My Riffs

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.