My inspiration comes from many directions and at various times. Many of those times are just not so darn convenient ! Like driving in the car and suddenly these great earth shattering blog posts ideas come in and I go, “NO…not now, I’m driving!”

Today was different. Opening up my email program to a stream of subscribed emails, many of which I just delete (I really have to clean that up someday) this one just caught my eye from Karl Bryan.

A friend of his had sent him these special words during a time of need that he was going through at the time.

I loved it and was inspired to make a special poster for it and write this post – thank you Karl for sending it out. It was so timely for me to hear.

Words are NEVER enough. If they were, books on changing one self would be far more effective. Neither are workshops, partly because without putting anything into ACTION, they are just that – words.

They are nice words. Powerful words. Inspirational words. In the end, only words.

I understand, change can be scary. There appears to be a lot of uncertainty attached to it. It does take effort and energy, sometimes a lot of energy to move in a direction that is not comfortable, to break those destructive patterns. After all, look how EASY it is to do NOTHING!

We all worry that we might end up like Sisyphus, pushing that rock up a hill only to have it come tumbling down anyway and starting all over again! What if I told you that might pretty well sum up your current life right now. Ouch!

There is good news – always is. Many philosophers have thought that even Sisyphus had his happy moments. I will let you think about when those were.

While your life might resemble what Sisyphus went through day after day there is a fundamental difference. He was being punished to do so. YOU MY FRIEND ARE NOT BEING PUNISHED!

At the moment, I am in the zone. Other times, I am like you too. I get stuck in a sea of muddy excuses (stories/rackets) ping ponging from self-pity to anger, to being overly sensitive to defiance. I am human too, doing humanly things. We all do, that’s the big joke. We all think we are different. Take a trip up to space far enough enough way and notice what is going on down here and you will notice that we are all very much the same.

So how do I get rid of this rock? First, you need to give your self permission to do so. I believe, many people and that includes you, have been looking for others to give you that permission. You don’t need it!

You do not need permission from anyone! Not from your mother or father, spouse, kids or anyone in your life. It might even surprise you that some of them might even welcome the change! They see more potential in you then you do right now. As sad as that may sound, it is true. How often have your close friends have stated that? They are not doing it to just make you feel happy or good about yourself. They know the value of YOU.

The only comparison that you need to make is from the person you were yesterday. NO WAIT – make that a second, a nano second ago. Because you have within YOU the power to move on at any moment in time. In fact there is only one moment in time and that is NOW. There are no other moments. The past is the past and the future has not been made up. There is only NOW. Your future will be based on your actions in this MOMENT – after you finish reading this post of course.

RICK RUPPENTHAL is a professional Personal and Leadership Transformational Coach and a Certified Change Practitioner. As a retired paramedic of 30 years, Rick has held positions in leadership, education, as a coach and a mentor. Through those experiences, understanding, and adaptability, Rick has dedicated his life to a continual journey of self-discovery, adventure, and guiding others on their own journey of being their best self.