Three Things

I believe there are three things that can help us enjoy life more consistently. However, we can only control two of them.

The first is communication. With every one of the four companies I have owned, I’ve preached over and over again that communication is the single most important factor that leads to success. Why? Because if you think about it, most problems in life are caused by a lack of communication. And that includes communication problems in business and in our personal lives.

The second thing is regarding relationships. When I was training new salespeople, I would always explain that you cannot make a sale until you establish a relationship, preferably a relationship based on trust. The same thing applies to our personal lives because making the effort to build solid relationships with people will always enhance your quality of life. In fact, scientific studies have proven that social interaction is a basic human need, just like food and water.

The third thing is timing… which we cannot control. However, I often feel like God takes care of the timing, and proof of that happened to me again yesterday. It was just something simple, but it sums up my theory about the “Three Things” mentioned above. Let me explain.

I went to Staples to buy some clipboards and a large box of copy paper. When I picked up the box of copy paper I discovered it was super heavy. Duh! I know I’m getting older, but seriously, that box of 12 reams of copy paper felt like it weighed 50 pounds! As I wheeled my shopping cart next to my truck in the parking lot, a man approached me and said, “I can help you with that box if you’ll give me that shopping cart.” I said, “Sure”, and together we lifted the box into the back of my truck. I gave him my empty cart and he headed back to his car. As I backed up, I noticed that he had a heavy box of copy paper in the trunk of his car that he was returning to Staples. So I stopped and said, “Hey, you need help with that box?” He said, “Sure”, so I jumped out and returned the favor. We talked for a few minutes, and it felt like I had made a new friend.

And that got me thinking… Communicating with people can lead to relationships, and with a little help from God with the timing, relationships can sometimes lead to friendships, trust, and happiness. Three things! I wonder if that is what God had in mind when he came up with the idea of the Holy Trinity?

When we put our cares in His hands, He puts His peace in our hearts.

~ Anonymous

Good Byes

I wasn’t able to write and publish a Monday Message yesterday because I was too busy with work. Okay, the truth is that I didn’t write a Monday Message because I had my priorities all wrong yesterday! Work should always be down the line, and that line should start with God, Family, Friends, and then work.

Fortunately, my wife has her priorities straight. So she stepped up and wrote a Monday Message for me today… but she wrote it from a place of sadness.

The tears flowed. The hugs were tighter than before. The hugs lasted longer, but not long enough. My heart ached. I really didn’t want to say goodbye. His big brown eyes looked long at me, wondering what was happening. His ears relaxed back and his tail was still. He knew something was up.

I was saying goodbye to one of our beloved family dogs. Sanders doesn’t know it, but he is leaving Orange County tomorrow, relocating to Colorado to be with our grandson Jared, and girlfriend Emily, who are really wanting to take him in. Sanders and Jared are tight, they grew up together, and they’ll grow older together, at least for a few more years.

So my goodbye is the beginning of a new adventure for Sanders. Sanders deserves all the love and attention he can get. He was rescued at 6 months and has been a loyal family protector and a sweet love to anyone who wanted to get to know him for more than 8 years. It’s so easy to get close to dogs, all they offer is love, companionship, and fun.

We all say goodbye many times a day, a week, a month, and most times we never think twice about it. Except when it hurts. When it hurts your heart, at least you’ve been blessed to have what you are losing. At least you know that you had something special. So that’s good. Bye.

Dog is God spelled backwards.

~ Anonymous

A Whole Lot Brighter

Ever had a bad day? I sure did this past week and although I’m not normally one to complain, some days almost nothing goes right!

My wife asked me if there was a way to raise the folding table in the garage where she packs suitcases for her charity for Foster Kids. Bending over a low table was hurting her back, so I bought some fancy wood pieces that I thought would work, but they were difficult to drill, and my hand kept slipping, so after two attempts I gave up.

Next, I decided to switch gears and change out an old ivory outlet in the living room. I wanted to replace it with a new fancy white Decora outlet. Normally it’s a quick 10-minute job, but while installing it, my hand slipped again, and I got a pretty serious jolt of 120 volts. If that wasn’t bad enough, after finishing up I noticed that several outlets in our kitchen were no longer working. So I had to go check the breakers and reset the GFI to get things working again.

Finally, I had been putting off installing a new overhead light in our dark garage because I didn’t have some of the parts I needed. So I put $150 worth of gas in my truck (sheesh… that certainly didn’t cheer me up any), made the trip to Home Depot, and got the electrical parts and a motion sensor that I needed to complete the installation. It wasn’t easy and it took me a lot longer than I expected. Plus it was a really hot day, so I was sweating up a storm. As I stood on a ladder attempting to screw the assembled unit into the ceiling, my hand slipped yet again, and the whole friggin’ thing fell to the floor and disintegrated.

Lastly, I figured nothing else could possibly go wrong. But sure enough, after putting my tools away, and watching darkness descend over our neighborhood,  my sweaty hands slipped once again, and I dropped my brand-new cell phone on the hard concrete driveway. I was sure it was broken beyond repair, but I was surprised to see it was still intact. And as I surveyed it for damage, I noticed my daughter had just texted me some new photos of my one-year-old granddaughter, Blakely Rae. Looking at her picture, I realized two things. 1) Babies are God’s best invention and 2) When I hold that precious child in my hands, my hands never slip, and the world just seems to get a whole lot brighter!

Life is a flame that is always burning itself out; 

but it catches fire again every time a child is born.

~ Bernard Shaw

Some Things Never Change

Yesterday I was super low on gas and was sure I was going to have to walk the entire length of the earth to find a gas station. Fortunately, I found one but was astonished at how high gas prices are. I can’t believe that the pump cut-off automatically at $100 and my tank was only half full. The other surprising thing was reading yesterday that fast food workers are going to be paid a minimum wage of $20.00 per hour from now on. Things sure are changing!

When I was 16 years old, I worked at two different gas stations. They were run by two different men who could not have been more opposite. And the things I learned at both places were incredibly important in how they shaped my view of life and my character.

My first gas station job was working 4:00pm to midnight after school. It was a Mobil Station at the corner of Hwy 76 and Hwy 395. Gas was only $35.9 cents per gallon, but then again, my pay was only $1.75 per hour. The owner, Gus, was a rough, cruel man who cussed and drank and beat his wife. (I know that I because I witnessed it one evening.) At that gas station I learned about dishonesty, drugs, alcohol abuse, spousal abuse, and how to cheat customers on pricing and then steal from them when they left their car overnight. Needless to say, I didn’t work there for very long.

The second gas station I worked at was on Main Street in the tiny town of Fallbrook. There was only one top sign on Main Street, only one store in town, and only one gas station. The owner, Eddie Mahr, was the exact opposite of Gus. He treated his employees and customers with a great deal of respect. He even gave me a raise to $2.00 per hour after I was there a few months. I know it doesn’t sound like much of a raise, but it made a huge difference to a lonely kid living on his own. He taught me how to provide great customer service and the importance of being on time, and to always be dressed neat and clean. He also taught me a ton of mechanical skills that I still use to this day. When I quit working for Eddie to head to northern California for college, Eddie gave me a gift of 4 brand new tires and wheels for my truck. That’s right, he gave me a gift… when I quit! But the best gift he gave me was an awesome example of how to treat people right, bringing joy and happiness to everyone around you.

It seems like things have changed a lot in the last 50 years… and maybe not so much for the better. If you do the math, the new minimum wage is 10 times more than I made in 1972, but gas is now 20 times more expensive! That’s definitely an unwelcome change. But you know what hasn’t changed, and never will, the importance of doing right by others. It is as valuable today as it was when Jesus walked the earth more than 2023 years ago.

“It is our choice of good or evil that determines our character, not our opinion of good or evil.

~ Aristotle