Be Tenacious! Ride the Trail of Life's Winds

Tough Times Never last, But Tough People Do!

Title of a book by Revered Robert H. Schuller

On a bike ride on top of a volcano in Maui, 2001

"Hold on!"

            As wild bicycle riders, my play gang during my youth and I would yell these words to each other as we circled the house—jumping ditches or mudholes, cruising over  rocks, knocking over playmates—or anything else in our way—peddling our ‘no speeds’ as hard as we could.  We were usually doubled up on the bike— one doing the leg work while standing— the other one perched on the seat, holding the other's waist, head, arms, or whatever provided the firmest grip. Occasionally, a third person would hop on, riding the handlebar or a rear wheel seat. Fierce and focused for big fun, we rode that limited but challenging route around the house on the bicycle, since we were not allowed to venture out into the road. Occasionally one of us would try to show off and take both hands off of the handlebars…and then everyone fell down. 

            I continued to enjoy biking and at one time lived close to an extensive and intermittently demanding trail in Alexandria VA. The trail’s proximity to the Potomac River brought beauty and peace to the ride for me. However, on windy days this location was particularly challenging. Headwinds coming off the river prevailed, slowing my ride and causing me to hold on tighter when I reached dangerous curves and downhills. I was concerned about falling because in spots the trail was further surrounded by miry marsh and rocky deep ditches. My helmet offered some protection and I shifted gears as necessary to negotiate the path. Those were not times or places for any tricks like riding with my hands off the handle bars. Paying attention to these moments, the call for me was to still ‘hold on’.

            The trails of life can yield weighty winds and stumbling stones, but being steadfast can help us to ride them out. ‘That which doesn’t kill us can make us stronger.’ Let’s maximize our motions. With our protections of faith, creativity and a firm foundation of focus— we can do it. 

            Another one of my favorite gospel songs tells me, ‘Just like a tree that's planted by the water, I shall not be moved.’

            Our talents provide a framework of protection for us to peddle hard on the journey.

Excerpted from my motivational autobiography, Navigating Life’s Roadways: Stories of Insight from My Odyssey and Inspiration for Your Journey in print and Kindle eBook http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008FQDPYE

Promised Land Perspectives: African American Vigilance for Victory | Great Black Speakers

Promised Land Perspectives: African American Vigilance for Victory | Great Black Speakers

Army General Receives Second Star | The Afro-American Newspapers | Your Community. Your History. Your News.

First Black Female Army General Receives Second Star | The Afro-American Newspapers | Your Community. Your History. Your News.

I Love to Read and Review Books :): Author Deborah L. Parker

I Love to Read and Review Books :): Author Deborah L. Parker: Deborah L. Parker was born in the rural town of Waverly Virginia and has travelled many paths since then that have provided hard yet hea...

Dealing with Adversity with Guest Deborah Parker 03/07 by Stepmoms Toolbox | Blog Talk Radio

Dealing with Adversity with Guest Deborah Parker 03/07 by Stepmoms Toolbox | Blog Talk Radio

First Frost: 3 Key Lessons from My Grandfather's Collard Greens

With my grandfather, Joseph E. Parker Sr. in 1992

http://leadershipquests.blogspot.com/2012/11/first-frost-3-lessons-from-my.html#!/2012/11/first-frost-3-lessons-from-my.html

Press On! 3 Ways to Sync Your IPS (Internal Positioning System) to Destination Success

How do we find the “true north” to achieving our goals?

The reality is that in moving on down the roads of our journeys, we gain and lose ground. All is aligned with great momentum one moment. Then in the next we get misdirected and wonder how we’ll find our way. And most times we eventually do get there, somehow. Leading us to ponder, is there a life GPS to keep us on course?

I’ve surmised that we all have an IPS (Internal Positioning System) to steer us. If we engage it. Just like an automobile’s navigation system— with its GPS, dashboard and features— we too can punch in coordinates for where we want to go in life. We have attributes, strengths and limitations that direct us. Our motivations, habits or wits contribute to how we handle the inevitable bumpy roads. Destinations for our career, family, health, quality of life or relationship goals – we can arrive at these places, based on how we deploy the elements of our IPS’s dashboard.

Yet, I’ve found that this IPS, like GPS technology, has worked for me sometimes and malfunctioned others. In my car, when the quirky voice of the dashboard is silent, I check to see if the GPS is on. Particularly if I’m in unfamiliar territory.  In my life, if I’m not adhering to right messages, I sense a system failure; the signal for me then is that maybe my IPS is not on.  I feel lost, literally, on my life quest. Is this a place I need to explore more, I question. 

OR

Maybe I need to Press!

So what are three parts of the on button for syncing that IPS?

The road I grew up on

1.      Discover Your Unique Routing. Understanding how our life works in terms of its unique cycles and circumstances provides a map for focus. Why so? Knowing the design of our route helps us navigate and heed the messages in the hills and potholes of life.  I have come to realize that an off road collision in a low place is part of my special path before I slowly make my way out to higher ground and another level that God has waiting for me. Also moving through the roadways of our journey we hold different emotions and experiences that bring out our strengths as well as our frailties. At times, I get sidetracked here, but this history accumulates, becoming my cargo as I launch in another direction. Whether it’s good or bad we all carry this load. And it can keep us on a realistic route, as we define success.

 

2. What’s the Force That’s With You? This IPS is part of our drive, an engine that fuels us every day. It takes us through storms and other bad conditions. Our IPS is composed of  ‘gifts and wits’, perspectives, willingness to admit and learn from mistakes, humor, gratitude, wisdom, faith and the list…goes on.  These are the blocks of our being, in varying quantities. A good deal of this force comes from our early life values and grounding. Raised poor, Baptist, in a rural town, but instilled with hope for better times, and family who encourage me to “git my lessin”, equipped me to set out on my sojourns of twists and turns. With accomplishments and failures. There's power in both of these for us, ignited from this combustible combination.

3.      Recognize Your Hardwiring. What’s inbred in our natural circuits? There’s a DNA that makes and shapes us to be. I often share that at my core, I’m the oldest child product of a determined single parent teen mother. With no excuses, she burrowed her way through many adversities on her journey. After she passed in 2010, I reflected on what she’d left me, spiritually.  I share in my motivational memoir, Navigating Life’s Roadways, that she provided an example of sheer will and a strong work ethic for me. And I think of this when I get stuck or waylaid in my life. She taught me to drive, pass some of life’s tests and now has turned the steering wheel over to me— to keep going. The operating hardware and software of her IPS (Internal Positioning System) spiritually resides on my dashboard, with God —my ever present Pilot, the main engaging button.   I've found that there's an automatic syncing coming out of this type of recognition, which will stand the hard inspections of  our many journeys.

Press On Through Storms, Sync your Success and Drive to Your Best!