My Riffs

Get above the situation to gain a better perspective. Looking up at it or across from it makes it seem larger. Getting above gives perspective. One of the best ways to get above is to get others view points. That helps you see from multiple views and that way you get a higher viewpoint.  

How much restraint can you show? You can test this by measuring how you can keep your mouth closed. The tongue is the most difficult thing to restrain. If you can master control over your words, you have mastered restraint.

So much to be thankful for that there’s no time to complain. 

If you’ve never been low you don’t know how to appreciate the higher moments in life. You can’t experience one without the other. Take the lows for what they are, use them to reach higher. 

Fighting rarely accomplishes what we want. It's not a good use of time and energy. Loving does much more.

The harder things you choose to do, the easier life gets. The easier things you choose to do, the harder life gets. 

Don’t seek controversy. Seek peace. Stirring up controversy doesn’t add to the world. But peacemaking does. 

Rest is critical. If you don’t stop to rest, eventually rest will choose you whether you like it or not. Rest often and you’ll go longer. 

 Failure is when you give up, not when you lose.

Good things don’t usually happen unless you plan on them. If you leave everything to chance or to others, there’s a good chance you will miss good things. So you have to go seize good things. 

You have to enjoy most of what you do in life. Or your life becomes miserable. There's certain things we all have to do that we don't enjoy. But if we're doing enough activities we enjoy, it makes it okay. Misery is doing things you dislike. Find things you love and enjoy and you will stave off misery.

You have to advocate for yourself, cause you can't rely on others to do it for you. Don't be obnoxious or boastful, but learn to advocate for yourself. People may not know unless you advocate for yourself.

Discipline is key. But there has to be enjoyment too. All discipline and no enjoyment is a recipe for misery and burnout. Find things to enjoy and learn to do them in moderation. 

Focus is one of the hardest things in modern times. The things that grab our focus most, often mean the least. The last temporal things grab our focus the most. The most lasting things seem to escape our attention. 

Growth is impossible without love. Fear and hate will inhibit or have the opposite effect of love. You want to grow, love. You want to see something else grow, pour in love!

You want to change the world? Start at home and be an example. That’s the most powerful thing you can do. 

Comparison is the thief of joy. The best comparison is to compare yourself against the best you. Don’t compare to other people. Compare to what you are capable of. Compare to what you are supposed to be. 

Trust is the foundational currency. Without trust there can be nothing built. Trust is something that has to be earned through time and experience. If you can build trust, you can build something great. Without trust you can’t build something great. 

What makes one rich? Meaningful relationships.  Health.  Wisdom. 

Health is a complex thing. Only when health is achieved in the major areas of life is one truly healthy. Imbalanced health isn’t true health. To achieve true health you must be healthy is multiple areas. 

Love has many looks. It looks like kindness. It looks like patience. It looks like preferring others. It looks like humble. There’s many ways to show your love and love looks a lot like self control and preferring others. 

Learn to laugh. When we laugh we feel better. Joy is strength. 

Faster isn’t always better. Usually faster means quality goes down. If it’s faster and quality stays high then it may be better. But better can be slower too. Slowing down and being present or slowing down and producing higher quality work can be better. 

We’ve been given a voice, but it only means something if we use it. And use it with wisdom, your voice won’t help people if you don’t use it with love. 

When you work, do work as if everyone is going to see it. Don’t do work as if it’s never to be seen. The goal isn’t for it to be seen but to produce quality that should be seen. Do quality work! That in itself is the reward. 

There’s a bad side to everyone. If we don’t keep that side in check, we are capable of being someone we aren’t proud of. There is a war inside everyone and we get to decide which side wins. If you sense the bad side creeping up, don’t give it an inch. Clamp down on it immediately. Stifle it. Extinguish it immediately. 

Find things in life to be able to laugh about. Laughter is the best medicine. There's enough sad and heavy things that we could always be down. So we have to choose to elevate ourselves. A great way of elevating yourself it to laugh!

Today is the first day of a new month. It’s a reminder you can turn the page on a previous chapter just that easily. A wise person will learn that you don’t have to wait for a calendar date to turn the page. You can turn it anytime you need and move forward. Dwelling on the past has little value. Move forward and strive upward.