Meaningful Mondays

Regardless of your circumstances (horrible or great), when you focus on gratitude, your eyes will see opportunities the would have never seen otherwise. "Gratitude illuminates the lessons from our past and inspires us with hope for our future so that we can make better choices in the moment."

"Gratitude unexpressed is ingratitude perceived." - LMB “Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” - Melody Beattie UNGRATEFUL - is being unaware or oblivious. SOCIAL - is about respect. APPRECIATIVE - is about acknowledgment. EMPOWERED - is all about sustainability.

"Suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, I have been bent and broken, but--I hope--into a better shape." - Estella from "Great Expectations." We all face challenges that shape the course of our lives. But that shape and that course are still ours to choose.

“The best gifts aren’t bought from the store... The best is gifts of kindness given from the heart.” - Charlie Brown "Kindness is a language the deaf can hear and the blind can see." - Mark Twain

"Our society does a reasonably good job in the course of daily life of taking off the moral lens and helping us see life through an economic lens, making us morally numb."  - David Brooks

"Train your mind to see the good in everything.  Positivity is a choice.  The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts." - Marcandangel When you choose to see the good in others, you end up finding the good in yourself. When you focus on the good, the good gets better.

Feel guilty always asking for God's blessings? Do this instead...

The one thing you can't delegate is your influence. Choosing to smile or to do a good deed today changes your mindset from the inside out.

Discover what 3 things you can do to capitalize on the human tendency to seek progress. Fear of losing induces inaction. The thrill of gain induces action. Rationalization is lowering your standards down to your level of behavior.

Wisdom is pure intelligence before the contamination of thought. Apple seeds only produce apples. Good thoughts produce good fruit. You may not be able to stop a bird from landing on your head, but you can stop him from making a nest there.

"See the good in others and treat them as if their good is all you see." “Try to see the good in others. When you're tempted to judge someone, make an effort to see their goodness. Your willingness to look for the best in people will subconsciously bring it forth.” - Marianne Williamson

Success is determined through the performance of a few small steps of daily achievement that stack up over time to produce results far beyond anything we could have ever planned for.

Self-trust is the firm reliance on the integrity of yourself. When we buy into the negative voice, we diminish our self-trust. MKR = MAKE and KEEP one small commitment and then another, then another, and REPEAT it.

Let's face it - some things in life are out of our control. So, what is it that we can always control?

What is the one thing that will get you UNSTUCK? Have you ever focused so hard on finding the rainbow that you lost the opportunity to enjoy the rain?

Do you ever feel like you have your foot on the gas but you are not going anywhere? "The enemy of Thriving is Arriving." - LMBrower Why protecting and expanding your vision is your 2nd most important responsibility as a leader in your family and your business. How does your vision of the future keep you UNSTUCK?

If you wait to arrive at happiness, you shall be sadly disappointed. Happiness must be experienced as you journey- a minute here, an hour there, a day here, and maybe even a week or more there. True happiness comes from spending our TEAR's (Time, Energy, Attention, Resources) to create happiness for others. i.e. "Arrows Out!"

"More than anything else, the world needs the healing influence of a great surge of simple Kindheartedness, to rid humanity of jealousy, selfishness, and greed. Such a surge must start with us, as individuals; it is beyond the power of the world's rulers or statesmen. Could there be a more opportune time for all of us to try giving ourselves away? Could anything else we might do as individuals contribute so much toward the peace of the world, or earn us so much personal happiness? I don't think so."  - David Dunn September 1947

Don't you hate it when you go to bed feeling like you could have been more productive? Well, STOP IT! Get a piece of paper and write down the 2 questions that can make your days even better-starting today! "There is no tomorrow to remember if we don't do something today." - Thomas Monson

If you don't control your day, someone or something else will. A lesson for the ages from John Wooden. "All you can control is today. Yesterday is gone, and the future has not arrived yet. When you make the most of today, tomorrow will automatically be better." - Jamaal (Silk) Wilkes