“It is good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it’s good too, to check up once in a while and make sure you haven’t lost the things money can’t buy.”  ~  George Lorimer  – 1867-1937, Editor of Saturday Evening Post

There are two parts to influence: First, influence is powerful; and second, influence is subtle. You wouldn’t let someone push you off course, but you might let someone nudge you off course and not even realize it.

We need a variety of input and influence and voices. You cannot get all the answers to life and business from one person or from one source.

Attitude is greatly shaped by influence and association.

Don’t spend most of your time on the voices that don’t count. Tune out the shallow voices so that you will have more time to tune in the valuable ones.

“No” puts distance between you and the wrong influence.

You must constantly ask yourself these questions: Who am I around? What are they doing to me? What have they got me reading? What have they got me saying? Where do they have me going? What do they have me thinking? And most important, what do they have me becoming? Then ask yourself the big question: Is that okay?

Don’t join an easy crowd; you won’t grow. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform are high.

Some people you can afford to spend a few minutes with, but not a few hours.

Get around people who have something of value to share with you. Their impact will continue to have a significant effect on your life long after they have departed.

Make it a Great Day,  It’s Your Choice.

The phrase “I don’t care” is not allowed in (Kirk Weisler’s) family.  It is on equal ground with many other phrases and four letter words that are also a not a part of our family culture.   Leaving off the list a few of the most obvious ones here are few other powerless and dis-empowering words &phrases we seek to avoid.

Should and “should have”  – I have heard more than one speaker talk about how people “should all over themselves”  Below is a contrasting list of words.

Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world.  For, indeed, that’s all who ever have. Margaret Mead

Care enough to change the world.  We can start by caring enough to choose our words more carefully.

Do you have words or phrases that you avoid or discourage in your home, your work and your life?

Kirk Out

Hmmmmmm, I just don’t know.  I have a ghost toothache.  That means, I need a root canal and the pain floats arounds when I get a sinus headache.  But guess what?  I have a mouth full of teeth and I can eat meat and Kettle Corn.  Hmmmmm lately I am ready to cry at the drop of the dime and other times I am ready to take my kids to the zoo and leave them there.  But guess what? Oh, I said that already well guess what anyway, I am off to give the voices in my head a good night sleep so that they can pester me all day long.  Good night!

It doesn’t matter how long ago your love one has parted from this earth, the sorrow never really goes away.  My daddy died 33 years ago and today is his birthday.  I found a CD with his voice on it wishing me a happy birthday (turning 8 at the time).  My brother would like to have a copy of it so I played it to make sure it was the right CD.  BAM!! just like that, I started crying and having a hard time stopping.  I sure do miss him a lot but I know he is looking down on me smiling and saying that everything is going to be okay.  Excuse me while I go get a giant box of Kleenex.  Blessings to you all!!

One day a woman’s husband died, and on that clear, cold morning, in the warmth of their bedroom, the wife was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn’t “anymore”. No more hugs, no more special moments to celebrate together, no more phone calls just to chat, no more “just one minute.” Sometimes, what we care about the most gets all used up and goes away, never to return before we can say good-bye, say “I love you.”

So while we have it, it’s best we love it, care for it, fix it when it’s broken and heal it when it’s sick. This is true for marriage…..And old cars… And children with bad habits and report cards, and dogs with bad hips, and aging parents and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.  Some things we keep — like a best friend who moved away or a sister-in-law after divorce. There are just some things that make us happy, no matter what.

Life is important, like people we know who are special. And so, we keep them close!  I received this from someone who thought I was a ‘keeper’!  Now it’s your turn to send this to all those people who are “keepers” in your life.

Suppose one morning you never wake up, do all your friends know you love them?  I was thinking….I could die today, tomorrow or next week, and I wondered if I had any wounds needing to be healed, friendships that needed rekindling or three words needing to be said.

Let every one of your family/friends know you love them. Even if you think they don’t love you back, you would be amazed at what those three little words and a smile can do.  And just in case I’m gone tomorrow.

Live today because tomorrow is not promised

I just about lost my mind a half hour ago.  I’m sitting in my recliner, logging a ticket for work and kept smelling something that wasn’t pleasant to my nose.  After having kids, my sense of smell is way sensitive.  So I’m trying to finish up so I can watch Happy Town but this smelling is working my nerves.  So I checked the bathroom which is near me and what do I find?  Let’s just say my son did the number 2 and didn’t flush the toilet.  OMG, I went 5150!!  Words like a sailor came out of my mouth.  My husband was laughing and my son was ducking.  It’s bad enough public restrooms are nasty; I don’t need to have my bathroom nasty.  Needless to say, I sprayed and have a Glade candle burning.

Post written by Leo Babauta.

Most people reading this will have a to-do program, or a paper list or text file, listing not only projects and tasks but separate lists for home and work and possibly half a dozen different contexts.

Those who don’t have a to-do list probably feel they should, because they’re swamped and feeling overwhelmed.

I’m here to suggest: kill your to-do list.

It sucks up your time, and drains your motivation. Those who have to-do lists usually manage them constantly, or if they don’t they fall into disuse and get dusty and become worthless, while the person who’s fallen behind in maintaining the list feels constantly guilty. For those who keep up with the lists, they spend a lot of time on the lists they could be spending … doing something important.

And what of these lists? They’re long, you never get to the end of them, and half the time the tasks on the list never get done. While it feels good to check items off the list, it feels horrible having items that never get checked off. This is all useless spending of mental energy, because none of it gets you anywhere.

The only thing that matters is the actual doing.

So what’s a better system?

The One Thing System

Here’s what I do, and highly recommend to anyone willing to break free of the to-do list:

1. I wake up in the morning, and decide what One Thing I’m excited about.
2. Then I focus on doing that, pushing everything else aside, clearing distractions, and allowing myself to get caught up in the moment.

I don’t worry what else is on my list, because there’s only One Thing on my list. I don’t have to check anything off, because I don’t actually have a list. I don’t have to worry about things not getting done, because I do the only thing I want to do — if I didn’t want to do it, it wouldn’t be my One Thing.

If I happen to finish my One Thing early, I can slack off for the rest of the day (my favorite strategy), or I can pick my next One Thing.

But … but …

What about the other things you need to do? What if you forget them?

Make a list of possible things to do, if you like, or routine tasks that need to get done for one reason or another. I would consider eliminating as many things as possible on the routine list, as they tend to just be friction that stops you from doing what you really want to do. If you do make a list, don’t consider it a to-do list, of things you need to check off. Just keep it as a reminder, and don’t spend any time other than adding things to it and possibly checking it once a day.

Even this list isn’t necessary, but I only suggest it here for those who don’t feel safe without it. If you really don’t want to forget something, you can put a reminder on your calendar. I suggest avoiding this when possible, but if I need to send out payments once a month, I’ll put a reminder on my calendar. It’s not that complicated.

For the important things, you tend to know what you really want to get done. If you’re a writer, you know what you want to write, usually. If you’re a designer, you already have an idea of what you’re excited about working on. You don’t need a list. You just need to forget about the list, and get working.

Kill your to-do list, and forget about all the things you need to do … except the One Thing you’re passionate about, right now.

Why is there a lady riding around on an Electric Scooter as if it was a car and searching for only God know what.  Not to mention that it  has a very very very loud piercing sound.  It reminds me of a Sci-Fi movie where the Aliens sounds off a loud piercing noise to kill the entire neighborhood.  She has been circling around for  a couple of hours now and still has the “what am I looking for again” look.  It is dark now and she is still at it.  The scooter does not have head lights so I think it would be best for her to go home and grease up the wheels with WD40 or Oil Sheen and stop disturbing us folks watching Lost.

There’s nothing like music to make you happy, it uplifts you and blocks out everything and everyone out. It takes me to another world where I can sing, dance, reminiscence and just be me. The next time you listen to music, stop and really feel the music. Right now I am on the train trying to stop my fingers from snapping and legs from dancing. I am so ready to get up and sing out loud and get my dance on but don’t want to get kick off the train. Hehehe. But, I might make some money. Hmmmm I can get a strobe light and a disco ball and make it a party train! Heyyyy!! Peace Out!!