Faith

Recycling Tears for Joy

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Optimism Thought of the Week

 

For Sunday, January 03, 2016

 

Recycling Tears for Joy

 

By Glennel Hardy

Photo Courtesy of Nick Lerma

 

Being optimistic can be a challenge depending on where we stand at any moment in life.  I have not always had an optimistic view on life, but through some tears and overcoming some major obstacles, it kind of grew on me.  Tears I found was the beginning of opening myself for something new.  Tears have to take place, I found it’s the only way for the body to cleanse itself, and let everything out.

As we all do I had hope on things to come, the current situation was not ideal, but I always had the ability to dream about tomorrow. My past and the moments I had to endure was a necessary ingredient of my growth for tomorrow. After the tears have left us, we seek joy to help us sustain what comes afterward.

Everything began to turn around in December 2003.  Tears were then recycled to joy, and I started to learn how to turn the most painful moments, into pivotal parts of my life. Everything in our life counts. We do not have the ability to pick and choose what comes towards us, but we do have the ability to decide how we use it in our lives.

 

In Search of Wisdom

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Optimism Thought of the Week

For Sunday, December 06, 2015

 

In Search of Wisdom

 

By Glennel Hardy

 

If there is one particular age demographic that if anyone ask me, who do I connect with the most, my reply would be the young at heart, our seniors.  I was raised in a generation in which my most meaningful conversations were not with my peers, but it was with the elderly.  Some of the younger generation does not seize on the opportunity of the untapped potential of wisdom that exists in the inner core of what our seniors bring to the table.

Of course today we have the smartphones, we have our apps, but most of these tools are only as smart as the user that utilizes them. If you’re not tech-savvy then your smartphone and all it can do, is under-utilized and it becomes useless. Taking this just a step further, what if our elders were just as powerful as our smartphones today.  What information can they offer, or what can they tell us that we are missing out on?

While I was out running errands Saturday morning, on my very last chore I decided to hit the car wash, to give Alexis a good scrub down.  As I was hand-drying my car off at the end of the cycle a guy by the name of Daniel approached me.  Daniel asked if I can help him by offering him a couple of dollars to grab something to eat, and so I did.  Once I provided Daniel with the two dollars, he in return educated me on something that I never knew.  He went on to describe the specifications of my car, the engine, and what the manufacturer normally would set the governor to on the engine.  Daniel offered me some wisdom in exchange for what I had offered him.

The moral of the story is we should consistently search for wisdom, everyone has something to give, but we have to be willing to come in empty, and also be willing to be taught, so we can leave out full.

The Closing of a Chapter

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Optimism Thought of the Week

For Sunday, November 22, 2015

 

The Closing of a Chapter

 

By Glennel Hardy

 

Over the course of life I have come to realize that either if good or bad, things eventually come to an end.  This is not welcoming news depending on the situation at hand, but it allows for the birth of something new.  If a chapter never closes, you lose the joy and excitement of what else life has to offer.

The closing of a chapter does not mean the very end,  it means the very beginning of a new way to look at things.  If you enjoy reading a particular book, you go through many chapters to get the complete story. Our story is compiled of chapters, and if we remain in the same chapter, the story gets dull.

We’re to look forward to the closing of one chapter, in order to make way for what’s to come. Our chapters in life are neither big nor small, but it’s made just right, for the time that we are fitted into.

Is this your time to close one chapter, and prepare for the next?

The Signal to Proceed

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Optimism Thought of the Week

For Sunday, November 15, 2015

 

The Signal to Proceed

 

By Glennel Hardy

 

You ever had an experience in which you acted on a situation too soon? Afterwards it kinds of feel awkward, and then you may wonder what to do next.  In life we are given various opportunities to proceed, but at certain times when we do, it would have been the wrong time to act.

I do believe in life that we are given an abundant of opportunities, some in which may look as though they are one in a lifetime, but later we realize that something is still missing. Every opportunity that comes our way is worth considering, but may not require an action on our part.

There is an inner signal that exist within us, one in which alerts us when to proceed, and when to bypass. The signal within us, not only is aware of what stands before us today, but is also aware of what lies ahead for us tomorrow.

Each signal is an opportunity, it’s either stop and consider, or proceed along your journey.  We must decide once we reach the signal, what will be our next course of action.

 

Faith in Tomorrow

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Optimism Thought of the Week

For Sunday, November 08, 2015

 

Faith in Tomorrow

 

By Glennel Hardy

Looking back over the personal journals that I compiled there were some extremely difficult times in which I didn’t think I would overcome.  The day would start empty in my life, and by the end of the day I had not one bit of energy to keep me going.  I knew at that point that no matter how small I had to make some changes to test new theories.

Small changes made the difference. At times we need to override our mind and the way we perceive things, and take a leap of faith.  It is definitely a fact that what got us to where we are today, may not get us to where we need to be tomorrow. Everyday however is a gift, it’s a chance to test the theory, and it’s an opportunity to take a leap of faith.

We should definitely have faith in tomorrow. Tomorrow is a gift yet to be opened, a road of new adventure, and has the potential to exceed our expectations.

Forward Thinking

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Optimism Thought of the Week

Forward Thinking

By Glennel Hardy

 

Several years ago I started writing in a journal.  That part of my life had the most turbulence, however I did find time to write my thoughts.  I thought about things as they were that day, and I wrote about what I would love tomorrow to become.  It has given me hope that I could vision something beyond today.

 

We have the ability to write our own history.  Our life is a story of where we once were, and where we are today.  It’s important to always dream bigger than our current circumstances. In our mind we should constantly daydream of what tomorrow would be like for us.  Today is the totality of events, whether good or bad, but tomorrow we start fresh.

 

How big is your tomorrow?  If your tomorrow is determined by what happened today, then we miss the opportunity of the beauty of life itself. Allow your tomorrow to have a fresh start, do not hold your tomorrow ransom, by what occurred today.

 

 

The End Result

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Optimism Thought of the Week

 

The End Result

 

By Glennel Hardy

 

How often do we ask ourselves “is it worth it”, when we’re faced with what seems like a losing battle?

My very last semester at Arizona State University, I was left with College Algebra, and Statistics, two classes in which I dreaded the most. Since I knew that both classes would present a challenge for me, I took steps in making sure I would be successful in passing both courses. I could not allow the dreadfulness to discourage me, I had to only keep in mind what the end result would look like, walking across the stage at graduation. When you keep your eye on what the end result would look like, you begin to take notice of the steps you take, getting to the end result.

There is a chance that the first several attempts in making anything work, will result in failure. Success and failure is a complicated science, and it can’t be estimated at how many attempts it will take, to get it right. It’s practice. We should celebrate when we succeed, and never fear to hold your head high, when you fail.  Both success and failure are interdependent. We would never truly appreciate our own true strength, if our weakness was never tested.

If the vision remains with us of what the end result may look like, then we must continue to develop a strategy, until we become successful in our endeavor.

The Hike

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Optimism Thought of the Week

For Sunday, October 11, 2015

The Hike

By Glennel Hardy

One of my favorite activities that I love to do is hike. Although being asthmatic can sometime be an obstacle as I make my way up, I stay focused on what the view would look like from up above. Yesterday as I began the hike upwards I found it more challenging than usual, as I looked up ahead of me all I could see was steep pavements. I generally would bring my headphones with me, so that I can focus on the music and not my breathing. This particular day I left my headphones behind, so I was forced to change the way I looked at getting to the top.

Instead of being focused on the peak above, I focused more on what was directly ahead of me. It was overwhelming in the beginning to see where I needed to go, but when I stayed focus on what was right before me, I had a “can do attitude.” Along the way I would pace myself, because I was determined I would hike my way to the top. When I could sense my breathing was dense, I simply pulled to the side and continued when it was safe to do so. I finally did make it to the top, and once I arrived the view was amazing.

In our lives as we make our way upwards, the challenge of getting there would seem impossible at  first glance. If you glance at what you need to accomplish, in relation to where you stand today, it would appear to be intimidating. We have to take the first step forward, and focus on the journey and then the destination, becomes our bonus. Each step we take forward, we are one step closer to where we’re supposed to be.

When you begin your hike, pace yourself and admire your surroundings, and then move forward. Along the journey that’s when we become our very best, and where we gain the most endurance. When you do reach the top, never forget the journey as well as those who cheered for you along the way.

Detour Ahead

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Optimism Thought of the Week

For Sunday, September 20, 2015

Detour Ahead

By Glennel Hardy

 

 

Yesterday as I preparing to take my walk on my normal route, I noticed a few yards in front of me a sign that said “Detour Ahead.”  I looked beyond the sign and noticed that the sidewalk was closed, and the only way to get around the construction, was to walk on the other side of the street and change course.

Taking notice of the construction I understood why it was important for me to change course. If I were to continue down my usual path, and bypassed the warning sign, it could have led to a serious injury.  Later after reflecting on it I realized that taking a different route was not as troublesome as I had imagined.

In life we’re constantly coming across signs that force us to change course. It’s for certain that we generally have our own set paths, and dreams, but along life’s highway, were forced at times to detour. When we are forced to detour it educates us on a new way of doing things, to become an even better person than we are today.

Detours are necessary although at the same time it places an unwelcomed interruption on our daily lives. Once we change course from the path we’re most familiar with, it opens up new roads that we have yet traveled. New roads leads to new opportunities.

 

 

 

The Approach

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Optimism Thought of the Week

For Sunday, September 06, 2015

The Approach

By Glennel Hardy

 

 

This past week here in Phoenix as part of our monsoon season we had a pretty severe storm that hit us. Every year around this time we have expectations of the monsoon storms to come our way.  This year however our storms took a different pattern, they started to appear later in the season, and they took different patterns in how they approached the city.

When we take the example of the monsoon, and how the storm approached us it also teaches us in life how storms hit us pretty hard as well.  Our own personal storms generally has no specific time pattern, and can appear at any time, and when it does, it hits us pretty hard.  Even though the storm is powerful and it can be extremely intimidating, we can exercise a different approach on how we face it.

Storms come and go, like our problems that we will come across in our lifetime.  We can’t avoid storms, and likewise we can’t avoid most problems that come along the way.  The action that we can take is how to approach it head on once it heads our direction.

Storms like our problems intensify in the heat of the moment.  After the storm has passed we either gain strength from it, or we never recover.  Our main objective is always to recover, look at our storms head on, and always look for a different approach in how we face it.

Positive Reaction

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Optimism Thought of the Week

 

For Sunday, August 15, 2015

 

Positive Reaction

 

By Glennel Hardy

 

While spending a little down time today I found myself turning on Netflix, and watching an episode about the universe. This particular episode focused on comets.  There are trillions of comets in the universe. Some comets are as small as a mile long, while others are the size of Manhattan.  According to NASA comets flow freely throughout the galaxy at normal speed of one million miles per hour.  When the comet approaches the sun, it gains energy doubling its speed and can travel up to two million miles per hour.

 

The sun energizes the comets allowing it to gain greater speed, and it bounces off the sun’s energy, while other comets would run directly into the sun and explode on contact.  While learning about comets it caused me to ponder upon this analogy.

 

Like the sun we definitely should have in our life someone that has such a positive reaction on us that it causes us to catapult to our next journey.  Positive energy has become such a limited resource.  Positive energy is something that everyone needs, but it’s in limited supply unless you know where to find it.

 

If you get to the point and find your energy is low, and it seems like you are just floating in space, find your sun in your atmosphere.

 

 

A Spark

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Optimism Thought of the Week

A Spark

By Zackary Meier, Creative Editor

 

Sometimes the best gift we can give ourselves, is ourselves. Quite often we are caught up in the hustle of our everyday lives, that things we have been dreaming of doing or accomplishing, gradually fall to the wayside. A subtle shift in vocabulary can create a ripple effect of lasting change.

Our choices in words reflect how we feel on the inside. A simple example of this is using the two word phrase “I want” before we state the thing we “want” to accomplish or the place we’ve always “wanted” to go.

When we replace the “I wants” with the “I wills,” spectacular things start to happen. Whether it’s something big, or something small, when we profess “I WILL do this…” as opposed to “I want to do this…” amazing things can start to change.

Strategy

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Optimism Thought of the Week

Strategy

If you ever played a game of pool, you always with certainty must strategize, on where the ball would land, and how you would take advantage of the next shot.  If you do not strategize the position where you are aiming at, it may leave you in an undesirable spot. In order to get a precise shot, a shot that will give us another opportunity to make another move, we must place ourselves where we desire to be.

Some will make a move not necessarily considering where they may end up.  Each move we make in life is an opportunity, whether if we consider it a good shot, or a costly mistake.  Before we make that move we must determine what a successful strategy would look like.

Before we make our next shot, let’s strategize in our mind, what the next move would look like once we arrive.

Glennel Hardy

 

It’s In The Details

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Optimism Thought of the Week

It’s In The Details

You ever find yourself in a moment of time where it seems nothing is happening at all, or that things are not going as quickly as you would like them to be?  I have on occasion found myself wanting to speed the show along and get to the final scene, but then later realize the show may have been better if a little more detail was added.

We may find ourselves at certain periods in our lives, in which the show is dragging along, but it’s important to remember the details is what makes life fascinating.  The best things in life are the details, it’s the background setting, it’s what we don’t see that is happening, and that makes everything go smoothly.

In the background details are hard at work, uniqueness designed just for us, and it’s dynamic. When you find that things are not moving along as swiftly, it’s the details that are being added. We can’t sacrifice the details.

Glennel Hardy

Fear Has a Weak Spot

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Optimism Thought of the Week

For Sunday, June 28, 2015

Fear Has a Weak Spot

Fear serves an imperative role on our lives.  Most of us would rather not have fear, while others may put fear to the challenge.  Fear can either subtract value from what we already have, or it can increase value and make us stronger.  Fear is a vital element in growth.

When we stare fear in the face we may believe that we are more intimidated, but generally fear is more intimidated of our next move.  When you can stare fear in the face without wavering, you have already put fear on notice.

Fear has a weak spot where many may have not yet seen.  If you can look  fear in the eyes, and take the first step towards it, fear has no choice but to move out of your way.

Glennel Hardy

Photo Courtesy of Evan Curtis

The Storm Ahead

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Optimism Thought of the Week

The Storm Ahead

At first glance it looks massive with the oversize clouds above, and the sounds of thunder in the distance. You look way beyond in the distance as the clouds continue to roll in, and before you know it, it begins to rain.

You’re caught in the middle of the storm and your first thought is finding shelter from it. It begins to pour even harder, but then it seems at its strongest point it begins to let up. You look ahead and notice a break in the clouds, and then you realize the storm is quickly passing through.

Life gives us storms, some that may be slow passing, and others that quickly move out. There is always a break in the clouds, to remind you that the storm will end. As storms increase with their intensity so does our resolve.

 

Glennel Hardy

The Signal

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Optimism Thought of the Week

The Signal

There is a signal that resides in all of us. The signal will alert us when it’s time to move forward, or when it’s time to come to a complete stop. Knowing this how often do we obey the signal within us?

Have we faithfully moved along when we had the signal to move forward, or was there a missed opportunity, and therefore we wait for the next signal?

Signals are unique, and not everyone will have the signal to go at the same time, but when we do, that signal is meant for us. Our signal will not turn green unless it was safe for us to proceed.

The greatest thing about life is the road ahead of us. We do not have to be constantly on the move, but we must be aware of the signal before us.

 

Glennel Hardy

Discovery

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Optimism Thought of the Week

Discovery

Have you ever been forced to make a decision that you were not comfortable with, but afterwards you discovered it was the best decision you ever made?

Life has a way to propel us forward even when we are strongly reluctant to comply.  Our immediate thought generally when there is an abrupt change in our life,  is why when it appears that everything is going well, it’s somehow interrupted.

The truth is we grow from interruptions in life.  Interruptions allow us to discover growth and opportunity in areas we never knew existed.  It allows us not to become dormant but active.

Challenge yourself to see your interruption as a new way to discover a path to a new way of growth and opportunity. 

  – Glennel Hardy

 

 

 

Prepare

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Optimism Thought of the Week

Preparing for Something Big

There are some things in life that we can’t possibly prepare for, but there are other things that keep us up at night or keep a smile on our face during the day. Depending on who you may ask, in order to prepare for something big, we need to create the space for it.

Over time I have learned that preparation is the most exciting part of the actual accomplishment. When we prepare we are opening our minds to something new, and we have created an openness, in which one day that vacancy will be fulfilled.

A true vision is not something that can be obtained in just a matter of time, but it should be large enough in which we strive for daily. It should keep us energized throughout our days, and we should never become weary because of it.

Glennel Hardy

Moving On

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Optimism Thought of the Week

Moving On

We will come to the point in life in which it will be time for us to move on from our current position. We do our best to delay the process, and make every reason why we should stay, but before we know it we’re forced to make the move.

Forcing the move is much more painful than freely making the decision on our own. When we’re forced to make the move it’s because circumstances pushed us forward. When we make the move on our own, we act upon opportunities that are presented to us, that allow us to move forward.

There are those that are meant to stay, and those that are meant to depart at a certain point in our life. It’s time to decide are we going to choose the opportunity presented before us, or do we allow circumstances to drive us.

Glennel Hardy