SOAPBOX® mini-motivation: how do you LOVE?

Posted on February 10, 2013 by admin

“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” ~ Bible, Book of John

What is Valentine’s Day?? Well, I see it as a singular spotlight shone on one day that tries to capture our collective attention to remind us what that 4-letter word really means. So, surprise! It’s not about gifts or apologies. Nor expensive dinners or extravagant gestures. It’s not just for married folks or couples. Valentine’s Day is about L-O-V-E. The profoundly tender affection or attachment that your heart and spirit feel towards another human being. Plain and simple. That said, it’s a day for everyone and about everyone!

Reminisce to your youth when you made cards for all your classmates -all colorful, overloaded with misshapen hearts and gaudy glitter still wet with Elmer’s glue. You gave one to all your friends and school mates. You gave one to your teacher. Your neighbor. Mom and Dad. Heck, even your pet. (huh?) Yup, everyone got a token of your heart telling them that you thought of them. Back then you didn’t feel Hallmarked or bamboozled into making the damn cards. You didn’t dread the self-imposed obligations of celebration. And above all, you didn’t find yourself telling others (and yourself) that you just hate this day!

So, what if you decided to clean your grungy, negative or hopeless heart-shaped slate, and you took the day for what it is in its fleeting 24-hours. Valentine’s Day is a timely nudge towards L-O-V-E. So… who do you love? When you think of all the folks who are dearly important in your life in some way or another (small or big), that’s a clear sign that you LOVE them. When you enjoy their company, stand in their honor, offer to help without hesitation, feel peace and joy in your own heart in their presence… you indeed LOVE them. And when you discover that one special person or select few chums for whom you would give your all and your life, well then, you have found the greatest LOVE, my friend. And dare I say, you have also found God. ~ KD

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SOAPBOX® mini-motivation: come to REAL life

Posted on January 17, 2013 by admin

“This world is a great sculptor’s shop. We are the statues and there is a rumour going round the shop that some of us are some day going to come to life.” ~ C. S. Lewis, Christian apologist, novelist, poet, academic & literary critic

Indeed, who you appear to be, in body of nature is a mere shadow of who you may become in spirit. Many believe that we are always evolving -for our surroundings, circumstances, genetics and choices give us a daily dance that either extends or extinguishes our possibilities. But within the shell of skin and bones is a fertile planting ground for a spirit to grow and ultimately transform each of us. No matter your faith or strength of it, someday you will forget your solid self for the sake of your soul and radiate that which will soon take over. I believe we have all been created in such a way that movement is secondary to meaning; your pulse gives you eternal purpose . ~ KD

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SOAPBOX® mini-motivation: follow the light

Posted on December 10, 2012 by admin

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” ~ Albert Schweitzer, theologian, philosopher & medical missionary

From a bird’s eye view it often appears that our society is a chaotic smattering of wound-up little armored bodies flurrying about this earth, often filled to the utmost brim with just enough energy each waking day to create, communicate and motivate. Yet, suffice it to say, each of you are still a flawed, fragile soul whose fuel often flickers out as challenges of worldly thoughts and actions crowd in and around your hopes.

And how often, when you look back…if even yesterday…can you recall how someone so very special crossed your path, and the hand of magic waved a small miracle. Your heart and head lit up as if ignited; another’s mere words, laughter, touch or gesture of kindness striking a match to your spirit’s wick. And your eternal light was reignited with more purpose, more peace, more bliss.

Folks, true blessings do not come in papers, packages and promotions. Instead, they have a pulse and the gloriously gorgeous gift of timing to arrive when truly needed. So bask in the glow that only two souls can emit, and for everyone’s sake…BE THANKFUL. ~ KD

SOAPBOX® mini-motivation: pageant or poetry

Posted on October 19, 2012 by admin

“Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.” ~ David McCullough, modern-day English teacher

Life is not a pageant. And yet we unabashedly tuck this gloriously divine journey and spontaneously shared experience into a flippant 4-letter word and dress it up like a calamatied, desperate, purpose-less reality star who ultimately exploits and extinguishes her own value. Life is not charading parade of nipped and tucked excuses of beauty…of average activities reupholstered to elicit wooing and swooning in hopes of earning awards no more valuable or necessary than a 14 carat gold tombstone. Life is not a calling to exhibit one’s presumed importance for awe’s sake of our 7 billion relatives. For life is LIFE. It’s like light and air and thoughts and bodies… it’s just there. And we all have IT… for some time. And no one’s is more important. For we are all but a sum of parts playing on a gameboard on an unpretentious planet… and when one piece gets taken away, the game still goes on.

And so, perhaps life is like a poetry slam, or so I humbly reflect. A dedicated effort of an affected orator striving to breathe life into the written word with emphatic, emoting performance that eggs both speaker and audience to tug the air for more oxygen and the room for more space and actions for more meaning. Life is emulated by the aerobic effort required by this act of igniting possibilities into a kinetic energy that spills on and rips through every thread of those in the same circling space. And yet the expansion of meaning in the mutterings from muted paper are mere reflections of the challenges of the poet himself. Though he stands upon a stage, he knows his spectators ironically watch themselves shift under influence, and he is without need of approval. For the poet alone strives to make it to the top of a metaphorical mountain…but for the experience alone of seeing a new view revealed upon his last breath into the last particle of punctuation. Breath to thoughts to words to actions to breath again… and then another upward hike to enlightenment. Unstaged life unfolding. ~ KD

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SOAPBOX® mini-motivation: grasping simplicity

Posted on August 16, 2012 by admin

“Hold on to what is good, even if it’s a handful of earth. Hold on to what you believe, even if it’s a tree that stands by itself. Hold on to what you must do, even if it’s a long way from here. Hold on to your life, even if it’s easier to let go. Hold on to my hand, even if I’ll be gone away from you.” ~ Pueblo Indian prayer

Sometimes I catch myself shaking my head in regret, in upset, in despair, in confusion, and in near hopelessness… at both the thought and the sight of just how far we, as a society, have strayed from the simple things life has to offer. Thankfully, I can bow my head in prayer, full of hope and faith that there is someone else, somewhere else thinking and seeing the same view… just one more person choosing less over more, good over perfect, truth over myth, diligence over idleness, trust over worry, and love over fear. Choosing a purpose-driven life sustained by simplicity. ~ KD

SOAPBOX® mini-motivation: the Olympic spirit

Posted on July 30, 2012 by admin

“The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” ~ Paul, Galatians 5:18

Step back and consider what I am about to boldly propose: The Olympic Games Are Not About The Sports.

And if that statement were absolutely true, then what do all these athletes, competitions, awards, presentations, stories and histories represent? Perhaps, the answer is as simple as one word: SPIRIT.

The media mesmerizes with the phrase “Olympic spirit” yet fails to define it …only to don all elite competitors with virtual crowns for us commoners to bow to. Alas, the media fumbles and fails to truly uplift beyond its prescribed two weeks of showcasing. And upsettingly does such every four years. Oh, but not an ounce of hope can be lost! For all citizens of all nations can pick up the torch and pass it to one another…each and every day, sharing the hope that we all have a spirit alive and glowing within us…driving us to breathe and strive and do and love and try and give and triumph. Remember that as you gaze in awe of these people we call “athletes”…for they are just like you and me.

That said, though, in truth I ask you: Do you have the fruit of the spirit within you?

…To wear your heart on your sleeve. To train relentlessly for your lifelong goals. To compete with every shred of your strength and every drop of your soul. To stand tall and show utmost respect for those greater than you. To face life’s adversities and obstacle courses with unwavering optimism. To trust that you indeed have a gift for excellence. To represent with pride all that your family, friends, and community planted in you. To triumph over life’s tragedies and agonies. To join hands and hearts with rivals and friends alike. To call a truce to your waging battles. To open your mind to all that is different to you and all who are different from you. To celebrate your achievements and share the rewards. To sacrifice whatever it takes for those who cannot. To walk in faith for faith’s sake. To love something so much that, without it, breathing would be difficult. To experience and appreciate the simple yet gloriously powerful feeling of joy that is feverishly spread when people come together for a common cause… that being, to honor the brilliance of the human spirit. ~ KD

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