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Let’s think about all of the different times you have to wait in the average day.  If you’re an average American, in your whole life you will spend  an average of six months waiting on a red light.  And that doesn’t count the time you sit in traffic jams on a freeway.  The next time you’re sitting at a red light just think about it—6 months of your life!

And what about waiting on the telephone?  The average person spends 60 hours per year on hold.  That’s 2.5 days out of your year holding on  the telephone.  And you can’t blame it all on businesses either.  Thanks to call waiting, you now wait on hold when you call a friend’s mobile phone or even your own home.

So what do you do while you wait for those 6 months at a red light or those 60 hours a year on hold?  Have you tried using that time to focus your mind on the positive? Not that the light change but something really nice that happened that morning?  Not that your call get picked up, but so your attitude picks up?

There’s always time to focus your thoughts on something positive. Just one more way you Live Positive today!

My sister-in-law was getting ready for work one morning.  My niece walks into the bathroom wearing a pair of funny pink flamingo sunglasses.

She walks in so excited saying, “Mom!  Mom!  Look at everything!  It looks different!  Come on Mom!  Come out here!  Look over there!”  She takes her Mom out of the bathroom and into the den.  She thinks her Mom sees everything differently as well.

So her Mom patiently tells her that she’s not wearing pink flamingo sunglasses and so she can’t see everything differently.  So the three-year-old takes off the sunglasses, hands them to her Mom, and says, “What about now?”

And my sister-in-law says, “Things do look a little differently through pink flamingo sunglasses.”

How often do you assume everyone else sees life the way you do?  Pretty often?  It’s natural for you regardless of age to assume everyone sees life the way you do.  Today, when you’re talking to your spouse or child or coworker or friend about what you see, remember they are unique.  Help them see what you see by listening to life with them as you Live Positive.

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Sometimes, it seems like all of the world’s significant activity happens somewhere else, doesn’t it?  And nothing much happens around where you live, does it?

In 1925, the New York World celebrated the birthday of Abraham Lincoln with a cartoon that has two Kentucky farmers, talking over a picket fence.
One farmer asks, “Anything new happen lately?”  And the other farmer says, “Nothing much.  A new baby was born over at Tom Lincoln’s place, but nothing much ever happens around here.”

Do you have an attitude of “Nothing much ever happens around here?”  If you do, remember:  you just never really know who’s being born next door, do you?  A leader of your country or a Nobel Prize winner or the researcher who cures cancer or the negotiator of world peace could be born in your community.  Despite your attitude of “Nothing much ever happens around here,” it could…and today could be the day!  So Live Positive today and watch some amazing things happen.

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Once upon a time, I had an exercise bike.  I rode it for a while, but pretty soon I threw a pair of jeans on it, then a shirt, then some clothes  waiting to be ironed, and it became an expensive clothes rack.  So I moved it to the storage room.

Then I got a ski machine.  It was great, after I became coordinated enough to swing my arms and legs simultaneously.  And I used it for a while, but then one day I threw a pair of jeans on it, then a shirt, then some clothes waiting to be ironed, and it became a super-expensive clothes rack.  So I moved it to the basement.

Then I wanted a treadmill.  And I remembered the bike and ski machine.  Instead I bought a membership at a gym.  And I go exercise there, missing only when I’m sick or out of town.  What’s the difference?  At home, I exercise alone.  At the gym, I’m with lots of people, all of them doing the same thing.  I discovered I’m encouraged by people doing what I’m doing.

Surround yourself with positive people doing healthy activities as you Live Positive.

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We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another.  Then we are frustrated that the kids aren’t old enough and we’ll be happier when they are.

After that, we’re frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with.  We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage.

Then we tell ourselves that our life will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, when we’re able to go on a nice vacation, or when we retire.

Then we decide that when we recover from heart surgery or get cancer-free or have a knee replacement, that’s when we’ll be happy.

The truth is, there’s no better time to be happy than right now.  If not now, then when?

Life is always filled with challenges.  So go ahead and admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway.  Live each day to the fullest by choosing to be happy regardless as you Live Positive today.

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I opened my email that morning as soon as I arrived in my office, just like I do each morning.  I removed the spam—yes, I get it, too—and looked down through the list.  I recognized our younger daughter’s email address on one of them so I scrolled down and opened hers first.

The message announced that I had an e-greeting card to open.  So I clicked on the link and opened it.  There was the cutest picture of a yellow Lab puppy like the ones we have and a kitten, their noses touching.  And someone had drawn in some hearts between them.  The caption read, “Puppy Love.”

And our daughter wrote in, “Daddy, I know it’s not Valentine’s yet, but I couldn’t resist sending this to you.  Love and kisses,” and her name.

I wrote her back and said, “Thank you, sweetheart!  It’s never too early to send love.  Love and kisses, Daddy.”

And it isn’t.  Nor is it ever too late.  Yea, I know Valentine’s is past for this year, but send someone love today.  You receive 365 days a year, so share it as often as possible so you can Live Positive.

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Once there was a bishop in the church named Valentine.  Valentine was known far and wide for showing love to others.  It was illegal for him to proclaim his belief in a loving God, but Valentine did so publicly.  His loving actions landed him in jail on charges of treason to the government.

But he shared so much love with his jailer that he started believing in God.  He even fell in love with the jailer’s daughter.  He sent her cards with clovers made into hearts which read, “From Your Valentine.”

The legend of Valentine’s displays of God’s love only spread more after his death.  So much that he was made a saint and a day was declared for us all  to share love—St. Valentine’s Day.

Share God’s love with others today, not just your family, but people you don’t even know.  As you pass them in the hall at work or on the street, say, “Happy Valentine’s Day!”  And as you do, do so as if today were named after you.

Live positive.  Work positive.  Love positive.

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A husband was looking through the paper when he read a study that said women use more words than men.  He showed his wife the study results, all
excited to prove to her that he had been right all along when he accused her of talking too much.  The study results read, “Men use about 15,000  words per day, whereas women use about 30,000 words per day.”

The wife read the results that her husband showed her, and thought for a while.  Then finally she said to her husband, “It’s because we have to repeat
everything we say.”

And her husband said, “What?”

Whether you’re a woman or a man, you sometimes fail to listen to the best of your ability, right?  And that means somebody has to do more talking to get their point across.  That somebody includes not only your spouse if you’re married, but your coworkers as well.  You say, “What?” to them sometimes, too.

Avoid just talking or waiting to talk while someone else speaks.  Say to someone like your spouse or coworker, “You talk first this morning” and listen
to your life.  Maybe both of you will use fewer words as you Live Positive.

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I was walking along the fence line to one of our horse pastures last December.  I cruise them occasionally to insure they’re okay and also to make sure nothing’s growing up around them that needs cutting.

So I’m walking along and everything’s fine.  Posts and boards are in place and nothing is growing up around them.  And then I see it—a lone daisy growing under the fence line.

Now remember, it’s December, not exactly daisy weather.  That daisy shouldn’t be growing according to conventional thinking.  But I guess somebody forgot to tell the daisy.  It displayed its vibrant yellow for anyone to see, virtually glowing against the drab winter background.

Love is like that.  It glows brilliantly against the sometimes drab and cold world we live in.  And next week as you celebrate love that glows, a love that grows in your relationships where it shouldn’t, it’s against the conventional thinking that says only love those people like you.

Love others the way you want to be loved regardless as you Listen to Life and Conceive a Positive Life.

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Have you ever noticed how some people do all the talking?  And that they’re usually the ones who are a little negative?

And how other people are really good listeners?  And that they’re more often the ones who when they speak have something positive to say?

I was in a room recently in which a man took all the air out of the room by talking only about himself.  I watched while other people tried to be
polite and listen, or gently change the subject to include others in the conversation.  They changed their body language to move away from the person and some just left the room.

I was in another room recently in which one person deftly engaged each of the others in the conversation, asking about their families, and so on.  I watched as people moved closer together.  This room was filled with what I call conversation generosity.

The loving thing to do with others is to be generous in your conversation.  So love others enough to really listen instead of just waiting to talk as you Listen to Life so you Live Positive.