Last night was Senior Night for the high school band.

At one point it was not cool to be in the band and band people were “nerds”.

I’m not hip enough to know whether that’s still the case with “kids these days”, but I can tell you that if those kids are a bunch of nerds, being a nerd looks pretty cool to me.

Annie’s a junior, but we’ve been around these kids for several years now and they are getting a lot of the important stuff right.

They care about each other.

They practice and try hard.

They try new, hard things and stink at first but get good over time.

They have fun. Always smiling, joking and carrying on.

They aren’t perfect and they make mistakes, but they are a team.

Who knew I could learn so much from a group of high school “nerds”?

Make it a great day.

Jake

Cinco de Mayo today.

I’ve been running a secret campaign to make Cinco de Mayo another St. Patrick’s Day here in the United States.

A day when we can all celebrate another culture together as one.

A lot of people seem to want to separate us out and emphasize our differences.

I’m for focusing on our similarities.

We all love tacos, right?!?

Let’s focus on that!

Make it a great day.

Jake

You blew it. It was all your fault. You could have done better but you didn’t.

At some point for all of this, this is true.

We miss the mark. We make mistakes. We fall prey to temptation and make the wrong decision.

Part of life is deciding how to move forward in spite of our shortcomings.

We can choose to continue on, learn a lesson and do our best to do better next time.

Or we can choose to shrink back, ruminate on our mistakes and let our mistakes define us.

Choose to move forward. Choose to accept responsibility. Choose to grow.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – The central message of the Bible is that we ALL fall short and are still loved. Even more reason to move on and move forward.

https://youtu.be/Q6NQcO9KTBY?si=TCHztcv2PveiyY74

Please watch out for each other and love and forgive everybody. It’s a good life, enjoy it. – Jim Henson

Meaghan put this quote on the board in the kitchen.

The Muppets are a classic in the Davis house – we’ve watched most of the movies multiple times.

If this isn’t your Muppet jam, find one that you like.

Play it loud and start your day off with a little bit of silly fun.

Make it a great day.

Jake

The happiest people seem to be those who have no particular cause for being happy except that they are so. – William Inge

What if happiness was a choice?

Something we could develop habits and skills around.

Something to be cultivated and developed over time.

Probably worth a shot.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Kites rise highest against the wind – not with it. – Winston Churchill

I’ve never been able to come up with a great answer to the question “why do bad things happen to good people?”

It seems to me that bad things happen to everyone. Trying circumstances seem to be a certainty in this life.

We get to choose how we respond to them.

We get to choose how high our kite flies against the wind.

It doesn’t make the bad times better. They might not even be worth how high you fly in response.

But a positive response is better than a negative one.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success. – Swami Sivananda

The Bible talks about doing your work as if for the Lord.

What a great attitude to take.

Life is full of the “smallest acts”.

We can choose to blow it off and pretend like it doesn’t matter.

But it does matter – because it is in the little stuff that we decide what kind of person we are.

Make it a great day.

Jake

The price of greatness is responsibility. – Winston Churchill

A lot of what we want lies on the other side of responsibility.

First, for ourselves. Taking responsibility for our actions is a great first step towards maturity.

Then, for stuff bigger than ourselves. Marriage, family, work – all become more and more of a blessing in our lives in proportion to the responsibility we take on to be a blessing and add value to others.

Where could you take on more responsibility in your life?

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/uq-gYOrU8bA

This one always makes me smile. Maybe it’s just the difference in height in the video.

Find something that makes you smile today.

A favorite song.

A favorite poem.

A favorite Bible verse or chapter.

Some time outside.

Something. Enjoy it. Take a moment to savor it. Hold on to the positive vibes.

Make it a great day.

Jake

I have for many years endeavored to make this vital truth clear; and still people marvel when I tell them that I am happy.

They imagine that my limitations weigh heavily upon my spirit, and chain me to the rock of despair.

Yet, it seems to me, happiness has very little to do with the senses. If we make up our minds that this is a drab and purposeless universe, it will be that, and nothing else.

On the other hand, if we believe that the earth is ours, and that the sun and moon hang in the sky for our delight, there will be joy upon the hills and gladness in the fields because the Artist in our souls glorifies creation.

Surely, it gives dignity to life to believe that we are born into this world for noble ends, and that we have a higher destiny than can be accomplished within the narrow limits of this physical life.

~ Helen Keller

Wow. Maturity check moment for me – I sure do complain a lot.

Instead, what if I took these words to heart today. The idea that we are born for noble ends with a higher destiny.

That all the joy and delight we wish for is actually right at our fingertips, waiting to be seen and appreciated.

Make it a great day.

Jake