The Journey

So, today I got this in the mail. A couple weeks back I had invested in a friend who's headed overseas in a few months to do some awesome missions work. She's doing something awesome and outside the norm for missions fundraising and selling keys that she engraves. You can either choose a word of your own or she can choose a "prophetic word' for you and send you one with the word and the explanation of why she chose that word. To support and check her out head over to her facebook page here.

Anyways, there totally is a point to this much beyond a shameless plug for a friend. It's been a crazy couple of weeks and in my expectation of things expanding, it seems that things have almost gone the opposite. I open the letter with the key and this is what it says,

"Tony,
     Put your seat belt on! The JOURNEY is going to be huge and so much fun! He's going to satisfy all your desires for thrill! Don't focus on where you are from anymore! Focus on the journey before you!"

If you know me at all you know that I'm a huge dreamer. I believe and expect bigger than most if not everyone I know. With that, sometimes come unrealistic expectations, especially on the time it will take to achieve all the great things I can conceive in my mind. Lately circumstances and temporary setbacks have been piling up. So, needless to say, this letter and key came at the perfect time. It's easy for me to get caught up on the end destination instead of seeing the day to day journey that takes you there.

I realized as I'm making plans to move in the next couple weeks just how far I've come in a year. September will mark a year of me living in this place. When I moved in here I had nothing. I had a pillow, a couple blankets, a laundry basket of clothes and one box of sentimental stuff. Tonight as I take inventory of where I stand as I'm leaving, I'm truly blown away at what I've been able to accomplish in a few short months.

From starting with NO money and an empty apartment, to slowing acquiring 2 couches, a dining room table and chairs, TV, and stand, a desk and having a bed to sleep on is quite mind boggling to me. When I moved in here I had NO vehicle and was riding the bus 2 hours ONE WAY to work or bumming rides to get anywhere I was headed. Now I own a brand new 2016 Nissan Versa. I have my own business, and have recently joined a band (Stay tuned. More on that in the upcoming months). On top of all that, I was recently promoted after being at a job just over 6 months and given the position over 70+ people who applied.

With each of those things happening on their own over a period of 12 months, that doesn't seem that impressive. But when you list it out and see how much progress and transition has happened, it's pretty insane!

As always, I don't write this to just "toot my own horn" or draw attention to myself. I write it to show you how dedication and persistence can get you anywhere. It's easy to get discouraged in the day to day when you don't seem to have progress and the circumstances of life try to come at you and take you down. I challenge you to take inventory of your life and the last 12 months and see how far you've come and then to write out a plan for the next 12 months and see where you want to be. Your success story isn't finished. It's only just begun!

Higher Perspective

So, here I am on my flight from Nashville to LA, looking out my window from 34,000 feet. Things are so much different from up here. Houses, mansions, roads, cars, cities, everything that seems to tower over you when you're on the ground is so insignificant from up here.

It's interesting a quick change of location or change of perspective can mean the world of difference in your reality. As we go through each day, we're constantly inundated with everything. The elections, the car breaking down, bills, someone's foul opinion of us, you name it. There's so much potential in a single day alone that can drive you negatively insane!

But I want to challenge you to run every circumstance, every opinion, through your higher perspective filter. What if, every time a speed bump or a roadblock came your way, you didn't let it ruin your day? But instead, you realized that the slowdown was a small, insignificant, temporary thing in the long term perspective of your journey.

See, what I'm realizing on this plane, is that perspective is EVERYTHING. I feel like so many times we come up against an unexpected road block in life and we lose our minds because of it. When, in all reality, the speed bump is so small and insignificant it can hardly be seen from the greater perspective and overview of your life.

So today, if something comes in front of you, don't let it get you down. Don't let it stop you. Remember to tell yourself, "This is insignificant in the long term perspective of my life." Find a way to overcome and keep moving forward.