FLATTER OR COMPLIMENT

Are you a flatterer? Most of us like to compliment our friends, but there's a fine line, isn't there between the compliment and flattery. To see and to say sincere, complimentary things about other people is a gracious custom and makes life more livable for all of us. But as always, just as with money for example, along with the genuine and the good, comes the counterfeit and the bad, and the counterfeit of a sincere compliment is flattery. 

As you go forth in life look for the good. See that which is sincerely good and give compliment where compliment is due, but do not attempt to buy peace of mind, social acceptance or business preferment by flattery. It is a false coin and in time will become your master. 

THEY BEAT THEMSELVES

Today in the United States, the college football season kicked off (began)! There are dozens of games, many of which are being televised or covered on the radio. Earlier today, I listened to a pair of play by play commentators discuss a game that had just ended. One of the commentators went into a long explanation as to why the one team had been defeated. He said that they had, "beat themselves." They hadn't executed plays the way they had practiced them. They didn't stay focused. They underestimated their opponent and had not prepared as well as they usually do. He continued with several examples and then repeated, "they beat themselves." I began thinking about those times we fail at a challenge or loose an opportunity or don't succeed at a significant goal because we "beat ourselves." Often it's not the condition of the workplace or the size of the goal or the attitude of the other person that had caused us to fall short of our desired outcome. It's often not doing what we know we should do to be prepared for the situation. It is also not doing things the way we had planned, or doing something the easy way without gathering the information needed to know what needs to be done. When elements like these are part of our experience, we are not being defeated, we have created a situation where we "beat ourselves." We can learn from our successful and not so successful experiences. Lets do what we know we should do. Ultimately there is no failure, only feedback. Sometimes that feedback will inform us that we were not defeated, it will reveal, "they beat themselves."

TRUE POVERTY

There is many a rich person who lives in poverty. Some define poverty as living below a certain income level. Then how can a financially rich person be living in poverty?  As I see it, here are some indicators of living in poverty. Regularly living day after day with no laughter. Having no contact or interaction with small children or the elderly. The inability to read or not having the time to read. Living without access to music. Going days without human contact and or receiving a hug. No contact with or appreciation of nature. Having a lot if material possessions but having no one with whom to share them. The inability to see the good in others. Living with constant guilt, grief or fear. Having no self-respect. Never having to work for what you possess. Possessing no pleasant memories. Having never done something for someone else without expecting something in return. 

TRUE WEALTH

There are many ways of defining wealth. Some view wealth from the perspective of material possessions and financial worth. Others view wealth from a totally spiritual perspective. And still others view wealth as a combination of the two. I do not possess a great material or financial empire. Nor am I some great spiritual leader or example. Yet I am extremely wealthy. I awaken each day to the smile of my best friend who is my wife. I love to laugh and my wife and I laugh a lot! At times we have laughed ourselves to tears. We both cry while watching Disney movies or tender TV commercials. My youngest granddaughter is one of the greatest joys in my life. When she's tired, she'll crawl up into my lap and cuddle until she falls asleep. When she wants to play, she comes looking for grandpa. I have amazing children. Some of them are step children but they all feel like my children to me. The children total ten great individuals. Each one of them is a good and decent person. They are the kind of person with whom I love to spend time. I have extended family who are genuine, salt if the earth, kind of people. They truly care for family and are there in a moments notice if I need help. I enjoy very simple pleasures and my life is full of simple pleasures. I enjoy taking time alone with my creator and counting my blessings. The joys in and of themselves are the true wealth in my life and I have so many. I am indeed a wealthy man!

TRUE WEALTH

There are many ways of defining wealth. Some view wealth from the perspective of material possessions and financial worth. Others view wealth from a totally spiritual perspective. And still others view wealth as a combination of the two. I do not possess a great material or financial empire. Nor am I some great spiritual leader or example. Yet I am extremely wealthy. I awaken each day to the smile of my best friend who is my wife. I love to laugh and my wife and I laugh a lot! At times we have laughed ourselves to tears. We both cry while watching Disney movies or tender TV commercials. My youngest granddaughter is one of the greatest joys in my life. When she's tired, she'll crawl up into my lap and cuddle until she falls asleep. When she wants to play, she comes looking for grandpa. I have amazing children. Some of them are step children but they all feel like my children to me. The children total ten great individuals. Each one of them is a good and decent person. They are the kind of person with whom I love to spend time. I have extended family who are genuine, salt if the earth, kind of people. They truly care for family and are there in a moments notice if I need help. I enjoy very simple pleasures and my life is full of simple pleasures. I enjoy taking time alone with my creator and counting my blessings. The joys in and of themselves are the true wealth in my life and I have so many. I am indeed a wealthy man!

THE POWER OF LITTLE THINGS

There is nothing too little for so little a creature as man. It is by studying little things that we attain the great art of having as little misery and as much happiness as possible. 

Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles and kindness, and small obligations, given habitually, are what win and preserve the heart and secure comfort. 

Little drops of water, little grains of sand, make the mighty ocean and the pleasant land. 

The power of little things to give instruction and happiness should be the first lesson in life. 

PURPOSE OF WORDS

"The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasp, the words are forgotten." Chaung Tzu

Words are the vessels we use to convey feelings and describe the events and experiences in our lives to others. Words have incredible power in our lives. Most of us don't realize that the words we habitually choose also affect what we experience. Simply by changing our habitual vocabulary, the words we consistently use to describe the emotions  of our lives, we can instantly change how we think and how we live.