Purpose-Driven Christmas

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Here are some purposeful thoughts as we move towards Christmas:

• Don't let Christmas just happen, make it happen.
• Don't just do what you've always done, do what you're supposed to do.
• Don't just buy stuff, invest in people.
• Instead of asking "What do you want?", ask yourself what would enrich them.
• Don't just find things to do, make memories.

Question: What are some other things you could do to make this Christmas purposeful, meaningful, and memorable?  Share your thoughts below in comments.

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A Fresh Look At Thanksgiving

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Here's a different way to look at your Thanksgiving Day, especially when things don't go as planned: 

Turkey not cooked perfectly? Tens of millions of people around the world will not even have a meal on Thanksgiving Day. It's only one of your multiple meals.

Stuck in traffic? Only 8.5% of the world's population have an automobile. It's only a delay.

House too small for your Thanksgiving festivities? Over 100 million people in the world don't even have a house. It's only for one day.

Flight delayed? Almost 95% of the world's population has never flown. It's only an inconvenience.

Lines too long on Black Friday? The median income worldwide is $2,000 ($5.50/day. For most people it's under $2/day). It's only an iPad.

Turkey too small to feed everyone? An estimated 75% of Americans are overweight. It's only another slice.

Question: What are some ways you can look at Thanksgiving a bit differently, to help you focus on giving thanks? Share your thoughts below in comments.

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...In A Jiffy!

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Have you ever heard this phrase: I'll be finished in a jiffy?

(Jeepers Brad, I haven't heard that since the 1950's.)

OK, bear with me here... (Hmmmm... Another antiquated phrase: Bear with me.)

Do you know what a jiffy is? A jiffy is the unit of time it takes light to travel a centimeter in a vacuum: 0.0000000000033357 seconds, or (3.3357x10^-11) seconds, or (3.3357 times 10 to the power of minus 11) seconds. (I might be old, but I know how to look things up on the Internet!)

In other words, I'll be finished in a jiffy basically means I'll be done really, really fast.

I remember a conversation I had with two of my friends when I was in the 7th grade. My older sister had recently won a scholarly award, and seeking to brag to my friends about her I said, "Guess who won the Dean's Award?" "Who?" they inquired. My response: "Yours truly!" One of my friends remarked with skepticism, "Who, you?" "No, my sister," I replied.

They just looked at me real funny...

Apparently I had no idea what the term yours truly meant. But I used it anyway.

What's my point in this post? Simply this: When we use words and phrases, we ought to know what they mean. When we do we give validity to what we are saying. When we don't, we erode our credibility.

Nuff said! (Look that one up by clicking on it...)

Question: When have you used words or phrases that you really didn't know what they meant? Share your thoughts below in comments.

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The Post-Election Blues

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(To get the correct "feel" for this song, it must be done as a Blues ditty...)


The election is over, I'm sad to say-
The election is over, I'm sad to say.
The polls are gonna' close soon- - They'll be takin' them away.

Musical riff...

The campaigning is finished, I'm so tired of the ads-
I said the campaigning is finished, and I'm so tired of the ads.
The signs on the side of the road have got to come down- - and that ain't too bad!

Musical riff...

There's no more debatin', they've said all they know-
Oh, there's no more debatin', they've said all they know.
I'm glad there ain't no debatin' no mo'- - I wanna watch the X Factor show.

Musical riff...

We had us a winner, and a loser in tears-
Yeah, we had us a winner, and a loser in tears.
But we shouldn't worry 'cause we'll do it all once again- - in four more years...

Musical outro...

Question: What will you do now that the election is over? Share your thoughts below in comments.

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