22 Minutes a Day with Nature

You won't find me in the break room during my lunch breaks at my day job.  Instead, I grab a quick drink of water and head outside.  I set up my Tommy Bahamas chair under the trees and listen to all the sounds of nature.  The first thing I do when I recline in my chair is remove my shoes and socks so I can plant my bare feet in the grass.  One of my teammates asked me at the end of my 22 minutes with nature, "How do you feel?"  All I can say is those 22 minutes are some of the best minutes spent.  This is a chance to reset my brain.  It's energizing.  

Make sure you take breaks throughout your day, especially if you find your workload to be heavy.  Have a great day.

Do You Have Staying Power?

Staying power.  This is the strength to see something all the way to its conclusion.  You have it or you don't have it.  A review of your life will tell you if you have it.  What happens if you realize this is missing in your life?  I believe staying power is learned.  If you are willing to learn, you can have enough staying power to achieve even the wildest of your dreams.

Keep in mind that when you're training a puppy, it can't do many tricks in the beginning.  The same is true with building habits that will help you increase your staying power.  Don't blame the puppy for bad performance.  Blame the trainer.  Don't blame your brain for convincing you to give up too soon.  Blame the person in the mirror.

If you're serious about wanting staying power, start small, stick to it, and keep going, one day at a time.  Don't worry about setbacks.  Find others who share your passion for incorporating staying power in your daily routine.  Have a great day. 

What is Your Definition of Success?

 This is a personal question.  There is no need to answer this publicly.  What's important is that you define it and make it personal.  If your life doesn't match your definition, consider small changes to get you closer to the success you want in your life.  

Think of the small changes you need to make as bricks.  You don't need to build a house in a single day.  Focus on a single brick.  Lay that brick.  Repeat this tomorrow.  Lay another brick.  Keep going.  Make sure that vision of success you have in your head is visible.  I like to close my eyes and imagine my personal vision of success.  If you can find a way to lay a brick a day no matter how far out of control you feel you are, there will come a time when all those bricks add up to something special.

If you haven't done this yet, I do recommend you write down your own definition of success.  Put it in a prominent place so you can see every morning when you wake up.  Have a great day.

See One, Do One, Teach One

The best way to learn something new is to observe an expert doing what you want to learn and then do it yourself.  Once this new technique is done, it's best to teach someone else to make sure you have a grasp of the new concept.  I'm using this process to learn how to build things.  Yesterday I spent the entire day watching others, many who were doing something new for the first time while broadcasting their adventures on YouTube.  Sure, they fumbled along the way but they weren't afraid to 'do one' in front of eager people like me who want to learn something new.  Some of these people are setting up their own channels so they can teach others about what they learned, mostly from watching rookies in action first.

The best way you can thank the people who inspired you to learn something new is to pay it forward.  Teach others.  You may end up joining new tribes because the 'see one, do one, teach one' concept allows new ideas to spread like wildfire.  When I hear newbies telling others, "If I can do it, anyone can do it," this resonates with me.  Stay tuned.  I have a feeling there will be some surprises to share.  Have a great day.

Preparing for Lucy in 2025

The preparation for building our second home on wheels is underway.  Although it may be a year or longer to find Lucy, build her to our specifications, and start new road adventures with Lucy, I believe the key to making all of this happen is to be as detailed as possible in the planning stages.  We are staying true to remaining debt free which means the savings process must be serious.  

There are a number of people on YouTube who claim they did the same thing I want to do with little or no experience.  There is a community of adventure seekers who are living their dreams on the road and they are not afraid to share their experiences doing van buildouts.  My goal is to have a budget in place and the funds saved prior to purchasing our Dodge ProMaster cargo van.  Stay tuned.  I will be sharing more about Lucy as the process unfolds.  Have a great day.

 

Waste Management

Everything you need to accomplish, even your wildest of dreams, is at your disposal.  Unfortunately, much of it ends up wasted and unused.  The more I become aware of this in my own life the more eager I am to take action.  The two resources at the top of my list in the waste management department are time and money.  A good example of this is my last TV purchase.  I went big but not too big.  The TV was on sale.  Sounds pretty good, right?  What's missing from the equation is the true cost of the TV.  This hidden cost is the amount of hours I spend each week in front of it.  This is the opportunity cost.  When I'm watching TV I'm not doing other things that could enhance the quality of my life. 

I'm working on going deeper with my relationships.  This is not easy.  I'm discovering that the time I spend in large groups really doesn't give me the opportunity to know others.  The time I spend in light-hearted conversation could be used more wisely using my time one-on-one with the people I care about.

The time you invest cleaning up your waste will create more time to do the things you want to do with your life.  The money you save by cutting out frivolous spending will give you more resources to pay for the important priorities in your life.  Make waste management a priority in your life.  Have a great day.

Challenge Your Ultimate Competition

A wise man once asked me, "Would you rather be the biggest fish in a pond filled with smaller fish or a small fish in a pond filled with much larger fish?"  Think about your answer.  Your personal growth is at stake.  I get super excited when I'm around the big fish.  They have something to teach me that can help me be a better version of myself.  Do you ever wonder who your ultimate competition is?  Read on.

In my opinion, if you're seeking to be the absolute best version of yourself that you can be, there is one big fish in the pond who can help you reach your goals.  Strive to beat this warrior and you will find yourself at the top of food chain.  That ultimate competition I'm referring to is you.  Yes, you.  All you need to do is be better today than the yesterday you.  Look at everything the yesterday you did and make an assessment. What could have been done better?  Be honest.  If you can't find any areas of improvement, you are going to stall.  You may even slip due to your own complacency.  Decide you are going to compete every day with the 'yesterday you' and you will meet your match.  Have a great day. 

Why the Baby Steps Matter

Today's story is dedicated to those who feel like it's tough to get ahead.  I know exactly how this feels.  No matter now hard you strive, you're barely moving.  Sometimes, you feel like you're going backwards when your plans fall apart.  I'm a big believer in baby steps.  Baby steps keep you focused on the goal no matter how far away that finish line may be.  The baby steps keep you in the game when you feel like quitting.

I'm giving myself a big reward for accomplishing all my major goals by the end of this year.  These 2024 goals are stacked high.  Some of them have been elusive due to circumstances beyond my control.  That's okay.  My baby steps are working even though progress is slower than I would prefer.  If you've been following my stories for a while, you may recall the 'Lucy project.'  Lucy is my reward for a lifetime of baby steps.  She is a second home on wheels.  Right now she is only a concept in my head.  I will share more once my 2024 checklist is complete.  The first time my wife and I adopt Lucy she will be bare bones.  I don't have the skill set yet to transform her but I will use the 'baby step method' to bring her to life in 2025.  Have a great day.

Pickleball Iowa County Update

Thanks to Nichole, who runs the Williamsburg Rec Center where we are hoping to build four outdoor pickleball courts, our group made a giant leap forward last night at City Hall.  The newly formed Pickleball Iowa County group, led by Jodi and Mindi, showed up in force to support Nichole during her presentation.  When the original location at the Rec Center was ruled out due to problems with the land, Nichole came up with an idea that would require sacrificing parking spaces in order to create the perfect location with ample parking, trees for shade, and a public restroom next to the proposed pickleball courts.

Jodi and Mindi updated City Hall about the progress the group has made since our last meeting.  A local donor chipped in enough money to cover the cost of setting up a 501c3 company which will be tasked with raising funds to build the courts.  Another volunteer is building a website to keep members up to date on our journey and help with fundraising which will commence once the engineering report shows the property is feasible for construction.  The group is waiting for a quote regarding the engineering report, a necessity any time there is construction on city-owned property.

Mindi has been busy in the nearby town of Marengo building interest in her community which now boasts 50 active pickleball players.  She set up lines on one of the tennis courts for the Iowa county's first outdoor experience and it's being well-received by the locals, many who are now part of Pickleball Iowa County which now has the support of 176 members.

Stay tuned as the Pickleball Iowa County story unfolds.  There is much work to be done.  Thankfully, our community is blessed with volunteers who are seeking to bring outdoor pickleball to our community soon.  Have a great day.

The Yes/No Relationship

 If you're a people pleaser, you may often-times find yourself saying yes to too many requests that actually cause harm when you're over-extended.  This is a hard lesson to learn.  I'm still learning how to say no so that I have enough time in my life to say yes to the things that really matter.

The yes/no relationship is easy to understand but difficult to implement.  My recent success saying no has opened up some doors that have been locked for eons.  The best way I can explain this idea has to do with space.  You may look at a room and say to yourself, "There's no room here for anything else."  Suppose you decide to eliminate something from that room.  One thing eliminated means there's now room for one thing added.  

Saying no to requests that are low on your priority list means creating more time for things you can say yes to.  This is not something you do once in a while if you really want to make an impact on your life.  This is something to be practiced daily in every area of your life.  Make sure you don't judge what is good and what is bad on the things you say no to.  Some things may actually be very good.  Sometimes these good things need to be on your no list because once they are eliminated you can replace them with even better solutions.   Give the yes/no relationship your daily attention and you will enhance the quality of your life.  Have a great day.

Dump Day Tomorrow

This story is part of my continuing saga in the "things I'm letting go of" category.  Tomorrow is dump day for our household.  Today is "loading up the big things I'm letting go of."  These things are so heavy that they require two or more people to move them.  Perhaps that's a reason these "things" have been around so much longer than their useful life.   Or maybe I was just too lazy to get rid of them.  It could also be that I didn't ask for help to move these things out of my life.

Releasing things is no easy task.  I'm no longer interested in easy.  I want to simplify my life.  This takes effort.  I could spend the rest of this year letting go of things and still not get this part of my life right.  So be it.  I'm going to keep pursuing this until this becomes a lifelong habit.  How about you?  What do you need to let go of?  Do you need to designate a  "dump day"?  Have a great day.

Add One Gold Nugget a Day

 I spent an entire day yesterday searching for gold nuggets.  It happened to be a day off from my day job so I had more time to do this than on work days.  It was a sort of time management experiment.  All I can say is the experiment was a great success.  It had more to do with my thought process than anything else.  I decided to place a high value on every 15 minute segment of my day.  If I was productive during the 15 minute segment, I pretended to give myself a gold nugget.  Unproductive time meant no gold nuggets.  The way I measured productivity was in relation to my priorities for the day.  I ended up with a pot of gold nuggets.

Let's say you have three priorities to accomplish today.  Make an estimate of how much time it takes for each priority.  If one priority takes two hours, divide this into 8 segments of 15 minutes each.  That means it takes 8 gold nuggets of time to finish the task.  Hopefully, you have enough 15 minute segments in your day to finish all three priorities.  

The hard part about the gold nuggets is you will find distractions get in the way.  Maybe you end your day without accomplishing any priority.  Consider a day like this as a learning day.  Surely, you can find at least one gold nugget on any day no matter how busy you are.  What if you can set a goal to increase your gold nuggets by one every day for the rest of your life and you become a master of getting your priorities done?  What would your life look like?  Keep in mind you can never go back in time to recover lost nuggets.  You also can't steal gold nuggets from your future days.  Today is your day to work on your gold nuggets.  Focus.  Have a great day.

Meet Narrator James, My New Teammate

One could say, "He fell out of the sky."  Our first meeting was rather magical.  I will share more about our collaboration as the story unfolds.  James is guiding me through the process of setting up my first adventure into audiobooks.  If all goes well, you will soon hear the voice of James narrating "Live Long and Prosper."

If you would like to know more about James and the work he does, click here for the link.  Thank you James, for helping me to reach a wider audience.  Have a great day. 

Catch and Release

This story isn't about fishing.  It's about how you can use 'catch and release' to simplify your life and create more time to do the things you love but can't seem to do because you're feeling overwhelmed.  This is probably because you are 'catching' things you shouldn't be fishing for.  How much time are you fishing on social media sites?  Why are you fishing online?  What would happen if you 'released' this time and instead got busy doing what really matters?

'Catch and Release' can become a new lifestyle.  Promise yourself you're going to put time limits on useless activities.  Decide today you are going to release possessions you don't need.   Start with that junk drawer where you have a pile of stuff you really don't need.  Get rid of it.  Get rid of all those clothes in your closet you're never going to wear again.  

Having trouble finding things or activities in your life you should let go of?  How about tracking your time for the next 24 hours?  Break each hour into four 15 minute segments and record how you're spending your time.  Think of each 15 minute time period as a gold bar.  When you're done recording, take a look at your profits and losses.  Profits are gold bars that help you achieve your goals.  Losses are gold bars that slipped through your fingers every time you chose to waste time on mindless pursuits.

Don't wait until the end of your life to practice 'catch and release.'  You will die with a pile of regrets bigger than that junk drawer you never got around to downsizing.  Have a great day.

Serendipity Strikes Again

A close member of my family told me something is missing in my books.  I've been meaning to act on her idea but there is so much on my plate these days that I really don't have time for new projects.  That's okay.  The solution appeared right in front of my eyes yesterday giving me and the entire family I met goose bumps.  If serendipity were to strike like lightning, I have been hit so many times that the two of us are becoming intimate friends.  Get your popcorn.  This is one of those stories that seems unbelievable.  I'm definitely all charged up. 

My role at my day job is to serve as an ambassador who welcomes newcomers.  I do my best to get to know visitors by asking questions.  I asked the family of five in front of me if this was the whole family not wanting to leave anyone out.  "No," the dad answered.  "We have one more who is headed to college soon."  The three kids huddled close when I asked the next question, "What kind of work do you do?"  Boom.  Lightning struck.  "I started my own gig when I lost my job and it's turned into something very rewarding."

"Tell me more," I said.

"I narrate books."

Much to the family's surprise, I pulled out a copy of "Live Long and Prosper" and revealed I'm a writer.  The mom held out both her arms showing me her goose bumps.  I motioned for my boss and a couple of co-workers to join our huddle.  I handed my book to the dad and asked him to read the first paragraph from the back cover.  My oh my.  This was sweet music to my ears.  The small group was now fully engaged.

The dad turned around and showed me a QR code on the back of his shirt.  This man is a walking advertisement for his books he narrates.  The QR code led me to his latest project.  

Once the signup process was complete the dad told me he would reach out to me to help me narrate my books.  I asked the hard question knowing how busy I am around the clock.  "How much work will I need to do to get my books narrated?"

"I do everything from start to finish," he answered.  "I will contact you tomorrow."

I flashed my 'live long and prosper' hand gesture and bid the family farewell.  Stay tuned.  Serendipity will be back soon.  Have a great day.

Flexibility Matters

 My wife looked at the weather report and gasped.  "Another derecho is headed our way," she said.  I grabbed my phone to see when the storm was going to hit.  This storm threat eliminated any evening activity outside our home.  Our anniversary celebration was in danger.  It's a good thing both of us are flexible because we pulled off one of our best days ever.  

Despite high temps and overwhelming humidity, I made my way to Roehrkasse Meat Company on the town square at high noon for two custom cut ribeyes.  The stillness in the air gave no indication that 80mph winds were on the horizon.  My wife prepared the sides while I tended to the ribeyes drizzled in olive oil.  We hunkered down in our basement sipping on champagne.  The electricity blinked several times during the rapid-fire lightning strikes and the thunder blasted directly above us.  We were well prepared with candles just in case the power outage was extended.  

Alanis Morissette sings about rain on your wedding day asking "Isn't it ironic?"  We certainly didn't expect to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary during a derecho but our flexibility allowed us to add one more happy memory to our collage of stories we will treasure all the days of our lives.  Yes, flexibility matters.  It trumps rain on your wedding day or your anniversary.  Have a great day.

Celebrating 35 Years of Marriage Today

 On this day thirty-five years ago, we were married in a small church five miles south of our current home.  It's the same house of worship my wife attended when she was growing up in a population of 200.  The church no longer exists.  Sadly, houses of worship are no longer viable these days due to shortages of faithful leaders.  Although the church is long gone, my memories of our wedding day are as vivid as the day she said yes.  The reality is this is the day my own journey of transformation began.  

There is great wisdom in long-married couples.  I often ask, "What's your secret?"  All one has to do is observe the body language as these couples contemplate the answer.  There is a way these couples look at each other that gives the answer.  I believe the answer can be summarized in one word – love.  This is not the giddy love you feel during courtship.  It's the profound, deep love you feel for your partner even during the darkest storms in your life.  

Happy 35th anniversary to my wife.  Today we are giving each other the gift of time.  We are celebrating the three amazing adult children our Creator blessed us with.  Have a great day.

Embrace Change

 The easiest way to stay where you are in life is to keep everything constant.  There is a huge difference between constant and consistency.   Understand the difference and you will find new opportunities.  When you live every day the same as yesterday, that's static.  When you wake consistently with the idea you are going to embrace change, you are going to soar to new heights.

There is a cautionary word about embracing change.  This lifestyle will be painful at times.  That's part of the growth process. I like to embrace change like a surfer seeking bigger waves.  I want to ride the Big Kahuna.  Somewhere deep within me is a passion for helping others do the same in their lives.  The bigger the waves, the more opportunity to grow.  

In life, there will be some who are like you and embrace change while there will be others who want to resist. They prefer to live in the shallow end of the pool forever.  Seek people who are willing to surf into the future with you.  Learn to ride the Big Kahuna.  Have a great day.

Get Out of the Way

Have there been times in your life when you were your own worst enemy?  If you notice what your own actions are doing to mess things up, you can you get out of the way before it's too late and you can make life better for the people around you and yourself.

Today's story may be a bit challenging to your ego.   I can't tell you how many times I discovered I was part of the problem because I got in the way.  There are immediate solutions but they aren't easy to implement if you are stubborn.

The quickest solution is to admit you are wrong.  Admit you are in the way.  Ask for other solutions from the people you are involved with.  Tell them you don't want to be a hindrance.  You will be amazed how others come to your aid when they believe you desire the best for the group.  Make yourself smaller.  Make them bigger.  Check yourself throughout the day to see where the spotlight is shining.  Have a great day.

A Gaucho Success Story

 

Many years ago I was a lost soul trying to find my way.  There were some personal trials weighing heavy on my heart.  I just didn't know if I could handle the pressure.  The only thing familiar to me upon high school graduation was the feeling I had four years earlier when it was time to say goodbye to my closest friends who were mostly sticking together on a road not meant for me.  I may as well been a gaucho living in the South American pampas.

It turns out my fours years at Sunnyslope high school were a turning point.  It was a time when I got battle tested.  Those years prepared me for a lifetime of personal growth.  

Upon high school graduation I opted to attend Glendale Community College.  Earning a spot on the tennis team meant I could get some fees waived.  Every penny mattered.  I was determined to further my education, the only investment in my future that could never be taken away.

Flash forward to an evening I will treasure all the days of my life.  I met a humble man last night who briefly attended the same community college about five years after me.  Last night I shook his hand.  He heard from one of his colleagues that a fellow gaucho wanted to say hello.  We shook hands at the end of our VIP party last night.  Ron Vachris, the new CEO, thanked me for being a part of the team.  No pictures were taken.  None were needed.  This special memory of two gauchos meeting while on a journey of discovery will stay with me and inspire me all the days of my life.  I'm grateful I chose the road less traveled.  Have a great day.

Continuous Improvement

 No matter where you are in your life today, there is hope you can make improvements to help you on your journey.  If you don't know where to start, think about one area of your life you would like to change.  Be careful about how you make improvements.  If you go too big, you risk being overburdened which may cause you to freeze.

The idea of continuous improvement is to make today a little bit better than yesterday.  One small change every day adds up to massive change in your life.  Ask yourself, "Is there a better way?"  Don't be afraid to try something even if you're uncertain of the outcome.  

One area of my life where I'm having great success has to do with things I'm giving up.  This is important to me because I'm working on simplifying my life while also taking on bold goals.  I must give up things to create more time.  Do this a little bit every day and you may discover you really do have time in abundance.  Successful people learn how to get things done.  They are masters of continuous improvement.  Let me know how continuous improvement is going in your life.  Have a great day.

Play, Drink, and Eat at Smash Park in La Vista, Nebraska

 Jenny and Shayla each get five stars for the way they made a first-time visitor feel welcome yesterday.  I was headed to a day job location across the street to visit a former colleague when I spotted a now open sign for La Vista's brand new Smash Park.  I found the Promised Land.  

Shayla greeted me at the entrance door.  She had me at hello.  She stood amidst a sea of hanging pickleballs and offered me a guided tour.  This place has it all; four indoor pickleball courts and more outside.  You can throw real axes, play darts, ping pong, and mini bowl while you're munching on top notch burgers.  You can book a private party or team building event.

If you want to visit a place that treats you like royalty, this is where you want to be.  Tell Jenny and Shayla the 'Live Long and Prosper' guy sent you.  You will not be disappointed.  Play, drink, and eat at Smash Park at 8121 S 125th st, La Vista, NE.  Have a great day.

Sleep Rating Reaches 94

 Your sleep habits play an important role in your waking hours.  While I'm no sleep expert, I'm in the process of gathering the sleep feedback I need to maximize my sleep cycles.  Last night was a top of the charts evening.  Drum roll, please.  I rocked a 94 sleep score according to my smart watch.  Every score was in the 'blue zone.'  This means I slept within the recommended time period of 7 to 9 hours, fell within the desired range of 3 to 6 sleep cycles, managed to be awake less than 10% of the time, and reached big numbers in the REM and deep sleep categories.  

Who knows if the people setting the guidelines are Pokémon players who pull these numbers out of thin air.  They may not be bonafide sleeps experts.  It doesn't matter to me.  What matters is I can use the feedback I'm getting to set up my own sleep experiments and see what works without having to pay thousands of dollars going to a sleep center.  

The best recommendation I can make about optimum sleep is to take sleep seriously.  Make small changes and be as consistent as possible.  Dreaming big in your waking hours begins with dreaming big at night.  Keep me posted on your progress.  Have a great day.

What Are You Doing With Your 27,383 Days?

 The average lifespan is 27,383 days.  Is that scary when you think about it?  It was scary for a loved one who got news her cancer returned after a huge win.  She thought her days were extended until she discovered her cancer returned.  May her soul rest in peace.  We kept telling her it was okay to depart.  Instead, she defied all odds and fought with her last breath, entering Heaven one day shy of her 31,390th day.  

The only day that really matters is today.  Every morning when you wake up you are one day closer to your last day on earth.  If today happens to be my last day, that means this is my last story.  Spoiler alert!  I'm hedging my bet by stashing away some final thoughts from beyond the grave that will magically appear when I'm gone.  I may not be able to cheat death but I can certainly throw a punch from beyond the grave.

How about you?  How are you going to live out your final days?  It's not too late to make some changes.  Give up some things that rob you of your priorities.  Say no to activities that steal you from family time.  Say yes to things that make the world better.  Have a great day.

The 3 Ingredients of Happiness

 Got happiness?  Be careful how you answer.  It's more than a feeling.  Much more.  Happiness is a combination of joy, satisfaction, and meaning.

Think of satisfaction as the joy you experience after struggle.  The greater the struggle, the greater the joy when you reach the finish line.

Ask yourself if you have meaning in your life.  If you are having a hard time answering this, consider where the spotlight is shining.  If it's on you, maybe this spotlight needs to be flipped to the people around you who need you.  Get good at this and you now have meaning.  Put joy, satisfaction, and meaning together and now you have happiness.  Pure, raw, happiness.  Have a great day.

Can You Magnify Your Time?

 Should you find yourself sputtering through life, this story is for you.  It's called the 1-3-6 plan.  If one were to drop everything and focus on this strategy for the remainder of the year, in my opinion, sputtering would no longer be visible in every single area of one's life.  Imagine more free time with loved ones.  Sound appealing?  Read on for details of this 3 step process.

If you could pick the one top priority for your life at this moment in time, what is it?  Write it down.  Place this somewhere where you can read it daily.  This is a long-term goal that you will be working on until the calendar flips.  

The 3 in this plan is for the 3 activities that you are doing daily in pursuit of your top priority.  Write these three activities down.

The 6 in this plan has to do with 6 things you are going to stop doing in order for you to have enough time to do the top 3 activities.  

I would like to add one more tip to this 1-3-6 plan.  This involves writing down the feeling you have when you close your eyes and visualize yourself at a future point in time standing at the finish line.  If you can see this in your mind, your odds of success will increase.  This may seem like a simple plan.  If you can use it to overcome the sputtering, you are on your way to a new life.  Have a great day.

Do You Have Trouble Saying No or Letting Go?

 I still feel like someone hit me on the head with a brick.  That's what happened while delving into "Dream Big," by Bob Goff.  As a lifelong learner, I simply can't resist the opportunity to make adjustments in my life.  When someone asks me for help, I want to jump in and immediately assist.  This can get me in big trouble because I usually say yes every time I'm asked.  I also don't like to let go.  Talk to anyone who grew up in the depression era and you will find similarities.  I'm not here to criticize, only say this is an area of improvement for me and I'm working on this.

Here's the thing, if you say yes every time you're asked for a favor, you will end up blowing it on your priorities.  You will end up not having enough time for your family.  You may get so overwhelmed that you simply freeze up.  Those elusive goals you have been working on never get completed.  You may even lose your sense of purpose.

I made a list of things I'm letting go of.  Some of the things on the list are good things.  I made another list of things I have to say no to in the future.  There are good things on this list as well.  I will be adding to the list as necessary in order to fulfill my dreams.  If I get good enough at this, I may even have time to dream bigger dreams and take on new tasks.  My new mindset is living in abundance all the time.  I want my brain to believe in the impossible.  This is what letting go and saying no means to me – new opportunities.  How about you?  Do you see any merit in this?  Check in with me in about three months and I'll let you know.  Have a great day.

How to Weaponize the Birthday Wish After You Blow Out the Candles

 It's my 64th birthday today.  This is my opportunity to make a wish and blow out the candle on top of my cake.  The superstitious will tell you not to share your wish or it won't come true.  I beg to differ.  The more friends and family you can rally to support your birthday wish, the better your chances for success.  In fact, why leave anything to chance or superstition?  In my opinion, a birthday wish needs full mobilization by you.  I call it, "birthday wish weaponization."  This is not reserved solely for that one wish you make every year before blowing out the candles.  It's for New Year's Resolutions, prayer requests, and any other dreams you have.

How does birthday wish weaponization work?  Put on your war paint, declare war on mediocrity, and make a detailed plan of attack (my action plan has four pages of notes).  Your birthday wish should not go on life support the moment you blow out the candles.  

I did something crazy yesterday on my day off.  I wrote a letter to myself dated six months into the future and mailed it.  There's a note on the outside of the envelop reminding me not to open this letter until 1/3/25.  It's part of a detailed action plan inspired by my latest read, "Dream Big," by Bob Goff.  If you're serious about weaponizing your dreams, order this book today and get started.

I'm not going to keep my birthday wish a secret.  The next time we cross paths, ask me and I will share more.  I will ask you about your dreams.  If we team up, our dreams have a better opportunity to become our new reality.  Have a great day.

Your Magical Bank Account

 Some readers may think I'm smoking something again.  Others fully understand the reality of the magic.  Everyone in between may have their own opinions.  This magical bank account, in my opinion is very real.  Some maximize the value, others waste it.  The magic happens every day when this account is fully reinstated.  The catch is the bank can recall the funds at any time without notice.  Everyone begins their new day with 86,400 in new funds.  

This story is rather important to me because a loved one is getting close to changing the account status to closed.  The funds are going to be cut off.  Without getting too personal for privacy reasons, let's just say that this loved one maximized her magical bank account.  Here's how the account works...

Each dollar in this magical account is the equivalent of one second.   There are 86,400 seconds in a day.  We all need so many seconds to get proper sleep so these funds are subtracted from our waking hours.  Check yourself and see how you are managing your magical bank account.  Is there some waste that can be trimmed in order to maximize the value of the account?  The good news is you have full control over how you manage your account.  Let me know how you're doing the next time we cross paths.  Have a great day.

Dream Big – The End Turns Into a New Beginning

Thank you, Joni.  I completed "Dream Big," by Bob Goff a few minutes ago in time to get today's story out by my self-imposed daily deadline of 8:08 AM, Pacific Time.  I sent the author a text message filled with gratitude last week when I discovered he not only publishes his cell phone number, he encourages people in his tribe to reach out.  That's bold.  Really bold.  

Dreaming big is important.  None of us want to close out our lives with regrets.  Speaking of closing out our lives, someone very special to us is about to close out her final chapter on this planet.  The hospice people have been guiding us.  This reminds me of my dad's final days with us twenty-two days ago.  Some people get to complete the final checklist before the sendoff.  Others cross the finish line surprised the moment of death came so soon.  

I'm thankful for my friends and family.  I'm thankful for all the time I get to spend with our beloved Susie on her final journey.  I'm also thankful for all the prayers.  Joni, I'm grateful you are ready to dream big again.  Thank you for inviting me on what will become a new beginning for all of us.  The end always turns into a new beginning.  For anyone out there dealing with a loved one who is in the final chapter, I encourage you to take it one day at a time.  Have a great day.

The Foot of the Cross

 

What do you do when you see something familiar in an unfamiliar territory?  Do you pay attention or do you move on?  In my case, a friend from my house of worship encouraged me to visit something special, a shrine, located along Interstate 80 in Omaha.  You can find it by searching for 'Holy Family Shrine.'  The brochure states... It's not a place, it's a mission.

The picture you see here was captured yesterday at the foot of the Cross.  God's timing is perfect.  He knew I would be at His Son's Cross even before I was born.  He arranged the clouds perfectly so I could get the best photo.  I placed a private prayer request in the prayer book inside the Holy Family Shrine on my way to see this stunning sculpture of Jesus hanging on the Cross overlooking I80.  It's majestic.  Even better when you are directly beneath Jesus.  

It's a miracle how this site came into existence.  Four unqualified people were inspired at the same time by the Holy Spirit to build this place.  They didn't even know each other.  God gave them everything they needed to construct the Shrine.  Come and see for yourself and behold Jesus.  Have a great day.