Friday, October 19, 2012

Coffee and A Conundrum to Start My Day

I like to start my day with a strong cup of espresso and a little time on the computer. This morning on Facebook two posts caught my eye. They were both inspirational messages, one said "Never Give Up!" and the other said "Learn to Let Go." So I should do what, never give up at learning to let go? It was just a coincidence that they showed up together, but I still thought that was pretty funny.

If I were going to pick an inspirational slogan I might pick "Just do it" or maybe "Stop Whining." One year at a trade show I attended in Atlantic City an exhibitor was handing out huge round buttons with "No Whining" printed on it. I don't know what their point was, or who was giving them out, but I wore mine to the Whitehouse Deli at lunchtime and all the waitresses loved it. I went back the next day with one for each of them. That isn't to say I don't do my fair share of whining - boy, do I ever. But still, not whining is something I aspire to.

"Cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude" is another one I like. My Pastor recently posted on Facebook that his furnace was broken, but he was grateful. That was powerful. So often in life when something goes wrong all we think about is what isn't working or what we don't have. At those moments it is very easy to forget to about everything that is still humming along nicely, or that we do have. I'm not very good at living with gratitude, either, but I aspire to it.

I also quite like Andrew Zimmer's "If it looks good, eat it." I'm very food oriented, as you can tell. In high school when my Chinese class (yes, I took Chinese in high school, don't ask me why) went to Chinatown for dim sum I was the only student who wasn't intimidated. I ate not only my own meal, but that of several other people who got weak kneed at the last minute. "Pickled eel? No problem, pass it over!" In the years since I have happily eaten my way through Tokyo, Colombia and Mexico. One day I would like to go to Jamaica, Queens, where I was born, and eat my way up one side of the street and down the other in the competing South East Asian restaurants, taco trucks and soul food buffets. I haven't done it yet, but I aspire to.

What inspirational message or tag line ecapsulates your aspirations? Feel free to share in the comments or on Facebook.

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