The kids sang this song at church last Sunday at church and it has been in my head all week.
Today is Good Friday, Sunday is Easter Sunday.
Easter is a great reminder of what Christianity is all about.
The simple idea that Jesus suffered and died for us because of his everlasting love for each and every one of us.
Happy Easter.
Make it a great day.
Jake
A version of the same song with a little more pep (fast forward to about 1:30 to get right to the singing):
We started watching “42” (the story of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball) and I have been listening to Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning” the last few days (in it he tells the story of his experience in a concentration camp).
Both stories include more than their fair share of difficulty and suffering.
The important thing was how each used their difficulties and suffering to find meaning and purpose in their lives.
We each have the same opportunity.
Sure, our suffering is not on the scale of theirs, but the lessons are the same.
Maybe you are having a hard time with your diet.
Maybe you are battling an addiction.
Maybe you are just having a hard time finding happiness.
Jackie and Viktor would both tell you to stick with it.
The hard part is worth it.
We can embrace our difficulties with the enthusiasm and energy that comes with recognizing that they serve a purpose. They refine us and mold us into the person we are capable of becoming.
Make it a great day.
Jake
PS for the Mavideans on the list – I have an audio copy and we have the hard copy of “Man’s Search for Meaning”. If you haven’t read it, I would highly recommend it. It is in my top 10 books list.
"A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence." – Jim Watkins
Lasting accomplishments take time.
We have a tendency to underestimate what we are capable of over long periods of time.
The persistent application of effort based on faith towards a worthy goal often meets with success.
Think about where you are and where you would like to go.
Find a way to apply consistent effort towards your desired destination.
You may not make it overnight, but persistence will pay off in the end.
Make it a great day.
Jake
If you’re going through hell, keep going. – Winston Churchill
I don’t have the context for this quote but I imagine it as Churchill with a cigar in his mouth, a glass of whiskey in his hand, standing over a giant WWII map table thing and barking it to his generals.
We all face hardships.
We all have our tougher battles to face.
Keep going.
If you can’t keep going, ask someone else to pull you through. Just don’t stop.
I don’t know your individual situation.
I’m sure that this advice is much easier to give than to receive (or to do).
But you can do it.
You can push through.
You can slay those demons.
You can push through this current hell.
And if you aren’t battling something right now, find someone to help.
Find someone to pull through to the other side.
Make it a great day.
Jake
Today marks Annie’s 8th birthday.
She is such an awesome kid.
She is also a middle child. I’ve tried to use this as a teaching moment for her over the years.
It’s easy to feel like being the middle child means not quite getting to do what the oldest gets to do while not quite getting the attention the youngest gets.
I’ve encouraged Annie to adopt a different attitude.
I often tell her “You have a special role in our family. You are the only one that gets to be a big sister AND a little sister.”
It’s so easy in life to compare ourselves to others and think about what we don’t have or what would like instead of what we have.
But I’m convinced that God has a special role and place for each of us.
For some of us, all that stands in the way of embracing that role is a change of attitude.
Make it a great day.
Jake
PS – This is no way a brag on my parenting skills. I can use as much tips and advice as you have. Please feel free to send me some.
Ain’t no stopping us now…
It’s a new quarter and a new season, this is a great attitude to adopt.
Regardless of whether you are coming off a great first quarter or fell behind on your 2017 goals, this would be a great theme song to adopt.
Don’t let the bad stuff get you down.
Don’t rest on your success.
Keep moving. Keep growing.
Make it a great day.
Jake
"Do the hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves." – Dale Carnegie
Short and sweet.
Find something on your list that you have been putting off because it is hard or seems impossible.
Work on that first today.
Even if all you do is commit 10 minutes to it.
Don’t let the sun set again before you work on it.
And then spend 15 minutes on the hardest thing tomorrow morning.
And on and on.
Make it a great day.
Jake
It is easier to love humanity as a whole than to love one’s neighbor. Eric Hoffer
Our happiness in large part rests on our ability to love and serve our neighbors.
This quote reminded me of the inherent difficulty in this mandate.
In theory, loving our neighbors is easy. When we think of humanity, we find love easily.
But when our neighbor is difficult, selfish and unfair – now the whole thing just got a lot harder.
My positive spin on this is that it is worth it.
The hard work of empathy, vulnerability and risk associated with really loving those around us is worth it.
It much easier to hide behind a general love of humanity, but much more rewarding to get our hands dirty doing the everyday work of showing love to those around us.
Embrace your opportunity to love your neighbors today.
Lean into the difficulty. Make the most of the challenge.
Make it a great day.
Jake
I try not to think too hard, take a deep breath and jump. I’ve failed enough in life and work that I no longer have rigid attachments around outcomes. The things that don’t work out were never meant to happen.
—Amanda Chantal Bacon, founder, Moon Juice
I read this quote in an article and painted a great picture of faith.
Faith that it will all work out in the end.
Faith that even though it doesn’t work out my way, it still worked out.
I especially liked her idea of “no longer having rigid attachments around outcomes”.
Focusing in on the journey instead holding on to some preconceived notion of what the outcome should be is a great step towards less stress and more happiness.
Where could you use a little more faith?
Where should you let go of your rigid attachments to outcomes?
Make it a great day.
Jake
If you want to read a couple more good quotes on being fearless, here is the entire article:
http://www.success.com/article/top-of-mind-4-bold-habits-to-make-you-fearless
The life of faith is lived one day at a time, and it has to be lived – not always looked forward to as though the ‘real’ living were around the next corner. It is today for which we are responsible. God still owns tomorrow. – Elisabeth Elliot
This is a great quote to start the week.
A reminder of our role in this whole thing.
To live each day to the best of our abilities with faith that if we do so it will all work out in the end.
The ‘real’ living isn’t around the corner. It’s here. Right now.
Everything else belongs to God.
Make it a great day.
Jake
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