Have you ever baked a cake? My beautiful lady and her daughter own a bakery. I’ve seen more bakery than you can imagine. Don’t confuse that with me knowing how to bake. What I do know is that many ingredients play a role in creating the perfect recipe.
Some ingredients change the recipe slightly. If you accidentally forgot them, the dish might be different but it would not be ruined. Others are vital. Forget this one ingredient and you might as well throw the whole thing in the trash and start over. Can you imagine making a cake with no sweetener?
I think hope is the sweetener of life. It makes even the worst situation a little sweeter. Life without hope would be a terrible recipe indeed. As important as an ingredient is, it does not make an entire recipe. Pouring a bunch of sugar in a pan does not create a cake!
The same is true with hope. You cannot rely on hope as an entire life strategy. You must take intelligent action and put forth consistent effort. Those are some of the other ingredients in the recipe of a good life! Just do not forget to keep hope in your heart. It will keep the sweetness in your life.
I’ve been spending my yearly vacation at the Wisconsin State Fair. It is truly a fun time. Depending on who I am here with, we go see bands, a bird show, a magic show and of course go to eat. The prices range from acceptable to insane. At one of the more pricey venues I saw this little bit of kindness.
Although their prices were high at this stand, they did a little good by collecting the can tabs for Ronald McDonald house. A great charity! WIth all of the cans that were consumed, they could earn a lot for the charity. Not sure how many people knew of this, but it was nice it was there.
In an event where profit is often king, it was good to see some charity. This is like life. Just that little bit of good can go a long way! Can you think of a little action that you could take to bring kindness to the world?
Today we have reached 1500 days in a row of a blog! That is over 4 years! I recall reaching some number, it might have been 100 days, and asking myself (because I write alone) can I do this for an entire year? The answer was of course I could. There is no rule of law that states I could not.
The question was less about the ability, or legality, of being able to do something. Although I must confess asking those of myself too. It was more a metaphorical look in the mirror. Did I have the discipline to maintain wiring this every day? Would I even have something to talk about for that long?
That was over 4 years ago and there is no signs of slowing down! The world around us is a crazy place but that is a never-ending source of inspiration. Through these past 1499 blogs we have both grown in number of followers and locations in which people read this. Still working on Greenland, but that is a story we have discussed before.
As I reflect on this accomplishment, there is one amazing thing this shows me. That is that I have the discipline to stick with something daily for over 4 years! If I can do this with my writing, what else is possible? What am I leaving in the table?
How about you? What in your life are you good at sticking with? Can you learn tools that will help you in other areas of your life? Is there an activity that you enjoy that you could do daily? Maybe a walk after dinner? Spending 15 to 30 minutes a day reading? Try doing one thing you enjoy. It may give you the tools and motivation to accomplish more in your life!
In the middle of enjoying the Wisconsin State Fair, this message appeared in my coffee cup. My mother, whom I was with, noted what a powerful reminder that was.
All too often we wait for later, tomorrow or next year to have a good morning, afternoon or evening. It is important to remember that one day it will be your last one. Crazy part is that you may not know that it will be the last.
That means right now is the best time to have a good morning, afternoon or evening. Make a life having as many good moments as you can! When the end does come, at least it will come with little to no regret.
Today starts our state fair. The yearly 11-day celebration of food, fun and agriculture. 30 years ago I sat in the center of this event I enjoy so much and had a revelation. If I enjoyed going to the state fair so much, why not go all 11 days? With the exception of your waistline, there is no harm to be found in doing so.
That was 1996. Fast forward 30 years and I’m still going everyday. It is still something that brings me great joy. When that ceases to be the case, I will stop. There are always different things to do depending on the people you go with. Some like to shop, some like animals, some food, some drinks. My mother and I always do the walks they have to explore art and agriculture.
In life, if there is something that brings you joy, go all out with it. Squeeze every last drop of joy out of it. As long as it does not harm you or others, why not enjoy as much of it as you can. Life is too short not to create memories and have fun. See you at the fair!
An amusing quote for sure, but one that has a powerful meaning. It is not really about the hoofed animal, but the people who are actually below even them. We are talking about those folks who spend their time gossiping, going behind people’s back, lying and just operating as disrespectful humans.
Just as a pig is home in the mud, these people are at home in despicable behavior. When we try match them in deplorable actions, not only are they more experienced, but we reduce our character by our attempt to emulate them.
When you see someone engage in petty or underhanded behavior, just say to yourself, “another pig in the mud.” Then, move on making sure you rise above their behavior.
*we apologize to any pigs that were offended by these comparisons*
I love this quote! Seeing that there is a different way to live can help you level up. Travel does a lot of useful things. It helps us overcome bigotry. Most hate stems from a good deal of ignorance. If you were to get to know how different people and cultures lived, you would find yourself more compassionate and accepting of your neighbors on this planet.
Travel also helps us appreciate all of the things that we do have and enlighten us to that which we can make better. If more people traveled, we could share this very knowledge with each other and work together to make this world a better place even quicker. Travel can be expensive and often difficult. With technology, we can connect with others across the globe easier than ever. We can also visit far away lands and learn about their people.
The internet has caused its fair share of issues. One way in which it can be a benefit to humans is to help connect us with others that we might not have otherwise had the opportunity to meet. We can learn different cultures and what they bring to the world. We can try different recipes and find dishes we enjoy. It can open our eyes to new forms of celebration. It can show us different ways to celebrate our love. In other words, it can show us that our way of living is not the only one available to us. Why not travel today? Literal or virtual.
Great relationships. Most of us would really want one. Some of us would really like our relationship to become one. What is the secret? That is a million dollar question. Actually it is a billion dollar question. The amount of money spent on relationship improvement material in a year is astronomical. That means there is a lot of information out there. One of the great ways to tell if the relationship is a good one is to follow the advice above. Go where you are celebrated and not tolerated. Your value should never be in doubt in your relationship. How do you know if you are valued and celebrated? If only there was some kind of sign.
Thursday, the 29th, was my birthday. I made the mistake of working that day. Upon arriving home, this is what I was greeted with. My beautiful lady created this sign and put balloons up around it and on our front porch. Even better, she was waiting there with a beautiful smile. Taking the time to personally create something meant so much to me. When I pulled up, I felt so special. That was the greatest gift. She used her skills, time and talent to celebrate me. My spirit soared and I had a smile on my face and in my heart. What a great feeling to have on your birthday.
Here is the wonderful thing about that celebration, it continues to this very moment. We are not actively doing something. In fact, we are working in two separate locations. How can the celebration continue? Every time that I think of that sign and those balloons and the time she took to put that all together, I cannot help but smile and feel celebrated. That is how a relationship should be. That can be a friendship, relationship or even a coworker. Celebrating others is a key to strengthening the bond between two people. It doesn’t have to be an adorable sign and balloons. An acknowledging word or genuine compliment can go longer than you think.
The wonderful part about this is that it lasts longer than the actual event. As I mentioned how I continue to smile thinking of the love and effort my lady put into that celebration. The next morning when I pulled out of the driveway to go to work and saw the sign it was a great reminder and gave me a great attitude to start the day. Can you see how celebrating others can be a big part of an amazing relationship? How can you celebrate the people in your life that you really care about?
When it comes to becoming the best version of yourself, Charles Bukowski is not the first name that may come to mind. Like yours truly, he worked for the United States Postal Service. He also shared some of the same opinions of it. He was a drunk and a generally unpleasant person. All of that being said, he does have a good point here. Our mortality should be a great motivation for people to come together. Either they ignore it, put it out of their minds or do not believe death will happen to them. As if they are not subject to the same laws of biology the rest of us are.
When a rather cynical coworker of mine discovered that I also write self-improvement material and am a student of the same, he had an opinion he felt the need to express. “What is the use of trying to improve yourself. We are all just lemmings falling off a cliff. We are all going to die.” I could not argue with him on the last part. Whether we look like a lemming has more to do with who are parents are than how we live our life. This fatalistic view of the world is one that unfortunately far too many people hold. If we are lemmings falling off a cliff, I would argue the point of life is to have the most fun on the way down. You can only have the best life if you are the best version of yourself. That is the entire purpose of self-improvement.
One of the ways in which to improve our life is to embody this quote from old Charlie above. We are all going to die. Do not take too much personally. Do not get hung up on trivial matters. The more rules you have for your enjoyment of life, the less enjoyable your life will be. Instead of finding ways and things in which to be upset, look for and find ways in which to enjoy life. The same holds true for your neighbor. If you want to find reasons to hate your neighbor, you can find them. If you want to find reasons you should invite your neighbor over for a BBQ and a laugh, you will find that too. It is all in what you are looking for.
Charles was right about one thing, we are all going to die. We should use this as motivation. Our time is slipping away right before our eyes. We should find as many ways to drain as much joy out of life as we can. The best way in which we can do that is becoming the best version of ourselves. The best way to have the most enjoyable time with others is to understand that one day we will run out of that time. Use it to laugh. Use it to love. Use it to connect.
The other morning at my day job I was listening to a motivational podcast. Many people ask, “Why after almost 2 decades in the self-improvement field and writing four books and publishing three, do you still listen to self-improvement material?” The answer is quite simple. You can never know everything. There is new information being brought to light all of the time. Becoming the best version of yourself is a life-long journey. There is no finish line.
Another, and perhaps more applicable, reason to listen to different motivational material is that it is presented in a different way. That is why you can have so many successful people in this field. A lot of their messages are the same. What is different is how it is delivered. You may hear something said by Tony Robbins and it may not resonate with you at all. Someone else may tell you the exact same tool or strategy, but in a different manner and you get it. The same holds true for those of us delivering those messages. That was what happened on this particular day.
The saying I heard is one that may be of use to you. Your personality creates your personal reality. To be honest, I do not even recall which person said this. Looking at the way it is worded, I would guess it is Tony Robbins, but I could be wrong. Who said it matters less than what we can do with this. In the two photos above, we see both what makes up a personality and how we can use our personality to fit into a career that would be most beneficial for us. Neither of these are complete lists, but it sure gets you thinking.
Let us take a look at a more personal example that I think will help this make a little more sense. At the afore-mentioned day job, we have a gentleman who stops in every morning. We will call this man ‘red truck guy’ as that is what he drives. His purpose for coming in? The best that we can figure is that he comes in to complain about his life. He comes in before the business is open and gives us a graphic description of how everyone in his life is incompetent in some fashion and how they are all out to get him. This is not an exaggeration. After several minutes, which seems longer, of complaining he departs. Here is the thing, this man creates the life he complains about. He has negative opinions about people based on about every factor you can imagine. He treats them as he views them. Then he acts surprised when these same people treat him negatively. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Our personality is reflected back to us in the life we live. If our personality is warm and welcoming, that is how the world treats us. If, like in the example of our unfortunate fellow above, we find reasons to dislike our fellow man, life will be a negative experience for us. It is a reflection of the 2000 year-old emerald tablet. This said “That which is below is like that which is above.” Many of us have heard the saying, “As within, so without.” That is how our personality reflects our personal reality. Does this mean if you have a pleasant personality your life will not experience any difficulty? Of course not. You will have a life that will be a lot better to deal with those challenges. It will be filled with a lot more loving and supportive souls to assist you on that journey.
SECRET 2 AN AMAZING LIFE 