I heard the poem below the other day and it reminded me again of something I continually struggle with.

Slowing down.

In my old age I am seeing more and more that the race car adage of “slow down to go fast” is completely true.

In order to meet the truly meaningful objectives in life we actually have to slow down in order to get there faster.

The author below says it much better, enjoy.

A great reminder as we begin another week full of meetings, calls, emails, TV, FaceBox, PineTrust, etc. All of them begging us for a fast response.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"Slow Me Down Lord"

Slow me down Lord

Ease the pounding of my heart

by the quieting of my mind.

Steady my hurried pace

with a vision of the eternal march of time.

Give me amid the confusion of the day,

the calmness of the eternal hills.

Break the tension of my nerves and muscles

with the soothing music of the singing streams

that live in my memory.

Help me to know the magical restoring power of sleep.

Teach me the art of taking MINUTE vacations,

Of slowing down to look at a flower,

to chat with a friend,

to pat a dog,

to read a few lines of a good book.

Slow me down Lord

and inspire me to send my roots

deep into the soil of life’s enduring values

that I may grow toward the stars of my greater destiny.

Author: Wilfred A. Peterson

JM – Who looks at a screw driver and thinks "oohhh, this could be a little more sonic"? Captain Jack

EB – Thanks for that demonstration, hot dog digits.

JW – Dad, what’s your favorite super power? – Ethan Warmbir

JD – Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement. – Golda Meir

Another quote on trust.

Trust yourself and the still, small voice inside yourself that says all those great things about you.

It says….

Nothing is impossible.

You can do it.

You are special.

You deserve the best.

You were created to do something unique and special.

There is greatness within you. Learn to trust it. Learn to embrace it.

Make it a great weekend.

Jake

http://youtu.be/HBpsOu8jyU8

Meaghan and I have been watching the show “New Girl” lately. The main character in the show has a funny habit of turning many of life’s little moments into short songs.

This song came on yesterday and reminded me of that.

Singing can be a great way to lift your spirits and to add a little emotion to life’s every day joys.

Let your song out today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Trust is to human relationships what faith is to gospel living. It is the beginning place, the foundation upon which more can be built. Where trust is, love can flourish.

Barbara Smith

Trust as the foundation for love.

I think that hits the mark pretty well.

Trust is foundational to good relationships.

The Bible talks of building our spiritual houses on stone and not on sand.

We must do the same in our relationships.

Do you have a relationship in your life that needs some work on the foundation?

Make it a great day.

Jake

Someone who thinks the world is always cheating him is right. He is missing that wonderful feeling of trust in someone or something. – Eric Hoffer

Having a default setting of distrust in others can set us up for disappointment.

I may be naïve on this one but I wonder if the disappointments associated with never having trusted someone are greater than having trusted someone and having that trust broken.

Focus on the positive and the possibilities and not being burned or disappointed.

Make it a great day.

Jake

In honor of the trust theme at Mavidea I have been reading “The Speed of Trust”.

I am sure I will share more later, but the biggest thing so far is the overall theme of the book.

More trust = faster results.

When we can trust others to do their jobs, uphold their word, be where they say they are going to be we can move so much faster in doing all of the things on our own plate.

I imagine this is why the Armed Forces pay so close attention to all the little details. In order to trust that your teammate will hold up their end of the bargain it helps to know that everything is done correctly. All the way down to tying your boots.

And it applies to our personal lives as well.

We can move and grow much faster when we have others to depend on. We can take a few more risks if we can trust those closest to us in case we fall.

Who is depending on you that you need to build more trust so they can move faster without you?

Where do you need to add someone you trust in case you fall?

Make it a great day.

Jake

In honor of Mavidea’s 3rd quarter theme, I thought I would write the next few daily attitude emails about trust.

Any time I think of trust in a team environment I think of Andy Stanley’s explanation of trust vs. suspicion.

He explains that in between any two people and any particular instance there is a gap.

A gap between what one person expects and what the other person expects.

The gap is always filled with something.

We get to choose whether to fill it with trust or suspicion.

John’s running a little late….we can either trust that something important came up or be suspicious that he is a selfish person who made poor choices that led to his being late.

We all fill the gap in our interactions with others every day and in both big and little ways.

And we do so based on our previous experiences with trust. Has our trust been broken in the past or has our trust been upheld?

In Andy’s explanation of trust he talks of a team of people and how suspicion will lead to a dysfunctional team.

As you think of your team, do you see trust or suspicion?

As you look at personal relationships, do you see trust or suspicion?

No matter the relationship, if you are trying to get from point A to point B together, it will require trust be inserted in the gap.

Make it a great day.

Jake

JM – Bob loses saving throw vs. Shiny with a penalty of -5. Bob takes 2D8 damage to credit card. – Charles Strauss – “The Fuller Memorandum”
JD – If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours. – Henry David Thoreau
EB – Tell me and I forget; teach me and I may remember; involve me and I learn. – Benjamin Franklin JW – Black holes are where God divided by zero. – Steven Wright

I have been re-listening to “Direct Line” from Earl Nightingale and he has mentioned the Thoreau quote above several time.

Every time he says it, it give me pause.

This time I realized something I hadn’t noticed before.

We only need to MOVE in the direction of our dreams in order to meet with uncommon success.

We don’t have to be perfect, hit every goal, never miss a step.

We can (and in my case will) make mistakes along the way.

But we have to start. We can’t stay on the sidelines talking about all the weight we are going to lose or the money we are going to have or the grandkids we are going to love on. We must MOVE in those directions in order to meet with success.

Take an inventory of your dreams. Make a MOVE today towards one of them.

Make it a great weekend.

Jake

http://youtu.be/9jK-NcRmVcw

Each day represents its own final countdown of sorts.

We are all the same amount of busy, 24 hours in a day go by at the same rate for all of us.

Each day is its own opportunity to do and be your best.

Make it a great day.

Jake

In Earl Nightingale’s “Direct Line” he explains how to increase our income.

He explains that other people are in possession of all the income we want, we must simply find a way to earn it.

After listening to this for the 10th+ time, a light bulb went off for me (I’m a little slow). The same rule applies to a lot of the other areas of life where we are looking for something that others have.

Whether it be love, friendship, knowledge, companionship, respect….we must earn it.

And like money, when we don’t first earn it, it doesn’t stay around long.

We have all heard the stories of the lottery winner or professional athlete that has lost their millions and now is filing bankruptcy.

The same is true elsewhere. If we want something of value, we must earn it. Otherwise it probably won’t be around for long.

Is there something in your life you have been looking for that you haven’t earned yet?

What step can you take today to start earning that which you desire?

Make it a great day.

Jake