"This is one time where television really fails to capture the true excitement of a large squirrel predicting the weather."

– Phil Connors, Groundhog Day

Every year on Groundhog Day I think of the movie.

Phil Connors gets stuck in a loop and has to live the same day every day.

Given this new situation he tries a bunch of different versions of “how to live”.

He tries taking it easy, he tries cramming it full of doing whatever he wants, he lies, he cheats, he steals.

Only when he spends his time in service with love does the day and his time take on true meaning.

We have that same opportunity with each of our days.

Make it a great day.

Jake

If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm. – Vince Lombardi

I didn’t know Mr. Lombardi has such a good sense of humor.

Be fired with enthusiasm today!

Make it a great day.

Jake

Resending this daily attitude from a few years ago (before Oliver, even).

Your success and happiness lies in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.

Helen Keller

For those of you that don’t know, Meaghan and I are blessed with two of the most joyful children in the world (I might be a little partial on this one).

On Sunday, Maggie and I sat down for a minute to watch a little football. We stopped on the Green Bay and St. Louis game. Maggie immediately decided to cheer for the Packers because they were already winning (she’s smart like her mom, but apparently not as much of a Bears fan as her mom).

A minute later I heard a "whoohoo!" from the other room. Maggie came into the kitchen and said "I cheered just that once for the St. Louis team. I didn’t want them to feel bad that we weren’t cheering them on."

All of this was said while jumping, skipping and smiling her way to the kitchen and back.

In that moment I got a little glimpse of true joy. Forget about who is winning or losing, let’s just cheer because it is fun to cheer.

So, why did I share this little story and the quote above in a daily attitude email?

Just to brag on our little Maggie and Annie? No, but that was a pleasant side effect.

The point was to remind us. Remind all of us of that joy of childhood. To remind us of how good for our souls a little joy is. Remind us that with joy we can "form an invincible host against difficulties".

Make it a great day.

Jake

Bonus thought for us "God people" that get this email. All of this reminded me of one of my favorite little pick me up thoughts:

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

This Toe Tapper from a few years ago is a great reminder to find joy in the ordinary miracles around us every day.

When Jake asked me for a suggestion to use as this Friday morning’s toe tapper, I jokingly mentioned this song because it has been playing in my head lately. Little did I know I would get roped into sending this out. 😉

I hope some of you will enjoy it, regardless of its lack of toe tapping quality. The video is full of clips from the latest movie version of Charlotte’s Web, which is one of my all time favorite books about friendship and ordinary miracles. The song has been an inspiration to me to look for joy in the every day. When I am feeling down or having a bad day, all I have to do is look at the colors of fall against a bright blue sky, think about the uniqueness of each and every snowflake falling (a little too early last week, in my opinion), watch my little girl form something out of play-doh with her little fingers, or call a friend whom I love with all of my heart. Noticing the little miracles in my daily life keeps my focus on the good in the world, in others, and in myself.

https://youtu.be/rweU-FFE6Ww

If you remember to take a look, you too can find ordinary miracles as you go about your normal day. When you find those little bits of beauty, joy, and love in your life, you may also find a little "tap" in your toes (and your heart, since I am going with the sappy theme here). Then you can "open up and find a way to give some of your own."

Happy Friday, Toe Tappers!

Meaghan Davis

I’ve been relistening to Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning” again and it reminded me of this daily attitude email from a few years back.

We started watching “42” (the story of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball) and I have been listening to Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning” the last few days (in it he tells the story of his experience in a concentration camp).

Both stories include more than their fair share of difficulty and suffering.

The important thing was how each used their difficulties and suffering to find meaning and purpose in their lives.

We each have the same opportunity.

Sure, our suffering is not on the scale of theirs, but the lessons are the same.

Maybe you are having a hard time with your diet.

Maybe you are battling an addiction.

Maybe you are just having a hard time finding happiness.

Jackie and Viktor would both tell you to stick with it.

The hard part is worth it.

We can embrace our difficulties with the enthusiasm and energy that comes with recognizing that they serve a purpose. They refine us and mold us into the person we are capable of becoming.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS for the Mavideans on the list – I have an audio copy and we have the hard copy of “Man’s Search for Meaning”. If you haven’t read it, I would highly recommend it. It is in my top 10 books list.

We’re all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn’t. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing. – Charles Bukowski

I don’t know about you, but some times I feel like I let myself get eaten up by nothing.

I let life’s trivialities flatten me.

I’m terrorized by the little things as they pile up and consume me.

But wait…there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.

God so loved me that he sent His one and only son to die so that I might be saved.

That I might live and love and serve others in my life in a way that builds meaning and joy.

Maybe it’s not so bad after all.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"I said not long before that work and weakness are comforters. But sweat is the kindest creature of the three – far better than philosophy, as a cure for ill thoughts." – CS Lewis, Til We Have Faces

This line really stuck with me as I am reading through this book.

If you ever find yourself down, get sweaty.

Just find something to do that gets you sweaty.

Walk around the block.

Do a million pushups.

Lift weights.

Get your mind off of what is troubling you and onto to something else.

Often our worries and troubles overtake us because we allow them to dominate our thoughts. But it’s hard to let them dominate your thoughts when you are busy doing something challenging.

Plus, exercise is like good for you or something.

Make it a great day.

Jake

In the Bible it says the meek shall inherit the earth.

It’s hard not to bristle a little when you hear that.

We hear words like meek and humble and think of the perennial doormat that doesn’t think enough of themself to stand up for what they believe in.

I went in search of something around the topic of humility and found this short excerpt:

One of the most powerful prayers in the midst of suffering I have read was uncovered from the horrors of Ravensbruck concentration camp. Ravensbruck was a concentration camp built in 1939 for women. Over 90,000 women and children perished in Ravensbruck, murdered by the Nazis. Corrie Ten Boom, who wrote The Hiding Place, was imprisoned there too. The prayer, found in the clothing of a dead child, says:

O Lord, remember not only the men and woman of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not remember all of the suffering they have inflicted upon us: Instead remember the fruits we have borne because of this suffering, our fellowship, our loyalty to one another, our humility, our courage, our generosity, the greatness of heart that has grown from this trouble. When our persecutors come to be judged by you, let all of these fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness.

I think that is the kind of behavior the Bible is talking about.

The kind of humility and meekness it takes to write something like that is hard to imagine.

It’s easy to read something like this and feel bad. Hard to live up to those kind of standards, so why even try?

Why try? Prayers like this one are proof that better is out there. We are capable of amazing things.

Use this as inspiration to get started on your own amazing thing.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/O4OOum4Vm-M

As a follow up to the Jim Rohn’s thoughts about winter being a time when we get tougher.

Sometimes just surviving is all we are meant to do during a particular season.

I’ve been listening to “Man’s Search for Meaning” again and his story of his experiences in the concentration camp are chilling.

The fact that he was able to turn so a harrowing life experience into a positive life and worldview is hard to believe.

Winter is a time to take the uncomfortable moments of our life and grow from them.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Sounds like we have some winter coming. It reminds me of Jim Rohn and his explanation of winters as part of life’s natural flow.

https://youtu.be/QU333LmZ4CE

Jim starts by explaining that we can’t change the seasons of life. We can only change our response to the seasons.

Jim says “Learn how to handle the winters, they always come right after fall”

Jim goes on to say that there are all kind of winters.

The winter when you can’t figure it out.

The winter when it all goes smash.

Economic winters, social winters.

The winter when your heart is smashed into a thousand pieces.

No matter what kind of winter you may or may not be experiencing at any given point, it is important to remember that we all face winters in our life.

Jim says “When it was winter, I used to wish it was summer.” But then he realized that winter served its own purpose.

Winter is a time to do three things.

Get stronger. Get wiser. Get better.

This part about handling the winters of life is probably my favorite of the four seasons and his explanation of them. I think it made the most sense to me because I used to (at least I am trying to make it used to) complain about the winters in IL and think that wasn’t any good that came of the winter time.

Jim’s explanation of winter gave me a different perspective. We need to use winter as a time to get stronger, wiser, and better. It is a time to hone our skills so that we can take advantage of the next season…..spring.

Make it a great day.

Jake