This song (and New Year’s Eve) are a great reminder of one of life’s great balancing acts.
Last year went by so quick and this year looks like we have forever.
Each day we are challenged to live in the present.
To make the most of today.
While learning from the past and making wise decisions for the future.
This weekend, make sure to take a few moments to look back at this year and forward to next year. But don’t miss making the most of what you are doing right now.
Make it a great day.
Jake
Next up on the list of things to consider when setting your sights on next year…..dream big.
All too often, we sell ourselves short.
We let our past and others around us set the bar, when we are capable of so much more.
I think the key is to balance the short and long term as we dream big.
Start small and build towards the big.
Start by losing the first 2 pounds on the way to your goal weight.
Start by saving the first $100 of your new fortune.
Start by memorizing that first Bible verse on your path to personal peace.
Start by making that first lunch date with an old friend on your path to a life full of great relationships.
Dream big about the end of the road, but focus on right in front of you along the way.
Make it a great day.
Jake
Next up on the list of suggested to-dos before the new year – take a long hard look in the mirror.
Take the time to really look at where you are vs. where you could be.
Be brutally honest with yourself.
If you are working on your weight, use the scale.
If you are working on your finances, check your balances.
If you are working on your relationships, take the most honest and impartial in your life out to lunch.
Shine the brightest most objective light you can on whatever it is that is important to you.
Write down the results. Honestly reflect on what they mean.
Did you really do your best this year?
Are you really growing?
A large part of getting to where you want to go is knowing where you are starting from.
Make it a great day.
Jake
PS – Bonus point – don’t let this be a guilt trip. The point isn’t to let someone or yourself make you feel bad. The point is to find out what happened and where you ended up so you can keep going or change direction.
Well, Christmas has come and gone.
The time between Christmas and the new year is a great chance to reflect and set new goals.
The best place to start that process is from a place of gratitude.
Be thankful for everything you already have.
Be aware of everything that has already gone your way.
Make it a great day.
Jake
I am not alone at all, I thought. I was never alone at all. And that, of course, is the message of Christmas. We are never alone. Not when the night is darkest, the wind coldest, the world seemingly most indifferent. For this is still the time God chooses. – Taylor Caldwell
This is a great reminder before Christmas comes and goes.
You are not alone.
You are loved.
You are special.
Not in a way that makes you better than everyone else.
Not in a way that makes you just like everyone else.
You are loved and special in your own way. The way only you can be.
In the Christian faith, this is the reason got sent his son on that first Christmas. For you.
If that explanation of it doesn’t work for you, I can assure you that you aren’t alone, you are loved and you are special to someone.
Merry Christmas.
Make it a great day.
Jake
MS* – Clarence: [to George] Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives. When he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole, doesn’t he? – It’s a Wonderful Life
EB – Shitter’s full! – Cousin Eddie
JD – “Christmas was on its way. Lovely, glorious, beautiful Christmas, upon which the entire kid year revolved.” – A Christmas Story
JW – There’s room for everyone on the nice list. – Buddy the Elf
Buddy the Elf sure is a smart one.
There’s room for everyone on the nice list.
There’s always room for more nice.
There’s always room for more love.
There’s always room for more selflessness.
There’s always room for more family.
There’s always room for more friendship.
There’s always room for more hope, faith, peace, joy…..
As we cram our schedules and houses with more stuff, remember the things there is always more room for.
Merry Christmas.
jake
I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. – Mother Teresa
Love until it hurts.
I think she means love it until it starts to (and continues to over time) kill our selfishness.
We must seek out this place of giving up our own desires for others.
When we can love another like this we finally experience the life we were designed for.
The paradox is that when we are able to do so we become happier than we would have been had we acted on our selfish desires in the first place.
I’m sure you all believe this already. My hope is that this email inspires you to do act on it. Just a little. Today.
Make it a great day.
Jake
He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!
And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?"
"It came with out ribbons! It came without tags!"
"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn’t come from a store."
"Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!"
We also had the chance to watch the Grinch Who Stole Christmas over the weekend.
These few lines from the end always stand out to me.
I should be old enough to realize that Christmas isn’t about presents or decorating or any of that other stuff, but these lines still catch me off guard a little each time.
Hopefully these lines do them same for you. A reminder that Christmas is more than all of the stuff.
Make it a great Christmas.
Jake
PS – If you want to read the entire Grinch story, here you go: http://web.mit.edu/tere/www/text/grinch.txt
Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there – fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around.
This is from the beginning of “Love, Actually”. It has made it on to our list of annual Christmas movies to watch.
The above is the very beginning of the movie.
It’s a great reminder that love is all around us.
Sometimes we forget.
Sometimes we let ourselves fall into the trap of thinking only of ourselves. We forget that we are happiest and at our best when we are loving others.
At Christmas we are reminded of these simple truths.
Let these Christmas feelings soak in. Make them part of your day. Then sail right on past Christmas. Loving and serving others well into the New Year. Maybe if you are lucky, it will become a habit (if it isn’t already).
Make it a great Christmas.
Jake
There have been so many Christmas songs created over the years.
And each of us has our favorite(s).
Don’t let the season pass without cranking up some of your favorites.
Make it a great day.
Merry Christmas.
Jake
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