A Great Weekend

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Starting next week (or possibly earlier) I’m going to be posting a few great links on the Direct Selling industry, as well as some info on our Company. Today, I’m just sharing some personal highlights from my past weekend.

Erica went out of town for four days, so starting a week ago Thursday evening I was on kid-duty. We started and ended the weekend with Pizza. And, as I think about it, we also ate quite a bit of it in between. Lots of pizza. And even some beer. Well, I was the only one that had beer. Not a lot. I don’t think the kids did. Possibly without me knowing, but don’t think so.

Moving on…

Some highlights included:

The Univera Xperience on Friday night, where the kids came and heard me speak (more fun for me than them). I introduced them at the event and even asked a few questions of Royce, who later informed me “Dad, I liked it a lot when everyone was clapping for me…But I didn’t like it when you started asking me questions and I had to talk.” Ahhh, yes. This is a familiar feeling.

Next day consisted of a soccer game, Royce played great. Hustled hard, that’s what I love. Then off to a car show of sorts that we stumbled upon.

We saw this amazing modified car, that I am thinking we should embrace it at Univera for the next highest rank beyond Blue Diamond (Ambassador?). The kids were, well, freaked out by it. They just didn’t understand why someone would do that to their car. I was no help at providing any suggested answers–but it did remind me of my days when I lived a few short months in Kentucky. Seriously, it did.

A really wild car

Saturday afternoon included a five mile bike ride, where 90% of it was a blast for the kids and the last 10% consisted of tears because they were tired (hey, they were the ones that said “let’s keep going”!). Then dress up of the doggie, who I’m not sure enjoyed it quite as much as Zoe did.

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The highlight was the tooth pulling, just great. Zoe’s now missing all four and I love it. So cute. And if you have the patience or interest in watching the video below, I documented the actual pulling for Erica since she couldn’t be there–and usually it’s the other way around. Not sure if this little clip will entertain anyone else other than me and my family, but Erica this is for you.

We slept in the trailer that night, falling asleep to the Muppet Movie…Not, like, next to it. Watching it. And waking up a bit cold and sore. Kids kept falling off one of the beds at night (because we were situated on a fairly nice little tilt) and they were on these slippery sleeping bags that caused them to keep sliding right off the bed. I felt a bit bad for them yet I do remember waking up a few times and laughing. Of course, the fifth time I had to pick them up the floor it was starting to get annoying. Note to self: next time it actually will be worth it to level the trailer.

Then, Sunday morning, before the trek to church as I was getting ready I heard a huge thud on the window. I looked out and saw a raft of feathers floating in the air. Yep, a little guy had flown right into our bedroom window and knocked himself out cold. So I showed the kids, and they stayed at his little bedside for 20 minutes but nothing was going on though he was still conscious and half standing–barely–and in a stupora just half-standing there for quite a while. I was surprised he was even alive. So they gave him a little prayer, and then about five minutes later he was on his way. That was a nice little win in the morning.

A Zonked Out Bird

Afternoon we went on a tear cleaning up the place, and as you could see from the video there was much to be done. But, we got a lot of it done. But it probably consumed too much intensity from Dad. Note to self: kids operate at a very different speed than you.

And it finally ended with them watching this movie I got when I was in India in January, a kids movie that was totally done Bollywood style in Hindi with English subtitles. When I bought it I didn’t even conceive that the kids would ask me to read EACH of the subtitles throughout the movie, but after five minutes they quit asking and watched the entire thing, mesmerized, while using Ruby as a pillow.

And at the end of it all I realized how much I had really enjoyed the simple things of life that make it so memorable–and enjoyable. It was, a great weekend. ๐Ÿ™‚

Dog Pillow

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10 Tips from Happy People

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This one requires little intro or explanation. ๐Ÿ™‚

10 Tips from Happy People
Are you happy? It’s a simple question, but with numerous variables underlying it. What makes someone happy? Is there more than one route to happiness and more than one way to measure it?
If you’re an economist or a social scientist, you may conduct scientific surveys that try to gauge levels of contentment or satisfaction. If you’re a religious leader, you may wonder if someone feels spiritually fulfilled, connected to a community and in touch with his or her chosen deity. Being married often boosts happiness, as does a genetic basis for a sunnier disposition. Older women become less happy than their male counterparts, who report increased levels of happiness as they age

Click here to read the whole story.

happy

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An Unexpected Gift

This is probably one of the most amazing stories I’ve heard in quite some time…Words don’t do justice to it, so if you read the article and like it I’d suggest you also watch the video. What an incredible story of an unexpected gift.

Although Phoenix cab driver Tom Chappell insists he always knows where he’s going, he has been known to miss a turn or two.
Such was the case the day we rode with him, and such was the case a few months ago, the day Tom got called to the home of Rita Van Loenen.
“I was running about 30 minutes late. When I finally did pick her up she was not a happy camper,” said Tom.
“Well, I mean I’m expecting a cab driver to be able to find his way,” said Rita.

Read and watch this story.

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Without a Job

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Purpose, a feeling of belonging, “doing what you’re destined to be doing.”

It’s interesting in that, the current economic environment, while making I expect all of us more content with the blessings we have, has also prompted a question about the meaning and purpose behind what we’re doing.

Is it meaningful? Making an impact? Of value? Contributing to a greater good?

This article is a great reminder of the feeling that WE ALL have about the importance of belonging to something. And, that something, is another reason why I love this industry. It’s not the only way to make an impact, but it is an amazing way to contribute. Perhaps a little unconventional? Yeah. Often misunderstood? Definitely. But totally aligned to drive the destiny of some to greater heights? Unquestionably.

Find something you love, find a place you can make an impact, and as the Nike guys say: “just do it.”

Candidates for city office usually scrape by with traditional sorts of volunteers: college students, retirees, the occasional neighborhood activist.
But this year, a different crowd is landing on their doorsteps: bankers, lawyers, accountants, real estate brokers and other highly credentialed professionals, all of whom have been laid off. They are flooding the offices of even the most obscure campaigns, looking for purpose and fighting off the despondency and isolation that come with being unemployed.
โ€œI was getting into kind of a depression, so to be a volunteer for Eduardo is like a medicine for me,โ€ said Maria Guillen of Queens, who lost her $100,000-a-year job as a loan officer in December and is volunteering for the City Council candidate Eduardo Giraldo.

Click here to read the full story.

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Keep on Keepin’ On–From Jerry.

Football and Perseverance

I’m in a blogging rut. Big time. It’s been like two postings in about three weeks. Writing this is an important part of my life, for reasons I don’t fully understand. Successful writing requires consistency. And, right now, my consistency sucks (learned that word reading a Harvard Biz School publication).

It’s not that I don’t have things I’d like to write about.

Topics abound, including…The great experience of Royce making my day by selecting a certain jersey number…A wonderful lesson in leadership that I learned from a cab driver…Another testimonial to tenacity and hard work from a guy who just opened a restaurant…Some observations about motive and parenting–as well as first impressions–I personally experienced while volunteering for the Children’s Museum recently…Even a personal letdown about a goal I had for October (running) that got derailed due to an injury.

So the problem isn’t lack of topics. Yeah, time is an issue. But I choose to make the time for things that are important to me. So, all of us always feel like time as an issue–but if you REALLY want to do something, you’ll find the time to make it happen. Everyone is tight on time.

It’s this motivation issue that I am certain is the key to so many peoples successes and others “failures” (who am I to call someone’s life or shortcoming a failure, apart from my own?). It’s not even that it’s THAT difficult (most things in life aren’t), it’s just that it’s hard to keep going sometimes. It’s easier to diagnose this problem on a smaller scale, like blogging, than something much more substantial.

Yet, I think the drivers and attributes are largely the same for success large and small. For the most part, how someone does everything is how they do anything.

It’s easy to do something when you’re motivated. But even when you have the drive, invariably there comes a period of apathy. Even AFTER you have selected something you’re passionate about.

That period is the magic maker for all of us.

The problem for most of us, is that there are sufficient times we’re not motivated to keep on keepin’ on. It’s why I’m so impressed with people who accomplish successful levels of leadership or difficult activities, such as leadership positions in Direct Selling Companies, or Exec’s in certain companies, marathon or triathlon runners, people who have lost a lot of weight, and on and on. It’s not so much the accomplishment that’s so impressive, it’s the hours and hours and hours of preparation, training, commitment, discipline, and getting after it–especially when you don’t feel like it–that I find so impressive. It’s unusual that people can achieve these things without finding some motivation, sometimes within but often through others. And as I write, one name keeps coming to mind about a man who had such an impact on me years ago.

Jerry Helvey.

He worked at Anderson Unviersity when I played football there. I’m not even sure what he did officially. He seemed to do a little bit of everything–coaching, equipment, field maintenance, teaching.

Unofficially, however, I remember exactly what he did: He kept us going.

Encouraged us. Pushed and carried us. Moved us forward. Sometimes using humor, sometimes sincerity, and sometimes toughness. But he always did the same thing. He kept us moving on towards the goal. Take the next step, take the next step, take the next step.

I wish there were a little secret to success that made it all easy; certainly, there are so many things that involve personal development that can make you a better person, more effective, more efficient. And no question there are better ways to get things done, or some things that are innately impossible that hard work won’t simply solve. But with most goals and objectives you’ll never go against “the law of the farm”, which basically resonates with the reality that hard work and moving forward is the magic maker to the harvest.

I’m sitting here in Seattle working on the laptop at Stumptown and all around me I see people facing choices, and it’s those choices and activities that will help determine their destiny. Particularly during the down periods.

And as I write here, 2,000 miles from my alma mater, and 15-years later, I can still hear his booming voice as he would run through our team while we warmed up during football season, his bellowing voice would call out as if he were saying it to just me “Keep on keepin’ on men. Keep on keepin’ on.”

And, I think I’ll do just that.

No doubts, take Lasix only as prescribed by your doctor. Levitra is one of the best-known medications of all when. What is the most significant info you must study about levitra vs cialis? Most doctors say the effectiveness of Levitra is well documented. Absolutely, a sexual problem refers to a problem during any phase of the sexual response cycle that prevents the individual from experiencing satisfaction from the sexual life. Whilst sex is not vital for good soundness, it’s doubtless great for anyone. Why it happen? What kinds of professionals treat sexual diseases in men? A common class of antidepressants, which include Zoloft — can kill the mood in bedroom.