Imagine if you actually had a pocketful of sunshine.
Something that you could access at any time to brighten your mood.
Maybe it isn’t possible to put sunshine in your pocket, but you could probably find something to carry with you to brighten your day.
Some pictures of loved ones.
A piece of jewelry from a loved one.
A bible verse written on a piece of paper.
Make life a little easier on yourself by carrying around a pocketful of sunshine.
Make it a great day.
Jake
JD – What you do today can improve all your tomorrows. – Ralph Marston
JW – Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her – Ephesians 5:25
EB* – Once a woman has forgiven her man, she must not reheat his sins for breakfast. – Marlene Dietrich
MS – Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. Col 3:21
Since EB wasn’t in the meeting on Tuesday, I picked the controversial quote to assign to him. Seems like a good idea.
Forget the husband and wife roles described in the quote for a minute and think about the idea.
Have you ever reheat someone else’s sins for breakfast?
Ever held something against someone longer than you should have?
Ever told someone that “everything is forgiven/fine” with a hard heart?
I’m guessing the honest to answer for all of us on these questions is yes (I know I can answer yes to all of them).
This isn’t a guilt trip. My intention isn’t to ground you down by reminding you of your transgressions.
My goal is to remind all of us that we can and will do better, if we work on it. If we can change our attitude, we will do better.
Even though we won’t get to perfection, we can get better and better will lead to happy and better relationships. And relationships make the whole thing worthwhile.
Make it a great day.
Jake
We are all the same amount of busy. 24 hours goes by the same for each and every one of us, every single day.
Many of you have heard me say something similar to this over the years.
Recently I read the following article in Harvard Business Review about this topic.
http://blogs.hbr.org/2013/09/please-stop-complaining-about/
The article talks about the game of one-upmanship that occurs around complaining about being busy. Most of us have been part of one of these conversations at one point or another.
She also gives several tips on how to better manage your time that are very useful.
But I think the most important part is the spirit of the article.
Being the busiest is not some prize to be won. Not being able to meet the commitments you have made is not a prize to be sought after.
Organizing and planning your time to get your priorities accomplished is.
Having peace in knowing that you have managed your time and priorities well is.
The next time you are tempted to tell someone how busy you are, think. Think about what your real priorities are. Think about whether or not you are meeting them. And then talk about them instead.
Wouldn’t the conversation go much better if instead of talking about how busy we are we talked about the things in our lives that are truly meaningful?
Make it a great day.
Jake
PS – I found this post when looking through some of the old posts on the blog. It was posted in 2013.
Arnold Palmer passed away on Sunday.
If you don’t know, he was a famous golfer and golf person in general.
Being a golf fan I have heard quite a few Arnold Palmer stories and with his passing they are being told again and again.
But in the interest of trying to help all of our attitudes and our chances of success at life, I noticed something that maybe we can all learn from (since we are unlikely to become professional golfers any time soon).
If you consistently make an effort to make the day of those around you, you will make the world a better place.
Arnold Palmer consistently took time to talk with someone or take a quick picture or sign a quick autograph.
He had a smile or a laugh to share with everyone.
And it made a difference. Everyone from the most famous golfers to the janitor have a story about how Arnold positively impacted them.
Maybe you don’t have quite the reach that Arnold had.
Maybe you don’t have as much money as he had.
But you can make an impact, one person at a time, just like he did.
Smile.
Talk to people.
Try to make their day.
Work to make the world a better place each day simply by interacting positively with those around you.
Make it a great day.
Jake
Last night we were watching the debate and I started looking the FaceBox on my cellular phone and came across this video:
http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2016/09/26/203513026/dee-gordon-paid-tribute-to-jose-fernandez-with-a-hr
Dee Gordon was paying tribute to a lost teammate and hit his first home run of the year. Watch the whole video and you will see how overcome with emotions he and his team are.
It’s easy to get lost in the debate over who to blame for all the wrong in the world.
But it’s also not that hard to focus on the good.
To focus on love.
To focus on your team.
To focus on honoring those that couldn’t be here today.
Find something good to focus on today.
Make it a great day.
Jake
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts. – Winston Churchill
Another week is upon us.
Whether last week was a rousing success or a dismal failure, we choose what this week will hold.
Take 5 minutes this morning and write down what a successful week would look like.
Then make it happen.
Make it a great day.
Jake
It’s like that….and that’s the way it is.
Just a quick reminder this morning.
Focus on what you can change and not on what you can’t.
Focus on your own attitude and self-improvement.
Make it a great day.
Jake
JD – It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness. – Charles Spurgeon
EB – Often imitated, but never duplicated. – Captain Lou Albano
MS* – Who in their infinite wisdom decreed that Little League uniforms be white? Certainly not a mother. Erma Bombeck
JW* – He who seeks rest finds boredom. He who seeks work finds rest. – Dylan Thomas
JR* – Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.- Ernest Hemingway (FYI, this shows up when you do a search for “fantasy football quotes”)
Meaghan read the book “The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up” and Charles Spurgeon quote above reminded me of my favorite idea from the book.
Get rid of everything that doesn’t give you joy.
At first, it is easy to dismiss this idea.
Why would I have bought it if it didn’t give me joy?
What about the garbage bags? Not much joy there either.
I’m not going to try to answer the details for how it applies to you.
I will, however, try to encourage you think more along those lines.
How much of your current stuff do you enjoy?
How much of your current schedule do you enjoy?
How many of your current relationships do you enjoy?
There is some hard work underneath all of those questions, to be sure. But they seem like they might be worth investigating.
Make it a great day.
Jake
It’s official, fall is here. Let the pumpkin spice bonanza begin.
Fall is the season of harvest. The season when the hard work of spring and summer comes to fruition.
Similarly in life we will go through seasons, some where we are sowing and some where we are reaping.
The hardest part of the fall part is accepting our results.
It’s hard to be mature enough to not complain if things are bad and to not brag if things are good.
Whether we have done well or poorly, the harvest is what it is. We must accept responsibility for whatever results we have created.
The beauty of the seasons is that they repeat, so we get a chance at doing it again.
Take a look around at the harvests in your life.
What results have you created?
What might you change next time.
Make it a great day.
Jake
It is hard to believe it, but today marks 6 years that daily attitude emails have been sent out.
Each and every one of those days has been a humbling experience.
Trying to enter into your life in a way that helps or serves you in some way reminds me each day of my lack of understanding and ability to do so.
It’s been difficult to (try to) remove my ego each day as I work to write something useful (or at least not terrible).
I realized at some point that it works best when it isn’t about me, it seems to work best when I just write what comes to mind and click send. Let you and God work out the rest.
I share a little of this not because I have it all figured out and you just need to do like I do. I share this because I have come to believe that taking the time to develop a small positive habit to try to help others can help you.
After six years, I can tell you that developing positive habits helps. It doesn’t solve all the problems. But it does make life better.
Disciplined effort to make the lives of others better makes your life better.
This isn’t a pitch for you to begin sending out emails every day, it’s a pitch for you think about some small way to do your own version (although if daily emails is where it is at for you, go for it).
Write a special note to the kids in their lunch boxes.
Send a nice text to a loved one each day.
Send something to our troops regularly.
Post something nice on one of your friends FaceBox page once a week.
I can tell you from experience that a little bit on a consistent basis adds up. It does make a difference. At the very least you become a better person.
Make it a great day.
Jake
PS – For those of you relatively new to the list, most of the old daily attitude emails live here: https://thedailyattitudeemail.com/
Practical Steps for Friendship, Unity and Intimacy in Your Marriage
The Daily Attitude Email 