I have been doing some traveling lately and been in crowded airports with parents who have young children. In my observations, it seems some little ones from about 4 to 10 are out of control. The parent says, “Don’t do that!” The child ignores the parent and goes on doing whatever without any further parental action.

Please don’t think I enjoyed disciplining our children, but I learned long ago that someone must be in charge of the asylum! If little ones don’t know the meaning of “No” by 4 or 5, they won’t suddenly behave later on when the consequences could be much greater.

Do your job before it is too late!

If not today, when?

 

… All the reasons you should be grateful?

… All the opportunities to be to be a good listener?

… All the missed opportunities to be kind?

… All the people who awaken each day to a life of despair?

… All the challenges your children will face today?

… All the times you lacked the courage to do something important to you?

… All the times you permitted self doubt to creep in?

… All the times you missed the chance to say, “I love you?”

… All the things you could do to have a healthier body?

… All your bad habits you have come to accept?

… All the times you did not practice unconditional love?

… All the times you thought another person was inferior to you?

… All the people who need a word of encouragement?

If not today, when?

 

Our lives are filled with hellos and goodbyes.

What happens in between those two events in your life? I suppose the interim time spent could be good, uneventful or upsetting.

In my life, I have experienced all three outcomes thousands of times. Because I am a passionate person, who feels deeply about so many issues, most of my hellos and goodbyes have been separated by the good or the upsetting!

I hope I haven’t left too many people with an upsetting result from our encounter, but I’m sure I’ve done my share. I hope my life’s report card will show that I left more people feeling good about the encounter than the opposite!

How is your report card coming along?

If not today, when?

 

Continue reading “Watch Your Dollars” →

After years of tears, toil and sweat, many parents don’t always enjoy their offspring as they grow through the teenage years and into adulthood. Just the opposite actually, its a cruel blow when an imperfect child expects perfection in his or her parent.

After raising a large family ourselves, we have learned that kids frequently take out their own personal frustrations on us because we are the only people who will always love them.

What an irony!

Here’s another irony for you. You are always a parent and an ungrateful child will still come to you through their life to give them counsel or good old, hard, cold cash!

There is a silver lining to all this. These kids are your ticket to heaven!

So, keep on loving them!

If not today, when?

 

 

If you turn a frown upside down, what do you get? Yep, a smile!

They’re in short supply these days. It’s really a quality of life issue.

What do you have to smile about? If you really have to ask that question, you are not paying attention to the world around you. The vast majority of the world’s population don’t have medical care or even know where the next meal is coming from.

There are people in your neighborhood who are living in despair. If you have your health and even one person who loves you, you are  the luckiest person  on earth!

So, smile, darn you, smile.

If not today, when?

 

 

Last Thursday night, a childhood friend of one of our daughters was hit by a passing car and killed. As I remember her, she was full of life and seemed to wear a permanent smile that lit up the room. She devoted her adulthood to that of a special education teacher.

She seemed to have that rare capacity of living fully in the NOW!

How about you? Do you still drag around regrets of the past and apprehension about the future. If that’s the case, please come to grips with the fact that the past is gone and the future may never arrive! All you’ll ever have is NOW!

So, why not live fully in the NOW?

If not today,when?

When we are in a stressful situation, it’s very hard not to overreact. When this happens, we are in danger of losing perspective. We are allowing the present dilemma  to be viewed as a greater problem than it really is.

Did you ever create a balance sheet of your life? It’s a great way to gain a balanced approach to any current dilemma. Write down a list of the good things (assets) in your life. Make a list of the problems (liabilities) in your life.

If you have more assets than liabilities, be grateful!

If you have more liabilities than assets, you’ve created an important “to do” list!

If not today, when?

 

We are all creatures of habits. Some are good that move us forward in life. Some are not good and keep us from the success we all want.

Just as serious and often more serious are those habits that stand as a constant barrier to better friendships and most importantly, loving relationships.

Some people with bad habits may say, “Well, that’s the way I am, so take it or leave it!” In this case, you may be happy with yourself, but “It doesn’t play on Broadway!”

I think circumspection is good, healthy and actually necessary as we go through life. Are you willing to look at your habits, good and bad with a critical eye?

If not today, when?

We are all stressed from time to time. Some of us actually live in a permanent state of stress.

So, the important question is, how do we deal with it?

Do your stressful situations have to adversely affect you mentally, emotionally and physically? After living a long life, I can look back on all my stressful incidents and admit that I allowed stress to take me down mentally, emotionally and physically.

I am currently working on a new approach. I will attempt to deal with it on a mental level and not allow emotional and physical damage to occur. It isn’t easy, but I’m already realizing that it is possible and it is a beautiful thing!!!

Begin limiting your stressful situations to that of a mental exercise.

How sweet is!

If not today, when?