I like nonsense; it wakes up the brain cells. – Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss is one of our favorites around the Davis household. He describes why so well in this quote.

He wraps a life lesson inside of nonsense to make sure that your brain cells are awake enough to learn it.

The beginning of the year is also a good time to introduce some nonsense into your life.

To shake things up enough to wake up some brain cells.

Take a different route to work.

Wear some different clothes.

Do something different.

Make it a great day.

Jake

JD – All shall be done, but it may be harder than you think. ― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

JW – You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks. – Winston Churchill

MS – Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; bind them about thy neck; write them upon the tablet of thine heart: so shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. – Proverbs 3:3-4

EB – Greater has no one than this, than he lay down his life for his friends. – John 15:13

The Winston Churchill quote is a great reminder for us all as we start a new year.

We start the new year with vim and vigor. Excited to get going and moving in a positive direction.

Maybe we write down some resolutions.

Maybe we set some goals.

Maybe we vow to make a change.

But then we hear the barking dogs.

Some say that we can’t do it.

Some say that something else would be better.

Achievement requires focus.

Focus on what is most important. Ignore those barking dogs.

Make it a great day.

Jake

We have to declutter and get rid of ‘good’ things to make room for ‘better’ things. – Arlin Sorenson

Arlin included this line in a recent newsletter to HTG. He was talking about doing this in our businesses, but I think it makes for an important life lesson as well.

For some reason, we hold on to things.

We let the things clutter up around the house, the garage, the basement and other places.

We let activities clutter up our schedules.

We are all full up on “good” things and wonder why nothing “great” is happening in our lives.

At some point we have to get rid of the “good” to make room for the “great”.

We need to cancel that activity.

We need to donate that extra stuff.

We need space for the great stuff to work its way in.

Create some space today. Cancel an appointment. Get rid of some stuff.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“What’s done is done. There is no need to speak to Edmund about what has passed.” – Aslan from “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”

I was watching this movie recently and heard these lines and they really stuck out to me.

In the movie, Edmund’s character had just made it back after committing an act of treachery. Aslan gave him a “talking to” and then told everyone else the lines above.

We all need someone who can give us the stern talking to when we’ve stepped out of line.

But that isn’t what really stuck out to me.

What stuck out to me in particular was the idea of letting the past be the past. No need to talk about it again.

From both perspectives.

If we are the one needing forgiveness, to let things go and move forward. Not to dwell on our mistakes but to learn from them and move forward.

If we are the ones forgiving, to not bring it up again. To let our loved ones grow and move forward from their past.

Let go of past transgressions. What’s done is done. No need to speak of it again.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is a great quote for the beginning of the year.

Each day can be the best day of the year.

If we can have that attitude 2016 will turn out to be quite a year.

So, let’s get started on the best day of the year.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“The year you were born marks only your entry into the world. Other years where you prove your worth, they are the ones worth celebrating.”

― Jarod Kintz, This Book Title is Invisible

Last Daily Attitude Email of the year.

As I am apparently in a reminding kind of mood, I’ll end with another reminder.

Celebrate!

Celebrate the year you have had.

Celebrate the things you did accomplish.

Celebrate the good times you had.

Celebrate that you are still alive.

Just celebrate something.

Make it a great day.

Jake

End of the year. New Year is coming.

For most people this is a time of setting new goals and resolutions.

As you think about what your goals might be, find a simple way to get started early.

Find some small step you can take before the new year starts and take it.

If your goal is to save money, scrounge up a few dollars and make that first deposit.

If your goal is to lose weight, eat a salad for lunch.

If your goal is to exercise more, walk around the block.

Just do something to get yourself started.

Do it before the new year starts.

Prime the pump.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Last work week of the year.

Time for my annual reminder/challenge to clear some space.

I look forward to the end of the year cleanup of my workspace.

Creating some room to hit the ground running next year is a great feeling.

So, challenge yourself to clear some space this week.

Make room for all the awesomeness you have planned for next year.

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

“It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.”

― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

This is a great thought to remember this Christmas season.

It’s so easy to get caught up with running from place to place and buying thing after thing.

Sometimes we move so fast we don’t give ourselves a chance to be affected by the laughter and good humour of others.

There are so many reasons to smile and laugh, but we have to notice them.

We have to slow down enough to catch them from others.

This week is one of those weeks that is easy to let slip by without having letting a little joy in.

Make yourself laugh this week.

Watch that favorite Christmas movie.

Share a drink with someone.

Email a joke to a friend.

Do something to make yourself and others laugh.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Zoey: What do you get if you cross an iPad with a Christmas tree?

Johnny: I don’t know. What?

Zoey: A pineapple!