It's Never Too Late

It’s Never Too Late

If you think life is passing you by or the parade is over and you’ve missed it, think again.

This post is for those of us who are in the second act of life. You know, in some ways we are just now getting a good start, and we’re perhaps over sixty years of age. How about that!

This quote speaks to me on a lot of levels.

It’s never too late 

to be who you might have been.

I’ve written and talked of wanting to be a writer for over forty years. Oh, I wrote a lot of stuff earlier in life:

   Checks
   To-Do lists

   Grocery lists 

   Christmas wish lists 

   Assignments for work

I even wrote a few serious pieces – like my first published article at age 29. I was paid $22 for that epic work. Later, I had a series of articles published in a now-defunct magazine called “Bookstore Journal”. I wrote video scripts, marketing copy, commercials and a whole passel of other writing projects but never felt qualified about calling myself a writer until after publishing my first book – The Letters.

That book was published when I was sixty-three. At last, I could call myself a writer. And the writing continues.

My friend Paulette Woods is in her eighties, and she just published a new book – I See You There. It’s good and insightful, and I’m going to borrow a few ideas in the days ahead for my own blogs, and she knows this.

In Texas I knew a man in my Toastmaster’s Club who was seventy-six and he was learning to play the flute. A lady in that club was eighty-two and was taking sky-diving lessons. Heavens to Betsy – what was she thinking?

I’ll tell you what she was thinking. She didn’t want her life to pass her by without attempting some of the dreams she had held onto for a very long time. She realized that the parade was not out of sight, and she could still catch up and play her part.

The one regret of people in nursing homes that is repeated time and again is this.

I Wish I Would

Have Taken More Chances

Our opening quote bears repeating.

"It’s never too late 

to be who you might have been."

I once was a broad-jumper in track-and-field events. I can’t do that anymore.
I once ran the 50-yard-dash.
I loved biking all over Albuquerque. I can’t anymore without the help of an e-Bike.

But look at what I can still do. And look at what you are still able to do.

In these days, LA Fitness has become one of my places to go to for exercise. I’m not the most muscle-bound participant there. On some days, I turn in a disappointing session. I fatigue quickly. My muscles just won’t make another turn of the bike pedals, and yet I go. I go because I see subtle differences in the little bit that I do. My strength is returning, I’m feeling better, sleeping better, breathing better. I had the privilege of telling two of my doctors recently that I felt better than I’ve felt in seven or eight years.

They were amazed.

The meds are still a part of my daily routine. Protein is still a vital element in my diet.

I’m not a spring chicken anymore, but I am a wiser and more mature and healthier version of myself because I have a goal and dream of who I want to be and I’m moving at my own pace in the direction of those goals and dreams.

Here’s a funny incident. Just yesterday Carolyn and I were in our favorite bookstore in Fairhaven, Washington. I was doing my usual browsing when a seven-year-old boy come up to me and said, “Do you want to arm-wrestle.”

What boldness. 

What brashness. 

What spunk. 

What guts.

What an unusual young man.

I politely declined. Frankly I didn’t want to be embarrassed because he just might have won that arm-wrestling match. He went on to say, “I just beat my friend Charlie in arm- wrestling.” I mumbled politeness and we went our own way.

A huge part of this philosophy of “It’s Never Too Late” is the ability to know our limits, for there are limits in what we can do.

I don’t subscribe to the philosophy of “You can do anything you believe you can.” I will never be a ballet dancer. I don’t want to be one. I don’t desire to be one, and even if someone convinced me I could become one, it ain’t gonna happen.

But look at what I can do.

Here’s the thing.
It’s never too late to be who you might have been.

P Michael Biggs

Hope Encouragement Inspiration

Who Are You Becomming?

 Who Are You Becoming?

See this picture quote?

I know for sure what we 

dwell on is who we become

I happen to believe this. I’m living proof – past and present.

I talked of being a writer for over thirty years. And that is pretty much all it was – talk. Oh, I published my first article at age 28 and got paid $22 for it. But I didn’t buy into me being a writer.

Later, in other jobs, I wrote a lot of stuff – video scripts, marketing brochures, you know the drill, and yet never adopted the label ‘writer’.

Ah, but in 2009 I started taking my writing urge seriously and began my first blog. Even then, the fear of not having enough content to sustain a weekly blog plagued me. Mystery of mysteries, I kept finding subjects that needed my touch, my perspective. And now, fourteen years later I own six blog sites.

And ... I have published five books. After publishing my first book, I finally found the courage to call myself a ‘writer’.

In my earlier adult life, I attracted images of myself that were less than esteeming. As time wore on, I’m afraid I dwelt on those negative, harsh words and phrases that others had attached to me, and I began believing some of them.

The worst of all was this ... “You’re an accident looking for a place to happen.”

I’m glad many of you didn’t know me in those days. Even though those words were spoken to me almost fifty years ago, I believed a bit of that idea, and thus it affected my self-esteem, self-worth, self-confidence, and my ability to perform on a consistent basis in life.

You see, the principle of “Whatever a man thinks in his heart (mind, soul and inner being), so is he” was at play, only I was tuned into the negative images and words. Wise sages, ancient philosophers, and men and women of learning have taught us for years about the importance of good and wholesome thoughts and how we should direct our attention to those ideals and lay off the negative, put-down language that tends to run free-will though our minds in constant stream mode.

This is a hard lesson to grasp. And those negative thoughts and ideas that we allow to live rent-free in our minds are hard to corral sometimes.

But corral them we must! We must take charge of our minds when in neutral, or when discouraged, or disappointed, or after a major loss of some kind.

It is a conditioning of the mind of which I speak. WE are the masters of our own minds. Others may say those awful words of hurt, however, we are the door keeper of our own minds. WE decide if we will allow them to run free or do we arrest them sooner than soon?

There are many excellent words and phrases that disciplined people find useful. Here are some of them.

I can.
I will.
I like myself.
I approve of myself.
I am capable.
I am better than that.
I may be down but I’m not out.
If I fall seven times, I’ll stand up eight.

What are you listening to in your mind?
Can you see the importance of changing those loop-to-loop soundtracks to different, more positive words and phrases?

I so strongly believe in the power of words that my company name is Up-Words. I say – I will speak Up-Words to every person I meet. I will look for the good in others and compliment those good traits on every occasion in which I am able.

I remember a story Dale Carnegie wrote in his book "How to Win Friends and Influence People."
One day he walked by a man standing outside his office building. The gentleman was holding a sign begging for a handout of any kind.

Rather than give the man money, Mr. Carnegie looked him over and finally commented, “My goodness. You surely have tied your shoelaces nice and neat."

Mr. Carnegie thought no more of that incident.

The next morning Mr. Carnegie's secretary announced that a gentleman was there to see him. Dale showed the gentleman into his office, who was dressed in his Sunday best, wearing a fresh shirt and tie and shined shoes. And his hair was neatly combed and his face cleanly shaved.

The man began. "Perhaps you don't remember me but yesterday I was standing outside your office building begging for money. You walked by, looked me over, and then commented on how nicely my shoelaces were tied. You wouldn't have known this, but I had already decided that I was going to go and throw myself into the river unless I got some kind of sign that somebody somewhere might still care about me."

He continued.

"Your words gave me hope. I reasoned that if I could do that one thing of tying my shoelaces neatly then perhaps, I could still find other things I could do with success. I decided then and there that I would clean up and make something useful of myself. You gave me hope in those few words, Mr. Carnegie. Thank you."

My favorite quote on the power of words.

“Never underestimate the power

of the right words spoken at the right time.”

P Michael Biggs

Offering Hope

Encouragement

Inspiration

One Word at a Time!

How Far Have You Come?

 How Far Have You Come?

We’re all on the road again, aren’t we? Some of us occasionally have flat tires, we lose our transmissions, our motors give out, we run out of gas, we get dented, bruised, and need a paint job. It’s all a part of the journey we are all on.

And if you think I’m writing about an actual road trip, then keep reading.

Here’s the basis for today’s thoughts.

You Didn't Come This 

Far to Only Come

This Far!

I latched onto the parable of the servants in the Bible story who were given differing amounts of talent.

You know this, perhaps.

One was given 5 talents. He turned those into 10 talents.
One was given 2 talents. He turned those into 4 talent.
One was given 1 talent. He buried his in the ground and it was lost. No growth, no production, no future possibilities.

The moral of the story is to take what you have been dealt and make the best use of it and multiply its value.

Expand your enterprise. Grow.
Become more.
Do more with what you have.

Of course, setbacks will happen. We will get knocked off the horse a time or two. Surgeries will pop up. Illnesses will happen. And twenty or thirty other hurdles will pop up on our path.

And we keep going anyway.

We keep moving. We keep taking our pills. We keep going to the gym. We keep eating better. We keep listening to great information. We keep reading superb books.

WE GET BETTER.

The quote above challenges me.

"I didn’t come this far to come this far!"

Heck no!

There are times when issues arise, medical circumstances happen, job losses slap us down, and perhaps we think “Well, I’ve come a long way. Maybe this is where I get off.”

I don’t think so.

If you have a measure of talent, if you care, if you dream, if you have a goal and a mission in life, then you go a bit further. You reach back for a bit more strength, a bit more creativity, and a bit more will to do something more.

~Oh, we may move slower than before the attack happened.
~We may not be able to do the broad jump anymore.
~We may not sing a high C again.
~We may get our sticks tangled up and drop one or both occasionally, but we play and sing and move at whatever pace we can NOW move and play and sing.

If you can no longer speak, write.
If you can no longer sing, hum, or teach, or enjoy the music.

We find ways to continue using our talents and gifts.

I still want to write the blog heard around the world.
I still want to write more books, and especially finish my novel, for I feel it has redemptive power. (This probably makes no sense to you unless we’ve engaged in conversation about my book. It is still my little secret, and yet someday I will present it to the world.)

I don’t bother counting my talents these days. I just find ways to use them. That is the great joy in life at this age and time.

So, I’ll repeat our premise.

We didn’t come this far to only come this far!

Can you go a little farther?

P MiCHAEL BIGGS

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Our Dark Days Make Us Prove We Are Strong

Our Dark Days Make Us 

Prove We Are Strong 

I once thought I was not a strong person. My self-esteem was almost non- existent, my self-confidence was in hiding, and I suppose my mindset was one of ‘I’ll coast through life and see what happens. After all, I’ll take what comes and I probably deserve what comes.’

Oh my. What a lousy way to approach life. Trouble comes, so do nothing, say nothing, assume you deserve it and that’s that.

No way. I say NO WAY.

I’ve had a few dark days in my years of living. And with the living I’ve done thus far, I can look behind me and see those dark days.

And look what I learned and look how I came out.

You don’t know the inner strength you possess until you really must dig down and use it. Oh, my friend. You have strength inside of you. I hope you believe that. What you must do now is let that strength, that intestinal fortitude rise to the surface and show us that you may be down, but you’re not out.

That bears repeating.

“You may be down, but you’re not out.”

Many of us have experienced divorce, or bankruptcy, job loss, loss of a loved one, horrible surgeries, and the list goes on.

The great news is this ... some of us have found the strength to rise from the ash-heap and make a new start. We’ve found the strength from somewhere within us and pulled ourselves up by the bootstrap. We’ve determined that this too shall pass, and this situation is not going to be the end of us.

It is not the end.
It is not even the beginning of the end.

It, however, could be the beginning of a new beginning. That’s not double- speak. That is what it is – a new beginning. Every beginning has a starting point. Where is yours?

A personal story:
When I went through toe amputation surgery on my left foot three years ago, I had dark days. I wondered, questioned, and worried over my ability or inability to ever walk at a normal pace. And I thought pain in walking was going to become the norm for me for the rest of my life.

Look at me today. I can walk. I do the treadmill at the gym. I work a 40- hour week. This past summer I discovered I can ride a bicycle again, and the weekly improvements keep on coming.

My first steps after surgery were not a pretty sight. I was in pain with every step. When I came home from the hospital, I was fearful of having to climb eight steps up and then eight steps down into our condo.

I’m way past all that.

Along the way, with Carolyn's help, I found my inner strength, my intestinal fortitude to persevere, to be persistent and to keep doing what I knew needed doing, for I was not going to let a little thing like missing five toes stop me from living a good and full life.

They were dark days. And guess what. They made me prove just how strong I already was.

I found the strength within. How about that.

Now, I’ve used a lot of “I” words to tell my story, and I trust you will forgive me for that. The point is this ... we all have that measure of inner strength. Sometimes, we never see it until the hard places come, the seemingly unsurmountable experiences in life. And when those times do come, we have a choice.

Will we wallow in our self-pity and doomsday mindset? Or will we rise, take up our bed and walk.

Just to be clear, I am a man of faith. I have no doubt that the God of my understanding was by my side through all that I have experienced in life.

And I do know that He will not do for us what we can do for ourselves.

What can you do for yourself? Sometimes we can only do small acts, and those small, somewhat insignificant acts lead to more small acts, and muscles that start firing, and neurons and nerve endings that fire, and mindsets that start changing from a can’t do to a CAN DO!

Dark days are no fun, granted. And look what they teach us.

P Michael Biggs 

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Never A Good Time to Stop

 Never a Good Time to Stop

I don’t want to bore you with my medical history, but I need to use a part of it to illustrate a point.

I had complete toe amputation on my left foot three years ago. Between that surgery (actually four surgeries) and my open-heart surgery 6 years ago my body has taken a beating. Just in the last few months have I rounded a corner and have started to feel better than ever, even before heart surgery.

I’m going to LA Fitness, working on my own and with a personal trainer, and have been doing very well.

I’ve missed working out for the last two week. TWO WEEKS. And I can tell a difference. Climbing steps had been getting a bit more difficult. The simple act of getting out of a chair had become more of a challenge and a few other muscular observations of note. All because I took two weeks off.

Oh, I could rationalize and say I’ve been busy, which I have, or we’ve been out of town, or I’ve been too tired to go for my personal training session, which I missed two weeks in a row.

And I have paid a small price for all of that.

Happily, I returned to the gym today. I was able to pick up where I left off and believe it or not, I can already tell that my body is responding. Rising from a chair has suddenly become easier, and other movings and motions of my body have become easier again.

Can you believe all this? If I want to live a longer life than others with similar medical experiences, then I must keep up with my weekly gym visits, my treadmill walks, my weight machines and all else.

I can never ask, “Can I stop now?” No, not now. Not ever!

Is that a depressing prognosis?

Not on your life. Do you know the euphoric feeling I sense after working out each time? Some of you do. It is like a special kind of drug that is good for you – it’s all good for you.

I felt that way this morning. I’ve felt it before.
And I will continue to feel it every time I pay the price and go to the gym.

Even when I’m ninety-two, which is a long way off, I’ll be doing something in the way of physical activity, for I like the differences I feel in my body.

I wonder where else in life I can apply this idea? And I wonder about this for you, my loyal and faithful readers. When you reach 75 might be considered by some a good place to stop. Probably not. Perhaps curb your activity some but never stop.

I’m already curbing some activities. The weights are a bit lighter than twenty years ago. Some of my personal trainer activities must be modified specifically for me, and Monica, my trainer, is perfectly okay with that.

Changes happen. Adjustments must be made. Stopping because I’m too old or too weak? Not today.

Take a break occasionally if you must.

That’s called sharpening the saw, thanks to Stephen Covey

But keep doing something, some level of activity as you can.

     Your body will thank you. 

          Your heart will thank you. 

               Your family will thank you. 

                    Your mind will thank you.

And you just might find time to write about your own experience sometime and let us all hear of your health successes at your ripe and good age, whatever age that may be.

P Michael Biggs 

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

You Can Bounce and Not Break

 You Can Bounce and Not Break

It’s such a simple thought, isn’t it? It almost doesn’t need to be written on, and yet we need to remember this great concept.

Rejection teaches us 

that we can bounce 

and not break!

I love that idea.
I know this to be true. And you do too.

Everybody gets rejected.
Everybody loses out at some point. 

Everybody gets defeated sometimes.

Ever been divorced?
Ever been in bankruptcy? 

Ever had open-heart surgery?

Ever had an amputation?
Ever lost in love?
Ever had a foreclosure or a repossession?

Here’s the thing.

All the bad stuff I mentioned above, and there is a lot more that could be added to this list, all of that stuff is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it could, perhaps, be the beginning for a different take on life or on any of those circumstances listed.

WE CAN BOUNCE AND NOT BREAK!!!

We should take out an ad in every newspaper in the world, yes – the world, and proclaim this from every mountaintop.

This I’ve said in many blogs, and yet it needs saying again and again.

Failure Is Not Final!

~We walk away from failure, (or hardship or sickness or defeat.) ~We overcome failure, (or hardship or sickness or defeat.)
~We bounce back from failure, (or hardship or sickness or defeat.) 

~We learn from failure, (or hardship or sickness or defeat.)

Failure is not the end. Oh no. It is a teacher. It is a hard lesson in life that we take to heart.

Yes, we must grieve our failures. We must take time to process, and reflect, and wonder and ponder and do all that other stuff a smart person does after a failure.

And then we move on. WE MOVE ON!

Is your mindset that of an overcomer? Do you want to bounce, or do you want to break into thousands of tiny pieces?

I say – Let’s Bounce.

Rebuild.
Reinvent yourself, your dream, your one thing that is always on your mind.

Do you remember what Muhammad Ali once said? 

You don’t lose if you get knocked down.

You lose if you stay down.

P Michael Biggs 

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Can Dark Days Make Us Strong?

 Can Dark Days Make Us Strong?

Have you had dark days recently? Life sometimes has a way of upsetting the apple cart, as we used to say.

Ponder this quote. What does it whisper to you considering your dark days?

“My dark days made me strong. 

Or maybe I already was strong, 

and they made me prove it.” 

~Emery Lord

At this point in life, I’m finding strength and persistence that I never knew I had.

I’m six years past my triple-bypass heart surgery and doing quite well. My blood pressure is in good ranges, I see my cardiologist regularly and he gives me good marks all around.

Over Thanksgiving I began frequent trips to the gym again, and I’m loving it. Remember I had all my toes on the left foot amputated 3 years ago. You would never know of the amputation to watch me walk now.

Dark days haven’t slowed me down. The quote for this blog IS true.

I hope you are proving some things to yourself now that might have been a bygone way of living.

P Michael Biggs 

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Anything Can Be

 

Anything Can Be

Shel Silverstein just rings my bell sometimes. In his whimsical, often silly ways, he brings home a truth that is simple and astounding. Such as this one.

“Listen to the musin’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. 

Listen to the shouldn’ts 

The impossibles, the won’ts. 

Listen to the never haves, Then listen close to me ... 

Anything can happen, Child. Anything can be.”

For years, too many to count, I was told I shouldn’t buy a circular saw. They said, “Why, you’ll cut your foot off.” I bought one, used it successfully for a bunch of years, and never cut off my foot. The fact is, I discovered a real love for woodworking and still have a bookcase that I made in the ninth grade.

Once, I was told while looking at a reel-to-reel tape recorder to “Leave that thing alone, boy. You don’t know nothing about machinery.”  

I owned two different reel-to-reel machines, learned to operate a dozen other recording-type machines, and now produce my own podcast using a Mac Air and iMovie. I learned you see.

What do you want to be? It could happen, you know. If you have the aptitude for it, and the desire, and a will to learn. “Anything can be”, as Shel Silverstein said.

There is one thing, though, that I’ll never be. I’ll never be a ballet dancer. First – I don’t want to be one, and second, I don’t have the physical body size and muscle strength to become a ballet dancer.

But look at what I do want to do. I want to keep writing encouraging and hope-filled blogs and books and continue producing my podcasts along the same lines. I have been doing that, and I have a strong desire to do that, and it appears I have some skill in doing those crafts.

Want to know what the best part of all of these wants and desires that reside inside each of us? We don’t need a permit. We don’t need a license in most cases. We just do it.

This short line from The Treasure of Sierra Madre speaks my point very well.

“Badges? We don’t need no stinkin’ badges.”

You don’t have to wait for the phone to ring, the talent agent to call, or for your invitation to arrive in the mail. You just “screw your courage to the sticking place” (thank you Beauty and the Beast) and do it.

YOU DON’T NEED A PERMIT!

Some unknown person said this:

Do not wait for the perfect time and place

to enter, for you are already onstage.”

Find your spot and belt out your lines. We’ll listen, and perhaps applaud, and buy your books or music or widget.

Be courageous. Do the hard thing – that of taking the first step toward your dream. The rest will follow.

Morning Notes

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

The Hardest Sale Ever Made

The Hardest Sale Ever Made

I am uncertain as to who said this originally, however, it makes a great blog thought.  Here goes:

The hardest sale you'll ever make

is to yourself.  But once

you're convinced you

can do it, you can.

It comes down to the old adage, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”

Of what are you convinced?  What is your dream, your goal, your chief aim in life?

Are you convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can, indeed, pull it together?

Sell yourself first, then sell the world.

That is all I have to say on his topic for tonight.

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration