He became a super star because he believed in himself.

He didn’t let the “no thanks” and the “we don’t need your type” slow him down. 

He listened to his inner voice that kept saying, “you can do this”, “you have something unique that the world needs to hear”. 

What is your inner voice saying to you about you? 

That is a critical piece of the equation in our search for the top.

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

No Small Life for Me

No Small Life for Me

Poet Mary Oliver says this: “I don’t want to live a small life.”

I think about this quote from time to time, for it troubles me if I let it.  So, what am I doing and what can you do to live into your life in a large way?

I’m seventy-years-old now. I don’t have the physical endurance I had at 50.  I sometimes need to sit down for a few minutes to give my muscles a chance to recover.  Some might say I’m living a small life.

But wait … there’s more. 

I can still think.  I can use my brain power to write and produce podcasts.  My fingers still glide over these computer keys, and I can still make some sense of my thoughts of hope and inspiration. 

I could go into a remorseful state, I suppose, and think some horrible thoughts.

If you want a mechanic, don’t call me.

If you want a house painter, I’m not your man.

If you want a plumber, I’d probably do more damage than good.

So, if you want any if those skills, perhaps you’d say I’m living a small life.

However … catch me in my best stride as a writer.  I think I can still put some words together to encourage you.  That is no small thing, you know.  There seems to be a lot of discouragement in this ‘ole world at the moment.  Maybe we need lives large and in full color who can brighten our daily existence.  

That is a good way to live large, if you ask me. 

What can you do to live a large life?  I’ll not speak for you, but allow your thoughts, your ideas and your gifts to rise to the occasion at hand.

Above all, remember this.  The opposite of small isn’t necessarily large.  Perhaps it is reframing this idea into “living a useful life”.

A USEFUL life.  I like that.

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Ring the Bells that Still Can Ring

Ring the Bells that Still Can Ring

I have a friend named Jim.  You should have seen Jim in his forties.  He was what one might call an up-and–commer.  And now, Jim is 90.  He moves a lot slower, his mind isn’t as sharp as it once was.

Ah, but he can still speak, and write, and pray.  He loves to pray.  Jim is ringing the bell that he can still ring.  How about that!

Leonard Cohen gave us this phrase from one of his songs

Ring the bells that still can ring.

Forget your perfect offering.

There is a crack in everything.

That’s how the light gets in.

~Leonard Cohen

My goodness. That is a profound idea. 

And so, we ring our bells in these days and in these times.

If that is all we can do for now, then that is what we should do, for now!

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

You'll Get There ... Maybe Today

You’ll Get There … Maybe Today

Oh my … the possibilities found in this one simple phrase.  It is full of “what ifs” and “great hopes” and “optimistic outlooks”!

This title speaks of hopes and dreams, of wanna-be goals and good thoughts about our future. 

Are you a dreamer?  Then, perhaps, you’ll arrive, someday, maybe today, on the doorstep of your great ambition. 

Could it be today?

It could be.  Yes indeed. 

I hope you keep dreaming of “Someday I’ll”!

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration