IDEAS ARE FOR SHARING

     I just met a house-full of my daughter and her husband's friends. What a pleasure. Each one interesting and friendly even to their friends "parents" who were, for some reason, at a party for thirty somethings (well, we DID have a valid reason for being there - our grandson's first birthday). It was fun to see the way they stimulate one another and get into deeper-than-normal discussions and debates. That's what young people do (although one fellow showed some signs of aging when he said he and my son-in-law met for coffee recently and talked about nothing but kids for two hours) and it reminded me that we all ought to, from time to time, refrain from discussing the weather and aches and pains and who did what and discuss issues and ideas and religion and politics.

     I once heard someone say that shallow minds talk about people, normal minds talk about things and great minds talk about ideas. I don't know that that is true - even a little bit - but I've always remembered it - especially when I find myself talking about others. 

     So next time you get together with friends talk about ideas - what happened in the world this week - what new discovery science has come up with - how Jesus' "do unto others" fits into our world today - the plight of the poor and downtrodden of the world - what you'd do if you were a policy maker to overcome the economic woes or the unemployment problems of our country.... or any number of other issues.

     Talk - stimulate one another - challenge - enjoy - feel young and "intellectual" again. An idea is a terrible thing to waste.

LET GO OF THE PAST!

DO MORE THAN THE OTHER GUY

     I've got a way of getting the edge on the competition. It's a little secret that has been around for a long time and has always been thought to be a good idea but, it seems, has been rather forgotten in business, in relationships, in marriages and all kinds of inter-personal interactions in our culture. Some might call it "accommodation." Being in a religious mindset I prefer to call it "Going the Extra Mile." 

     What it means is to do more than is asked or expected of you. Many question that philosophy: "Why would I do more than I need to? Why would I put in effort that isn't necessary? What would be the advantage of doing more than is required to get the job done right? And those questions are legitimate. The very words used give the answer: "need to," "necessary," and "required." The answer to all is YOU DON'T. That is the point. Everyone does what they "need to" or what is "necessary" or "required." Doing more sets you apart - makes you different - draws attention to what you do and how you do it.

     Always do more than expected or that you have to to get the job done. That doesn't mean working harder, it means working with excellence and with the attitude that any job worth doing is worth doing better than the other guy.

YOU - TODAY (a bit of fun)

TODAY

• Today there is work to be done.
• There are possibilities to be explored.
• There are challenges that exercise your resolve. 
• There is beauty to inspire - to enjoy - to delight - to create.
• There are fascinating people that you will encounter (if you have the insight). 
• There is a world filled with opportunities with which you can grow or achieve.
• There are moments waiting to be filled whatever you want to fill them with. 
• There are interesting roads you can take that may lead to where you would like to be.
• There is a world of information at your fingertips (some useful, some not). 
• There are new and unique ideas and concepts awaiting your discovery.

Don't let the day slip away, thinking it is just
like yesterday or tomorrow. It's not.

DISCOURAGEMENT

Nothing goes as you think it should – nothing. Discouragement sets in. You get depressed. Why can’t SOMETHING go right?

Discouragement is something everyone faces from time to time because our sights are usually set higher than reality allows. But discouragement only has power over you if you let it. In the face of discouragement you
can still act and learn and adapt and start over and change the course of what might have been.

When you feel yourself slipping into discouragement, DECIDE not to. Think again about your goals and priorities and dreams and know that, although they may need a bit of tailoring, they are still there and still what you want. Don’t give up on them. Modify them to make them more realistic and start all over again. You have the power  to decide what your life will be and you have the power to make it happen.

With determination make it happen this time. Start over. Never let discouragement win.

OH, TO BE HAPPY!

Did you read The Economy and You? If you think  you're happy, don't. It's an illusion. According to the Wharton School study you can only be happy with money. In fact there is a direct relationship between the amount of happiness you have and the amount of money you have.

For instance, we all know how happy (or at least by outward appearances) Mark Zuckerberg is - 27 and worth billions - he's got it made (OK, so he is basically a jerk and has no friends, will never know if a woman loves him or his money, can't go anywhere without bodyguards, worries constantly about his financial people ripping him off and is destined to live a long and, by most standards, a miserable life). Michael Jackson is dead but everyone knows how much he enjoyed life with his vast fortune.  Warren Buffet enjoys his wealth so much that he plans to leave none of it to his family when he dies lest it ruin their lives. Charlie Sheen seems like a pretty happy guy, as does a boatload of wealthy movies stars, politicians, and other glitterati.

 

I admit it, I really don't know any truly rich people personally. But I do know a lot of people who AREN'T rich and just about all of them seem to be pretty happy. How deluded they must be.

Tell me, what do you think? Is there a direct relationship between the amount of money you have and the amount of happiness/satisfaction you have in life? Leave your comments below. 

MONEY MAKES ME HAPPY

I've had an ongoing debate with a dear friend  for a very long time that research has finally answered definitively.  I am, it says, WRONG. But as egotistical as this may sound in the face of compelling evidence, I'M NOT WRONG!

I contend that money cannot buy happiness - that one can be happy when poor and miserable when wealthy. My friend insists that the more money one has the happier he or she is. I KNOW I'm right. But...

A study was done by "The Wharton School"  (The Economy and You) that concludes that the more money you have the more satisfied you are with life - and that this holds true no matter what country or culture you are in. A University of California psychology professor says “Satisfaction increases when you feel you have more control over your life, and you have more control over your life if you have more financial resources.”

"Earlier studies  on money and happiness suggested that people were concerned only with the wealth of their next door neighbors. So, if you were keeping up with – or better yet, surpassing – the Jones’s you were fine. By that logic, people in impoverished countries could be happy if they were just a little bit better off than those around them." That study, apparently, is no longer valid.

So I guess I'm not as happy as I thought I was and a lot of people are a lot happier than they seem to be.

Hmmm......

ME Time

The hardest part of being a grown-up is that we have to be responsible. Oh, I suppose we don’t HAVE to be responsible, but when we aren’t we suffer some pretty painful consequences.

Sometimes responsibility seems like such a burden to bear. We have to feed and cloth our families. We have to go to work every day – on time. We have to work conscientiously all day long. Then go home and do it all over again tomorrow.

On the weekends we have to spend time with the kids and family, go to church, call our mothers… It just never ends. When is it going to be “ME” time?

Here is a little secret: It’s ALL “me” time.  Being responsible is not really a burden. It is a blessing. We have been entrusted with things in this life because we ARE responsible and, it seems, the more responsible we are the more we are entrusted with. If we are mature adults and accept the responsibilities we are handed  and do what we are expected to do, our lives will be rich and full and more responsibilities will come our way. Be faithful. Do all that is required of you and even more. It's ME time!

THINK FIRST

You know them. You know people who "shoot from the hip" most of the time. They react and respond to things before giving the idea or happenstance time to process. Sometimes that works - sometimes it is disastrous.

Most of us need a bit of space between what happens or what comes our way in terms of ideas to figure out how we should best react. We need to get perspective and come up with an effective response.

One of the keys to successful life is to learn to under-react rather than overreact. Not only will you reduce your level of stress and anxiety but you'll be able to more effectively handle the challenges that come along.

Learn to accept the fact that some things will not be immediately resolved. Calmly, thoughtfully, carefully, diligently move toward a well-considered and desirable outcome. Almost always this is the best approach.

When faced with an emergency, of course, this advice goes away - take immediate action. But emergencies are rare - keep that in mind, too. In most situations life throws at  you, you have the option to put them on the back burner for a bit to think rationally. Then, after considering ramifications and options and possibilities, come up with the direction you ought to take.