Daily Gratitude: If you’re an overachiever, print this quote out and keep it with you at all times. I know that in the past I ignored the virtues of rest. I would simply keep plowing on. Recently I ended up with a 2-3 week period where I had a migraine every day. At first I tried to ignore them and keep going. But the pain just got worse. Along with the pain of a migraine comes intense fatigue so I was sleeping most of the day. That happened because it was the only thing that would force me to listen to my body and take the time off all my responsibilities and commitments. It worked. I had nothing I could do except sleep so I had to stop. Don’t wait for your body to make you stop. Pay attention now. You know when your body is telling you to slow down. You’re just not listening. It’s much better to listen now rather than when everything falls apart.

Daily Gratitude: This is the essence of a full life. No matter how boring or dull you think something is, find a way to make it exciting. This is a belief I have to draw on when doing the “fixed time” events where you walk (or run) around the same loop over and over. Talk about boring. But in order to keep going and make my time there worthwhile, I have to come up with various ways to make it exciting. Usually that’s with audiobooks but even that can get old. Talking with people is always fun (well, usually depending on the person) but that doesn’t happen to me often because of my pace. So I have to find other ways to keep my adrenaline going. I create games, I use mantras and create songs. Sometimes I plan future books, too. It’s always a challenge but sometimes the challenge of just keeping myself in the game is exciting. I admit it’s getting harder. Take some time to take inventory in your life and see what seems “old” to you. Then try to figure out how to make it exciting again. Every moment of our lives should contribute something great to our memory banks. Let’s not waste many moments.

Daily Gratitude: This letter was written by an employer to his staff. It says so much about our lives and how we really should look at the quality of what we’re doing. Do you ever say “oh it’s just a small thing. I don’t want to have to do it all over.” So you let something move on with just one error? This reminds me of my time in Great Lakes, Illinois when I had to type an entire disaster manual on an old fashioned typewriter. See what you think:
“XVXRY PXRSON IS IMPORTANT
Xxn though my typxwriter is an old modxl, it works vry wxll xxxpt for onx kxy. You would think that with all the othr kxys functioning proparly, onx kxy not working would hardly bx noticad; but just onx ky out of whack sxxms to ruin the wholx xffort.
You may say to yoursxlf – Wxll, I’m only onx parson. No onx will notic if I don’t do my bxst. But it doxs makx a diffrancx bxcaus to bx ffxctiv an organization xxds activx participa-
tion by xvxry onx to the bxst of his or hxr ability.
So thr nxxt timx you think you arx not important, rxmxmbxr my old typxwritar. You arx a kxy person.”