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Today is a good day to realize more than anything else how important it is to keep in
touch with our individuality and our moral compass. You do a good job with this and it helps keep you "moored."
Our individuality is our personhood. There are those people out there who make you feel like you've been
sucked into their emotional black hole but this won't happen to you if you protect your own sense of individualness. It's
who you are and it's what makes you a beautiful unique person. Take the high road every chance you get!
Mental stamina ranks right up there with resilience when it comes to
improving self-esteem and keeping ourselves just plain old feeling good about ourselves. So what do I mean by mental stamina?
Well, in the first place, it means just find something you're good at it and keep doing it. Or find something that you
know you should be doing and keep doing that too. It takes stamina to get continued results. Sometimes it seems a bit dull
to keep doing the same thing again and again and again. But that's how you develop mental stamina -- do it often enough
and you'll eventually get pretty good at it. Maybe it's a bit like competing with ourselves. Perfection? Forget that.
None of us will ever be perfect. But we can be better than we were yesterday. You're up to it, so just keep at it.
Talent shines like a searchlight. And when you have talent -- for anything you
can do -- use it to make the world a better place. Talent and creativity are not necessarily the same thing so don't hide
behind the old saw that you have no creativity. Truth is, we all are creative in some way. If you're fortunate, you're
creative in many ways. When you identify your own creativity, then you can shape it into talents. Expressing that creativity
that you turn into talents is good for your brain too. It release brain chemicals that bind to pleasure centers in the brain.
That explains why pursuing creative expressions gives us such a feeling of well-being. You don't have to be a Van Gogh
to be creative. My mother, for instance, was always mystified when she was told that she was highly creative (which she was).
She didn't understand it because she couldn't draw or paint. Yet she used a tremendous amount of creativity when she
cooked and when she crocheted. I have many pieces of ceramics that the painted. And she went through a period when she tried
her hand at textile painting. Yes, indeed, she was very creative and she was able to capture a lot of her creativity and express
it through talents. You can do the same.
Today you realize that you have a lot of talents to share with others. Actually
we all have lots to share and when we open up to others, we get as much as we give. A big boost in self esteem awaits you
when you do something nice for other people, whether as a full fledged volunteer in a program or caring agency, or just sending
a cheerful little note or a birthday card. My dear mother loved to cook. Sadly all the kids left home and she had no one to
cook all those delicious big meals for. Then one day she decided she'd cook a big beef roast. Just like old times. She
charged right on over to Wal-Mart and bought some of those containers that look like TV dinner trays. They had snap on lids
too. I think Rubbermaid may have made them. She bought a half dozen or so sets. Roast beef with gravy in the big section,
then mashed potatoes in another, and green beans (her specialty) in the third section. She supplied a store bought dinner
roll in a baggy. Then she marched around her neighborhood and delivered a couple of them to people who, like herself, were
living alone. She stashed the rest. I guess she had enough for several meals for herself. But man oh man did she make a hit.
She'd do the same things with her cakes. German chocolate was one of her favorite cakes to make. She delivered big pieces
of her chocolate cake to her friends at the bank, her insurance broker, neighbors, and even the lady at the optometrist's
office. I didn't hear these stories until she'd died though. She loved to cook. I mean she loved to cook
-- and she loved to share her efforts with others. And they loved her for it. So share your efforts and talents with other
people. They'll love you for it.
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Believe it or not, you have what you need right now. If you don't think so,
then go through your closets, drawers and other places where you put your stuff. We basically buy 4 things -- food, clothing,
shelter, transportation. Depending on how much money you make will determine how much you spend on each of those items. Like
whether you're driving a Lincoln Town Car or a Focus. The more you make, the more you spend on those four items. Or you
may eat like a gourmet versus something more humble. There is a fifth item -- maybe you call it miscellaneous or discretionary
spending. That's where entertainment gets tucked in. If you're active in a church congregation, a lot of your discretionary
money goes toward supporting your church and engaging in fellowship activities of your congregation. The problem that
a lot of people have is that they shop for entertainment. They come out of a store feeling guilty that they bought so much
stuff. Maybe they return it within a day or so and maybe they don't. Maybe they just stash it somewhere. So next time
you think you need something, it's probably because you want something, or you want to go shopping.
Make a list, instead, of all the reasons why you should not go shopping. Figure out about how much you
would spend and put that amount in your savings account. Don't have a savings account? Then start one. Don't have
any cash? Maybe it's because you go shopping a lot and are spending the money you will be making in May 2010 because
between now and then you'll be paying off what you've been spending for the last couple of years.
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Be a peace keeper. How do you do this? By being aware of the needs, wants, limits
and talents of those around you. You can get along with other people when you pay attention to them. If you honor
them. We are all in a rowboat cruising down this huge big river of life so we ought to be concerned about making sure the
boat stays afloat. All it takes is one person to tip it over and when that happens, we all sink. We help keep the boat afloat
by affirming all the passengers. Each and every one of us is looking for affirmation. We get affirmations when other people
make us feel like we're a valuable part of their lives. We affirm others when we make them feel like we value them. Show
someone you value them today. Affirm someone.
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You have lots of good ideas. So it's no wonder that others want to re-engineer
your thinking and make it look like your ideas are their own. Think of this as flattery. They just can't come up with
the good stuff like you can. Problem is, other people don't exactly give you credit for your good ideas. Would be nice
if they did, but thought thieves don't operate that way. Cheer up -- it they didn't think your ideas were any good,
they'd just ignore you.
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You're supposed to be feeling pretty energetic today. Got lots to do so hop
to it! Humor works with making any relationship a happy place to camp out in. So put a smile on your face and make everyone
glad they ran into you today. Greet every person you meet with a nice comment about them. That's what makes you
a charming person, you know. The lady at the checkout counter yesterday had on the most gorgeous earrings and I told her so.
You'd think I gave her a $10 tip! And then I said, "You have a nice day, Rachel." Always look for their name
tags and thank them for their help, by name!
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Be your own cheerleader! First thing you have to do is believe in yourself. That
doesn't mean you go around bragging about all the wonderful things you do but it does mean you know what you need to know
to get jobs done. And done well! So be proud of yourself and quietly pat yourself on the back once in a while. You deserve
it!
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