What is now proved was once only imagined. – William Blake

This quote reminds me of a fundamental truth. Our thoughts and imagination are the beginning of the expression of the greatness within us.

All of the great things in our lives were once just thoughts and dreams in someone’s mind.

We live in a time of amazing technology and opportunity and it all started as a thought in someone’s mind.

Dreams and thoughts that seemed impossible to others came to fruition and benefited the lives of many.

What dreams or thoughts seem impossible to you?

Is it losing weight?

Financial independence?

A job you love to go to in the morning?

All of this and more is possible for you if you cultivate the right frame of mind.

Make it a great day.

Jake

I recently listened to a podcast from a woman with a powerful story.

At a relatively young age (and with young children at home) she developed a rare disease and went blind within a couple of months.

A year or two later her husband developed cancer and passed away.

She said someone asked her if she had asked “Why me?”. She explained that instead she had asked herself “Why not me?” She said that she wasn’t any better or worse than anyone else and that what happened had happened.

Wow.

I don’t know about you, but I would have a hard time being that mature in her situation. Her speech really challenged me to be thankful for what I have and to be more mature about what happened in my life.

But after thinking about it a little, I came up with a positive spin on it.

“Why not me?” works both ways.

When you look at all the good that is possible in life, think “Why not me?”.

Make it a great day.

Jake

JW – Energy and persistence conquer all things. – Benjamin Franklin

JD – We are all the same amount of busy. The 24 hours in a day goes by the same whether you are the President of the United States or some guy sitting on his couch.

EB – Here we come…..walking down the street…..

JM – If we knew what we were doing, it would be called firing bullets, would it? Adapted from Albert Einstein

It is very tempting to use a lack of time or being too busy as an excuse for not meeting our goals.

In the end, the clock ticks at the same rate for all of us.

Our productivity is not determined by the number of hours in a day, but in our ability to use them effectively.

I heard someone say “Achievers spend their time on goal achieving activities while everyone else spends their time on tension relieving activities.”

How are you spending your time? Are you moving closer to your goals or taking the easy way out?

Make it a great day.

Jake

http://youtu.be/bOqyygAQSX0

Thank you for being a friend.

What a great thought to start the day.

I recently came across this CS Lewis passage about friendship:

“Those who cannot conceive Friendship as a substantive love but only as a disguise or elaboration of Eros betray the fact that they have never had a Friend. The rest of us know that though we can have erotic love and friendship for the same person yet in some ways nothing is less like a Friendship than a love-affair. Lovers are always talking to one another about their love; Friends hardly ever about their Friendship. Lovers are normally face to face, absorbed in each other; Friends, side by side, absorbed in some common interest. Above all, Eros (while it lasts) is necessarily between two only. But two, far from being the necessary number for Friendship, is not even the best. And the reason for this is important.

… In each of my friends there is something that only some other friend can fully bring out. By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets… Hence true Friendship is the least jealous of loves. Two friends delight to be joined by a third, and three by a fourth, if only the newcomer is qualified to become a real friend. They can then say, as the blessed souls say in Dante, "Here comes one who will augment our loves." For in this love "to divide is not to take away.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

What a great mental picture. Friends, side by side absorbed in some common interest.

Make it a great day of being a friend today.

Jake

I am loved.

I was listening to audiobook about using your thoughts to fulfill your wishes in life and he was talking about the power of saying “I am” and an example he gave was “I am loved.”

It has stuck with me ever since.

What a powerful and positive thought. Someone loves me.

Someone else thinks enough of you to love you.

We all have things go wrong during our day. We all have happenings in our lives that threaten to bring us down.

But they can’t and they won’t if we remember what is most important. Someone loves us.

All the negatives can melt away if we focus on the positives and it doesn’t get much more positive than the love of a loved one.

When the negatives of life pop up, just remember. You are loved.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Yesterday was officially the last in the series of the 12 important questions from philosophy to answer for yourself.

As a wrap up, I wanted to share a couple of final thoughts.

First, our philosophy shapes our thoughts and views on the world and how it works. How we think determines our results.

Our philosophy is the set of the sail as we sail through life. It determines where we end up.

As such, all of these questions deserve serious consideration and thought.

Hopefully I have inspired you to seek or more clearly answer these questions for yourself.

Second, we only get to pick our philosophy, not the philosophy of others.

Taking that one step further, we don’t get to judge other’s philosophies either.

This has been a very freeing realization for me. This is an area where I am only in charge of myself. Whew….that is a load off. It would be a lot of work if I had the job of judging everyone else’s choices and philosophies. Not sure I would have enough time in the day.

Choosing your own philosophy is enough work on its own.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Last up on the list of important questions from philosophy:

What is death?

“Death opens a door out of a little, dark room (that’s all the life we have known before it) into a great, real place where the true sun shines and we shall meet.” – CS Lewis

Recently a friend’s father passed away and I remembered this quote and today it seems appropriate again as a response to this question.

I don’t know if this definition of death is philosophically correct or not, but it sure seems good to me.

Anytime I am reminded of the finality of death, I am reminded that we aren’t guaranteed tomorrow.

Regardless of your view on death, one thing is for sure. We only get today. Tomorrow isn’t promised to us.

Yesterday was a great spring day reminder of making the most of the days we do have.

Looking at each day as a gift is such an uplifting way to spend your day.

As you look at your day today, think about how thankful you are for another day.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Next up in the list of the 12 most important questions from philosophy:

What is education?

Here is the best answer I have come across:

Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. – William Butler Yeats

Education is not merely the school system or going to college. It is a lifelong process of continual growth sparked by curiosity and built by stacking up all of life’s learning experiences.

Jim Rohn describes all of the valuable things in life as being on the top shelf and that we must stack all of the books we have read up in order to stand on them and reach those valuables.

Think about yourself and your education.

Did you stop learning when you graduated?

When was the last time you read something educational or skill-building?

How can you cultivate in yourself a strong sense of curiosity?

If there is something valuable that you want from the top shelf, start stacking books up.

Make it a great day.

Jake

JD – I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it’s a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life’s realities. – Dr. Seuss

JM* – I don’t try to intimidate anybody before a fight. That’s nonsense. I intimidate people by hitting them. – Mike Tyson

JW – Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all. – George Washington

EB – South side ruler, don’t drink coolers, big money maker, not a dumb drug user. – Sir Mix-A-Lot

As you already probably have noticed, I really like Dr. Seuss.

His explanation above about looking at things through the wrong end of the telescope is such a great description of his books and writing.

I read once that merely taking a different path to work can change the way your brain functions and help it grow and be more effective.

What little bit of nonsense can you add to your life to wake up your brain cells?

Make it a great weekend.

Jake

http://youtu.be/zLGWyfGk_LU

Again, maybe not necessarily a toe tapper, but hopefully will start you out with a positive frame of mind.

This reminded me of one of my favorite thoughts from CS Lewis.

“There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

CS Lewis puts it so well.

To love is to invite tragedy.

To not love is damnation.

What a great reminder to find love in our lives.

In our friendships, in our spouses, with our children. Even for strangers.

When events like what happened in Boston this week occur, we need to remind ourselves to love more. Only the power of love can conquer evil like that.

Make it a great day. One filled with love for your fellow human beings.

Jake