https://youtu.be/Uc_HxKMKB_E?si=FoP3uVWG34CvrnZ2

This one popped up in my feed again yesterday.

Hope everyone can have a good day today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“Luminous beings we are, not this crude matter.” —Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

Something I’ve noticed about a lot of the epic movie or novel series is that they touch on some of the important truths of life.

That being brave is better than being cowardly.

That being honest is better than lying.

That love and truth will win out over evil and tyranny.

That friendships and relationships matter more than our selfish desires.

That good is worth fighting for and will win out in the end.

And this quote above – that we are more than just a bag of chemicals that happens to be able to walk around and think a little. We are in fact, a soul. We just happen to inhabit a body right now.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible. Francis of Assisi

Get started.

Whatever your goal.

Whatever is nagging at you.

Whatever your reason for wanting something different.

Just get started. Do what’s necessary to get the train headed down the tracks.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Prayer of St. Francis

Wow. The world sure needs this right now.

The level of maturity required to live this out is beyond me most days, but it’s still worth trying.

Even if we just got one or two of these right today the world would be a better place.

Pick a couple to work on this week. Watch what God does with your step of faith.

Make it a great day.

Jake

For the mind disturbed, the still beauty of dawn is nature’s finest balm. – Edwin Way Teale

I heard the other day that at one point humans spent 85% of their time outside.

I don’t know about you, but I sure don’t spend enough time outside.

As winter winds down its seems like I feel the urge to get outside more and more.

As the weather warms up, I’m hoping it’s a good excuse to spend more time outdoors.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/MBfK4UoHsuo?si=mdvCb3wTgQ0tzkBR

My favorite line is the first one “the rainy day is temporary”.

No matter how dark it gets, night will turn to day.

No matter how cold it gets, winter will turn to spring.

No matter how bad it seems, it will get better.

If it’s raining right now in your life, never lose hope that things will turn around.

Make it a great day.

Jake

It is easier to prevent bad habits than to break them. – Benjamin Franklin

That would be a great new year’s resolution – don’t pick up any bad habits.

Probably something worth thinking about for a few minutes – how to avoid picking up bad habits.

Avoid hanging out with groups that have a habit you don’t want.

Avoid going to places where bad habits you don’t want get started.

Avoid thinking thoughts that could lead to bad habits.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/1Kyvgzw43fw?si=84ZW-Ua7VdA3aaMJ

“You are insufficient. You can do something about it. If you aim low enough.”

What an interesting way to look at things.

Find the lowest, simplest objective that begins the positive process. Build momentum.

Jim Rohn talks about things like an apple a day or a walk around the block.

What’s something low you can aim at today?

Transfer $50 into savings?

Walk around the block?

Read your Bible for 5 minutes?

Go to bed 30 minutes earlier?

Find something low to aim at. Hit it. Then do it again.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time. – Voltaire

Most value in life is attained over time.

Not in one quick flurry of activity but by the consistent application of discipline over a period of time.

Short periods of focused effort are often required to set a discipline or habit into action.

But the results take time.

Make it a great day.

Jake

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. – Galatians 5:22-23

I was listening to a podcast the other day and they talked about how if we could all act like this it would be heaven on earth.

Certainly a challenge.

I know I fall short of that list every day, but I’m working on it.

Every time I read it I think to myself about how much better my life and those who I am around would be if I could be more and more like this list.

And I want the same for everyone around me.

For their lives to be full of this fruit.

Make it a great day.

Jake