Dr. JJ's Rule #11: Be Grateful

GRATEFUL people tend to be HAPPY people.

In a previous article, Dr. JJ's 13 Rules for Living were shared.

Click HERE to access JJ's 13 Rules.

This week's blog post addresses Dr. JJ's RULE #11, which states:

Take nothing for granted, and in everything give THANKS. 

The United States and Canada recently celebrated their annual Thanksgiving holidays. This occasion has always been one of my favorite times of year. Aside from my love of good food and drink—which so richly abounds at a North American Thanksgiving feast—I appreciate the reminder and opportunity this holiday affords me to inwardly express and outwardly display my immense gratitude for my endless blessings.

We do not, of course, need a formal holiday to give thanks. Gratitude ought to be a daily, and even an hourly, practice in our lives. No matter how challenging life may be at any given moment in time, there are always people and things to be grateful for. 

Indeed, it has been my observation that serendipitous blessings and favors abound—even, and perhaps especially—in my life's most difficult hours. And the more closely I pay attention, the more fully I recognize the grand scope of my fortune. For this, and for everything else that is good, helpful, and beneficial in my life, I am most grateful.

On the topic of gratitude, one leader has written and spoken with particular urgency and eloquence. Said he: "Gratitude is a sign of maturity. It is an indication of sincere humility. It is a hallmark of civility."  

"Gratitude is a sign of maturity. It is an indication of sincere humility. 

It is a hallmark of civility."* 

— Gordon Hinckley

Self-action leaders recognize that their blessings and favors never end.

I am personally thankful for so many things. First and foremost, I am grateful for my faith, and for the author thereof (God), who I believe is the source of all my blessings. 

Next I am grateful for my kind, intelligent, and beautiful wife—my best friend, lover, and closest confidant. After that I am thankful for my three smart, talented, and adorable children. 

I am also thankful for my ancestry, genes, and good health. Then comes gratitude for liberty and opportunity, and my opportunity to increase my freedom over time through Self-Action Leadership. I am grateful for education and good books that helped me to develop the SAL Theory and Model. I am thankful for sunlight and shadow, and for this beautiful Earth so richly warmed, illumined, cooled, and protected by both.

I am especially grateful for the never-ending small, personal, and tender mercies that come into my life on a daily, even hourly, basis. Such blessings go largely unnoticed by others. But I recognize their continual entrance onto the stage of my life, and acknowledge the reality and magnificence of this continual serendipity that I personally ascribe to an all-loving Creator that I believe watches over me and my family continuously.  

Self-Action Leaders are grateful people, and they are infinitely happier for it. Moreover, they express their gratitude on a regular basis to anyone and everyone to whom it is appropriate and relevant.    

I invite you to spend 5-10 minutes today reflecting on your own blessings and favors in life. In doing so, try to block out any comparisons with other people. Simply recognize what YOU have been given, and then allow yourself to feel the warmth, goodness, and joy that spontaneously arises in your mind and heart as you so reflect.

As another difficult year winds to a close for all of us, I promise you this activity will contribute to your happiness by placing your difficulties into their proper perspective.  

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays everyone!  

      

NOTE: This article is the 13th in a series of 22 articles on the subject of LIFE RULES.

Click HERE to access quick links to the other 21 articles.   

—Dr. JJ

December 22, 2021

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 244thBlog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 243 FF Blog Articles.  

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Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

And if you liked this blog post, please share it with your family, friends, colleagues, and students—and encourage them to sign up to receive future articles for FREE every Wednesday.

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Click HERE to buy the SAL Textbooks

Notes:

* Hinckley, G.B. (2000). Standing for Something. Three Rivers Press: New York, NY. P. 106.

A Pre-Thanksgiving Reminder to Give...

My little boy, Tyler, and his preschool Thanksgiving creation.
How grateful I am for Ty guy and all the time I get to spend with him!

This blog is a special Pre-Thanksgiving reminder to GIVE...

Give what, you ask?  

First, it is a reminder to give THANKS.

Even in the best of circumstances, life can still be incredibly challenging—for everyone. In the midst of so many varied trials that we experience as human beings, it is not always easy to be grateful. When things are especially difficult, it may take a conscious act of sheer willpower to shift your focus away from your problems and toward your blessings. 

But for self-action leaders, it is always worth the effort! 

Those who persist in focusing on their blessings instead of their troubles discover that their troubles don't seem as bad as they previously thought. 

Moreover, since the human brain can only think about one thing at a time, filling one's mind with positivity is a powerful antidote to eliminating negativity. In so doing, I am not suggesting that you ignore your problems or pretend they don't exist. I am merely inviting you to consciously remember to devote a healthy amount of time to dwelling on what is good in your life—and what could yet be—rather than constantly drowning in a sea of worry about what hasn't gone right, or what isn't working out (yet) in your life.

Despite the tremendous challenges I have faced in my life with my MENTAL HEALTH, RELATIONSHIPS, and CAREER, it never ceases to amaze me how often I have been blessed and how varied my blessings have been all along the way. After all, the vast majority of my mental issues are now behind me, my romantic woes are way, way behind me (thank you, Lina!), and while my career remains stalled in some senses, am I not—in the very moment of writing this article—living my dream career right now?  

The answer to this question is a resounding YES! 

          And I am so grateful for it. 

It never ceases to amaze me how many and varied my blessings are
—even, and perhaps especially at the most difficult times in my life. At this Thanksgiving season, I invite you to give THANKS a little more than you have in the past. Dig deep to fill your mind with all the macro and micro fortunes that have flooded into your life over the years. Then express your gratitude to anyone and everyone you come across that played a role in bringing those blessings your way.  

SECOND, this article is a reminder to GIVE something tangible to someone else in need. Chances are good that most (if not all) of my readers will be sitting down to a bounteous feast next Thursday. Before you dine on that sumptuous Thanksgiving banquet, I invite you to do something that requires some action and effort on your part that will, in some small way, enable someone else to have a nicer, fuller, and more bounteous holiday themselves. It won't take much effort on your part to accomplish this task, but it will require you to consciously and proactively take an action that you might not otherwise take.

Most people are decent folks with good intentions. Unfortunately, it is a much smaller percentage of people who routinely take action on those good intentions. I invite you this Thanksgiving to count yourself among this smaller percentage of DOERS. I'm not asking you to do something overly difficult, creative, or time-consuming. I'm merely inviting you to do something above and beyond what you would have done had you not read this article today.  

For example, in the process of living my own routine schedule, I learned about two food drives that were taking place at my son's preschool and a local doctor's office. 

Now I want to be honest about something....

When I first heard about these food drives, my mind began making excuses why it really wouldn't make much of a difference if I just let other people contribute. After all, I already give money to my Church to help the poor. I have also personally provided food, water, and/or clothing to individual homeless persons on many occasions in many locations throughout my life.

But then I remembered something about self-action leaders: they don't make excuses and they don't wait for other people to jump in and help when they are entirely fit, capable, and available to help themselves. They also don't content themselves on what they did yesterday, yestermonth, or yesteryear. They continually concern themselves about and are focused on TODAY. 

"What am I doing TODAY to make the world a better place?" That's the daily question that self-action leaders are always asking themselves. 

Shopping with Tyler for two food drives
in my community

Suffice it to say, that little self-reminder put an end to my excuse-making. A few days later, my little son (Tyler) and I went to the grocery store and bought a cart full of groceries to split between the two food drives. 

It felt very good!  

Isn't that amazing? I went to work to do something that I initially didn't want to do to help somebody else, and I am the one who ends up feeling great. What a deal!  

So... 

          What are you waiting for? 

Sometime in the next six days, make an extra effort to help somebody else by going out of your way to serve, lift, love, encourage, etc.  I promise you that if you will accept this simple challenge, this Thanksgiving will be one of the best you've ever had, and you'll enjoy your own fabulous feast even more.  

HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!

-Dr. JJ

November 18, 2021

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, USA

Author's Note: This is the 240th Blog Post Published by Freedom Focused LLC since November 2013. 

Click HERE for a compete listing of the other 239 FF Blog Articles.  

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Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

And if you liked this blog post, please share it with your family, friends, colleagues, and students—and encourage them to sign up to receive future articles for FREE every Wednesday.

To sign up, please email freedomfocused@gmail.com and say SUBSCRIBE, or just YES, and we will ensure you receive a link to each new blog article every Wednesday.  

Click HERE to learn more about Freedom Focused

Click HERE to learn more about Dr. Jordan Jensen

Click HERE to buy the SAL Textbooks

Something Extra Special I am Thankful For in 2020

At this special time of year—which is dedicated to giving thanks for all of our blessings—I have something extra special to be grateful for. This week's blog post is dedicated to the unique source of my THANKSGIVING in this unforgettable year of 2020.  

Largely lost in news cycles dominated by the COVID-19 Pandemic and the post-presidential election coverage in the United States was the recent passing of an unusually noteworthy and newsworthy event: 

The 400th Anniversary of the arrival of the Pilgrims on the Mayflower. 

I recently learned that I am a direct descendent of at least eight (8) passengers on that historic ship, four (4) of which signed the famous Mayflower Compact.

These ancestors include (Compact signers in BOLD): 

Signing of the Mayflower Compact

John Tilley (1571-1621) and Joan Hurst (1571-1621)  — my 11th Great-Grandparents

John Howland (1592-1672) and Elizabeth Tilley (1607-1687)  — my 10th GG

Edward Fuller (1575-1621) and Mrs. Edward Fuller (Ann) (1575-????)  — My 10th GG

Samuel Fuller (1608-1683) and Jane Lathrop (1614-1683) — My 9th GG

Click HERE to view the full list of those who signed the Mayflower Compact.

I am grateful for these noble ancestors of mine and am deeply inspired by the sacrifices they were willing to make to cross the great Atlantic at a time when doing so was difficult and dangerous. I admire their faith in God, their faith in themselves, and their faith in each other.

Moreover, I am inspired by the extent to which they were willing to work, strive, sacrifice, and risk everything for FREEDOM—religious and otherwise. As they look down upon me from Heaven above, I hope they are pleased with the way in which I have chosen to live my life and raise my family. I also hope that it brings them joy and satisfaction to see and know that their 9th, 10th, and 11th great grandson values freedom enough to also dedicate his life to its personal and professional expansion and perpetuation throughout the same Great Nation they helped to forge.  

Sailing to America in 1620 did not pose a simple solution to the problems the Pilgrims faced in England. Nor did an easy life await them upon their arrival on the cold, snowy, windswept shores of North America.

In fact, exactly HALF of them (51 out of 102 passengers) died either on the journey or not long after landing. This included two of my own ancestors (Edward and Ann Fuller), who passed away in early 1621, just a few short months after reaching Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts Bay on November 11, 1620. That means they were not fortunate enough to participate in the famous First Thanksgiving. 

John Howland, perhaps with the aid of Providence,
rescued himself from a watery grave in 1620,
much to the relief of hundreds of thousands
of his descendants, of which I am one!

My 10th Great Grandfather, John Howland—age 28 during the voyage—was famously washed overboard the Mayflower's deck during a terrible storm that struck during the Pilgrim's transatlantic crossing. Fortunately, he was able to miraculously grab hold of a rope attached to the ship and bravely pull himself to safety.

John Howland's story has been repeated hundreds of times in history books and other publications over the centuries, including (more recently) in an article in the Associated Press and a featured book by Irish artist and author, P.J. Lynch. 

Click HERE to read the Associated Press story about John Howland's watery adventure and rescue

Click HERE to see P.J. Lynch's book John Howland's watery adventure and rescue

I am not alone in this, my family heritage. In fact, approximately 10 million U.S. citizens (and 35 million people around the world) share similar ancestral lines. Possessing such a heritage does NOT, of course, make me existentially superior to anyone else. Indeed, whether you descend from Pilgrim immigrants, the Native Americans who so kindly assisted them after their arrival, or someone who came on the scene later on from any number of different foreign countries and circumstances, all citizens of the United States share something very similar and special.

What is that? 

The answer is: LIBERTY. We all possess liberty. And what is more, we all have the opportunity to work to expand our personal and professional FREEDOMS to whatever extent to which we are willing to pay the price.

Can there be any greater blessing than that?   

How much do you value and seek after FREEDOM?

I don't know about you, but I value and seek after it even more than I want TURKEY at THANKSGIVING, and that is saying a LOT, because I LOVE turkey... and every other delicious delight I plan to gobble up tomorrow afternoon!

Happy Turkey Day Everyone.

And REMEMBER: no matter how difficult or trying your present circumstances may be in the midst of this incredibly challenging year, I challenge YOU to serve up a helping of GRATITUDE that is as least as large as your slice of pumpkin pie.

If you do, I promise you will feel better afterward.

In fact, you might even feel as good as you will while eating that turkey and pumpkin pie. You will, at the very least, feel better than you will after eating all that turkey and pumpkin pie... that is, if you plan on eating as much Turkey and Pie as do I!

Boy do I LOVE THANKSGIVING!!!  

#GiveThanks

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Tune in NEXT Wednesday for another article on a Self-Action Leadership related topic.  

And if you liked this blog post, please share it with your family, friends, colleagues, and students—and encourage them to sign up to receive future articles for FREE every Wednesday.

To sign up, please email freedomfocused@gmail.com and say SUBSCRIBE, or just YES, and we will ensure you receive a link to each new blog article every Wednesday.    

Click HERE to learn more about Freedom Focused.

Click HERE to buy the SAL Textbooks.