RAK

Random Acts of Kindess

Wanna change the world?  Stop thinking about yourself for a moment and do something nice for someone today!  ) Whether it’s a kind word to someone, holding the door for someone, letting someone merge into the traffic, buying someone a cup of coffee….whatever it is, JUST DO SOMETHING and DO IT ON PURPOSE!!!

Why?  Well, first of all, it’s just nice and nice people are cool.  Besides that, doing something for someone and not expecting anything in return makes you feel good inside and blesses the person on the receiving end.  It’s a WIN-WIN! Can you imagine what the world would be like if we all put our pride aside and reached out to help someone?  We all face the same problems in life and we all could use a friendly gesture sometimes.  Do your part and you’ll see that one of these days, someone is going to do something nice for you and you’ll totally appreciate it!

Live Life on Purpose!

The best way to make friends…

…is to be one.  How do you want to be treated by potential friends?  When you answer that, do that for others.  If you want to be respected, be respectful.  If you want someone to keep your secrets, keep theirs.  Open your ears and not your mouth. 

I think there are a few stages of friendship: Acquaintances, Situation Friends, Plastic Friends and Real Friends.

Acquaintances are, of course, the people you see on occassion.  You make chit chat when you see each other, but it never really develops into anything new.

Situation friends are the one you see at work, church or other routine type settings.  Those friends are ones you might have a great time with, maybe even share some of your personal issues with, but you never really hang out outside of the fixed environment. 

Plastic friends are the ones that are only your friends when life is good, but they turn on you when things go bad.  They may like you and shmooze you for what they can get from you, like social status for example.

Then, there’s the real deal.  Your Real friends are there for you and you for them no matter what.  I’ve been blessed with some real keepers.  They’re the kind that even though we haven gotten a chance to keep in touch for a few months, when we talk or meet up, it’s like there was no lapse in time.  They are encouraging and inspirational.  They laugh with you when you’re being silly..and sometimes laugh AT you, but you don’t care because you know their just messin’ with you.

I encourage you to BE a good friend and you’ll find you’re never alone in life.

Organizing From the Inside Out (Part 2)

In Part 1 of this series, the focus was on having a good attitude so you could set yourself up for success, not failure.  In this article, SELF-CONTROL is going to be our focus. 

 

What does it mean to have self-control?  Well, it simply means that you are willing to postpone instant gratification.  You’re probably wondering why anyone would want to do that!  We live in a society where we can use credit cards or take out a loan to get what we want right away, no need to wait until we have the cash in hand.  We get upset if we have to wait in line too long at a fast-food joint.  We want things done and we want them done now. 

 

When trying to get organized, this can present a real problem.  You may find yourself looking at the “project” and wishing you had a magic wand to wave so it could just be done.  Well, this is because you are focusing on the means rather than the end.  That means you are, for example, focusing on having to go through your piles of clutter one item at a time rather than how awesome the space is going to look when you’re done.  Have you ever stood around impatiently waiting for that pot of water to boil?  It seems like it takes forever!  But, if you busy yourself with preparing other parts of the meal, then before you know it, the water is boiling and you’re ready to cook.   This idea can be used in probably every area of your life. 

 

The main key to improving your self-control is seeing the big picture. Make a commitment to the big picture and then break it down into smaller parts that you can easily achieve.  Put it in writing, too, so you can see where you’re going and how you’re going to get there, just like a roadmap.  You wouldn’t set out for a trip across the country without knowing how to get there!  Also, imagine what it’s going to be like when your goal is reached!  That will help you stay motivated to keep pressing on. 

 

 Many of us already have great self-control in many areas of our lives.  We show up to work on time, pay bills on time, we keep our houses relatively clean, we take care of our families, we exercise regularly—the list could go on and on.  We all have the capacity  to do what we know we have to do, so we just have to tap into that and apply it to every area of our lives.

 

Practice! Practice! Practice!