Happy Fourth of July!

I want to wish everyone a Happy Fourth of July!  I hope everyone takes the time today to reflect on what today means and give thanks to all those who sacrificed in the fight for the Independence of this Great Country. Remember what Nathan Hale said “I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” By the way, he was hanged by the British as a spy.  All of the founding fathers suffered great hardships during the Revolutionary War.  Read Rush Limbaugh’s The Americans who Risked Everything, (click on the link below to read it.)

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_070308/content/the_americans_who_risked_everything___rush_h__limbaugh__jr_.guest.html.guest.html

That letter will give you an idea of what it meant to the signers of the Declaration of Independence for us to become free of British rule.

That spirit has carried on since that day and we have had men and women make the ultimate sacrifice to keep our Country free and we still have our brave men and women fighting to keep us safe and free at this very moment.  Make sure that you honor our military heroes past and present.  If you see one of our service men or women over this holiday weekend make sure that you thank them for everything they do.  Without our militaries sacrifices over the years we would not enjoy all that we have in our lives.

I would like to end me post today with a prayer for Independence Day from the book “Prayers for our Country”

“Today is the birthday of my country, God.  I give thanks and praise for its noble beginnings, its unwavering founders, and the bravery of all who have fought to sustain it.  May the red, white, and blue banner of the free continue to wave high above our land.  I ask you, Lord, to keep it free from hatred and protect it from harm.  Amen.”

When your wheels spin and spin

I just read a great post on Tim Brownson’s blog that really hit home.  To read the post yourself go to Tim’s site at, http://www.adaringadventure.com/index.php .  The title of the blog is a Walk on the Beach.

Reading that post came at a good time today.  Did you ever have a day when it felt like your wheels were spinning and spinning and you were stuck in place?  I don’t have those days often but today was one of those days.  Then I read Tim’s post and it snapped me out of my little funk. 

I am sure that you have dreams and goals that you want to accomplish and some days it seems like they will never happen.  Those are the days when you need to remember that it is never too late to go for your dreams.  When they put you in the ground then it is too late for your dreams until then what are you waiting for.  Go after your dreams.  As Les Brown says – “Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you will land among the stars.”

I hope that you never quit until you achieve your dreams and then you start to work towards new and bigger dreams.   When you do have a day when it looks impossible remember Tim’s walk on the beach.

Best wishes,

Rick Hyde 

Catching up with the past

Today I spent the day at a golf outing for my former high school football team.  It was a great day because I got to see a lot of my buddies that I have not seen in years.  It was great catching up with them and hearing all about their families and career’s.  It’s a shame that we have not kept in contact with each other and tried to get together more often.  A couple of my closest friends from high school live in different parts of the country so it is hard to see each other more than once or twice a year but what is surprising to find out is a majority of them live within 20 minutes of me and I never knew that.

With the fast pace world we live in it is understandable to lose contact with friends you don’t see every day but then again we do live in the technology age where everything is at our finger tips so really there is no excuse to loss contact with friends from around the country.  It all comes down to time management.  Think about it, how long does it take you to send an email to your best friend to say hello and your thinking about them?  What about a quick five minute phone call just to check in?

It doesn’t take much time at all to call each of your closest friends once a month.  I am sure if you are like me, you waste more time flipping through TV stations than it would take on making those calls.  Life is short and you never know what can happen.  Start tomorrow to incorporate 15 – 20 minutes a day into your schedule to make those calls or to send an email to a long lost friend. 

A great way to locate your friends that seem to have dropped off the face of the earth is www.LinkedIn.com.  It is a social networking site for professionals.  I am sure that these other two sites you have heard of, www.myspace.com and www.facebook.com

Well, that’s it for tonight.  It has been a long and exciting day so it is bed time.

Best wishes,
Rick Hyde

Hello world!

Welcome to my blog.  Not only do I hope to inspire you with my thoughts on business and life but I hope that I also give you the courage and desire to achieve all of your dreams and goals.

Best of Luck

Rick Hyde