“Also applies to our relationships – not holding onto hard feelings or anger and moving on quickly when it does happen. Cherishing the good times to get you through the challenges with others!” – Garrett Brucker

Garrett sent me the above in response to my email yesterday about letting go of the disappointments and holding on to the positives in our lives.

Garrett’s right. And maybe this is even the next level. The manifestation of our attitude change.

Think about this in the same kinds of terms as yesterday’s email.

If you hold on to negatives and hold a grudge, you are going to be the kind of person who struggles with relationships.

If you let go of the bumps in the road and remember the good times, your relationships will thrive.

We all need to look at our relationships and our attitudes and be honest. Are we the kind of person we want to be? Are we in the kinds of relationships we want to be in?

If not, maybe letting go of the negative and focusing on the positives can make a difference.

Make it a great day.

Jake

JW – Ephesians 4:32 – Be kind to one another.

MS* – All great achievements require time. – Maya Angelou

EB* – If at first you don’t succeed, failure may be your style. – Quentin Crisp

JD – I am as bad as the worst, but, thank God, I am as good as the best. – Walt Whitman

Something interesting happened as I finished “Shackleton’s Way”. I realized that this amazing story was technically a failure.

Technically, their goal was to cross the entire continent of Antarctica for the first time.

Instead, their shipped got crushed, creating one of the most dramatic and amazing stories of survival recorded.

Shackleton failed. He failed spectacularly.

And he did this in several other instances in his life.

You could say that failure may have been his style.

It was the way he failed and led through these failures that made him stand apart.

Whether we fail or succeed, our character is what will stand out the most.

Maybe the lesson to be learned is to take big chances with stuff like Artic adventures and business risks, but take no chances with your character.

A million dollars might be worth risking. A little white lie might not.

Make it a great day.

Jake

If you have a bad minute, that’s ok. If you have a bad day, it’s because of your attitude. – Jeffrey Gitomer

I was listening to a Jeffrey Gitomer video on attitude yesterday and this little quote stood out.

For some reason we tend to hold on to negative feelings and attitudes for too long.

Many Mavideans have heard me say some version “It’s ok to be angry about this for tonight, but tomorrow we need to shake it off and move forward.”

Maybe my suggestion lasts longer that Mr. Gitomer’s, but the idea is the same.

Feel the emotion. Let yourself be upset when something is upsetting. Let yourself be frustrated when things are frustrating.

But hold on to it too long and you become an upset person. A frustrated person.

Our attitude is the place we bounce back to after something good or bad happens.

Hold on to a bad thing too long, maybe you bounce back a little lower.

Let go of that negative experience real quick and the bouncing back becomes much easier.

As you might have expected, I suspect the opposite is true for the positive side.

Something good happens, hold on to it.

Keep moving forward, but don’t let it go. Add the next one right on top of it. Keep them in your mind, piling them up so that the bad stuff seems small in comparison.

Imagine a giant pile of positives next to a single negative that you pick up and put in the trash.

Seems small and easy to do now. But that also makes it easy not to do.

The choice is yours and it is important. Don’t let yourself be lazy with it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words, and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers–so many caring people in this world." – Fred Rogers

I saw someone post this quote on FaceBox in response to the attacks in Paris.

Our world contains evil. There are bad people out there.

But there are more good ones.

There is more love than hate.

There are more friends than enemies.

There are more helpers than killers.

I have always believed that no matter how bad it seems, the world is at least 51% good and that because of this good will win out in the end.

The events in Paris are a stark reminder that the world isn’t 100% good, but the response afterward reminds us 51% is probably shooting a little low.

Create some space for yourself this week as you think about this tragedy to also think about all the good out there in the world.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/VqU9PqIhuIY

The first few lines of this one stuck out in particular:

Slow down, you move too fast

You got to make the morning last

Mornings can get a little hectic and fast paced as we run from here to there and get started on our day.

Slow down a little this morning.

Make it a great day.

Jake

To find what you seek in the road of life, the best proverb of all is that which says: "Leave no stone unturned." – Edward Bulwer Lytton

One of my other favorites about seeking is the Bible verse “Seek and ye shall find.”

But that simple verse leaves out something important.

You might have to look for a really long time and it might be hard.

Sometimes finding what you are looking for requires a whole lot of patience.

Sometimes finding what you are looking for requires you to become a different person.

Leave no stone unturned.

Don’t give up along the way.

Keep turning over stones.

One last thought. Make sure what you are seeking for is worth it.

Wouldn’t want to spend all that time turning over stones only to find out you didn’t really want it in the first place.

Make it a great day.

Jake

JD – Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. – William Arthur Ward

MS – He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. – Proverbs 10:4

JR – Always borrow money from a pessimist, he will not expect it back. – Oscar Wilde

JW – The Lord bless you and keep you. – Numbers 6:24

EB* – The world is not comprehensible, but it is embraceable: through the embracing of one of its beings. – Martin Buber

Erik wasn’t here yesterday, so I got to pick his quote for him.

The quote from Martin Buber stood out as it explained something that most of us probably struggle with at times.

We seek to control and understand the world.

Martin suggests that instead we spend our time embracing others.

I’m not sure it is possible (or even desirable) to turn off the part of us that just wants to know, but I wonder if we can turn up the dial on the part of us that is designed to embrace others.

We can turn some of our desire for control and understanding into love and selfless service for others.

Make it a great day.

Jake

God of our fathers, who by land and sea have ever led us to victory, please continue your inspiring guidance in this the greatest of all conflicts. Strengthen my soul so that the weakening instinct of self-preservation, which besets all of us in battle, shall not blind me of my duty to my own manhood, to the glory of my calling, and to my responsibility to my fellow soldiers. Grant to our armed forces that disciplined valor and mutual confidence which insures success in war. Let me not mourn for the men who have died fighting, but rather let me be glad that such heroes have lived. If it be my lot to die, let me do so with courage and honor in a manner which will bring the greatest harm to the enemy, and please, oh Lord, protect and guide those I shall leave behind. Give us the victory, Lord."

General George Patton

I went searching for something meaningful to share on Veteran’s Day.

This short prayer stood out.

In particular, this one line: Let me not mourn for the men who have died fighting, but rather let me be glad that such heroes have lived.

Veteran’s Day is a great day to be glad that such heroes are around.

It’s a day to be thankful for those heroes.

We are so lucky to have heroes on our side.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“Some people say it is wrong to regard life as a game. I don’t think so. Life to me means 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 honorably and splendidly. To this chief end several things are necessary.

Loyalty is one. Discipline is another. Unselfishness is another. Courage is another. Optimism is another. And Chivalry is another."

The above quote is from Ernest Shackleton.

For some reason quotes from that long ago (he passed away in 1922) really stand out to me.

Seems to me that he hit the nail on the head and he didn’t even have Google or a smartphone to help him.

Read it over a time or two.

Let it sink in a little.

Then get to winning.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. – Andre Gide

The start of a new week is a great time for a reminder.

Step forward boldly.

Try new things.

Shake off the rust.

Get going on something new.

Make it a great day.

Jake