We boil at different degrees. – Clint Eastwood

Another lesson that comes with a little experience in age – people are different.

I know…brilliant, right?

It matters because when we accept a simple truth like this we can adjust our expectations and actions accordingly.

When we can do this with love and without judgement – good things happen.

How can you be of service to those in your life – regardless of your differences?

Make it a great day.

Jake

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There is no limit to the power of loving. – John Morton

As the political season heats up again – much will be made of our differences.

Each side will make it clear all that is wrong and contemptible about the other side.

As I get older I’m trying hard not to get disheartened by the whole thing.

I’m convinced that the only answer is love. That there is no limit to the power of love.

When all seems dark and dim – there is a dawn available to us.

And it is love.

I’m sure this is a little corny and idealistic – but maybe still worth being a part of anyway?

Make it a great day.

Jake

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Dreams will get you nowhere, a good kick in the pants will take you a long way. – Baltasar Gracian

Not sure who else needs to be reminded (constantly) of this.

I sure need a kick in the pants frequently.

So here goes….

Get after it.

Don’t let all the distractions get in your way.

What are you waiting for?

If you don’t start, you’ll never finish.

Take the first step and adjust from there.

Don’t let the sun go down one more day without making progress.

You are worth it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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I once heard a TED talk by Rick Warren and he mentioned something I found interesting.

He was talking about the idea that he believes that we as human beings have some obligation to leave this planet better than we left it. He mentioned having a conversation with someone once and asking them if they believe that we have this obligation.

The person responded with something like "no more obligation than a duck or any other animal".

Rick’s response really stuck with me.

He said "You are not a duck".

Think about that for a second. If you believe that human beings are not ducks, but that we are something different and unique then we have the obligation of stewardship that Rick talks about.

We are all given something to be stewards over during our lives. At the very least, we are stewards of our own time and lives.

And since we are not ducks, we must use them wisely. How we spend our days and our lives does matter.

Make today count.

Jake

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Resending a toe tapper from the Olympics in China….the best part is that we just talked about how much she liked it when she saw this when she was a kid. She was laughing at herself and saying that she actually thought they made up and sang the song as a team (instead of lip syncing).

http://youtu.be/YPIA7mpm1wU

Maggie randomly requested to watch and listen to this one last night.

I was thinking afterwards how amazing it is that a silly song could bring together a little 7 year old and an Olympic swim team that was in China.

And this reminded me of a conversation I had once where someone smarter than me was explaining to me the power of music as a "universal language".

How true. Somehow it (maybe this song doesn’t quite reach out to everyone) reaches out to that part of all of us that is uniquely human. Created in a special way, for a special purpose.

Make it a great day.

Jake ​

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I know it’s not Father’s Day – but I think of this moment every time I watch the Olympics so I’m resending this daily attitude email from a few years ago.

Father’s Day Lookback: Derek Redmond 1992 | NBC Sports (youtube.com)

This is one of my favorite father-son moments from sports.

Derek Redmond is running the race of his life, on the grand stage of his sport and the unthinkable happens: he pulls a muscle and can’t finish the race.

As he hobbles along, trying to just cross the finish line his dad comes running out from the stands and helps him across the finish line.

Imagine what is going through his mind.

I can’t believe this happened.

I’ve wasted so many hours and years training.

I failed.

And then comes this loving gesture from his dad.

His dad swoops in and puts his arm around him and helps him across the finish line.

Together, they showed that sports are more than just winning and losing. More than an injury at the worst possible time. It was about the love of a father for his son.

I have been very blessed to have a father and father-in-law who have shown me this same love. I work to show my kids this same love every day.

Maybe we all can’t be fathers who run out on the track during the Olympics.

But we can all be that person to run in and put our arm around someone and show that we are there for them in their moment of pain and weakness.

We can be strong for someone we love.

We can inspire others to love and serve one another.

We all will struggle at one point or another. My sincerest hope is that we will all also have someone in our lives to run in, put their arm around us and help us across the finish line.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. – George Bernard Shaw

The Olympics have been a great reminder that it is fun to play.

We were designed to enjoy play and to have fun.

What could you do today to have fun?

What is something you could introduce into your life to get more playtime in?

Make it a great day.

Jake

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In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion." [The Minotaur] Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays

Introspection is another one of those tricky double edged swords in life.

I think of it like looking in a mirror.

If you dont take a few moments to look in the mirror before leaving for work in the morning, you might just show up disheveled.

But if you spend an hour in the morning staring into the mirror getting every piece of clothing on just right, you just missed an hour of your day.

We all need to take time to look honestly at the mirrors in our lives (our relationships, our bank accounts, the mirror, the scale) and make the necessary course corrections to get where we want to go. We need to deeply understand ourselves in order to make the most of our strengths in service to others.

But we need to spend more of our time focused outwardly. Looking for others in need of service, in need of the love and warmth that only we can bring.

We werent created for ourselves. We were created for service to others. We need to look inward to find out what kind of service, but we need to look out to serve.

Make it a great day.

Jake
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Below is a short little story to start your week off.
This story reminded me that there are people out there that have it much harder than I do. I have yet to work at a job plucking chickens, and that was the least of the difficulties.
This story also reminded me of turning lemons into lemonade. We all have personality quirks, idiosyncrasies, and personal issues; and we all have the opportunity to turn these into something special. Something that only we can do.
Make it a great day.
Jake
A true short bio – A DREAMER AND HIS DREAM
Let me tell you, Jesse hated this job. And you would too I imagine, if you had to do it. Jesse was a chicken plucker. That’s right. He stood on a line in a chicken factory and spent his days pulling the feathers off dead chickens so the rest of us wouldn’t have to.
It wasn’t much of a job. But at the time, Jesse didn’t think he was much of a person. His father was a brute of a man. His dad was actually thought to be mentally ill and treated Jesse rough all of his life.
Jesse’s older brother wasn’t much better. He was always picking on Jesse and beating him up. Yes, Jesse grew up in a very rough home in West Virginia. Life was anything but easy.
And he thought life didn’t hold much hope for him. That’s why he was standing in this chicken line doing a job that very few people wanted.
In addition to all the rough treatment at home, it seems that Jesse was always sick. Sometimes it was real physical illness, but way too often it was all in his head. He was a small child, skinny and meek. That sure didn’t help the situation any.
When he started to school, he was the object of every bully on the playground.
He was a hypochondriac of the first order. For Jesse, tomorrow was not always something to be looked forward to. But, he had dreams. He wanted to be a ventriloquist. He found books on ventriloquism. He practiced with sock puppets and saved his hard earned dollars until he could get a real ventriloquist dummy.
When he got old enough, he joined the military. And even though many of his hypochondriac symptoms persisted, the military did recognize his talents and put him in the entertainment corp. That was when his world changed.
He gained confidence. He found that he had a talent for making people laugh, And laugh so hard they often had tears in their eyes.
Yes, little Jesse had found himself. You know, folks, the history books are full of people who overcame a handicap to go on and make a success of themselves, but Jesse is one of the few I know who didn’t overcome it. Instead he used his paranoia to make a million dollars, and become one of the best-loved characters of all time in doing it!
Yes, that little paranoid hypochondriac, who transferred his nervousness into a successful career, still holds the record for the most Emmy’s given in a single category.
The wonderful, gifted, talented, and nervous comedian who brought us Barney Fife was Jesse Don Knotts.
NOW YOU KNOW, "THE REST OF THE STORY"
There is a street named for him and his statue in Morgantown, West Virginia, his place of birth.
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https://youtu.be/TfiYWaeAcRw?si=DnjnM2512Kdqw_r9

Sometimes it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.

This song reminds us that we can give all that weight to God.

That we needn’t burden ourselves with worries.

Life sure can beat you down, but God can lift you up.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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