Stupid Work

Steve Jobs once told me, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

Planning

Successful individuals don’t go haphazardly into the weekend. They plan their day out just as they would any other. It might be a little more loosely-scheduled than a typical Tuesday, but with only so many hours in a week, successful people know they have to use all the free time they can get to accomplish the errands and tasks they need to accomplish. Without a plan, you’ll end up watching “just one more episode” of sitcom reruns before you realize it’s already 4 p.m. on Sunday.
*courtesy of Lifehack Daily Read

Measures of Success

"Success is not measured by what you do compared to what others do. It is measured by what you do with the ability God gave you."

Zig Ziglar -American author, salesman, and motivational speaker (1926-2012)

Success is learning to use the gifts you never knew you had until you communicate with the Creator. Success is also allowing His Will to grow you through your weaknesses as well as your strengths for the good of others. Comparing yourself with others only serves to divert your attention down unfulfilling paths of discontent. You are uniquely created. Have the courage to measure your success as you live according to whom you were created to be. . . A unique, loving human being.

Perspective on Thanksgiving

Though kids may view Thanksgiving as the first stop on the school holiday vacation train, there's a lot more for them to know about it than simply no class, stuffed turkey and whipped cream-topped pumpkin pie.
                                       

This November, teach your children historically accurate facts about this important holiday by learning about the events that led up to the well-known first feast and doing creative Thanksgiving activities together. Share these activities with your nanny, so she can do them with your kids too.

Read Together
Share an educational story time with your children, no matter their age, by reading a Thanksgiving-themed book.

                                             

Journey to 1621
Use the topic of Thanksgiving to investigate the journey of the pilgrims. Children can learn important historical facts in a fun, interactive way. Plimoth Plantation, a Massachusetts-based living history museum about the Plymouth Colony, provides an award-winning and free downloadable Thanksgiving activity that's appropriate for children of any age. See Link http://www.plimoth.org/what-see-do/mayflower-ii/journey-mayflower

Visit the Mayflower

The education experts at Scholastic have developed a complete and thorough unit dedicated to Thanksgiving. In addition to holiday-themed book recommendations, printable worksheets and informative videos, the site allows children to take a virtual tour of the Mayflower. Kids can also learn what daily life was like for the pilgrims and Wampanoags by comparing their living quarters, schools, chores and games.

Complete Thanksgiving Activity Sheets
Find coloring sheets, word searches, hidden picture sheets or puzzles that relate to Thanksgiving.  See Link http://www.edhelper.com/Thanksgiving_Activities.htm 

Do Crafts that Teach Gratitude
Children can construct a "Thankful Paper Chain" to count down the days until Thanksgiving. Have them write what they are thankful for on strips of construction paper and then loop them together.

Create a "Thankful Tree" by tracing your child's hand on pieces of red, orange and yellow construction paper, and having them write why they are thankful on each. Then attach with glue to a brown tree trunk made of construction paper.

You can also add pictures to a photo album or scrapbook of people, places, foods, pets, toys, movies or events that are special to your family. Include interesting stories of gratitude or explanations in your "Blessings Book."

Decorate the Feast Table
Since Thanksgiving centers around making peace with people and sharing food, pay special attention to the table setting. Encourage children to make it special by constructing Thanksgiving-themed table decor themselves. Talk about what the pilgrims and Indians would have had available, and use those objects in your decorations.

USE: cardboard tubes, construction paper, pompom balls and googly eyes to make pilgrims and Indians to set at each place setting. Kids can cut leaf shapes out of construction paper and write the name of each guest on one side and why they are thankful for them on the other.

Plan Games

Games are a great way to learn anything in a competitive, but fun way. Have a relay race in which children pass holiday-themed items like acorns, cranberries, nuts, peas and corn kernels to each other using chopsticks. Play trivia with fun Thanksgiving facts or create Thanksgiving bingo cards with historical information or Thanksgiving foods in the squares.

                                                            

Today, Thanksgiving is a holiday signified by loved ones coming together to share a meal and give thanks for each other. By taking the opportunity to explain its origin to children in creative ways, they can not only understand its historical importance, but its relevance in their everyday lives.

Photos provided by google images, content provided by Mary Evett a freelance writer. Edited by Nancy Perez 

My Job

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well."

Martin Luther King, Jr. Minister - civil rights activist (1929-1968)

Not many workers sense that they have a calling for their particular job. However, think how wonderful it would be to do business with an organization in which every worker considered their job to be one in which they were called or designed to perform. In other words, their job mattered and they mattered in that job to the level that they performed above and beyond what was expected. Experiment for one week to work above and beyond (not more hours) as if you were called or designed just for your current job.

Attitude

"Attitude to me is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than success, than what other people think, say or do. It is more important than appearance, gift, or skill. It will make or break a company ... a church ... or a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you ... we are in charge of our attitudes."

Charles Swindoll - Pastor, author, educator

How we respond to our daily interactions with others quite often reflects the condition of our inner emotional health. What attitude did you choose to embrace this morning? Was it an attitude of the heart open toward understanding others or focused inward on self? Are you choosing to wrestle with an inner hurt rather than choosing to be available for others? You may be missing out on the greatest honor, that of helping others. To be available to others it helps to be content with ourselves. How I see myself is truly up to me. Begin today seeing yourself as your creator sees you, BEAUTIFUL, WORTHY, and ACCEPTED. What type of attitude will you choose to embrace? If you want to be warm, loving and caring, then today and everyday, be intentional and choose an outward attitude.

Situations

"You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humor in anything, even poverty, you can survive it."

Bill Cosby - American Comedian

Let's face it . . . Life can be a struggle . . . Or it can become our favorite comedy show. What lens are you using through which to view your struggle? We are not perfect and by human nature we make mistakes knowingly or unknowingly. How adept are you at laughing at yourself or your situation? When I work myself into a state of frenzy over something, God may send a funny picture to my mind, such as . . . me running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. How silly is that behavior? That 's just enough to make me laugh and diffuse my anxiety. The humor lens of life is so much more fun! Which lens will you choose?