March, 2016 | David M Masters

To Blog or Not to Blog My Favorite Blogs

It was a tough decision for me to decide to start a blog. It is not something I take lightly. To open one’s self up and make a commitment to expose yourself a little more on a regular basis; it is a challenge.

And a challenge is what it was from the get-go. I recommend that my clients engage in blogging regularly as a means of connecting with their audience; because that’s what it’s all about. Certainly there is a lot of data available for anyone to access via Google 24/7, but to actually connect with someone is a difficult task – a regularly updated blog can make the difference – bridging the gap between a stream of analogous unlimited data and real people.

As a coach and supporter of blogging (even wrote a book on the topic) I am, more often than not, encouraging my clients to consider taking on the challenge – and responsibility – of blogging.

Because I realize how important it is to proceed with both caution and commitment, no one is more aware of the fact that such a decision – to blog or not to blog – should not be taken lightly or made haphazardly.

Think about it; what if I told you that I would be at the Starbucks on the corner, every weekday morning from 8:30 am to 9:00 am. Then, I invited you to sit with me and I would give you five minutes of my time, just giving you a few ideas about what was on my mind in that moment.

You might think, “Oh, what a thoughtful gesture,” and the following Thursday, you thought you’d give it a go and see what Masters has on his mind. Sure enough, you show up and there he is sipping away on his venti mocha. The two of you make eye contact and you are invited to take a seat at his table. Then just as promised you hear five minutes of whatever appears to be on his mind.

This is the Blog Experience that you want to capture with your audience, only instead of a face-to-face one-on-one interaction, with a web site blog you can interact with your people en masse. There is nothing more beautiful and revered by your followers and supporters, who are becoming your friends.

What happens if you came to the Starbucks to hear what I had to say, for that little extra eyebrow-raise for the day – a little something to make you think – and I wasn’t there? You might think, well, last week I was here on Thursday, and today’s Wednesday; maybe I’ll try again tomorrow.

The next day, still no Masters. Even though you may not stop by every day, the days that you do stop by, I’m still not there.

How do you feel now? Okay, so it’s nothing personal; there really was no obligation or commitment. We didn’t have any kind of a deal or contract, even though you may have like having that to look forward to, now it is gone; Que sera, sera. No harm – no foul – but not feeling great about it.

Letting down you audience is not a marketing method that I encourage; though sometimes it is necessary to move on, streamline one’s operation and sometimes projects will have to be cut to make room for others.

So, I accepted the challenge and agreed to stretch myself in good faith. We will see how it goes.

Here are some of my favorite blogs that exemplify the commitment that it takes to create and maintain a good blog:

Brian Tracy Blog

Deepak Chopra Blog

Human Performance Research Center Blog

Jack Canfield Blog

Joe Vitale’s Blog

Mind Hacks

Research Digest Blog on Brain and Behavior

The Blog Herald

Tony Robbins’ Blog

What’s your favorite blog?

Let me know by commenting below:

Scientific Discoveries and Distraction

Is it too much to think that what we know about history and science is still basically nothing in comparison to what will be known in the next hundred years?

If you think about it; we have learned so much in the last couple of hundred years that it nearly boggles the mind altogether.

In just the last couple of decades; so many things that scientists and researchers believed to be true have been rocked by new scientific discoveries.

An avid researcher, I myself have opted out of the search for answers to everything. There are so many latest developments that I cannot keep up with it all – and I can afford to be knocked off my path to my higher purpose – so, I defer to others whose passion it is to uncover and dig down deep for the facts revealing new discoveries.

New revelations can be an unwarranted distraction luring me to drop what I’m doing and jump in to the race for facts and data as the scientist within desires to dissect and understand the mysteries of life. When I catch myself standing on the springboard, I try to regroup, reassess and get back on track; thinking to myself, “Whew! That could have consumed the rest of my life.”

While new scientific advancements are being made every day, I’ve decided just to remain open to all the possibilities and hypotheses as they emerge, for if I’ve learned anything, I’ve found that anything – possibly everything – is possible.

Things that were so far removed from human consciousness as being possible are not only possible but are facts of our everyday life now. Things that were mere fantasy and science fiction only 150 years ago are factual reality in this moment.

This can’t help but challenge anyone’s belief system. Is what I believe true? Yes. Can truth change over time? Yes.

Is anything really possible?

Yes. Given the proper time and circumstance.

A brief example might be: Can a man fly?

The initial answer is no. Unequivocally and absolutely “No” 200 years ago, right? Wait-a-minute; what if you placed a man in a catapult and launched him like a cannonball? Wouldn’t he be flying? What about the man who leaps off a ledge into a bottomless pit? Would he not be flying? No, you say, he would be falling. Isn’t that a matter of perspective?

What if you put him in a hang-glider or on an airplane? What, if in the next 50 years, a personal flight suit is developed that when worn does make a man’s independent flight possible?

There is Isaac Newton’s renowned, “What goes up, must come down,” reference to gravity. Fact. Unless of course we begin to challenge, manipulate and use gravity’s forces to alter the outcome.

Yet, there are those who hold so tightly to the notion that a man cannot fly, that they are willing to fight for their unrivaled authoritarian view. Do they have the right to believe whatever they want? Absolutely; in that regard, you’re absolutely right, men cannot fly.

Just as you have the right to believe they cannot; I have the right to entertain the idea that they could. Fair enough?

Rather than waste my time being the skeptic – fighting and arguing over something that I may regret later – I will be the believer in all things, allowing others to sort out the details while I remain focused on my mission to help others achieve their highest and best.

Are scientific discoveries a distraction?

Take the high road: Be open.

Media Distraction Challenge

So, here we are, on our life journey in the pursuit of happiness with a desire to achieve our highest and best while making the world a better place. We’re focused with clear intention, getting to know who we are, what our life’s purpose is and know where we’re going…

Just then, the phone rings, you win a free prize, there’s a knock on the door, you’re involved in a fender-bender, there’s a sale at Macy’s, you get a buy one get one free coupon, a new reality TV show comes out promising to be more outrageous than the last or you witness a terrible tragedy on the television.

Any of these – and a nearly unlimited host of other things – break your concentration, distracting you from your life’s work. Some of the distractions affect you so deeply that investigating and researching them could consume you so much, that you could forget your unique personal calling altogether.

In fact, with the prevalence of the information age, it is clearly nearly impossible to maintain any level of focus without being interrupted by a cell phone text, telemarketers, broadcast advertisements, facebook memes and messages, twitter tweets and youtube videos, not to mention Google.

How many times have I Googled something to simply find a quick answer, only to awake from a Google-search-trance that consumed far more time than I had planned to spend there? Many more times than I would probably want to count, or admit.

Today, we are fortunate to work fewer hours than we did a hundred years ago; the average worker’s hours spent laboring went from 70 hours a week to 40 hours a week. That’s 30 more hours a week that each one of us could spend achieving out highest and best and making the world a better place.

Only, what is it that we actually do with those extra 30 hours a week? It may not surprise you to realize that those hours are spent recreationally in front of a television, computer, on a tablet or smart-phone, consuming entertainment, information and drivel at ridiculously rapid rates and velocity.

Most of us realize that television and the news is controlled by someone-or-something that filters and uses the data to get us to react in certain ways; to frighten us, make us angry, polarize us against each other or rally us into supporting a cause we otherwise would have not agreed with, etc…

Isn’t it time that we took control of the media, instead of letting the media control us?

Do you have what it takes to take the

Media Distraction Challenge

The Media Distraction Challenge has two options:

1 Take back one hour per day to be free-and-clear of all media to spend focusing on you and your life’s mission

Or take the ultimate challenge

2 Unplug from all media, maximizing your effectiveness in the world exponentially

It may be difficult to imagine living without your media connections, television shows, etc…

One thing for certain; taking control from the mass manipulators and unplugging from the force-fed-media disarms them empowering you.

It’s time to take YOU back.

Vegetarians vs Carnivores

“Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the main event here at the Chrome Dome. In this corner we have Ferocious Fig representing the vegetarians and in this corner we have Ravenous Rex representing the carnivores. In this cage fight to the death, where the victor wins the Champion’s Belt of Rightness, while the loser – er, ah – loses all!”

And the crowd goes wild!

“Ready fighters… Fight!”

And ‘ere it goes, another division between us and them, me and you, cause for debate leading to discord, angst or worse.

Many of my friends and relatives are vegetarians, while others are animal-killing meat-eaters and I love them all equally. Me? I’m somewhere in the middle, a sort of closet veggie. I eat vegetarian and meat (not meat and vegetables) something they refer to as semi-vegetarian (who would not kill something to eat it), which makes me a heretic in both camps.

I have observed pleasant conversations about differing views about what foods people prefer to eat turn into heated debates that render down to both opponents asserting, “I’m right; you’re wrong.”

Like we haven’t seen that before; it’s the classic right vs. wrong, good vs. evil, love vs. fear, truth vs. lies, us vs. them, ours vs. theirs, and me vs. you mechanism that keeps us separated, prohibiting our world from evolving past its current state.

Look how far we’ve come in the last 150 years!

I travel a lot and almost every time that I spend time in transit for two hours or more, at some point along the journey, I am absolutely amazed that I am able to get from point A to point B in such a short period of time because it was only 150 years ago, that I would have been riding a horse.

With the utmost reverence, I am awestruck by technological advancements we are blessed with. We have motorized transportation, electricity, light bulbs, mastered transmission over radio waves, audio, photographic and video recording and playback devices, movies, refrigerators, plastic, aerospace technology, lasers, footprints on the moon, satellites, robots, and exploration in outer space.

It’s easy to take for granted the modern convenience of television, computers and cell phones as they are now a part of our everyday life; yet all this, within less than three generations?

Since the earliest inkling of our beginnings, people argued, fought and killed each other and only he who possessed the best skills – or luck – survived.

It has been less than 5,000 years ago, when we started killing by declaring war between peoples. It wasn’t enough for two people to duke it out between themselves; “I am the leader and I will enlist my people to battle on my behalf.” With all our advancements, we still are running these 5,000-year-old programs?

I am surprised that we still let leaders (those who control wide-reaching collectives of thought) to manipulate us into dissention, leading to mass conflict.

I love being born into a system that is represented by a constitution that was crafted by rebels attempting to create a Utopian society. I find it interesting that also, in the last most forward-thinking and technologically advanced 150 years, we’ve seen our government slipping backwards. Tightening their controlling grip on Americans, requiring them to purchase licenses to get married, drive a vehicle, build or renovate your home, be remunerated for providing trade services, selling something or even hunting and fishing.

And for god’s sake, don’t have a rain barrel to collect water!

A psychopath told me, “It’s your First Amendment right to lie and deceive.” While I disagree with his interpretation of, “Free Speech,” I love the idea that anyone can think or say, what they want (as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else). Yes, I realize that my parenthetical inclusion is what creates a conundrum with the concept at hand.

Oh, yeah, back to vegetarians vs. carnivores.

It comes down to this: Do you have the right to be a vegetarian? Answer: Yes.

Then celebrate your right and eat all the veggies you want. Hooray! And I will celebrate with you; Wa-hoo!

Same goes for the meat-eaters.

I know, I can already hear my favorite PETA maven interrupting with, “What about the rights of the animals who are killed for their meat?” And she has a point.

Maybe our society is moving toward a meatless diet; I don’t know. But I do know that we are not there, yet.

In the meantime, people are allowed to eat meat, and some of them do so vigorously.

I would say this to both the vegetarians and the carnivores:

Arguing and fighting for your cause has never in the history of our civilization converted anyone.

Celebrating your passion for something you do and exemplifying the happiness you feel by participating in what you feel passionate about will make others want to know what you are doing. And they might inquire about it; even want to try it for themselves.

This is not politics or religion (which should consider a similar approach).

Love, let love, share your love and let people find their own way.

Find your happiness and let it be.

God Bless the Doer

You know who I’m talking about – the person who doesn’t just hear about it, talk about it or dream about it – the one who actually takes action and does that thing! And blessed is he that does it, like nobody’s business. That’s the kind of people I hang out with.

Often we look at people voyeuristically we admire those who step out in faith – especially against all odds – and creates an impactful outcome. For better or worse, we honor their courage; and might think to ourselves (or even say it aloud), “I wish I could do that.”

Certainly there are people born with an innate ability to go where no man has gone before and push-through the envelope regardless of what the terrain might look like; these are the Battle Cats in our society. They suit up in their coat of armor and set out to accomplish their task, and rue the day if you get in their way; they’ll lay to waste anything that gets in their way. We love it when Battle Cats are heroes and even (from the viewpoint of our darker self) enjoy the show when they are villainous.

Working with these individuals is exhilarating and can be exhausting in an effort to keep up with their pace. Though my personality is quite dissimilar, there are many attributes that I admire, integrate and emulate into my professional style. It helps bolster my fortitude and doingness.

My favorite doer is YOU

You are the doer that we long to support. Though you may not have been born with the innate skills of the more-endowed Battle Cat, there is a fire that burns within, though at present it may only be a spark, you have a dream or desire for seeing that thing come to fruition.

Regardless of what kind of cat you are, you have the wherewithal to get this thing done; But…

“Everyone’s got a big but.” ~ Pee-wee Herman

Immediately all that suppressive training and bad-learning kicks in and you begin to question yourself, your abilities and your worthiness.

When you are ready, you might as well accept that your birth started you on this hero’s journey and – Surprise! – Guess what? You are the hero of the story of your life.

Think about all the great stories you’ve read, watched or heard about. Take a look at the journey of the hero of the story. In many cases the hero does not start off as much of a hero at all. In all the greatest stories, it is the meek and humble, undeserving individual who accepts the task (though sometimes reluctantly) of taking that first step toward their own growth and heroism.

YOU ARE THE HERO

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, begins in the doing.

Are you willing to do what it takes to do that thing that has been calling you from within (or above)?

Then be the doer you know that you can be.

“But what if people make fun of me?”

Here’s your head’s up notification: People will mock you.

They will try everything they can to dissuade you from achieving your thing. Want to know why?

Because, if you can actually do your thing, it will make them realize that they might have been able to do their thing all along, too. And this might break their heart. They have built their whole life around dreaming about their thing but accepting that it would never be possible for them, so they settle into their complacent position in life. Therefore they are compelled to encourage you to stay with them in the same place.

But there are others, who are watching you, hoping that you win!

They are looking for signs that someone like you can do it because that gives them hope that they, too, can join the ranks of heroes who have gone before and will lead others out of the darkness.

Your heroism will be the light that banishes the darkness that engulfs the lives of countless others because you took that first step and became the doer.

You are the doer

You are the hero

If I Could Just Get One Dollar from Every Person…

If I had a dollar from every person (client or not) who said to me, “If I could just get one dollar from every person…” (fill in the blank), I’d be almost as rich as those who fantasize about the idea, dream of being.

Sure, it’s a great idea, and there are people (and companies) who have done it.

But can you do it?

How to make a million dollars

Can you actually get one dollar from everyone in your target market?

Well, to start; it’s up to you.

You must be willing to start to get the ball rolling… You are going to have to be willing to do some work (just like those who have done it before)… “But,” you say, he/she, “didn’t have to do any work, and look at what happened to them.”

Really?

You’re confusing possible with plausible. While a thing may be possible (as in it actually happened at some time in the past) to think that it is duplicatable may be highly unlikely; for if it were plausible, wouldn’t everyone do it? If you really think that you have a chance of being that lucky, but a lottery ticket and save yourself the grief.

Okay, let’s assume that you’re not looking for free money but you are looking for passive income. Passive income is income that is generated from something that you did in the past that requires little or no maintenance.

Is that plausible? Yes. Many people engage in investments or opportunities requiring work in the beginning that generate recurring income over time.

I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest selling authors in the world and cash from their continued sales of their books exceed the $1 per person that may seem so illusive to you at this point.

So, if you’re willing and able to write and publish a best-selling book, your chances could be better because you create and market your book in the beginning and if it’s a hit, you earn over the life of the project (as well as possible merchandise tie-ins and maybe even the film rights, etc…).

Besides writing a book, are their other ways to make passive income? You bet; people just like you are doing it every day. For instance you could buy and own a business that you don’t have to work. May be a little spendy at the outset but the continued income could be just what you’re looking for. But if you do this, make sure that you’re the owner, and someone else is doing all the work.

Enterprising creators can create a franchise, phone ap or software, designers (who create an original item that is replicated and they get a piece of the action) as well as inventors.

Rental real estate (where someone else manages the properties and you earn everything over actual expenses), rental stores, in fact rental anything!

Some of the other examples that I’ve seen include ATM machines, vending machines, blogs, e-stores, membership sites, online courses, Laundromats, sell ad space (physical or virtual) and licensing your ideas are just a few more examples of ways you can create continued cash flow off the back end.

Is it possible? Yes.

Is it plausible? Could be, if you stack the deck correctly, you could increase your odds immensely of having a winning hand.

My question to you is:

Are you willing, able and committed to work on this project and follow it through to completion?

Those are the people who I hang out with. These people have done (or are doing) the work necessary to be ready when lightning strikes.

Are you looking for a free ride?

Good luck with that… Really; I hope you are that lucky. 🙂

Love is all there really is

Life offers us so many distractions from all that is beautiful, all that is kind, all that is magnificent and perfect in every way.

It starts at the very earliest of ages, trying to fit all the various activities into the 24 hours we all have in a day, and it appears things just pop-up out of nowhere – just to knock you off balance – throwing your life a little off track.

There’s the rushing, here to there, in an attempt to take care of business as we pursue life in the fast lane… Or for those of us in the slow lane, we might be lying on the grass on a clear summer night, looking up at the stars, only to find that you can barely see the stars for all the stuff flying and floating around in the sky.

On the way to your destination, billboards, transit signage and a myriad of other distractions are all interrupting your thoughts in an attempt to distract, encourage you to buy or modify your thoughts.

This pace continues until later in life and to some degree until we take our last breath. In those final moments you realize that all that really mattered was how you loved.

How did you express your love to others?

When did you feel the most loved?

When my grandmother was transitioning from this life, she was in a hospital bed, unresponsive… but you could feel the love in the room. She laid there, heart beating, until after her son arrived from San Diego. After he arrived and shared his final moments with her, surrounded by her family, she quietly left the room; in love.

At the time, I was busy starting my own family and had not spent very much time with my grandmother in her final years; but I was confident that she loved me and knew that I loved her deeply, regardless of the separation. Although in that moment I decided to initiate the intention to expend more effort in communicating my love to others.

Love is the basis of all my relationships, personal and professional. And when life tries to throw me a whammy, I try to switch perspectives around until I can see it through the eyes of love (which can take some time to adjust).

Do I get surprised, distracted, upset or angry? Yes. Then I start doing the work of looking for the love.

Has the openness of love left me vulnerable? Have I been hurt? Yes and yes. Then I look for the love, the love (or lack of love) in the participants, the people (and pets) who love me and I find love’s repose.

Love is all there really is; everything else is an illusion

In my final moments, I know I will be reviewing the love in my life. I will have loved deeply which has led to some pain; the glorious massive discomfort that comes with separation from something so meaningful. Some call it a broken heart and in some moments, my heart was crushed and bleeding out, as I embraced the fullness of the loss of love or a loved one. And it was good. Good in the sense that it validated the love enormously.

Expressed love is vulnerable, sometimes it hurts and sometimes it is the sweetest feeling you can ever have.

You could build a wall around your heart – many have – in an attempt to safeguard yourself from being victimized. Or, you could love like there’s no tomorrow.

You could start today.

What about yesterday?

The love life that you live from this point forward washes over all the unexpressed love in your past. Yesterday’s gone.

Love is alive and spreading like a sacred virus throughout our bodies, emitting a love energy that influences everything around us.

And in all things, if you look for the love, you will find it.

Today is love – expressed loving – without regret.

Acts of Kindness Super Heroes

You are my favorite super heroes

I am so blessed and grateful to work with and know some of the greatest superheroes of all time. I’m not talking about cartoon representations of fanciful imaginings of nerds-hit-by-gamma-rays who turn into muscle-laden, secret crime-fighting men and women in tights. No, I’m talking about real people, like you and me, with extraordinary skills and abilities who make the world a better place as a part of their life’s work every day.

We all have special skills and abilities that if we honor and embrace them we can share these abilities with the community and/or the world. This is the givingness that we are endowed with at birth; it is where my work centers as I assist others along their journey.

But of even greater impact are those who make a point to do good n the behalf of unsuspecting others who touch my heart. They are the compassionate foot soldiers who express love in the simplest of ways.

I’m as guilty as anyone – in my high-paced, always on-the-go life – of feeling like I don’t have the time or space available to reach out and offer a simple act of kindness. Yet, while running-from-here-to-there, I often witness someone else – tending and equally frantic pace – take a moment to show someone else kindness.

In that moment I question myself, my priorities, the kind of person I’ve become. I mean, I’m polite, courteous, gentlemanly, supportive, and smile a lot, so in that respect at least I am not swinging the pendulum of kindness in the wrong direction, but the ones who take that little extra effort to reach out to another; those are my heroes.

And I see these super heroes every day; doing that little extra somethin-somethin’ that can turnaround someone’s day.

Just in the last week, I witnessed superheroes egage in unsolicited acts of kindness, like buying a lottery ticket for a stranger, putting change in someone else’s parking meter, buying a coffee for the man behind him in line, pulling over to help a man replace a flat tire, tip someone else’s waitress (who was waiting on someone else that left disgruntled and refused to leave a tip due to poor service), just to name a few that come to mind.

And these acts are carried out by the unsung super heroes who go about their lives, never expecting anything in return.

While I spend my days hanging out with high-profile superheroes, I’m beginning to notice that I could do better.

That’s why my favorite super heroes are the ones who sacrifice, in some small way to make someone else’s day a little bit better.

I would be honored and blessed to join their ranks and I am committing to count myself amongst those superhuman lovers who bestow kindness when least expected.

If you are one of my favorite super heroes, or if you have been the recipient of a simple act of kindness, please leave a comment for inspiration for others who desire to help make the world a better place one act of kindness at a time.

You are the super heroes making the world a better place.

May you be blessed as you bless others.

Beware Individuality Psychosis

In my work I gravitate toward highly individualized, upwardly mobile, creators, inventors and businesspeople; kings and queens of unique perspective and thought, movers and shakers. They are less likely to ever be considered part of the status quo. Serving and supporting these people is part of my life’s work.

I believe I am attracting this kind of clientele due to my being a free thinker, spending the majority of my thinking time outside the box. While most of my clients need a support team of traditional rational thinkers, masterminding with more creative individuals has an exponential advantage.

Amidst the creative expression of new thoughts and ideas, there is a subversive movement spreading across America that would not condone such outrageous thought.

It begins (as it always does) with the children. The DSM-IV is the bible of the mental health industry. Thanks to current scientific research and sociological control methodologies, we have been able to diagnose three-times as many mental illnesses than only 50 years ago.

Crediting these current advancements, we can quickly-and-easily diagnose-and-medicate even the most difficult of children into submission and compliance. These advances in the mental health sciences are now spreading into maintaining compliance amongst prison populations and in the management of seniors en masse.

And you, yes YOU, may be next.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, if you are non-compliant with the current wave of thought promoted by media and high-ranking officials, you may be at risk of suffering from Individuality Psychosis and in need of intervention.

Be aware, if you display anti-social behaviors, like above-average creativity, skepticism, non-compliance and questioning authority, you may be at risk for being diagnosed with a mental illness. While mandatory intervention is not a commonly accepted process at the moment, it appears to be on the horizon, not far off.

It is creeping into boardrooms and political arenas across the United States as it is even becoming fashionable to be diagnosed with high-functioning mental illnesses and placed on designer prescription medication regimens. It is becoming an accepted – if not revered – part of rising up the corporate ladder.

… While the creative spark and inspiration that built this great country is dumbed-down, if not snuffed out.

The population of planet earth has doubled since I began my work of helping others achieve their highest and best, and I understand it must be a terrible burden on those who are trying to maintain some type of order amongst a rapidly growing population.

But do we really need to be drugged and managed like prisoners – or cattle?

I get it; schools are institutions that manage large groups of individuals, and it is easier to manage a compliant whole, rather than have to deal with a large group of individuals; not unlike prisons, mental hospitals and old folks’ homes.

But to try to wrap my head around the idea that someone is trying to herd my children as if they were wards of the state in a mental hospital, makes my skin crawl. And while it starts with the children, addressing the parents is the next step, with the idea that the disease is likely hereditary.

Is non-compliance really mental illness?

Don’t we live in a country founded by freedom-seeking rebels? What comes next, the thought police?

And, who decides what behaviors are acceptable?

What do you think?

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Girl Scouts Operation Cookie Drop Supporting the Troops

Every time I see Girl Scouts posted up to sell their Girl Scout cookies, I like to cut my calories in half. For every box that I buy for myself, I donate a box to Operation Cookie Drop.

Operation Cookie Drop is a program whereby you can buy a box of cookies that is sent to troops overseas.

Jaycie Wakefield works with the Girl Scouts of America. She is proud to participate and promote Operation Cookie Drop because she knows how important it is for military personnel, far away from home, to receive a little somethin-somethin’ from home.

Her brother, Aaron told stories about little kindnesses received along the way, were so appreciated. Of course there were care packages sent from home and support from the USO along the way, but all in service so much appreciated the things that showed up as an unexpected display of gratitude.

For instance, if a church sent a care package, Aaron’s share might only include 5 cookies, a candy bar and a lollipop, but it meant so much and was so appreciated, to know that someone out there cared. The little things are so meaningful, when you’re isolated, involved in activities that most people would not volunteer for.

Yesterday, I was walking into the Safeway, and I was greeted by a group of Girl Scouts selling cookies. I told them, I would stop by on the way out to buy cookies. After shopping, I stopped by and asked the girls if they knew about Operation Cookie Drop? They had no idea what I was talking about.

After I explained the program to them, I helped them set up a box and make a little sign for Operation Cookie Drop, and I seeded the box with 5 boxes of cookies.

Now, when people walk by those girls, they will have the option to send a little somethin-somethin’ to the troops, whether they buy cookies for themselves, or not.

Jaycie’s brother was 20 years old in 2009 when he came back from Afghanistan, his flight landed in Dover, instead of sitting in a seat, he traveled in a flag-draped box.

Knowing that the little expressions of gratitude meant so much to Aaron, Jaycie enthusiastically supports Operation Cookie Drop.

To tell you the truth, I’m a little cookied-out, but I will always stop to send a few boxes to Aaron’s distant brothers-in-arms knowing that the smallest gesture can make a difference in someone’s day.

I have a sincere compassion for all who answer the call and serve on the behalf of the rest of us, risking all. I honor each and every person in service, those that have served and those, like Aaron, who have paid the ultimate price.

I am so proud of my daughter, Jaycie, who continues to help make the world a better place in so many ways, including her work with the Girls Scouts.

Maybe next time, when you encounter Girl Scouts selling cookies, you’ll think about sending a box of cookies to the troops in tribute to Aaron and all others have given all, to make someone – who is still giving – appreciate being appreciated, making their day just a little brighter.

And remember, it doesn’t take much (and there are so many ways that you could show a little kindness – not just via Operation Cookie Drop). Continue to support these individuals in service, regardless of your personal beliefs because they are standing in the gap for us. A little something means so much.

God bless you for blessing them.

#thankyouaaron