February 26 LOVE DOESN'T HAVE A RETURN ON INVESTMENT.

Affirmation: I choose to be resilient. I move from competition to collaboration.

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Wholehearted Guidepost from Brené Brown

Cultivating Laughter, Song, and Dance. Letting Go of What other Prople Think.

GET GOING

The kitchen has always been the heart of the house for my family, and I always know how well the family is doing by how much dancing, laughing and singing is going on in there. Dance in the kitchen, even if it's putting on a great song and tapping your toe, or doing one twirl across the floor sock-footed. It doesn't matter; just dance and have fun! Journal prompt: How did it feel?

Let me know how it felt to laugh, sing and dance.

Douglas and I have laughed often this week and enjoyed music. We are still working on the dancing, although he is a great dancer and has always loved music.

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Mastering the 7 Decisions from Andy Andrews 

The Persistent Decision 

7. I WILL PERSIST WITHOUT EXCEPTION.

I possess the greatest power ever bestowed upon mankind. I hold fast to my dreams. I stay the course. I do not quit.

I acknowledge that most people quit when exhaustion sets in, but I am not “most people.”

I am stronger than most people. Average people compare themselves with other people, and that is why they remain average.

I compare myself to my potential. I am not average. I see exhaustion as a precursor to victory. By persisting without exception, my outcome—my success—is assured.

It is my wish that you have gained something positive and productive from reading about these seven decisions.

I strongly believe that there is nothing you can’t do if you have the proper mindset and conviction.-Andy Andrews

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength.

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Reading for Today

Walk in Grace. Live in Love. by Bob Goff

Feb. 26

LOVE DOESN'T HAVE A RETURN ON INVESTMENT.

Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same. 

LUKE 3:11 

 

I have some friends who are really successful in business. I hear them use this phrase "return on investment" when they talk about their work. It makes sense. What do you put in? What do you get back? Most people are hardwired to want to know their efforts will be effective. This is a business metric that can be used not only in the for-profit world but also in the not-for-profit world. If you donate money to a cause, you want to know how the money will be used and later whether it accomplished the goal. Simple enough. If you send your kids to school, you want to know how much they learned. That's fair. If we're going to spend our dme, energy, and resources on something, we want to know it's worth it and that we made a good choice. While that's a good way to look at a lot of things in life, I'm starting to see how we have to ditch that model when it comes to love. 

Love was never meant to be transactional. It doesn't give to get. It doesn't cre­ate spreadsheets to analyze how well it's working. It doesn't track how much love you put in and measure it against how much love you got back. Yet sadly, that's what we often do. We don't want to admit it, but we're looking for the return on investment. We want to know if our expression of love "worked." Keeping track of your investment is a fine way to gauge progress in the business world, I suppose, but it's a lousy way to measure a relationship because it turns people into projects. 

The return on investment with love is love itsel£ We don't have to know how our love makes a difference for it to be a good idea. We can just give it away like we won the lottery. People aren't projects, and love doesn't need to keep track of the outcomes. Think of a friendship, a relationship, or a venture you're involved in right now where you've been keeping track of how much love you put in and how much you've received in response-and figure out what needs to change. 

 

What would you do differently today if you weren't concerned anymore about getting something in return?