Today marks Annie’s 8th birthday.

She is such an awesome kid.

She is also a middle child. I’ve tried to use this as a teaching moment for her over the years.

It’s easy to feel like being the middle child means not quite getting to do what the oldest gets to do while not quite getting the attention the youngest gets.

I’ve encouraged Annie to adopt a different attitude.

I often tell her “You have a special role in our family. You are the only one that gets to be a big sister AND a little sister.”

It’s so easy in life to compare ourselves to others and think about what we don’t have or what would like instead of what we have.

But I’m convinced that God has a special role and place for each of us.

For some of us, all that stands in the way of embracing that role is a change of attitude.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – This is no way a brag on my parenting skills. I can use as much tips and advice as you have. Please feel free to send me some.

https://youtu.be/CJTxnxXUMA0

Ain’t no stopping us now…

It’s a new quarter and a new season, this is a great attitude to adopt.

Regardless of whether you are coming off a great first quarter or fell behind on your 2017 goals, this would be a great theme song to adopt.

Don’t let the bad stuff get you down.

Don’t rest on your success.

Keep moving. Keep growing.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves." – Dale Carnegie

Short and sweet.

Find something on your list that you have been putting off because it is hard or seems impossible.

Work on that first today.

Even if all you do is commit 10 minutes to it.

Don’t let the sun set again before you work on it.

And then spend 15 minutes on the hardest thing tomorrow morning.

And on and on.

Make it a great day.

Jake

It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one’s neighbor. Eric Hoffer

Our happiness in large part rests on our ability to love and serve our neighbors.

This quote reminded me of the inherent difficulty in this mandate.

In theory, loving our neighbors is easy. When we think of humanity, we find love easily.

But when our neighbor is difficult, selfish and unfair – now the whole thing just got a lot harder.

My positive spin on this is that it is worth it.

The hard work of empathy, vulnerability and risk associated with really loving those around us is worth it.

It much easier to hide behind a general love of humanity, but much more rewarding to get our hands dirty doing the everyday work of showing love to those around us.

Embrace your opportunity to love your neighbors today.

Lean into the difficulty. Make the most of the challenge.

Make it a great day.

Jake

I try not to think too hard, take a deep breath and jump. I’ve failed enough in life and work that I no longer have rigid attachments around outcomes. The things that don’t work out were never meant to happen.

—Amanda Chantal Bacon, founder, Moon Juice

I read this quote in an article and painted a great picture of faith.

Faith that it will all work out in the end.

Faith that even though it doesn’t work out my way, it still worked out.

I especially liked her idea of “no longer having rigid attachments around outcomes”.

Focusing in on the journey instead holding on to some preconceived notion of what the outcome should be is a great step towards less stress and more happiness.

Where could you use a little more faith?

Where should you let go of your rigid attachments to outcomes?

Make it a great day.

Jake

If you want to read a couple more good quotes on being fearless, here is the entire article:

http://www.success.com/article/top-of-mind-4-bold-habits-to-make-you-fearless

The life of faith is lived one day at a time, and it has to be lived – not always looked forward to as though the ‘real’ living were around the next corner. It is today for which we are responsible. God still owns tomorrow. – Elisabeth Elliot

This is a great quote to start the week.

A reminder of our role in this whole thing.

To live each day to the best of our abilities with faith that if we do so it will all work out in the end.

The ‘real’ living isn’t around the corner. It’s here. Right now.

Everything else belongs to God.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/c6rP-YP4c5I

I wanna try even though I could fail

I won’t give up, no I won’t give in

Till I reach the end

And then I’ll start again

No I won’t leave

I wanna try everything

I wanna try even though I could fail

I don’t know about you, but I fail. A lot.

In my old age, I am trying hard to see this as a positive.

It’s only when we let comfort and the status quo take over that we really fail.

We can’t experience the great things in life without trying new things and putting ourselves out there.

Sure, it can be painful. And nobody likes to fail.

But it’s worth it.

Growth and positive momentum requires failure.

What’s something new you could try this weekend?

Make it a great day.

Jake

Looking for something to try….how about dancing?

https://youtu.be/ru0K8uYEZWw

If you wish to be loved, show more of your faults than your virtues. – Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

After listening to Brene Brown’s books on the virtue of vulnerability, this quote rings particularly true.

We are all born with a desire to be loved.

We are also born with an instinct to protect ourselves from harm.

Somehow we need to strike the balance between these two as we can only be loved if we admit our vulnerabilities, but admitting our vulnerabilities sets up the possibility of hurt.

Only when we can risk putting down our protective armor can we let in the love we so desire.

What are you holding back?

Who are you keeping out?

Take a chance. Let someone in.

Let your faults and your virtues show.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old." – Peter F. Drucker

Moving forward into growth requires building new habits and letting old habits go.

What is on your stop doing list?

This is an easy to forget area that can drive major change if we are willing to take a hard look at ourselves and how we spend our time.

If we can have the courage to look at everything on our current to do list as a possibility for something to let go of, we will be surprised at what we might see.

Take a moment today to make a list of your regular to-dos.

Get everything down.

Now be ruthless and get of everything except the essentials.

Narrow the list.

Focus.

If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it. It just blooms." – Zen Shin

It’s so easy to get caught in the trap of comparing ourselves to others.

Somehow we need to find a way through all of the comparisons and see ourselves for what we really are.

I believe we are God’s children.

Wonderfully and individually made.

With a set of inherent possibilities and futures unique to us.

Whether or not we make the most of those opportunities is a matter of embracing who we are capable of being.

Forget about comparing yourself to others.

Forget about what they are doing.

Figure out how you can serve and love the way you were born to and then get after it.

Make it a great day.

Jake