My Riffs

Having a bad day? Don’t give up! Dig in instead of drop out.  Attacking the day or whatever the challenge is, is the best way to not give up. Get after it, don’t sulk. Don’t overthink. Take a break if needed, but get up and at it after a short break. Don’t give up!

Discouragement can undo us. There’s so many reasons people feel discouraged today too. Mental toughness is what it takes to keep ourselves focused and encouraged. Mental strength can be built. It just takes right decision after right decision to build it. Taking inventory of our thoughts and discarding negativity helps build a more reliant mind and can help us fend off discouragement.  If we can learn that things we see as impediments are actually usable to solve the problem, we can spin apparent negatives into positives. 

What we allow will affect us. From food, to books and music, whatever we intake will form who we are.  We need to filter out junk or we will become less.  Practice discipline in what you consume because what you consume may end up consuming you. 

Here’s a great life hack. We’re pressured to do more. Work more, save more, rest more, make more connections.  What if we did less? Did less work so we could work better.  Spent less so we could save more.  Worked less so we could rest more.  Connected with people better so we didn’t spread ourselves thin.  Maybe life is about refining and cutting out the unnecessary as much or more than doing more. 

Self driven cars are all the talk these days.  What we really could use is more self driven people.  If you find your why (your purpose) that can become what drives you.  Self driven people can accomplish more, for longer than people who require a push can.  Find what drives you and let it propel you forward. 

 Do right. Don't overthink the outcomes. Just do right. The best possible outcome will happen you can be assured. Doing right produces the best possible outcome.

We can stay down too long when we make a mistake.  Get back up again, right away.  Wallowing does nothing.  Mistakes are opportunities learn, reset and get better. 

Overthinking is like getting stuck in a rut. It’s hard to get out of overthinking. And it doesn’t allow you to go many places. So think but don’t overthink. Be a person of action. 

I think we quit too early too often. Sure there comes a time to cut our losses. But we give up too soon in general. Many things require perseverance. And that only comes by not giving up when we feel like it. It’s one thing to keep doing the same thing over and over again with the same results. But a wise person keeps doing the right things over and over again until they get a breakthrough. 

Don’t deny your emotions. They’re there for a reason. Identify them and investigate why you’re feeling them, but control them. Emotions can be good informers but terrible directors. Control them. 

Got challenges? Don’t be discouraged. Those challenges are exactly what you need. Are they pleasant? Most likely not. But the challenges are what will propel you forward. They’re what will make you better. They’re what will refine you. So take on those challenges and don’t be discouraged by them. 

If you drive through Houston, you may see it said “Be Something”.  Don’t drift through life aimless; Be Something! Be something good, strong and helpful!

Things probably haven't gone how you hoped. There may have even been some shipwreck along the way. It's easy to get caught up in dwelling on the past. The past needs to be dealt with, so some order of mourning and grief is important. But ruminating makes us weaker. Gather yourself and put your energy and focus into strengthening what remains. You can rebuild and thrive again, just start with what you have remaining.

When it’s hard to tell the truth, that’s when it’s more important and needed. It needs to be spoken in love, but it needs to be said and done.  Not saying the truth is as wrong as lying. 

What’s the best healing balm? Love, applied liberally.   Love is a power of a higher level that we can tap into. Love liberally. 

A hurt person will find offence in everything. A healthy person will find peace. Clear your mind and work for health. A clear mind is worth the work. 

Praying for people in and around Kerville, Texas today. 

Try things. Gain experience. Experience is the best teacher. 

The birthday of America.  Some things are worth celebrating. To both acknowledge their past importance and encourage a good future. 

The things calling the loudest for your attention just may be distractions.  Just cause it’s loud doesn’t mean it’s important.  Sometimes the quietest things are the most important. 

The younger you are the more you think about the future and what you wanna be and do. Then you get to middle life and you're bogged down in the here and now, it's hard to look back and thinking ahead can be challenging too. I presume once you get older and life slows down you can tend to live in the past. But all three have one thing in common, you only have the present. No matter what you're dwelling on, you only have the present. We should be continually asking ourselves if we're making the most of the present.

It’s a new month today. It’s a reminder that things change. The season your in can change. That goes both ways. So be prepared and remain hopeful no matter what. 

Being true means living honestly and living out your principles.  It’s easy to be influenced by fears or pressures. But be true. Live out your principals no matter who disagrees. It causes too much damage to live against your principals.  

We seek comfort and coddling. We will even go extreme length for comfort and coddling. How many times will we drive a parking lot just to find a spot a few feet closer? We want comfort and to be told we're okay. And we need that assurance. But we also need to know we can be better. Getting better can't happen in comfort. But we don't get uncomfortable often enough.  Reject unnecessary comforts, or enjoy them in small measures. Know coddling from appreciation. We need appreciation but we also need to hear when we can be better. A coddled individual cannot handle challenge. Get uncomfortable, stretch, grow and search for your weaknesses in order to address them.

Peace isn’t burying a problem . That only delays and magnifies the problem.   Peace is intentional elimination of contention. Avoidance isn’t peace.  Peace is usually found on the other side of some form of confrontation. 

Thanking someone will increase the chances of them doing it again or doing more. Be liberal with thanking people. Appreciation and recognition of a job well done will go far!

Getting better requires being around better. Surrounding yourself with better people will elevate you.  Your circle can lower you or raise you.  You can choose your friends and by doing so choose where you’re going.  

Do you want to grow? Get uncomfortable. You won't grow from a place of comfort. Push your comfort zone to extend yourself. You will grow into where you extend yourself. I like to run, to run faster and better I have to get uncomfortable. A comfortable run won't net me much benefit. An uncomfortable run has lots of potential benefit. 

Staying in your safe place comes with risk. Risk of not discovering. You have to venture out in order to discover. You won't know there's better unless you venture out and discover. Is it risky? Yeah but it's just as risky to stay put.

Get ahead when you can. Starting behind is demoralizing. Try and jump out ahead whenever possible. A head start will take a lot of pressure off. Plan and get ahead. 

Real power is truth in kindness. You can accomplish a lot with truth in kindness. 

How do you know you’re getting smarter? You may make the same mistakes less. Smarter means you learn to avoid needless pain. Smarter means you treat people with more respect. Smarter means you listen more and speak less. 

The past can weigh a lot. Lay it down. Move on. It's unchangeable. Move on.

A great way to motivate is to celebrate. People respond to celebration more than criticism. Celebrate the things they do well instead of criticizing what they may have missed. 

Your knowledge will grow as your listening skills increase.  You learn more when you listen well.  Listen and then act. You learn even more when you do. 

Today I was working on a task and took my eyes off it for too long. It required me to go back and do it again. Lesson learned, keep your eyes on the task or you may end up making it worse. Don't start something you can't see through to completion or hand off. It may end up taking more work and costing more than you set out to spend.

Nobody can get it right 100% of the time. That means we will fail. We have to give ourselves the grace and patience when we do. It's how we get better, by trying and practicing. When we fail we can get better and learn. If you don't try anything you can't really make mistakes. So mistakes are part of trying. Give yourself the grace to make a mistake.

Your treasure will be where your heart is. Your heart will get what it wants. And your treasure will flow to where your heart is. Your heart is your steering wheel. That means keep your heart pure. 

You can see what you wanna see. Looking for bad will turn up bad. Looking for good will turn up good. Bad can't be ignored completely, but it doesn't have to be what's looked for.

Find your people. You'll know they're your people when... You're not afraid to share your faults and failures You're not afraid to share dreams They can tell you the truth with kindness You leave time with them feeling better Gravitate to these types of people. They will make you better.

Stronger means pain. Stronger means endurance. Stronger means discipline. Stronger means difficult decisions. Stronger means saying no to a lot. Stronger doesn't happen naturally. Weaker happens naturally. Stronger means getting better. It's the way forward.

Some things just take time. There's no way to speed them up and if you can it only slows down the process. Impatience and hurry can do more damage than the original hurt. Healing and growing things need time and space to do their work. They need to be tended to, but hurrying them is damaging.

Speak truth so you can live with yourself. It’s also your best chance to help make positive effects on others. Never lie, but also make sure to speak truth. We can speak around the truth or we can speak the direct truth. 

We can reflect light or absorb darkness.  Light makes us and others better. Darkness is like quicksand and will eventually pull us down.  Speak light. Think light. Be around light. Darkness is too heavy. 

Get ahead of what you can. You’ll be better able to handle what comes when you get ahead of it. 

Train your brain to be grateful. Train it to find the good. We default to what’s wrong and the negative. So we have to flex our mind to get it stronger. 

To get to your destinations you have to be resilient. Life is full of surprises and challenges. We won't get to where we're heading without some setbacks, hurts, losses, disappointments and plan changes. But how resilient are you? That's the important factor here. Progress isn't linear but it's resilience that keeps the trend going in the right direction.

We have limited energy, both daily and on a whole. If we spend our days wasting energy on things that are drains, we will run down entirely. Save your energy for things that matter. Be very wise in giving your energy away. 

The substance will eventually come out. You can dress something up but eventually the substance will be exposed. What your made of will at some point be shown. Work on the inner person, it’s what people will see and what will make you who you are. 

Making peace doesn't always equal no conflict. Sometimes peace requires conflict and conflict resolution. To make peace you may have to go to battle. Don't go to battle just to have conflict, go to battle to achieve peace.

If you have faith and hope you can do anything. Never lose hope and never lose faith. Cling to them even when circumstances don’t bear any evidence of having reason for them. 

You have to communicate what you want. Too often we expect others to know what we want or need. It's a simple formula: ask and you shall receive. Doesn't mean you will always get what you ask for, but it means you won't get something if you don't ask. So communicate, we can't expect others to guess or know. 

What load will you carry voluntarily? The heavier load is the one you buck up against. You will carry a load, but the one you voluntarily carry will be easier to bear. 

If someone wants to project negativity on you, deflect it. Don’t take on everything people try and dump on you. You have no obligation to take it on. Guard what you accept and allow. Build healthy boundaries. 

Some days you take to memorialize something. We need to honour those who deserve it. Take time and honour people who have done the hard work and made our world better. 

Rest is something that is frowned upon in our society. We don’t applaud someone who rests, we applaud those who work harder. But rest is necessary. Rest makes our work better. Rest makes us better. People who rest properly do more efficiently. People who rest properly go further and in with better health. Rest is okay. 

Make the best of today and always hope for the best tomorrow. Be present but hope for tomorrow. Things won’t go to plan but that’s okay. Hope for the best and know things will require constant rerouting. 

Wiring your thinking to have gratitude by default changes your life. When you can live by gratitude your whole world changes. In every way. Practice gratitude until it becomes part of who you are. It’s a simple as writing down every single day just one thing you’re grateful for. 

If you don’t set your priorities the lower ones will always overtake. Set priorities and make sure your time spent matches. Your priorities have to be intentional. 

Have a clean conscience. Or else it will be become callous. Once it's callous it's hard to ever get true again. Don't go against your conscience or else you will learn to accept wrong. Clear your conscience and don't let it sit unsettled for long.

Chances are you’re blessed beyond measure. But the question is, what’s your measurement of a blessing? Is it material things? Is it bank account size? Or is it quality of relationships? Is it health? Is it family?

Time is our most valuable resource. But to dial in even more granular, attention is our more valuable resource. We can spent time on something important but not pay attention and thus losing the time we spent. So attention more be the truest most valuable resource. 

You gain wisdom through pain. But you can also gain wisdom from counsel of many friends. Gain wisdom and hold it close. 

Without discipline we have no grip on life. Discipline provides us the grip to take and mold life. Otherwise life just comes at us and we can only react. 

How do you know what’s right? Sometimes it’s hard. But some clues may be if it’s truthful. Or if it’s loving. Does it build or destroy? These things may help guide if it’s right. 

We’re always in such a hurry. We rush past real life only to partake in the shallow and temporary. Only when we slow down can we fully appreciate what we already have. 

You will leave the people you have contact with feeling something. Will they feel loved and respected? Or will they be left feeling other things? No matter the relationship you can leave the person feeling respected and you can be kind. 

An encouraging word can lift someone but a harsh word can crush them. Be an encourager. You can lift people. Lift people and encourage them, you can play a part in seeing people succeed.

Being thorough usually saves times. Once you cross the line from thorough to overthinking you're now wasting time though. Being thorough is somewhere in between being too quick and getting bogged down into inaction through overthinking.   

Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful Mothers out there. Your contributions to the world and our future cannot be overstated. We are so grateful for all you do!

You’re leaving a legacy. Whether you want to or not, you are. Your actions will leave a legacy behind you. Choose wisely because it does effect others. 

The only way to handle wasted time is to waste no more. Dealing in what ifs won’t help a thing. But moving forward more motivated and more efficient is the best way to handle wasted time. 

Don’t give away your peace. Don’t let someone steal. Your peace is worth more than being right. It’s worth more than being offended. Don’t allow people to offend you. Realize their actions speak more about them than you. Keep your peace at all costs, it’s worth more than anything you can trade it for. 

Feeling out of rhythm with life? Check your habits and routines. They either lack or are out of sync.

People don't care about your opinion or advice if you don't care about them. To make an impact you have to care first. Care before you try and help or change, otherwise it's ineffective.

Cheer them! People who are in your sphere of influence, cheer them on! Your cheering will do more than your criticism. Encourage good work. Encourage bravery. Encourage creativity. Encourage them that they can do it. They just must do it because you believed in them. 

As much as possible, get ahead of it. Anticipate what you can and get ahead of it. You have a much better chance of success on the early side rather than the late side. 

Things can't be all good, all the time. You have to accept the bad. Not accept it in the way of allow it to become the norm. But accept that life comes with good and bad. To love the good you have to know what the bad is like. Accept the bad and reach for the good.

So much of what we worry about doesn’t come to pass. Which means we wasted precious time and energy worrying. It’s hard to not worry, but we have to learn when it’s no longer worth our time. We can spiral into more and more “what’s ifs” and “only ifs”. But we will never come to know until reality plays out. So put the brakes on worry by taking control of that within your grasp. 

Today is May. It’s the turn of a page. Things are warming up and blooming. Time to start making positive changes. Time to look upward. Time to plant, grow and reach up. 

Give credit to where it's due. Deflect praise but accept constructive criticism. That's a healthy formula to keep your ego in check.

Count your blessings. We want to dwell on what’s missing but we need to count our blessings. It takes our focus from what’s what we don’t have to what we do have. And chances are we have enough. 

Prevailing winds will shape the way a tree leans. It will shape the way the branches reach. Your mind is the prevailing wind of your life. You’ll lean the way of your most pervasive thoughts. Adjust your course by adjusting your thoughts. 

Find good friends. You’ll become the people you hang around. So intentionally find friends of good character who challenge you. Find friends who tell the truth no matter what but do it in kindness. Find friends who are amazing and you’ll be amazing. 

How easy can you laugh? How easy can you laugh at yourself? The closer you are to laughter the closer you are to a light heart. A heavy heart weighs us down but a light heart is like wings. 

Stay true to your values. Values are something that defines how we live. What are the traits and behaviours we want to take after? These things are our values. When we compromise our values we do more damage than having ignored the values altogether. Compromising values is damaging to our person. But living out our values makes us into the best person we can be. 

Planning and preparation should always include things going wrong. When do plans go exactly as expected? Rarely. So plan for the unexpected. 

Easter Sunday, a reminder that it’s not too late for another chance. That tomorrow can be different. That you can start again. That everything can be okay again. Trust and follow. 

Being present is harder than ever before in history. So much is trying to grab our short attention spans. Our brains are so rarely focused on the present task for any significant length of time. It’s gonna take training and intentionality to remove distractions and to become ever more present. But it’s possible. Be present with the ones you love. Be present with the things you love doing. Push aside the distractions. Because you only have now. 

If you had today you had what you need. Did you use it wisely? Or did you let it slip away? Did you spend it on negativity or jealously? Don’t let tomorrow slip away. 

 If you appreciate someone or something they’ve done, tell them! Don’t wait until it’s too late. Encourage their good works. 

Speak clearly. Live transparently. Love fully. 

Are you driven? What drives you to do the things you do? Are you driven by discipline and goals or driven by other things like bad habits or even ego? Ask yourself why you do the things you do and you'll quickly find out what drives you. Good drivers will take you good places. Bad drivers will do the opposite. 

Your life will become a product of your habits. Have very few and sloppy habits? That's what your life will resemble. What if you have disciplined and healthy habits? Your life will produce things of discipline and health. Bad habits will produce bad results, good habits will produce healthy results. Take stock of all your habits. List them. You will quickly see a picture of where you're heading.

Real truth may confront, but it will always love. Truth that's used as a weapon is simply meanness. We can speak truth but it has to be wrapped in love.

You gotta jump in. Standing on the sidelines has to end at some point. Learning really starts once you jump in and do. So jump in and give it a try. If you get it wrong, fix it and try again. But jump in, the sidelines have little to teach. Do and learn. 

Making the right choice is the important thing. It may not be the easiest choice or the most expedient one. But the right choice leads to the best possible outcome. Even if the outcome isn’t what you hoped for, it’s still the best possible outcome because you made the right choice. 

Life is always revolving through seasons. But we have to learn to read the season. Sometimes it’s time to plant and sometimes it’s time to sow. We have to use wisdom to determine the season and appropriate action for the season. 

Love more. That means care for other more. The rewards are many when you pour into others. It's the only way to truly live. Holding in your love shrinks your world until it suffocates you. Love big and expand your world.

It’s impossible to get what we want without hard work. If you’re not willing to put in the work, don’t hope for the results. Work hard and then hope for results. Skipping the work means not getting the results. Want something? Work for it. Don’t wait or expect things to fall into your hands. 

Your time if your most valuable resource. But it's your attention that matters. You can spend time in place, but what has your attention? Your attention is really the place you spend your time. You truly pay for attention. Paying attention has the highest cost. So spend your attention ever so wisely on things that are worth it. There's a very long list of things that aren't worth spending your attention on. It's a smaller list that's worth the spend. Don't give away your attention easily, spend it on things of value.

Sometimes it’s as simple as just asking. How many things have we left on the table simply because we don’t ask? You’ll never know unless you ask. Use your voice, ask, negotiate. You may end up getting what you want or need. 

Be your best. Not their best. Be your best. Your best looks different from others. Level up to your best. Others can help challenge you to be your best, but make sure it’s you best, not what they want for them. 

Are you patient? Are you kind? Are you gentle? Can you endure good and bad? Can you continue to hope? Are you jealous?  These are good measurements of love. 

The internet has ushered in fake like nothing before. You must learn to discern and vet information. You have to question and validate things for yourself. Taking things at face value may lead you astray. So learn to question what you see and read. You can find opinions in everything contradict each other. Do deep research and learn to find the truth. 

Be a peacemaker. There's a difference between making peace and faking peace. You can fake peace, but that only delays the issues. Peace making involves confronting issues and working through them.  So make peace, to do so sometimes you have to be assertive and even confrontational. You can still be kind, but to bring real peace you have to deal with the issues.

We’re all teaching the next generation. What we say to them is so important. But they’re really learning by what we do. Not so much by what we say. Our words can damage or inspire them. But they’re gonna tend repeat our actions. So it’s our actions that are doing the teaching. You can say all the right things but if you’re not doing them you’re not teaching. 

So, so many distractions. Notifications. Calls. Screens. And so many other. What could we accomplish if we could minimize these distractions? Even just for a few hours per day or even just per week.