New Life

Life is crazy...One day you meet the girl of your dreams, the next your sending your first kid off to Kindergarten, and before I know it, I'll be giving her away to a young man to start the cycle all over again...

I am so blessed. Blessed with Happiness far beyond that of average men. I have an incredible wife, I have amazing children. I have a great job, I have opportunities flying at me from every direction, and through it all I have the power to choose. All I can say is " Blessed be the name of the Lord Almighty"

For those of you who have not yet received these blessings, I promise you that if you will keep your covenants, and not loose faith, the time will come.

So...Although I titled my post "New Life" I guess that is somewhat mis-leading, cause it's still same old mischievous Bradley Dean... but somewhere in between lighting firecrackers while sitting on top of a gas can, and here, I learned a few things.

The biggest of those is that The Atonement of our Savior is real. Next to that nothing else really matters, other than the fact that our Heavenly Father's work and his glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

I do not know who this post if for, but I feel like I need to assure you, whoever you are... Your struggles are not in vain. You are not alone, and you have not been forgotten. As your tears flow because of a sense of hopelessness, please know, that I know where you are at. I have been there many times, wondering, praying, and feeling utterly lost. And now I stand on the banks of the far shore that you cannot see at this point, and I shine forth my light saying "Keep Coming" "Don't give up" "You are closer than you think". And I assure you my friend... You are closer than you think.

If you can't think of someone who loves you tonight, please know that I love you. I am your brother... And I know that I am not perfect, as is our eldest brother, but perhaps you will find a small comfort knowing that someone does.

And maybe... Just maybe... That will give you... New Life.
-Keep On Smiling-

HyperSmiling

In the midst of all these crazy gas prices, I've been learning about the neurotic "Hypermilers" and their crazy antics for trying to save money through maximizing their fuel consumption. Now, before you get all flustered and write me a note about how lame I am, please note that I am an advocate of saving the planet, alternative fuel sources, and yes, I even owned a Toyota Prius. (And unfortunately sold it when I probabaly could have used the fuel saving to pay the bill.)
So, Hypermilers are good honest people trying to make their hard earned dollar go a few more miles... Nothing wrong with that. It's the guys that I see taking 90 degree turns at 30 MPH so they don't have to try to accelerate and use gas, that are making me upset. Or the people who accelerate at a rate that I could push the car faster than they go. These are the ones that need to be pulled over and handed a bike.
So admidst it all, I will join the ranks of millions who aren't quite sure what to do with their 100 dollar a week gasoline bill, and become a "HyperSmiler" Above is a great example of one.

Wow, I haven't smiled in forever (online)

Okay, so life is flying OH SO fast, and I have been working long hours and letting one of my passions slip though my fingers. That is sharing joy and love with others. I know that hardly anyone is probably coming to look at the blog now, but perhaps that can provide me with a new beginning. A chance to rethink my approach, and to balance out the demands that life so readily throws at us.

Here's a smile to ponder until then.
-Keep on Smiling-

Smiling in Black and White

My Dear Friends, Thank You for coming and looking at my smile blog. I am sorry that I have not been keeping it up to date as much as I would like to lately, but I have been so slammed with work. I just wanted to throw this up there for you all tonight to think about the contrasting events in your life.

Stop and take a quick look at where you are, and where you want to be. You might even take 5 Minutes for life, and write down some goals. I found my paper that I wrote 5 years ago, and it was fun to look back and to see where I was then and where I am now. It also will help you to point yourself in a direction.

In life there will be a lot of things that are black and white, but other times everything might seem more like a gray scale. When you look down the road and you are seeing gray scale and it is hard to distinguish a path, lay the pros and cons all out on the table, then one you have a clear path to what you think the answer is, talk to the big guy upstairs and ask for a confirmation.

I love you all and hope that if you ever have anything that I can do to help you, that you would ask.

-Keep on Smiling-

Horray for the Color Red!

I just Love the color Red and I thought that this exciting Smile did the color some justice.
Red represents LOVE in most people's eyes, but it also represents Hate and Anger in the eyes of another. Red Represents the Kiss of Death but it also represents a sweet baby's birth. Red represents strength in battle and it also represents happiness in Peace. Red represents saying YES, to eradicating Aids, It represents saying NO to drugs. Red Means Stop while in commute. Red Means Go... directly to Jail while playing our favorite board game. Red means Hot! Don't touch that plate, Red means cold after being rejected on a date.

Red is a Primary Color, without it the color spectrum would be lost. Perhaps Passion as we know it would be changed forever.

So... Next time you see red, stop and smile cause it means so many great things, I'm sure you can find something to attribute a smile towards that is red. Until then my friends...

-Keep on Smiling- (Till your Red in the face)

Honest... It's Abe

Okay, so Angel and I rented National Tresure 2 this evening and watched it. It was a great show. It's all based on the Assassination of President Lincoln and a conspiracy theory getting proven wrong. But this blog is not about Movies, it's about Smiles. Great flick though.

So, All growing up, I have always had a great respect for Abraham Lincoln and all that he stood for. I really first began to learn about him as a person in the book "How to win friends and influence people". If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. But Abe was not a quitter. He was a noble man, but in his younger years there was a fire that burned within him. He ran for the Presidency several times before he actually became the president. But, Like I said, He was not a quitter.

I am so grateful that we have had great men and women before us, that understood the power of a smile. Lincoln knew this and shared his smile in diplomacy and friendship. It was under his watch that the Civil war was won, and tragically only 5 days after the end of the war he was shot and killed.

So as you go about today and you see a penny, immediately pass along a smile to the nearest person and pass on the legacy that this great American President started so many years ago.

-Keep on Smiling-

Diverse in Da Universe

What an Powerful thing a smile is. I have never seen something that could breakup fights, save lives, go around the world, inspire, uplift, change the unchangeable, strengthen, teach, make new friends and open new doors and a thousand other positive verbs...Like a smile can

It is so interesting to me that in a world that is so diverse and where hundreds of languages are spoken the universal language is a smile. So next time you find yourself in a predicament... Smile! The strenght you will draw from it will be incredible. If there are other parties involved smile at them too... They might be annoyed at first, but if you give them a true and genuine smile, and draw from the internal strength it gives you to resolve the issue, I promise you, it will resolve the issue.

A smile says I love you, I care about you, and you are welcome in my presence. What could be more inviting than a smile? Nothing... Because in order to be inviting one must be greeted with just that, and if you are not, surely a warm welcome feeling is not emulated.

So show those Pearly Whites, heck... Show us your Yellow Coffee Stained Broken Smile with one Blackend dead tooth! We don't care (Well maybe a little bit, but I'll happily buy you a tooth brush and give you a free lesson on how to use it!). But if we show up to your place ya best be smilin, lest you leave us feelin like we wasn't welcome or somethin'.

I love you all my friends and I appreciate you coming and reading my blog. You guys rock!

-Keep on Smiling-