Twenty Tips for Lively Living
By Dr. Ronald D. S. Ross
1. Clear the cobwebs. Sure you have heartaches, bad experiences, and grief, but so does everyone else. If you dwell on the dark side of life, you’ll never see the light. Clear out the cobwebs and focus on the future. Leave the shadows of yesterday behind and move into a bright tomorrow.
2. Lighten your load. Someone once suggested that we should reduce our possessions by one-third every seven years. It’s not so much the “stuff” we have in our closets and garages that crowd out life’s joys; it’s the “stuff” of hard feelings, grudges and bitterness that slows down our journey through life.
3. Expect success. Dream big, plan carefully and work hard. You deserve the very best – expect nothing less. Click To Tweet
4. Get energized. An 83-year-old man once showed me a fruit tree he planted in his backyard. With
great enthusiasm, he said, “We’ll be enjoying fruit from this tree in only four years.” Get excited about something today.
5. Reside on the positive side. [Tweet “What good is it to dwell on the negative when you can live on the positive side of life?”] Set yourself down with people and in places where success is routine.
6. Dress for success. What do people see when they look at you? Much of your personality is visible in what you wear, the way you walk, and the care with which you groom yourself.
7. Stand in the right circles. Your environment has a direct impact on your success. What your mother told you is true, “You become like those you hang out with.” Associate with successful people and your chances of success increase dramatically.
8. Get help. You are not an island, and you cannot solve all your problems by yourself. Find a support group of positive thinking, success-oriented, faith-filled people who are willing to help you on your way through life.ow the right seed. What you sow is what you will reap.
9. Sow the right seed. What you sow is what you will reap. Sow love in others and love will come back to you. Be generous, and others will be generous toward you. Be rude and rudeness will be returned you. Remember that what you sow always comes back ten, fifty or a hundred fold.
10. Live today. Two college freshmen traveled to a rural community for a weekend. On a lonely country road, their car crashed, and both died instantly. The most precious moments of your life are the ones you are living right now. Enjoy them; they may be your last.
11. Persevere. Difficulties are sure to come, some failure is likely, but anything worth having is worth working for. As you journey through life sing the song, “Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow ‘til you find your dream.”
12. Be generous. Stingy people are miserable while generous people are happy. You don’t have to be rich to be generous. Besides your money, you can give your time, your talents, your love, your hope, your smile, and your encouragement to folks around you.
13. Laugh heartily. A sense of humor will get you through some really tough times. Learn to laugh
through your pain and the hurt will soon disappear. It is said, “If you can laugh at it you can survive it.” Most important, learn to laugh at yourself.
14. Be in constant awe. Enter your second childhood as soon as possible. Dance, sing, laugh, hug, marvel, and live with wide-eyed enthusiasm. Smell the roses, see the sunset, walk in the rain, and stretch out in the sunshine.
15. Go somewhere, do something. Move your body and flex your muscles. A healthy and well-maintained body makes life so much more enjoyable.[Tweet “Don’t let your couch become your casket.”]
16. Learn something new. Continually update your knowledge. Read books, listen to podcasts and audio books, surf the Internet, become an expert in something. If you study one subject for one hour every day for one year, the world will beat a path to your door because of your superior knowledge.
17. Pray continually. Contrary to what many folks think, God is nice. Not only that, He likes you, so talk to Him. He is not mad at you! He made you, He knows you, and wants the very best for you.
18. Be real. Don’t play head games with people. Be the genuine article. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Authenticity is in short supply. Click To Tweet
19. Listen attentively. Lean forward when someone is talking to you. Gaze into their eyes as they speak. Repeat back to them what they say to ensure you understand what they are conveying.
20. Let others praise you. As success comes to you, don’t boast about it to others. No one likes a braggart. Humility and grace are characteristics of truly successful people.
© 2017 Dr. Ronald D. S. Ross
