Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all. – Alexander the Great

So many of society’s ills could be solved if we could remember this simple idea.

If we could be nice to one another.

If we could reach out a hand to someone in need.

If we could be a friend to the lonely.

If we could be wise with the resources given us, whether a lot or a little.

The Bible talks about “the kingdom” and “heaven” a lot.

It also talks a lot about all of us serving as the “hands and feet” of Jesus.

If we could be His hands and feet then the kingdom will be where we are. The conduct of each creates the fate of all.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Nothing can be done except little by little. – Charles Baudelaire

Monday morning reminder – progress is mostly made little by little.

Moments of big process and life change do happen, but most of the time it’s repeated disciplines over a long period of time.

Make some small progress today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/oNjQXmoxiQ8?si=pJAxW8uiiuez8bRX

Of course we’ll not always be forever young.

And that’s mostly a good thing.

We have to grow out of most of the habits of our youth.

But there are parts to hold on to.

Hope. Faith. Love. Fun. And others.

Good stuff to cherish and not let cynicism and crankiness win out.

Make it a great day.

Jake

He who angers you conquers you. – Elizabeth Kenny

It’s so easy to fall into the trap of getting angry.

There’s so much to be angry about.

But it only makes our lives worse.

We don’t benefit. We are the ones who are worse off.

Let it go. Don’t let the anger win.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Everything popular is wrong. – Oscar Wilde

I’m not sure about “everything”, “most things” – maybe. It’s at the very least “some”.

We often fall into the trap of following the group. Trying to be popular and part of the in crowd.

So many movies have been made and books have been written about the dangers of trying to be popular.

We watch the movie and immediately know that those high schoolers in the movies are being foolish by chasing popularity.

And then we fall into the same trap – buying the stuff and doing the things we think will impress others.

Don’t do it! Don’t fall for the trap. It’s fool’s gold – fake and not real.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – the other side of this is the “just be yourself” advice. Which is better than trying to be popular. But if you’re a jerk, you should probably work on who you are first instead of embracing the jerk.

PSS – I’m sure at least one of you will want to listen to this song after thinking about the word popular – https://youtu.be/vDuBWmYBCwE?si=6LDy6qsRuNvepsUA

An effort made for the happiness of others lifts above ourselves. – Lydia M. Child

Look for people to help.

Forget about what you want and who is or isn’t doing what you want them to do.

Just try to help somebody else.

Ask questions.

Get curious.

Offer to help.

Jump right in.

Make it a great day.

Jake

I went in search of an old daily attitude email about Mother’s Day and ran across the email below. It seems to me that motherhood is a great example of this kind of love.

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. – Mother Teresa

Love until it hurts.

I think she means love it until it starts to (and continues to over time) kill our selfishness.

We must seek out this place of giving up our own desires for others.

When we can love another like this we finally experience the life we were designed for.

The paradox is that when we are able to do so we become happier than we would have been had we acted on our selfish desires in the first place.

I’m sure you all believe this already. My hope is that this email inspires you to do act on it. Just a little. Today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/MslDnwerQRA?si=U8pN0VVGuAwxwvYJ

Last band concert of the year last night and this was one of the songs.

Watching Annie and her friends play music and do it well always amazes me.

So much work and effort went into becoming the group they became over the year.

It’s a reminder every time that we can accomplish something cool if we stick with it.

Stick with it through the part where we stink at something new.

Stick with it through people and relationships that aren’t always perfect.

Stick with it through our own insecurities and flaws.

And in the end, something beautiful and unique comes out that only exists because we stuck with it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

The rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you “love” your neighbour; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less. – CS Lewis

CS Lewis describes what he calls the four loves. With one of them being “charity”. Using the old definition of the word.

His idea is that love for others should exist and be shown not in whether we like them or even if we don’t like them – that it should show in all our actions towards those we encounter.

The idea is a difficult one to enact.

To act as if we love (have charity toward or for) our neighbor.

What should we do today to live like this?

Make it a great day.

Jake

Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission. – Arnold Bennett

We live in a time and place where we have the opportunity to consume as much entertainment and information as we want.

We can be distracted and entertained from when we wake up until we go to bed.

The sites and services we look to for entertainment are optimized to keep us scrolling and streaming.

But we are the keepers of the gate to our mind.

We get to choose what we let in.

We get to choose what will move us closer to our goals or towards a life we don’t want for ourselves.

We must choose. And choose wisely.

Make it a great day.

Jake