Live, Laugh, Love

Here we go, continuing down the "list" of great phrases that I found on a poster a couple of weeks ago. I hope that you have been enjoying them but, more importantly, I hope that you have benefited from them and have been able to use them to help in your positive journey in a "sometimes negative" world.

LIVE 

I've heard people say (and sing) this thought: "Live like you were dying". Friend, the truth is, you ARE dying - WE'RE all dying so, what's holding us back from truly "living"?

I would suggest that the main reason is due to FEAR. Some would say that, perhaps, we fail to truly "live" due to DOUBT. Think about it for a moment...don't most of our doubts come from fear? 

We are afraid to live life to the full - to truly "let go" and experience and explore all that life has to offer. Fear of failure, fear of acceptance and even fear of the unknown.

Hey now, living in fear is not living at all! Keep growing, keep learning, keep stretching and keep on LIVING - truly living!

LAUGH 
I don't know about you but I LOVE watching those videos of babies and/or kids laughing uncontrollably. It's almost impossible not to end up laughing myself! Have you ever gotten so tickled and, because you were in a place that you weren't supposed to be laughing (like at church), you tried to hold it in? And your whole body was shaking even without an audible laugh? Did you have to excuse yourself before you exploded?

 Just like everything else, life is too short to go through it being a grump! 

I'm guess I'm just a bit odd in that I find humor in things that a lot of people don't even think about. I have to really be careful at times because I'm tempted to laugh at something that, if I were to actually do so, it would offend someone. Usually it's just that they would misunderstand and think I was being disrespectful. 

Truth is - I just like to laugh!

Don't lose your ability (and desire) to laugh! Sometimes that cares and concerns of life can overwhelm you to where you fail to see all of the fun things that surround us every day. 

Oh, and by the way, do a little research and you'll find that it's been proven that LAUGHING is actually GOOD for your health! 

(And friend, don't be afraid to laugh at yourself!) 

LOVE 
 Yes, one of the sure ways to get your heart broke is to love. But, one of the surest and best ways to experience all that love brings with it (part of TRULY living) is to open yourself up to the emotions that go along with it and,yes, to take the chance - the risk - of "getting hurt". 

Don't be afraid to love. Don't be afraid to open up and "be you" with others. Life is too short to live it alone and, for sure, to die alone. 

No, I'm not going to quote that line about loving. You know the one I'm talking about, right? The one that says something like, "It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all." Now do you know which one I'm talking about? Yeah. Not going to quote that one, o.k.? 😋

I hope this short article will help you to "let loose" a little and that you will LIVE, LAUGH & LOVE a little more each day.

Do it...you'll be glad you did!

And, as you do so, you will see that this is, indeed, one way to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

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What The World Needs Now...

The Value of NOW!

"The Value of NOW!"

The other day I posted something about what my friend, Jim Ferguson mentioned during our "Goals" class this past Tuesday night. He said something along the lines of, "Yes, let's all be planning for our future but let's not forget to ENJOY today!"

Isn't that something we ALL need to be reminded of from time to time? I can answer that for you - "YES!"

My guess is that everyone of you that are reading this blog entry has a calendar nearby. And, that being so, my guess is that you have things written on that calendar that has to be done or places that you have to be at a certain time on a certain day.

Some years back when I was working as a youth minister I was always working my calendar a year in advance. That's the way I had to do it to make sure that things were taken care of with many of these plans. Let me tell you - if there is ever a way for time to "fly by" and for you to "miss" the importance of today.... start planning your life a year or so in advance!

Yes, we all need to be making plans for our future. We all need to be setting goals for ourselves with some sort of timeline as to when we'd like to reach that goal. Yes, there are things we MUST put on our calendars in advance so that we can make sure we don't forget that appointment or whatever it may be.

JUST DON'T FORGET TO LIVE TODAY!

Men and women have worked long and hard hours in order to provide for their families and to ensure a well-funded retirement. However, many times, in doing so they have lost the love and/or respect of their children because the parent was never around for the events that made each day special in the life of that child. Too, many times that person got ready to enjoy their retirement and found that they would be going through retirement alone because their spouse, just like their children, had grown tired of the day being set aside for the future.

A friend of mine shared some great insight on this in response to what I posted about Jim's comment. Here's what she said:

"I learned this lesson well by the passing of my grandparents who died in their mid to late 50's. My grandmother had just retired an my papa was just about to when they both passed away. We save but I intend to enjoy life an make many fun memories with my family because even though you have a future ahead of you it's not promised."

Sad, but so true. Likely, we've all seen this in some way and vow for it not to happen to us... but, many times it still does.

This is a fine line that we all walk and we don't always do well in this area. However, the main thing is for us to be AWARE of our tendency to live too much for the future and to do our best to LIVE TODAY!

You've heard me say it and/or seen me type it in my articles - once today is gone, it is gone forever, never to be reclaimed. Today - as I type this - is Thursday, March 25, 2010. When this day is done there will NEVER be another Thursday, March 25, 2010. Ever. Gone forever.

So, the challenge for each of us is to not lose sight of this fact. We need to do whatever we need to do to call our attention to TODAY! Perhaps set ourselves a reminder on all of our little gadgets so that it will "pop up" during the day and remind us to, "LIVE TODAY!".

Remember, "Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday!"

The most expensive items (art, automobiles or ANY item) are those that are "one of a kind" or the only one left in existence. Guess what? So it is with TODAY.

Today truly is "one of a kind" and the only one left in existence.

Pretty valuable, wouldn't you say?

Live it, love it, share it! And, as you do so...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

ENJOY Your Age! (Regardless of What it Is!)

Wow, this whole "fear of getting old" thing really got me going this week, didn't it? For my "Thankful Thursday" podcast I went totally "Mike" on you with no input from Napoleon Hill's book, "Think & Grow Rich".

Why?

Well, for one, he didn't have that much to say about the topic (and I did) and, secondly, I just know that a lot of people use this "I'm too old" excuse as simply that - AN EXCUSE to cease living and blessing the lives of others!

Stop using this (or ANY) excuse and step out there and start living your life TODAY!

You know, sometimes fear can be a good thing! What? Sure it can! IF that fear drives us to productive ACTION - then it can serve as the "kick in the pants" that we may need.

Here's what I mean. For example, if "the fear of getting old" is in place because you fear not having enough money to survive then USE THAT FEAR to step out there and DO SOMETHING about it! You have the wisdom, experience and ability to MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN in your life that you've never allowed yourself to do - why not now?

Here's something in my podcast that I challenged everyone to write down and say aloud each and every day - "I like ME and I like BEING me!" - yes, this means regardless of your age. Don't allow others to tell you who you are and how you should act, dress, talk, etc. based on THEIR expectations! YOU be YOU - regardless of your age. YOU have much to offer to the world - so share your life and all the experiences that have come in your life and share you love that has grown in your life because of the life that you have lived.

And, above all...

"Make it an AWESOME Day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

FUN FRIDAY (Boredom Busters)

I'm actually typing this in and posting a little early since we are leaving for Dallas for the Success Symposium. I had planned to just wait and do this before we left, but I don't want to take the chance of having to rush to get it done. So......here we are.

One thing I'd like to ask first... I mention in the podcast that you can now actually access this blog by going to the main page: http://www.futureyouuniversity.com/ in two ways. One, when you sign up for the FREE REPORT you will automatically be taken to this page. Two, if you look in the upper right hand corner (or in the right column) you will see a link that reads, "Mike's Blog". This main site will continue to evolve and will be the MAIN site with information on my upcoming seminars, my audio stories for children with a positive message, my upcoming book and many more things. Anyway, you can still access this site (obviously) by going to the address that brings you directly here. Here's all I ask....if you do want to access the site via the FYU page, please do so via the link (unless you want the free report). Thanks!

Now back to today's podcast. I mention a website that I went to that had the items on it that I shared in the podcast. In case you would like to go check it out yourself, it is: http://www.discoverfun.com/

Main thing is this - HAVE FUN and SHARE THE FUN!
SMILE and SHARE YOUR SMILE!
LAUGH and SHARE YOUR LAUGH!

Hey, you go to work and sneeze and spread your germs all over the office, so why not "spread" the "virus" of happiness and joy?

One thing I also mentioned is that I will be getting a chance to meet and interview Angie Strader of http://www.theworldneedsmorehappy.com/
Go check out her page and become a part of her movement to share and spread more happiness!

Whatever it is....DO IT!

You'll be glad you did. (And so will others)
[disclaimer: Some poopy-heads won't enjoy it no matter what you do!]

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike Spillman

It's YOUR Day and It's YOUR Choice!

It's Monday! How do you feel about that?

So many of us DREAD Monday's and, if we REALLY dread it a lot, it begins to even affect our weekend.

Isn't there something that we can do about that? SURE THERE IS!

You see, regardless of the day or the situation, we need to CLAIM OWNERSHIP of our day - "It's MY day!". (I can't help it, but that commercial of people sticking their heads out of their windows and yelling, "It's my money and I need it now!" just flashed through my head!)

But, in the same way, it IS your day - and you need to CLAIM IT NOW!

Yes, you can choose to MAKE IT (take action!) an AWESOME (not mediocre) day - it's up to you. I want to encourage you to stop "allowing" others to impact your day to the point that you give them "ownership" over your day. How often do you think or utter words such as, "That person ruined my day"?

That's only possible if we allow it to be possible. I, personally, belive it to be IMPOSSIBLE! No one has that power over your day. Oh, I know that they can sure do everything within their power to "rain on your parade" - but it's your choice as to whether you will allow that or whether you will dance, celebrate and have your parade anyway!

IT'S YOUR CHOICE!

What do you choose for YOUR day today?

I encourage you to "Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike Spillman