" THINK DIFFERENT "

Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troubleshooters.

The round pegs in the square hole. The ones that see things differently.

They're  not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About

the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things.

They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as

the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough

to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

Keep your head down

When bullets are flying it is best to keep your head down...

For the business world that translates to.. when it looks like it is getting crazy with the gossip or things are getting out of hand with those negative email's just get back to work.
 Put your head down and let it blow over or at least attack it on your time or on your schedule.

It all starts to be negative energy that will just produce more negative.

Try to remember the basics and get to it.

Remember what you like most about your job and emphasize that...... and tune out the rest.

Noramlly when you do that you will feel better and when you do address the other distractions they would of either have gone away or at least you will see it through clearer eyes.

Keep your head down...

Learning to see Life's lessons

If we allow it there are lessons around us every day.

On my drive to work I am normally always in a hurry, I usually arrive at work an hour or so before my normal work day starts but my mind is already in overdrive.

I have a pad next to me in the car and I scribble any thoughts that I want to follow up on. I may start writing things down while having my coffee before I even start my ride in.

I travel all back roads to get to work and it is about a twenty minute ride.

Even so I some time get irritated when I hit a little traffic or get caught behind a school bus that stops every 30 yards.

All because I am in a hurry to get to work.

One day I am held up because coming in the other direction on one of the side roads is a school bus stopped, it seems like it is taking forever so there I sat getting frustrated.

A lady gets out and then I see the side doors open and a electric floor is dropped in order to accommodate a handicapped child.

Just then I noticed a young boy in a wheelchair coming down the ramp on the front of his house followed by who I presume is his mother and sister.

They wait till he gets on the bus and the door shuts, all the while never losing eye contact and when the bus pulls away they blow kisses at the young boy and sign something to him and touch their heart.

And to think that before all that all I saw was a stopped bus and an inconvenience to me.

Makes you stop and think about what is important and what others sacrifice EVERY DAY and how selfish we can be.

Now when I happen to be driving down that same road in the morning if I see the bus stopped I put my car in Park, take a deep breath and watch the whole process take place again and this time I count my blessings and think how wonderful these people are that are forced to slow life down and know what is really important.

Ahhh the holiday season....

People getting pepper sprayed, hit with a tazer gun, beaten until bloodied.....no that's not the riots in other countries or a day in the war zone that's what we now call "black Friday". The beginning of the shopping season for the holidays.

The holiday season is the most stressful time of the year...crazy huh?

At a time that we should be happy and celebrating we put so much emphasis on "stuff" that we stress ourselves out.

What to buy for who?
We need to express how much we love the people in our life's with "stuff".
So we work and work and save, or throw it on the plastic and worry about it later.

We do it to ourselves.
We forget what the heck it is all about....family, time with each other, being able to reflect and count your blessings.

The Buddhist believe that the more possessions you have the more your possessions possess you.

Ahh the holiday season....hurry up and get out there and spend spend spend....

Sacrifices

To all of our drivers away from home on the holidays thank you, thank you from all of us at Arpin and from your families.

We all make sacrifices every day.

  Even for those of us that are not away from home for days or weeks on end may have children that you need to drop off at day care, you sacrifice daily knowing that you would prefer to stay home with your children but you know that you need to do it for the good of the family and for your child.

You need to provide and to try to set the table for your children to succeed.

It is not easy.

It is not easy for those that choose to drive across country and to be away from home and your loved ones but you know that you do it for the family.

This is your profession.

This is what you do best and because of that it is the best way that you can provide for your family.
It is a huge sacrifice and one that takes adjustments by everybody in the family.

As I have said in a past blog it is the quality of time that you spend with your loved ones not necessarily the quantity.

I know people that have the good fortune to be home every day and have a family but choose to send their children away or do not understand the blessing that they have and the opportunity that they have so they ignore their children or worse they argue with them and wish they did not have so much time with them.

The tough thing about those that sacrifice is you do not always get to see immediate rewards, quite the opposite you may either give yourself so much guilt or perhaps your family does not immediately understand how hard it is for you and they may lay the guilt on you and you start to question if it is worth it and then begins a domino of negativity.

Believe in what you are doing and do the best you can.
We all need to sacrifice and we can be better off for it.
No family situation is perfect, we all may wish for different circumstances at times but we need to work within our means.

Being away from your loves ones is difficult but if you use the time that you have with them positively and know why you do what you do then it will all work out.

Like I said it ain't easy but most things worth having and keeping are worth the sacrifice.

Stay on coarse.....

THE YEAR WAS...1976.

US President and Vice President-  Gerald Ford & Nelson Rockefeller   HEADLINES: Israel signs Peace Accord returning Sinai to Egypt ~ US Supreme Court votes to reinstate the Death Penalty ~  Legionnaires’ Disease occurs at  the American Legion Convention in Philadelphia ~ Former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter defeats Gerald Ford to become President  TIME MAGAZINE MAN OF THE YEAR: Jimmy Carter      POPULAR TV SHOWS::  The Carol Burnett Show ~ The Bob Newhart Show ~  The Rockford Files ~ Bionic Woman ~ Laverne & Shirley ~ Family Feud ~ Charlie’s Angels   SONGS:  Dancing Queen ~ If You Leave Me Now ~ Boogie Fever ~ Tonight’s the Night ~ Let Your Love Flow ~ I Write the Songs ~ 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover ~ Afternoon Delight ~ Disco Duck ~ Convoy

SPORTS: Champions include Cincinnati Reds (baseball), Pittsburgh Steelers (football), Johnny Rutherford (Indianapolis 500), Montreal Canadians (hockey), Indiana (NCAA basketball), Tony Dorsett from Pittsburgh (Heisman Trophy), and Bjorn Borg and Chris Evert (singles at Wimbledon tennis)

Thankful

This time of year it is always good to reflect on what you are thankful for.

We all get caught up so much in the day to day that we do not always take the time to remember how blessed we are.

I am thankful for my family and our health, and a wonderful grandchild .
A wife who I fell in love with back in 1980 and love even more every passing year.
A father could not be more proud then I am of my son, Michael and my daughter, Jillian or my son-in-law, Joe, they are good people with good hearts.

I am thankful for the opportunity to work for the Arpin's since 1985, it has been a great ride.
To have learned and watched from Paul Arpin was certainly a gift and one that I do not take for granted.
He was a special man who had a vision and that vision evolved through the years from wanting to build a business to take care of his wife and kids to toward the later half of his life he found pleasure and challenges in helping and mentoring others.

I am thankful to have met and worked with so many people throughout the United States. Agents and drivers and agents that were once drivers. Operation people, and employees not only here at the home office but all over. It is truly a blessing.

I often think how lucky I am to be born and raised in the United States of America, a country that allows me the freedom to live where and how I want.
I am thankful for all the men and woman that are in our military and our veterans because they allow me those freedoms through their sweat, blood and tears.

As I said we all get caught up in own little world and with bills, and work issues and many other distractions.

Take the time to see the blessings in your life and remember do not sweat the small stuff....and most of it is the small the stuff.