Reality is stark, yet the backstory portal from heaven brings color to the grayness, music through the noise, and a magnolia fragrance in the midst of the pollution of the masses. Modern-day parables emerge against this backdrop fueling the spirit.

A wild horse would rather spend his days running from predators and foraging for survival, lost in the pecking order of a random herd, than submit to the trainer.

Today’s picture is of friend and actor Lucas Black using a non-traditional putting stroke during the final scene of the movie, Seven Days in Utopia. All life-giving revolutions of thought, business, sport, industry, etc. that are life or world-changing have their origin in the soul. Something profound happens in one’s heart. It is a supernatural experience.

My first exposure to the power of positive visualization happened when I was 14. It changed my life in all performances and circumstances and situations. A new young golf professional arrived at our blue-collar golf course. His name was Johnny and he became my teacher.

There really is no power like selflessness. When we get our eyes off ourselves and look to the welfare and wellbeing of those around us greatness emerges. Too many are locked into the self-imposed prison of selfishness where control is the goal.

False dreams fail us, lost dreams derail us, stolen dreams demoralize us. The dream is everything so don’t be surprised by the myriad of distractions, challenges, and adversities during the treasure hunt. Keep looking, keep hoping, keep listening to your heart, and keep seeking the pure glimpses of heaven all around you as you seek your dream. And once you find it, hang on to it and let it be a light that awakens another.

During this season, many of us find ourselves having unscheduled moments. The picture above was taken during one of those moments this week near our new home in the Vail Valley of Colorado. These moments may be your greatest gift during this Christmas season. Time to think.

Do you ever feel like time is slipping by and your goals and dreams are dissipating quickly? Do you ever feel like life is passing you by, and the world doesn’t seem to notice or care? Have circumstances sucked the life out of your passions? Is your inspiration to achieve greatness down to the last ember in the fireplace? Do you remember Kurt Warner?

Captain “Sully” Sullenberger took off from New York on January 15, 2009, not knowing that his passenger jet would hit a flock of birds at approximately 2,000 feet. He had about 20 seconds to make a decision of where to put down the plane in the middle of New York City with 155 people on board. Miraculously, he landed the US Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson between two bridges, and every passenger on the plane survived. Later he said, “Every minute of my career as a pilot was preparation for that one defining moment.”

Nothing is as it seems. I was glad to have a new perspective that transcended the ordinary. It took me to the place of parables, a place where the supernatural settles upon the natural, revealing the true story being written.

Greatness is expressed most authentically and powerfully as selfless exceptionalism during the defining moments of both life’s greatest performance achievements and life’s greatest challenges…