The 5-5-5 Plan

Week 21 – 5-5-5 Plan – Theme – Health    May 26-30 2008

Happy Memorial day – this is a day to remember all those Americans who have given their lives for us to live and have freedom – the ability to live, be healthy, happy and free – so it’s somewhat fitting that this week we celebrate the theme of health – something available to each of us – since we have enough water, food, choices, time to be the healthiest people on earth. Are we?

 

Monday: Health – it just happened that it is this weeks theme, however it’s an excellent time and opportunity for all of us – health is vital – we know it and this week I will share some great thoughts on health from others who know it too –

Since it is the 21^st week of our 5-5-5 adventure – it may be a perfect time to take a look again at your health – how are you doing this year on this goal in your life? Since James Thomson once said this – “Health is the vital principle of bliss.” How are you doing on bliss currently?

 

            Quote: Double quote today – Isaak Walton said about health, “Look to your health; and if you have it, praise God, and value it next to a good conscience, for health is the second blessing that we mortals are capable of – a blessing that money cannot buy.”

 

            Word: Health: the state of being free from illness or injury. A person’s mental or physical condition. Also – used to express friendly feelings toward one’s companions before drinking. – “To your health!” as you put unhealthy spirits down the gullet!

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Tuesday:

            Quote: A long quote today to bring us back on track after a holiday day – I trust you all used your day yesterday well! Edgar Watson Howe once said, “The joy of feeling fit physically is reflected in a clearer and more useful mind. You may read and study forever, but you come to no more important truthful conclusions that these two: 1. Take care of your body (eat and exercise properly), and your mind will improve. 2. Work hard, and be polite and fair, and your condition in the world will improve. No pills, tablets, lotions, philosophies, will do as much for you as this simple formula I have outlined. The formula is not of my invention. Every intelligent man of experience since time began has taught is as a natural fact.”

 

            Word: Hemlock – a highly poisonous European plant of the parsley family, with spotted stems, fernlike leaves, small white flowers and a foul smell. For your good health stay away from hemlock!

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Wednesday:

            Quote: George Bernard Shaw once said, “Use your health, even to the point of wearing it out. That is what it is for. Spend all you have before you die; and do not outlive yourself.” – he also said this about the subject of health, “The sound body is the product of the sound mind.”

It was not surprising to me that many of the quotes I read talked about the health of both the body and mind – how they are intertwined – they are – we are – exercise both!

 

            Word: Huckster – a person who sells small items, either door-to-door or from a stall or small store. A mercenary person eager to make a profit out of anything.  I thought of the old peddlers who are depicted in films as selling small town people a bottle of cure all to heal what ails them!

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

 

Thursday:

            Quote: The quotes today are about the idea of mental health –

Albert Cliffe once said something I love and know to be true – “You don’t get ulcers from what you eat, but from what’s eating you.”

We can make ourselves sick by poor thinking – we can also make ourselves healthy, wealthy, wise and wonderful by wonderful, wise, wealthy and healthy thinking – it’s in our power – yea –

So one more tiny quote from Seneca – who shared, “It is part of the cure to wish to be cured.” – Again, it’s the thinking, the wishing, the wanting – catch your thoughts – think only health today.

 

            Word: Herb – any plant with leaves, seeds or flowers used for flavoring, food, medicine, or perfume. Herbs are useful and can be healthful!

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Friday:

            Quote: Happy Friday – and I am giving you something a tad bit different this morning – it’s from Joseph Fetterman who wrote out 10 Mental Health Rules for us:

1. Have a Hobby; Acquire pursuits what absorb your interest; sports and nature are best.
2. Develop a Philosophy; Adapt yourself to social and spiritual surrounding.
3. Share Your Thoughts; Cultivate companionship in thought and in feeling. Confide, confess, consult.
4. Face Your Fears; Analyze them; daylight dismisses ghosts.
5. Balance Fantasy with Fact; Dream but also do; wish but build; imagine but ever face reality.
6. Beware Alluring Escapes; Alcohol and barbitals may prove faithless friends.
7. Exercise; Walk, swim, gold – muscles need activity.
8. Love, But Love Wisely; Sex is a flame which uncontrolled may scorch; properly guided, it will light the torch of eternity.
9. Don’t Become Engulfed in a Whirlpool of Worries; Call early for help. The doctor is ready for your rescue.
10. Trust in Time; Be patient and hopeful time is a great therapist.

 

            Word: Hysterical – the last word in the H of my dictionary – it means deriving from or affected by uncontrolled extreme emotion. Also extremely funny –

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

 

 

Week 20 – 5-5-5 Plan – Theme – Happiness    May 19-23 2008

 

Monday:

The theme this week is happiness and I was a bit surprised by the volume of quotes on happiness – I think the most of any of the topics I’ve selected – which then got me thinking about why – and why was the pursuit of happiness put into the constitution? It’s something humans crave – something we want, need, can feel and experience – so this week my call to you is to be happy – feel happy, spread happiness – we can – let’s!

            Quote:  The quote today comes from B.C. Forbes who said, “A happy man or woman” said Robert Louis Stevenson, “is a better thing to find than a five-pound note. He or she is a radiating focus of good will and their entrance into a room is as though another candle has been lighted.” Learn to be cheerful and you will come near being happy. Life’s race can best be run with a light heart and a buoyant countenance. Cheerfulness will open a door when other keys fail.”

Isn’t it funny that this quote has a quote in it? That makes me happy!

 

            Word: Euphoric, this word generally suggests an extreme of happiness – a wow feeling. I hope you have a euphoric day.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Tuesday:

            Quote: James Freeman Clarke said this about happiness, “Do not run after happiness, but seek to do good, and you will find that happiness will run after you. The day will dawn full of expectation, the night will fall full of repose. This world will seem a very good place, and the world to come a better place still.”

This quote also give hope I think – that makes me happy!

 

            Word: Buoyant – if you’re buoyant you are feeling light hearted, uplifted.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Wednesday:

            Quote: Hugo L. Black gave us today’s quote, He said, “It is the paradox of life that the way to miss pleasure is to seek it first. The very first condition of lasting happiness is that a life should be full of purpose, aiming at something outside self. As a matter of experience, we find that true happiness comes in seeking other things, in the manifold activities of life, in the healthful outgoing of all human powers.”

 

            Word: Ecstatic – this word implies an extreme of happiness.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

 

Thursday:

            Quote: A slight shift in thinking today in this quote by John S. Bonnell who said, “Not only is there a right to be happy, there is a duty to be happy. So much sadness exists in the world that we are all under obligation to contribute as much joy as lies within our powers.”

This really got me thinking because a lot of people speak out on how we need to watch our carbon footprint and all the waste and excess we do – however no one is speaking on how the simple tactic of being happy can make a larger and stronger impact than almost anything – imagine if everyone was bound to be happy – how much joy and prosperity that would spread? And it’s within our power!

 

            Word: Jubilant – the modern meaning of this word is – the simple idea of being very happy.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

Friday:

            Quote: The ending quote this week on happiness goes right to the core of the 5-5-5 and how we create your life by the way we think – Marcus Aurelius said, “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts; therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notion unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.”

 

I would also like to leave you this week with a creed by Christian D. Larson:

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind; to talk health, happiness and prosperity; to make your friends feel that there is something in them; to look on the sunny side of everything; to think only of the best; to be just as enthusiastic about the successes of others as you are about your own; to forget the mistakes of the past and profit by them; to wear a cheerful countenance and give a smile to everyone you meet; to be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.”

 

            Word: Risible – this word meaning relating to laughter can describe a person who is feeling inclined to laugh.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

 

 

Week 19 – 5-5-5 Plan – Theme – Gratitude    May 12- 16 2008

 

Monday:

This week the focus is gratitude – and it is indeed an attitude – to be grateful, to look for things to be thankful for – to constantly give thanks – for everything, everyone, and to everyone – wow!

            Quote: Amy Vanderbilt said our first quote on gratitude, “When we learn to give thanks, we are learning to concentrate not on the bad things, but on the good things in our lives.”

There is a story about two farmers who are chatting along a road when the preacher drives up to chat and he asks the first farmer Carl how life is going and Carl replies, “Oh Pastor, things are hard, the soil is dry, the market is down and I don’t know how I’ll feed my family!” Well the Lord was listening in and says to himself – “You think your life is hard? You’ve not seen hard yet – just wait!” The Pastor said, “That’s poor news Carl, I’ll pray for you. And how about you John, how goes your life?” to which John simply states, “Pastor I am blessed, my family is close, I love farming regardless of conditions and we seem to always have enough – my life is good.” To which God who was still listening said, “You think your life is good? You’ve not seen good yet – just wait!”

One man focused on his lack – the other on his good – you get more of whatever you focus on and are grateful for!

 

            Word: Ebullient – this word describes and outward manner of high enthusiasm that would presumably come from a feeling of joy and high spirits.

 

Tuesday:

            Quote: Today’s quote is from Edwin Arlington Robinson who said something thoughtful, “Two kinds of gratitude: The sudden kind we feel for what we take; the larger kind we feel for what we give.”

So I thought – in what ways –

We take, a cookie – “Oh thank you!”

We give someone a hand up the steps – “Wow- I’m so thankful I could help”

I agree – the giving is far greater in feeling –

 

            Word: Exultant – this word means extremely happy –

 

Wednesday:

            Quote: Virginia Arcastle said something great about appreciation – and isn’t that what gratitude is? – She said, “When people are made to feel secure and important and appreciated, it will no longer be necessary for them to whittle down others in order to seem bigger by comparison.”

We can – it’s in our power to make people feel secure and important and appreciated – let’s do more of that today – just because we can.

 

 

            Word: Risible – this word means relating to laughter – it can describe a person who is feeling inclined to laugh but is more frequently used to describe remarks or situations that are likely to provoke laughter

 

 

Thursday:

            Quote: Jeremy Taylor gives us today’s quote – “The private and personal blessings we enjoy, the blessings of immunity, safeguard, liberty, and integrity, deserve the thanksgiving of a whole life.”

What struck me about this quote is the call to live and experience a whole life – the thanksgiving of a whole life – I read it to mean it is up to us to build it, create it, live it in glory to all we have been given by all those that have gone before – the best way to thank those people is to leave our world a better place through living a whole life.

 

            Word: Complacent – the literal meaning of the word derived from Latin is pleased with – today it always carries the negative sense of being self satisfied

 

Friday:

            Quote: Our last quote this week is from Priscilla Wayne – who said something short and true, “As bread is the staff of life, the simple sustenance of the body, so appreciation is the food of the soul.”

Who can we be grateful for today and when can we tell them?

 

            Word: Agog – if you’re eager, amazed or excited – you may be agog –

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

 

 It’s such a blessing to have all of you on our 5:15 call – I’m grateful!

Week 18 – 5-5-5 Plan – Theme – Friendship   May 5-9 2008

 

Monday:

 

I’m so happy to be sharing thoughts on friendship this week – my friends have given my life more joy than I can describe – and I know I have friends here with me on these calls – because we are growing and sharing and experiencing and helping each other every day

 

            Quote: Today’s quote is from George Eliot who said, “What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?”

Why indeed? – When we hold ourselves accountable to each other and help each other over the get up early humps and bumps we enrich the world – each one of us at a time.

 

            Word: Gregarious – this adjective which means social able comes from the Latin to mean – belonging to a flock – a gregarious person enjoys the company of others.

 

 

Tuesday:

            Quote:  A longer quote today on Friendship by George Matthew Adams, “Nothing in this world appeases loneliness as does a flock of friends! You can select them at random, write to one, dine with one, visit one, or take your problems to one. There is always a least one who will understand, inspire, and give you the lift you may need at the time. Fortify yourself with a flock of friends!”

I love that saying – a flock of friends – like us!

 

            Word: Veneration – suggesting a bit more feeling than friendship. This noun connotes respect or reverence it’s usually used to describe feelings for someone older or more experienced.

 

Wednesday:

            Quote: This short quote today is one of my favorites and it was said by someone named Anonymous – “The best way to knock the chip off someone’s shoulder is to pat him on the back.”

 

            Word: Demonstrative – this adjective means given to open expression of emotion. Someone who is demonstrative usually but not always demonstrates friendly or loving feelings.

 

 

Thursday:

            Quote: The quote today you may have heard, Dale Carnegie said it and it’s been repeated many times and it’s so true – “You can make more friends in two months by becoming really interested in other people, than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”

So our challenge each day is – are we interested in others?

Once I heard someone say – I don’t need anymore friends, I’ve got plenty of those – and I felt odd – can you ever have enough friends? May there is only so much life to share with intimate friends – however all people can be your friend if you show interest in them – and this person obviously was not focused out – a good lesson.

 

            Word: Cohort – in Caesars time a cohort was a division of the Roman army made up of three to six hundred men – a legion consisted of 10 cohorts or 3-6000 men. The noun has now come to mean any kind of group or band of people. And even to mean simply a companion.

 

 

Friday:

            Quote: The final quote on friendship for the week is also good advise – it was coined by Henry Ward Beecher who said, “Every man should have a fair-sized cemetery in which to bury the faults of his friends.” –

I would say that we can double the cemetery and also bury the faults of our families as well. – looking on the positive side – that’s the way to live!

 

            Word: Kudos – Here’s a noun that means the praise one might offer to a friend or to someone of exceptional achievement.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!

 

 

 

Wow – the year is moving fast! We’ve done 17 weeks and begunthe 5th month of this adventure – and look at what we’ve all been doing! Magnificent!

Here are this weeks quotes – enjoy!

Week 17 – 5-5-5 Plan – Theme – Talent

 

Monday:

            Quote: This week I’m excited to share quotes on talent – something I think each of us has – a gift from God to all – and the challenge in life is finding and using our talents – so this first quote is from Benjamin Franklin – “Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What’s a sundial in the shade?”

And Benjamin Franklin used all of his for the betterment of generations –

 

            Word: Meticulous – this adjective emphasis’ painstaking care with details.

 

Tuesday:

            Quote: Love this quote on talent today by Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Talent for talent’s sake is a bauble and a show. Talent working with joy in the cause of universal truth lifts the possessor to new power as a benefactor.”

Using your talent with joy pleases me – and makes me feel happy that when dancers, singers, artists and someone helping me learn something do their jobs with joy I am moved – and benefited.

 

            Word: Assiduous – this adjective suggests diligence, persistence – unsurprisingly it comes from the Latin – for to sit – implying the ability to stay in your seat until the job is done.

 

Wednesday:

            Quote: A warning quote on talent for this hump day by Ethel R Page, “As tools become rusty, so does the mind; a garden uncared for soon becomes smothered in weeds; a talent neglected withers and dies.”

This is a good call to us all – are we using our talents? How can we use them more?

 

            Word: Ebullient – describes an outward manner of high enthusiasm that would presumably come from a feeling of joy and high spirits -

 

 

 

Thursday:

            Quote: Love this quote by Frank Tyger today, “One of the greatest talents of all is the talent to recognize and to develop talent in others.” This we can do – look for the good and talent in all and encourage it today!

 

            Word: Galvanize – this verb originally had the literal meaning of shocking someone with an electric current – today it carries only the figurative meaning of spurring someone into thought or action.

 

 

Friday:

            Quote: Samuel Johnson gives us the last quote this week on talent, he said, “There must always be some advantage on one side or the other, and it is better that advantage should be had by talents than by chance.” We can cultivate our talents and then we always have the advantage – it’s my challenge to myself and all of us today -

 

Roll call

 

            Word: Mutable – an adjective that means prone to frequent change – this word can be used to describe people as well as things.

 

You Create Your Day by the way You Think! Be Present!

Go make it a Magnificent Day!