Have you ever noticed that it is when your mind relaxes, …
when you are out on a walk,
taking a shower
or dozing off to sleep, …
that the analytical and creative facets of your mind get together
and come up with promising solutions
to the nagging challenges
that distort our lives?
A barricade is nothing more than an invitation to choose a “road less traveled.”*
May the New Year bring you the creative vision to find your path.
Best wishes for the Holidays.
Dick Durrance
*With thanks to Robert Frost.
Are changes in your life
coming at you so fast
that you constantly have to adjust?
Perhaps you love some of the changes, maybe you hate them.
Love them or hate them, we all have to deal with them.
When I embrace change as a gift,
the positive attitude opens a door
to opportunities in every facet of my life.
Years ago, I came face to face with this Rumanian shepherd.
I looked him in the eyes, and he stared back intensely,
creating a powerful moment of understanding.
Have you ever experienced a moment like that, understanding without words?
I felt like I was not only connecting with the shepherd, but with myself.
I hope when you connect with family members, friends, and even strangers,
that you not only appreciate them a little more,
but understand yourself a bit better.
Have you thought about serendipity lately?
We all know that chance events can change our lives
and with change comes a fear of the unknown.
I now believe that by trusting serendipity,
change can be embraced as a gift, the gift of an opportunity.
Where do you connect with your core values?
Is it in the warm embrace of your family?
The hubbub at your office?
The peace found in natural places?
I have found that only when
I am in harmony with my core values
do I bring to the world
the best I have to offer.
It has been said many times,
the eyes are the window into the soul.
When you look into this soldiers eyes, what do you see?
Do you connect with him?
Haven’t you found that when you connect with people,
you understand them better,
understand their needs,
and hopefully figure out ways to help them?
Isn’t that what life is all about?
As you look back over the years,
what changes have altered your life?
Unwelcome changes imposed from outside?
Welcome adjustments from inside?
Somewhere along the line, I figured out that if I
embraced all changes as a gift,
opportunities could open up in every facet of my life.
That simple insight has made all of the difference in my life and career.
Would it make a difference in your life?
As we enter the New Year, we face a choice.
Do we want to spend the year living in a shell,
watching the world change around us?
Or, do we want to convert the windows of our lives into doorways,
step out into the world,
embrace the changes
and bring to our endeavors
the very best we have to offer?
You can create your future
by seeing what is and
imagining what can be.
I have found that
when you choose a path of reinvention,
doors will open to every facet of your life,
your personal life and your professional life.
Everybody is born with a variety of natural talents.
When you have taken a talent as far as you can,
why not reach inside and find another talent,
develop it into skills,
and again bring to the world the very best you have to offer.
Have you found, as I have, that learning is like climbing a ladder?
No matter how high you go, there always seems to be another rung above you.
But, haven’t you also found that the higher you climb up that ladder of learning,
the broader your horizon gets
and the more opportunities you see.
Just as the seasons bring about change in the world outside of us,
so the adventure of living creates change inside of us.
The trick, I am finding, is to somehow
transform those changes into opportunities to grow.
Just as tiny redwood seeds
combine water and soil
to grow into the tallest trees in the world,
so you create enormous possibilities in your life
by melding the logical and creative powers of your mind.
If you journey deep into your self
to that place where your core values live,
you can harness your natural strengths to your core values
and become the best you can be.
You can dream like a champion.
If you venture out of your comfort zone
and connect with people in other walks of life,
individuals who can broaden your horizons,
you will develop an understanding of men and women
that will serve you well in everything you do.
Never stop looking for your natural talents.
When you are called upon to make a big change, you can tap those talents.
By developing your talents into skills with unrelenting tenacity,
you create opportunities for yourself both personally and professionally.
Change is inevitable,
but your destiny is not fixed.
You decide how you are going to respond to change.
You can let it sweep you over the falls.
Or, you can embrace change
as an opportunity to grow.
That’s what champions do.
That’s what leaders do.
That’s what you can do.
When you think about it,
it is through our eyes
that we connect with people.
But the question is:
What do you see in their eyes?
What do they see in your eyes?
What do you see about yourself in their eyes?
To dream like a champion,
you do not have to be the one
to create all of the ideas.
But, to convert ideas into accomplishments,
you do have to reach out to the people around you–
bond with your teammates and
connect with the people you encounter along the way.
William Jennings Bryan famously said,
“Destiny is not a matter of chance,
it is a matter of choice.”
What choices can you make
to spark the ideas you need
to create the destiny you desire?
Only a few individuals are lucky enough to be champions;
but, everybody can dream like a champion.
If you
open your eyes and look at the facts around you,
open your mind and embrace the ideas around you,
open your heart and reach out to the people around you,
you can focus your dreams like a champion,
and shape your destiny.
With the coming of the holiday season,
we are reminded that each of us
is born with natural gifts,
graced with ideas,
and harbor dreams
for our families, our friends, and ourselves.
‘Tis the season to rejoice in those gifts,
the opportunities they create,
and the love that they manifest.
Only when you harness the power of your ideas
can you hope to convert your toughest challenges
into great opportunities,
shape your destiny
and flourish.
And when you do mobilize your ideas,
you not only create your future,
you open doors in the lives of people around you.
Are there ideas frozen in your mind,
waiting to be released?
We are all born with the ability to spark ideas.
Our challenge is to embrace them.
Welcome your ideas. Warm them.
Perhaps now is the time for one of those ideas.
If not now,
when?
How do you spark the ideas you need to guide your business and
to fulfill your dreams?
Join me in exploring a variety of keys for creating ideas.
Using a series of images and observations
from a lifetime of world-wide photographic assignments.
I will help you spark the ideas you need
to create the future you desire.
