God of our fathers, who by land and sea have ever led us to victory, please continue your inspiring guidance in this the greatest of all conflicts. Strengthen my soul so that the weakening instinct of self-preservation, which besets all of us in battle, shall not blind me of my duty to my own manhood, to the glory of my calling, and to my responsibility to my fellow soldiers. Grant to our armed forces that disciplined valor and mutual confidence which insures success in war. Let me not mourn for the men who have died fighting, but rather let me be glad that such heroes have lived. If it be my lot to die, let me do so with courage and honor in a manner which will bring the greatest harm to the enemy, and please, oh Lord, protect and guide those I shall leave behind. Give us the victory, Lord."

General George Patton

I went searching for something meaningful to share on Veteran’s Day.

This short prayer stood out.

In particular, this one line: Let me not mourn for the men who have died fighting, but rather let me be glad that such heroes have lived.

Veteran’s Day is a great day to be glad that such heroes are around.

It’s a day to be thankful for those heroes.

We are so lucky to have heroes on our side.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“Some people say it is wrong to regard life as a game. I don’t think so. Life to me means the greatest of all games.

The danger lies in treating it as a trivial game, a game to be taken lightly, and a game in which the rules don’t matter much.

The rules matter a great deal. The game has to be played fairly, or it is no game at all. And even to win the game is not the chief end.

The chief end is to win honorably and splendidly. To this chief end several things are necessary.

Loyalty is one. Discipline is another. Unselfishness is another. Courage is another. Optimism is another. And Chivalry is another."

The above quote is from Ernest Shackleton.

For some reason quotes from that long ago (he passed away in 1922) really stand out to me.

Seems to me that he hit the nail on the head and he didn’t even have Google or a smartphone to help him.

Read it over a time or two.

Let it sink in a little.

Then get to winning.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. – Andre Gide

The start of a new week is a great time for a reminder.

Step forward boldly.

Try new things.

Shake off the rust.

Get going on something new.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/1u-niluB8HI

Thanks to Chris for sending me this.

What a great reminder of all that we have to be thankful for.

Make it a great day.

Jake

One of the biggest lessons I have learned through sending these emails for so long is the lesson of momentum.

Once you get momentum with something it can carry you along when you don’t feel like pushing.

When I don’t feel particularly positive or upbeat, I have the momentum of these daily emails to put something positive into my day.

My advice is to seize the moment to begin to build momentum.

When you are in a great mood and the weather is nice, start that new routine of walking around the block.

When you get that bonus and have a few extra dollars, start that momentum of investing.

And then embrace it when you need to.

Let the momentum carry you through that bad day.

Make it a great day.

Jake

If you can’t accept losing, you can’t win. – Vince Lombardi

Quite a few quotes about winning are out there attributed to Vince Lombardi. This may be my favorite that I have come across.

Because the more I think about the more it makes sense.

If you didn’t have the possibility of losing, winning would hold no value.

If you aren’t risking losing, then your wins will be empty.

Many of us play it safe, minimizing the chances of losing and minimizing the chance of getting hurt.

Then the small wins feel meaningless and we look at our life and wonder what could have been.

Accept losing. Accept the risk. Accept the chance of abject failure.

Then try like hell to win something worthwhile.

Make it a great day.

Jake

JD – Life shrinks or expands according to one’s courage. – Anias Nin

MS – Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. -Ecclesiastes 9:10

EB* – I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it. – Pablo Picasso

JW – That was really nice of you Dad. – Zach Warmbir

One of the interesting side effects of our fast moving technology and society is that we seem to have less tolerance for doing it wrong.

We seem to have less tolerance for mistakes and for growth. Both with ourselves and with others.

Since we can only control ourselves, I would suggest we adopt the attitude from the quote from Picasso.

Be patient with yourself as you do that which you cannot do today. It’s how you will learn and grow for tomorrow.

If you are comfortable and things feel under control, you likely aren’t growing.

We should be working at that fuzzy line between that which we know and that which we do not.

If things are under control, we need to stretch.

If things are totally out of control, we need to come back a little closer to home (No brain surgery attempts before medical school!).

Make it a great day.

Jake

Men who never get carried away should be. – Malcolm Forbes

Sometimes we need to get a little carried away.

Sometimes we need to get a little crazy over something.

Sometimes we need to get a little obsessed over a goal.

Some goals require us to put in more effort than normal.

Do you have something on your list that needs you to get a little carried away?

Do you need to get carried away about that new diet?

Do you need to get carried away about that new investment plan?

Do you need to get carried away taking care of that friend?

Do you need to get carried away?

Make it a great day.

Jake

“Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door.” – Emily Dickinson

Found this quote and thought it would be a great way to start the week.

Each week we have the opportunity to open a new door.

We can choose to move forward towards our goals and away from our bad habits.

We can choose to love more and lose our patience less.

We can choose to spend our time doing the things most important to us.

The door is there. We must walk through it.

We must have faith that stepping through will work out in the end. Maybe it won’t happen by Tuesday afternoon, but it will.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/ZTidn2dBYbY

This song was requested….

So, today’s message is a reminder to embrace your own brand of weirdness. We are all a little weird in our own way.

Embrace it.

Enjoy it.

Make the most of it.

Make it a great day.

Jake