Getting to the Top

"There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs." 
-- Anonymous

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POINT TO PONDER: There is no substitute for hard work. Don't look for the elevator; Take the stairs! Besides, you'll be in much better shape when you reach the top.

It’s your life: live it, love it & celebrate it
!MJD

When Others Are Sleeping

“Today I will do what others won't, so tomorrow I can accomplish what others can't.”
~ Jerry Rice

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Do you want to get to the head of the class?  Do you want to be on top of your game?  Well, in order to do so you have to be willing to do the work.  If you want to outshine the competition, then you have to outwork the competition.  I recently told a group of junior high athletes, “Those that are successful are working when everyone else is sleeping.”   That statement was met with, “Coach does that really mean when everyone else has gone to bed, I have to be practicing.”   The answer is - practically yes, literally no.   It means that you’re willing to work harder than others.  It means that you have to be more dedicated, disciplined, and passionate about what you do than others.  It means when others find reasons not to do something you find reason to do it.  It means when others have had enough you can’t get enough.  There are no shortcuts to success.  There is no magic formula and being “lucky” does not cut it.   You can ask anyone who has achieved a degree of success and they will tell you there is no substitute for hard work.  The legendary coach, Vince Lombardi said it best, "The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary." 

If you want to be successful then I encourage you to ask yourself this question each morning when you arise: What am I going to do today that others won’t? 

I just answered that question – it just might be a late night! 

It's your life: live it, love it, & celebrate it!
MJD

More or Less?

“We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood… until we have stop saying, "it got lost", and say, "I lost it."”

-- Sydney Harris

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How come when things seem to go bad for us we have a tendency to place the blame on God and when good things happen to us we have a tendency to forget about God and take the credit.  How about a little change of perspective?  Instead, when things go bad, try accepting responsibility and when good things happen, try giving thanks to God.  Changing your perspective just might mean you’ll experience more of the good things in life and less of the bad things.   

Bad things happen to all us.  No one is immune!  Some negative events are well beyond our control.  In those situations, it’s not the event that really matters (because we lack control), but they way we respond to the event that counts.   However, most negative events that take place in our lives are by our own doing; it’s our errors and omissions, resulting from poor judgment.  Often times, our reaction is, “Why me God, why me?”  If you look to place the blame on God or anyone else for that matter, you’re not in a position to change your circumstances.  Consequently, bad things will continue to happen to you because you’ve come to believe that you lack control.   In order to make a change, you must accept responsibility for your decisions and the consequences thereof. 

Once you learn to accept responsibility for a negative event that you’ve created, the next step is to forgive yourself.  You are human!  And yes, all humans make mistakes.  The Good Lord gave us free will; the ability to choose so that we are not bound solely by a genetic pattern.  With free will comes mistakes – mistakes in judgment.  Mistakes are actually lessons; lessons to be learned!  So by instilling in us free will, the Good Lord allows us to grow, although sometimes painfully, through our mistakes.  Just think, if you did not make mistakes and learn the lesson(s) therein,  there really would not be much growth - now would there?

The Good Lord wants us to prosper.  Although, he is not going to do it for us – remember, “free will.”   We serve a loving, good, and abundant God.  Being an abundant God, God sets many of opportunities before us.  It is up to us to be vigilant to recognize these opportunities and use the talents God has given to us to make the most of any opportunity.   So when good things happen to you remember the one who set the stage for you!  When good things happen and you practice gratitude, you actually begin to attract more positive things in your life.  Gratitude is positive energy.  Positive energy produces positive results. 

There you have it - a change in perspective means a change in outcomes.  Accept responsibility and learn from the negative events you have created and you’ll experience less negative events.  When good things happen to you, practice gratitude and praise God for his abundance and you’ll experience more abundance.   So, if you want more of what you want and less of what you don’t want, try changing the way you think about things. 

Now, that’s really something to think about!    

It’s your life:  live it, love it & celebrate it!

MJD