We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do. – Mother Teresa

This is a great reminder for the holiday season.

Smile.

A lot.

It really does make things better.

Seriously, try it already.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"God has infinite attention to spare for each one of us. You are as much alone with him as if you were the only being he had ever created." – CS Lewis – “Mere Christianity” (1952)

I liked this quote because it reminded me of what Rick Warren says.

He pictures God sitting at the end of our bed every morning saying “I can’t wait until he/she gets up. I can’t wait to see what they do today.”

To me, the best part of this is exactly what CS Lewis is talking about.

We are all equal.

We are all wonderfully and uniquely created.

Having this attitude frees us to be so much better to each other and ourselves.

To have more patience when things go wrong.

To expect the best from each and every one of us.

To not get so mad when the best doesn’t come.

When thinking about this I try to start at home. I imagine myself sitting on the end of the bed waiting for Meaghan to wake up, thinking that I can’t wait to see what she will do today. I imagine the same thing for the kids.

I try to expand that circle throughout the day. Co workers, customers, vendors, waiters, drivers, cashiers, anyone that comes across my path.

I fall far short of having this attitude all the time (like CS Lewis says….it requires infinite attention, which I don’t have), but the more I can do it, the better my day goes.

Try it out today. Even if just for one person.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Men are not against you, they are merely for themselves. – Gene Fowler

It’s easy to forget that most other people are thinking about themselves and what they have going on.

I think this can actually be quite freeing.

Once we realize that everyone else has their own thing going on, we can begin the process of focusing on them.

Figuring out what is going on and how we might help.

Figuring out how to be of service.

Because it is through this service that we find our purpose and peace.

When we give up our lives (and our frets and our fears) in exchange for a heart full of love and service for others, we end up with a life filled with joy and purpose.

Forget about yourself today.

Make it a great day.

Jakeu

https://youtu.be/kHnRIAVXTMQ

Thanks to Brian O for letting me know the original link didn’t work….

Merry Christmas.

Jake

From: Jake Davis
Sent: Monday, December 04, 2017 6:48 AM
To: Mavidea All <MavideaAll@mavidea.com>
Subject: Daily Attitude Email 12 04 17

Meaghan and I went to Jim Gaffigan last night and it reminded me of this email I sent out a couple of months ago.

Make it a point to laugh today.

Meaghan and I went to Jim Gaffigan last night and it reminded me of this email I sent out a couple of months ago.

Make it a point to laugh today.

https://youtu.be/hEvGKUXW0iI

This one seems appropriate given how warm it’s been this week here in Central IL.

I don’t know about you, but I really like the Christmas season.

Being married to Meaghan and then have the kids has really grown my appreciation for Christmas over the years.

Having someone around who is excited and happy about it pulls you along for the ride.

Not in the Christmas mood?

Find someone who is and hang around them. A lot.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Love is, above all, the gift of oneself. – Jean Anouilh

The Bible talks often of this idea – giving up your life for another.

This quotes says it well in my opinion.

Somehow we must give our life away.

The more completely the better.

What’s the next step for you on this path?

What little thing could you start or stop doing to give more of yourself today?

What could you be working on to make the gift of yourself even more valuable?

Make it a great day.

Jake

Below is one of my favorite little stories about Christmas.

Always remember that you are on Santa’s team.

Merry Christmas.

Jake

My grandma taught me everything about Christmas. I was just a kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," jeered my sister. "Even dummies know that!"

My grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her world-famous cinnamon buns.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her everything. She was ready for me.

"No Santa Claus!" she snorted. "Ridiculous! Don’t believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad. Now, put on your coat, and let’s go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn’t even finished my second cinnamon bun.

"Where" turned out to be Kerby’s General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those days.

"Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who needs it. I’ll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked out of Kerby’s.

I was only eight years old. I’d often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, the people who went to my church.

I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobbie Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock’s grade-two class. Bobbie Decker didn’t have a coat. I knew that because he never went out for recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough; but all we kids knew that Bobbie Decker didn’t have a cough, and he didn’t have a coat.

I fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobbie Decker a coat. I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real warm, and he would like that. I didn’t see a price tag, but ten dollars ought to buy anything. I put the coat and my ten-dollar bill on the counter and pushed them toward the lady behind it.

She looked at the coat, the money, and me. "Is this a Christmas present for someone?" she asked kindly. "Yes," I replied shyly. "It’s … for Bobbie. He’s in my class, and he doesn’t have a coat." The nice lady smiled at me. I didn’t get any change, but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper and ribbons, and write, "To Bobbie, From Santa Claus" on it … Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy.

Then she drove me over to Bobbie Decker’s house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever officially one of Santa’s helpers. Grandma parked down the street from Bobbie’s house, and she and I crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk.

Suddenly, Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his doorbell twice and flew back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma. Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobbie. He looked down, looked around, picked up his present, took it inside and closed the door.

Forty years haven’t dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my grandma, in Bobbie Decker’s bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: Ridiculous!

Santa was alive and well … AND WE WERE ON HIS TEAM!

"Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you do, and you will presently come to love him." – CS Lewis “Mere Christianity”

Love is a verb.

It builds upon activity.

It requires action.

Consistent, positive action that puts another before ourselves.

Find a way to show love today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.” – CS Lewis

For some, the Christmas and holiday season are a bleak reminder of a broken heart.

A time of loneliness and melancholy for loved ones no longer with us.

A time to wish for one more chance, one more memory, one more “I love you” or “Merry Christmas”.

Sadness and heartache are real.

They are a price to be paid for loving another human being.

When I think of others going through times like this, I always go back to this quote from CS Lewis.

I’m not sure why it has to work like this, but I believe he explains how it does work.

We must choose between allowing our hearts to harden and turn to stone, or wade into the dangerous waters of vulnerability.

I know this is easier said than done and that compared to a broken heart some may wish for a heart of stone, but my sincerest wish is that even the broken hearted can find hope in CS Lewis’s words.

Hope and faith that real love is worth the heart ache. That a heart of stone is something we would not wish on our worst enemies.

This is part of the magic of Christmas. We are reminded to believe in love. To hope for what can be and to have faith that love will win out in the end.

As a Christian, this is the true meaning of Christmas. God loved us. God sent his son to live and then die on the cross in exchange for us. Love, God and Jesus won out in the end.

Make it a great day.

Jake