Under the Influence

Under the Influence

Under the Influence

We are, I think, under the influence.  That can be good and it can be bad.  

Minds, will, and thoughts influence other's minds, will and thoughts.  The media tries to be influential as well. Who do you trust to influence you?

I wrote a poem this morning while under the influence of Rod McKuen.  I borrowed one little phrase from his book Come to Me in Silence on page 14.

I've also been under the influence of Brennan Manning, poet Mary Oliver, Og Mandino, Napoleon Hill, Ann Lamont, and a great host of other writers.  

If I like and trust a writer, speaker, newscaster, then I allow myself to receive some level of their influence on my own thinking.  It can't be helped.  

Right or wrong, influence happens.  I owe much of my spiritual/theological understanding to a few good men and women.  

I owe my drumming style to a couple of dead guys.  They influenced me greatly. 

With whatever influence trail I may leave, I have a couple of wishes.  May I represent truth and integrity.  May I speak words of hope and encouragement.  May I look for the best in others and always attempt to encourage them to bring their best foot forward. 

How are you handling your influence?

This is what is

on my mind today.

It's All About People Blogsite

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

What Are We Waiting For

What Are We Waiting For

We’re here, waiting, waiting, waiting.  And for what? 

If you’re on an elevator and you're stuck, do you walk up, or down, or wait for someone to come and fix the broken mechanism?

Are you waiting for Mr. or Ms. Right to come along?

Are you waiting to be asked to write the great American novel, or any book, blog or article for that matter?  I had to ask to write a series of magazine articles once upon a time.  And they said “Yes, please do.”

More often than not, we are the ones who have to take action, take the first step, reach out and do the thing that needs doing.  I got a few jobs early in life that just landed in my lap, but most of the time, I had to reach out, make the phone call, send the resume.  They weren’t waiting for me, but after reading about me, then they wanted me.

So, what are you waiting for?

This is a purely motivational thought for today.

This is what is

on my mind today.

It's All About People Blogsite

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Does Your Direction Match Your Destination?

Does Your Direction 

Match Your Destination?

Now that is perhaps one of the more astute questions I’ve asked of myself and of you, my reader, in a very long time.  Oh, we are all headed in some direction, I suppose.  But is it compatible with our ultimate destination?

Really and truly, I don’t think this blog requires a lot of words, phrases and metaphors from me from this point on.  I think I’ll leave this large topic with you.  It is, after all, your call.

This is what is

on my mind today.

It's All About People Blogsite

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Today I Choose

Today I Choose

There is a lot going on at the moment in our world, in this land called the United States of America, in our cities and counties.  There is political divide, racial divide, economic divide, philosophical divide and spiritual divide.

And what are you choosing to do about all of that?

Here is what I am choosing.

I’m not a marcher.  Never have been.  If you choose to do so, and choose to do it in a peaceful, non-aggressive way, I bless you and say, “go do what you must do.”

I’m a Christian.  I do not curse and slam those who are politically or racially different from me.  I bless them for also living on this planet in this world and breathing the same air that I breathe.  I choose to allow you to believe differently from me, use different phrases and language expressions from me.  You can hold any political stance you wish, any philosophical dogma you care to hold.  Please, hold to those thoughts with passion and confidence. 

However, … allow me the same privilege and the same opportunity.  Just because we differ does not mean one is better or more superior than the other.  We just believe differently.  We express ourselves differently.  You get to choose and I get to choose.  How great is that?

I choose to pray for all of mankind.  I pray for George Floyd’s family, I pray for those who staunchly wave his flag of honor and memory.  I pray for the police officers who were involved in his death.  I pray for their families and fellow officers.

I choose to pray for their commanding officers and other law enforcement individuals, including those in the judicial system and court systems that will have a hand in in bringing about proper judgments and assessments in this situation.

I choose to pray for my President.  I will not judge his motives, his past life, his present actions, for I do not know all that he knows.  I don’t have the privilege of knowing all that he is privy to.  He has a weighty responsibility, and I pray for his health, his safety, his judgment, and for those who advise and consult with him.  I also pray for his family.  This is no small burden resting on their shoulders either.  To see one you love and respect who faces daily criticism and one whose every move and decision is questioned … that is a hard burden to bear.  I pray especially for them.

I choose to pray for all our men and women in political positions and with varying responsibilities.  They, too, bear a heavy load and have much to weigh on a daily basis. 

I choose to pray for you, my reader, regardless of the stance you may take on any of these issues.  Be open, be wise, be careful in making hasty decisions and forming judgmental opinions. 

I choose to believe in the honest and fair resolution of these crisis that we all face.  It will take time, perhaps a lot more time than many of us would hope for.  Yet I believe a positive outcome will be revealed in due time.

I choose to believe mankind will have a future with hope in the middle of all of this upheaval.

This is what is

on my mind today.

It's All About People Blogsite

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Self-Motivation Is the Best Motivation

Self-Motivation Is the Best Motivation

After thirty or forty years of reading and following motivational thoughts and mindsets, I have come to the conclusion that self-motivation is the best kind of motivation.

I’ve been to motivational seminars, heard great speakers, read inspiring books on the subject of motivation, and that is all right and good. 

However, if a book or seminar or speaker failed to motivate me, then what?  You see the importance in being a self-starter in the motivation game?  It is an inside job.  It has always been an inside job.

Someday, the speaker or book won’t show up.  What then?  Well, if you depend on outside sources to motivate you, you are in a pickle.

What motivates you?  That is the question.

This is what is

on my mind today.

It's All About People Blogsite

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

If at First

If at First

The salesman says, “But I knocked on the door, and they slammed it in my face.”

The athlete said, “I ran that race once, and fell down.  Never again.”

The speaker said, “I had a sure-fire speech, and they laughed me off the stage.”

The romantic said, “I asked her for a date once. She said “no.”

Oh my, it is so easy to walk away and never try again.  ‘Tis easier to give up than to try again. 

But what if there’s gold on the other side of that “NO”?

Here’s what Seth Godin says about that.

When success doesn’t occur, the easiest thing is to walk away and not make the mistake of speaking up ever again. The most important thing to do, though, is to do it again, to care again and to seek to make change, again.

Seth Godin What to Do when it’s Your Turn

An encouraging word for all of us –

Try Try Again.

This is what is

on my mind today.

It's All About People Blogsite

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Ruts Don't Dig Themselves

Ruts Don’t Dig Themselves

I’m borrowing this idea from Seth Godin, one of my heroes. 

Here’s the thing … Ruts happen, because we do the same ‘ole thing over and over and yet expect different results.  Thus, THE RUT!

Notice that WE have an effect in this equation.  Carolyn doesn’t dig my ruts for me, nor did my parents, siblings, bosses, neighbors or distant cousins.

In his excellent book, The Power of Habits by Charles Duhigg, he says this:

The brain can be reprogrammed.

Changing any habit requires determination.

For more, read the above-mentioned book, or any of several others on this topic.

That is all for now.  I guess we all have some mulling to do on this topic.

This is what is

on my mind today.

It's All About People Blogsite

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Copy Until You Find Yourself

Copy Until You Find Yourself

Some of the best advice I ever read was this:  Copy ~ Copy ~ Copy!

A person can learn a lot from their heroes.  They are talented, have achieved a measure of success, perhaps, and worthy of emulating.  Copy them. 

We learn to write by copying down the alphabet.  Musicians learn to play by practicing scales. Painters learn to paint by reproducing masterpieces. 

Look at this string of influencers for the Beatles:

Buddy Holly, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis.

This is the main idea – don’t look like your heroes.  SEE like your heroes.

Johnny Carson tried to be Jack Benny but ended up being Johnny Carson.

David Letterman tried to copy Johnny Carson but ended up as David Letterman.

Conan O’Brien tried to be David Letterman but ended up being Conan O’Brien. 

Don’t worry.  You are incapable of being a perfect copy of your role models.  Therefore, your failure to perfectly copy them is the genesis of where your own thing lives.  That is evolution.

The bottom line is this … copy until you make it your own.

This is what is

on my mind today.

It's All About People Blogsite

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration