We always try to help our friends when they come to us with marital struggles, and sometimes we are really helpful, but I thought a proactive approach would be even better.

I guess I am trying to lead by example, in hopes that others may start to think of their relationships, and how they can be even better. I wish to inspire others to share their love with their spouses and loved ones, and never wait for a better time.

… Read this story at aWebGuy.com

Please take a moment to hear a story of how a Christmas tree can change your outlook and reduce some holiday stress.

This is a story from my family that shows the importance of sharing joy with others and making the decision to enjoy life now, and not only when everything is “perfect”.

I watched this video of USA for Africa “We Are the World” and was very touched to recall the massive efforts given at the time it was made. It made me question what it takes to bring forth such an effort in reaching the hearts of the world and remind others to uncover their emotions and be more caring.

We can each receive great value by giving and caring. Be reminded that the giver receives great benefit along with the recipient.

Please take a break to enjoy a moment in time of caring and be reminded to be good to others more now than ever.

Living in the Storm is Available for Order!

Living in the Storm is available for order at Amazon.com, Create Space (an Amazon.com company) and also direct from the author using PayPal. The advantage of ordering direct is that shipping is included in the $9.95 price! Living in the Storm will also be available through other retailers soon.

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When this happens, it is time to reflect on the reasons you tried in the first place. Evaluate the joy you expect to find when you succeed. Perhaps most importantly, it is time to learn to enjoy the process and not just the outcome.

Begin again today! Take a moment to refresh your goals by focusing on the small achievements you have made along the way. This will help you to enjoy the storm that is life and not just push through it to get to the sunshine tomorrow.

Setting out to achieve any goal will come with sacrifice. You knew it when you set the first goal, and after some failure, you know the sacrifice better than ever. If you take the care to revel in your small achievements along the way, the sacrifice will get easier all the time.

Living in the Storm is Available for Order!

Living in the Storm is available for order at Amazon.com, Create Space (an Amazon.com company) and also direct from the author using PayPal. The advantage of ordering direct is that shipping is included in the $9.95 price! Living in the Storm will also be available through other retailers soon.

ORDER NOW!

“I should exclaim that my latest book release has helped millions of people to enjoy a happier life … Well, not millions yet … but it will.”

Well, of course it has not helped millions of people yet. I just released the book! That is the good part. “Yet” means that it will, and without that attitude, it would surely help far fewer people.

Just think for a moment about how a similar attitude of reaching into your future with definitive goals and an outlook of possibility rather than blurred consciousness and pre-defeated hopes could feel good today, and not just once the goals are achieved.

Even the greatest optimist has hesitation and shortcomings. Why do we hesitate to look at the optimistic side of life? This has a lot to do with influences we have taken throughout our life, and throughout our day. Many people around you will caution you “for your own good”, or for their own selfishness. People often find more negative influences in life as they become adults, with fewer positive influences than as a child. Whatever the causes that influence you, there are solutions within you. You must reach for them, and sometimes it takes a map to find the way. I hope you will enjoy this map I offer.

Living in the Storm is Available for Order!

Living in the Storm is available for order at Amazon.com, Create Space (an Amazon.com company) and also direct from the author using PayPal. The advantage of ordering direct is that shipping is included in the $9.95 price! Living in the Storm will also be available through other retailers soon.

ORDER NOW!

This is the introduction to “Diary of Betterment” which is the companion book to “Living in the Storm”. Please provide me with your feedback. Your comments mean a lot to me.

Introduction:

I want to keep this simple. Making a better life is not as hard as it looks. When you break it all down, a great life is really not so complicated at all. You can do this!

You can probably think of a dozen things right now that would make your life better and a dozen more ways you can achieve those things. A challenge that exists is in taking inventory and becoming more cognizant of these things on a daily basis. Life is busy, and many things get in the way of a better life. The biggest obstacle is you.

It is common to look at life as one huge picture, and that is often how we have been trained. We learn that if you look at the big picture, the little things do not matter so much. This is a way that people can feel better about temporary challenges in life. Ironically, without those little things, there is no picture at all. The truth is that the little things matter and they matter a lot.

When it starts to look cloudy, it is often important to break life down into smaller manageable pieces in order to sort it out and see things clearer again. Managing small improvements and working toward a long-term outlook not only helps you long-term, but it can help you today, too!

“Diary of Betterment” is your personal documentation of improvements to relationships, how you influence those relationships, and for creating and reaching goals. This book was developed as a companion to “Living in the Storm” and is intended to help you document and score progress as you make your way in the storm we call life.

This book contains action steps based on the book, “Living in the Storm” and outlines many of the principles included therein. It also provides supplemental information for defining, monitoring, and achieving your goal of enjoying life.

You may use this book individually, but if you have not yet read “Living in the Storm”, it is highly recommended in order to receive maximal benefit.

I cannot save you from all of the challenges in your life, but I can offer you a tool to help you work through them and to gain clarity through cognizance. When you pay closer attention to your life, you become much closer to the life that you want, and that you deserve.

If you think you are not up to the challenges of overcoming life’s obstacles and using them for benefit, you are probably right. Most people will never take the needed steps or make the best decisions. Why should you change the wind?

If you think it is time to turn the page and take steps to make improvements in your life and in the life of those around you, you are probably right. Turn the page, and let’s get started!

Family Breakdown

Times are changing fast and it may sometimes feel like the world is spinning out of control. Parents of all ages have claimed the troubles of “kids these days”. Some have claimed that “these are the worst of times”. People have likely said these things for centuries, but let’s look at some of the changes, and consider some possible shortcomings in our adaptation.

I have written about being selective of who you spend your time and attention with. I even told a story of severing negative family ties. Of course, this is not to be the standard. Family is a precious resource that is very often neglected and taken for granted. I also wrote of inviting family into your cheering section and winning them over. This is preferred, whenever it is possible.

Necessity or Negligence?

I am not the first person that you have found expressing a concern of family values. Deterioration of families is a widespread epidemic that is often very pronounced in Western culture. As people found more things that they “needed” such as color television, air conditioning, and two automobiles, that feeling of need grew greater. Those “needs” of yesteryear sprung into demands for larger homes, fancier cars, cellular phones for each child over the age of seven, and a lifestyle that every neighbor would envy. The rat race was on, and the forces of peer pressure took men and women by the nose and led them away from their families.

I am not only addressing Western society, so do not mistake this. The closeness of families is a worldwide concern, and the epidemic is spreading. When people drift away from families, they also drift away from much of the positive nurturing that only a family can provide.

I have witnessed cultures from all around the world, and the precious demand for more hours in the day is not exclusive to any nation. More than anywhere else, I find that many of the swift changes in American society have fallen tragically short of the joys that were expected by the changes. We have thrown ourselves into so many changes that our adaptations have often been made in haste.

Consider this common acceptance of cultural failure in the past couple decades, and question whether it is based on necessity or negligence. As families accepted both parents working, daycares and schools were left to raise the kids. As parents took second and third jobs, the family suffered further demise. Kids are often left to raise themselves, and each other. I see this every day, even in my insulated upper-middle-class cocoon. Kids are off on their own, or in groups of other kids who may or may not be a good influence. That influence often goes unmonitored while parents’ communication is limited to the time they wake up and the time they go to bed, perhaps with a few text messages in between. I am not saying that this is the standard. I will say, however, that it is prevalent enough to warrant parents’ attention. As a chorus, we all say “not my kid”, but just remember that it is somebody’s kid who will bring a gun to school or teach your kids to use drugs. Their parents probably do not expect it either.

As the work-related pressures add up, parents communicate less, kids become more troubled, and the family breaks down. Before you know it, they give it all up for divorce and try over with a whole new dynamic. Does any of this sound familiar?

In such a self-indulgent society, we do what feels good for the moment and then we expect our children to learn from that example. When it all comes undone and it is too late to take it back and start over, we just hope that our kids will do better than we did.

Stop it! You do better, and you teach them right. Now is the best time to set a legacy into action. If you do not provide the best example now, then you really have neglected your family. Family should never be subjected to living here and now and doing what feels good for the moment, without weighing it in favor of what is best in the future. This kind of neglect is far too popular, and it is usually bred of despair. Family is the genesis of all society. We all come from somewhere, and we learn most of our best and worst lessons as a result of how we were raised within our family. If you worry for society, be mindful that it starts with the responsibility and dedication of each family.

Whether you are the kid in this scenario, a spouse, a grandparent, or just a curious onlooker, I hope you will share your time and share support to prevent the breakdown. If you feel that you have already been sucked into this tornado-like storm, please take the care to remember the things that once made your family happy and positive about your future. Make a commitment to needed adjustments to prevent the breakdown. Sometimes dedication to an old standard of sitting together for dinner is enough to improve the dialogue within a family. It sounds so simple, but yet it is one of the first things to blow away in the storm.

Take the time to express yourself, and do not wait another day!

Living in the Storm is Available for Order!

Living in the Storm is presently available for order by three methods. It is now available at Amazon.com, Create Space (an Amazon.com company) and also direct from the author using PayPal. The advantage of ordering direct is that shipping is included in the $9.95 price! Living in the Storm will also be available through other retailers soon.

ORDER NOW!