https://youtu.be/2B1j4Z25i7k

Schools out for summer.

Remember that feeling when you were a kid? That feeling of freedom and adventure.

We said things like “I can’t wait until I’m a grown up and I can do whatever I want ALL of the time.”

We looked forward to this time when school would be out forever and we would be free to do whatever we wanted.

Well….news flash…..that’s you now.

You are free to do whatever you want.

School is out forever (metaphorically speaking of course, if you want to go to school, go for it).

What are you going to do with your new found freedom?

Make it a great day.

Jake

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. – Margaret Mead

Today marks 8 years for us at Mavidea.

As I think about Mavidea, I almost always think of the above quote.

As I think about the last 8 years, I think of all the ways we have already changed the world.

All the clients served.

All the employees employed.

All the community service.

Something I’ve noticed lately is just how many lives have been touched by Mavidea over the years. I think about all the stories and conversations and can’t help but think about how proud I am of all the Mavideans.

Life has come and gone. Life has changed for many of us, but our commitment to each other and our cause has never wavered.

Want to know the best part?

Our future is going to be even better. We have so much to look forward to and to work toward.

We have many more lives to touch. We are just getting started.

Thank you to all of you for being a part of our attempts at making this world a better place.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results. – Willie Nelson

I have to come to believe that our brains can’t handle two thoughts at once. It is a one at a time thing.

And that is why quotes like this one make so much sense.

If we can only entertain one thought at a time, replacing negative with positive can have tremendous benefit.

If we can focus on positive thoughts, one after the other, we can crowd out the negative.

If there is only room for one, might as well make it a good one.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Today is the last day of school for the Davis girls. It has been amazing to watch them go through school and learn and grow in so many ways.

While school may be out for summer, I am reminded that school is never really out.

I thought I would share some of the quick lessons I have seen our kids learn so far while in school.

Reading is fun.

Being a friend is important.

Teachers are awesome.

Ignore the mean kids.

Recess/play is the best.

Life is great.

Sometimes you get a little nervous and scared, do it anyway.

These are just a few of the lessons I have seen the Davis girls learn at school.

Hopefully this was a reminder of some of the lessons you learned while in school.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – Feel free to email back with some of the lessons you learned in school.

You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down. – Mary Pickford

The first of the month and a Monday. What a great day for a fresh start.

Whether you blew your New Year’s goals out of the water or quit on them by February 1st, now is a great time to get back at it.

Think about something in your life that needs to be reset and started over. And then do it.

Wipe the slate clean and get after it all over again.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/as-SALpccd8

It is getting to be vacation time of year and I always like it when Jimmy Fallon and the crew do these.

We all need a holiday.

We need time to rest and recuperate.

We need time to step back and look at the big picture of our life.

We need time to deepen the most important relationships in our lives.

If you aren’t already, start working on planning a summer vacation. Even if it is a real short one.

Make it a great day.

Jake

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. – Confucius

When I look back at my life and goals unmet, it is usually because I got impatient at some point. I either tried to force it or I just gave up because it was taking too long.

The longer term perspective is hard to keep when we want to reach our goals as soon as possible.

It’s hard to have the disciplined focus to stick with something even when progress is slow.

The other important element of this is getting started.

If something is going to take a while, better get started today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

JD – Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest. – Mark Twain

BAD – Ask yourself if you are happy and you cease to be so. – John Stuart Mills

JW – Tomorrow’s battle is won during today’s practice. – Samurai maxim

EB – It’s on like donkey kong.

MS – [Trust is] the foundational principle that holds all relationships. – Stephen Covey

Since I am naturally a planner and over-thinker, I love quotes like the Samurai maxim Jamie shared.

We all can choose between preparing to succeed and preparing to fail each day.

It’s not the easiest of choices, but it is ours.

What to do and when can be found in books, through a mentor or on YouTube these days.

It’s the choice to give our best to today’s practice that makes all the difference.

What do you need more practice with?

Make it a great day.

Jake

I recently read an article about what the author called “the Law of Least Effort”.

In it, the author described how nature goes about things in the easiest way possible. Plants grow towards the area of least resistance. Wind and water flow through the areas of least resistance.

The author then found three areas for us to apply this concept in our lives:

First, we must accept things as they are. We could spin our wheels all day wishing that circumstances were different, but they aren’t. Instead, we must spend our efforts focused on what we can do with what we are presented with.

Second, we must take responsibility for the way things are. It is actually less effort to accept responsibility than to search for excuses and pass out blame.

Lastly, we must not be defensive. We should not spend our time defending our actions or answering every critic.

This short little least was a great reminder of how much effort we might be expending that isn’t moving us towards our goals.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Link to article:

http://www.chopra.com/community/daily-inspiration

When I think of Memorial Day, I am reminded of the famous letter that Abraham Lincoln wrote to Mrs. Bixby (below).

I can’t see how it could be said better in so few words.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Dear Madam,–

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln