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David Goggins is good at challenging people in a unique way.

Basic premise – the number of times you are going to be doing something you would rather not do is going to be greater than the number of times you are doing what you want to do – this is your new normal.

Get comfortable being uncomfortable.

There are no “off days”, “cheat days” or “me days”. There are only days where you are being disciplined or not.

What does this look like for you today? Forget about getting started on January 1 – start today. Pick something hard and do that instead of what you would rather do. Get going.

Make it a great day.

Jake

"Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained." – CS Lewis

Love is a central theme of the Christmas season.

We are reminded of the importance of the loving relationships in our lives and are inspired to love mankind in a way that seems to elude us the rest of the year.

CS Lewis has some great thoughts on the subject of love and this quote is a great reminder.

Love isn’t a feeling – it’s an action.

Either in how we think about and consider someone or better yet in what we do and say in response to those consistent and steady wishes for a loved one’s ultimate good.

Feed the flames of these thoughts and actions that Christmas inspires.

Keep it up through the New Year and on to next year.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken.” – C S Lewis

CS Lewis always seems to get me with his challenges to humility.

This one in particular seemed a particular challenge.

I’m hoping that Christmas will inspire me to take on this challenge this year. To be focused on the glory of my neighbor. To put others always above myself in my daily to dos.

At Mavidea and Maxlider we’re lucky enough to have customers and coworkers to work with. They provide a daily opportunity to work towards the ideal described above.

The end of the year will go quickly. It will be easy to slip into ego, pride and selfishness as we go about our work.

Don’t fall in to the trap. Don’t let your back be broken with pride.

Make it a great day.

Jake

One of my favorite Christmas books is “The Grinch Whole Stole Christmas” by Dr. Seuss.

Here are my favorite few lines:

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,

Stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?

It came without ribbons! It came without tags!

"It came without packages, boxes or bags!"

And he puzzled three hours, `till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before!

"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn’t come from a store.

"Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!"

Maybe I’m just a little bit of a sap, but I think that there is some magic to Christmas. And that it doesn’t come from a store.

As we make this last push towards Christmas, let’s focus on more than the packages, box and bags.

Merry Christmas.

Jake

A central message of Christmas is Hope.

In the Northern hemisphere Christmas happens near the darkest day of the year. Christmas symbolizes this hope that even when things are at their darkest, hope remains.

Hope that in spite of all of our imperfections, humanity is worthy of a hope that we can and will be better in the future.

Christmas reminds us that we are worth saving – there is hope for us yet.

In spite of all of our imperfections and idiosyncrasies and those of everyone close to us – we are capable of moving towards something better.

In spite of COVID and all of the other physical risks and heartaches – we are capable of being made whole.

In spite of all the hate and evil in the world – love will win out in the end.

In spite of even death itself – we have the opportunity to live on in the memories of others and together in Christ in Heaven.

Be full of hope this Christmas season – you are worth saving.

Merry Christmas.

Jake

https://youtu.be/-Xo64Q2ucQ8

Joy to the world.

One of my favorite Christmas ideas – we should be full of joy (joyful).

Life isn’t fair. It’s hard. It’s miserable. It’s full of suffering and hardship.

Somehow, some way – we can be joyful.

If we look for joy it can be found.

If you read stories of great suffering throughout history almost all of them (all the accounts I’ve read anyway) included moments of pure joy. It CAN be found, even in the darkest of circumstances.

Maybe it’s not there right now for you. Maybe this Christmas doesn’t feel as joyful as Christmas past. Even so, joy will meet you again – if you look for it.

Merry Christmas.

Jake

Somehow, not only for Christmas,

But all the long year through,

The joy that you give to others

Is the joy that comes back to you;

And the more you spend in blessing

The poor and lonely and sad,

The more of your heart’s possessing

Returns to make you glad.

– John Greenleaf Whittier

Christmas is a great reminder of the universal truth – it is better to give than to receive.

It’s a curious thing that life works this way, but it appears to be true.

Christmas isn’t a season to get, get, get and consume everything you can get your hands on.

It’s a time to give – gifts, to be sure – but importantly love, peace and joy.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there – fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaky feeling you’ll find that love actually is all around.

The above is the very beginning of the movie “Love, Actually” (a Christmas favorite at our house).

It’s a great reminder that love is all around us.

Sometimes we forget.

Sometimes we let ourselves fall into the trap of thinking only of ourselves. We forget that we are happiest and at our best when we are loving others.

At Christmas we are reminded of these simple truths.

Keep the Christmas mojo going on past Christmas this year. Keep the feelings of love and selflessness at the forefront – where they belonged all along.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“It’s Christmas Eve! It’s the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we smile a little easier, we cheer a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year, we are the people that we always hoped we would be.” — Bill Murray

Christmas time is a great time to be the person you’ve hoped you would be.

Be a little kinder.

Be a little more patient.

Be a little more generous.

Be a little more of who you were made to be.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Your life becomes meaningful in precise proportion to the depts of the responsibility you are willing to shoulder. – Jordan Peterson

We were built to seek out and find meaning in our lives. Some fall victim to trying to find it where it can’t be found: stuff, money, food, drugs, alcohol, etc.

Real meaning in our lives comes through the hard stuff: responsibility, love, relationship, humility, service, etc.

Where are you looking for meaning in your life?

What are you doing today to move closer to more and deeper meaning?

Make it a great day.

Jake