Bruce Springsteen - Save My Love

"Save My Love" by Bruce.

Why is he the Boss? Just listen...

Retired couple gives away $11 million lottery win!

Violet and Allen Large, who live in rural Nova Scotia, decided they had no need for the money and, four months after the Lotto 6-49 win, have given virtually all of it to churches, animal charities, hospitals and other groups, the Halifax Chronicle-Herald reported.

"What you've never had, you never miss," Violet Large, 78, who is recovering from cancer, told the newspaper. "We have an old house, but we're comfortable and we're happy in it."

"It made us feel good," she said about giving the money away. "And there’s so much good being done with that money." Allen Large was a steel welder and his wife worked for cosmetics and chocolate companies during 30 years when they lived in Ontario. Married since 1974, they moved to Lower Truro in Nova Scotia in 1983, the paper said.

He described the lottery win as "a big headache," the paper said, while his wife was concerned about "crooked people" who might try to exploit them.

'We have each other'

"That money that we won was nothing — we have each other," Allen Large told the newspaper, which said he choked back tears as he spoke. "We're the lucky ones. I have no complaints," Violet Allen said. The Globe and Mail newspaper said the couple lived in a 19th century home and drove a 13-year-old car and a five-year-old truck. They don't have a microwave and are even without voicemail.  'We're not high-class people'

The news has already sparked headlines as far away as the U.K., but Violet Large said they had not given away the money for fame. "We didn’t do it to get recognized. Why spend money when you already have everything you need?" she told the Globe and Mail Thursday.  "We haven't spent even one penny on ourself. We're not travelers and we're not high-class people," she added.

"But we had sufficient before. We worked for 30 years and put some away each year," he added, according to the Globe and Mail. "People who know them just know that's the type of people they are — they're just happy to have each other," Lori Hingley, owner of the Shillelagh House restaurant in Lower Truro, told the paper. "I think people are wondering why they didn't keep any and treat themselves, but mostly people just think it's great how generous they were," she added.

The Power of Postive Recognition

Quick...Think of the feedback process at your workplace? 

If negativity avalanched your brain, then you are like most folks who have leaders who simply wait for you to do something wrong...then...ZAP!  They swoop in and deliver a nice list of all the things you are doing wrong. 

Other than the most popular type of feedback, which is negative, there is also NO feedback.  This is also damaging.  This is when your leadership simply ignores you and leaves you up to your own devices.  In this scenario, you do not know how things are doing, whether you are doing a great job or a mediocre job, or if there are any areas you can improve upon. 

So I want to recommend a better way of feedback.  And this applies not only to businesses, but tochildren and spouses, or with any type of relationship(s) that you may be in.

Ready for the best form of feedback? 

• It is Positive Recognition!

Think about the last time you saw a baby taking its first steps...I bet you witnessed a family around that baby encouraging the child and clapping for them to put one foot in front of the other.  

Positive feedback is a wonderful tool that everyone of us can utilize.  In the youth group I run, I always try to find something unique about each teen, and then bring it to light and tell them how much their uniqueness really affects our group for the greater good.   

I would encourage you to find the unique aspects about someone, and then compliment them and tell them how much it means to you and the team.

This means you will have to switch the way to think and what you focus on. And this might be a challenge for some.  The reason is because since we were all itty bitty, we have been trained to see the flaws, find the negative, and focus on what went wrong with things.

My last point of advice is not to wait for perfection when administrating positive feedback.  Remember, no one is perfect!  We are a work in progress, so give positive recognition for "almost perfect."  In other words, if the person is making a conscious effort in an area, then come in with a big smile and tell them about it.

So give it a try today.  I guarantee you will not regret it!

*Here are three other reasons why you should start this today:

#1: It's free.  All you need is a mouth and the right outlook on life.

#2. People want it. Everyone loves to be praised, especially when they are putting their heart into something.

#3: It reinforces what's working.  This will help fuel the fire that already burns within the person AND it will let them know what is expected of them. 

"A man has joy in an apt answer, And how delightful is a timely word" -Proverbs 15:23



3 Basic Skills to Help Your Team NOT Kill One Another

 

I can remember watching two classmates fighting with one another one day while in college. It was over the meaning of a Bible verse.  And yours truly was the leader of this study.  It is funny, people tell me that I have a knack at getting a rise out of people...I usually disagree with them just to prove their point...

OK, so the point of this post is that there is a term that the military uses called, "friendly fire."  This is when people from the same team start pointing the guns at each other and firing!  Needless to say, this is a situation that every leader wants to avoid. 
Below is some advice on why this happens and what you can do to avoid it.  The three steps are:
   

I. Remember...where your team came from:

Go back and remember your group's common goal(s) that you all share...or did at one point.  This is a good habit to get into and needs to be done on a regular basis.  This is what brought you all together in the first place.  A really effective way to accomplish this can be by telling stories of "old times" and the sacrifices that individuals had made to get to the present. 

II. Remind...your team about its destination:

Look to the ultimate goal of your team, and work towards it.  This will help you stay focused and on target.  Many disputes are simply by people who lost their focus.  A good example of this is when churches split over immature issues like color of the carpeting in the hallways, what color the Sunday school rooms will be and should the pastor wear a suit or not? Hmmm.  Petty things like these actually rip churches apart.  Why?  They forgot their mission and main purpose.  Starting with and keeping the end as a reminder will help keep everyone on track. 

III. Read...the book:

I'm my case, it is the Bible.  In your case, it might be something different.  Let me be clear here, I am talking about things like manuals, vision & mission statements, or company policies.  These are guides that are really important for your workplace.  Think about it,  out of all the different elements that can be emphasized at your work place, somehow, it was those certain values that got elevated above the rest.  These are important.  Know them.  Talk about them.  These are your friends and will help your team avoid unnecessary divisions.* 
*[Side note:  If you do not believe in these company standards they will not be your friend, they will be the exact opposite for you.]

-Acts 2: 44- “All the believers were together and had everything in common.”

"As iron sharpens iron, so shall one man sharpen another" -Proverbs 27:17-



Tick or Treat? Basic Rules to Follow

Being a kid and going door to door on Halloween was just about one of the funnest times of the year for me.  None of us really put too much emphasis on our costumes.  It usually was just smearing some paint on our faces, throwing on an army shirt, putting on football spikes and then heading out to break all records of candy hording.

But I have noticed some alarming themes as of late. 
People are not following the sacred rules. 
Below I will log what I see as the downfall of trick or treating along with some advice.

1.  People seem to "dress up" less now.  How many people did you notice walk up to your door dressed in jeans and a hoodie and then hold out their sack for some candy?  Are you serious?    Put some effort into trick or treating and stop being so lazy.
Get off my porch!

2.  Kids who ARE NOT kids going trick or treat.  I really like this one.  When you see a 45 year old man dressed up in a Gorilla suit standing right in front of you.  Dude, I can see your massive mustache and when you speak you sound like you have been smoking for the last 18 years.  Get off my porch!

3.  Brats who do not SAY trick or treat.  Are you serious!?  You can't even follow through with the Halloween ethic!?  Let me get this strait...you get dressed up, you walk for miles and when it comes to the point of actually getting within 1 foot of the prize, you just hold out your bag and look at me??  Come on!  This would be like in a football game intercepting the pass, running 90 yards to the end zone and then stopping at the one yard line.  Follow through is key.   It's trick or treat...say the words or Get off my porch!

4.  Finally, the last rule that really gets me.  Parents that drive their lazy kids around. Parents, do you really feel the need to drive your kid(s) around the block in the car?  Please keep the car at home and use those things on the bottom of your legs called feet.  Look, if you and your kids will ever need to burn off calories it will be on Halloween!  Either old-school it by walking or get off my porch! 

5.  This one is by far the worst.   This combines all four of the above.  When the old, UNdressed, no follow through drive around is standing right in front of you with an open bag.   There can be no words to describe this person..other than Unemployed and most likely friendless.   Get off my porch!