“Even if I lack the talent, I will not abandon the effort on that account. In short, we do not abandon any discipline for despair of ever being the best in it.”

Epictetus

Can you imagine how little would get done in this world if being “the best” were the requirement for doing something at all? I imagine that most of us don’t know what we are truly capable of until we try. And it is the trying that truly brings the joy.

I would far rather be less than the best at any one thing in this world yet pursue those things that bring me great joy and passion in life.

It is the intersection of passion and talent that creates joy and that joy, when aligned with the opportunity to make a real and lasting difference, is how you know you have landed on God’s calling for your life…

“Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.”

John F. Kennedy

Are the best days those days where you exercise your mind, your body, or both? I know when one is lacking I am not as good at the other. Starting the day with fitness always makes everything else in the day a little better.

“If, in 10 years, you were to look back at your actions of today, what would you change? Always be asking yourself in terms of your goals and how you want to live.”

Craig Ballantyne

What advice would you have given yourself 10 years ago based on where you are today? Are the certain actions or decisions you did, or didn’t make you know you should have made?

Do you have your 10 year goals written down and are you taking actions today that will move you down the right path?

The life we want is built each and every day. One must have a clear picture of their goals in their minds just waiting to be freed each and every day through the choices we make and the actions we take.

Where are you going to be in 10 years?

“I’m looking forward to the future, and feeling grateful for the past.”

Mike Rowe

The joy in the future is based on building on everything that has happened in the past and everything that is happening in the present.

Without an eye on the past and the lessons to be learned there is no future.

Never forget your past, just don’t live in it.

Never compromise your future by trying to be someone you are not.

All of these things, these principles, are what excites me about the future. it hasn’t been written yet. That is up to me.

“I decided in my life that I would do nothing that did not reflect positively on my father’s life.”

Sidney Poitier

My father is the hardest working and highest integrity person I have ever known. There are a lot of people I would not want to let down or fail in any way but #1 on that list would be my Dad. He’s an amazing man and an incredible Father. I just hope that I can pass on what he taught me to my children. That would be a life well lived.

“You can’t change all that is wrong in this great big world, but you can have an impact, even if it is just a tiny, positive impact on a stranger that receives a smile from you on the street today. There’s so much we can do for others, and in the end, what we do for others ends up benefiting us tenfold. So, let’s do this. Let’s make our little worlds amazing today.”

Craig Ballantyne

If you look back at your day today how many people did you offer a smile to? Perhaps it is easy to make the excuse “but I had on a mask, they couldn’t see me smile.” Yet that is merely an excuse. I have noticed that even with a mask on two people can smile at each other simply by making eye contact and offering a smile. The eyes are the true connection.

Try it tomorrow. If you are wearing a mask, don’t let that stop you. Make eye contact, smile away, and give something positive to another person…

“We must become the change we want to see.”

Mahatma Gandhi

It is not enough to simply say, one must do.

It is not enough to have good ideas, one must act.

It is not enough to wait for the world to change, you have to go create the change that is needed.

What are you waiting for?

“The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence.”

J. Krishnamurti

Imagine how much more one could learn if everything you observed could be assessed without bias or emotional reaction?

Think of how many times you have observed something and been wrong because of your own biases or false realities?

Sometimes it would be really nice to learn for the sake of learning, without introducing bias or false realities.

Fortunately we all have that opportunity, we just have to suspend our need to be right…