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.

ORDER NOW!

Before you neglect to honor and be thankful for those people who have served to uphold your standards and battled for your benefit, be reminded that without veterans we would live in a far more frightening world. That world would include slavery of many people worldwide, killing of entire races, unchecked religious persecution, and tolerance of things that only the vilest individuals could imagine.

If we had a perfect world, there would be no need for warriors or fighting. This is a great goal to live for and work toward. In the meantime, we have veterans. So, regardless how you have benefited from the hard work and security granted by those who have put their dedication into action and laid their lives on the line for you, I hope that you will take a moment to give compassion and honor to those many men and women who care enough about you to give everything.

They are working for you right now.

If you would like to honor a veteran, I welcome your comments here. I will share your comments with soldiers working hard today and let them know we appreciate them.

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!

They are only words, but it comes all too often that they are easy to take to heart. Don’t do it! Do not buy into other’s hate. Remember that they only use mean words because they cannot find a better way to hurt you or steal your hopes. They are the weak ones seeking an upper hand in any way they can find it, and hurting you is proof that they can beat you.

If you find that you are more offended by words like jerk, creep, fag, queer, dummy, shorty, fatass, idiot, moron, nigger, chink, coolie, gook, wap, spic, beaner, hymie, kike, bog, or others, than you are inspired to overcome and conquer these despicable standards of hatred and demoralization, then you may as well accept them. When you accept the values of hatred and anger into your life, then you are diminishing your potential and being a victim. Many of the greatest leaders and admired people of all time heard these words of hatred and many more. Did it hurt them? Sure, it probably did for a while, but then they made a decision to overcome the anger and pain.

Take a minute and think of the worst things people have ever said to you. Get upset, be absolutely furious, and cry if you need to. Then, when you are done feeling whatever it is that you have to get out, make a decision that from this day forward you will not hear these things. Let there be no concern for retaliation, no revenge, no anger, nothing! Let them say what they will. They are now the weaker ones. You have taken away their power, and you are the one who will win!

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!

Come and watch a live discussion about “Living in the Storm” during The Jim Cates Show. We will discuss how each of us can make better choices in life and begin to live in the storm instead of just waiting it out.

You may ask questions or comment about the interview in the comments section here on the blog or you may send questions or comments via Twitter to @murnahan. I will be checking for comments and answering questions during the show.

Following the show, I will be at Hastings at 21st & Fairlawn (Fairlawn Plaza) in Topeka Kansas for a meet and greet. Then I will return to Hastings for a book signing 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Click here for the Webcast!

About “Living in the Storm”

Each of us have a storm raging around our lives that can sometimes seem out of control. It is easy to be blown off course, but challenging to put things back into place. When you choose to live in the storm, rather than just wait for it to blow over, you regain control. Decisions become clearer, joy increases, and you pass inspiration on to others.

Living in the Storm presents ways to help you:
- Take a fresh look at your surroundings.
- Recognize and overcome cynicism.
- Become more thankful and apologetic.
- Become more influential than influenced.
- Break a cycle of negative expectations.
- Create a cheering section of people who want you to win.
- Gain patience and live life long-sighted.

Many moments of joy and inspiration go unnoticed in the storm of life. Rediscovering those moments can create a break in the storm. It may even create the extended break that you have been seeking all along.

Immediately after the show, I will visit Hastings and enjoy their coffee shop. I plan to be there by 10 a.m., so if you can make it to Hastings either from 10-11 a.m. or from 5-7 p.m., I would like to meet you.

I will also have copies of my recent release “Twitter for Business: Twitter for Friends“, and answer questions about any of my three book releases for 2009.

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!

You have probably justified your failure many times. Lie to me if you like … that will make you feel better. When you lie to yourself, it is you who must live with it. Here is a short clip from my new book, “Living in the Storm”. Consider whether you or anybody you care about has justified their failure, and whether a new look at things may be in order.

Justified Failure

I have heard a lot of excuses from people for their failures. Some people justify their failure, and others will choose to never even try to succeed at achieving the life they want. Some wildly popular excuses that I have heard for failure include where they were raised, education, upbringing, race, genetically-imposed expectations, physical handicaps, economy, and more. The list can go on seemingly forever with excuses. These excuses help people to justify their failure, but how can that be justified? The list of people who have overcome these obstacles and much bigger challenges and subsequently become legendary proves these excuses to be invalid. The person with excuses for failure makes it impossible to succeed. If you have made excuses to justify your failure, that is over!

If you are smart enough to read this page, then you are smart enough to win in your life. You are smart enough to overcome your obstacles and use them for strength. You are smart enough to understand that being the victim will never give you what you really seek. Some people would say that is it easier to be a victim than a survivor. That may be true in some ways, but the lengthier outcome of being a victim has got to be a truly terrible life.

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!