Yes! It's Me!

Yes! It's Me!

Take a look at yourself. Go ahead. I'll wait. Go look in the mirror and take a good look.

So, I see you're back now. Well, what did you see? My guess is you picked out the blemishes and the things that you don't like about yourself. Is your nose too big? Eyes too close? Ears? Lips? Eyebrows?

Who do you look like? One of your parents? An uncle? Grandma?

Even though you might look LIKE someone else - you don't look like anyone else. Just like your fingerprints, you are unique in all the world! That's right. No one else is exactly like you.

Your family. Your life experiences. Your DNA. All of it goes in to make you who you are - not just in how you LOOK - but also in how you conduct yourself and the "fingerprint" that you leave behind as you make your way through your world.

I'm typing this up a little early. Tomorrow (when I usually would put together this blog entry) I will be sitting with a family at the hospital as their elderly father goes through some major surgery. It's going to be a rough go for him and his family. Thing is, it HAS been quite a rough go for them over the past month or so.

This elderly gentleman and his wife had celebrated their 66th anniversary not too long ago only to have her pass away within two weeks after this celebration. Wow! That's a LONG time! And they have BOTH made quite an "imprint" on their world.

As I sat through her funeral not too long ago one thing that I heard talked about over and over and over again was her smile. And she DID have quite a wonderful smile - no matter what was going on or how she felt. Several talked about how that smile - HER smile - lifted their spirits when they felt that things just weren't going to work out for them.

She left her "life's fingerprint" on many, many people in this community and far beyond.

Do other people smile? Sure they do. But not like SHE did - it was HER unique smile! No one else could smile like "Miss Margie"!

I still remember my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Huddleston. She left quite a "fingerprint" on me with her loving and caring ways. Oh, she was firm, but all of us in her class knew that she loved each one of us. She made such an impact on me that I took my wife to meet her before we got married. I had moved and lived miles away but I wanted my wife to meet her. She made that big of an "imprint" on my life.

There are others in my life and I know that there are those in your life that have left their special "fingerprint" on your life.

And so it is with YOU! You are unique! You are "uniquely you"!

Hey, has life dealt you a hard blow? Don't allow yourself to use that an excuse - use it to propel you forward in your life and understand that it is also part of what makes you "you"!

We all have a limited time on this earth. What will you do with yours? What "fingerprint" will you leave behind? What "impact" and "imprint" are you leaving as you go through your day.

There is no one like you!

So, when the world asks, after seeing your "life's imprint", "Hey, is this you?" , you can proudly say, "YES! IT'S ME!"

And, as you do so, don't forget to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

Your Life's Fingerprints

YOUR LIFE'S FINGERPRINTS

Most of us understand the basic facts about fingerprints, right?

Most of us realize that no two fingerprints are alike but did you know that this was also true in regards to identical twins?

Did you also know that Koala Bears have fingerprints that can be mistaken for human fingerprints?

And, finally, did you know that injuries such as burns or scrapes will not change the ridge structure: when new skin grows in, the same pattern will come back.

These are all interesting facts, aren't they? And, they also bring about some thoughts about a different kind of "fingerprint" that we all leave behind.

I call it our life's fingerprint. The imprint, the impact that we all make on our world - yes, even you!

I know that many people feel that they have no impact on the world and that there existence doesn't matter at all and that the world would be no different if they were to disappear.

WRONG!

Yes, I know it's a movie, but let me call your attention back to that classic, "It's a Wonderful Life" starring Jimmy Stewart. You remember, don't you, that the premise of the movie is that of the character played by Mr. Stewart having the chance to see what his world would have been like had he not even been born. He found that his life DID INDEED have far greater impact than he imagined.

Now, I know of no way to do this for you. HOWEVER, I do know that it is true of your life as well as everyone else's.

Yes, there are those that leave a negative - and sometimes even an evil - impact upon the world. But there are many that impact their world with a POSITIVE imprint that reaches far beyond their imagination.

We've talked about this idea before when we've mentioned how YOUR imprint can impact generations to come without you ever even knowing about it. POWERFUL!

Now, if you noticed, I highlighted a couple of phrases in that last fingerprint fact listed above. I highlighted the words, "will not change" and "same pattern" in regards to our physical fingerprints.

THE GOOD NEWS IS THIS: We CAN change our life's fingerprints! If we don't like the impact or are not satisfied with the type of fingerprint we are leaving on our world we CAN change it and/or correct it!

Again, it's that wonderful ability we all have to make a CHOICE!

Isn't life wonderful? "As long as there is breath there is hope!" helps us to understand this each and every day.

Know this: you DO leave and you ARE leaving a fingerprint - an imprint - upon your world.

What does your "identifying mark" say about you?

Join me the rest of this week as I discuss this topic further in both my podcast and here, in my blog. Thanks for joining me today!

And, as you go through your day remember to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

Leaving Your Positive Footprint

“Some people come into our lives and quickly go.
Some move our souls to dance.
They awaken us to new understanding
with the passing whisper of their wisdom.
Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon.
They stay in our lives for awhile,
leave footprints on our hearts
and we are never, ever the same.”
-Anonymous

In today's podcast - let me first of all clarify something - I DO realize that the correct term is "carbon footprint" and not "carbon imprint" (and yes, I'm grinning as I type this!). I realized that I had made the mistake when I listened to my recording to make sure things fit together as planned BUT I wasn't going to try to correct that. I still think you got the point in the podcast (even though you may have had a laugh!) and, I prefer for my podcast to have as much of a "live" feel as possible even though they are recorded.

O.k now - on to the topic at hand! Number one premise for us to set down for the day is this:

You DO leave an IMPACT each and every day!

(And this is regardless of HOW you approach your day - positive OR negative!)

So, once again, we come back to the point of "choice" - it's YOUR CHOICE as far as the type of impact you wish to leave on the world around you. Yup, it's all still up to you!

IMPACT YOUR WORLD! This can be a daunting task to consider, right? But, notice closely that I did not say, "Impact THE world" but "YOUR world" instead. There is a big difference!

For one, it IS a daunting task for any of us to consider making an impact on the whole world - there are very few people in history that have lived in such a way as to have such a huge impact!

However, when we break this down to OUR world it becomes more manageable. So, it is important for us to "define" what, exactly, encompasses "OUR WORLD".

Here's a short list to consider - make it personal and add to it so that you can get very specific in your approach:

1. Your children, your spouse - YOUR FAMILY

2. Your neighbors (whether in an apartment building or a neighborhood)

3. Your co-workers

4. Your circle of friends

5. Those you have contact with on a daily basis (your child's teacher(s), school bus driver, etc., the parking attendant, store clerk, waiter/waitress, YOUR bus driver, paper delivery person - on and on we could go here -- YOU add to the list from YOUR life)

6. Those at your church or social group

Even though this list can grow quickly, it is still a much more manageable size group than considering the whole world.

BUT HERE IS THE KICKER!

Your impact spreads far beyond those on your list! Think about that and consider how your actions impact the lives of those around you which, in turn, very likely will influence their impact on those that THEY contact on a daily basis.

Just like the ripples on a pond from a rock tossed into the water, so is your impact and influence on those around you. It doesn't stop with the initial "splash" that is made - it goes out further and further beyond the point of contact.

WOW! Pretty amazing to think about, isn't it?

Here's a challenge for today (and then tomorrow and the day after that and then the day after that and then....well, you get the point, right?) -- see how many people you can help smile today.

Whether that is a child or an elderly person (and all points in between) - think about the impact you can have just by sharing yourself with others and bringing a smile to the face of others.

And then watch the ripple effect take off - beyond your knowledge and beyond your initial contact.

Each and every day we leave an imprint or a footprint -- why not do all that you can to leave your POSITIVE footprint on the world - YOUR world -- along the way?

And...here's a twist from today's podcast -

"Make someone else's day awesome? That is something you may can do for them!"

(And yours will be awesome in return - guaranteed!)

Mike