Meaningful Mondays

“Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.” - Norman Cousins “We lived for days on nothing but food and water.” - W.C. Fields “We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.” - Frank Tibolt

Kindness has ripples that influence for decades, even centuries.

Want to see good in the world? Then ask for it. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish-- and in effect save their lives.

Don't give up on an uncertain future. Focus on those things that you have control over. When you give up, you surrender your choice. Your story is the choices you make. The choices you make, make you! Yes and No lead in opposite directions and determine the "story" of your life. Ask this question mid-choice (in the moment) "What story do I want to tell."

To be offended is a choice we make. It is not a condition inflicted upon us by someone or something else. "Our choices determine our freedoms." - Lee Brower

"The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstance of our lives, and everything to do with the focus of our lives." - Russell M. Nelson "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." - Neale Donald Walsch "The enemy of thriving is arriving." - Lee M. Brower

What does your "future self" possess that you don't? - Dr. Benjamin Hardy Can "Pringling" be the way to victory over even our most pesky personal and business ambitions? Pringles = aggregating small but steady marginal gains. i.e. The more you are in motion, the more you tend to stay in motion.

"It's just the beginning" ... 85-year-old lifetime learner. "A man who carries a cat by its tail learns something HE CAN LEARN in no other way."  - Mark Twain "Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty."  - Henry Ford "Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner anywhere."  - Chinese Proverb

"There are only two ways to influence human behavior. You can manipulate it, or you can inspire it."  - Simon Sinek In other words... "Arrows Out" is all about getting someone motivating you to do it. "Arrows In" is all about you being inspired to do it.

"I am not what I want to be; not what I am going to be, but I am thankful that I am better than I used to be." - Coach John Wooden

Don't be too quick to judge someone. Over 30 family/friends/and families battling cancer celebrate Nick's birthday. "Dark cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that." - Martin Luther King

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.