When Love Was Enough At Christmas

In my past Christmas traditions giving and receiving gifts have always been a huge part of the whole experience. We were not considered a rich family by any means but there always seemed to be an abundance of presents under the tree and everyone, including me, garnered a large portion of gifts just for themselves.

My first taste of a decline in Christmas gifts happened in1990. This was my first Christmas as a single man after being married for a bunch of years. I celebrated with some of my family who lived in Dallas. I remember writing in my journal the sum total of Christmas gifts received that year: a lighthouse painting from my sister and brother-n-law, a shirt from my nephew and his family, and a gift certificate from my work place.

As I reflected back on Christmas ’90 in my journal I felt blessed, not wanting for anything and grateful for my life, my health and my family.

The year of 2008 was a serious transition year for Carolyn and me. I was faced with a declining market in real estate sales and forced to seek employment via other means. Money was tight for much of that year. When Christmas rolled around, we managed to spend a small amount of money on gifts for others in our family and a couple of close friends, but I had to break the unfortunate news to my wife that I felt we did not have any extra money to buy Christmas gifts for each other.

My beautiful wife Carolyn is a winner. She demonstrated such support when I broke that news to her and said some wonderfully reassuring words to the effect that “we will get through this, after all, we have each other.” I could tell she meant it.

I wondered how we would mark Christmas morning in a memorable and meaningful way without the excitement of exchanging gifts and all that goes with it.

          WE REVELED IN OUR LOVE
and relationship by sharing a unique Christmas morning that is now a fond memory and will be cherished for a lifetime.

We got up Christmas morning, put on a large pot of coffee, lit a fire in the fireplace and sat side by side on the sofa in the shadow of our small but lovely Christmas tree. I read story after story about Christmas from a storybook we have in our family library.

There were times when we shed tears as I read, and I’ll admit it was painful and a bit sad at times, but we held tightly to each other, hand in hand, side by side, hearts united, and holding onto our love for each other. That Christmas, we discovered that our love was more than enough for any season.

Wow, a love that is enough.

What an incredible thought!

I hope you experience a love that is enough this Christmas.

-That love is demonstrated in the babe in the manger.
-It shows up in the joyful sounds of the season,
  both the secular and the religious.
-It shows up in the lights and bling of the decorations.

And it shows up in love expressed for one another.

Call somebody. Offer words of love.

There is enough love that unfolds in the Christmas story for all of us. Christmas is giving gifts for sure, but it is more you know. It is ultimately a love story.

          LOVE!
               AND REDEMPTION,
                    AND HOPE.

The Giver of the gift has more than enough love for each one of us.

Christmas Hope

There are some things that you just know and understand deep down. I knew from the first moment that I met Carolyn that we would at least have a second and third date. I hoped for more, but I sort of knew that much.


I knew as a boy growing up in Tennessee that I could count on a new belt from my grandmother every Christmas. She never failed me, for as many years as she was alive and able to give gifts.


And then sometimes I had huge hopes for Christmas. Not certainties you understand, just hopes. I remember the year I hoped for a new bicycle. On Christmas morning, there it sat; red fenders, white seat, shiny and new. Wow! Oh, to be a kid again.

I know what Carolyn hopes for this Christmas. And I’m gonna do my best to meet and exceed her hopes, but don’t tell her. Shhhhh.

I know of others who have hopes and dreams for this year’s Christmas season. Some hope for reconciliation with a loved one. I pray their hope becomes reality.

I know a family that has a few more bills than bucks this Christmas. They are hoping for the miracle of more funds to fund their dreams and hopes.

Today I passed a man on a street corner. He appeared to be in his sixties. His sign said “Need a job or Groceries.” He is seeking a big helping of hope this Christmas. I hope he gets everything he has asked for.

Hope is one of the key words in the whole of celebrating Christmas. We all hope for something, don’t we?

-Retail stores hope for big cash register sales
-My granddaughter Adia hopes for some new doll that will complete her life.
-Greyson, my 3 year old grandson hopes for some kind of toy gun I suppose.
-I know a 22 year old young lady who is hoping for a sparkling ring to put on her left hand.

In the Biblical accounting of the Christmas story it was all about hope. The hope that was sought was in the form of a king wo would come, redeem and restore all wrongs and deliver oppressed people from their oppressors.

Instead, Hope showed up in the form of a newborn baby whose first night on earth was spent in a barn. Now that’s not a very elegant way for a king to be welcomed to this world is it?

But nevertheless He brought hope. And He still brings hope.

Hope for healing.
     Hope for encouragement.
          Hope for financial relief. .
               Hope for a mended heart.
                    Hope in place of loneliness.

Hope is the essence of survival.

It has been said that a person can live ...
Forty days without food
Four minutes without air
Four seconds with hope

Hope keeps your future alive.

What are your hopes for this Christmas season?

As long as you have hope life has meaning. With hope, we seem to be able to hold onto the threads of life a bit longer.

What better season than Christmas for us to hold onto hope. Embrace it. Picture your hope turning into reality.

Hold on to HOPE!

Go Confidently in the Direction of Your Dreams

Close your eyes and tell me what you see when you dream of your future? What kind of work are you doing? Where do you live? What does your family life look like? What is your economic status?

Dreams are a good thing. Everyone dreams – some just take their dream to the next level. They dream in more vivid detail and dream on purpose. I want to be an on-purpose dreamer. Care to join me?

Here’s a quote for us to ponder:

“The soul never thinks without a picture.”

Paint your picture of your future. Use splashes of bright orange, yellows, beautiful blues, pink and rose. Paint to your heart’s content, but paint your picture for your soul’s sake. Use a big bold canvass to do your painting on. Make it enormous so that the whole world can see it and rejoice in your dream. Paint it and own it.

A wise man once said “Once I see it I will be it.” We see it first in our mind’s eye, and then we move in the direction of our dreams and our dominant thoughts.

But we have to create a clear image of the end result. That is what empowers us toward achieving the desired end.

Carolyn and I just returned from a vacation to Disneyland. I am struck with the creativity we experienced time and time again as we strolled the theme park and saw the sights that Walt Disney and his team of dreamers first saw in their mind’s eye, and then converted into concrete, plaster and paint.

They saw it first in their minds, and then turned it into reality. The same principle is true for you and I.

I love this quote.

“Only Those Who Can See the Invisible
  Can Accomplish the Impossible.”

Now, add the part about believing in your dreams and you are well on your way toward the accomplishment of those hopes and dreams.

It all starts with hopes and dreams. Then comes the doing. Dreams without action are like flowers without rain. They wither and die for lack of nourishment. Give your dreams feet and wings. Allow them to grow, run and soar to heights yet unseen, all because you dreamed and nourished the dream.

Can you spend four hours some morning on your dream? Go off by yourself, take a pen and paper, or your computer, get a nice cup of your favorite hot drink and sit and think about your dreams. I ask this question often: “What would I do if I knew I could not fail?”

The answer to this question will most likely give you a real sense of what beats inside of you a sense of direction for your dominant thoughts and desires for your life.

Whatever the answer is, write it down, live with it for a while, write down all of the possibilities for a dynamic life in pursuit of this dream, and see where your thoughts take you.

Live the life you’ve imagined.”

Go confidently in the

direction of your dreams.

(Henry David Thoreau)

Great Expectations

During my college days there was a phrase that we like to quote often. It went like this:
        "That’s close enough for jazz.”

How would you like a carpenter building your home to use that phrase?
     “Well, that window doesn’t close all the way, but its
         close enough. After all, we don’t get all that much
           snow and blowing wind up here.

Ouch! I’d be looking for another carpenter real soon, wouldn’t you?

Sir Henry Royce, of the Rolls Royce automobile fame, had the habit of stalking about his factory. One day he overheard an engineer speaking to one of the workmen. “That’s good enough.”

He immediately broke into the conversation. “It’s never good enough. That’s what we’re all here for —to make it better, and then to make it better than it is today. Never say it’s good enough.”

That’s quiet an attitude, isn’t it?

Maybe that is why a Rolls Royce is one of the most prized possessions in the automobile world still today. The name speaks QUALITY.

That’s called mindset.

So what is your mindset?
                    What is your attitude?


Do you expect people to buy from you?
Do you expect to get along with most people?
Do you have a “can do” mindset?

Sort of reminds me of the Bible verse “As a man thinks so is he.”

Earl Nightingale said it this way. “You become what you think about.”

Do you think win?
Do you think “successful outcome?”
Do you believe in YOU?

Do you hold high hopes for yourself, your self-development and your ability to seek a successful outcome?

Attitude is a choice. What are you choosing?
Where are you allowing your thoughts to take you?

Luck is what happens when preparedness meets opportunity.

Hold onto Great Expectations.

When It's All Over You've Only Just Begun

Have you ever come to the end of yourself before?

Have you reached a dead end and wondered what next?

“When it’s all over,

you’ve only just begun.”

Remember that.

I’ve lost in a few relationships.

I’ve had jobs that ran out.
     I've wondered "What next?"

Dead ends don't always mean dead ends.  Look for an opportunity to rebuild.


With every ending there is always a new beginning starting with your next step. Take it. Plant your foot forward and step into your new life.


“It’s not over till it’s over”, quipped Yogi Berra.

Yogi was referring to baseball. As long as there were innings left in the game, the team still had a chance.

How about this twist on Yogi’s thought?
If you’re breathing you still have innings left in your game. What are you gonna do in the next inning?

Are you still alive and breathing?
          Then you have the seeds of a new beginning.

Do ideas still pop into your head?
          Then you have the seeds of a new beginning.

"Every adversity, every failure

and every heartache

carries with it the seed

of an equivalent

or a greater

benefit."

Napoleon Hill

My friend Ron is going through “stuff” right now. His boss is shutting down the business that Ron has so effectively managed for the last bunch of years. Is he discouraged? Not Ron.

I just got an email from him this week. Listen to the optimism in his note.

“The future is looking hopeful. I really don't know how to react other than to live in the moment, and enjoy what is such a breath of fresh air compared to the stress I've been living under these past couple of years."

Your setback could be

the launching pad

for your next great idea.

Remember …

When it’s all over,

you’ve only just begun.

I wish you Success in Your New Beginnings!

PERTINACITY

How is your follow-through? Do you have staying power?

In Og Mandino’s classic The Greatest Salesman in the World, he addresses this in The Scroll Marked Three. It states: “I will persist until I succeed.”

Every business and success minded guru that I read address this topic at some point in time. Our successes in life often come down to our staying power.

When I took typing in the tenth and eleventh grade my typing teacher taught me a great word.

The word was “PERTINACITY”.

It means “stick-to-it-ivness.“

For those of us in sales, we soon learn that often we have to ask for the sale somewhere between 3 and 5 times before we get the order. That, my friends is pertinacity.

There are dozens, hundreds, and thousands of examples in our world of people who have demonstrated this kind of focus. Thomas Edison comes to mind. He tried over ten-thousand different combinations for the electric light bulb before he found the perfect solution. He was asked by Napoleon Hill once what he would have done if he had not finally uncovered the secret.

His response was this. “I would be in my laboratory working now, instead of wasting my time talking with you.” Wow. That is focus and desire all mixed together. And a huge dose of pertinacity mixed in for good measure.

Read most biographies and you’ll see this inner core-principle in place. Athletes have it.  So do politicians and ministers.  Countless successful businesses demonstrate pertinacity.

I am a huge fan of Napoleon Hill. In a book published by his foundation titled A Year of Growing Rich, he states, “I have observed two of the most important facts concerning men and women who are successful in their chosen occupations and those who are not. The successes speak in the future tense of yet unattained objectives which they intend to achieve. The failures speak in the past tense of their defeats and disappointments.”

I referenced Og Mandino’s book at the beginning of this blog. One of the suggestions he makes for mastering the ten scrolls in The Greatest Salesman is to take each scroll and read it three times a day for 30 days. Then move on to the next scroll. Wow. What a huge commitment but what a marvelous demonstration of PERTINACITY. If you can stick to this commitment, you show a lot of the qualities that will lead you on to other successes.

I love this line from Beauty and the Beast. “Screw your courage to the sticking place.”

Develop Resolve!
Persevere!
Stick to it!

Take Time to Sharpen the Saw

In Stephen R. Covey’s landmark best seller The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, his Habit #7 is entitled Take Time to Sharpen the Saw.

What does it mean to “sharpen the saw”?

This application comes from the wood cutting world. Lumberjacks know the importance of stopping every once in a while during their day to sharpen their saws. Saw blades, like most tools will lose their sharp edge and one will begin to work harder to accomplish the same measure of success. So, the wise wood-cutter knows the value in taking time out in their day to sharpen their saw.

Should we do any less? In all of life, whether in sales, management, bookkeeping, ministering, or picking cotton, we sometimes need to take a break, re-tool, and put a fresh edge on whatever it is we are attempting to do.

For some people it means simply taking a break from the day’s labors. For others it is literally re-tooling, or sharpening their blades.

For me, it is reading a great book in my areas of interest, or listening to audio recordings of current books that interest me. I gain some incredible insights when listening to the wisdom of inspiring speakers and writers such as Earl Nightingale, Denis Waitley, Zig Ziglar, and a great host of others.

Recently I discovered Getting Naked by Patrick Lencioni. I just finished reading Mindset by Carol S. Dweck, and now I’m listening to the audio recording of this book. What a marvelous wealth of material. You really should read it if you deal with people on any level.

You see, by exposing myself to these individuals and their thoughts I sharpen my saw – I see things in a new light, or see new things altogether. I want to be a fresh thinker, a fresh and insightful writer and speaker. I want to be good with people and understand better how to relate to all types of people. That is why I spend my drive time each morning and evening listening to what these successful people have to say.

So, sometime today, stop and sharpen your saw. Dip into some wise persons words and see what they have to say to you that will stretch you and enlarge your life.

Keep a sharp edge!