Mission Statement

My blogging buddy Lisa has written a mission statement. I think that's pretty cool. While I pretty much have a set of goals, I've never written them down as a mission statement. To remedy that situation, here in print is what I aim to do daily (numbered for reference, not priority):

1) Make every minute count. You'll never get one back. Sometimes making a minute count is just taking a moment to do nothing. (Ignore this if you're a politician. You're already doing too much nothing.) Life is precious. Make the most of it.

2) Look for the beauty in everything. Sometimes it's hidden, or not as obvious as more blatant features, but if you look you can usually find it. Sometimes beauty isn't in appearance, but in action or attitude or in relationship to something else. Find the beauty. If you can't find it, just google Angelina Jolie.

3) Don't sweat the small stuff. It's almost all small stuff. In a hundred years, will it have made a difference? If not, it's probably small stuff.

4) Extend courtesy to others whenever possible. Life is hard. If you can make it a little easier for someone, why not? Open doors for people. Leave a gap to let people out of driveways, especially if you're waiting for the car ahead of you anyway. Smile. Compliment someone. Say something funny. If everyone did this, how much better would the world be?

5) Appreciate what you have. Quick, before the government takes it.

6) Enjoy life. Get out and do things. Be part of a community. Dance. Listen to music. Listen to poetry. Cruise an art gallery. Be friends with people who aren't like you. (That's easy, 'cause there's nobody like me.)

7) Never stop learning.

8) Share what you have and what you know.

9) Do things with passion. Look for the passion in others, and draw it out of them. The best conversations ever are the ones where you touch somebody's passion. (Hey! Get your mind out of the gutter. That's my job.)

10) Every morning is a gift. Go outside, take a deep breath (unless you live in LA), and be thankful.

11) Don't dwell on the negative. Furnish your head and life and memories with beauty, not ugliness.

12) Minimize your waste and energy use.

13) Face your fears.

14) Give people respect. That includes children, waiters, service people and even teens that look like zombies. Someday they'll grow out of it.

15) Don't expect perfection from yourself or others.

16) Pick up litter. Make something beautiful. Make someone happy. Be productive. Every day, leave the world a little better than you found it.

17) Think about consequences. Think about how things interact and how sysems work. Always think about how you can do something better or make something better. Don't curse the things that bother you, either let them go or make them better.

18) Don't write long, boring lists. Oops.


Posted by Dave    Blog Tag: Opinion