Just One More Degree...

What would happen in 2010 if each of us decided to "step it up" just one degree? One degree more effort...or one degree more kindness...or one degree more focus...or one degree more compassion...or one degree more understanding...or one degree more forgiveness. Just one degree...It could be the difference between the status quo and changing the world. What do you say...shall we pick an area of our lives and "step it up?" Enjoy the video below. It explains the power of one degree.

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The 10 Most Important Things I've Learned This Christmas

During this Christmas break, my family and I have spent a good deal of time together. We've spent hours playing The Mexican Train Game by Fundex and I've learned important things. We've eaten what seems to be one, long continuous meal and have seriously considered the questions on a deck of Table Topics cards which are designed to be thought provoking conversation starters. I've learned important things. We've spent time in the car together and were fortunate enough to have the monotony of interstate miles broken by Katie's 6,001 Crazy Fun Facts app. I have learned important things.

Here are the top 10.

1. I have learned that Connie and I are pretty good gift givers. Our kids struggled to answer the Table Topics question, "What's the one thing you wanted as a child but never got?" (Or...perhaps I learned that we've been a bit overindulgent.)

2. I have learned that body art may be in our future. The kids had NO trouble answering the Table Topics question, "If you got a tattoo, what would you get and where would you put it?"

3. I have learned that some questions have no apparent answers. None of us have been able to offer a sufficient explanation for WHY it's called The MEXICAN TRAIN Game. (I just know the dots on the dominoes tiles are much harder for me to count these days.)

4. Thanks to Katie's iTouch app, I now know that a full 23% of photocopier repair calls are the result of someone sitting on the machine trying to make a copy of their hind side. (To those of you who have done this...feels good not be alone doesn't it?)

5. Under the category of animal facts, I now know such important things such as elephants can't jump, pigs can't look up, butterflies taste with their feet and horses can't throw up. (I'm not sure how I've made it through life this far without knowing that last one!)

6. The eye of an ostrich is bigger than its brain. Also...just for the record...after observing 200,000 ostriches over a period of 80 years, researchers have not been able to document a single case of one of them sticking its head in the sand.

7. The most common name on the planet is Mohammad.

8. In a lifetime, a person walks a distance 5 times greater than the circumference of the equator. (Seems like I'd be in better shape and have a killer tan!)

9. Over 50% of the people on the planet have neither made nor received a telephone call. (Think about that for awhile.)

10. Down and away..the most important thing I learned while playing The Mexican Train Game, conversing around the dinner table and traveling together this Christmas is that I'd rather be with the 4 people living under my roof than anywhere else in the world.

My resolution for 2010 is to make the time to do it more...and to cherish every second.
Happy New Year

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Hopes, Dreams, and Discoveries

December 18, 1949...60 years ago today. It was an important date. I Googled it because I was curious as to what all went on that day. I learned that it was on this date that the NFL Championship between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Los Angeles Rams was played in the Los Angeles Coliseum. 27, 980 people attended. The game is mostly remembered for the driving rain that reduced the field to a mud pit. Philadelphia won...14 to 0.

That's not all that happened that day. 2,078 miles away, another significant event took place. Not in a coliseum...it was in a single room. Thousands did not attend...it was more like a half dozen. I don't know if it was raining or not.

It was the day Bobby married Joyce.

As I think about them during the days and weeks leading up to the Wedding Day, I can't help but wonder what they talked about. I wonder what they shared with each other about their hopes and dreams and their life together.

Did they hope and dream about where they might live? Did they share dreams about traveling and seeing the world? Did they giggle when they thought of their upcoming Honeymoon trip to Charleston, South Carolina? Did they dream of vacations and wonderful destinations?

I wonder if they talked about things like vocations and careers. Did Bobby share his hopes and dreams of owning a business or climbing a corporate ladder? Did they plan how they would spend their leisure time or what community events they might like to get involved in? Did they talk about hobbies? Or, did they talk about having children and raising a family?

I wonder if they shared their hopes and dreams about owning a home or driving a new car. Did they hope and dream about accomplishments? Did Bobby hope and promise to provide Joyce with everything she had ever wanted?

I'm left to wonder about those things. After all, they are the private stuff between a husband and wife who inhabit a universe all their own.

I do know this, however. Somewhere along the way they made an important discovery amid all the hopes and dreams. They may have suspected it from the beginning...but somewhere along the way this truth solidified...it came in to razor sharp focus.

It doesn't matter where you go in life...or what you do...or what you have. What matters is who you have beside you.

It is a discovery...a truth...that they have lived out for 60 years. They love each other. They adore each other. They cherish each other. They have taught this truth to their children and grandchildren...just by the way they live.

Connie and I chose each other. Scott, by brother, and Terry chose each other. Gary, my brother, and Kathy chose each other. We chose each other because we believe it too...It really doesn't matter where you go in life...or what you do...or what you have. What matters is who you have beside you.

Bobby and Joyce...Dad and Mom...thank you for the lesson.
Happy Anniversary.
I love you.

David

Photo by "thepostess"

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