Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at its testing point. – CS Lewis

Today is Veterans’ Day, a day to remember those who have served our country.

I think of the word courage often when I think of our veterans, and I think CS Lewis describes this virtue perfectly.

Whatever virtue it was that drew out the courage of any particular veteran, they all pursued that virtue at the highest level.

Some served for love of country.

Some served in order to stand up to the bullies of this world.

Some served to impress a girl.

All exhibited courage along the way.

We best honor their courage and sacrifice when we have this same courage at the testing point of virtues.

When we have the courage to love, serve, and sacrifice for our loved ones and for what is true and right in this world, we test our own courage in the face of difficulty.

We certainly have it easier. Our smaller sacrifices give meaning to the sacrifices of those who have served. The sacrifices of those who have served give meaning to our smaller sacrifices.

Have courage as you go about your day. Honor the sacrifices of our veterans by being courageous in pursuing virtue in your life.

Make it a great day.

Jake

All the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action. – James Russell Lowell

Action is the thing. I like changing the words to “loving action” at the end of this quote.

If we are to be a part of making the world a better place we must take loving actions every day.

It starts at home and with those closest to us.

It spreads to our coworkers, clients and vendors.

On and on.

Find something lovely (or loving) to do today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.  

J. Calvin Coolidge,

30th President of the United States of America

In all the stories of success there is a moment when they decided to keep going.

Despite the odds and obstacles they pressed on.

I think the key to being able to press on is having big goals.

Big goals pull you through the problems you will inevitably face along the way.

Make sure you have big goals for yourself. Make sure it is big enough that you are almost embarrassed to say it out loud to your closest friend.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Livin on a Prayer by Bon Jovi

I chose this song not only because it’s a good song but also because there are millions even billions of people who really are living on a prayer and it reminds us to live life to the fullest (YOLO, Carpe Diem, whatever you want to say) and to take time to give thanks for life’s little things because you never know when they could be taken away.

Maggie Davis

Great job, Maggie!

Make it a great day.

Jake

Yesterday Andre came over and we played a little basketball.

I’m a little old and not very good at basketball but it was fun.

It was a great break from worrying about the corona virus or who the next president is going to be.

We laughed and had fun even though we aren’t getting recruited to the NBA any time soon.

We shouldn’t give up on our ideals or stop fighting to keep our families safe, but we could spend a little more time having fun.

What’s something fun you could do in the next week?

Make it happen.

Make it a great day.

Jake

The uncertainty of 2020 continues….

The unknowns and worries sure have piled up this year.

Focus today on something you are sure about.

God.

Loved ones.

Friendships.

Nature.

We can’t be certain about everything, but can be about a few important things.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Election day today. I’ve been trying to think about what the proper response from a mature citizen should be regardless of the outcome and the best I can come up with is:

Love thy neighbor.

Jesus states this as the second of two great commandments when asked what is the highest and most important commandment.

Notice he also didn’t mention any exceptions….

Love thy neighbor….unless they are a Democrat.

Love thy neighbor….unless they voted for Trump.

Love thy neighbor….unless they shared a Black Lives Matter post on the FaceBox.

Love thy neighbor…..unless they are wearing a MAGA hat.

What does loving thy neighbor look like in this situation? What would it look like to live out Jesus’ command?

A few ideas to get you started:

Get to know and care about someone with different views than your own.

Bake a casserole and bring it over to that neighbor’s house with the signs in the yard you don’t agree with.

Offer to stay late for that co-worker that was crazy enough to vote for Joe/Trump so they can make it to their kid’s game.

Show some love. Take some kind of action.

The best part?!? You’ll be better off for it. You won’t lose some kind of political rightness or give in to the dark side. You’ll feel better. Your heart will be lighter.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Bonus point – the other commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart. Not a lot of room for hate or political anger if your heart is filled with love for God and your neighbor. Might be worth trying.

November is here!

The rest of 2020 is going to quickly from here. Election day tomorrow, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas right around the corner.

It’s still going to be a weird end of the year, but I’m sure it will be like most years and this time will go quickly.

When you look forward and see that the time is going to quickly, what should you do?

Set some priorities. Decide ahead of time what is important to you and make sure that gets the time it needs.

Whatever your goals or aspirations are – they will require focus and intentionality through the end of the year.

Make a list. Make it a clear and intentional list. Check them off as you go.

Make it a great end to the year.

Jake

https://youtu.be/Fe93CLbHjxQ

I’ve never been a fan of the dark and scary version of Halloween.

I’m more a silly, goofy version of Halloween kind of guy.

And this song falls in to the goofy category for me.

Do something silly and goofy for Halloween this year.

Don’t take things to seriously and have some fun.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Chapter 26 of "How to Stop Worrying" by Dale Carnegie is titled "Four Good Working Habits That Will Prevent Fatigue and Worry".

First up on this list is to: Clear your desk of all working papers except those relating to the immediate problem at hand.

To modernize this for today’s world, imagine things like email and tasks instead of working papers and imagine your desk and your desktop on your computer/laptop/tablet/phone as your desk.

This has two positive results.

First, there is something about having a clean and clear workspace.

Everything on our desks carries with it a little bit of mental weight. If your desk is covered, it carries a lot of mental weight.

Second, there is magic to being able to focus on the task at hand. Having only the information relevant to your most important task in front of you immediately makes you much more productive.

Take a look around today.

Is there a mess?

Is there clutter?

Is it overwhelming and demoralizing to look at your work area/inbox?

Spend a few minutes before you get started today clearing things up. Give yourself a fresh start.

Make it a great day.

Jake​