"Strong hearts and helpful hands are needed, and, fortunately, we have them in every part of our beloved country." — William McKinley

Apparently I’m getting old. Election year comes around and I’m tempted to complain and wish things were different.

To want others to see things my way or want the same future for our country that I do.

I’m trying to get better at focusing on what I can do to help.

To love my neighbor as myself.

To trust in God.

To believe in kindness and truth.

I’m not saying we don’t vote, get involved and work to do our part in the political process.

We should.

With love, kindness and trusting in God.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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https://youtu.be/xVOJla2vYx8?si=imd3aZTBWL1s7_yl

Last game of the basketball season last night and Maggie’s senior year has me thinking about this song.

The seasons of life continue to march on.

As I get older – I try to focus on the gratitude part of the changing seasons.

To be thankful for the season just experienced.

I sure do have lots to be thankful for (even when it doesn’t go perfectly or the way I would have picked it).

Make it a great day.

Jake

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https://www.facebook.com/reel/368998788981156

Jordan Peterson offers some direct talk here.

“It’s not ok to be a weak loser. The reason it’s not ok is because you could be way more than that. It’s a crime for you to let all that necessary potential to go to waste. It hurts you. It hurts your family. It hurts the world. Really.”

Putting in the effort to work through your own idiosyncrasies and to push through and become your best isn’t for you.

Sure, it helps you, but the real point is that you have something to give to others.

You were meant to be of service (in love).

Don’t give in to just getting by. To living day to day and not thinking it doesn’t matter what you do. It does matter.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16

Valentine’s Day – the day of love.

The story running throughout the Bible is that God is love.

It’s behind everything He has done.

He loved you so much He sent His son to die on the cross for you. So that you can be with Him forever in heaven.

We run around every day, busy as bees. Thinking of all of our to dos, our worries, our anxieties and our selfishness.

He wants us to put that all down and be loved. Fully and completely.

On Valentine’s Day remember this – you are loved.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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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

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I sent the email below after the Super Bowl in 2020. Little did I know that shared experiences would mean even more soon after…

Last night was the big game. The Super Bowl.

We don’t watch many sportsing shows at the Davis house, but we try to watch the Super Bowl every year.

There’s a lot wrong in the world of professional sports, but there’s also something magical about it.

We all can appreciate the excellence and hard work represented by those at the top of their profession.

But I think the real magic lies in the shared experience.

The shared experience shared by the teammates.

The shared experience of knowing so many others are watching the game.

The shared experience of a little family watching the game in their home.

Shared experiences have power.

Pay attention to your days and your moments this week.

How can you create a better shared experience with teammates, family and friends this week?

What can you do to bring the group together?

What part can you play in making things better.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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https://youtu.be/_shxzlTRK44?si=ZMyq2PJxvEhNjwRt

Senior Night for basketball was last night.

Hard to believer this chapter is almost over and we won’t be loading up the family truckster and driving around Central IL to watch Maggie play basketball.

Life is full of these different chapters. One ends and another begins. Each one adding to the overall story.

As I get older, I’m trying to embrace it.

Enjoy the chapter we’re in. Make the most of it and then let it go.

Make it a great day.

Jake

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Expect problems and eat them for breakfast. – Alfred A. Montapert

Expectations sure cause us all a lot of anxiety.

We expect things to go a certain way and when they don’t, we get frustrated.

Sayings like this a reminder that’s it is sometimes helpful to think about what we expect.

Problems will occur. Tackle them head on. Don’t spend time worrying or fretting about how we expected everything to go well and then it didn’t.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Another of my favorite expectation quotes from my dad – “Life’s not fair and people don’t act right.”

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The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness. – Dalai Lama

Thankfulness for the goodness we have been blessed to experience.

Focus on the goodness we see around us.

To me, that’s what he means by appreciation for goodness.

Our brains just work that way.

We plant in our minds what we are thankful for and what we think about.

Let’s try to plant goodness today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

The content of this email is confidential and intended for the recipient specified in message only. It is strictly forbidden to share any part of this message with any third party, without a written consent of the sender. If you received this message by mistake, please reply to this message and follow with its deletion, so that we can ensure such a mistake does not occur in the future.

The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness. – Dalai Lama

Thankfulness for the goodness we have been blessed to experience.

Focus on the goodness we see around us.

To me, that’s what he means by appreciation for goodness.

Our brains just work that way.

We plant in our minds what we are thankful for and what we think about.

Let’s try to plant goodness today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

The content of this email is confidential and intended for the recipient specified in message only. It is strictly forbidden to share any part of this message with any third party, without a written consent of the sender. If you received this message by mistake, please reply to this message and follow with its deletion, so that we can ensure such a mistake does not occur in the future.