Good Morning: Stop “Wasting”...

“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” ~Harvey MacKay   Good morning!   Our time is more valuable than money. Our time is the one thing money can’t buy. If only we would protect and cherish our time like we would a winning lottery ticket. One of my mentors is a very successful CEO who has gone through vigorous, top-notch, elite training programs. When I asked him for advice, he shared that the single most...

Good Morning: Value Your Family...

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” ~ Jane Howard (1935-1996)   Good morning!   I think Jane Howard is trying to express just how important our family is to each of us, and each of us in turn to our family! Let’s not waste a day, without making our family first and foremost in our thoughts, energies and joys. Tonight, at dinner time, let’s share our day and rejoice in the special-ness each one of us brings to our family’s dinner table. If you...

Good Morning: Time is Your Most Precious...

 “Life is like riding in a taxi. Whether you are going anywhere or not, the meter keeps ticking.” ~John C. Maxwell   Good morning!  I was reading a little book on time management and the following statistics, presented by John C. Maxwell, I found to be quite enlightening: 5 minutes from our morning routine 10 minutes from our settling into work 5 minutes of idol conversation and distractions and; a daily 10 minute reduction in our lunches and break times we would gain 125 hours of time in a year!! Maxwell reminds us that that is the equivalent of 3...

Good Morning: Use Your Time Well...

"Perhaps the greatest enigma of time is that nobody has enough of it, yet we almost always succeed in wasting it. Time is different from every other resource we utilize. When we don't have money, we don't buy excess clothing. Yet when we don't have time, we still fritter it away on whatever may pop up. Perhaps the explanation behind such odd resource waste is that we don't think of time as a resource. Everybody knows that time is precious and should be utilized carefully, but few people treat time with the respect that it deserves." Pete Mockaitis author of The Student...

Good Morning: Take Time to Enjoy the Wor...

"Keep your love of nature, for that is the true way to understand art more and more." Vincent Van Gough Good morning! When my husband and I moved to the Pacific Northwest, we discovered a wonderful remedy for the over-stressed and overwhelmed family (or our over-stressed and overwhelmed self!). Both of us had grown up in scenic Wisconsin, but had never paid much attention to the beautiful offerings that nature bestowed. When we moved to Washington, we sought out explorations. One of our first stops was an REI store where we picked up a book on hiking in the area....

Good Morning – Are You Satisfied...

"Open your eyes, look within, are you satisfied with the life you're living?" - Bob Marley Good morning! During our days we can become so occupied with our lists, tasks, and stressors that we forget to look at the "bigger picture." Are the things we are doing, taking us in the direction we want and need to go? Take a glance at your list of tasks to complete for today. Then bring to mind your three priorities at this stage of our life. If you don't have them written down already, go ahead and write down these priorities. Now carefully consider each item on your...

Good Morning – Scheduling Prioriti...

"The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities." Stephen Covey Good morning! Thanks for sending in this quote, Hope, which is a wonderful reminder to us all. Hope also shared, "I always include at least 2 short-term-to-dos from my Top 3 snapshot categories I'm concentrating on at the moment. And I have found that my life focus is changing fairly frequently at this time, so I revisit my snapshot every 3 months or so and tweak it... Doing this allows me to really 'see' from the outside what's going on in and around me, then I can...

Create a Channel Guide for Your Life...

I have always found it extremely difficult to watch television without multi-tasking. A few years ago, my daughter and I were both sick. She had strep and I had an ear infection. We were on our 3-day-doctor-ordered “lounge” when my daughter fell asleep while lying next to each other in the living room. I picked up the remote and began flipping through the channels. I was awed by the entertainment-power in my hand through this 7-inch remote control. I hadn’t even realized that a channel 999 existed! It took me over an hour just to surf through the...

Road trip ahead? 23 games to play in the...

How many of you find that travel or riding to or from an event, school or camp accounts for some of the quality time you have with your children? Instead of spending that time in silence or frustrated because you are listening to the same child-music CD for the 18th time that day, try a fun car game. These games often lead to laughter and memorable moments. These are also great when trying to keep children entertained in lines, waiting rooms, etc. Here are a 23 games I have learned over the years, heard about from friends, or created with my daughter. (more…) ...