"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 use 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

I was in Ireland a couple weeks ago… Throughout every day, Deb and I talked about how nice, friendly and helpful everyone was.

On day 9 it hit me…. The people of Ireland treat people how people should be treated. It was so refreshing.

They’ve found a way to live like every day is Christmas. So it’s possible and helped me step up my game.

Thanks for the reminder and thanks for your dedication to help us all improve.

Happy Tuesday.

B

Brian O’Shaughnessy sent that note to me yesterday in response to the email about starting Christmas early by being a little nicer to everyone.

I’ve always thought of “hospitality” as the Irish people’s super power and his note about how they “treat people how they should be treated” stuck out to me.

What if we were supposed to be this nice all year long and not just on Christmas?

What if generosity was an every day thing?

What if kindness became a minimum expectation?

My trips to Ireland showed me (and Brian) what that might look like….and it looked pretty good.

Being nicer and more hospitable seemed to make the Irish people I interacted with more happy, more full of joy.

They didn’t seem to be getting the short end of the stick….

Reflect on your interactions over the year. Is there room for more niceness? Is it worth taking a chance on moving forward?

Merry Christmas.

Jake

PS – Thanks to Brian for being a consistent supporter of me and these emails. He’s been on the list a long time and has every reason to tune me out and move on to reading something better but consistently finds time to encourage me with a nice note here and there.

My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that? – Bob Hope

Idea for the day – start Christmas early.

Don’t wait another day to say thank you.

Don’t wait another day to say I love you.

Don’t wait another day to hug somebody.

Go ahead and get started. Spread some love and joy.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anyone else expects of you. Never excuse yourself.” ―Henry Ward Beecher

It’s the start of the last month of the year.

Time to look at your 2019 goals and make the last push to get a few more items checked off the list.

Don’t let excuses creep in.

Don’t delay until next year.

Don’t let December come and go without letting go of the excuses and finishing what you set out to accomplish.

Make it a great day.

Jake

If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share. – W. Clement Stone

Being thankful is a great place to start because it reminds us that we have something to give.

We weren’t put on this earth to just consume all that we can and be thankful along the way. We were made to give.

If you are thankful for all the love in your life, show it and share it.

If you are lucky enough to have a little extra money, give it away.

If you have some free time, find a place to volunteer.

There are many ways we can share this holiday season.

A great place to start is that list you think of over Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. As you think of what you are thankful for, take a moment to think of a way to share whatever it is you are thinking about.

Our real opportunity to change this place forever lies in our ability to share and give the best of ourselves with others.

What are you going to share?

Make it a great day.

Jake

I Receive ALL of Life with Thanksgiving –

I have gratitude for EVERYTHING

that has ever occurred to bring me to this moment.

I give thanks for the joys and the sufferings,

the moments of peace and the flashes of anger,

the compassion and the indifference,

the roar of my courage and the cold sweat of my fear.

I accept gratefully the entirety of my past and my present life.

– Jonathan Lockwood Huie

It takes a very mature person to be thankful for ALL of life, I know I have lots of room for improvement here.

I won’t challenge us all to immediately become thankful for everything, but maybe we could take a step in that direction.

As you think about what you are thankful for this year, challenge yourself to go beyond your usual answers.

Family, friends, faith, home, etc. are all great and worthy of our thanks, but let’s add to the list this year.

Maybe even find a challenge or struggle to be thankful for.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. – William Arthur Ward

Being thankful is the beginning of a better and more full life.

When we are thankful for what we have we transform our attitude and prepare ourselves for more of the same.

Think of an area of your life where you want to see a change.

Find something in that area to be thankful for.

Maybe an example would help.

Let’s say you wanted to save some money.

First, be thankful for whatever money you do have.

Treat that little bit as if it were a blessing.

And then you will have the attitude it will take to start adding more.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/NOa5UOHdwnc

Figured we should end the week with a funky thank you right before Thanksgiving week.

“Thank you for letting me be myself.”

I sure am thankful for the people in my life that do this for me.

I know that “myself” has a lot of room for improvement but some of you love me anyway.

We all have people in our lives like this.

Don’t forget to tell them you are thankful for their love and appreciation.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Andy Stanley once did a series going through the process of decision making and how to make better decision’s in your life.

He suggests asking yourself a question. What story do I want to tell?

When facing an important decision, he suggests looking into the future and asking this question to help clarify what you are really deciding.

Some examples….

When it comes to your finances, what story do you want to tell?

When it comes to your health and fitness, what story do you want to tell?

When it comes to your family and your closest relationships, what story do you want to tell?

These are just to get you thinking a little. Thinking of the story you want to tell is beginning with the end in mind. Everything becomes clearer when you can attach a story to it.

I encourage you today to not only think about what stories you want to tell, I encourage you to write them down. Then start making decisions that align with those stories.

We are all writing the story of our life everyday by the decisions we make.​ Let’s do our best to write the story we want to tell.

Make it a great day.

Jake

“We are little flames poorly sheltered by frail walls against the storm of dissolution and madness, in which we flicker and sometimes almost go out…we creep in upon ourselves and with big eyes stare into the night…and thus we wait for morning.”

― Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front

“They are more to me than life, these voices, they are more than motherliness and more than fear; they are the strongest, most comforting thing there is anywhere: they are the voices of my comrades.”

― Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front

I’ve been reading “All Quiet on the Western Front” lately (probably time for a break from the war stories). It’s difficult reading.

These two quotes reminded me of the book.

One showing the madness that is war.

One showing the unique bonds forged in battle.

I’m not sure about you, but I have a hard time with the whole “maturity and not complaining” thing.

It’s all too easy to complain and moan about some small inconvenience in my life instead of being the mature, accountable, adult I should be.

But books like this tend to sober me up pretty well.

I’ve got it pretty good compared to a rat infested trench a hundred yards or so away from people shooting at me with machine guns and trying to drop shells on my head…..for months.

And those are the lucky ones….the unlucky ones are injured or dead.

And those are just the soldiers (thank God for soldiers).

What about the single mothers?

What about the cancer patients?

What about those with meaningful struggles of all kinds?

I’m thankful for the stories of real struggles shared over the years. They put my little problems into perspective.

Ending my little pity parties doesn’t seem quite noble enough an end for stories such as these, though, right?

In the end, I (and hopefully this is a we and I’m not the only one, if it’s just me, somebody tell me quick) must honor the sacrifices and struggles of others by doing our best to leave this place better than we found it. To make a difference for others through service with love.

Make it a great day.

Jake