If you would be loved, love, and be loveable. – Benjamin Franklin
Simple, straightforward advice from Mr. Franklin on this one.
We all desired to be loved.
In order to be loved we should love others.
In order to be loved we should endeavor to become loveable.
Start working in this direction. Today.
Make it a great day.
Jake
Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything; that power and money, money and power mean nothing; that good always triumphs over evil; and I want you to remember this, that love… true love never dies. You remember that, boy. You remember that. Doesn’t matter if it’s true or not. You see, a man should believe in those things, because those are the things worth believing in. – Hub McCann – Secondhand Lions
We watched Secondhand Lions with the kids over the weekend, and these lines stuck out to me as they do every time I watch the movie.
The movie is about a young boy who has been let down by his mother who has to learn to believe that there may, in fact, be good in the world.
We are all like this boy from time to time. We need to be reminded that there is good in the world. That some things are worth believing in.
Today it’s all too easy to go through our days full of cynicism and suspiciousness. It’s true that evil forces are at work against us.
But joy and love are worth fighting for.
Good will win out in the end.
God loves us.
Choose to be a believer today. Act as if true love never dies.
Make it a great day.
Jake
Sometimes when everything is so serious you just need to dance and laugh.
Find something to make you laugh today.
Belly laugh.
Send it to a friend you know will do the same.
Make it a great day.
Jake
A thousand words will not leave so deep an impression as one deed. – Henrik Ibsen
I’ve often gotten the parenting advice – “more is caught than taught”.
Our actions ring much louder than anything we say. We develop a respect for those in our lives that consistently act in a certain way.
I believe this is a mostly involuntary process.
Meaning we catch the habits and traits of those around us whether we want to or not.
Hang out with a bunch of losers….you’re going to catch some loser habits.
Hang out with a bunch of winners…you’re going to catch some winner habits.
Be careful who you spend time with and how much time you spend with them.
Be on the lookout for mentors that have arrived where you want to go.
Avoid the people who have ended up where you don’t want to go.
Make it a great day.
Jake
To see things in the seed, that is genius. Lao Tzu
We all must learn to be patient with ourselves a little.
Be kind and compassionate to yourself.
The new seeds in you require your belief and patience.
Be patient with yourself and the new habits you desire.
Be kind to yourself when things don’t go well.
Make it a great day.
Jake
PS – Unless you need a kick in the pants….then do that and get on with it. (I wish I always knew which one needed to be applied when.)
I looked through some old daily attitude emails and found this one from the last inauguration day. It feels like it could have been written yesterday, only with more pleading this time.
My prayer for our great country and its citizens is that we can all catch the love bug instead of the COVID bug. That an epidemic would start where we all were so overwhelmed with love towards one another that problems started disappearing, one after another. I know this is idealistic and far-fetched, but I just can’t wrap my brain around anything else that would work.
The funny thing is that I can’t explain to you the “how” it would work part. It seems obvious to me though that what we are doing is not working so well and that a different plan might be worth looking into.
It starts with you (and me) choosing love more today than we did yesterday. Then doing it again tomorrow.
I’m in. Who’s coming with me?
Today is Meaghan’s birthday. One of my favorite days of the year.
It’s the day we get to celebrate the awesomest person around.
It is a day when our little family gets the chance to honor and thank Meaghan for all she does for our little family.
It’s humbling to think she would stick with me through so many birthdays (she should write a daily attitude email about how to put up with your husband).
It’s also a great reminder to celebrate the important people we have in our lives – every day, not just on their birthday.
We all have much to be grateful for. Someone to be grateful for.
Let’s make sure they know it. Let’s make it crystal clear.
Make it a great day.
Jake
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear”
“Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
“Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.”
Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’
“We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to mankind.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
I went in search of a quote to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and found too many good ones.
The twin themes of service and love stuck out to me.
So many of society’s ills could be improved drastically through service with love.
This is why we all matter. We have the opportunity to serve with love.
Let’s remember today a great example of service with love.
Make it a great day.
Jake
I’m sure it wouldn’t work lyrically but I would change the sentiment of this song, just a little.
I would change it to “Don’t stop believing the future can be better”.
I wouldn’t make it in the music biz.
All of us need hope and faith.
Hope that tomorrow can be better.
Faith that it will all work out in the end.
Tomorrow can be such a source of anxiety and worry. Living in the present is the key.
We must learn to live in the present with faith and hope for our future.
It’s a balance to be sure, but one worth seeking.
Make it a great day.
Jake
We cannot put off living until we are ready. – Jose Ortega y Gasset
Another day is here.
Whether we are ready for it or not time rolls on.
Let’s make the most of it.
Make it a great day.
Jake
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