Category: Attitude

In 2018, my One Word for the year was Optimism, so I picked up Lenny Ravich’s Everlasting Optimism: 9 Principles for Success, Happiness and Powerful Relationships.  With March’s focus on National Optimism Month, it’s a perfect fit!

Ravich originally wrote the first part of this book at the age of 64 in 2001 and entitled it A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Enlightenment.  In 2018, at the age of 81, he rewrote, added, edited, and renewed the contents to create Everlasting Optimism. Lenny believes that “A message from the heart reaches the heart, but a message from the brain reaches the butt.”

George Carlin, his all-time favorite comedian said, “People who see life as anything more than pure entertainment are missing the point.”

81 year-old Lenny says, “Now is the best moment of my life because there is no other moment. I only live now. This is the only time that exists.”

Click here to continue

For National Optimism Month, I picked up Jon Gordon’s The Positive Dog and read it as part of my Social Distancing strategy.  I appreciated Gordon’s approach of contrasting the power of positivity against the pull of negativity. 

Since he spoke about a dog, I’ll share a little about our favorite pet.  Minnie (pictured above) has been part of our family since we returned from our year-long adventure in Washington, D.C. in the summer of 2008.  I asked each of our kids to provide their thoughts on Minnie.  Here’s what they shared:

• Tanner (13):  Minnie tolerates me and lets me sit next to her sometimes. 
• Cody (17):  No matter the time of day I get home from school, she is always waiting for me by the door and is excited to see me.
• Katy (20):  Minnie is the sweetest dog, and she is like the sister I never had!  I can vent to her about anything, and she is such a great listener.  I love her spunkiness and how she always wants to be around all of us.  She is the perfect sixth member of our fam!

Gordon’s tale of The Positive Dog is a prime example of his company’s core principle that simple is powerful.  He explains, “The strategies in this book have grown sales revenue, motivated salespeople, improved team performance, developed positive kids, enhanced careers, improved marriages, and lead to greater individual and team success. The goal of this book is to take much of the research on positivity and make it simple, fun, and actionable so anybody, even a child, can benefit from feeding the positive dog.”

Click here to learn more