Keep your love alive with a surprise!

Regardless of your role in your marriage, your efforts to sustain it are always appreciated.

Years ago, I was the general manager of a large real estate company.

All our mangers were in town for a week long business meeting.

Because it was up to me to plan and execute the agenda, I was exhausted when it was over.

When I came home that night, my wife had a big surprise for me.

Our six children were all seated in the living room.

Our suitcases were packed and already in the car.

She announced that the owner of our company had agreed to some days off for me.

We were going to the airport and staying the night at a hotel.

The following morning, we flew to Nassau in the Bahamas for a much-needed vacation.

Keep your love alive! Surprise your spouse!

If not today, when?

There is a grocery chain in Florida called PUBLIX.

It is the most “customer oriented” company you’ll ever see!

Because of that, each trip to their stores is a satisfying shopping experience.

If you don’t know where something is located, an employee will stop what they’re doing and personally take you there.

The stores are always completely stocked and very clean throughout.

If new employees adhere to the PUBLIX rules of customer care, they can become stockholders.

So, the majority of the employees you encounter are also owners of the company.

Every business can become successful by learning from the example of PUBLIX.

I believe it’s good to recognize companies who put the customer first!

We need a lot more of them!

EVERYTHING WORTHWHILE IS HARD!

There are no shortcuts to a fulfilling life.

Are you willing to pay the price in order to realize a better version of yourself?

One of our granddaughters just completed her high school volleyball season.

Her team won the state championship.

It was a hard, arduous season with its ups and downs.

Because of the pandemic, she had to play each game while wearing a mask that interfered with her breathing.

So, another example of hard earned success.

Have you clarified what you want to accomplish with the remainder of your life?

If not, why not?

Don’t drift through life.

We need you to make your own wonderful contribution to our society.

“Stay away from easy!”

If not today, when?

On this inauguration day, let’s take a breath.

Regardless of your political preference, let’s go forward and make our collective future better than our most recent past.

I hope we can live up to the sacrifices of those who paid THE ULTIMATE PRICE!

Most of our military heroes died in their early twenties on battlefields around the world.

What you say and do will make a difference in all our lives.

Like every other country, we are a collection of individuals whose behavior counts.

Be a part of the glue that holds us together.

At this moment, we really need your good example and leadership.

You are an important member of our society and can make a difference.

God bless us all!

Most of us really aren’t very interested in the plight of strangers.

People are into themselves and those people and issues close to them.

That is understandable because of the current threats we’re facing.

This is also not the time, however, to ignore those who are in crisis.

With the advent of social media and cell phones, people can live in their own world all day.

Phone calls and personal time spent together lose out to texts and emails.

I think we’re a splintered society because we don’t know each other.

If we don’t know each other, we won’t care about people outside our circle.

The HAVE and HAVE NOT gap is growing larger every day.

REACH OUT AND LIFT UP THE FORGOTTEN!

If not today, when?

Does your body help you or prevent you from achieving your dreams?

I’m asking a serious question here.

Do you live in a healthy or unhealthy body?

Is a healthy body a priority of yours?

If you are not as physically healthy as you’d like to be, what’s the problem?

You know the formula for good health:

Good nourishment-regular exercise-adequate sleep.

Which of these three items requires improvement?

If all three, which one is your greatest need?

If you are physically healthy, all of of life’s challenges become possible.

Maybe you have a long way to go before you can become as healthy as you’d like to be.

A journey of a hundred miles begins with the first step.

Take control of your life by taking control of your body!

If not today, when?

I was walking into the checkout lane at the grocery store this morning.

I was entering from the wrong direction because I didn’t think there were any customers in that lane.

I was wrong. A small Asian lady was also entering from the proper direction.

When I saw her, I began backing out of the lane and told her, “Ladies first!”

She saw I was much older than her and insisted that I should be served ahead of her.

Here were two complete strangers practicing the good manners they had been taught.

She had been taught to RESPECT HER ELDERS!

I had been taught LADIES FIRST!

How are your MANNERS and what are you teaching your KIDS?

You want a more CIVIL SOCIETY?

PRACTICE AND TEACH GOOD MANNERS!

If not today, when?

It’s one of the most important issues that will affect your lifelong happiness.

How do you view your place in the world?

Does it give you joy or cause disappointment?

If your place in the world gives you joy, then it is where you should be.

If it brings disappointment, it’s never too late to improve your situation.

Is your disappointment self-induced or caused by others?

Winston Churchill’s father told him he would never amount to anything and that he was a disgrace to the family.

The irony is that the condemnation by his father might have been just the kick-in-the-pants he needed to go out and make something of himself.

Do you need a kick-in-the-pants?

If not today, when?

Yes, these are those great PATRIOTS who volunteered to defend America.

For 48 years, our military has been composed of an all-volunteer force.

On January 5th, they were living their lives just like the rest of us.

They are your dentist.

They are an auto mechanic at your car dealer.

They are a policewoman in your town.

They are your child’s school teacher.

They are the cashier at your grocery store.

They are your attorney.

They are a carpenter.

They are a nurse in your local hospital.

They are a professional fisherman on Cape Cod.

They are your local UPS driver.

They are a member of your church choir.

They are a cook in your favorite restaurant.

They are your daughter’s volleyball coach.

On January 6th, however, they became the guardians of your freedom!

They can’t sleep in their own bed tonight.

No, they sleep on the floor of the United States Capitol Building.

They are neighbors and PATRIOTS!

The “SHIP OF STATE” is in rough waters these days.

This noble experiment we call DEMOCRACY has been there before.

Many times actually.

Through many wars and economic upheavals, She always re-emerges better than ever.

Despite all its faults and shortcomings, we want to govern ourselves.

We have seen the evils of dictatorships around the world and it’s not for us.

So, we all must hold onto both sides of the boat.

I have been in a large sailing vessel tossed around in what seemed to be a relentless, unforgiving storm at sea.

Like today’s events, we didn’t know how and when it would end.

But, it did and this will end too and we will emerge wiser and stronger.

I don’t know if we really appreciated our DEMOCRACY enough until we were in danger of losing it.

Let’s do what I did then.

HOLD ON!

If not today, when?