Tomorrow Never Comes
written by Norma Cornett Marek in 1989

If I knew it would be the last time
That I'd see you fall asleep,
I would tuck you in more tightly
and pray the Lord, your soul to keep.

If I knew it would be the last time
that I see you walk out the door,
I would give you a hug and kiss
and call you back for one more.

If I knew it would be the last time
I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise,
 would video tape each action and word,
so I could play them back day after day.

If I knew it would be the last time,
I could spare an extra minute
to stop and say "I love you,"
instead of assuming you would KNOW I do.

If I knew it would be the last time
I would be there to share your day,
Well I'm sure you'll have so many more,
so I can let ...

I was reading an article today by Brian Parsley and I came across the following quote I would like to share:

"Don't try being right every time; work on doing what’s right every time."

Brian was referring to our ability to be humble and learn from situations in our life. He used an example of a manager telling his employee "You are not doing it right." The employee responded with "I have never been taught how to do it right." Both the manager and employee are correct, but they could have accepted humility and overlooked trying to be right. Instead the manager could have offered to teach the employee or the employee could have responded with "Could you please teach me the right way."

There is always a right way and wrong way to respond to situations in our life and trying to work on doing what's right, instead of bein ...

Can one person make a difference in the world? Can one person battle the war on terror with books instead of bloodshed? Can one person change the perception some of the most hostile countries have of the United States? Today I would like to share with you how Greg Mortenson, director of the Central Asia Institute, is changing the world through the use of education. From his failed attempt at K2, and near death, Greg was nursed back to help by locals in a remote Pakistani village. Wanting to show is gratefulness, he promised to return to build a school for the local children. To fulfilling his promise and building the school, and with his overwhelming success as director of the Central Asia Institute, Greg Mortenson has proven that one person can make a difference.

How did Greg Mortenson end up on K2 and ultimately that small Pakistani village?

In 1993 Greg decided to climb K2, the 2nd highest mountain in the world, to honor the death of his younger sister. Afte ...

The Holiday Season means many things to many people. For some it brings happiness and joy as they get together with family and friends and celebrate the holiday and look forward to the New Year. For others the Holiday Season brings heartache, despair, and sadness as they are unable to share happiness and joy with others. As you spend time with your family and friends over the next few weeks I ask you to reach out and help this later group of people. Whether this is through volunteer efforts, monetary means, prayers, or just saying Hi and wishing that mean old neighbor of yours Happy Holidays, each of us needs to do our part to make this the best time of year for everyone around us. In fact, we should be doing this throughout the year and should not need a reason to make a positive impact in the lives of others.

Each of us has a unique ability to make a positive impact in the lives of others and I feel it is our obligation as human beings to assert this ability. Our thoughts and ac ...

My nephew, who turned 21 in August, just completed basic training for the Army. He was home for two weeks and then was sent to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, home of the 101st Airborne Division ("Screaming Eagles"). In all likelihood he will be shipped out to Iraq in December to fight the war on terror. Saying goodbye to him over a week ago was harder than I thought and I couldn't help but think I may never see him again. At the same time I was also very proud of him for charting his own course.

If you knew my nephew you would know that he has had an eventful life and has had to dea ...

A few weeks ago I joined Toastmasters (www.toastmasters.org) as a way to practice and improve my communication and leadership skills. Yesterday I gave my first speech, called the "Ice Breaker", to the group. The "Ice Breaker" is used to introduce myself to the Toastmasters group and let them know more about me. I chose to talk about my purpose, mission, and vision.

Purpose: Help other people reach their dreams and goals.

Mission: Instill discipline, show the value of hard work, respect other people's views and opinions, stay in great physical and mental shape, and support and love my family to the fullest everyday.

Vision: Lead and organization that creates the best people and leaders in the world and uses its profits to create a non-profit organization that teache ...

"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted."
"You cannot change the cards we are dealt only the way we play the hand."
"Don’t complain just work harder."
"Find the best in everybody; no matter how long you have to wait for them to show it."
"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity."

From "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" a lecture by Randy Pausch of Carnegie Mellon.

Randy Pausch, head of Virtual Reality within the Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon, has been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and was told in August 2007 to expect a remaining three to six months of good health. He gave one of the most moving and inspirational speeches I have seen where he talks about his childhood dreams and some of the lessons he has learned in his short life.

I would recommend everyone to view and listen to the lecture and ...

Fall seven times, stand up eight - Japanese Proverb

How would most people react if they failed 70% of the time? In baseball, failing 70% of the time makes you an elite player and provides you with an excellent opportunity to reach the hall of fame.

Over the weekend, one of our players struck out 5 consecutive times and after the 5^th strikeout went back to the bench and started crying. Here is a 15 year old who is doing everything he can to improve and give himself a chance to make the spring team and he felt like his world was over that day. To be honest, this might be one of the best things to happen to the young player because now he has an opportunity to deal with the failure and learn that failure in itself is not bad, if you can learn from it and get back up from the failure.  

One of the things I see in high school sports is the overwhelming desire to shun failure and to do everything you can n ...

Here is a great passage from Martha Borst and her The Scoreboard in the Sky article...

What makes a difference?

Our thoughts, feelings, opinions, desires, fears - they are a part of our experience, but they don't make a difference in terms of results. They don't create a change. In the end, I will either have REASONS OR RESULTS. My results will tell me if my actions have been successful. My results tell me what I'm committed to…pursuing what I want or doing what's comfortable . . . producing the results or listening to the reasons.

Ultimately, the only thing that makes a difference is asking, "What's my next move? What's missing? What will it take?" And then . . . I must GO DO IT!

I attended another seminar with Michael Gerber, author of the e-Myth, earlier this week and he discussed the old and new age entrepreneur. Ray Kroc is an example of an old age entrepreneur who created the most successful small business in the world. However, has McDonald’s directly improved the lives of its customers? True it has employed millions of people all over the world and has changed the lives of many of its employees, suppliers, and investors, but it has not improved the lives of its customers and has had an ill effect on many of its customer’s health.

Muhammad Yunus is an example of a new age entrepreneur who is trying to eradicate poverty by providing small loans to women who can then use those loans to start their own businesses. Grameen Bank, the organization that Yunus created that provides these loans, has transformed the lives of its customers, employees, suppliers, and investors. Since its founding, the bank now has 2,422 branches, employs more than 20,000 people, ...