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10 Propositions About Time

1. Time is a precious commodity.
2. Time can be neither bought nor sold. 
3. Time cannot be reproduced or repeated.
4. Time cannot be duplicated; every moment is unique to itself.
5. Time affects us all.
6. Once time is past, it's gone forever.
7. Worrying about wasting time or the time we've wasted is, in and of itself, a waste of time.
8. We can make the most of our time or least of our time, but we cannot make time.
   
9. Time passes, despite the presence or lack of activity.
   
10. There's no time like the present and there's no present like the time.

Are You Doing It Right, Or Merely Doing It?

I had a lot going on and didn't have time to do it myself, so I hired a locksmith to repair the front door locking hardware on our house. A few hours after that guy left--with our money!--our renter called to tell me they couldn't get into the house because the front door hardware was broken. 

I drove to the house, gathered up the necessary parts that the purported locksmith had scattered around our entryway, and fixed the thing myself. It's worked for about 18 months now, without a hitch.

In similar fashion, the "professionals" from Sears who installed our new dishwasher failed to install it properly. Oh, the water and electrical connections are fine, but they didn't attach the unit securely to prevent it from tipping when we opened the door. 

I fixed that too. With two screws...and in less than 2 minutes. 

Just Don't Do Something!

Stressed Man Portrait by David Dominici (FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

You have a cluttered TO DO list, don't you?

So much to do, but no time left for the things that are really important.

For getting closer to your Creator.

For connecting with your spouse and children.

For getting lost in your own thoughts. 

For learning something new.

For pondering life's mysteries.

For creating.

Does that sound about right?

What Are You Willing To Risk?

Each of the 56 men who signed our Declaration of Independence made an extraordinary promise, penning their names below this affirmation, "...for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

They risked everything--their lives, possessions, and honor--to declare independence from the tyranny of the King of England.

They withheld nothing, because life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are unalienable rights, given not by man, but by the Creator of all things. 

Even those who are crowned as monarchs or elected as political leaders can neither give nor take these rights. 

20 Ways to Build Better Fitness Environment

From Leo Babauta at Zen Habits, here are 20 small actions you can take RIGHT NOW to create a health- and wellness-friendly environment:

1. 

   Photo: Just one of the hundreds of Great Ideas at Herbivoracious
   Get rid of the snacks. Don’t keep them in your house or you’ll be more likely to eat them.
2. Don’t buy convenience food. You’re likely to eat this when you’re too tired to cook.
3. Instead, cook big batches of healthy food once a week. Have it in the fridge, ready to be heated up.
4. Take healthy snacks to work.
5. Create a healthy eating challenge with your coworkers.
6. Join Fitocracy (invite code: zenhabits) and make friends there. Log your activities.
7. Join a running club.
8. Find a workout partner.
9. Set up an appointment with your best friend to go walking or running every day.
10. Get a coach.
11. Set fitness challenges with your friends. Log them online, on Facebook or some other social site.
12. Have a chinup bar in your doorway, and do a chinup every time you walk by.
13. Join a sports team.
14. Have nuts and fruit with you when you’re on the go.
15. Make it hard to turn on the TV (put it in the closet or something).
16. Use a program like LeechBlock or Freedom to shut the Internet down at a certain time each day.
17. Have healthy potlucks with friends or family.
18. Publicly commit to posting body pics or measurements each week on your blog.
19. Make a list of healthy restaurants, or healthy meals at other restaurants, for when you feel like eating out.
20. Park farther away from things so you’ll walk more.

Click HERE to read more.

Improving your fitness is much easier when you've built the right environment. Set up your winning self-improvement settings to include the right foods, easy-to-access exercise opportunities, and like-minded fitness partners.

Now Is a Good Time to Live Up to the Hype, Dads

I've been a dad for quite a few Father's Days now and I've received many wonderful cards.

I am happy to say that I've never had any doubts that my kids loved me or that the words they wrote in the cards were sincere.

On the other hand, I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that there were times when I actually believed the messages that were preprinted in the cards.

I was the World's Best Dad!

The Best Dad in History!

One in a Billion.

My image appeared next to the "father" entry in the encyclopedia.

According to the cards, if you broke me down into my basic elements, I was fun, brilliant, supportive, playful, hip, cool, and kind.

I was a legend in my own mind.

It was all hype, and hype can be dangerous if you actually start believing it.

Leadership Begins at Home

"Why do some of the sharpest leaders step up in the workplace but flake out when they walk into their home? Is it fatigue? Work overload? Or are they just out of their element?" (Dave Stone, Southeast Christian Church)

Those are good questions, aren't they? We've all read or heard stories of brilliant CEOs, industrial giants, and civic leaders who've failed at their primary roles as husbands and fathers.

We also know the stories of Average Joes like you and me who get so busy "providing" that they forget to provide what their mates and kids really need and crave--a close relationship with their husbands and kids.

Dave Stone, author of Building Family Ties with Faith, Love, and Laughter and Raising Your Kids to Love the Lord, suggests three critical times when you can lead your family in Leadership Begins at Home, over at Michael Hyatt's blog:

Thanks, Matt!

This is for those among us who are giving refuge to the I can't do it virus.

 

You see, Matt has Spastic Cerebral Palsy, which obviously makes it difficult for this young boy to run. 

But he does it anyway.

Matt runs.

And runs.

And runs some more.

He refuses to stop until his race is complete.

And he runs until he's crossed the finish line.

And then he celebrates his victory.

Thank you for your inspiration, Matt. I've never met you, but you have encouraged me, and most likely many others.

Oh, I almost forgot. Back to the I can't do it crowd.

What was your excuse again?

__________

P.S. One of the tags I associated with this is Leadership. I did this because Matt is an inspirational leader. Leaders don't make excuses; leaders just do.

Let Your Worry Go!

Are you providing a harbor for worry?

If so, recognize that worry is rarely useful. It generally causes much more harm than good.

As Seth Godin notes, "perhaps [your non-specific worry, or anxiety] is due to the fact that you're trying to control things that you can't possibly control."

If you can't control it, what do you possibly hope to achieve by worrying about it?

Consider what Jesus had to say about worry:

7-Plus Things You Can Do to Improve Your Facebook Experience

Are you overwhelmed by the "demands" of Facebook?

Do you worry about Facebook's ongoing assault on your privacy preferences?

Are you burdened by a load of "friends" you neither know nor care for?

Are your important email messages buried under an avalanche of Facebook notifications?