Thanksgiving - It's Not About The Turkey

Thanksgiving - It's Not About The Turkey

Thanks for the times you have given me

Thanks for my health even though I ache all over

Thanks for the friends who wish me well and want me to be happy

Thanks for letting me turn 70 with my brain intact even though I have CRS (Can't Remember Shit)

Thanks for the next 24 years I plan to enjoy with all my heart

Thanks for my beautiful (both inside and outside) wife who always makes me feel mighty, mighty real

Thanks for a dad who taught me about the importance of hard work

Thanks for a dad who gave me a bright brain even though he also gave me bad bumpers (bad back, bad spine and bad knees) 

Thanks for a mom who loved and hugged me all the time.

Thanks for a mom who taught me to be tolerant to every race, religion and sexual orientation

Thanks for the money I've made that has enabled me to have choices in our American way of life

Thanks for Bob who got me to believe I was in control of my happiness and could choose happiness over negativism

Thanks for me because since 40 years old I've been making all the right choices

Thanks for me because I love what I've become

Thanks for the people around the world who read my blogs and my books because it makes me feel valued

Thanks for my mentored clients who have enhanced their happiness because of something I gave to them

Thanks to all the people who give positive energy out to the Universe so they and the rest of us could have a better life

Thanks to America for giving me and most others a chance to create a better life

Thanks to all the people around the world who believe love, tolerance and freedom will win out over totalitarianism and terrorism

To all of you on this wonderful holiday;

Focus on the things to be thankful for and not the turkey

The Grass Ain't Always Greener

The Grass Ain't Always Greener

Are you one of the people who believe the grass is always greener on the other side? Are you one of the ones who believe the grass ain't always greener on the other side? Are you one of the ones who don't give a shit either way?

People who believe the grass is always greener may be procrastinators. People who believe the grass ain't always greener may be pessimists.  People who don't give a shit are either the happiest people in the world or the most negative people in the world.

Personally, I don't want to count on the grass being greener because that means I'm counting on the future instead of living in the present. I truly believe the future will be fabulous. However, I also believe that the decisions and actions I make today will help create that fantastic future.

I'm neither a procrastinator nor a pessimist. What I am is a realist. I believe I'm in control of my happiness. I believe I can choose a path toward happiness or I can choose a path toward negative energy. Either way it's MY choice. Therefore, I choose the path where the grass ain't always greener. 

Choosing that path will keep me centered. Choosing that path will keep me real. Choosing that path will enable me to focus on my happiness today instead of hoping it will be greener in the future.

Because I'm the blogger, I have the luxury to talk out of both sides of my mouth. To that end, the times I believe the grass will be greener is when I'm having a really bad day. Doing so gives me the power to believe tomorrow will be a better day. Therefore, sometimes when I need to believe the grass will be greener; it enables me to get through a bad day with a smile on my face.

OK, enough about me, what about YOU? Do you allow yourself to sometimes become a grass ain't always greener person and sometimes a grass is always greener person? If the answer is YES, you get it. If the answer is NO, you need to take steps to find more happiness in your life.

Just remember, you have the option to be happy. You can choose to make minor and major decisions that will lead to your happiness. Some of those decisions might be painful today, but if you don't procrastinate, all of those decisions will lead to a happier life.

The best way to allow yourself to make those happiness decisions today is to believe:

The Grass Ain't Always Greener.

These Are The Best Of Times

These Are The Best Of Times

Do you believe these are the best of times? It's hard to feel that way because the media is bombarding us with negative energy. However, unless you're going through something horrible like the loss of a child or cancer or divorce etc. these ARE the best of times.

We're living longer. There are more options to get you through both physical and mental health problems. Even cancer is not the death sentence it was ten years ago. The government is making an effort to get us to eat healthy by forcing food companies to label what's in their stuff. The government is trying to protect us by forcing companies to recall dangerous products. The government does care about our safety.

When I grew up, companies ruled. They made sure the government didn't get in their way. So what if cars were not safe. So what if a child seat was not safe. So what if the food we ate had carcinogenics in it. So what if companies polluted our air. So what if banks and Wall Street screwed us out of money.

Some say the government is getting too involved in our lives. I say, these are the best of times. Some say, the government is forcing too many regulations on companies. I say, my 401K has never done better. I say, I feel safer because of these regulations. I say, I'm eating better because of these regulations. I say, I'm breathing better because of these regulations. I say, these are the best of times.

The people who don't believe these are the best of times are people filled with negative energy. The media gets them to worry about terrorists destroying their way of life. They don't eat right and don't exercise. They get fat and depressed because they get sick more often. They get diseases like diabetes because they're fat, depressed and see everything with a glass half empty attitude. 

They just have a hard time focusing on what good is happening around them. They even let negative events around the globe make them miserable even if nothing bad is happening to them here and now. These people will never accept that these are the best of times.

Now, look at people like me. I remember how much harder life was for my parents. I remember people that died of problems and/or diseases that today are cured easily. I remember how cars broke down all the time because quality over profits was not a priority. I remember where options for restaurants, shopping and entertainment were very limited.

Today, I have more options to have a better life than ever before. That is true for most of us. I'm pretty sure ninety percent of the people reading my blogs have more options to create a happier life than ever before. However, it's up to the individual.

You can look at your life as: "I wish I could go back to the past" or you can look at your life as:

These Are The Best Of Times.

Taking You Home

  Taking You Home

 

Sometimes, in a quiet moment, you plug in your ear buds and listen to a song on your music device that hit at the heart of your being. Today, that song was "Taking You Home" by Don Henley (Eagles lead singer). 

I thought about how I could modify the words of this song to express my love for my wife, but after some time, I realized Henley's words were perfect for what I wanted to communicate to her.

I wish everyone who reads my blogs has someone in their lives that justifies the words below. If not, don't stop trying. You deserve it.

DON HENLEY

Taking You Home Lyrics

(Don Henley/Stan Lynch/Stuart Brawley)

I had a good life
Before you came
I had my friends and my freedom
I had my name
Still there was sorrow and emptiness
'Til you made me glad
Oh, in this love I found strength I never knew I had

And this love
Is like nothing I have ever known
Take my hand, love
I'm taking you home
I'm taking you home

There were days, lonely days
When the world wouldn't throw me a crumb
But I kept on believing
That this day would come

And this love
Is like nothing I have ever known
Take my hand, love
I'm taking you home
I'm taking you—home
Where we can be with the ones who really care
Home, where we can grow together
Keep you in my heart forever

And this love
Is like nothing I have ever known
Take my hand, love
I'm taking you home
Taking you home.