Opportunity?

What exactly is opportunity?  A very provocative question, and I love a provocative question.  Why, because its a question not answered easily.  It provokes the need to be mindful.

I talk to people often about pursuing opportunities; it’s a great topic that can lead to great things.

Recently I watched a speech made by Ashton Kucher at the Teen Choice Awards.  He spoke of three things, Opportunity, Being Sexy, and Living Your Life. 

“Opportunity looks a lot like hard work” I love this quote simply because it states a fact.  I am often envious of other people's successes until I get to know more about how they got there!  The people that fascinate me have dedicated years and their life to a passion that others may simply see as “opportunity”.  “They must of have been at the right place at the right time”

If you want to uncover wonderful opportunities then pursue wonderful things!  Be cautious of your motives and agenda.  It is not a short path; it is more like the Appalachian Trail.  Your original opportunity will most likely evolve to something much more wonderful. 

Understand you will often get what you desire, be it good or bad.  You will attract what you think about the most.  Persistent and consistent patterns tend to yield the best results over time. 

Kucher also mentioned being “sexy” was much more about being smart, kind and thoughtful.  Smart people are the sexiest people in the world!

Lastly he talked about “Living” and how most people tend to live in other people’s worlds and those worlds were created by people no smarter than us.  He encouraged the audience to create their own world and let others live in it!  Not bad advice!

What opportunities are YOU pursuing?

NobleOne

“Heroes” Here are some of mine!

People admire and worship people for many different reasons.  Some people’s heroes are fictional and others real life.  Some from the past and some present day. 

Most of my heroes are local.  It makes it easy to respect them and help them do what they do in life.  One definition from Wikipedia that applies for my definition of a hero is as follows…

A hero is often simply an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances, who, despite the odds being stacked against him or her, typically prevails in the end.  And I may add, perhaps not!

I admire tenacity and focus as well as persistence and clarity.  An example would be Melodie Walenius, a mother that The Noblemen helped many years ago on one of our Trolley Rides.  To this day she continues her efforts to fight the fight for her daughter Zoe and others fighting OMS, a debilitating disease that affects the immune system.  She never gives up and inspires me daily!

I had the privilege of meeting a retired Army Colonel that offers his body to science in order to learn more about the chemical agents that devastated him in while he was defending our country.

What did he want from me?  Simply to help him help our local favorite surfer, Pete Smith, another one of my heroes that continues to be “stoked” on surfing to this day!

Mike Worrell spent hours with me prior to his death working on bringing back the Worrell 1000, probably the coolest contest for small catamarans in the world.  Mike shared with me his life of building cool local hang out spots from the Tiki to Worrell Brothers in Virginia Beach.  He had real passion for a lot of things and I will miss him being a part of our community.

Bill and Kathy Magee that founded Operation Smile are two more of my favorites.   Imagine possessing the ability to lift a bag off of the head of a small child and give them a life not encumbered with a severe facial deformity.  All for a donation of a little over $200, amazing!

Who are your heroes?  What do you think qualifies? 

I like it much better when I can simply go visit my heroes and let them know what a great job they are doing while they inspire others to do the same!

NobleOne

"Normal People” are simply people you don’t know well!

I have this bad habit of comparing myself to others.   I envy other people’s lives from time to time. 

How about you?

Be careful when you judge a person’s life by a snapshot.  There is a whole lot you never see!

I consider everyone’s life is like a big pie.  You have pieces that are larger than others however in the end you still have only one pie to work with.  If you get a big piece of the “smart” you may get less of another.  It all balances out in the end.

I often talk about the “law of allowing” be careful what you allow in your life to annoy you.  That includes envy.  It is really your decision.

I wrote a blog a few months back titled “Magic in the Middle”.  It deals with getting comfortable in your own skin.  So many of us are simply living our lives and doing our best to maintain a smile. 

I consider a smile to be a gift to me each day, a return on investment of good thinking or action!

I want to be happy and I want my friends and family to be happy as well. 

Sometimes it’s hard to be happy when you are trying to be someone else!  Keep in mind that if you are always striving you are never arriving!

Celebrate your life today and keep a smile on your face!

NobleOne

You can’t change the wake of your boat

It can however be ridden and enjoyed to extreme levels! 

So many people live in their past dwelling on what they used to be or upset with the way their lives have been lived!  

Consider your life as a speedboat and wherever you have steered that boat you have left a trail or a wake that is behind you!  It cannot be changed; your trail is marked with your deeds and actions.  After a while they will slowly go away and end up on some shore. 

As Captain of your boat, it is up to you to steer it in the direction of your desired course in life.  In every instance you leave a past that should be kept there.  It can always be remembered and cherished or simply forgotten.   

The wonder of it all; it is up to you to choose!  Some people will go out and buy a map and chart a course or follow one that others have set forth for them while others will simply drift! 

My favorite will lick their finger stick it up in the wind and decide then and there where life will lead them today!

The benefit of leading an exciting life is the wake of your boat is always fun to play on.  Your past is appreciated and celebrated and easy to visit since you left such a magnificent trail!

I recently stepped back into a past chapter in my life.  Managers that use to work with me at WaterFurnace International came to visit and talk about old times.   I truly enjoyed hearing the stories of cool adventures and profitable times in business.  We all appreciated how we steered our boats back then and were proud of the wake we left!

The other benefit of this analogy involves the understanding that there is always a new course that leads to a new day and a new life!  A life that you create with your new path.  That new path leaves a new trail to be remembered and appreciated. 

Where are you steering your boat today?

NobleOne

Why I Ride a Motorcycle

I guess it started with horses.  As a kid most of my cousins were taking riding lessons from Great Neck Stables or Princess Anne Stables, both run by Aunts of mine.   That was until I was introduced to a neighbor’s mini bike.  I never stopped desiring to go for a ride after taking my first!

As I grew so did the size of my motorcycles. 

I was working a trade show in Central Va.  in the mid 90's for WaterFurnace Intl and was introduced to a Yamaha V-Max, about the “baddest”  thing you have ever seen on two wheels.  For two days I watched this thing spin around on a display table while On Any Sunday (the movie) was playing in the back ground.   

I made a bet with my VP and later owned that bike! 

 

Another reason I own a motorcycle is that I like to give back and there is always a ride available to help something or someone.  Yesterday I rode in the Extortion Memorial Ride dedicated to the memory of 30 active duty military and 1 military working dog killed in action on August 6, 2011. Extortion 17 was the CH-47 helicopter shot down by enemy fire in Afghanistan. 

It doesn’t get much better.  The road was filled with friends and neighbors waving flags and posters.  Everyone was "plugged in" to the reason we were there and the money flowed in like honey dew vine water!

I now own a 1996 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Nostalgia that I won in a raffle on a local ride by the Kiwanis to support CHKD.  The winning ticket was sold to me by Morris Long at a Robin Hood meeting (now The Noblemen) many years ago.

I guess you can see I was just destined to own and ride a motorcycle.

So I will continue to ride and use it as a vehicle to help local causes with my "Noble Riders" and friends keeping a smile on my face with a bug or two between my teeth! 

 

NobleOne

Inspired...it happened to me again!

Are you fortunate enough to know when that “right moment” appears in your life? 

Many years ago I was fortunate to learn how to “pay attention” to the wonderful moments that life offers you as a gift!  It is never timed or planned, it just dawns on ya that you ought to pay attention to something you just saw, heard or experienced. 

The reason, it’s time to take a step!

If you pray, how do you determine if and when prayers are answered?  How does that appear in your life? 

If you set goals…is it your ego that drives them or something grander?

For me, I pay attention and don’t ask for a thing.  The reason, I usually get it wrong! 

Every now and then something simply happens and it makes me say hmmmm!  I give the experience a great deal of thought and share it amongst my friends.  It like planting a seed, great moments offer wonderful life enhancements and put you on your path that you were meant to be on. 

If you are fortunate enough to answer yes to the question…today, are you doing what you feel you were placed on this earth to do?   Very provocative indeed! 

What inspired me today?  Eric Whitacre, a composer that reaches thousands of singers who perform virtually to music that he conducts via Skype or You Tube.  All of the segments are then placed in a format that simply will blow you mind.  He has performed at least three times @ TED Talks Ideas worth spreading. 

Just imagine an idea powerful enough to inspire 6000 people to pay attention and participate on the idea as it is being developed.  Consider the power of thousands of people like minded focused on a particular outcome, priceless! 

Consider me inspired! 

NobleOne

It's not the Destination...It's the Ride

Often times I rush to get things done or get somewhere faster.  I seldom take time to slow down and smell the roses.  The issue here for me is once I accomplish something new or get somewhere I was intending to go, I now have to start something else! 

It’s like finishing a good book….reading the chapters one by one and enjoying the message is the good stuff….finishing it, is an accomplishment but also a letdown.   Now I have to find a new book to read!

After reading the Celestine Prophecy so many years ago and then again recently, it taught me to “pay attention” to everything around me.  Learn to appreciate that there is life in everything and we play an integral role in it all. 

On my bike rides and runs I “intend” to experience a connection or discover an opportunity to figure something out!  When the ride is over, it’s time to do something else and live another moment longer.  I constantly have to remind myself to breathe and enjoy every moment and treat it as a gift! 

How many times do you simply want to get to the end of a day and start over?  I catch myself doing or participating in mundane things simply to make time go by. 

Such a waste of a segment of your life!

I would also point out that joy resides in the ability to make a decision, a decision that will take you down a new path and lead you to a better life.   Stopping smoking, moving, new jobs, losing weight, new relationships are all those kind of decisions.   

These decisions put you on a new path.  You cannot enjoy the path if you don’t take the first step down it.  The first step is making the decision and the next is living with it!  The reality of that new moment and the moments after is what it’s all about. 

A good friend’s advice in 2006 was “Leap, build your wings on the way”.   You don’t get the chance to enjoy a new view unless you leap first!  

You see there are some things that you cannot figure out with your mind and plan for.  Big new adventures take courage.  After taking the leap, a new reality emerges and it’s that new ride that you enjoy, not the eventual destination!

What “leap” have you been pondering?  It’s time to take a Ride! 

NobleOne