Daily Gratitude: This is another way to handle the fears and worries of our current times.

Almost hour by hour the news bombards us, one thing after another. If we just let the waves smack us again and again and again, that doesn’t do any good. It knocks us down and can paralyze us so that our lives go on around us without us participating in it at all.

Is that what you want? I don’t. I want to live as much as possible.

The way to do that is to figure out how to surf. What can you do to surf and not be smacked?

Continue to do the things that matter to you, things you enjoy. You can go about living your life while still paying attention to actions you can take so you don’t feel like an ostrich. But you don’t need to react to everything that the news reports. Be choosy.

Tell us how you’ve learned to surf.

Daily Gratitude: Wouldn’t this be a great way to start each day?

When I tell people to have a diamond day, one thing I hope for is that if they meet any adversity or obstacle, they remember that it takes pressure to make a diamond. You can turn whatever “bad” things you meet into your own personal diamond.

That is what’s meant by you can be changed by whatever happens to you. It means you don’t become subdued and overcome by anything that’s going on.

Sure it’s ok to feel “down” for a short period of time while you process things. Set a time limit for that – 5 minutes, 1 day etc. Make sure you honor that time limit and immediately switch gears to figuring out the positive ways this “stuff” can change you for the better.

It’s not easy but if you practice, it will be come a habit and soon the transition will occur automatically.

Be changed not overcome.

Daily Gratitude: I saw this question on a Reddit post when a developer was discussing why he was charging for the app he developed. I thought it was a good question for us to examine.

I believe the answer is “yes”. Value is not necessarily inextricably tied to money. The dictionary says it’s “the worth, importance, or usefulness of something”; “It’s the quality that makes something good, desirable, or significant, from the dollar amount of an item to moral principles like honesty. “

I personally believe that we should all strive to make important things free, good enough and sustainable.

I’m not against making money because we all have to survive but I do think that there’s a certain point where we don’t really need to make any more money. So why not put effort at that point into creating or providing things that are free and are good enough to help people.

Helping others really is in our “genes” as way back when we needed others to keep us all alive.

We are in conditions today that should encourage us to pull together (remember my post on community) and help each other out.

Mankind is at its best when there’s a natural disaster. People come from all over to help anyone in need. No matter their color, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, etc. Doesn’t that sound like it would be nice even without a natural disaster?

What can you offer for free? What has value for you that you can give or offer to others?

What do you value in your life?