Living in Paradise

“The foolish man seeks happiness in the distance; the wise grows it under his feet.”
-- James Oppenheim

***
 A man jumped into a taxi cab. In order to pass the time during the ride, he began making small conversation with the driver. After a series of questions, the man asked the driver, “If you could live anywhere in the world and money was no object, where would you live?” The taxi cab driver responded, “I’ve learned to live in my heart and live in the moment. So, it really does not matter where I reside. If I’m happy inside, then I live in paradise”

Where do you live – inside or outside? You’ll never live in paradise, if you seek it from the outside world. True, you may occasionally experience a glimpse paradise from the outside world, but you’ll never actually live in paradise. If you seek happiness from the outside world, you are relying on people, events and circumstances to make you happy. That’s not true happiness – that’s not living in paradise, that’s allowing external factors to dictate your happiness. Unfortunately, since you have little, if any, control over the outside world, you really don’t own your happiness – the outside world does.

Happiness is an inside job. When your happiness comes from within, you’ve taken up residency in paradise. Why, because you own it and being happy is paradise! It does not matter who you are with (people), where you are (events) or what is going on at the present time (circumstances), you control your happiness. It truly is a great place to be (paradise): to be happy and to know that you own it. Remember, when you live in paradise, it can’t be taken away from you unless you allow it. It’s inside and it’s yours.

So, you don’t have to live on the shores of an exotic island or a dream home nestled in the mountains to live in paradise. No, all you have to do is learn to live in your heart and live in the moment.

 Here’s to another day in paradise!

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

The Measure of Success

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded."
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

***

POINT TO PONDER:  True success cannot be measured by the size of your home, the size of your car, the size of your wallet or the size of your portfolio.  True success can only be measured by the size of your heart!

Gotta go - got some cardio to do!

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

It's Your Choice

"Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it."

-- Groucho Marx

POINT TO PONDER: The Good Lord gave man (woman) dominion over animals (Genesis 1:26).  What separates man from animal is free will.  Free will is choice.  Unlike animals, whose behavior is primarly dictated by instinct or genetic code, we are free to choose.  If you're an unhappy person, you've chosen your unhappiness.   You have allowed (chosen) negative events in your past to dictate your present state.  Our future is dictated by our present state.   If your present state is negative, unfortunately, you’re choosing to create a negative future.  So here is how it works:  A focus on a Negative past = Negative present = Negative Future.   Remember, your present will eventually become your past and your future will become your present.   It is a cyclical pattern.  So, I ask: Why not focus on a the good things in your life, both past and present?

Today is the day to stop the cycle of negativity.   While all of us will face adversity, it is how we choose to respond to the adversity that counts.  Remember, today will become our yesterday and tomorrow will become our today.  So, why not choose happiness today?  You can start by choosing to count how you have been blessed, both past and present.   The choices you make today will eventually determine what has happened to you , what is happening, and what will happen to you.      

The Good Lord gave mankind a gift; free will!  It is about time we start using it to our advantage!

Choose Happy! 

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

Getting to the Top

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

***
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

***

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

***

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

Donations Please!

“The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation."

~Corrie Boom

POINT TO PONDER:  What you get out of life is in direct proportion to what you put into life.   You do not have control over the duration of your life, but you do have control over what you donate to life.   Once a person fully understands that they are where they are at in their  life because of their own doing, they begin to harness the power to create the life they wish to attain.   The theory is pretty simplistic, yet it can be life-changing:  Donate positive, get positive; donate negative, get negative; donate much, get much; donate little, get little! 

So my question to you is:  What type of donation will you make today?

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