Pass the soap.

Sitting here reflecting on what kinds of behaviors I need to leave behind as the pages on the calendar turn and (for me) changing my language is probably #1.  I really need to wash my mouth out with soap.  Specifically, NO COMPLAINING!!!  NO DADGUM COMPLAINING. We've become a complaining, bitching, griping society afraid to compliment and praise people.  It's so funny and sad to me at the same time.  But all I can really...

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6 Things You Didn't Know About Marriage

I stumbled upon a cool little video recently.  It's from Jenna McCarthy.  Not Jenny McCarthy.  Yeah.  I had to get that one straight myself!  Jenna McCarthy is the author of "If It Was Easy They'd Call the Whole Damn Thing a Honeymoon: Living With and Loving the TV-Addicted, Sex-Obsessed, Not-So-Handy Man You Married" which gets points for a great title even if it isn't a great book.  (I haven't read it yet so I don't...

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14 Books for 2014! (How Many Have YOU Read?)

"When I get a little money, I buy books. If any is left, I buy food and clothes." ~Erasmus "You should never read just for enjoyment.  Read to make yourself smarter! Less judgmental. More apt to understand your friends’ insane behavior, or better yet, your own. Pick hard books. Ones you have to concentrate on while reading. And for god’s sake, don’t let me ever hear you say, I can’t read fiction. I only have time for the truth. Fiction is...

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The Incredible Praise-to-Criticism Ratio

One quality I have always observed in people is how they use their tongues. Do you promote healing? Does you build up? Or do you criticize, condemn and destroy? (Yes. Sarcasm fits into the destructive category, I'm afraid.) "There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, But the tongue of the wise brings healing." - Proverbs 12:18 It is said that it takes several compliments to undo the damage of one criticism. Harvard says effective...

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Get Your Hopes (and Your Goals) Up!

Get your hopes and goals up! Generally-speaking, you're going to get just about what you expect so why not expect more? My own experience is in line with this.  In so many areas of my life, I've accomplished my goals. What I realized, however, is that I've still been sighting my sights too low. So I sat down yesterday for a redo. I recast my goals. You should do the same!  I'm going to celebrate my victories and press higher.  I'm...

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It's OKAY to be Excited!

I see so many people stifle their enthusiasm about people, events, themselves, their future.  They say things like "Today has been great... so far." or "I actually enjoyed that movie."  It's like someone is going to punish them for showing genuine joy and excitement about something.  Or... and this is true oftentimes... they have a hard time praising one thing without criticizing the other.  Shame! However, as Ralph Waldo Emerson...

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How to Raise Your Level (Part 2)

In the previous blog, we talked about The Thermostat Principle.  Now, as promised, here are the first five things you need to change to adjust your thermostat settings! 1. Your thinking: As a man or woman THINKS in their heart... What is the content of your thinking? Challenge yourself to think about higher thoughts, to dream bigger dreams. Because your thoughts become your speech... 2. Your speaking: Death and life are in the power...

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How to Raise Your Level (Part 1)

“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” If we really understood those words, it would change our lives. I can tell you the very day I got on the path to true success because it was the day that I realized that the whole process started between my ears! I was then and I am now what I believed I was. You are who you think you are! No more. No less. In your heart or soul - the collection of your mind, emotions and will - you have created a definition...

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Do You Belong to NATO (No Action; Talk Only)?

Two of your greatest enemies are THOUGHTLESS ACTION and THOUGHTFUL INACTION. Both work to rob you of God's best and both must be eliminated from your life! To Live Big Die Empty, you must operate from a place of THOUGHTFUL ACTION everyday. "Thoughtless action" means just living life moment to moment, reacting emotionally to things that happen around you and allowing other peoples' whims and desires to set your agenda. Most people live lives...

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How Your Disadvantage is Really Your Best Advantage

Three chapters into the book "David and Goliath" and author Malcolm Gladwell has quoted more scripture than most preachers! Gladwell has declared himself an Atheist and all but I've shared with a few friends in my private circle that the "book" isn't closed on this guy yet. If you are a friend, I've told you that I think God is working on him. I believe this even more now.  If he continues to say he is an Atheist, I just won't believe him. I...

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Going the Extra Mile In Your Relationships

Overcompensate."Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two." - Matthew 5:41Krystle S. Talley of The Christian Chameleon would say this means to go the extra mile to compromise, love, and give grace to your significant other. I think that is a great take on it.  The Bible might also call this bearing one another's burdens.When it comes to dating as divorced people, one thing we have to be aware of is that the other person (especially...

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Dreaming of diligence and waking to walk it out...

I love sharing my dreams with you all.  I try to do it while they're fresh so I don't forget the details.  Here's from last night... I was digging around in my front yard near the sidewalk under some of the decorative bricks that lining the concrete walk. (Why? Who knows? It was a dream.) Digging. Getting my fingers dirty, I discovered a coin. A penny most likely. And then, finding that penny, I decided to keep digging. I found...

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A Nation of Haters?

When did we become such a nation of haters? I am disappointed in this. That's an understatement! It's sad to me that we used to be a nation of people who aspired to greater. Now we just want to get by, antagonize those who want more for themselves and then try and take what they earn. Jealousy, envy and rivalry have filled the hearts of so many that it's unusual to hear sincere congratulatory statements anymore. Think about how rare it is to...

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7 Ways to Form A "Pack" So You Can Hunt Bigger Game

We've talked before about what each of us can learn from the lion, the king of the jungle. I've got a particular fondness to lions because of a couple of things the scriptures teach us about the nature of these big cats and how we're to emulate them.  We also know that too many of us spend too much time and too much effort for too little result because we try to fight alone. .Here are some things you can do to start forming your own pack...

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Becoming Your Best Self

This has been EVERYTHING to me. If you're on my personal page, you saw me talk about this the other day. Even so, take this a reminder. Now you've heard it twice and you're accountable.  This is something I had to learn and practice for myself and I can tell you honestly.... this way lies happiness and fulfillment!  You have an image of your best self in mind. Everyone does. Whether you see yourself as a speaker, an author, a teacher,...

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"Fortune favors the bold."

Normally there's only one quality separating those who are successful in achieving meaningful goals and those who aren't: a bias towards action. You're thinking about doing it; they're doing it. Or trying it. "Develop a bias towards action!" Makes no difference between the two because once you get going, it's easier to correct your course. They always said it's easier to steer a moving vehicle, right? Either way, the longer you contemplate,...

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