Have You Told Them Lately?

"Have I told you lately that I love you?  Have I told you there's no one else above you? 

Fill my heart with gladness, take away all my sadness.  Ease my troubles, that's what you do."

Recorded by:  Rod Stewart       Written By: Van Morrison


What Have You Said Lately?

Those closest to our hearts can often be the ones we most often fail to tell what joy, inspiration, support, peace or understanding they provide in our life. We often assume they know how much we love them or how important they are to us.

The old saying, "Actions speak louder than words", is definitely true. We've all seen the people who publicly show affection and are always saying how much they love each other. Some of these same people are the ones who are forever arguing or whose relationship ends in a bitter divorce. So, I agree that words alone don't always tell the entire relationship story.

Despite this, people still enjoy hearing someone say they value, admire, appreciate or love them, and truly mean it. "People who feel loved, or when it's reciprocated, live longer, are happier, have better health and make more money," says Glen Jenson, Utah State University Family and Human Development professor and extension specialist.

Not only do people who feel loved have a better life expectancy, but when people experience relationships with other people, they are often experiencing a healthy lifestyle.  "To have someone who cares for you and loves you, you feel more encouraged," Jenson said.

Speak Up and Touch a Heart

Have you told someone lately that you love them? Have you told someone they fill your heart with gladness? Who inspires you to be a better person? Who is always there to give sound advice and support? Take the time to tell them and show them how much they mean to you. Don't put it off.  Make it one of the most important things on your "to do" list today.

It's About Movement

"You must take the first step. The first steps will take some effort, may be pain. But after that, everything that has to be done is real-life movement."
Ben Stein

On the road to success, there will be times when your momentum slows. In fact, there may be times when you come to a complete halt. This can be due to many factors. Time, money, health, family, motivation and direction confusion are just some of the challenges.

Once we get off track, it becomes far easier to stay off track and allow every little distraction to validate our reasons for not getting back to what needs to be done. The evidence can be seen in the many unfinished projects, regrets, unfinished plans and great ideas that were never pursued. All of those could'ves and should'ves that fill our homes, hearts and minds. The key is to pick a project, a should've, an idea or a direction and do one thing to begin it's completion/realization.

Newton’s First Law of Motion: "An object at rest, stays at rest and an object in motion, stays in motion, with the same speed and in the same direction, unless acted upon by an unbalanced force."

Where have you lost your momentum? What one thing can you do today to get your momentum back?

Here are some ways to get traction and start the momentum:  

• Make a list of the steps that need to be taken for goal accomplishment. Place the steps in proper order. Take the first step.
• If your goal feels too big to manage, break it into smaller segments (e.g. instead of focusing on a weekly goal, beak it into daily amounts) 
• Set a specific time each day for working on your goal. This should be precious time that you give up only for extreme emergencies. Use a timer to manage the time. Don't do anything else until the timer says the set amount of time is up. 
• For momentum to build and carry you forward, frequency and consistency are extremely important. Do something everyday that is directly related to achievement of your goal. 
• Share your goal with someone who will hold you accountable, be supportive and help to keep you focused. Knowing someone is watching can be a great motivator and can help to keep us moving forward. 
• Eliminate goal sabotaging elements and people. Anything or anyone who works against your goal accomplishment is causing momentum resistance. Keeping goal sabotaging elements out of reach will work in your best interest. Overcoming the saboteurs will make your success even sweeter. 
• Don't ask yourself if you should. Just get moving on the next step. Asking yourself only leads to internal chatter. Without question, whatever the next step is, it needs to be done. Just do it.

Whatever you've been planning to begin, start anew or venture into, the time to start is now. Take the first step and begin or continue the journey you were meant to take. Think of all you'll learn and experience along the way. It's all part of the joy of living, learning and growing.

 Let me know how you’re doing. Post your next steps on this blog. Also, on the right side of this post is this month's poll.  I'd appreciate it if you'd post your answer.