There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage. – Martin Luther

Mikie (our Director of Controllled Chaos here at Mavidea) and my in-laws both had major wedding anniversaries over the weekend.

Every time I see a couple post one of these milestones, it reminds of the something special that a good marriage is.

Marriage is a unique opportunity for those that engage in it.

Essentially, you sign up to spend the rest of your life placing another person’s before your own. Sure, you sign up for this when you become a parent as well, but you have to live with your spouse for the rest of your life.

I believe more and more each day that our happiness lies in those moments when we can be of service to others and to place our own needs behind that of another’s.

Marriage is a lifetime of those opportunities.

And for those that seize that opportunity, it is a lifetime of bliss.

I am sure even the best marriages miss most of those opportunities, but I am also sure that they capitalize on far more than the average marriage.

I am thankful every time I hear or see of someone reaching a major milestone year with their marriage, because it reminds that it can be done. It is possible to put another’s needs before our own, to let go of that selfish side of ourselves in order to love another better.

Seize the opportunity to be of service today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Bonus point – when you see someone who reaches a milestone like this, seek out any wisdom you can get. Ask them questions. Ask them to mentor you.

Bonus point 2 – for the singles only – practice, practice, practice. Want to find a spouse? Want to be a better husband/wife when you do get married? Practice, practice, practice. Find others to serve and serve them. Find a way to put others first and do it. ​

In honor of Memorial Day yesterday, I went in search of a speech or poem or something else inspirational.

After a few minutes searching, I remembered that the Gettysburg Address is better than anything I had found.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Thank you to all those who have and are serving our great country.

Make it a great day.

Jake ​

MS – It is better to give than to receive.

BAD – When people show you—or tell you—who they are, believe them the first time. – Maya Angelou

EB – Just remember, these are the good old days.

JD – Find someone who is willing to share the truth with you. – Jim Rohn

JW* – A problem can’t be solved with the same level of thinking that created it. – Albert Einstein

These are the good old days.

I think of that often (I usually think of “the best of times” from Styx).

I hear people talking about how things aren’t what they used to be. And how we are “going to hell in a hand basket”, whatever that means.

But these are the only times we have. We only have today to make the best of.

Make it a great day.

Jake

http://youtu.be/CmrOB_q3tjo

"The glow that the sun gets
Right around sunset
Helps me realize
This is just a journey
Drop your worries
You are gonna turn out fine."

We all have those times when we need to just keep our head up.

There is always a better day around the corner.

If this is where you are right now, keep your head up. It’s gonna turn out fine.

Make it a great day.

Jake

​

​I am a promise.

I am a possibility

I am a promise with a capital P

I am great big bundle of potentiality

And I am learning to heard God’s voice

And I am trying to make the right choice

I am a promise to be anything God wants me to be.

Annie and her fellow preschool graduates sang this song last night at her graduation.

Graduation season is such a great time of year.

This season I have had the great fortune of handing out scholarships for Heartland at a couple of high school’s senior award nights.

These ceremonies all have reminded me of just how much potential is out there.

Each of us has potential to do things we can barely dream of.

And then when you add them all together and work together as a team, anything is possible.

That is what is so exciting about Mavidea.

We have pooled together the potential of a bunch of great people. When I look at all that potential, I can’t help but get excited for the future.

This is why we spend so much time on things like culture, values, purpose, trust and teamwork. Only by working together do we get to realize all that we could be.

Take an inventory today of all the potential around you. Take a moment to be thankful. Then get started using it and leveraging it for others.

You will be amazed at the results.

Make it a great day.

Jake

If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap.

If you want happiness for a day, go fishing.

If you want happiness for a month, get married.

If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune.

If you want happiness for a lifetime, serve others.

Someone recently sent me this little bit of wisdom about happiness and service.

It’s tempting to find short term and short lived paths to happiness.

And there isn’t anything wrong with most of these activities, but we can’t be surprised when the effects wear off.

Long term happiness comes from service to others.

I’m sure you have heard this before and if you haven’t, you probably have already gotten to this conclusion intuitively.

The question becomes, what do you do about it?

Keep it simple.

Find an opportunity to serve, every day.

Do the dishes.

Hold the door for a stranger.

Go the extra mile for the customer.

Stay after at work for a few minutes to help a co-worker.

Serve. Every day.

Make it a great day of service.

Jake ​

Garbage in. Garbage out.

This famous programming saying has many applications to the rest of our lives as well.

It probably most obviously applies to what we read, watch and listen to.

But what if we looked at ourselves as the program?

We are programmed to respond in a certain way. Going beyond the way you are programmed requires reprogramming.

Your daily habits can be thought of as a sort of program that produces certain results.

If you want to change the results, you have to change the daily habits.

If you want to lose weight, you have to change your diet.

If you want to get more done, you have to change what you do.

If you want to spend more time with loved ones, you have to change your schedule.

What change(s) do you need to make?

Make it a great day.

Jake ​

Children aren’t very good at listening to their elders, but they never fail at imitating them. – James Ballwin

I heard this quote recently and with three little kids at home it immediately stuck with me.

The quote wasn’t for parents though, it was for leaders.

And in some sense, we are all leaders. We all have someone following us in some respect.

That’s why this quote matters so much.

When influencing those around us to be and do their best, it is our actions that will drive the biggest impact.

And when we see less than desirable results, we must first look in the mirror.

If you saw someone imitating your behaviors would you be proud or embarrassed?

If you saw someone else following your diet plan would you be encouraged or discouraged?

If you saw someone else following your money plan would you be hopeful or dismayed?

If you saw someone else talk to their spouse the way you talk to yours would you be happy for them or worried for them?

This is why personal development and improvement is such an important force. Not only do you get the benefits, but so do those around you.

Make it a great day.

Jake

​

JD – The jerk store called, they are running out of you.

EB* – What’s the difference, you’re their all-time best seller.

MS – Politics is when people choose their words and actions based on how they want others to react rather than based on what they really think. – Patrick Lencioni

BAD – It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things. – Henry David Thoreau

JW – If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you will never get it done. – The Master – Bruce Lee

The quotes above from Thoreau and Bruce Lee remind me of one of the great balancing acts of life.

We must balance between lunging from desperate action to desperate action while making sure we don’t spend too much time thinking about a thing while nothing gets done.

We must act, with wisdom and thoughtfulness.

We must think and ponder, with action as the result.

Is there an area of your life where you are out of balance?

Too many impulsive decisions at the grocery store that ruin your diet and budget?

Too much planning and thinking about the perfect workout plan while your pants size grows?

Thinking really hard about the right thing to say to mend that broken heart/relationship while it slowly withers away?

Saying “yes” to every request for your time while missing the deadlines/objectives you have already set?

Life is a balance between thinking and acting. Look closely to see if you need more balance. And then take action to get it straightened out.

Make it a great weekend.

Jake

http://youtu.be/xHRkHFxD-xY

These lines really stuck out to me:

I got my city right behind me, if I fall, they got me.

Learn from that failure, gain humility, and then we keep marching.

Reminded me of Mavidea. We all have Mavidea right behind us, every day. And they have our back.

When we fail, we gain the humility of realizing we don’t know everything and there is more to learn.

And then we keep marching. We never quit.

As we face uncertain times, the first step is looking adversity in the eye and deciding not to quit.

Every step after is a step towards victory.

Make it a great day.

Jake ​