March 4th

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End February strong with positive beliefs about yourself and March toward your potential new business venture, investment plan, or exercise schedule. That opening sentence captures last week’s blog post and part of the picture I intend to paint in the first entry of this month.

We will finish the first quarter of 2022 in a few weeks. What kind of progress have you made in achieving your goals?

One of my professional goals includes finishing a full round of revisions on a novel. Despite consistent daily efforts, there is a chance I will not make it through all twenty-five chapters. Editing and revising a manuscript takes longer than you may think.

My personal goals of spending more mindful time with my family are moving in alignment with the vision for this first quarter. We've done a couple of family hikes together, and I am visiting my parents for a few days this month.

During an event, Les Brown, motivational speaker and author, shared a story about a friend’s battle with a terminal illness. He recalls how the man saw multiple specialists about his condition and tried several approaches to fighting the prognosis. Unfortunately, the fellow speaker and close confidant of Les Brown passed away on March 4th.

Brown didn’t share the year of his friend’s death, but he did reveal what he interpreted as a final message. After months of concern about his pending death, he believed that the man chose to die on March 4th. Les Brown imagines his friend manifested this date to encourage his family, friends, and followers to march forth in the direction of their ambitions.

How committed are you to your goals? Regardless of everything surrounding you, can you continue to climb the steps leading to what you said was important in January?

Everyone has problems. It's how we respond to our problems that matter. So we must continue to evolve and figure out how to survive, thrive, and improve.

I have more than one rift interrupting the smooth current of my life at the moment. One of the biggest hurdles I am facing is coping with my mother’s cancer diagnosis.

Living abroad is tough when you have an ill family member back in your home country.

Give thanks, I have five sisters carrying their weight and some to provide love, care, and attention to my aging parents in the States. However, as the only son, I have unique feelings of responsibility for the well-being of my mom and dad. It isn't easy to describe, but emotional and cognizant desires to do more and be there wake me up in the morning and rock me to sleep at night.

Rest doesn’t come easy these days.

Despite everything, I am making progress on my professional and personal ambitions. Every day I pray, write, exercise, read, and love to clarify family priorities and step toward my life’s mission.

This week I want to encourage you to become your own drill sergeant. March left and right in the direction of your resolutions. Acknowledge the daily difficulties of living and end this first quarter proud of progress with determination to do more over the next 90 days.

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