https://youtu.be/wBl2QGAIx1s?si=2XqkvF-XOv9VpCXx

As I get older, “the power of love” has taken on a different meaning.

I think of it now as the power to help us in one of life’s biggest challenges (the biggest?) – letting go of my own selfish desires and pride.

The power of love comes in changing our hearts to think of another before ourselves.

To put someone else’s goals and ambitions ahead of ours.

To put the happiness of someone else as a higher priority than our own.

When we are able to love in this manner and kill our own selfishness we truly blossom.

We are at our best and our happiest when we love in this fashion.

Make it a great day.

Jake

In spite of unseasonable wind, snow

and unexpected weather of all sorts –

a gardener still plants.

And tends what they have planted …

believing that Spring will come.

– Mary Anne Radmacher

On a cold, snowy and blowy morning this quote seemed appropriate.

Faith. We all must take certain things with faith.

That spring will come.

That our efforts will pay off.

That if we keep it up it will be worth it.

It’s easy to lose faith in something.

Any time we work towards something bigger for our lives, we must work in faith.

Faith that it will all work out in the end.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Make friends with people who want the best for you. – Jordan Peterson    

This is rule number three of his 12 Rules for Life.

I like this book because all the rules seem so simple, but he illustrates how easily so many of us go off the path.

Making friends is important. We were all built for community. Seems pretty straightforward.

But it’s easy to make friends with the wrong crowd.

To make friends with those who would use us for their benefits instead of ours.

To make friends with people who are heading the wrong way and will gladly take us with them.

To make friends with the goal of becoming popular or cool instead of looking for substance and character.

If you want to figure out how to do this – read the book!

But a good first step would be to be on the look out.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – Short cut idea on this one – church would be a great place to find these kinds of people. No perfect people there but at least there’s a good chance they are trying to head in a good direction.

What do you hang on the walls of your mind? – Eve Arnold

I heard Erik once describe Instagram as "just like when you were a kid and you had posters on your wall in your room". Or something like that. That also may be a little telling as to how old we are…

In a similar way – what we allow in our feeds ends up feeding our minds.

It’s easy to get all flibber flabbered about the algorithms and the social media companies about how they control what we see and attempt to influence us.

But in the end, we are in control.

We choose what to focus on.

We choose how much time we spend being influenced.

We control the gate at the entrance of our mind (our eyes).

Choose wisely what you hang on the walls of your mind.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – there is plenty of good stuff to hang on those walls!

Happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected. – George Washington

Doing the right thing is its own reward.

For whatever reason we have been given the opportunity to make choices.

Sometimes it feels like freedom.

Sometimes it feels like an opportunity for hedonism.

Sometimes it feels like a prison.

On the whole, most of the time, making good choices leaves us happier.

Not all the time. Sometimes not right away. Sometimes good choices make us feel worse (in the short run).

It’s not a perfect system where the results are always immediate and obvious. One plus one doesn’t always equal two.

But if you are willing to do the right thing most of the time, most of the time you’ll end up better off.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/cyVzjoj96vs?si=vtA09RZhAw5YYsDc

I know I’ve sent this one out a few times over the years.

This time I reminded of the truth that you are worth it.

You are worth all those New Year’s resolutions you made.

You are worth the hard work to become better.

Your unique makeup is on purpose and with a purpose.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – God thinks you are worth it too. He looked out over all of history and all the future and decided to send His Son to die on the cross for your sins so that he could spend eternity with you. Even if you miss on all your other goals and plans for life if you can accept this free gift you will know joy and peace beyond words.

One of the hard parts of service is interacting with others in their moment of need.

Most of us aren’t quite the put together, got it all under control, emotionally mature person we pretend to be in front of others (maybe I’m the only one).

We get on the phone or in front of a service provider and sometimes we are not quite as nice as we should be (it happened to a guy once, I read it on the internet).

For me, being in need brings up feelings of insecurity and can lead to a hole in that self esteem balloon (it needs more air, not less!).

This means that when someone is dealing with me in a moment of need, I’m probably not at my best. I probably let my ego and insecurities get in the way. The bigger the need, the harder this is.

Over the years a phrase has come to be a habit of mine (at least in my head) – “Be of service – with love.”

Without the love part, dealing with someone in their moment of need just doesn’t work.

I think of the kids when they were little and got sick. They looked so helpless and it immediately caused strong feelings of love for them and a desire to help in any way I could.

I’m not suggesting we get all sentimental and teary eyed with every service call. I’m trying to remind us (maybe just me, you probably got this figured out) to be aware of how we make others feel in their moment of need. To cultivate a feeling of love towards those we get the opportunity to serve. If we serve with love – then we are the ones who received the greater portion of blessing and joy.

A client whose service ticket gets solved gets a little bump. The service person serving clients with love – that guy/gal is on top of the world.

Ok – maybe all of this has gone too far. Jake’s gotten a little ahead of himself. Fine. Let’s just try to move the needle a little bit today. A little more love. That seems more reasonable.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Bonus point – when you are in a time of need – ask for the help. Receive the love. Appreciate the service. Let go of your ego.

The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. – Ernest Hemingway

Bad news is that bad stuff is going to happen.

It stinks. I wish it wasn’t so. If I could change it, I would.

Somehow, it’s how we get stronger and better.

I wish we could skip the hard part and the heartbreak and go straight to the growth.

But we can’t….

It doesn’t work that way.

What to do about it?

Best advice I’ve heard is to embrace it. With the light comes the dark. With the strength comes the weakness. All of it beautiful and instrumental in its own way.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well’. – Martin Luther King Jr.

This is one of my favorite quotes.

Not only because of the truth and inspiration we can gain from it, but also because of the example set by the person who said it.

Imagine living in that time, amidst all of that tension and strife, and having the strength of character to tell people to sweep streets as if they were sweeping the streets of heaven.

His audience was quite literally living through hell on earth and he inspired them to be and do their best in every scenario.

Take this message to heart today (and every day).

Do your best with what is in front of you.

Love and serve those around you with all you’ve got.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Meaghan’s birthday today!

Not quite sure how she pulls it off, but she sure does get more wonderful each year.

I sure got the better end of the deal when she agreed to marry me over 20 years ago.

One of my favorite words to describe what’s so great about Meaghan is grace.

I once heard someone describe grace as the gift of giving others better than what they deserve.

Meaghan does this everyday with her husband, children and those around her.

She is forgiving, kind and caring even when it isn’t warranted or deserved.

Because she is that kind of person.

I take inspiration from this all the time and hope it can do the same for you.

Make it a great day.

Jake