Turn up the heat . . .

Yeah, I know what you're thinking . . .  she's crazy, it's hot enough already!

But, the other day while driving and thinking (don't know about you, but I do a lot of that in the car when I'm by myself), and pondering about my next post, something popped into my head. Well, my train of thought went something like this:

Hmmm, I need to think about a topic for my next post. I already mused on our monthly theme of water, but I do really like this theme. Maybe I could share some of my favorite things about that large body of water I talked about in my last post. Wow, it's so hot today and the water in the gulf (of Mexico) was so warm yesterday, even warmer than bath water . . . in fact if it gets any hotter it may just be boiling hot the next time I'm there.

And then, oh so randomly (as if that wasn't random enough) it made me think about a video I've seen in the past about the boiling point of water. You may have seen it too, but I don't think the message ever gets old, at least for me, and it's something I definitely need to revisit from time to time. And if you haven't seen it, I know right about now you are wondering why is she talking about the boiling point of water and what does that have to do with anything. So, I'll start at the beginning.

The video starts out like this:

At 211 degrees water is hot. At 212 degrees, water boils. And with boiling water comes steam. And steam can power a locomotive. One extra degree makes all the difference. And the one extra degree in business and in life . . . separates the good from the great!

The message is one that reminds me that a lot of the time I'm living in a dream state of my passions and that I'm not putting enough effort into achieving the goals I desire, and that sometimes I lack a little a lot of focus and direction. It goes on to state a few statistics of the margins of victory between that of first and second place. In sports it's almost always a matter of mere seconds or fractions of seconds that separates the two.

The rest of the video goes on to say:

It's your life. You are responsible for your results. It's time to turn up the heat. To get what we've never had, we must do what we've never done.

*  212 degrees of Attitude: The only thing that stands between a person and what they want in life
    is the will to try and the faith to believe it is possible.

*  212 degrees of Kindness: "It is one of the most beautiful compensations in life . . . we can never
    help another without helping ourselves." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

*  212 degrees of Belief: Belief fuels enthusiasm, and enthusiasm explodes into passion. It fires
    our souls and lifts our spirits.

* 212 degrees of Focus: Having a simple, clearly defined goal can capture the imagination and
    inspire passion. It can cut through the fog like a beam in the night.

* 212 degrees of Perseverance: "Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races, one after
   another." - Walter Elliot

I don't know about you but there are often times when I lose motivation, focus, and direction. And on those occasions when I stall or hit a plateau I have to remember that I can't give up because I am responsible for my results. Sometimes though, that's not enough. Sometimes it's that little extra effort of others, a comment or an action that ignites our flame again. Often it's someone else that helps to awaken us to our own possibilities, and that is something we can surely pass on to each other.

Turning up the heat doesn't mean we won't fail, because in life there are almost always failures along the way to reaching our goals. But with motivation and focus fueling our passions and desires hopefully we won't give up before we get there. So here's a toast, a nice glass of ice water, to getting some pots boiling. Are ya with me?

And speaking of water, don't forget to add your photos labeled with water in our Flickr group for a chance to be our InFocus selection of the week.

(If you would like to view the 212 degree video click here, it's less than 3 minutes.)