An effort made for the happiness of others lifts above ourselves. – Lydia M. Child

Look for people to help.

Forget about what you want and who is or isn’t doing what you want them to do.

Just try to help somebody else.

Ask questions.

Get curious.

Offer to help.

Jump right in.

Make it a great day.

Jake

I went in search of an old daily attitude email about Mother’s Day and ran across the email below. It seems to me that motherhood is a great example of this kind of love.

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. – Mother Teresa

Love until it hurts.

I think she means love it until it starts to (and continues to over time) kill our selfishness.

We must seek out this place of giving up our own desires for others.

When we can love another like this we finally experience the life we were designed for.

The paradox is that when we are able to do so we become happier than we would have been had we acted on our selfish desires in the first place.

I’m sure you all believe this already. My hope is that this email inspires you to do act on it. Just a little. Today.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://youtu.be/MslDnwerQRA?si=U8pN0VVGuAwxwvYJ

Last band concert of the year last night and this was one of the songs.

Watching Annie and her friends play music and do it well always amazes me.

So much work and effort went into becoming the group they became over the year.

It’s a reminder every time that we can accomplish something cool if we stick with it.

Stick with it through the part where we stink at something new.

Stick with it through people and relationships that aren’t always perfect.

Stick with it through our own insecurities and flaws.

And in the end, something beautiful and unique comes out that only exists because we stuck with it.

Make it a great day.

Jake

The rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering whether you “love” your neighbour; act as if you did. As soon as we do this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less. – CS Lewis

CS Lewis describes what he calls the four loves. With one of them being “charity”. Using the old definition of the word.

His idea is that love for others should exist and be shown not in whether we like them or even if we don’t like them – that it should show in all our actions towards those we encounter.

The idea is a difficult one to enact.

To act as if we love (have charity toward or for) our neighbor.

What should we do today to live like this?

Make it a great day.

Jake

Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission. – Arnold Bennett

We live in a time and place where we have the opportunity to consume as much entertainment and information as we want.

We can be distracted and entertained from when we wake up until we go to bed.

The sites and services we look to for entertainment are optimized to keep us scrolling and streaming.

But we are the keepers of the gate to our mind.

We get to choose what we let in.

We get to choose what will move us closer to our goals or towards a life we don’t want for ourselves.

We must choose. And choose wisely.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Resending this email from a few years ago (and a day late)….

I’m secretly (not so secretly now that I type this) hoping that Cinco de Mayo becomes the next St. Patrick’s Day here in America.

A day when we can celebrate a different culture with food, drink, and hospitality.

A day when we enjoy the richness of another culture (and tacos), together.

America needs more together. Less apart.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. – Joseph Addison

Monday morning reminder – reading is good for you.

There’s so much to read.

So much room to learn and grow.

Not sure where to start?

Ask somebody who knows you for a suggestion.

Make it a great day.

Jake

PS – I’m always looking for good book suggestions – anybody have any?

https://youtu.be/1rmPckNvD3E?si=KpDV6_aSGjfCNUNN

Golf season here in Central Illinois!

Whether you’re a golfer or not, hopefully you can get out and enjoy the change in season.

Make it a great day.

Jake

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1720028715612907

I often try to remind myself to have grace and patience when working with others.

The kid in this video is inspirational, but I was really struck by the dad.

We all have something we’re struggling with. Wouldn’t you like to have that dad from the video helping you?

Giving you the tips and tricks and encouragement to get over the hump, whether it’s big or small.

We can do this for ourselves and those around us.

We can be full of that much patience and grace.

And we should be – there’s plenty of struggle in the world.

Maybe not so obvious as a physical handicap and a curb that seem insurmountable, but it’s there.

And we can help.

Make it a great day.

Jake

When we are in love we seem to ourselves quite different from what we were before. – Blaise Pascal

Love makes the world a better place by making us better people.

We become and do better through love for ourselves and those who matter most to us.

Our motivations run true when we focus on what love requires of us.

Fill your thoughts of others today with love.

Make it a great day.

Jake