SOAPBOX of the week: new year, old wisdom

Posted on December 29, 2008 by admin

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” – John Quincy Adams, US President

Gooooooood morning, race fans! How’s the ride so far? Let me guess. As soon as the second hand strikes and Dick Clark alarmclocks the world onto a clean slate, you set to full throttle and take off like a mid-life-crisis man in a new Corvette.

With heart pounding and champagne in your eyes, you decide that you will take the wheel and make things go your way this year, come hell or high water. Righting the wrongs. Shaking the systems. Cutting the fat. Testing the waters. Revolutionizing the resolutions. Painting a free-wheeling, forward thinking phantasmagoric mural of all that is, was, and ever will be the real future perfect you deserve. All in the name of an unyielding loyalty to the natural selection of self, at least until about mid-February.

I must confess, I too burn a rouge of rubber just as eagerly each year. Even ponder the thought that the heavens will magically open up and confetti my little field of dreams with all the blessing and adornments that I’ve kept cooped up for the past twelve months. Sound familiar? Well, I have both good and bad news for you.

Bad news first: A supercharged vehicle won’t get you through the roadblocks any faster. No matter how much shifting and strategizing you perform, the course will dictate your life’s journey. Not the other way around. And if you’re thinking you can brainstorm your agenda-ed TripTik into an immediate reality, think again. Enough with the red line, race fans, you’re libel to blow the whole engine again.

Now for the good news: You’ve already done the work. You’ve got the ride, the route, and reason for success in all pillars of your future. So, recline with the resonating truth that patience remains the worthwhile virtue that will never fail to fuel your expedition. Coast over your holographic horizon to discover another bountifully balanced year ahead, in body, mind, and spirit. And embrace the magical open road.

Copyright 2000-2008 by Kimberlie Dykeman.
This vignette is an excerpt from Pure Soapbox… a cleansing jolt of perspective, motivation, and humor (July 2008)
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.
A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to LIVESTRONG.

SOAPBOX of the week: permission to pause

Posted on December 22, 2008 by admin

“All the animals excepting man know that the principal business of life is to enjoy it.” – Samuel Butler, author

Ain’t that the truth! I’ll wager that you scarcely remember the last time you cashed in a handful of your jillion back-logged sick days for some blissful R&R. And, when you hark back to those retreats filled with unadulterated fun, you wonder, under furled brow, why you needed to convince yourself that you’d “earned” this. What are you saving up for anyway? Perhaps you’ve forgotten the definition of the pleasurably promising word: Va·ca·tion. If you find you qualify as one these vocab-deficient, self-neglecting workaholics, there’s no need to identify yourself…just get off your can and vacate the premises! Be it for a week or a wink, allow yourself the time off and time out. Because you deserve it! Don’t merely survive. Thrive! We are all in the business of living first. And business is goood!

Copyright 2008 by Kimberlie Dykeman
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.
A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to LIVESTRONG.

SOAPBOX of the week: the demise of excess and avarice

Posted on December 15, 2008 by admin

“Society drives people crazy with lust and calls it advertising.” – John Lahr, drama critic

Supply and demand used to be so simple. A work-in-progress of balancing out the have’s and have-not’s, meeting needs while doing “good business.” What you see is what you get. And it made calm sense. Now, the offerings are fantastical in design, superfluous in number and sizzled as solutions for immediate happiness. We’ve grown to not only expect more of such uncategorized stuff, we feel entitled to bigger, better, faster as well! Greed overshadows need, and guilt counters with acceptable addictions. It’s another chicken or egg parable, because amidst the overpromising big print, it’s still your choice to suffer the small print which taketh away. Choose to sedate the urges for more, more, more, for too much will always be too much, folks.

Copyright 2008 by Kimberlie Dykeman
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.
A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to LIVESTRONG.

SOAPBOX of the week: honoring the bountiful big picture

Posted on December 8, 2008 by admin

“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” – Joseph Campbell, educator and writer

The Big Picture. What does yours include: Early retirement? World travel? Think you’re destined to wear the title of CEO, proud parent, famous author, or couple of the year? Is everything going as planned? Fifty bucks says…no. Be honest: you’ve had a few changes of plans. A few screw-ups. Folks, WE ALL HAVE! But, some of you label these twists as ultimate justification for not becoming the man or woman you were supposed to. And without knowing it you set a path for “hell or high water”, blind to the countless other glorious options right at your feet! Finding opportunity in adversity isn’t an opportunity –it’s a necessity. Plan A or BUST is certain to be the latter…especially when life has so much more to offer that any of your plans ever could.

Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.

A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to LIVESTRONG.

SOAPBOX of the week: the place is not the point

Posted on December 1, 2008 by admin

“Life’s a journey, not a destination.” – Steven Tyler, rock-n-roller

Hey there, rock and rollers! Here’s a hidden treasure from one of the disciples of lyric and noise With a flick of his mic and a howl from his chops, he time enlightens us with but a few words. Deceivingly simple at first glance, you must step back to appreciate its expanding profundity and note how it levels the playing field for every age, ethnicity, and walk of life. With commonsensical clarity it serves to remind us that we are all on the same map. It’s called Earth, folks. You’ve already reached your destination. Now it’s up to you to create the experience. So, enjoy the route, the scenery, the pit stops, the landmarks, heck, even the 7-11s along the way! Take it all in before someone folds it all up.

Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.

A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to LIVESTRONG.

SOAPBOX of the week: a wish for tireless thankfulness

Posted on November 24, 2008 by admin

A special feast from the book “Pure Soapbox”… SOAPBOX vignette #57

thanks•giv•ing – n. an act of giving thanks; an expression of gratitude

Hope you’re hungry, because this timely concoction of culinary soapboxing doles out not one, but two servings of epicurean delight to drive home a notion that so very many of us have overlooked, and continue to pass over.

In black and white, the operative word here is giving. Needless to say, the actual form of the thanks takes on as much importance as the act itself. Some slaps on the back are best soft-served with a smile. Still, this world-renowned date for thanks-giving has been anchored in time by our forefathers in an unyielding attempt to showcase its kinetic nature. And so, I ask that you humor me with this two-for-one homage to the aromatic brilliance of a few of connoisseurs of the Canon.

1st Course
“Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart
as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds.” – Theodore Roosevelt, U.S. President

You are the main ingredient and you’re alive and kicking! You may even have all your fingers and toes, as well as a college education, and the luxury of pushing pause to digest this meal of literary morsels. Burrow in and bear- hugbearhug the irrefutable fact that you are truly blessed, and, in turn, equally limitless in opportunities to show appreciation for the gifts you’ve received.

2nd Course
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy, U.S. president

Go ahead and dish ‘em out however you choose, stuffed between hors d’oeuvres or piled high atop Mom’s fabulous pecan pie. Fifty bucks says your belly-full sensation of satisfaction comes not from the feast of fruitcake, but from your dynamic expression of thanks for the boundless bounties before you. Fill your Tupperware with these leftovers…and season the rest of your days with provisions that’ll never spoil…regardless of the cook!

Copyright 2000-2008 by Kimberlie Dykeman. Excerpt from Pure Soapbox… a cleansing jolt of perspective, motivation, and humor, published July 2008.
Pure Soapbox available nationwide online and where books are sold.
A portion of the proceeds of all book sales is donated to LIVESTRONG.

PURE SOAPBOX

Motivation for the Modern Man

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