Yesterday afternoon represented an interesting confluence of events.

I was on my way home from a great day on the golf course for the ISU Town and Gown Golf Outing and was listening to "Start With Why" by Simon Simenek.

I realized that maybe if I shared the "why" of why I like golf so much I might inspire others to understand the why of their particular hobby of choice.

So, here are my top couple of reasons why golf for me.

First, golf is hard. Really hard. Becoming really good at golf is a life long pursuit that you never quite figure out. I love a challenge and I love getting better at something incrementally.

Second, golf is outside. One of my favorite quotes that I am reminded of frequently is "God must be happiest when his children are at play." This reminds me of golf so much because golf is played outside on a big, green, lush field. Golf courses (to me) are a symbol of all the beauty that exists in nature and remind me to take those small moments we can find to drink it all in.

Golf is (generally) played with other people and is a great relationship builder. You can’t help but feel some comradery with your foursome as you play because you all face the same challenge, the course and your ability to manage it the best way possible for you and your skill set.

Last one on the list (for today, the list is much longer than this) is that golf is a game of focus. One of weak areas is being able to focus for long periods. Golf is a test of your ability to focus for brief instances, over and over again over a four or five hour period.

This email is not intended to convince you to run out and buy some clubs and take up golf as your new passion (although I would recommend it if you are looking for something). My intention is merely to illustrate that when you have a "why" for you hobby, you enjoy it much more.

In the same way, finding your "why" in life will lead to more happiness, better results and an overall happier life.

Spend some time thinking about they "why" in the things you do. Learn to embrace this important element of your life.

Make it a great day.

Jake

And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.”

(Isaiah 6:8 ESV)

I heard this verse in church on Sunday and wrote it down so I could share it with everyone.

Here I am. Send me.

Sometimes in life you just have to step forward and be the person saying “send me”.

You get to be the one to volunteer to take on the extra work.

You get to be the one to drive your friend to the airport.

You get to be the one to serve soup at the homeless shelter.

I originally wrote “you have to” at the beginning of all those sentences but replaced it with “you get to”. Funny how a little difference like that can change your perspective on something.

Taking action is a key to success. This verse reminded me that taking action in service to others is where it is at.

Make it a great day of service today.

Jake

You can’t make progress without making decisions.

Jim Rohn

I know everyone was getting disappointed that I hadn’t sent out a Jim Rohn quote for a while. (If you need more Jim Rohn quotes, just "Like" his FaceBox page and you will get a couple of good ones everyday.)

One of the key elements of success is taking action. And you can’t take action without making some kind of decision.

What great thing is out there waiting for you to just make a decision to go for it?

My challenge for you all today is to find one thing that is waiting on a decision from you and make it. Move forward.

Jake

Additional/random thought. This line of thinking reminded me of one of my favorite sections from Dr. Seuss’s "Oh, The Places You’ll Go". I have cut and paste it below.

The Waiting Place…

…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go

or a bus to come, or a plane to go

or the mail to come, or the rain to go

or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow

or the waiting around for a Yes or No

or waiting for their hair to grow.

Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite

or waiting for the wind to fly a kite

or waiting around for Friday night

or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake

or a pot to boil, or a Better Break

or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants

or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.

Everyone is just waiting.

NO!

That’s not for you!

Somehow you’ll escape

all that waiting and staying

You’ll find the bright places

where Boom Bands are playing.

I recently read "Tuesdays With Morrie" by Mitch Albom. Excellent book that tells the story of an old man passing on the wisdom obtained through a lifetime of living to a younger man searching for meaning and direction in his life.

There are a lot of little tidbits in this book so instead of trying to summarize them I thought I would share a list of these tidbits Morrie offers Mitch during their conversations.

Life is a series of pulls back and forth…..Who wins?…..Love wins. Love always wins.

The culture we have doesn’t make people feel good about themselves. You have to be strong enough to say that if the culture doesn’t work, don’t buy it.

Let love come in. We think we don’t deserve love, we think if let it in it will make us soft. But a wise man named Levine said "Love is the only rational act."

Learn how to die and you learn how to live.

Love each other or perish. Auden

You must detach yourself from life’s experiences. Detachment doesn’t mean you don’t let the experience penetrate you. On the contrary, you let it penetrate you fully. That’s how you are able to leave it.

I embrace aging. It’s very simple. As you grow, you learn more. If you stayed at twenty-two, you would always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It is growth. It isn’t just the negative that you are going to die, it is also the positive that you know you are going to die and you live a better life because of it.

There’s a big confusion in this country over what we want versus what we need. You need food, you want a chocolate sundae. You have to be honest with yourself. You don’t need the latest sports car. You don’t need the biggest house.

Truth is, you don’t get satisfaction from those things. You know what really gives you satisfaction? Offering others what you have to give.

Devote yourself to loving others. Devote yourself to your community. Devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.

The biggest defect we human beings have is our shortsightedness. We don’t see what we could be. We should be looking at our potential, stretching ourselves into everything we can be.

Forgive yourself before you die. Then forgive others.

What a great collection of little tidbits learned over the course of a life well lived.

Make it a great day.

Jake

One last quote and thought from Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning”.

After spending some time in America teaching and lecturing, Viktor made a suggestion.

He suggested that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented with a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.

In order to have and make the best of use of the liberties presented us, we must take responsibility for all of our actions.

Interesting that I thought of typing this email today only to realize halfway through the tie in with Memorial Day.

The liberty we enjoy is because of the deaths and sacrifices of those in our armed forces and we owe it to them to take responsibility for ourselves and for making the most of it.

Make it a great day. One full of both liberty and responsibility.

Jake

One last blatant sales pitch for this one – read “Man’s Search for Meaning”.

Since I am still feeling patriotic and appreciative of everything our soldiers have done and will do, I thought I would send out this song and the lyrics below.

http://youtu.be/gOvA-Hn4_ZM

Make it a great day.

Jake

America the Beautiful

Words by Katharine Lee Bates,

Melody by Samuel Ward

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet

Whose stern impassioned stress

A thoroughfare of freedom beat

Across the wilderness!

America! America!

God mend thine every flaw,

Confirm thy soul in self-control,

Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife.

Who more than self their country loved

And mercy more than life!

America! America!

May God thy gold refine

Till all success be nobleness

And every gain divine!

O beautiful for patriot dream

That sees beyond the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam

Undimmed by human tears!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for halcyon skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the enameled plain!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

Till souls wax fair as earth and air

And music-hearted sea!

O beautiful for pilgrims feet,

Whose stem impassioned stress

A thoroughfare for freedom beat

Across the wilderness!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

Till paths be wrought through

wilds of thought

By pilgrim foot and knee!

O beautiful for glory-tale

Of liberating strife

When once and twice,

for man’s avail

Men lavished precious life!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

Till selfish gain no longer stain

The banner of the free!

O beautiful for patriot dream

That sees beyond the years

Thine alabaster cities gleam

Undimmed by human tears!

America! America!

God shed his grace on thee

Till nobler men keep once again

Thy whiter jubilee!

Worry. A topic that could probably take up a whole month’s worth of Daily Attitude Emails.

I received the excerpt below the other day and thought about how worry probably effects most of us that receive this email.

I especially liked the last line “Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength.”

How many days have gone by in your life without strength because you spent them worrying about tomorrow and what might happen?

Spending even one day worrying instead of living out or moving towards your dreams is a waste.

We only get one chance to live each day, let’s make the best of them.

Make it a great week.

Jake

An excerpt from

Attitude is Everything

by Vicki Hitzges

I used to worry. A lot. The more I fretted, the more proficient I became at it. Anxiety begets anxiety. I even worried that I worried too much! Ulcers might develop. My health could fail. My finances could deplete to pay the hospital bills.

A comedian once said, "I tried to drown my worries with gin, but my worries are equipped with flotation devices." While not a drinker, I certainly could identify! My worries could swim, jump and pole vault!

To get some perspective, I visited a well known, Dallas businessman, Fred Smith. Fred mentored such luminaries as motivational whiz Zig Ziglar, business guru Ken Blanchard and leadership expert John Maxwell. Fred listened as I poured out my concerns and then said, "Vicki, you need to learn to wait to worry."

As the words sank in, I asked Fred if he ever spent time fretting. (I was quite certain he wouldn’t admit it if he did. He was pretty full of testosterone—even at age 90.) To my surprise, he confessed that in years gone by he had been a top-notch worrier!

"I decided that I would wait to worry!" he explained. "I decided that I’d wait until I actually had a reason to worry—something that was happening, not just something that might happen—before I worried."

"When I’m tempted to get alarmed," he confided, "I tell myself, ‘Fred, you’ve got to wait to worry! Until you know differently, don’t worry.’ And I don’t. Waiting to worry helps me develop the habit of not worrying and that helps me not be tempted to worry."

Fred possessed a quick mind and a gift for gab. As such, he became a captivating public speaker. "I frequently ask audiences what they were worried about this time last year. I get a lot of laughs," he said, "because most people can’t remember. Then I ask if they have a current worry—you see nods from everybody. Then I remind them that the average worrier is 92% inefficient—only 8% of what we worry about ever comes true."

Charles Spurgeon said it best. "Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength."

A tree that is unbending is easily broken. Lao-Tsu

This one falls into the category of life’s great balancing acts.

We must balance our ability to be flexible with our steadfastness to our core values and who we are as a person.

We must give to others without giving up who we are.

We must get along with the crowd while standing apart from it.

We must be our own person while treating and working with others as they want to be treated.

So, I will take a little editorial freedom and add the following to the quote above from Lao-Tsu.

“A bending tree does not touch the sky.”

We must stand tall in our values and our own uniqueness while being flexible enough to survive all the storms and winds of life.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“You need to ask for help so we can use the funds as designed. There have been cases where people have had personal crisis situations and not reached out. When I asked why, they were too proud to seek help. Let me give you a newsflash. Every one of us needs help. The only question is when. Please let Hands That Give fulfill its mission. Yes, it is often personal. Life is that way. Get over it and let people who care help you.”

I received the above as part of a message yesterday and thought I would share.

We have a tendency to hold on to our problems and not ask for help. Sometimes taking responsibility for ourselves and our actions means asking for help, not keeping it all bottled up inside.

One of the most interesting things that I got from reading the Go Giver the first time was the concept that in order to be part of the giving process you must also be willing to receive.

If you need help with something ask for help.

Need help getting started on an exercise program….find a workout buddy.

Need help with monthly budget….find a trusted advisor to go over it every month.

Need help making better food choices….find someone else trying to do the same and eat with them regularly.

Need someone to talk to….just start talking.

I love the last line above.

Get over it and let people who care help you.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Last. Day. Of School.

Hard to believe that my little Maggie is already finished her first year of school.

Seems like just yesterday (I think I am going to be saying that a lot over the years) she was headed off for that first day, a little nervous and a lot excited.

Now she moves onward and upward. Before you know it, finishing another year will be old hat.

It reminds me of the seasons of life as described by this song:

http://youtu.be/fg73MRomwSA

What a great metaphor for life. Jim Rohn talks about the seasons of life and what role we play during the various seasons of life.

As I think back to my childhood and summers from when I was a kid I think of exploring, curiousity, learning how to make my own fun, and many other great memories.

Today I wish for the same for Maggie, but I also wish for each of us to find a little bit of that in ourselves again this summer.

Go swimming.

Go fishing.

Play baseball.

Spend time just sitting outside shooting the breeze with friends.

Go to a baseball game.

Life is short. We have so few summers. Take advantage of them.

Jake