We all just wanna do something fun with somebody who loves us.
Andy Stanley talks about making love a verb.
Love requires doing.
Maybe for you and Whitney….that means dancing.
Maybe it’s playing a board game.
Maybe watching a movie.
Maybe going for a run.
Think of something fun you can do with someone important in your life to show them you love them – and go do it.
Make it a great day.
Jake
Worry. A topic that could probably take up a whole month’s worth of Daily Attitude Emails.
I received the excerpt below the other day and thought about how worry probably effects most of us that receive this email.
I especially liked the last line “Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength.”
How many days have gone by in your life without strength because you spent them worrying about tomorrow and what might happen?
Spending even one day worrying instead of living out or moving towards your dreams is a waste.
We only get one chance to live each day, let’s make the best of them.
Make it a great week.
Jake
An excerpt from
Attitude is Everything
by Vicki Hitzges
I used to worry. A lot. The more I fretted, the more proficient I became at it. Anxiety begets anxiety. I even worried that I worried too much! Ulcers might develop. My health could fail. My finances could deplete to pay the hospital bills.
A comedian once said, "I tried to drown my worries with gin, but my worries are equipped with flotation devices." While not a drinker, I certainly could identify! My worries could swim, jump and pole vault!
To get some perspective, I visited a well known, Dallas businessman, Fred Smith. Fred mentored such luminaries as motivational whiz Zig Ziglar, business guru Ken Blanchard and leadership expert John Maxwell. Fred listened as I poured out my concerns and then said, "Vicki, you need to learn to wait to worry."
As the words sank in, I asked Fred if he ever spent time fretting. (I was quite certain he wouldn’t admit it if he did. He was pretty full of testosterone—even at age 90.) To my surprise, he confessed that in years gone by he had been a top-notch worrier!
"I decided that I would wait to worry!" he explained. "I decided that I’d wait until I actually had a reason to worry—something that was happening, not just something that might happen—before I worried."
"When I’m tempted to get alarmed," he confided, "I tell myself, ‘Fred, you’ve got to wait to worry! Until you know differently, don’t worry.’ And I don’t. Waiting to worry helps me develop the habit of not worrying and that helps me not be tempted to worry."
Fred possessed a quick mind and a gift for gab. As such, he became a captivating public speaker. "I frequently ask audiences what they were worried about this time last year. I get a lot of laughs," he said, "because most people can’t remember. Then I ask if they have a current worry—you see nods from everybody. Then I remind them that the average worrier is 92% inefficient—only 8% of what we worry about ever comes true."
Charles Spurgeon said it best. "Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength."
Found this old daily attitude email and thought it was worth sharing again.
Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don’t know something
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge
Because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes
They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you’re tired and weary
Because it means you’ve made a difference.
It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are
also thankful for the setbacks.
GRATITUDE can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles
and they can become your blessings.
Author Unknown
Meaghan came across this and shared with me after yesterday’s daily attitude email.
Obviously this Author Unknown person is a better writer than I am so I figured I would share it.
Be thankful today.
Make it a great day.
Jake
I was getting ready to do some complaining in my head about something Meaghan had done (or not done, I honestly don’t remember), when I had this thought pop into my head:
“You are about to complain about the best thing going on in your life.”
It’s so easy to fall into the trap of complaining.
Especially about those closest to us.
We can see their flaws and their respective solutions so easily (we think).
But we wouldn’t trade that person for anything.
If they were gone tomorrow, we’d trade anything for one more day.
Instead of complaining or finding fault, let’s try to be thankful and look for the good stuff.
Let’s think so much about the good stuff we can’t imagine any bad.
Make it a great day.
Jake
Come to think of it….that thing I was going to complain about….that was my fault, not Meaghan’s. Glad I didn’t open my mouth.
Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win. – Bobby Knight
I’ve been listening to a few of the interviews on Impact Theory (https://impacttheory.com/).
A consistent theme on the show is the willingness to do the hard work to succeed.
Reading through the lines a little I think most of the interviewees are actually talking about what Bobby Knight is talking about above – preparation and practice.
Consistently the interviewees talk about how they practiced and practiced something until it was second nature. How they mentally pictured and ran through a scenario over and over until they had it down cold.
What do you want to get better at?
What could use a little practice?
Be willing to invest in practice and preparation, it will make a difference.
Make it a great day.
Jake
A favorite saying in the Davis house (courtesy of Meaghan) is that “it’s a delicate balance”.
Much of life is balancing two positives.
Live for today, plan for tomorrow.
Give away your life while holding true to your values.
Be flexible and easy going, stay strong and rooted in the important stuff.
Rest and relax, work hard and improve.
Content with what’s been given to you, ambition to do and be more.
Make it a great day.
Jake
Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit. – Peter Ustinov
Two great ideas about love in one quote.
Endless forgiveness. An insatiable ability to forgive and think the best of the other person.
A habit of tenderly looking at the other. A day by day, hour by hour tenderness and kindness towards the other person.
In the Bible, the call to love others is everywhere.
God asks us to love our neighbors, our enemies, our husband, our wives……the list is pretty long (I think He didn’t want to leave us any wiggle room).
It’s easy to fall into the “yeah, but….” trap.
Yeah, but he’s mean to me.
Yeah, but he’s a liar.
Yeah, but she’s being unfair.
Yeah, but you don’t know what he did.
We have all kinds of qualifiers to add to a pretty clear directive to love.
Be tender hearted today.
Practice some forgiveness today.
Make it a great day.
Jake
A relationship is NOT a place you go to GET, it’s a place you go to GIVE.
To those most dear to us we get to GIVE our ENERGY, our pure LOVE, and our open HEART.
LIFE IS PRECIOUS! Let’s not wait to say I love you… to smile, to stay in our heart, to laugh together, to be completely present and connected.
Why not take a moment now to decide how YOU will show-up in your relationships every day.
Who are YOU willing to BECOME for the ones you love?
Tony Robbins
Tony Robbins posted this on the FaceBox the other day and it really stood out to me.
We are all born with a need to be loved and to be in relationship.
One of life’s great mysteries is that the path to that love and those relationships is through giving ourselves in loving service to others.
Relationships are not where we go to be filled up, but the best place to empty ourselves into those we’ve deemed worthy of that level of giving.
Only in this flow of life do we live the lives we were created for.
Tony asks “Who are you willing to become for the ones you love?”
I think he asks this because of this “flow” and “in and out” nature of giving.
The “bigger” we become, the more we can pour in and out. Who you become is like the size of your cup (or bucket or gas tank or ocean), you can only pour the size of that cup out on our loved ones.
It’s the reason the hard work of change and growth is worth it. We grow out of our current capacity in order to pour more out on those who matter most.
Make it a great day.
Jake
The soul that is within me no man can degrade. – Frederick Douglass
I’ve been listening to “Twelve Years A Slave” lately in the car and the stories of slavery in the South are brutal, shocking, uplifting, heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time.
The stories remind me again of the soul within each of us that no man can degrade.
It’s also a great reminder of the part we have yet to play today in this saga as old as time.
How do we treat others?
How do we show kindness and love and grace in all circumstances and to everyone?
How do we stand up for the downtrodden and forgotten among us?
Most of us won’t be faced so directly with something as cruel and inhumane as slavery.
But we do have a chance to be a little nicer to someone in need.
To judge a little less harshly those around us.
To give and support generously to those organizations working for those who need it in our community locally and abroad.
Make it a great day.
Jake
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein
As you look at your biggest challenge right now, how might this quote apply?
Are you having a hard time with one or two goals in particular because you are using the same kind of thinking?
I once read that simply changing something as simple as your route to work in the morning can change the way you think enough to work through a problem you are facing.
Just making some new pathways in your brain cause it to look at your old problem from a new angle.
What change could you make to shake things up?
Getting up early?
Staying up late?
No caffeine?
An extra latte in the afternoon?
A different route to work?
A new workout routine?
I am sure you can come up with some better ideas on your own, the key is to just do something different. Begin the process of thinking differently.
Make it a great day.
Jake
Practical Steps for Friendship, Unity and Intimacy in Your Marriage
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