Change for yourself - NOT for anyone else!

Why do so many people choose to pick on people and criticize every little flaw? If you choose to do so, then don’t be surprised when you receive the same treatment! The critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. “Don’t be so fast to notice the smudge on your friends face while being oblivious of the blemishes on your own”. We need to look for the good in each other and enjoy the differences that make us unique. I have been doing research on human behavior and am finding out that one our biggest flaws is judging or comparing each other. One of the most successful gyms in my area grew tremendously by marketing “judgement free zone” and I am making it one of my goals this year to live that motto! Wouldn’t life be so much happier if we went through our days not worrying about what others think. Wouldn’t it be nice to do things for ourselves because we truly want the change that we are making, not what we think others expect of us. Well, it is easier said than done! 2012 is the year to do just that.


If you are trying to lose thirty pounds because you think others are going to be attracted to you then you might lose that weight but you might not have as much fun losing it because you should be losing it so you will feel better, be healthier, and want it for yourself! It must be for you and not anyone else. I have been changing my diet, eating more fresh fruits and vegetables and am noticing a difference in my mood from these changes and in the long run I will lose weight. I am doing it for myself. This year is about you; if you are happy, healthy, and wise then you will pass that along to your loved ones simply by being you! Enjoy the new year and work on your goals then pass the rewards on to others...

Let’s make 2012 the best year ever and let me know how you are doing. I love hearing from everyone who visits my blog, joins me on facebook, and reads my books. My email is kellerslifeinaweek@gmail.com

Happy New Year!

With the new year comes new beginnings. Make the best of each day and pass along something good to everyone you meet. With the new year remember to throw away the baggage and grumpy thoughts! Be yourself and Be HAPPY! Don't take the day for granted. Be nice.
Have a safe and fun New Year everyone,
Michael Shawn

God and Christmas!

Now that Christmas is just around the corner I wanted to take a moment to talk about what I feel is the true meaning of Christmas. It is very simple, yet we all make it complicated and stressful. “Stinginess impoverishes while generosity begets generosity.” That one sentence sums it up and explains how we should be living. Not only during the holidays but every day! Jesus said “Does anyone bring a lamp home and put it under a washtub or beneath the bed? Don’t you put it up on a table or on the mantel?” The point here is let’s share our joy and love for each other. Giving is the way, not getting!


I keep my blog pretty simple because I don’t believe in complicating matters. I don’t preach because I know I am far from perfect and have so much more to learn. I see many so-called prayer warriors who are prayer ignorant. They try selling formulas, programs, and advice on techniques for getting what you want from God. Be careful not to fall for all of that nonsense. Christmas is about Jesus and what he did for us. Christmas is simple because of a loving God who knows each and everyone of us. Christmas is about knowing each of your loved ones and sharing your time and laughter together. Make it a safe, fun, and memorable day by surrounding yourself with others.

Merry Christmas!

Mike Keller

Just Shut Up and Have Fun! Merry Christmas...

One of my favorite times of the year is the Christmas season because we all seem to take a step back and think about others first. I often wonder why we don’t seem to hold on to that holiday feeling for the entire year? If we sincerely thought about others needs before our own all year round we would be much happier, healthier, and wiser! I am not talking about the gifts that are bought, I am saying the hugs, the family gatherings, the laughter, the excitement, and the love that we feel toward one another. So often we are so caught up in our own lives that we forget to slow down and ask a friend how he or she is doing? One of the biggest lessons I have learned this holiday season so far is that we all love to hear ourselves talk! I have been trying to do less talking and more listening (as I previously wrote about in previous blog entries) and I am truly amazed at how much better I am at listening than talking! Just by listening to others more intently is being a better friend. Listen to what others are saying and you will learn so much more about your own life. The Christmas holiday season is a great time to practice doing this. I want to wish all of you a safe and happy holiday season, a season to smile and build memories of a lifetime!


Merry Christmas!

Is America going down the drain? Why is that even a question...

I hear all the time that “America is going down the drain” and it drives me nuts! We are blessed to have so many freedoms and live in a place where we can make our own destinies. Someone told me yesterday that they can’t even afford to go out to dinner. I asked how many credit cards do you have? He replies FIFTEEN and they are all maxed out!

We need to start changing our lives and our country starting at home. Too many of us are buying material objects that seem to be important today but are thrown in a closet tomorrow, huge mortgages that take up most of our paychecks, fancy cars that depreciate the moment we pull off the dealerships lot. If we can’t afford it then don’t buy it! It saddens me to see so many people trying to make ends meet while still spending out of control. Yes, the government is known for this and the economy is in bad shape but, that is not an excuse for us to do so too. You’ve heard the old sayings “two wrongs don’t make a right” or “you’ve bitten off more than you can chew.”

I am not going to get all political here on my blog about being happy. I am just saying that we need to stop expecting to get bailed out for our own mistakes, just because the politicians have lost the golden rule of ‘common sense’ doesn’t mean we should. God didn’t tell us that we are born with the rights to a fancy supper, the best educations, free medical care, or even a job. He said we have to earn what we want and need. “Teach a man to fish and he will always eat.”

Here is what I have been doing to gain control of my financial life which in turn makes my entire life much less stressful and much more rewarding. By changing a few habits we will make our own economies better and worry less about what others are doing.

• Work smart! It’s simple, plan your days and be the best at what you do. 80% of our success is based   on our attitudes not our intelligence (thank God!).

• Smile more! A genuine smile and thoughtful acts toward others will help you earn much more money and get you out of debt! Care about everyone you meet all of the time!

• Don’t carry your credit cards! I have one credit card for travel and emergencies locked in a safe. If I carried it, I know I would have bought that flat screen t.v. on sale today...

• Pay off one debt at a time! Budget your money and pay off the highest interest rate card first. Even if you have to pay the minimums on all the others. Knock one out at a time and you will be debt free many years sooner!

• Make dinner at home more often! You will be healthier and will know what is in it. Let your wallet get fatter not you! Eating out all of the time is unhealthy, even the fancy kitchens add a lot of preservatives and salt. What my friends and I do which is really fun and saves a lot of money is to rotate going to each of our homes for dinner each week/month. It is much more fun than going out, saves us money, and we don’t have to talk over a loud crowd. Try it... you’ll have fun and may even learn to make a mean meatloaf!

• Drive your car for at least five years after it is paid off! Once you got rid of that huge car payment why would you want to start another one a month later? Enjoy that extra savings... if you want a new car scent again go to your local gas station and pick up a “new car scent tree deodorizer” or go get it detailed for a hundred bucks.

The bottom line is we are blessed to be surrounded by so many opportunities and to live in a great country that was built on ‘free will’ and ‘freedoms to learn and grow.’ We are slowly slipping into competitions about who has more instead of concerning ourselves with becoming rich from within. Riches of love, peace, charity, kindness, and laughter are much more important than any paper money or gold. So why drown ourselves in the battle over materials which will only stay here when we are long gone. Slow down, moderate everything in life, and start enjoying the company of each other; not some fancy gadget that is putting you in debt.

The furthest thing from freedom is debt so the sooner you get out of debt the sooner you will enjoy more freedoms...

Author of the "Life in a Week" book series
http://www.lifeinaweek.com/

Don't fear death

In the morning consider for a moment the fact that you may not live to see the sunset. When the sunset comes don’t be to confident that you will see the next morning. These thoughts should not make you feel gloomy or sad, but practical. We should live our lives as if it were our last day on earth. Most of us will die suddenly and unprepared. We think that we still have plenty of time and end up wasting valuable time. Death, with all of its uncertainties, is a fact. We need to face facts and see what could be done to better our lives and our surroundings now. Thinking about death will not cause death to happen sooner, nor will it help to escape it! The key is to live in such a way that no matter when death comes, it will find us in sanctifying grace.

Patience will help us in difficult times. It will help us to think more clearly. Humility will help us admit our weaknesses and therefore be less irritable or resentful in our difficult times. Sometimes we need to live through a storm to grow stronger. Life will have hardships and suffering but if you are brave and have faith in God you will find peace in your life and in the next. Many of us pursue an imaginary happiness with money or keeping busy. When we get what we want, we suddenly see that it doesn’t bring us the joy that we had expected. So we slowly begin to search for that happiness again and again. Don’t blame the place you are in or the people around you if you don’t have peace in your soul. Begin today to make a continual effort to strengthen the self love that is needed. Look for opportunities to practice patience, don’t fear suffering or inconvenience, virtues are never gained in easy times. We learn the most in difficult times. Life can be the happiest and most rewarding in these times, if we let it.

Are you Happy?

How are you looking at your life? Are you happy with the decisions you’ve made so far? Are you looking to change your future for the better? Well, these are great questions that we should be asking ourselves an a daily basis! We should realize that today is a gift and tomorrow is going to be a reflection of today. So, the key to true happiness is realizing that we decide what happens in our lives. Forget about bad decisions of yesterday or even of this morning; work on doing better and making today a better day.


So often we try to put blame on others for our misfortunes or shortcomings. Today is the day to buckle up and go on the fun ride which is your life. Yes, you may hit a few bumps along the way but don’t let that slow you down. Enjoy the bumps, smile, laugh, and be engaged in the moment. Your thoughts and reactions have the ability to change your life, while at the same time sharing great times and memories with the ones that you love. Life is a journey, don’t get caught up in the little dramas because you won’t be able to concentrate on the fun and happy road of life....

DAILY TRIALS

Even though we may try to plan all things and arrange everything with extreme care, we will still have a lot of opportunities to exercise the virtue of patience. We can’t eliminate the unexpected or the unavoidable. In most cases our best weapon is our intelligent patience with both ourselves as with others. We will always have daily trials that at times will even cause bodily pains. At other times it may be a simple annoyance, disappointment, or cause anxiety. We would like to be free of these trials, but that is impossible. Patience and understanding are the keys to dealing with such circumstances, the key to peace and happiness is to know that our reactions should never be surprised, resentful, or saddened when things don’t go our way. We should try to gain more control of the situations and learning to deal with the trials will teach us the most valuable lessons in this life!

Our lives will have trials every day. We are always being tested. If we live well, our acts will merit a rewarding life. But the fact is that we will face the possibilities of success or failure. In either case, the outcome of these trials is determined by our own free choice! I was told a few days ago that our sub-conscience mind will save what we write and put our writings into action quicker than if we were to simply imagine or say them aloud. This may be the case but, I feel our words that we speak to each other have much more power to change our lives. I have felt more intense pains from slaps to the face from words spoken to me than I have ever felt from a hand. We need to be careful of what we say to each other in heated moments of boiled over situations. There are no accidents. There is the law of cause and effect in every situation. Our thoughts create our words and our words create the reactions and therefore the results.

SOO FUNNY! I laughed for 20 minutes...

Patience will get you through anything...

Patience is how we react to situations with our loved ones, kindness is how we can avoid the ugly situations. No one wants to be around a grumpy monkey, but we all love being around someone who is thoughtful and KIND! Patience and kindness work hand in hand with each other, without one the other struggles. Kindness must be with us at all times, we should wear it around our necks as if it is part of us.

I took a day and wore a rubber band on my wrist, every time I was about to react to a grouchy comment I simply snapped the rubber band to remind me that words are just as dangerous as a loaded gun. At the end of the day my wrist hurt but I felt great knowing that I only spoke good words... this habit can change all of our relationships for the better. Remember to be patient, kind, helpful and willing to be flexible like that rubber band. Rather than complaining and making excuses, look for reasons to compromise and help each other!

Homemade book trailer - Youtube please Don't take away my music again... I have permission!!

Bullies or Hate? Love is the answer!

When I was a kid we would have kids teasing each other about our hair, our teeth, or maybe even a smelly belly (fat) but, in these days of the internet and computers we are faced with many more issues. As we advance in technology and instant news we would hope that we would also become or “grow” smarter? Not the case in many aspects of our lives, in fact we may be going in the opposite direction. It is sad, today alone I read about a fourteen year old boy who committed suicide just fifty miles from my home because he was physically assaulted in the hallways of school every day for “acting gay”, a twelve year old girl who was severely beaten because she is Mexican, and a teacher who was fired because he yelled at a kid in his class to “pipe down or go to the principle!”

I think that the one thing we are lacking as a general population is “common sense and respect.” I respected my teachers because I was taught to respect my elders, I knew that I needed to listen to them or I would have to answer to my parents when I got home! I believe we need to start discussing these issues with our kids, co-workers, friends, and family. We need to set aside political correctness, stereotypes, and prejudgements of others. We need to lead by our examples and to embrace our differences in this great world of ours. Teach others by our examples, not just boring words that are forgotten...

We are blessed to live in a time of such changes and we need to learn from each other. We will fail if we don’t start paying attention to the world around us, but we will grow if we Love and nurture the good in each other. Talk to your family and friends about these issues and express yourself as only you can and we will make a difference today. Don’t try to change the world, just your world! Changes happen from within, then it spreads to others...