Choose to give and receive second chances...

For many, school will begin this week. Perhaps someone is starting a new job. Maybe this is THE time you will start a lifestyle change for better health. Or, that person you love will get one more chance to prove him or herself.

Each day we wake up and its like entering the stage at the beginning of a huge production. We are the headline name.  Lights are flashing, the crowd is at full attention, the music is playing then BAM-the spotlight goes on us.

Do we go "deer in the headlights" or do we take that light, use its energy, and do our thing? It seems like that one moment defines our day, our week, or our journey to whatever success we want, or whatever mission we wish to accomplish. If only we had one more chance to prove ourselves?

Second chances do not come easy. Maybe it's because we don't give them or maybe it's because we don't want to receive them.  We feel unworthy or that the die has been cast and we cannot change those opinions that we think others have about us, or those opinions we have about ourselves.

Guess what? YOU HAVE CHOICES!

You can choose to give YOURSELF a second chance or give OTHERS a second chance.

Life is not always easy. We have hurts, perceived failures, or fractured attitudes.  Making the decision to try again is often the biggest battle.  Once the decision is made, you have the ability to turn it around. You also have the ability to ENCOURAGE others who are trying to turn it around.

Second...or third...or fourth...or however many you need to make the wrongs turn right, or make the failures become opportunities, take them.

Or GIVE them...

Only you can decide and choose that for yourself and others.

So as you begin school, this week, a new journey, or a new chance to change your life, MAKE GOOD CHOICES and give yourself a break. And most importantly, give OTHERS a break.

In the end, you have the ability to give power to yourself just by choosing your actions and allowing yourself to move forward.

You are so worth it. And you are capability of sharing that skill with others. It will make the world a better place.

For Make Good Choices.®,

Nanci Scarpulla, M.Ed.

To learn more about 100 Choices that Lead to a Better Life, visit www.imakegoodchoices.com and order the book, Make Good Choices.® 100 Choices that Lead to a Better Life.

Choose to say thank you...because you want to, not because you want something.

People like to be thanked.  Sometimes.

Have you ever thought about it?
How many times have you been thanked for something? It just feels good to know you are appreciated for something you did for someone else.

Thankfulness is a mutual action. The giver gives the "thank you." The receiver chooses to accept it. Both require action in some form. The "thank you" receiver feels appreciated while the "thank you" giver feels grateful and enjoys the feeling of the gratefulness.


Or do they?

Sometimes it's hard to accept a "thank you."  It requires, for a moment, a sincerity or unexpected humility that comes with receiving an unexpected blessing.

Other times, especially in our modern thinking, saying thank you may imply a form of manipulation. This thought may be uncomfortable as you read this but the truth is, sometimes, people say thank you because they want something. They feel like there is a reward for just saying it.

When we use gratitude or a "thank you" for this purpose, we may get what we want, but we sacrifice the cordial feeling of true gratefulness in the process. That seems like a great price to pay for an act that should be priceless, and sincere.

Can you think of someone in your life, past or present, that deserves a meaningful, no strings attached, thank you. This person could perhaps be someone you know personally or never met in your life yet they did something that uniquely made an impression or truly represented the spirit of giving or sacrifice.

CHOOSE TO THANK THAT PERSON, SINCERELY, FROM YOUR HEART.  No expectations, no strings attached, just a true heartfelt thank you.

Seek to find moments in your life when something that someone has done or something that someone said, helped create a defining moment in your life-AND THANK THEM.

Benjamin Franklin once said, "When befriended, remember it. When you befriend, forget it."

Now here may be the harder part for some of you reading this now. Take for example, you are on the other side of a "thank you."  It will take you a moment to receive the "thank you" because you might be caught off guard. It's okay.

CHOOSE TO ACCEPT THE THANK YOU WITHOUT SECOND THOUGHT OR SPECULATION. As you process the "thank you", choose to affirm that you are worthy to accept these words. 

Remember, as we go through life, we are all planting seeds of growth, ideas, inspiration, admiration, and just plain goodness randomly as we meet people on a daily basis. Sometimes we might not even realize it. When you get caught being "good" or supplying one of those things I have listed, be willing to accept that you are worthy of the gratitude being offered to you. Sometimes that is harder than giving it.

These are things in life we have a choice in deciding how we will react.

GRATITUDE-BOTH GIVING AND ACCEPTING-is a powerful, beautiful blessing that should cost nothing but effort.

So I challenge you today...

MAKE GOOD CHOICES.®-Choose to remember someone who did something that deserves recognition. You need not make it a big deal. A simple note, a phone call, or a passing thank you, if done sincerely, will be easy to give and receive.

And it will make the world a better place to live.

Nanci Scarpulla, M.Ed
For Make Good Choices.®

To learn more about how to make the world a better place to live, go to www.imakegoodchoices.com.

Get the rake ready, negative thoughts and dead leaves can be treated the same.

Photo compliments of ArtbyMichelle
http://www.squidoo.com/free-fall-clip-art-images

I am standing in my doorway looking over my patio. Years ago, we had a deck added to go into the woods so I could hang bird feeders, sit under the shade of the big sycamore tree, and take in my little corner of world.  For almost 15 years, I have watched this tree grow quickly and host many forms of birds, squirrels, raccoons, and opossums.  

We have quite a relationship, that tree and I.  I can look at that tree and know when the seasons are changing despite what the calendar has listed. 

The spring brings about tiny buds of leaves and within a week or two, I have a fantastic shade tree. I can literally sit for hours reading a book, watching my kids play, or just relax in the comfort of a nice breeze. As the summer approaches, it gets hotter, and in Alabama heat and humidity, it is almost unbearable to sit outside for any long periods of time.  By this time every year, Alabama and August bring about oppressive air and it is frustrating to me that I cannot enjoy my patio and deck. 

It's frustrating, because I cannot CONTROL something that is very natural and normal.

Have you ever had something in your life that you could not control because quite simply, it is not within your ability, your responsibility or business to control it? 

It is times like this that NEGATIVE thoughts may fall upon you or surround you.

I notice today that the leaves are turning brown. Some have decided to start falling. I immediately think to my self that the deck will be full of dead leaves and I will have to go out and rake them to be able to enjoy the deck. And as soon as I clear the deck, it will be full again.

Sycamore leaves are big. They crumble, crunch, and can consume an area within weeks of falling. 

Your negative thoughts are EXACTLY like leaves. 

CHOOSE TO LET GO OF WHAT YOU CANNOT CONTROL and CHOOSE TO EMBRACE THE NATURAL OCCURRENCES IN LIFE KNOWING THAT IT IS TEMPORARY-LIKE DEAD LEAVES. 

Instead of embracing and enjoying the cycle of life that this tree represents, I fight it.

I can CHOOSE another option and so can you.

Choose to allow negative thoughts to fall around you like dead leaves. Do not allow them to build up and decompose around you. Rake them away, knowing each thought, much like leaves, will spring back with glorious beautiful beginnings like the trees that produce them.

Replace every one negative thought with two positive ones. You CAN do this. Look around you.

What are you thankful for?
What are your blessings in life?
How have you helped others in life?

Thinking about these things will help you to realize that life choices allow you to live a life of abundance and love.

Make Good Choices.®, and allow yourself moments each day to clear your negative thinking.

Nanci Scarpulla, M.Ed.
For Make Good Choices.®

To learn more about Make Good Choices.® and to order our book, Make Good Choices.® 100 Choices that Lead to a Better Life, visit www.imakegoodchoices.com.

Facebook: Make Good Choices.® featuring our online store.
Available through Amazon, too.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness

My father was a high school football coach. Over his desk in his office at home, he had a plaque entitled, "Desiderata."  By the time I was 10, I had memorized it.

One particular line that always stuck with me was: "Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness."


Remember "Just Do It" by Nike? Is there something you want to accomplish but are fearful? Feel that fear (or excitement) and do it anyway. Physically move, accomplish those things in life you choose, and do it! Making good choices requires action too!

We go through life making choices everyday. Sometimes, the very choice we need to make we procrastinate and put it off until life chooses the outcome for us. Have you ever been in a situation where you chose to do nothing, and something happened? Was the result what you wanted or what you had hoped would not happen? Do you wish you had made the choice on your own?

Life chooses for us when we do not actively seek to move forward and accomplish those things in our lives that we want to accomplish. We get filled with fear if we know there is a chance to succeed or get excited when we are so close to achieving our goal that we give up or give in. We get fatigued or lonely.  Choosing to follow your dreams, change your life, stick to your principles or beliefs, or proceed with your goals can be very exhausting and yes, very lonely.  The one cheerleader you need most is yourself and the other cheerleader you need most is the people who support you and encourage you even when their own fears try to hold you back. In the end, it is you who ultimately runs across the goal line being ever thankful for those who blocked you from falling down and those who helped you carry yourself over the goal line. 

Just do it! Choose to overcome the fatigue in your life that prevents you from taking action and surround yourself with positive people.  Make good choices that will change your life and make this world a better place to live.

Peace, Love, and Good wins every time,
Nanci Scarpulla for Make Good Choices.®

Want to know more? Visit www.imakegoodchoices.com and order the book Make Good Choices.® 100 Choices That Lead to a Better Life.