My Riffs

How do you treat those who are happier than you? How do you treat those who are sadder than you? It will say a lot about you. Rejoice with those who are rejoicing. Mourn with those who are mourning. Be happy for those who are reaping, be sad with those who may be experiencing loss.

You can’t run from your problems. It’s best to face them head on. Running from them makes them larger until they overtake you. Face them and defeat them as soon as you can while they’re smaller. 

Avoidance rarely helps things. What helps is dealing directly with them. Avoidance usually escalates things below the surface. So deal with things and do it swiftly 

Make your request known. Nobody can read your mind. This will help in relationships a great deal. 

Hearts are like gardens in some way. They require close attention and tending. You have to weed things out constantly. They get hard if you don't water and keep them soft. Tend to your heart for it's the steering wheel of your life.

We hear things about being grounded. What is being grounded? I think it’s when we’re stabilized. We can get unsteady and unstable when we become untethered to stability. Grounding ourselves stabilizes that and helps us refocus. To ground yourself frequently so you can stay steady!

Winners may not always be what we have a picture of in our minds. The person at the top of the podium holding a trophy or the team who wins the final game of their playoffs. A winner is often somebody who does the right thing. A winner is someone who shows up faithfully. A winner is someone who gives great love. A winner is someone who stands up for the weak. Be a winner in every sense of the word. 

You can tell about yourself in certain situations.  Who you are when nobody is around. Who you are when you could get revenge. Who you are when you can give and nobody would know to give you glory. Who you are when times are tough. Who you are when times are great. 

If you need something, communicate it. If you expect something of someone, communicate it. It's too often we expect others to know things that we haven't set the expectation for. It's on us to communicate expectations. 

You don’t know if it’s gonna work until you try it. You can hypothesize about something until you’re weary, and still be no closer to a solution. Sometimes just trying something is better than being in limbo. Try something, if it doesn’t work, adjust. We’re so fearful of failure that we so often don’t try. 

Love will find a way. Love is a strong enough force that it will find a way. If there’s no love, there’s no way though. Love is the way. 

If what you’re doing is working, don’t give up! And if it isn’t working, just change tactics, don’t give up! Move ahead no matter what it takes, get better little by little. Little increases done a lot makes for major increases. 

Every situation can uncover good. Find the good. It may be hard but search to find it. 

A photo is a moment in time. A photo can say what many words cannot. A photo captures more than text can in a moment. It becomes what we remember. This all to say, try to hold loosely the bad things that have happened and try to capture the good times. We will remember what we have photographed.

Those three words, when spoken sincerely, can make a world of difference. Don’t hesitate to tell people you appreciate them. Your words may make a huge difference in their life and the lives they influence too. 

You can get better outcomes with kindness. Being forceful or rude can get you desired outcomes. But it won’t get better outcomes. You can be direct and strong but still kind. As soon as you lose kindness you lose a desired outcome. 

Some people are good at talking. So good that they've made careers of it. But at some point you have to back it up. People will stop listening if you don't back up your talk with actions. Talk can be cheap. Talk is valuable when it leads to good action.

Often what people need from us is to simply be present. We don’t have to put on a performance or do anything special. We just need to be present. Show up and be there for people. You don’t have to have all the words of wisdom. You just have to be there. 

Our brains need to be trained. They are like a muscle, they need exercise and challenges to stay strong and get better. Do things that challenge your brain. That means things like puzzles, but also things like forgiving and showing mercy. Train your brain to find the good. Train your brain to see the other side. Train it and keep training because it will become who you are. Once it becomes who you are it will still require training, but it will be more natural to accept the things you trained it to do.

It’s Mother’s Day today. It’s time to recognize the value and importance of Mothers. Mothers, you’re doing an invaluable job, wishing you the happiest day filled with gratitude for all you do!

What's really at stake is if we don't act. The biggest risk isn't in what we actually do, it's in what we don't do. The risk of missing what was ours. Or missing what should have been done. Those are the real large risks we can't afford to take.

Thoughts direct our actions. The more control you have over your thoughts the more control you have over yourself. Your thoughts will eventually manifest themselves. Control your thoughts.

Rest is much sweeter after work. Too much rest is damaging but perfect rest after work is rejuvenation. Work hard, rest well. 

Keep your heart tender. Time and life can harden your heart. You can have a strong heart but also a tender one. Hard hearts make life bleak and cold. Tender hearts make life warmer and fuller. 

Have things to look forward to. Thats what hope is all about. Without hope or things to look forward to we get lost. 

We’re geared to always do more. What more can I do is a question we often ask ourselves. But maybe the better question is, what can I do less or stop doing? Our lives get so cluttered. Stopping things may be more important than starting new things. What behaviours and patterns can I stop that will help my quality of life? What self destructive cycles can I stop? What areas am I wasting time that I can stop? Stopping may be more important than starting in moving ahead in todays fast paced world. 

Rewards don't come free. Rewards come after you've paid the price. The price can me time, risk or many other currencies. Don't expect reward when you haven't invested the effort.

It’s best to forget the past but remember where we came from. The past includes all the bad things that have happened. The past even includes accomplishments.  Yesterdays accomplishments shouldn’t occupy any of todays space, because it doesn’t do anything but slow us down. So forget the past. Remember where you came from so you can measure how far you’ve come. But keep your eye laser focused on where you’re going. 

Your response is more important than the event prompting your response. If we receive something negative, it’s up to us to stop the cycle. If it’s positive it’s on us to keep it going. 

Our society is geared for everything to be fast. We’re always in a hurry. But that’s so against nature itself. Good things take time. It’s important to learn to slow down and let things unfold at their pace. Rushing things rarely makes for a better end. The journey is the good part. We always want to get to the end but we miss the good part of the journey. Slow down!