We have a big family of many children and grandchildren. I was the oldest child in a family of six. My wife and I have been parenting for 53 years.

I don’t pretend to be an expert, but I have a few observations and suggestions.

One of my wife’s favorite sayings is, “Try not to criticize your children. The world will do it for you.”

I think the ideal results of your parenting skills would be children with a healthy sense of self esteem and a good system of values to live by.

In order to instill your children with these results, you must lead them.

Your leadership, must include, love, discipline and personal example.

If not today, when?

I don’t believe you can have courage without some fear or trepidation that must be overcome.

I’m not referring only to physical courage. Mental and emotional courage are often more difficult to achieve than physical courage.

Like anything else in our life that is hard to accomplish, we receive a great boost of confidence and self-esteem once we perform a courageous act! The continuous practice of courage enables self discovery and the realization that we are strong and can face and overcome difficult challenges ahead of us.

We often short change ourselves and our abilities. Don’t do that!

Live courageously!

If not today, when?

Oh, After 77 years of life, I’ve done my share of worrying!

I would say that the majority of my worries have been financial ones. The costs of raising and educating six kids can certainly bring on worry.

Of course, health issues are also fertile ground for worry. We’ve had our share of those.

So, I guess I would be foolish to suggest that you shouldn’t worry.

I do believe, however, that worry can be a motivator or a debilitating force that saps your emotional and psychological strength and leaves you in a weakened state!

As a motivator, it can call you into action to address the cause of the worry.

Like every other facet of our lives, our worries must be put into perspective when compared with our blessings.

If not today, when?

 

Have you ever been all in?

Do you now or have you ever loved someone or some cause with all your heart?

Of course, there is a price to pay for such a commitment. If you deeply love a person, he or she may not love you in return or at least not with the same intensity.

If you spend yourself in a cause that never really reaches your expectations of success, it can require a difficult realization that your great efforts did not prevail.

So, because you can be very disappointed in the commitments made and results obtained, should you avoid a total immersion of yourself in loving a person or cause?

My answer: Don’t be a spectator in life! Become a player!

Love deeply!

If not today, when?

 

… and make it count.

Be vital!

Be attentive to those around you!

Don’t miss the chance to make a positive difference in someone’s life today!

Fill every minute with 60 seconds of long distance run!

Listen with your heart today!

Don’t let today slip by without achieving some meaningful accomplishment!

Take the time today to speak one-on-one with each of your children!

This day will never come again. We really don’t live in years. We only exist for this one day. The curtain comes down at the end of day bringing night and hopefully rest and reflection.

Every day is really a gift not of  our making, but presented to us on a silver platter inviting us to make of it what we will.

Will you grab today and make it count?

If not today, when?

I just witnessed my granddaughter, Ava,  playing in a girl’s volley game. She was all into that game! She was willing to do whatever it took to win! Whether jumping high in the air or diving onto the floor to make a save, she gave it her all.

She played with passion!

Do you live your life with passion or are you just going through the motions?

Franklin Roosevelt wrote the following verse from: “The Man In The Arena.”

“who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause;”

Are you spending yourself in a worthy cause?

If not today, when?

 

Are you willing to get outside of your own self-interests and make someone else’s life a little better? I know I’m asking a lot of you because your life is probably already full.

As Maya Angelou said, “Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.”

It’s not hard to do. And, it is so necessary during these times!

When you do some little thing for another person, it becomes a win-win for both of you.

The recipient realizes you think he or she is important enough to garner your attention. Of course, you feel better about yourself because you know, in some small way, that you have made the world a better place.

Can you help just one person have a better day because of your kindness?

If not today, when?

Moms are the noblest creatures on this earth!

No one makes the sacrifices that can even compare with those of moms.

Every stage of motherhood is difficult!

Early pregnancy may include morning sickness. She must now accommodate the needs of a person growing inside her. Her body is not her own, but must be put to the service of another.

Her appearance changes radically and later stage pregnancies are most uncomfortable.

Childbirth has been described as one of the most painful experiences a person must endure. And yet, this is not the end, but merely the beginning of a lifetime of devotion to her child.

Do you appreciate the irreplaceable role of the moms you know?

What have you done lately to let the moms in your life know how much you care?

If not today, when?

During your busy, frenetic day, do you ever look up at the sky?

I know all about being under pressure to make ends meet. In a small software company I founded, we needed $140,000 in monthly income just to pay our bills. That was with no recurring income.

Fortunately, my wife had built a little publishing business that she ran out of the house while we had our six kids and two foster kids living at home. The income from her business paid our personal bills and the kids’ tuition in private schools.

So, we are not strangers to financial worry.

It is still not an adequate excuse for not taking the time each day to look up at the sky. Appreciate your blessings and our beautiful world! It’s all a gift!

If not today, when?

 

Do you live with a sense of urgency or will you just get around to it someday?

Although I’ll be 77 tomorrow, I still believe life is short.

Surely, you must have some dream, want or need that you would like to satisfy sooner rather than later or never!

Is it your love life?

Is it your children’s lives?

Is it your career?

Is it your health?

As long as you are still breathing, you can make you dreams, wants and needs happen!

Create deadlines and hold yourself accountable for getting results on or before your self-appointed deadlines.

It is you versus you!

The dreamer and goal setter in you must win over the procrastinator and quitter in you.

Begin with small, short term goals and work your way up to the big ones.

If not today, when?