I Choose to Become

This is a timeless idea of which I need continual reminding.

“I am not what has happened to me.

I am what I choose to become”

~Brene Brown

You do see that this is an attitude thing, right?  “Stuff” happens all the time.  It is how we choose to respond that makes the difference. 

I pity the person who has never struggled a day in his/her life.  Really, does such an individual exist? 

The idea of “I choose” strikes me as critical in this scenario.  “I CHOOSE.”

We are human beings with a mind that still confounds the scientists as to exactly how it functions.  Two individuals, exposed to the exact same circumstances and situations in life can turn out so differently from each other.  The only difference that is worth accounting for is what goes on in each person’s mind.

One chooses hope.

One chooses loss and rejection, or whatever …

I am choosing to be a becomer.  There’s room for you too.

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Don't Scratch Your Private Parts in Public

Let’s have some fun with this topic. 

Everyone should know by know not to do what this title is referring to, right?

So, let’s take it a step further.

How many different ways can we say “Don’t Scratch Your Private Parts in Public”?

Couples, don’t argue in public

Don’t pick your nose in public

Don’t pick your butt crack in public

Don’t pee in public

Don’t shout on social media with ALL CAPS

Don’t double dip in the chip and dip bowl

Don’t steal someone’s food at work

Don’t steal someone’s sales at work

Always leave a tip

Call if you’re going to be late

Don’t stare

Zip your pants

If you think of more, please let me know and I’ll do a sequel.

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

When We Stop Playing

It’s story time – a brief one.

An 87-year-old woman went back to school and was the hit of the campus.  When asked to speak at the season-end football banquet, she offered this insight.

“We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old

because we stop playing.”

End of story, but keep reading.

We have so many life applications to make to this kind of statement.  Here are a few.

Couples grow apart because they stop doing the little things that tune up a relationship.  

-The man opening the door for his wife

-Planning some on-purpose date nights

-Finding the magic in a sunset, a great meal, a funny moment

-Putting away iGadgets when communicating

-Eye contact and communication

And a few dozen others you can suggest.

We grow apart in our relationships because we stop nurturing the relationship.

Here’s another:

Mental acuity continues in most cases because a person chooses to continue being a reader, a learner, and an active person.  If we veg out in front of the TV and never move from our comfortable chair, we grow lethargic in body and mind. 

I saw a 75-year-old woman come to the gym today.  I thought to myself, “Good for you.  You showed up.  A plus!”  And she hopped onto the treadmill next to mine and away she walked. 

She is still a player in the game of life.

Join us.  Get in the game.

It’s the only way to live.

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Treat Self Well

Have you ever met someone who always found a way to put you down and put you in your place?  They seemed to have a knack for making others feel small.

I hate that feeling. 

To borrow from Kevin Hall’s book Aspire, we find this:

“You should never treat another person in a manner that

would make them feel small.  And that means yourself.”

Kevin introduces us to the word - GENSHAI (Pronounced GEN-Shy) 

When we have been subjected to a less-than-esteeming experience in our growing up years perhaps we have developed a limited self-image.  We have a tendency to put ourselves down and our self-talk is often full of negative dialog rather than the positive side.  We sometimes major on what we can’t do and can’t be rather than the abundant possibilities before us.

I want to respect myself enough to see all of these possibilities.  I want to live a large, out loud life – not in a bad way, but in a positive, esteeming way.  I want to explore myself and find out all that I am capable of becoming.

Let us march boldly into the land of GENSHAI - the land of self-respect and self-belief.

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Deliberate Imagination

The power of the human mind continually intrigues me.  When in college a group of 16 of us were asked to read Psycho-Cybernetics by Dr. Maxwell Maltz.  That was the beginning of a journey that I continually come back to. 

Here is our thought for today from that book.

“You can deliberately use the imagination

to get good at something through mental practice.”

The concept of deliberate imagination jumps out at me.  Most

of us have heard of this example in various forms.

~ A basketball team is divided into three groups to see how to improve their free-throw percentages.

Group 1 physically practiced their free-throws for an average of fifteen minutes per day for 30 days.

Group 2 mentally pictured accurately shooting free-throws for an average of fifteen minutes per day for 30 days.

Group 3 went about life and practice in a normal way, which included practice games of basketball, dribbling, shooting long shots, layups, and an occasional chance to shoot free-throws.

The amazing results

Group 1 – a near 100% improvement

Group 2 – a near 95% improvement

Group 3 – no improvement

Group 2 – the imagining group, made huge growth and they only imagined themselves shooting the shots. 

That is astounding. 

Denis Waitley and others have often reminded us of this fact – when athletes imagine their routine or event with mental replay their synapses fire as if they were actually performing their event in real time.

Think about the amazing power of the human mind.

What can we do with deliberate imagination?

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Bet On Yourself

We humans are engineered to be a goal seeking mechanism.  It is in our DNA to find a worthwhile goal and go for it. 

Do you have such a goal?  When you find it, decide what you want the outcome to be and go for it.

We have to BET on ourselves.  Sometimes that means we risk

failure.  We often have to take the risk of making some mistakes. 

Always, always - a misstep in the wrong direction is better than never having tried.

A bet on self is always a winning bet if we analyze the data after the fact.

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Courage to Stumble

According to Dr. Maxwell Maltz in Psycho Cybernetics, there are five kinds of courage that show up in the success personality.

No. 3 on his list is this – The Courage to Stumble. 

Remember:

You are not your mistakes.

Just because you made a mistake does not mean you are a failure.

Wayne Gretzky, hockey great, was known for what his teammates referred to as his clumsy, uncoordinated antics on the ice during practice sessions.  Wayne was simply trying to find the edge of his abilities and push them further out.  He was “skating on the edge” both metaphorically and actually.  He learned early on that it is okay to stumble in order to hone one’s skills. 

The secret to this philosophy – learn from your stumbles.

L E A R N   F R O M   Y O U R   S T U M B L E S !

Class dismissed.

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Respect

Respect is one of those words we like to toss around and even apply to ourselves.  The bigger question is this” - Are we worthy of respect?

And if not, why not?

People will follow you if they respect you.  That is short and simple.

Have you ever lied to an employee in the past?  Chances are you’ve lost respect.

Have you ever stolen even a seemingly innocent item, and had an employee watch you take it?  Chances are you lost respect.

I had a boss tell me some contrary information once on an issue to which I already knew the correct answer.  He misled me and told me it couldn’t be done. 

Respect is HUGE in the daily living of our lives.  We earn respect, but never demand it.

Respect is closely tied to Integrity. 

They go hand in hand. 

Tie yourself to them – become a person worth knowing.

P Michael Biggs

www.up-words.net

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Why Write

I have been journaling since 1980.  One of my favorite past-times is to sit and read my journals, reminisce, shake my

head at some foolish experiences and laugh out loud at others. 

One of the reasons I have such a good memory of my past is that I’ve recorded much of it. 

Love this quote – it captures beautifully what I want to emphasize.

“We write to remember our now’s later”

Terri Guillemets

Where would we be without recorded history?

Where indeed.

P Michael Biggs

www.up-words.net

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time

Behold the Pencil

Thanks to Harvey McKay, author of Swim with the Sharks, I want to borrow the seeds for this article.

A common pencil is not much to look at, but it holds some

insights for us never-the-less.  Let’s take a closer look.

First – a pencil can do a lot of things, but not by itself.  Like a pencil, we have to allow ourselves to be held in someone’s hand and guided.

Second – like a pencil, we occasionally will go through a series of sharpening experiences from time to time to help us keep our point.  And each time, we come out refreshed, and like brand new.

Third – we have a ‘fixer’ on the other end in case we make mistakes.  We get a do-over.  Don’t you love erasers?

Fourth – regardless of the color on the outside, or the scratches and dents on our surface, the most important part will always be what's inside.

Fifth – to make your mark, you have to put your lead to the paper, you have to make contact.  Action is the order of the day.

P Michael Biggs

Up-Words Web Site

Offering Hope

Encouragement Inspiration

One Word at a Time