“Life to me is the greatest of all games. The danger lies in treating it as a trivial game, a game to be taken lightly, and a game in which the rules don’t matter much. The rules matter a great deal. The game has to be played fairly or it is no game at all. And even to win the game is not the chief end. The chief end is to win it honorably and splendidly.”

Love unlocks doors and opens windows that weren’t even there before. – Mignon McLaughlin

Love represents the ultimate change in perspective.

This quote says it well.

Options that once seemed impossible or closed off now seem easily available and in plain sight.

Giving becomes easy, even mandatory.

Sacrifice becomes joy.

Hardship turns into opportunity.

Love is also a verb.

Activity filled with love greases the skids, making everything else seem easy.

Make it a great day.

Jake

What if love is the whole point?

The reason for the whole thing?

The “why” behind it all?

Not sure that I can answer that definitively. Maybe it’s not the whole thing, but it sure seems like most of it.

What would today look like if you made it your main objective?

When you think about what to do next or what is most important, what if you put love first?

Make it a great day.

Jake

Question for the week:

What if it all works out?

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/U6n2NcJ7rLc

Have some fun today.

Be goofy.

Turn up some music.

Dance around a little.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Everything’s got a moral, if only you can find it. – Lewis Carroll

If you seek, you will find.

If you are looking for lessons on how the world works, they are all around you.

What are you looking for?

Make it a great day.

Jake

Simple reminder for today.

Human beings can and do grow.

Change is inevitable – you get to pick the intensity and direction.

Make it a great day.

Jake

I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell. – William Tecumseh Sherman

This quote reminds me to be praying for those in Ukraine right now.

I am so very thankful for those who fought for our freedoms and for the life I live which has so far has not required the same of me.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“God has not been trying an experiment on my faith or love in order to find out their quality. He knew it already. It was I who didn’t. In this trial He makes us occupy the dock, the witness box, and the bench all at once. He always knew that my temple was a house of cards. His only way of making me realize the fact was to knock it down.”

― C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

What a powerful thought.

Regardless of where you stand on believing in God and whether or not God places trials in our lives to test us, life will test you at some point.

The older I get the more I wonder how many of my "temples" are really houses of cards.

We see others whose metaphorical card houses have been toppled and quickly jump to conclusions about what they may have done wrong, not noticing we are balancing precariously in a card house ourselves.

But where’s the positive spin, Jake?

First, showing empathy for the weaknesses and follies of others can help us from meeting that same fate.

Second, seeing our house of cards for what it is before it falls can save us a whole lot of heartache.

Take a look at what you are building your beliefs and habits from to make sure they are built on solid footing.

Make it a great day.

Jake ​

https://youtu.be/uq-gYOrU8bA

For some reason this song (and this video) always crack me up.

Find something that cheers you up and play it loud this morning

Make it a great day.

Jake