OXYGEN

 Oxygen

Let’s think about oxygen. We all need it. Deprive yourself of it for a few minutes and you’ll be desperate for it.

From another point of view, consider this ...
What gives you oxygen? In other words, what inspires you?

Popular motivational books tell us this is our ONE dominate passion. Some call it “our driving force in life.”

I’ve identified my oxygen. It is writing and podcasting. When I first started writing I feared that I would someday run out of ideas and then what?

That has not been the case. It seems one idea leads me to the next, and the next, and ten more after that.

My long-time college friend Harold once told me to slow down in working on my book ideas. He felt I had too many going at once.

This I know ... You will lead a really fulfilling life once you find out what and where your oxygen comes from. And when you do, it just might drive you to places you never dreamed of going.

P Michael Biggs 

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration 

ARE YOU CONVINCED YOU CAN DO IT?

Are You Convinced You Can Do It? 

Harvey Mackay, author of Swim with the Sharks once said this.

The hardest sale 

you’ll ever make 

is to yourself.

Once you’re convinced 

you can do it,

you can.

What have you done once you convinced yourself you could?

Businesses have been launched.
Political offices have been earned.
Large bank accounts have grown even larger.
The big LEAP has happened because someone screwed their courage to the sticking place and made the leap.

It starts with conviction that the THING can be done by YOU! 

Well then ... GO DO IT!

P Michael Biggs 

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration 

See Something - Say Something

 See Something – Say Something 

I’m a big believer in this concept.

If you see something 

beautiful in someone, 

speak it.   ~Ruthie Lindsey

It’s a reminder for all of us to give roses to people while they live, not after they are gone.

In a put-down world such as we live in, most people live put-down lives. I say 

“Build each other up.

Pay the compliment now.

Give kudos in the moment.”

P Michael Biggs 

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Today's Accomplishment

 Today’s Accomplishment

Every day, when we awaken, we are faced with abundant opportunities. And what are we going to do with those opportunities?

Love this ponderable from poet Mary Oliver.

I wonder what it is

I will accomplish today?

~Mary Oliver

P Michael Biggs 

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Get Naked

 Get Naked 

Have you ever been naked in public? For most of us it’s no fun.

I’ve had a few dreams of running naked or in my underwear. So glad when I awakened.

Here’s the good side of getting naked, thanks to Seth Godin and his book

What to Do when it’s Your Turn

Get naked.
We become naked when we say ...
~I made this.
~It’s my fault.
~It was my idea.
~I decided to do it.
~No place to hide is the only place to be.

If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing naked, alone, boldly.

P Michael Biggs 

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Management VS Leadership

Management VS. Leadership

Know the difference between management and leadership?

~Management tells 

someone what to do.

~Leadership inspires them to do it. 

I’ve had managers and I’ve served under leaders. Leaders are better.

~I’ve learned more.
~Received better feedback. 

~Improved in my assignments. 

~Grown as an individual.

I always, always want to be a leader.

P Michael Biggs 

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

A Skilled Sailor

 A Skilled Sailor 

What do you know about being a skillful sailor? This I know.

Anybody can sail on a smooth sea, but when the winds blow, I want a skillful sailor.

I love having a peaceful life. Peaceful lives are the dream of all mankind. And I don’t know any successful individuals who have lived a totally peaceful life.

You see, the rough winds that tear at your sails, the rough seas that we must navigate, the hard times we endure are the lessons that teach us the most about navigating life.

In the last few years, I’ve read or listened to the biographies of some famous men and women. The one thing they have in common is this – they didn’t have an easy life and success did not come to them overnight nor on a silver platter.

Adversity is a great teacher. It teaches one to sail in all winds.

Something to think on, in about 60 s

P Michael Biggs 

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

UpDate on P Michael Biggs

Dear Friends:

I'm still alive and kicking. Just wanted to let you know you and your support as loyal readers are not forgotten.  2021 was a rough year for me medically. I had to have 5 surgeries, and then again just 2 weeks ago - Feb 25 I had another one on my left foot. 

I had to endure an amputation of my toes on the left foot in 2021 and then subsequent fallout from that.  I'm doing well, able to walk, am in a boot.

I have been putting my creative energies of late into podcasting.  I'm approaching my 100th podcast soon and am going to make it a longer form an include greetings from many of my friends and supporters.  Be watching all social media sources, and if you don't follow me, I love for you to do just that. 

My user name is P Michael Biggs. 

Here's the link to my podcast:  Up-Words Podcast

Best Regards to you all!

P Michael Biggs

What Could Be?

What Could Be

I’m glad my parents didn’t give up on me when I was three, or ten, or fifteen. 

I’m glad I didn’t give up on myself when I made my first feeble attempts at some serious writing. 

You see, we have to look down the invisible road called ‘the future’ and imagine what a life might look like, or to see some possibilities in a person’s dreams and hopes.

What could you be?  I don’t know, and I hope you have some good and steady hands of friendship holding onto you as you find out.

We need believers in our lives.

Something to think on,

in about 60 seconds.

The "Almost a Minute" Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Bathing Doesn't Last

Bathing Doesn’t Last

  

I took a bath yesterday.  Do I have to take another one today?  Probably a good idea, unless I want to offend a bunch of people with whom I rub elbows today.

What?  My bath didn’t even last 24 hours?  What a bummer.

Sort of like motivation.  I love what Zig Ziglar once said.

People often say that motivation

Doesn’t last. Well, neither

Does bathing.  That’s why

We recommend it daily.

~Zig Ziglar

Something to think on,

in about 60 seconds.

The "Almost a Minute" Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Hope Is the Beginning

Hope Is the Beginning

Got hope?  I hope so.

Hope is the beginning of every enterprise in the world.  Somebody saw a need and then set about filling that need.  They had hopes of making a difference in this world. 

So … I ask again.  Got hope?

We’re living in hard times.  And yet, I have a hope for  brighter days ahead, more reasonable days, more sensible days.

For now, I’m turning that hope into prayers, and writing what I can, when I can, words of hope, encouragement and inspiration.

Exercise your hope.

Something to think on,

in about 60 seconds.

The "Almost a Minute" Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

When Plagued with Mediocre - Push On

When Plagued with 

Mediocre – Push On

Mediocracy sometimes run rampant in our lives.  To paraphrase what a friend of mind once said … “You are a mediocre man looking for a place to happen.”

Ouch.

Let me offer this:

Lucille Ball was told to “try another profession” early in her career.  She kept pursuing acting and comedy instead.

John F Kennedy lost his bid for president of his freshman class at Harvard.  He lost a few other posts for which he tried, but became a great US President.

Steven Spielberg's mediocre grades prevented him from getting accepted to UCLA film school.  He found success in Star Wars and a few other blockbuster movies.

Bob Dylan was booed off the stage at his high school talent show.  He took that mediocre moment and turned it into the great BOB DYLAN.

Mediocre is not a lasting ailment, unless we let it be. 

Whatever may be mediocre in your life for now can become stellar, if you want it to be.

Mediocre is a choice. 

So is high success.

Something to think on,

in about 60 seconds.

The "Almost a Minute" Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Are You Remaining Ashore?

Are You Remaining Ashore?

We all have choices.  All of us.  And we can make excuses, use all kinds of excuses for doing or not doing a thing.

Consider this:

Sometimes we need to remember why we started on a course to begin with.  What drove us there? 

Sure, there are always dangers, always setbacks, always someone to tell us “you’re crazy”, “you can’t”, “you won’t”, “you don’t know what you’re doing”.

But you knew all that in the beginning, I suppose.

What will it take to get you up and out?

That’s the critical question.

Something to think on,

in about 60 seconds.

The "Almost a Minute" Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

A Sustainable Life

A Sustainable Life

No one remembers my past accomplishments.  No one celebrates anything significant that I pulled off in my past life.

Ah, but what about how I treated others?

Now that is sustainable. 

People remember how you 

made them feel. 

That is significant.

THAT is sustainable.

Something to think on,

in about 60 seconds.

The "Almost a Minute" Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Pick YOU

Pick YOU

Ten years ago, nobody was calling me up asking for my blogs?  I had to pick myself to be the one to start that venture. 

Oh, I had doubts and fears.  But as Suzy Kassem says,

“Doubts kill more dreams 

than failure ever will.”

Sometimes, we pick ourselves, what interests us, and our strong desires, simply because we need to express ourselves.  And at times, we pick ourselves simply because a thing needs to be done.  It demands to be done.

Don’t wait to be picked.

Pick Yourself!

Something to think on,

in less than a minute.

The "Almost a Minute" Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

I Know Fear and I Know Peace

I Know Fear and I Know Peace

I know fear when being shaved in preparation for heart surgery.

I know fear when having an angiogram to look at my heart blockage.

I’ve known other fears.

And in the middle of those fears, I know and have known peace from the God of my understanding.

And HIS peace trumps all fears.

Something to think on,

in about 60 seconds.

The "Almost a Minute" Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Sometimes We Try Again

Sometimes We Try Again

When things go wrong, it’s easy to walk away.  If we say something that is disagreeable, it’s easy to never want to speak up again.  If we write a song no one listens to, it’s easy to quit writing songs.

Ah … but to try again and again.  To keep experimenting with our voice, our tools, our talents and our ideas.  That is the key to becoming a contributor to life.

Will you and I dare to try again and again?

Something to think on,

in about 60 seconds.

The "Almost a Minute" Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Lessons from a Dropped Ball

Lessons from a Dropped Ball

There is something to be learned even in a dropped ball.  Baseball is all about what you do with the ball, and that includes catching, hitting, snagging and throwing it.  We don’t usually think of a dropped ball as a lesson opportunity.

However …

Perhaps, it teaches something about the coach, the leader, the teacher as much as about the player.  Baseball coaches don’t go into coaching Little League expecting every player to be perfect, make every catch and hit a homerun every time.

They know losses, dropped balls and missed swings are part of the process.  It’s all a learning curve.  You teach the how’s and why’s of the game. 

And you let the player who fumbled back on the field to try and try again. 

It’s a process … catches and fumbles, dropped balls and strikeouts.

Something to think on,

in about 60 seconds.

The "Almost a Minute" Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration

Of Course You're Going to Face Fear

Of Course, You’re Going to Face Fear

“I would go out and run a marathon … but I might not finish.”

“I would write that great American novel … but it might not sell.”

“I would sing a solo … but I might mess up.”

“I would get married … but I might end up divorced.”

WoW!  Fears abound.

And we face them anyway.

Tell me … what endeavor in life is without fear?

And we do it anyway!

That is all I have to say for today.

Something to think on,

in about 60 seconds.

The "Almost a Minute" Blog Site

P Michael Biggs

Hope~Encouragement~Inspiration