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Life is worthwhile if you try. Simple phrases like this are why I like Jim Rohn.
Life is about trying something.
Trying something new and difficult. Taking a risk. Failing. Growing and changing from there.
Is there an area of your life where you are holding back?
Not really trying because you are afraid you might fail?
Go for it. Be willing to fall on your face and make a few mistakes.
Make it a great day.
Jake
Today is my last day in the office for 2014.
One of my favorite ways to end one period and start another is to clean up and out the old to make room for the new.
Today I will do that with my office. File away and clean up the 2014 stuff and make room for 2015.
As you look back at the year, what needs to be wrapped and cleaned up?
What space do you need to create to start the year off well?
Make it a great day.
Jake
I don’t know why, but I feel like I have to send this song out on the last Friday every year.
Only a few days left in 2014, what are you going to do with them?
What can you do to finish strong and get ready for 2015?
Not a lot of time left, but if you can find one small goal and focus on it, you can knock it out of the park.
Make it a great day.
Jake
And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. – Luke 2:7
For Christians, the Christmas season is the ultimate in hope. It celebrates the day when it all began to change by the birth of a little baby.
Christmas represents that kind of hope for all of us.
The hope that good will win out over evil.
The hope that kindness will win out over selfishness.
The hope that charity will win out over greed.
The hope that wrongs will be forgiven.
The hope that differences will be reconciled.
Christmas is a season of hope. What are you hoping for this Christmas?
Merry Christmas.
Jake
This song came on and reminded me of an important part of the Christmas season – memories.
As I thought about it I was reminded that each Christmas (and every day) is an opportunity to create new memories.
Memories of love and happiness.
Memories of joy and peace.
Memories of smiles and laughter.
Each day we choose what kind of memories we create for ourselves and those around us.
Choose wisely.
Merry Christmas.
Jake
Alone on Christmas.
Know anybody who is going to be alone for Christmas?
Invite them over. Invite them to church. Don’t take no for an answer.
Going to be alone on Christmas? Invite yourself somewhere. Go to a church.
Merry Christmas.
Jake
One week until the big day!
I sent out the story below last year and have thought of it often over the last year.
I hope we can all remember the last line this holiday season – Santa was alive and well, and we were on his 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!
JD – Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ~Norman Vincent Peale
JW – molṑn labé – King Leonidas
EB – South side ruler, don’t drink coolers, big money maker, not a dumb drug user – sir mix a lot
BAD – Dedicate yourself to the good you deserve and desire for yourself. Give yourself peace of mind. You deserve to be happy. You deserve delight. – Hannah Arendt
MS – God made us plain and simple but we have made ourselves very complicated.-King Solomon
It’s amazing how complicated we can make something when left to our devices.
We think and think and overthink until a problem or worry becomes a big complicated mess.
What to wear.
Where to put our stuff.
What to say to who and when.
What to buy and how much.
Usually a friend or spouse or one a small child (they are the best for this) comes along and says something that makes you realize you are making things too complicated and the matter becomes much simpler.
Endeavor to make things easier on yourself. Simplify your life and your decisions. Set your priorities and stick to them.
Merry Christmas.
Jake
One should never forget to hold on to their inner child as they grow older. – Random Quote on the Internet
Today is my birthday.
One of the best things about having kids is that they help you hold on to your inner child as you get older.
The best thing about my birthdays these last few years has been watching how excited the kids get about giving presents and seeing me open them, about going out for dinner and singing happy birthday.
They are a great reminder about what is really fun about birthdays and special occasions.
If you have a special occasion that you are struggling to enjoy once again, just invite a 5 year old….
Merry Christmas.
Jake
“Welcome every morning with a smile. Look on the new day as another special gift from your Creator, another golden opportunity to complete what you were unable to finish yesterday. Be a self-starter. Let your first hour set the theme of success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day. Today will never happen again. Don’t waste it with a false start or no start at all. You were not born to fail.” ~ Og Mandino
Start your day off right.
Let your first hour set the theme for the day.
How do your days usually start?
Try it today to make your first hour a great one.
Read something inspirational.
Exercise.
Hug and kiss your loved ones.
Say a prayer of thanks for all your blessings.
Knock something off your to do list.
Whatever would be a great start to the day for you, do it.
Merry Christmas.
Jake
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