You Might Be a Leader If ...

You Might Be a Leader If …

You value the worth of every person you meet.

You believe in the untapped potential of those around you.

You value integrity over being right or successful

You Might Be a Leader If …

You demonstrate honesty when no one is looking.

You seek the good of all the people over the benefits to a few

You know your rights end at the end of your nose

You Might Be a Leader If …

You know when to say “Yes”

You know when to say “No”

You know when to praise

You Might Be a Leader If …

You know when to gently correct a behavior

You know what to pack when in pursuit of a dream

You learn from yesterday’s failures

You Might Be a Leader If …

You never stop questioning

You know you’ll miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. 

Wayne Gretzky

You Might Be a Leader If …

Your actions inspire others to dream more,

Your actions inspire others to learn more,

Your actions inspire others to do more,

Your actions inspire others to become more.

John Quincy Adams

You Might Be a Leader If …

When you are going through hell, you keep going.

Winston Churchill

You do one thing every day that scares you. 

Eleanor Roosevelt

You don’t count the days, but you make the days count. 

Muhammad Ali

You Might Be a Leader If …

You know that it is never too late to be what you might have been. 

George Eliot

You try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud. 

Maya Angelou

As you look ahead into the next century, you understand that leaders will be those who empower others.  

Bill Gates

You Might Be a Leader If …

You become a true version of yourself.  Everyone else is already taken.

Oscar Wilde

You know that in the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity. 

Albert Einstein

You know that it takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. 

Warren Buffett

You Might Be a Leader If …

You don’t let the fear of striking out hold you back. 

Babe Ruth

You know it is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. 

J K Rowling Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

You know that whether you think you can or your think you can’t, you are right. 

Henry Ford

You understand this … “In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life:  It goes on.”  

Robert Frost

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

A New Meaning for Stupid

Being called “stupid” is, perhaps, one of the most demeaning put-downs one could hear.  Nobody who is anybody wants to be “stupid”. 

I surely don’t, and neither do you.

In our world today, the word “stupid” implies:

Unintelligent

 Dim

  Thick

   Dense

    Slow

     Dull

      Brainless

       Dim-witted

        Obtuse

However …

Could we consider a new slant on this word for a moment?

What if “stupid” simply means “I don’t know it yet?”

It could mean, to a musician, “I’m not stupid.  I just need to practice more.”

I’m now a banker.  There have been times when I have felt oh so “stupid”.  The questions stumped me. 

The policies escaped my grasp.  

The cash box just wouldn't balance.

The computer programs were in some foreign language I hadn't mastered.

I am a less-stupid banker now.  I am learning.

Carolyn’s piano students are showing signs of being less-stupid because they are practicing and gaining new skills every week.

See my point?  Stupid just means we don’t know a thing yet.

So, to get out of the “stupid pit”, here is what we do.

We read, study, learn, grow, and become better.  We gain knowledge and skill and sooner than soon we leave stupid behind and become a real, functioning individual in our current adventure.

Now don’t we all feel a bit better?  We’re not as stupid as we first thought.  We just needed to learn and practice and get better.

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

The Next Person You Meet

Today, as you go about your life, keep this in mind as you interact with people.

Someone who crosses your path simply wants a connection.  They want to be validated.  They want to know that somewhere on this planet is another human being who just might care enough to listen for one brief moment.

~Maybe they just woke up and haven’t had their morning coffee yet.

~Perhaps they just came from a dreaded doctor’s appointment and received a disturbing word.

~What if they just received some devastating news about a loved one who is in serious jeopardy?

Can you be a shade tree under which they might sit for a spell?

Can you offer them a cool cup of comfort for one brief moment?

Can your presence, in that moment, be a healing balm?

Perhaps it can.

Perhaps.

Everyone is fighting some kind of battle.  We all face those difficult moments when the next few steps or next few days seem impossible to handle.

At those precise moments is when we do our best work as a compassionate and loving human being reaching out to another with words and love that give life.

John Kennedy’s words offer some help and insight here.

“For in the final analysis, our most basic common

link is that we all inhabit this same planet.  We all breathe the same air.  We all cherish our children’s future.  And we are all mortal.”

We are human.  We exist together on this sphere. 

How can I be a consoling presence in somebody’s life today?

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

What Gives You Hope

I remember a fall from a 25-foot tower and a near miss that could have been deadly.  I have hope.

I remember my brother trying to fix my broken arm at age nine.  My arm still works.

I reflect on an empty tomb.  This gives me hope.

I hold Carolyn’s hand.  Her love gives me hope for a love that endures.

Our grand-kids come for a visit.  I love resting my eyes on them and thinking about their future with hope.

I get a note of encouragement about my writing.  Hope swells within.

I hear a stunning musical piece.  It fills my soul.

I watch an exceptionally great drummer.  I smile and remember.

I remember how a bad experience turned good.  Hope flourishes.

I read a life-changing book.  I am inspired to write more.

I read Jeremiah 29:11.  That fills me with great hope.

I sing “It Is Well”.  I am filled with great grace and praise.

I share a meaningful conversation with a close friend.  I leave feeling blessed with that kind of close friend.

I listen to a great word of encouragement from a minister or effective speaker.  I am inspired.

I remember an influential person who guided my younger years.  May I do the same.

I receive a phone call from one of my siblings.  I hang up and am thankful for a lifetime of family memories.

I laugh with a friend over a pecan pie eaten in secret at work.  I laugh out loud and have hope for a continued friendship.

My Sunday school class actually listens and participates.  My heart soars with hope.

I have an amazing God-moment in reflective privacy.  My heart is filled with peace.

What gives you hope?

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Try Try By All Means Try

The regret of never having attempted a dream is one of the great regrets of life.  Ten years ago, a group of elderly residents in a care facility were asked, individually:  “What are your regrets?  If you could live your life over, what would you do differently?”

The answer … I wish I would have taken more chances.

That screams at me – and I hope at you also. 

We will never know the outcome, or what we can do, or where “IT” is hiding unless we take a chance and go for it once in a while. 

Yes, you might get rejected.

You may fail.

You may not come in first.

You may not even finish the race or the course or the program or the curriculum.  But you tried!  YOU TRIED!

You might even find that the end of the road is not where and what you wanted after all, but you tried.  Look at what you learned.

Seth Godin used this in his latest book:  “‘Will I get in’ is not nearly as good a question as, ‘It it worth trying?’” 

Try!  Try!  By all means try.

Go.  Do.  Become.  Strive.  See what lies on the other side.

And if your fall short – look at what you know.  Look at how the experience has changed you, improved you.

What we’re talking about here is this … make the leap!

Leap.

I once sought fame as the world’s greatest choral and orchestral conductor.  That carried me for twenty years or more.

And then I set my sights on being a mammoth business guru.  I learned, and am still learning, a ton from that one.

I had a vision of being a real estate success.  That lasted three years, thanks to bad timing and short funds.  But the experience has been valuable.

For thirty years I talked of being a writer.  I dabbled in it along the way and still dreamed about writing.  One fine fall day in October 2009 I was challenged to get serious about writing and start blogging, just to see if I had the stamina.  You see, I needed to prove to myself, and then the world, that I had something to say and I could sustain it. 

It worked.  Today, I have six blog sites, have published four books, and still write every day of my life. 

See the thread that is weaving through this post?

We don’t know what we can accomplish until we start.  It’s okay to make a bunch of starts.  Nobody cares, really. 

I do believe you will uncover your niche, your calling, if you knock on enough doors, turn over enough stones, or whatever metaphor you choose to use.

My advice …

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Where Do Small Steps Lead

I've watched three of our grand kids learn to walk.  You know the drill – the first steps are halting and uncertain.  And look at them today.  They all run and jump, skip and lead a full and active life.  Just last week I played Grey in some one-on-one soccer.  I remember his first steps.  He won our soccer game, by the way.

I started a new routine at LA Fitness a few weeks ago.  Now, 5 or 6 weeks later, I can run longer distances, the tightness in my leg muscles is lessening and I’m doing more.

I started taking Yoga about 2 months ago.  I have more flexibility, a stronger core and a general feeling of well-being after only a few weeks.  I can’t do all the poses and positions my instructor asks of us, but I do what I can, for as long as I can. 

Got the picture?

Small beginnings lead us places.

 It’s true for real estate agents, singers, speakers, writers, bankers, teachers, and mothers of new born babies, flight attendants and any other area of life you might consider. 

Small steps lead to slightly larger steps, and those lead to running marathons and winning races, improved circulation, lower blood pressure, giant companies and massive empires.

This just in … Starbucks started small and then grew.

~Einstein had to learn his times tables.

~Bill Gates got his start in designing tic-tac-toe games for computers, and after he and Paul Allen, founders of Microsoft, teamed up, they eventually graduated to the Altair 8800 mini-computer kit.  The impressive Microsoft Company came later, and its roots rested in those early days of their experimenting with computers and simple games.

Whatever your dreams are today, begin making those small first steps toward them. 

Small Beginnings Lead Us Places.

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Creating God

In my twenties and thirties, my image of God looked very much like that of most other conservative Christian young men with whom I associated.  We gave him the mindset of a stern, mostly mad God, one who was ready to zap us for the first miss-step or wrong thought or deed.

He was not a smiling God.  He never laughed.  He never even chortled.  His voice was booming, and would rattle the dishes in every house within our town if He got too upset with us. 

How have you created God?

We viewed people from other churches as suspect.  Their God couldn't be nearly as great as our God; after all, our God was THE one true God.

As time has passed, my concept of God has changed, thankfully.  He is a more ecumenical God.  I've even allowed God to love some of those we once thought lesser of.  You know the type – the down-n-out crowd, the street people - even drunks and addicts, and others, who have chosen paths far different from the ones I've chosen. 

Can God really love a prostitute, a gay/lesbian?  How about a Muslim or a Buddhist?  And don’t get me started on Catholics. 

How have you created God?

I ran across this quote recently.  It is a telling declaration on our ability to fashion God in our own image.

“You can tell you've created God

in your own image when He

hates the same people you do.”

(At the moment I don’t know who gave us this quote, but it rings true.)

How have you created God?  With what character traits have you lauded him?  With what limits have you shackled him?

I’ll close with this.

OUCH!

Sort of reminds me of this:

“God so loved the whole world

that He gave Jesus Christ, His son …”

(John 3:16)

The WHOLE world.

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time