https://youtu.be/qORYO0atB6g?si=qriEvm0FjfBFbIgy

This is one my favorite songs to crank up the goofiness.

There are plenty of times in life to be serious.

Sometimes we just need to goof off and relax.

Put on your own favorite goofy song and let loose a little.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/bSMxl1V8FSg?si=F_Yuu4qkuk5HFnnj

One of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies.

What a great metaphor for a great life lesson.

Forrest literally breaks free from the limitations the world has put on him and "runs like the wind".

At some point along the way, it becomes easy to accept what others say and think about you as true.

Sometimes this feeds our ego and fills us with self importance.

Sometimes this shakes us to our core and leaves us self-conscious and full of shame.

Both are a trap.

You were meant to run like the wind – in your own special way. Even better – you were given those special gifts and talents so that you can be a blessing to others.

Don’t let what some punk kid said (or says) about you to keep you from breaking free. Let go of all that stuff and be free. Free to serve and help. To love and be loved.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – As a Christian this has an even deeper meaning. Our Father in heaven is the only one qualified to define us. The Bible says we are all wonderfully and fearfully made and that He knows every hair on our head. He made you, you. And He loves you. Every little thing about you. He’s excited to spend the day with you…. so stay close to Him.

Let us sacrifice our today so that our children can have a better tomorrow. – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

I must be getting old because I think about this a lot.

How thankful I am for my parents and grand parents and how they sacrificed so their children can have a better tomorrow.

About what I should be doing to put our kids in a better position.

In the end, I try to always remember that it’s more about love than anything else.

Love endures.

Stuff won’t. Even wisdom and good advice will fade away before love.

I want them all (and everyone, really) to know how much they are loved.

By me, of course, but even more by their Father in heaven.

We can sacrifice today for our children’s future – but without love it won’t matter.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.” – C S Lewis

CS Lewis always seems to get me with his challenges to humility.

I’m hoping that that this one will inspire me to take on this challenge. To be focused on the glory of my neighbor. To put others always above myself in my daily to dos.

At Mavidea and Maxlider we’re lucky enough to have customers and coworkers to work with. They provide a daily opportunity to work towards the ideal described above.

The end of the year will go quickly. It will be easy to slip into ego, pride and selfishness as we go about our work.

Don’t fall in to the trap. Don’t let your back be broken with pride.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get. – Dale Carnegie

Tony Robbins talks about the idea of appreciating what you do have as a starting point to making a better life.

Jim Rohn says that gratitude for what we do have opens up the doors and windows and lets more opportunity come in.

Contentment is a tricky subject.

Should we content? Yes. To the point of becoming lazy and complacent? No.

Should we have ambition? Yes. To the point where we are unhappy and unhealthy? No.

Success and happiness must be balanced.

And that’s where it gets fun. That balance is different for everyone.

You get to pick!

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/BKLVpDTZOPQ?si=NLwr39MyP3hOUqXC

For some reason (that I can’t wait to ask God about) we were built to be together.

Physically, in the same space.

We all need someone to sit next to us.

In our joy.

In our pain.

In our boredom.

In our confusion.

In our sadness.

We need to be there for each other.

Two quick additional thoughts.

One, if you need someone to sit with you – ASK! Don’t try to do it all on your own. Someone wants to be there with and for you – I promise.

Two, if you see someone sitting alone – go sit next to them.

Make it a great day.

Jake

There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self. – Aldous Huxley

It’s so easy to get sucked into spending our time thinking about all the things we don’t control.

What other people think…

What the president does or doesn’t do….

What the economy is or isn’t doing…

What our boss/coworker/customer is doing….

What is the new cool car/tech/clothes…..

If you want things to get better, you have to get better.

Work on what you can control.

And then let God take care of the rest.

Make it a great day.

Jake

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. – Aristotle

So much of our maturity lies in the decision we make between the moment we have a thought and whatever happens next.

Do we accept or reject it?

Do we act on it or let it pass?

Do we believe it and accept it as part of our identity?

Do we weighs its pros and cons?

What thoughts might need a little closer examination?

Thoughts like….

Its only this one small thing….what difference does it make.

I’m unlikeable/unlovable and that explains….

I don’t have time to….

One more day and then I’ll start….

It’s their fault that…..

If only he/she would…..

If I had more money/time I’d…..

Our minds are a fertile garden, growing whatever is planted. Habitual thoughts get planted, deeply and consistently. If we’d like a garden filled with joy, peace, love, etc. then we must plant carefully.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1GRyyxmrf8/

I like this idea.

If you want to complain or whine or be negative, set a timer for 5 minutes on your phone.

Get it all out.

Then get over it.

Get back after it.

Life is way too short to spend too much time whining and moaning.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Maggie turns 20 today. Somehow this email from when she turned 16 seems even more relevant today than it did 4 years ago.

Today is Maggie’s 16th birthday.

Teaching Maggie to drive has been an experience in patience and empathy.

She’s full of the enthusiasm and desire for independence that most teenagers have. She’s ready to spread her wings and be her own person.

But the parents….not….quite…..ready. It’s a story as old as time. Parents learning to let go and kids trying to break free.

We watch this wonderful person and (think) we see all the future possibilities and want to have our hands on the steering wheel but have to let go. It’s harder than I thought it would be….

I feel so lucky and blessed to have such a good kid and to have had good parents who cared enough to struggle through all of this on my behalf.

It’s a good reminder that some haven’t been so lucky. We run into people every day and everywhere for whom this process didn’t go as well as it could have. Let’s remember to be as patient and kind with them as we all wished (or were lucky enough to have experienced) for from those in our lives.

God is good and I’m so very thankful that I get to be Maggie’s dad. She sure has taught me a lot.

Make it a great day.

Jake