Have you ever had a coincidence that was so amazing that you were sure God must have had something to do with it? Some people refer to such a “coincidence” as a divine appointment. How did the thought of doing something or going somewhere enter your mind? What nudge did you receive to act? What happened with others that made it all come together at just the right time? Was it really all a coincidence or was it bigger than that? Often, success comes simply from following an internal nudge to take action on a thought.

In the process of completing a book, I am looking for some assistance. If you have a story of something that you believe is more than a coincidence, would you please share it in the comments section. Please share only comments you freely give me your permission to potentially reprint. Thanks!

Memorial Day Weekend is a special time recognizing those who gave their all defending the freedoms of others. Their sacrifice is the ultimate service one can give--their very own life. The price of freedom is expensive and I humbly and gratefully thank these heroes as well as everyone associated with them--their fellow soldiers, their friends, and their family. 

Today's post is specifically dedicated to my father's Uncle--my Great Uncle George.

He was a part of the Normandy D-Day invasion of WWII.  In fact, he was in one of the early waves landing on the beachfront via a Higgins boat. He knew his odds of survival were slim. A good friend of his, also in an early wave, wrote his parents a letter just before the invasion expressing his love to them and his gratitude for their love.  He requested that they honor him with a sense of pride, as he most likely would not be returning from this engagement. As a parent myself, I could only imagine the emotions I would feel reading such a letter from my son. 

The morning came and my Great Uncle George found himself amongst a number of other brave soldiers packed in a Higgins boat. The boat landed and everyone attempted to get out without being shot. He made it. As he left the boat and fell into the water, he and everyone else attempted to get out without being shot or drowning from the weight of their gear. He made it out and onto the beach. Amidst the raining down of bullets, exploding mines and mortars, he ran up the beach. Amazingly, he made it across the beach to the hillside. However, it was here where he was hit by a mortar ripping off part of his leg and sending shrapnel throughout his body.  He spun around and fell on his back. With continuing bullets flying everyplace, explosions and general chaos in all directions, my Great Uncle George lay on the upper beach with blood pouring from his body. 

At that moment, he pulled out a picture of his family and held it on his chest with his bloody hands. He held it tightly till he passed out. We know this because when the medics came and got him the following morning, he still had it clutched to his chest. After all, wasn't it for his family that he was laying on that beach giving his life so others could freely live theirs?  

Well, when the medics did pick him up, it is recorded that they yelled, "This one's not cold! He's still alive!" Somehow, through it all, he had not bled to death. And, long story short, operation after operation, he lived!  He lived to the point that when I was a small boy he told me this story himself. He showed me his reconstructed leg that was now several inches shorter than the other. He showed me the remaining shrapnel that could still be seen just under his skin. He told me about lying on his back holding the picture of his family he was certain he'd never see again. He told me all about it. Then, he looked at me and told me how his good friend and many others never did make it off that beach. He told me how the only way to give their deaths significance is not to take our freedom for granted. "Do something great with your life!"  He told me.      

The article below would not be a complete read without also reviewing the comments people have posted. The perspectives and personal insights shared in the comments are extremely valuable. Thank you to those who contributed. Some people need medical help and other people do not. Everyone, however, needs love.  Treat people with dignity as you are reminded, "There, but for the grace of God, go I."

I read an article stating that the USA could now be referred to as "Medicated America" because so many Americans (nearly 10%--two thirds being women) are taking antidepressant medication. In the poll I recently posted, “Which emotion do you experience most often?” the number one answer was: “Stress.” Yes, people are stressed out, tired, hopeless, full of worry, and, now more than ever, medicated.  Depressing, isn’t it?!  Oops…didn’t mean to say that.  J   Okay, let’s just say it isn’t uplifting! 

So, what’s happening?  First of all, antidepressant drugs are now plentiful and readily available.  Nearly half of those who take antidepressants have never actually received a psychiatric diagnosis or any mental health care beyond just the prescription of the drug. Many people simply feel stressed and are looking for something to help them.

Believe me...I understand facing difficult times in life and wishing to numb some pain. However, whether taking medication is the right thing or not for you to do (I’ll leave that between you and your doctor), I would like to encourage you to also take something else.  That something is a different perspective.  Rather than seeing your challenges and pain as something bad, see them as something to help mold you into something better.  There is a saying, “Don’t pray for an easier life.  Pray to be a bigger man/women.”  Sir Edmond Hillary, after summiting Mt. Everest said, “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” It may not be easy but it will be worth it. 

At some point, you must choose to win in life even when life seems to have the upper hand. Ironically, however, the first step in this victory is to understand that your battle really isn’t against life but rather with yourself.  You can’t change what happens to you but you can learn to change how you assign meaning and respond to it. “Extraordinary change always starts with the act of reframing,” teaches author/speaker Malcolm Gladwell. If you want to change your life, first change the way you see it. Don’t see yourself a victim of life. See yourself polished by life’s abrasiveness.  Then, choose to take positive action.

Consider applying the following three principles in your life:

1. You control the meaning that you assign to the events of your life. Assign it wisely.

Every adversity that you face can add to your bitterness towards others and life in general or it can be the experience that makes you better. Your challenges can help you relate to people. They can help soften you so that you may feel more for other people. Your challenges may, in fact, cause you to reach out closer to your creator seeking comfort and guidance.

Consequently, although your past choices may well be the cause for your challenges, the present meaning you may assign to them can be positive.  For example, the challenges have been necessary in order to help me connect with other people better.  They have softened me and made me more sensitive.  They have led me to a closer relationship with my creator.  That is, there are many good, positive answers to the question of what is the meaning or purpose of all of this?  Search for a positive meaning and be transformed. 

2. Attack or be attacked.  Choose to attack life rather than waiting for life to attack you.

One of my former coaches used to say, “Don’t wait for your competitor to do the attacking.  That leaves you racing their race. You choose when to attack and make it your own race.”  I have found that life is the same way. You won’t get far curled-up waiting for life’s next blow to you. Rather, get up, decide where you are going and get on it! 

If you don’t like the decisions you have made in the past…attack wisdom! 
If you don’t like the quality of people you associate with…attack the creation of new friends!
If you don’t like the state of your physical condition…attack good health!
If you don’t like your financial situation…attack creating a new income stream!
If you don’t like to worry…attack a higher level of faith!
If you don’t like your life…attack living on-purpose (ie, discover your purpose and calling and live it!)

3. Motion creates emotion. Choose to act the way you wish you felt…and you’ll feel it.

When I was a kid, I remember my sister had a poster hanging on her wall with a picture of a sleeping polar bear and a caption that read, “Act enthusiastic and you’ll be enthusiastic.”  I thought the irony of poster was kind of funny yet never realized how truly powerful the caption really was.  It didn’t say, “When you feel enthusiastic you will act enthusiastic.” It made a profound point that motion will create emotion. If you will act the way you wish you felt, you’ll feel it.  When you feel happy, your brain naturally triggers your eyes to look up and your face to smile.  However, if you start looking up and smiling, interestingly it will trigger your brain that you are starting to feel happy. Seems nuts?  Give it a try. 

Want to feel grateful?...start writing down what you are grateful for and really think on it. 
Want to feel happy?...serve others to help them be happy. 
Want to feel energized?...get into motion and go after something you value!

How about if you decide to take on life by taking on yourself?  We can continually look for ways to further escape life and its apparent challenges, or we can fully embrace it. Carefully assign meaning to the events in your life.  Choose to positively attack the areas in life you wish to improve rather than waiting for those areas of your life to attack you.  Finally, choose to get into motion--letting your motion create your emotion rather than waiting for the emotion to arrive first. Remember Helen Keller’s words, “Life is a daring bold adventure or it is nothing at all.”  Live bold and love life.

So, what's going on in the inside?  As you travel through this thing called life, you certainly get to experience a range of emotions.  However, if you had to boil it down to the most predominant one, which one would it be?  (And, yes, I know there is no "Other" catagory this time.  )

Have you ever asked the question, "How did I get here?"  I know I've had those moments.  What about your occupation--how did you get there?  Most people trade the majority of their day at work.  Do you love it?  If you were financially independent, would you still work where you do?  Would you work for free? 

Below is a poll asking you to remember how you ended up doing what it is that you do for a living.  Please take a moment to click on the box that tells your story:

What if you only had 30 days to live?  What would you do?  I know it may be a disturbing question, and I realize that I'm asking it on April fool's day, but entertain it just for a moment.  If that was suddenly your situation, what would become your main focus?  Please click on the survey to provide your answer. 

Now, with that uplifting thought, enjoy your day!  :-) Really!

Hey Everyone--"All three of you!"  (to quote my friend Chris Brady ),

First, I want to thank you.  My goal with this blog is to be a service to lead, teach and inspire people to live life to its fullest.  Yet, I have received a great number of wonderful comments that have personally touched and inspired me!  So, thank you.

Second, in order to make this blog all that it can be, I am looking for your feedback.  I would love to hear from you as to what you would like to see here--topics, ideas, questions,...?

Although I have been light in posting this month, I haven't been short in writing.  In fact, much of what I have been writing I plan to publish later in the year. But for now, please let me know how this blog can best serve you. 

Thanks and God Bless.  Chuck

Take a look at the photo...check out the poor kid in the middle?  Have you ever felt like you were being squeezed by the less desirable aspects of life?  The pressure is significant, you may not be sure how long you will feel this way, and all the while you are cruising down the road of life. 

First, let’s establish the fact that, although at the moment it may be hard to believe, your life has purpose and meaning.  In fact, you were specifically and uniquely designed to fulfill an assignment on earth and you have gifts intended to be used for your purpose. 

Unfortunately, however, some people have a hard time believing that their life could have any particular purpose.  "I was just an accident" I have heard many times.  "How do you know?" I always ask.  "My parents told me..." is typically the response. 

Friends, nobody is an accident.  Your life is not an accident.  As Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life, has said, "There are accidental parents. There are no accidental children. There are illegitimate parents. There are no illegitimate children. Your parents may not have planned you but God planned you. Really it doesn't matter whether your parents were good, bad, or indifferent. They may have even abandoned you. But they were the parents God chose for you. Why? Because they had just the right DNA to create you. And God was more interested in making you than He was in their parenting skills."  Interestingly, Pope Clement VII, Leonardo da Vinci, Alexander Hamilton and even Josephine de Beauharnais (Napoleon's wife) have something in common...they were all born of illegitimate 'parents'. 

How did you get here?  Choices—the choices made by you and by others.  The good news is that regardless of how much we all mess things up there is God that desires to make good of it all.  Follow the process—

Stuff Happens.  I know that my not be the most popular version of the saying but the meaning is the same.  Stuff happens and it happens for a reason all right—people make choices and there are consequences because of them.  Unfortunately, we all make poor choices throughout our life.  Hopefully, we learn from them.  However, in the meantime people are affected by our choices just as we are affected by the choices of others. 

Our ability to choose—our freewill—is God’s greatest blessing and curse that He gave us.  If we didn't have freewill, then we really wouldn't be living.  Rather, we would simply be puppets with strings attached to the hands of God.  We would merely be an extension of His imagination.  We certainly wouldn't have a purpose to fulfill anymore than does a doll laying on your child's bedroom floor.  We would be more like a programmed robot sent to earth.  A program has predetermined functionality--if this...then that...  No, we are not puppets with strings nor are we programmed robots walking the earth.  We are living, thinking, and personally responsible beings.  We exercise our freewill to act and, consequently due to our poor choices, the world is no longer a perfect place. If God were not to allow evil to happen, then He would have to stop our freedom of choice.  

If our freewill to make poor choices is what causes stuff to happen in the world, then why did God give us freewill?  The Bible says that we were created to love God.  In fact, Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. (Matthew 22:36-37) However, if God forced us to love Him than obviously it wouldn’t be true love, would it?  Only if one has the ability not to love but chooses to love anyway, is it genuinely true love.  Consequently, God gave us the freewill to choose to love Him or reject him.  That freewill extends to choices we make throughout our life. 

What is awe-inspiring, however, is regardless of how bad our choices are and those of the people around us--regardless of the mess that we may have made of life--God can ultimately use it all for our good. It is during these difficult times that our character is developed in such a way that we obtain the ability to fulfill our purpose.  How amazing is that?  God will take our struggles and use them for our strength.  Helen Keller said, "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved."  Gothe simply said, "Character develops itself in the stream of life."  Ironically, struggles are necessary to achieve greatness.  Just as a butterfly must go through the struggle of freeing itself from its cocoon in order to develop the strength to fly, we too must grow from our struggles in order to fulfill our mission.  

The real question is can you say, "This is will all be for good," during the tough time prior to understanding how it worked out for you?  It is about having faith.  Given God made you for a purpose and has a plan for your life, can you have faith in Him?  A powerful verse in the Bible says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  (Romans 8:28)  Your degree of peace during difficulties reveals your faith.  Imagine the peace you would feel with the security of knowing that the God of the universe has your best interest in mind.  It's like seeing a movie for the second time and knowing all along how well it all works out in the end.  It's a lot more relaxing, isn't it?  

So, if you are the child on squeezed in the middle of life, don’t ask, “How did I get here?… Rather, thank God that somehow, someway your experience can be used for good.  Smile.  Have faith.  You are just passing through one frame of the movie of your life. 

FREEDOM IS NOT FREE
I watched the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze
A young soldier saluted it, and then
He stood at ease.
I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He'd stand out in any crowd.
I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers' tears?
How many Pilots' planes shot down?
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No Freedom is not free
I heard the sound of taps one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That taps had meant "Amen"
When a flag had draped a coffin of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No Freedom isn't free!

©Copyright 1981 by Kelly Strong
(posted with permission of the author)