Message of the Day - ReGifting Passion

Good Morning,

 

This evening Karen and I had the pleasure of entertaining dear friends of ours, Dennis and Jill, over dinner and some great conversation. And some great ham and potatoes. Man I am so lucky to have an amazing chef in my life.

 

During the conversation, Dennis told me about the funeral service for his father. He was most impressed with the Patriot Guard and military who were present to ensure that his father, a veteran, was buried with honors and respect due a person who has served our nation.  I remember the marines who attended my Grandfather's funeral and placed the flag on the coffin, and the pride our family felt in the honor. It warmed my heart.

 

This respect in Dennis and Jill turned to passion. A passion to help others in their darkest times of honoring the passing of loved ones. Dennis and Jill contacted the local Patriot Guard and signed up.

 

Now they participate in events to help honor others who have served our nation.

 

They have effectively re-gifted this love and passion and now share it with others who need it in more trying times.

 

What a wonderful gift to give, our passion. What makes it even more special is that it is a passion gifted to them and passed on. This pay it forward activity can continue for a long time like the couple in Philadelphia who bought the meals for another couple starting a chain reaction lasting over 5 hours (http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local-beat/Mystery-Couple-Pay-It-Forward-79179347.html?yhp=1).

 

I love reading the stories or seeing TV shows of those who actually bless others with this kind of love. It means so much more to know folks who actually do it, and I hope the passion continues to be re-gifted.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
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Message of the Day - A smaller box is not greater security

Good Morning,

 

When life gets more and more out of control, we tend to circle our wagons and put up borders and walls to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our interests.  These walls and borders keep the trouble we want to avoid out, but they also keep us in.

 

One fear we must be cognizant of is how large is the space we have locked ourselves into. Did we put up walls around the football field, or did we get the 10 x 14 apartment in New York City?

 

The size of our protected area is what we look at and operate with. The smaller the space, the less options we have, the less we think about. The smaller the space, the less likely we are to think outside the box and the more we act like an automaton rather than a person.

 

With a smaller box, we have more control.  Less can go on and the less likely something can happen outside of our knowledge. There are less to fear and less to know.

 

With a larger box, we have less control. There is more stuff that can happen outside of our knowledge. There is more to fear and there is more to know.

 

As life happens, it forces changes to the world around us. This includes changes to the security of our box. When the changes hit us, we have to plan and react. The more insulated we were (from being in a small box), the less options we have when we have to enter a new, often larger box. Basically we are less prepared.

 

In the end, the smaller box, while feeling and looking safer, is not a better security because the changes in life force us out of our comfort zone. And when we are forced out, we are far better off with more knowledge and experience to drawn on than less.

 

To help us, we should all look for larger boxes to call our own.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net
http://learnandgrowdaily.com ←-Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
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Message of the Day - Sacrificing Tomorrow

Good Morning,

 

In our rush to get things done today and worrying about today's concerns we tend to take more and more of our attention off of another vital concern. That is planning for tomorrow.

 

Tomorrow brings hopes and opportunities and it also brings a lot of the unknown.

 

Today is here now and it has its concerns and hot items which must be addressed.

 

If we focus solely on today and and do only what is necessary to survive today, we will succeed in surviving for today.

 

When tomorrow comes, we then do the same thing. But, there in lies the challenge. If we always do what we always did, then we will always get what we always got (taking a line from Todd Arwood).

 

This is a challenge because there is change. There is always change. In fact, the only constant is that things will change.  Sometimes we can see the change on the horizon and sometimes it hits us upside our heads without notice.

 

If we do not plan for the change we know is coming, and keep facing today's challenges only, eventually our knowledge and skill will not be enough. One day, we will not be able to address the challenges of the day. Will not have planned and prepared, and we will have to scramble even faster.

 

That is a growing amount of stress. Some of it is unnecessary, if we only spend some time looking forward into the future, and preparing.

 

A good book on this is Ken Blanchard's 'Mission Possible' which shares how to face today's issues while planning ahead for what we know lies ahead.

 

Enjoy!

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net
http://learnandgrowdaily.com ←-Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
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Message of the Day - The Power of a Name

Good Morning,

Several weeks ago Seth Godin, www.sethgodin.com, Marketing Guru, announced that his new book, "Linchpin", would be available for pre-release to the first 3000 people who made a donation to the Acumen Fund (www.acumenfund.org).

Due to this offer, which I glady participated, Seth Godin effectively raised over $100,000 in less than 48 hours for a worthy charity.

This was accomplished by using the power of a name. Not just any name, but one which is respected. A name which tens of thousands or more people look up to. The bigger your circle, the bigger the impact. And thus why we have celebrity sponsorships.

While we all may not be marketing leaders, celebrities or have the following of E.F. Hutton, we do have our own circles of influence where there are people who do respect our opinions.

In those circles, we can use our names to create powerful effects for the forces of good!

Give it a try. When you find something new that you just love, tell some of your circle you love it, and tell others that you heard it was okay, and see the difference in response and actions of your circle.

Enjoy!

SanfordBerenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net
http://learnandgrowdaily.com ←-Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
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Message of the Day - Remaining Positive in Face of Adversity

Good Morning,

 

Do you ever have days where nothing ever seems to go right?  It's like a wave comes to knock sense into you for trying to be positive. You get up and another, bigger wave comes at you, and just before you get knocked off your feet, you notice an even bigger wave behind this one bearing down on you. You change your stance to better face the waves and remain positive, but now an undertow pulls your feet and legs out from under you and your positive attitude is shaken again.

 

How do we face this continual onslaught of negative waves which relentlessly pound us and our sometime feeble attempts to keep a positive attitude?

 

There are two ways I know of.

 

The first and harder way is to keep getting back up. If you get back on your feet each and every time you get knocked down, then in the end your positive attitude and will to be positive will defeat any and all obstacles and challenges.

 

The second way is to get help. Two people, working together are strong than one.  

 

Two people bracing each other as the waves of negativity sweep over them have a better chance of remaining on their feet than just one. Three is better than two and so on. Surround yourself with others who have the same desire to be positive and back each other up. You will find it easier to be positive when you have others right there with you, wanting to do the same thing.

 

If there is no one where you work or live who is positive, then go elsewhere and find someone. Maybe you can only meet once a week or once a month, but find that person and spend time building each other up. Send emails, texts, instant messages, whatever. If you can't find anyone, call me.

 

Be the positive for your group, and they will be the positive for you. With that synergy working together, eventually those waves of negativity will get smaller and smaller and eventually just cease to have any impact on you.

 

Be positive together, and take on the world!

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg

Sanford@berenberg.net

http://www.berenberg.net

http://learnandgrowdaily.com ←-Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"

http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/

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Message of the Day - New Found Family

Good Morning,

 

This past few weeks have been a real journey into discovery for me and my family. Over the course of this time, I found out about the existence four first cousins and an aunt I had either never met or did not even know existed. You see the TV shows or read articles of family reuniting with each other after decades, and you get that warm and fuzzy feeling vicariously through them. It is much more intense when it is your family which you are being reunited with!

 

I knew I had close family who I had never met or do not remember meeting, but I had never thought I would meet them.  In the course of every day life, obscure memories from childhood seem to get lost in the chaos. Sometimes they trickle through your consciousness, brought forward through random encounters or just serendipity.

 

Like the movie Rain Man where Tom Hank's character 'Charlie Babbit' used to call his older, autistic brother Raymond 'Rain Man' before they were separated. Charlie had vague memories of Rain Man, but not until they were re-united did he understand what it meant. 

 

It was eye opening to find whole chapters of my life just reappear.  My father and uncles have half sisters, who they knew and met, but had not seen in over 30 some-odd years. Being 10 or less old at the time, I knew these people existed, but never knew much about them.

 

Like opening a book which has been in my collection for years for the first time, I eagerly look forward to the new found relationships that are being forged with the new extended family.

 

This new found family mean new opportunities to learn, love and share. While not everyone will have people just appear in their lives, they can reconnect with those they have not spoken to in some time. And then they can learn, love and share anew.

 

The joys of reconnecting give us all a chance to start a fresh relationship. We may even take one which was not so good, and start it over, to give it another shot.

 

Enjoy!

 

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net
http://learnandgrowdaily.com ←-Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
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Message of the Day - Obtaining the Goal we Did Not See

Good Morning,

 

Today I tried to give a pint of blood to the Red Cross during a blood drive at work. I breezed through the initial consultation and review part. Then when I got to the cot to start the draw of blood, that's when the problems started.

 

At first, I had the staff try my right arm, but after a few minutes finding a vein, they could not get an adequate flow from it, so they offered to either try sticking it again or using the left arm (my right arm screamed to be left alone). I opted for the left arm. Again, after finding the vein, the bloodletting started nicely. Within minutes I had filled half of the sack but the flow slowed down and eventually stopped. My body had started clotting where the needle was (actually doing its job).

 

When we stopped, they found there was not enough blood collected to provide for a transfusion. It bothered me that I had tried hard to help someone and couldn't. The lead tech there then told me that it was not for nothing, that my blood was going to be used for research and testing, so that these vital functions can continue with minimal use of blood slated for transfusions.

 

Although I failed in my primary objective, it may have been because I had succeeded in another objective, possibly a much more important one (research which could lead to more life saving information).

 

Life is full of these situations where what we saw as failure or missing our mark actually turns out to be something achieving a much higher goal, one we may not have even known had existed before.

 

We should look at what we see as failures again, and see if there is not something more promising to come from these situations. We may be surprised at what we find.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Sanford Berenberg
Sanford@berenberg.net
http://www.berenberg.net
http://learnandgrowdaily.com ←-Click here to order: "Learn And Grow Daily!"
http://sanfordberenberg.blogspot.com/
Follow Me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/sberenberg <---- NEW
502-533-9336