YES OR NO?

What is your daily experience in your home, in your car, in your company, in your grocery store?

Oh, I forgot one: “IN YOUR HEART?”

Are you a devote practitioner of kindness or not so much?

Does it really matter and if so, WHY?

Look around you.

Step out of your world and take a good look at those not so fortunate.

How often do you smile during the day?

And to whom?

Only friends?

I heard about an incident that took place last week.

A woman was driving behind a truck that turned onto a street and lost many carpentry tools onto the street.

She pulled over, got out of her car and directed traffic around the tools until the truck’s grateful owner returned.

At that moment, in that place, the world showed its capacity for becoming kinder!

How about you?

If not today, when?

WITH YOUR KID’S BEHAVIOR?”

Today’s influences on their outlook on life are too many to count.

I don’t think the job of parenting has ever been more difficult.

We’re living in a very permissive society and everything goes.

Yet, from the very outset, your kids must understand that “No means No!”

Lines must be drawn at an early age.

Children must clearly understand parents’ expectations and the reasons behind them.

Your rules must be consistently applied.

Your personal example must also reinforce the behavior you expect from them.

Be sure to know who their friends are as well as their impact on your child’s behavior.

When they exhibit good behavior, you must be the first to recognize it by giving positive feedback.

Parenting is the most important leadership role of your life.

Lead them!

If not today, when?

Their athletes do!

After a lifetime of preparing for a spot on their country’s Olympic team, they are chosen.

The big moment comes when they either win or lose in their event.

If they win, there is great jubilation, rightly so.

If they lose, they walk over and hug the athletes from other countries who beat them.

Isn’t that really quite amazing and honorable?

They momentarily set aside their overwhelming sense of disappointment in order to congratulate the victor.

If these young athletes can “Take The High Ground,” why can’t their governmental leaders?

The great irony about wars is after each war, the previously adversaries do business with one another.

Vietnam’s first electric car company (VinFast) is opening its U.S. Headquarters and will have showrooms in California.

After a bitter and costly war, we have a new auto company opening by a previous adversary!

So, I repeat my original question: Why don’t countries hug one another?

If not today, when?

WITH YOUR PRESENT EMPLOYMENT?”

If not, what is the cause?

Could it be the amount of your compensation, an unacceptable management style, co-worker hostility, lack of advancement opportunities or a need to change the type of industry you’re in?

Before you decide to go elsewhere, have you stated your grievances to management because most companies are losing experienced workers and you may find a new, satisfactory response.

That said, this is definitely the time to look elsewhere if you’ve decided to move on.

There is a shortage of adequate staffing in every business I encounter.

“NOW HIRING” signs are everywhere.

I read recently that, in response to the present situation, American workers are being paid more with better benefits for the same job.

It is not my intent to motivate you to leave your present employment because no company you might move to is perfect.

It might be a good idea, however, to see what’s out there.

If not today, when?

WITH YOUR HEALTH?”

A healthy body is the primary engine that makes everything else possible.

Unfortunately, it seems that other issues take priority all too often.

We’re talking about physical health as well as mental health.

You know the BIG 3 activities necessary for good physical health: EAT, SLEEP AND EXERCISE!

Do you even do one of them well?

In order to maximize good health, you must do the BIG 3 on a regular basis.

Physical health, however, also depends on good mental health.

Are you content with the major decisions you have made thus far?

Should one or more of those major decisions be changed in order to put your life on the right path?

If none of your major decisions are changeable, put yourself in a better place by focusing on the BIG 3!

If not today, when?

… WITH YOUR SPOUSAL RELATIONSHIP?

Today’s blog, “ARE YOU SATISFIED” begins a series of blogs with the same title. Each day I will present another aspect of your life for your review.

Your SPOUSAL RELATIONSHIP is important because it impacts your daily happiness or unhappiness.

Whatever the reason you wanted to marry this person, there are aspects of this relationship you must consider.

Is the old saying, “opposites attract” true in your case?

If so, one partner may be a detail person and the spouse not so much

You must talk about this fundamental difference and how each partner will accommodate the other.

If you want or already have children, the two of you must practice a consistent parenting approach so your kids don’t get mixed messaging.

Although married, each partner must respect the other’s need for privacy.

Respect for the other’s opinion is important even if it differs from yours.

Give compliments to your spouse when warranted.

If not today, when?

It is not so much what you say as what YOU DO.

In your child’s early years, you have the greatest opportunity to establish the proper relationship because they are always with you.

Of course, you must begin with constant demonstrations of love.

Those demonstrations of love must be for your spouse and your child.

Kids feel secure and safe in a home with parents who love one another.

You must be involved in their young life so there is a connection that will be important in the turbulent teens.

Set rules that help your child develop good habits of behavior.

Throughout childhood and into the teen years, know what kind of influence their friends are.

They may have friends who come from very permissive, dysfunctional families.

Be consistent in your parenting during those tough challenges.

If not today, when?

Police officers and bystanders rescued an 8-month-old girl who was trapped underneath a car outside New York City.

The baby and her mom were crossing a street Friday morning when a driver hit a parked car and slammed into them before crashing into a barbershop.

This story is another example of what is possible when confronted with  a seemingly insurmountable task.

We all face those situations from time to time.

Let’s also take note of the fact that passersby jumped in to help.

It is the love of others that is the only way out of the divisive rhetoric we hear all too often these days.

It’s really up to each of us to spread the love.

If not today, when?

 

Because apologizing requires humility, most of us try to avoid it altogether.

Then, if we do muster up the decision to be contrite, we might mess it up by throwing in an excuse for our behavior.

That is called an “empty apology.” Don’t do that. It only makes matters worse.

If your apology is genuine and is to be perceived by the offended party as genuine, here are the steps:

1. Explain why you want to apologize.
2. Admit that you were wrong.
3. Acknowledge the other person’s feelings.
4. Say you’re sorry.
5. Ask for forgiveness. (verywellmind.com)

When you apologize sincerely, you are demonstrating that you value the relationship you have with the other person.

… And that you don’t want that relationship jeopardized by your previous behavior.

This sends an important, unspoken message that you care.

If an apology is the right thing to do, DO IT!

If not today, when?

You’ll know when it’s real love when he/she makes your heart go bump a bump!

We both spotted each other across a crowded room. My heart went BUMP A BUMP!

We were both business majors in college.

I was a senior and she was a junior at an all girls college.

We had been invited by the largest department store in Detroit to consider a career in retailing upon graduation.

After a lecture by its owner, we were given a guided tour of headquarters.

I couldn’t take my eye`s off her.

They gave us a free lunch in the cafeteria.

As I held my tray while looking for a seat, there was a vacant seat right next to her.

Of course, I jumped on it.

Thus began a 57 year love affair.

One word of caution when choosing a mate: If it’s not a genuine BUMP A BUMP, move on!