Before we begin, let’s admit your employer is not perfect and neither are you.

We will assume, however, that your present work environment continues to be tolerable.

As long as you choose to remain employed by your current employer, here are some thoughts:

BE LOYAL TO YOUR EMPLOYER- Whether you agree or disagree with decisions and policies of your superiors, you are being paid to be a TEAM PLAYER. For that reason, you don’t express dissatisfaction with the company when interacting with other employees.

OVERLOOK SHORTCOMINGS OF CO-WORKERS– There will always be some fellow employees who irritate you. It is your responsibility, though, to work in a cooperative manner with those you like and those you dislike.

DELIVER A GOOD CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE- If you interact with customers, it doesn’t matter if you’re having a bad day at work. When a customer calls or walks through the door, “It’s Show Time.” Be cheerful because that’s what you’re paid to do.

If you follow these three rules, you will be a valuable employee!!

If not today, when?

Let’s take a look at various categories of risk.

FINANCIAL– Many of us have placed some money in a hopeful enterprise that did or did not turn out well. Depending on the amount involved, this is usually one of the least consequential risks.

PHYSICAL-This can be a big one with lifelong ramifications. Anyone who engages in a contact sport is a potential candidate for injury. Many of us also don’t live healthy lives..

CHOICE OF SPOUSE –This is one of the riskiest with enduring consequences for you and your offspring. Forty to fifty percent of marriages end in divorce. Subsequent marriages also have a high divorce rate. Despite the physical attraction as people in fall in love, both partners must also have a lifelong commitment to the union!

CHOICE OF CAREER –We live in an increasingly chaotic job market. The pandemic has accelerated this trend. It takes some sober analysis to figure out where you should invest your time and talent.

With all the uncertainties shown above, you are already a risk taker!

If you really don’t have priorities that you live by, your future is very uncertain.

You are creating your future today and every day by what you do and don’t do.

Do you have a conscious list of priorities?

If so, how important is your #1 to you?

Do your daily actions include your #1?

Has your #1 been chosen to benefit you or someone else?

Do you want to continue with the same #1?

Or, do you want to think again about what your #1 should be?

Yes, events can happen that draw your attention away from your priorities.

When events happen, do your priorities change for good or temporarily?

Are you happy with the path you are on?

Select those priorities that will give you the future you want!

If not today, when?

Angela Merkel is Chancellor of Germany.

She has held that office since November 22, 2005.

Merkel is the first woman elected Chancellor in Germany.

She is the leader of the federal government and Germany’s armed forces.

It is widely believed she has been the “De Facto” leader of the European Union and the most influential woman in the world.

She will be stepping down soon upon the election of a new Chancellor.

I believe her steady, courageous leadership will be sorely missed.

Yes, I have always admired her from afar!

I only have one item left on my “BUCKET LIST.”

I would love to interview HER before I make my exit!

I don’t think that will be possible, but I will keep it on my “LIST” just in case.

If not today, when?

I think the British should teach the rest of the world how to throw a party.

There is just not enough celebration of life itself.

We, as Americans, have a lot to be proud of and we must celebrate together more than we do.

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of the constant flow of bad news.

This country has a long list of spectacular accomplishments worth celebrating.

If not today, when?

YOUR DECISIONS WILL DETERMINE THE COURSE OF YOUR LIFE!

Before you make an important decision, do you seek opinions?

And if you do seek opinions, how often do you act on other’s opinions?

Is there a pattern of usually going with others’ thoughts rather than your own?

If so, is it because you are not a good decision-maker or you just lack the confidence?

Some thoughts on decision-making:

1. Don’t make an important decision if you are emotionally overwrought.
2. Ask yourself who and how will others be affected by this decision.
3. If others will be impacted, can you live with the outcome?
4. Are the benefits to you clearly understood?
5. If other opinions would be helpful, who is qualified to give wise advice on this particular topic?
6. Once you are prepared to make the decision, is this the right time to make it?

Be careful when making decisions. They can have life-long consequences!

If not today, when?

A SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft — carrying four astronauts from three countries — took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida Friday morning, beginning their six-month stay in space.

This launch marked the third-ever crewed flight for Elon Musk’s company and the first to make use of a previously flown rocket booster and spacecraft.

NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur will be joined by French astronaut Thomas Pesquet of the European Space Agency, and Akihiko Hoshide from Japan. They’re due to spend six months aboard the International Space Station after their Crew Dragon capsule docks early Saturday morning.

This launch marked the third-ever crewed flight for Elon Musk’s company and the first to make use of a previously flown rocket booster and spacecraft. (CNN)

The photo shows the four astronauts relaxing on a Florida beach yesterday prior to this morning’s flight.

AMERICA continues to show the world that AMERICAN INGENUITY IS ALIVE AND THRIVING!

Let’s raise a big cheer for AMERICA!

If not today, when?

We are talking past one another.

We feel so strongly about our own opinion on everything that we instantly tone out someone who disagrees.

I feel that our societal malaise will only be healed with REAL LISTENING!

The current political divide is the result of too much talk and not enough REAL LISTENING.

And how about really listening to your kids?

You, as a parent, won’t be able to reach them if you don’t know where their minds are.

And how about really listening to your spouse?

He or She is the most important relationship of your life.

REMEMBER, THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER POINT-OF-VIEW THAT IS AT ODDS WITH YOURS!

And if you don’t really listen, you’ll never really learn and you’ll never be as close as you want to be.

You will be more trusted by everyone in your life if they are convinced that you are REALLY LISTENING!

If not today, when?

I’m asking all of you to please pray for our daughter, Lynn.

She was a Vietnamese orphan we adopted in 1974.

When she landed at the airport, we realized she was very sick and we took her from the airport straight to the hospital.

The doctors, after a while, got her well.

We didn’t know she had Hepatitis-C until the birth of her second child.

She got a liver transplant that saved her life, but contracted lymphoma three years later.

That case of lymphoma was cured, but now the lymphoma has returned stronger than before.

So, she has to face another life or death episode all over again..

She has been a real blessing to our family!

Her courage and sense of humor are an example for us all.

Please add her to your prayers.

George W. Bush has written a new book entitled, “Out of Many, ONE.”

In it, he makes the case for the blessings of immigrants.

The faces seen on the book’s cover were painted by the ex-President himself!

Can you trace your family back to the original immigrants who came ashore on Ellis Island?

I can.

This is a nation of immigrants.

Our diversity is our strength.

Immigrants bring with them the wisdom obtained from societies that are thousands of years old.

Have you ever considered the courage required to leave everything familiar and travel huge distances to embrace everything unfamiliar.

America was built by these courageous people.

And they passed their courage down to us.

I had a partner in the real estate business who was from the Middle East.

He was quite older than me and I was the grateful recipient of his wisdom.

Some courageous relatives gave me the opportunity to live in America.

Thank you!