The Holiday Season, A Great Time To Be Selfish?

The day after Thanksgiving and through the weekend, all over the U.S.  147 million shoppers are expected to visit stores and shop online...


This is according to a preliminary Black Friday shopping survey put out by the National Retail Federation (NRF).

Black Friday, the name given to the day following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, is traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Since 2005 it has been the busiest shopping day of the year.

The term "Black Friday" originated in Philadelphia around 1966, where it originally described the heavy pedestrian and vehicle traffic which occurred the day after Thanksgiving. In 1975, the term spread outside of Philadelphia with a different explanation: the period during which retailers are turning a profit or become "in the black."

That is pretty cool information; 147 million people were shopping that day, Wow!

With the Holiday season being such a busy time of year, I think it is the most important time to not lose focus on taking care of you. Yes shopping main purpose is to buy gifts for family and friends, but it can also become a check off the list time; one less person to buy for. The time and effort put into this amazes me. People are willing to go to any length to get items on sale and to get the perfect gift. And the STRESS!

What do I mean by taking care of self? Yes you guessed it; this is the time of year to be selfish. I am only kidding, they say it is the time of giving, but I see it more as a time of stressfulness, to get everything done. Everything? Really? Something I have been doing for a while really works and not only in the Holiday Season.

Upon awakening, take some time to think about your day ahead. Where are you going? What people are you going to be around? Are you clear on your purpose for that day? Will you be adding to the stream of life? Since this is a time of giving it most certainly does not need to be material. Something I ask myself before I enter meetings, presentations, and working with the public is, what can I bring to this situation that will make it better for all involved?

For years I woke up late, jumped out of bed and rushed around the house to get ready for work. Eat breakfast, the most important meal of the day, no way which takes too much time. My kids were young at this time, but please do not ask me too many questions in the morning I am already behind and if you did I was unable to give a well thought out answer and it really just irritated me. See my motives were all about me, I have a lot going on, I am running late, can’t this wait, and the list goes on. These days made for a difficult start to my day and I rarely thought how I can be of service. The sad part is that I did not even see that I was this way. Thankfully today I am awake and able to live my life, not have life live me anymore.

For me this is the time of year to be of maximum service and to keep an eye out for those in need. And remember the more you give the more you get. Now that was not a formula I understood until I put it into practice and experienced the rewards over and over.

Take charge of your life or not, your choice

Take charge of your life or not, your choice


Take charge of your life or not, your choice

This past Saturday I had the opportunity to do the closing keynote address to a group of visually impaired students and their parents at an event hosted by the Connecticut Board of Education and Services for the Blind. What excited me most about this was how many were in attendance and how eager they all were to learn more on how to live life to the fullest. Throughout my talk I reminded them that how they live their life is up to them; not their parents, teachers, or the agency for the blind.

The majority of the students were of high school age. That’s a difficult time for anyone, and having a vision impairment doesn’t make it any easier.

The topic of my talk was to take charge of your life. The first step in making that happen is to take responsibility and I mean 100% responsibility. It is not always easy to do, but a must if you want to live a life free of blame, resentment, and rationalizing your decisions. I reminded the students to look in the mirror and that is the only person to blame if they are not happy with their life. We are the only people who can change ourselves and how we perceive who we are.

For years I blamed my parents, my teachers, and my (insert any name here). I would walk around and say, “Well I had to do this” or “I have to live like this, because I am legally blind” - that is a bunch of crap. This mindset only builds the victim mentality and people then fall into the entitlement mindset.

Nice try, my life is not easier because I have been legally blind since age thirteen. I did not receive an easy pass because I have extra struggles. No, I get the same opportunity to make life what I choose on a daily basis and today I choose to believe in myself and operate out of an “I can” attitude.

If you have a plan, a vision of success and work towards that, then you are on your way to living the life of your dreams.

This works for anyone and the biggest problem I see is that most people are not operating out of their vision; they are letting life live them. I remember those days!!!!!! Blind or not we all have vision.