Bless Others. In many places in our country, wintertime brings cold, often bitter cold weather. Most of us are blessed with abundance. You know that winter jacket, sweater, gloves or scarf that is taking up space? Find a homeless person on the street or go to a shelter and give them the gift. To make it special, have your child go with you to the cleaners, or wash and iron it with love. When you give them the coat, say: “Bless you. I hope next year will be better for you.” In turn, you will be blessed.

Tom Watson

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Homelessness is a big issue for many communities. Make or buy a blanket to take to your local homeless shelter or keep them in your vehicle and pass them out when you see someone in need.

Kathy Watson

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Wow – what a great conversation! Tom Watson and I chat about all sorts of things including his story of a very challenging childhood but how the right support put him on the right path, how sharing this story has touched the lives of many and enabled Tom to make another change in his life helping people to have a better life.

He’s a truly inspirational man! A best selling author of Man Shoes, 2 more books in the pipeline, a successful entrepreneur and doing his best to make sure his work and life are integrated. It’s taken time to get where he is and Tom shares the ups and downs of his journey.

Debra Levitt

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“Sometimes in may seem dark, but the absence of the light is a necessary part.
Just know you’re never alone, you can always come home.

Every road is a slippery slope,
There is always a hand that you can hold on to.
Looking deeper through the telescope,
You can see that your home is inside of you.

93 million miles from the sun
People get ready, get ready, here it comes
It’s a light a beautiful light
Over the horizon into our eyes.”
~Jason Mraz

These lyrics inspire me, because they are a reminder of how I felt growing up as an expansive, creative and exploratory child in a somewhat restricted Catholic school. I loved dancing and performing when I was young (and that never changed!), and I vividly remember one of my favorite performances that took place on the altar in church. I never NOT felt connected to spirit – to God – and on this day the connection was strong. I could care less that there was a church full of people, mostly strangers. All I cared about was how I felt dancing in God’s home, on his altar, to hymns that helped me feel tied to everything and everyone everywhere. I felt I was home.

On most days, however, the “Catholic way” never made much sense to me. For me, exploring as a child helped me to see and feel that God was everywhere – in the huge oak trees, in the squirrels, in the books in the library, on a bike ride, a deep conversation with a friend, in the starry sky – everywhere! I began to understand that I didn’t only have to feel that exhilaration in church on the altar, but in everyday life, and that if I was feeling that exhilaration and had love in my heart and peace on my mind, that I WAS FEELING GOD. Still, today, I feel and see God everywhere, and mostly inside of me – in my emotions, ideas and actions.

What is inside of me? Of you? Of us all, all living things?

What makes the “slippery slopes” of life bearable, and learnings we can grow from?

Where does our inspiration come from? Those sparks of light…ideas that keep us excited and thriving?

For me, I see all of these “things” within us as that spark of God, the Universe, Energy, All that is. We come from It, and that is where HOME is ALL THE TIME. This is my story. My belief. My sense of FAITH that helps me to know I am more than just this body. I am here to be a representation of GRACE IN ACTION – mistakes and all. We all are.

This FAITH helps me in every moment. It helps me connect with what’s real, know that I am supported and loved no matter what. It helps me to find my HOME and never feel lost.

As we launch into another new year – a new opportunity to deepen and connect with our HOME, what might that place…voice…energy be calling you to be, do and share?

I wish each of you a peaceful and successful year. May you wake each morning with a sense of knowing that you are more than your outer shell, and the world is always eager for your magnificence. Bumps and all, you can always go back home.

Peace and Love in 2018,

Monique

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As we move into the Christmas season I am often reminded of an awesome story that I heard years ago, which has been a constant reminder to me of the original spirit of Christmas. The story goes something like this…

One Easter Sunday morning, a pastor came to the Church carrying a rusty, bent, old bird cage and set it by the pulpit. Several eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, the pastor began to speak.

“I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me, swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild birds, shivering with cold and fright. I stopped the lad and asked, “What you got there son?”

“Just some old birds,” came the reply.

“What are you gonna do with them?” I asked.

“Take ’em home and have fun with ’em. I’m gonna tease ’em and pull out their feathers to make ’em fight. I’m gonna have a real good time.”

“But you’ll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do then?”

“Oh, I got some cats. They like birds. I’ll take ’em to them.”

The pastor was silent for a moment. “How much do you want for those birds, son?”

“Huh??!!! Why, you don’t want them birds, mister. They’re just plain old field birds. They don’t sing – they ain’t even pretty!”

“How much?”

The boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said, “$10?”.

The pastor reached in his pocket and took out a ten-dollar bill. He placed it in the boy’s hand. In a flash, the boy was gone.

The pastor picked up the cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he opened the door, and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting them free.

Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit, but then the pastor began to tell this story.

One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting.

“Yes, sir, I just caught the world full of people down there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew they couldn’t resist. Got ’em all!”

“What are you going to do with them?” Jesus asked.

“Oh, I’m gonna have fun! I’m gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other. How to hate and abuse each other. How to drink and smoke and curse. How to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I’m really gonna have fun!”

“And what will you do when you get done with them?”, Jesus asked.

“Oh, I’ll kill ’em.”

“How much do you want for them?”

“Oh, you don’t want those people. They ain’t no good. Why, you take them and they’ll just hate you. They’ll spit on you, curse you and kill you!! You don’t want those people!!”

“How much?”

Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, “All your tears, and all your blood.” Jesus paid the price.

End of story.

With the congregation quietly and intently watching, the pastor picked up the rusty, bent, old bird cage made his way off the pulpit, walked down the center aisle to the front doors of the Church, turned around and in a hushed voice said “Merry CHRISTmas” and left the congregation sitting there pondering the story he had just told.

I have found over the years that many of the Churches we’ve attended on Christmas Eve have tried to find new and elaborate ways of portraying the Christmas story in an effort to wow the congregation. It’s as if there is a need to make a large production out of the story to capture the audience’s attention. I love the simplicity of the bird cage story. In a simple manner, it speaks to all of us as to the original meaning of Christmas. It reminds all of us of Christ’s birth and for Christians around the world it is a celebration that their savior was born which is the cornerstone of their religious beliefs.

And so friends, as you celebrate this Christmas season, whether you are of Christian faith or others, Kathy and I wish you the warmest of seasons with your family and friends and the comfort of knowing that you are cared for.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Tom Watson

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A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to hear Beth Moore speak. It was a great weekend with five girlfriends from different social groups with whom I am connected. I have known three of them for almost 20 years. We have seen a lot of growth and change in our families, marriages and in ourselves as women. We have laughed and cried for joys and losses. Last weekend we had a great time connecting as women. Our group ranged in age from 25 to 51 and we all connected to Beth Moore’s message of “Grace and Grit”. 

Grace is the undeserved reward from God. Grit is the power of passion and perseverance to attain the reward. I believe God has promised us great things through His grace, but we don’t always have the grit to forge the path towards the reward. The power and strength to receive His reward is built – it’s not given to us. We were told to remember that muscle is built – it is not birthed.

Beth Moore’s message also reminded us that grit doesn’t quit. We need to be resourceful. Take His grace and make it into something using our grit. Do not be complacent! We are better to persevere with good work than wait for it to be great work and do nothing with the life we have been given. We need to be faithful in all things – big or small. If we can’t use grit with the small things, how are we going to do it with big things? There is a reason you are on this earth and we were reminded that “we were built for this”.

We all hold a strength as women that we do not always think or believe we have. I believe when push comes to shove we all have a fighting instinct that when used for the good is a powerful tool. No matter what your struggle is, you are being built for something. It is not easy. Sometimes you can barely open your eyes from the pain of whatever is building you. Don’t miss out on the reward. God has given you grace and the grit you need!

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Several years ago my son Jordan and I travelled to Kenya to provide training to athletes and coaches through the running of a variety of sport camps. It was a great trip and an amazing time to spend with Jordan. In fact, for me, it was the greatest adventure I’ve ever taken with my son. Over the three weeks we travelled together Jordan and I bonded through the sport camp work we were engaged in and we found a great love and passion for the Kenyan children we were working with. In addition to our work we also had the chance to explore and learn a great deal about Kenya’s people, culture, countryside and nature. To this day I think of that trip as an amazing father and son time.

Some of the most cherished days of the trip were those Jordan and I spent with Catherine Ndereba and her husband Tony in Nairobi. Catherine is known as the “Queen of Kenya” in her country. She’s a very successful marathon runner who has twice won the gold medal at the World Athletic Championships, and won a silver medal in the Summer Olympics in 2004 and 2008. She is a four-time winner of the Boston Marathon as well as a winner in countless other marathons around the world, and has been described by international sport columnists as the greatest women’s marathoner of all time. In short, she’s pretty darn successful!

I met Catherine at a social after one of my speaking engagements in Nairobi. She approached me after the event to visit and with an invitation to Jordan and I to join her and Tony for dinner one night at her home, which I quickly accepted. The next morning we received a call from Catherine wondering if Jordan and I might want to actually come and spend a few days with her family at their home. Surprised, I accepted and later that day we were picked up by her driver and for the next three days enjoyed an amazing time.

Catherine’s home was filled with trophies and medals from her years of competition. As we visited we learned a great deal about what makes an elite athlete tick and how the support system around her helped push her to another level. One of the more interesting things we witnessed was the amazing level of gratefulness the family lived with. Every morning as they readied themselves for the day ahead they formed a circle in the family kitchen, held hands and prayed, thanking God for the night’s rest and for their safety as they slept. They prayed for the day ahead and that, with the rest and strength God had provided them as they slept, they would do his will and good work today. Then, together they would sit and eat breakfast prior heading off into their days. In the evening, prior to retiring to bed, the family reconvened in the family room, held hands in a circle, talked about their day and prayed to God thanking him for safety throughout the day, asking him to bless the work they had completed on his behalf and for a safe and good night’s rest.

After the first day together Catherine and Tony and I were having afternoon tea and I asked them about the family prayer ritual. Catherine shared her perspective on living a grateful life. It was interesting to hear this world-class athlete who had accomplished so much speak about the need to spend her life living on this earth as a grateful tourist, as she called herself.

“We are only here for a short period of time Tom, we can live life like the world owes us something or we can live life amazed and grateful for every day we are here.”

Catherine went on to explain how the morning gathering was to be grateful for the fact that each family member had woken that day, “you do realize that we have a one-in-three chance of not waking up Tom?” she asked before going on to explain that there are 24 hours in a day and the average person sleeps about eight of those hours which is one third of every day. Which means that if we are going to die, we have a one-third chance or a one-in-three chance of dying in our sleep. For Catherine and her family just the fact that they all had woken up was a blessing and something to be grateful about.

“It’s the small blessings that most people don’t think about, that are the great miracles of each day,” Catherine told me one morning after breakfast. “Without those miracles occurring, often without even noticing or realizing they are happening, we may not even be alive to wake up. Like breathing…how many of us don’t even consider that each breath we take is a miracle and we should be grateful that we get to take them?”

It’s been several years since Jordan and I took that amazing trip to Kenya. I’ve thought about the time we spent with Catherine and Tony a great deal and it has helped form my own thought patterns around how I view and live life. What I’ve come to realize is that many of us (myself included) often take life for granted. Rather than being grateful and making the most of our days, we tend to waste large portions of them focusing on the things that aren’t necessarily going the way we want them to instead of acknowledging and celebrating the things that have gone well in our day.

When it comes right down to it, for most of us a lot of things do go right nearly every day. Until I met Catherine I used to take many of those things for granted. For example, waking up every morning just seemed to me to be the thing that was supposed to happen. It couldn’t not happen could it? But in fact, as Catherine reminded me, I don’t have to wake up. There is a one-in-three chance that I won’t wake up some day. That thought alone has helped me learn to wake up and be grateful that I did. Every morning I wake up and I think wow – I actually woke up! And I remember who I am (that’s a miracle!) and I remember who’s lying beside me, I know what I did yesterday and what I am supposed to do today, and a hundred other miracles happen through the course of the day! It’s amazing, when you think of our bodies, which are so complex in their functions, and the fact that we need all those functions to work properly every second of the day to live health, active lives. It’s amazing that, for most of us, our bodies do perform the miracles needed daily to allow us the opportunity to experience another day gratefully.

And so I encourage you as you move through your day today and every day forward that you start your day and end your day being grateful for the fact that you woke up and were able to go out and make your day happen in a good way. Every breath we take, every heartbeat that happens inside of us, the eyesight many of us have, the thought capacities of our brains, and so much more are the miracles that we should begin our days being grateful for. The fact that most of us will wake up tomorrow and are able to wiggle our toes as we lay in our beds and contemplate our busy days is where we need to start our grateful thinking and carry that gratefulness on through the rest of our days no matter what challenges life throws at us!

Grateful people just seem to handle life better. Be grateful today, and be grateful tomorrow!

Sincerely,

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While writing this article, sitting at my desk listening to Pandora radio (classical for studying radio station), glancing out of the window watching Autumn take over the trees, I can’t help but to think about August 2011.

In hindsight 2011 was the year that changed everything. It was the year that landed me right here typing this article. The summer of 2011 was the year that helped me become a four-time author. 2011 was the year that helped me get my very own daily radio morning motivational segment. 2011 was the year that put me in front of fathers that needed some encouragement, which landed me and my work on the front page of the local newspaper. It was 2011 that led to my recognition as a community hero by a national syndicated television and radio network. 2011 also helped pave the way for me to marry a woman who I can’t live without. It looks as if 2011 was the year that helped compel me and my wife to launch a mentoring program for at risk young men call GIVE LIFE. You see, none of these events took place in 2011. But looking back it was 2011 that truly shaped my life and laid the foundation for success. I can sit here for weeks and write down every single detailed event that took place because of August 11, 2011. However, I won’t bore you any longer. 

You’re probably asking yourself what was so special about August 11, 2011. Here is what’s special about that date. It was the day that I bounced back from a dark place call rock bottom. Some of you may or may not be familiar with this place where no one wants to be. But for those of you that are familiar with this Hell-on-Earth state of mind you know it’s no fun. In the last sentence, I wrote “state of mind”. That’s exactly what it is, rock bottom is a mindset. I believe it was Shakespeare that stated, life is neither good or bad, but your thinking that makes it so. Prior to my bounce back moment, I allowed my perceived bad events to eat away at my self-esteem. I started to mentally entertain and believe that the world would be a better place if I was dead. I seriously thought about ending my life. I was at my wit’s end when I read an article like this one. I’m not sure what would make me read an inspirational article when inspiration was the farthest thing from my mind. Maybe it was that whispering voice that said, “your work here on earth has not even begun. There’s still a lot of life left to live. Pick yourself up and get to work. Get to work and create the life you desire to live. Get to work and stop being a victim. Get to work and become your goals. Get to work Kashaun, PEOPLE are depending on you to push forward. Get to work and make your life matter!” I’m not sure where that whispering voice came from but I’m glad I listened. 

You who are reading this know that life is filled with swift transitions. Some transitions will come without warning. Some may even knock you down. However, just like the beauty that is created during Autumn, know that change is neither ugly or beautiful, it’s all based on your perception, your mind-set. No matter what you’re going through get up, get to work and create the life you truly desire!

The post How I Rediscovered My Faith appeared first on Your Better Life.

The question of the afterlife (life after death) is a topic that has been considered by mankind for thousands, possibly millions of years. What happens to humans after we die? As a child I don’t think I placed a great deal of thought into the topic; most children likely don’t. It wasn’t until a high school friend of mine suddenly passed away that I actually began considering the question. Alvin was killed in a car accident one cold winter weekend. He lost control of his car and crossed into oncoming traffic. In a moment he was gone. Just the day before I had been racing the school hallways with him laughing, joking and rough housing. Alvin was a tremendous athlete, he was a a few grades ahead of me in school so normally I would not have been in his circle of friends. I had joined the track team a year prior and had done well. Alvin took notice of me and befriended me. From that point on he was like the big brother to me. We’d joke that he was a brother from another mother; and I looked up to him. I remember coming to school the Monday after Alvin’s accident and slowly walking by his locker – searching through the mass of students in the hallway – hopeful somehow that the information of his death was simply not true and that I’d see his smiling face or feel a sneak attack punch on the back of my shoulder and here him laugh as he whizzed up behind me. But…Alvin wasn’t there. He’d never be there again. 

It’s a strange thing to get your mind wrapped around as a teenager who hadn’t put a lot of thought into the afterlife. I spent many weeks thinking about Alvin, missing him and questioning how someone could physically be there one day and then be gone forever the next? I’d think about Alvin as I went through my days and my mind would fluctuate between grief and questioning where Alvin had gone. Was he just gone, just buried in the ground or was he somewhere other than earth? I wondered…would I ever see Alvin again? What would that be like? Would he look like Alvin or some ghost-like being? So many questions rolled around in my brain – so few concrete answers to ease my wondering.

As the years have gone on I’ve unfortunately lost several people close to me. A wife, a sister, my parents, several friends…and although I don’t think that you ever get used to losing people to death, nor do I believe it gets any easier, what I have found is that I have gotten used to understanding that people, unfortunately, die. I’ve also gotten used to questioning myself about the afterlife. In fact, for me, I feel I have settled on a belief in the afterlife with which I am comfortable – and one that gives me hope of seeing my family and friends again in that afterlife.

My belief in the afterlife has come to me for a variety of reasons. I would say that the functioning of the world around me is the biggest reason I have concluded there must be an afterlife. I grew up on a farm with Mom and Dad Watson and through the time I spent with them on that farm I (probably like most farm families do) became very aware of nature – the sun, the moon, the stars, the wind, the rain, growing seasons, animals. Farming is a nature-based business and in living the farm life I became aware and learned about the complexity of the world around me far more so (I believe) than if I had been raised in an urban centre. Watching nature unfold around me every day and realizing how each aspect of nature relies on another aspect to survive and succeed really opened my mind up to the complexities of world, the complexities of living and the complexities of life. When you think about us as humans, inside of each of us is this miraculous combination of organs, bones, muscles, chemicals and water that somehow functions together to allow our bodies to perform (for the most part) the way they were designed to perform. That in itself is a miracle. And then when you consider the world of nature around us which delivers the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breath, the warmth we need and so on, life really is amazing, it’s miraculous in fact!

My wonderment of nature combined with a farm boy’s understanding of nature’s complexity always leads me to believe that there has to be a greater power at work. A power that I certainly could never fully imagine or understand myself. All I know, all I feel, is that a far greater being than I or anyone else on earth must have been the author of such a complicated and amazingly intertwined creation.

Believing in a higher power some would say is risky and even naïve. For me it’s not really much of a stretch to believe in a God who planned out the nature that I see every day than it is to believe that an explosion or some other set of circumstances produced the nature and the life we live. To believe a higher power must be involved also allows me to believe that this power – this God – must have enough strength, enough foresight, and enough caring for his works of nature to provide an afterlife for us. I won’t get into the deeper more philosophical discussions that occur in our world regarding the various religions or trains of thought, other than to say that I do believe that a place (after life on earth is over) has been prepared for us. My mind just can’t believe that a powerful God who built the earth, the sky, the stars and the nature that sustains all of this could not build an afterlife heaven where those who believe and trust in him will gather.

I’ve been challenged over the years by people with differing opinions, which is fine. Everyone has to decide for themselves what they believe and why. One friend asked me during a coffee together “what will happen to you (Tom) if you are wrong in your God Belief and the afterlife? Will you feel silly for having believed?” As I contemplated his question it came to me that I’d rather believe and trust in a God, in an afterlife, in a heaven and find out that it didn’t exist; than to not believe in any of that and find out that it did exist. After all, in believing that God exists, that a heaven (afterlife) does exist I find that I live each day at peace, joyful and able to positively share, inspire and help others around me. My life is a positive adventure rather than a negative journey “who can feel silly living that kind of life?” I asked my friend. After I answered his question, I looked at my friend and I said now let me ask you this “you don’t believe there is a God or a heaven or an afterlife – and what do think will happen to you if you are wrong, will you feel silly if you are?”

Each of us has to determine our own belief in regards to life after death and what is encompassed in all of that. My thoughts may not be your thoughts but they work for me. I’d encourage you to explore your thoughts one way or the other. Strangely enough considering your position on the life after death question quite likely will lead you to examine how you want to live your life moving forward. It’s a question and concept that likely will shape the course of your life and impact you and others around you deeply once you’ve settled on your own answer.

All the best,

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