Let’s Define It
Significant. Miriam-Webster online has the following definitions with examples:
“1 : having meaning; especially : suggestive a significant glance
2 a : having or likely to have influence or effect : important a significant piece of legislation; also : of a noticeably or measurably large amount a significant number of layoffs producing significant profits
b : probably caused by something other than mere chance statistically significant correlation between vitamin deficiency and disease”
Your Life
But what does it mean to you? Ben Franklin said, “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write something worth reading or do things worth writing.” I try to do both. Did he live a life of significance? I think we will all agree that he did. If you ask the average American to name something about Ben Franklin you would get a varied response. You might hear such as he created the potbellied stove; he created the bifocals; he was struck by lightning when flying a kite in a storm, or more likely, he is on a $100.00 bill. But was he more significant today than he was in his generation?
Based on the above definitions, are you more significant today than you will be in future generations? Does your life have meaning? Do you have influence or effect? Do you make things happen rather than wait for a mere chance? The choice rests with you and no one else. I believe you, and I are alive, right now, at this time to be significant. It wasn’t chance. It was God-ordained.
A Biblical/ Historical Example
If you have ever read the book of Esther you know, it reads like a soap opera. A king who lorded over his wife and a wife who disrespected her husband and lost her head in the process. Then the king throws a beauty pageant to pick the next queen. Beautiful Esther wins. It isn’t clear if she wanted to be there, but now she is the new queen. Meanwhile, her cousin Mordechai foils a plot to kill the king (and isn’t even thanked for his involvement). Throw in a murderous, narcissistic prime minister in the king’s court named Haman, who hates Mordechai because he won’t bow down as Haman passes by. All this time the king’s court does not know that both Esther and Mordechai are related and are Jews.
One thing leads to another and Haman convinces the king to open up hunting season on Jews. Haman builds a gallows to hang Mordechai when the season opens up personally. Mordechai goes to Esther on behalf of their people and tells her she needs to convince the king to spare them. She hesitates. Sidebar: during this period, if someone came to the court of the king without being summoned and the king did not extend his scepter toward them in favor, then they were killed. The king had already chopped off one queen’s head. Mordechai’s response is timeless. He asked Esther if she thinks just because she is the queen that she and her family will be spared. “Who knows if perhaps you were made queen for just such a time as this?” he adds.
Be the Change
Who knows why you are where you are in life today? Who knows why you were born to the family in which you were? Who knows how significant your life is to those around you? Who knows why you have had the struggles in life that you have had? God does. He intended for you to be significant in this generation and to those around you. You are not here by mere chance without meaning. You are here to influence and effect/affect your generation. I love the Gandhi quote where he instructs us to “be the change in the world that you want to see.” Your time is now. Your time is here. God formed you and placed you here in this time and generation on purpose, for a purpose. You are here “for such a time as this.” What are you going to do about it?
mind is a true maxim. Never underestimate the value of a 3×5 card. List your goals on several and strategically place them so you see that list every day, several times a day. Put one on your bathroom mirror so you can see it in the morning when you get up and before you go to bed. Put one on your refrigerator, one on the dashboard of your car, one on your desk, in your lunch box and so on. Keep your mind focused on your goals.
You have a goal, and you have a plan. Now you have to measure the plan. There are several ways to do this, monthly, quarterly, biannually, and annually. In some cases, depending on the goal, you may have to measure and review weekly or daily. For you to save $1200.00 a year, you will have to save around $23.08 a week or $46.15 every two weeks. What if you get paid every two weeks, and you rounded it up to $50.00 a pay period? At the halfway point of the year, you would have $650.00. You would be $50.00 ahead of your goal for that timeframe.
To start, let’s define the Golden Rule, rather than just assuming everyone knows. It was first spoken by Jesus and is a basic principle of life. The premise: treat others as you would have them treat you. If you want respect, give respect. If you want loyalty, give loyalty. If you want courtesy give courtesy. Will you always get what you give? Not always, but here are five reasons why you should still employ and encourage others to employ the Golden Rule in business dealings. They work in tandem with each other.
Recently, several people have asked me this question. For the first time since September I don’t have a looming deadline for an audio book. It was in August of last year that I started my audio book narration career, stint, what ever you care to call it and through it all I did not have time to write anything. The answer to the title question: It didn’t go at all.
like that), it actually taught me to see the OPPORTUNITY in the hardships. If not for my biological father leaving, I never would’ve met my Dad. If not for that broken home, I never would’ve had the benefit of going to school in Illinois and summering in Alabama. If not for the stark differences between my Mom and Dad, I never would’ve gotten my serious Christian walk, which is coupled with a strong “what if” personality. All of the seeming trials in my life flow together to create a unique experience that created a unique me, as it does with EVERYBODY’S life. 🙂
Jeremy: I’ve been writing since I was a kid. I was always all over the map with how my creativity manifested, but I had “specialties” for different stages of my life — angsty poetry as a teen, songs as a young adult, and fiction as a mature adult. My interests in writing tend toward the fantastical, thanks in no small part to my Dad who raised me on a steady diet of Star Trek and Dragonlance. No, I didn’t get into the Hobbit until I was well and truly grown, and even then, it didn’t really appeal to me. I LIKE it, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t speak to me like other fantasies do. It’s quite like Grape Nuts cereal — hard to chew for an interesting yet unimpressive flavor and it settles thickly in your stomach. I guess that’s the price you pay for being the first in a field.
met at the coffee shop, I saw him again a few weeks later when I was at the veterinarian office for my cat. He came in to take care of some business with his pet. When we spotted each other, we smiled and greeted each other. With “we meet again” and “so soon”. One of those “it’s a small world” experiences because we both use the same animal doctor. As you can tell from this interview and pictures, Jeremy has quite a sense of humor and adventure.
er to her as one of my SSFs and had explained to her what it meant. She also left a wind chime hanging from a hook in the corner of my office. It had the usual little pipes that rattled and on top was a metallic sun. Where I work we have helicopters fly over on a regular basis and when they do the wind chime rattles ever so slightly. You have to know what it is when it rattles or you will miss it. It reminds me of Cheryl every time it does and I cannot help but smile. It has brought sunshine on some very down days. I say a little prayer, thanking God for my SSFs.
horse lover, and seller of Amish goods. I was first introduced to Ashley when we both worked together. I had recently been promoted and was given a budget for the first time in my new position. Honestly, I didn’t understand the process and codes. It was all Greek to me. I was told to “go talk to accounting.” So, the testing of patience for Ashley and her fellow accountants began and continues even to date. And patient she was, as well as understanding and helpful. Truth be told, I do my best to make the folks in accounting my best friends and they truly are.
visiting the Amish in Tennessee several times each year. I have accumulated several of the things that they make. After having people repeatedly tell me how they like my purchases and how much they would like to have the same thing; I decided to start trying to sell some of the smaller Amish handmade items myself. So, in the summer of 2015 I started selling Amish handmade wooden items such as birdhouses, cutting boards, bird feeders, rolling pins, etc.”
Me: “Somehow I see you loving this too much to call it a job. So, you have a store online. What is it called?”
Me: “You have been recently married and I understand that your mom wanted to let someone else make the wedding cake and the groom’s cake, but you convinced her to let you do it. You also created the cake for your husband-to-be’s man shower.”
Michelle: “I love to paint on canvas and create other things like door hangers. I also like to draw and illustrate.”
About Book Publishing, that is.
The Salty Eclectic 