I flagrantly stole this from a story Jim Rohn told on the motivational cassettes I listened to constantly in my early thirties. He told a story of how he left a $5 tip (remember this was 1980) on a $2 breakfast. The loss of $5 didn’t mean that much to him, but the waitress probably told the story about the guy who left her a $5 tip and a $2 meal the rest of her life. Some other advice he gave was to tip the shoe shine guy (again remember this was 1980 and everyone wasn’t wearing sneakers) two quarters instead of one quarter. Thus, “be a two-quarter person”. It’s all about generosity and blessing other people’s lives. There is a Biblical principle that when you give more, you receive more, and I believe that it is true. The Bible also says “that a generous man will himself be blessed.” Another Biblical concept is that it is better to give than to receive and I believe that is true also. That’s not the reason I try to be generous, but it is a nice side effect! Always leave a 20% tip. Always give to charities. Always look for ways to bless others financially. It will change their lives and it will change your life too. Debbie and I believe that we have seen these principles work strongly in our lives.
Author: idingk
Don’t Be a Self Promoter – Be Humble
We’ve all met those individuals who are constantly “blowing their own horn”. I don’t know how you feel about this, but it makes me think they are insecure and uncertain of their own value, so they constantly try to convince people otherwise. I believe that each time someone tells you how valuable they are … their value decreases. The alternative to this is to work hard, play hard and let others recognize your value. It’ so much more satisfying for someone else to recognize that you have value instead of you having to tell them! Doing this reflects showing humility. We tend to think about ourselves first – being first in line, wanting to get the best steak on the grill, or getting the biggest half of that donut you are sharing or finding the best parking spot. Try taking the opposite approach. Wait until the line has fully formed and join it at the end. Let the other person pick their half of the donut first. Wait until everyone else has picked their steak from the grill. Drive by that wonderful parking spot and smile when someone else takes it. There’s a song by Tim McGraw called Humble and Kind. You should all take a listen and take a lesson. Here’s a good place to listen – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awzNHuGqoMc
The Dinosaur, the Scientist and the Security Guard
The Dinosaur, the Scientist and the Security Guard
Once upon a time, there was a dinosaur (whose name was Genie) who escaped from a remote jungle island. Now this dinosaur was very, very intelligent since she had been trained and educated by a clever scientist. She liked to wear people clothes.
Genie was lost and she wandered around for a while until her trainer and friend, Katie the Scientist, found her!
Meanwhile, Oscar the Security Guard had discovered that both Genie and Katie were missing so he went out looking for them. He was particularly concerned about Katie because he had a big crush on her.
Oscar finally found the two of them and suddenly they heard a huge, scary roar! A Dwarf Mastodon was coming down the path toward them and it looked very angry.
Oscar the Security Guard tried to protect Katie from the evil beast, but it kept on blocking their path.
As soon as Genie heard the roar, she hurried back to her friends so she could protect Katie. She bravely confronted the Dwarf Mastodon and literally kicked it’s butt as you can see by watching thie following video!
The Dwarf Mastodon jumped up and ran away as fast as it could. We chased it because we couldn’t let it run loose and scare anybody else. Finally, Genie and Oscar captured it in a cave.
Katie had been working with Genie on a brain control device, so they decided to get some practice. Katie worked the controls and Genie went left and right and high and low.
Genie was looking for one of her eggs that had been stolen from her nest. They searched everywhere for it.
And finally, they were successful! They found the stolen egg! Genie was so happy.
It seems like Katie and Oscar found each other too!
And they all lived happily ever after!
Treat EVERYONE with Respect
EVERYONE deserves your respect. Throughout my life, I have always tried to show respect and honor to those around me. Whether at work, with friends or family, at church or at play, everyone has their own gifts and should be respected and honored for those gifts … even if you may not be able to see those gifts and skills through the filter of your own eyes. Whether it’s a superior or an apparent inferior, this rule always applies. It’s really very simple. When you respect others, most of the time they will respect you back and that creates a relationship where wonderful things can happen. Those below you in the hierarchy will respect you, support you and lift you up. Those above you in the hierarchy will recognize you, depend on you and promote you. And your relationships with everyone will be richer, sweeter, and more productive. Treat EVERYONE with respect.
Why In the World Would I Do This?
I was thinking a few days ago that there’s a chance I will never be able to really speak into my grandchildren and great-grand children’s lives. That I will never be able to share the lessons I have learned through my life. That I won’t be there to guide them, advise them or really influence them in any significant way.
But then I had a thought that seemed at first to be a very prideful thing. Maybe I could share some of my life experiences, memories and lessons learned in writing? But then again, why would anyone even care who I was, or what I thought or what I learned? Did I really think that I had anything “meaningful” or “relevant” to share with them? So I let the thought fade.
A few days later, Debbie and I attended a small group session associated with our church and during our conversation the subject of influencing our descendants came up. We talked about speaking into their lives and guiding them. It immediately reminded me of my thoughts from a few days earlier about sharing what I have learned in writing. It brought tears to my eyes. It seemed like a confirmation, a Godly coincidence!
So I am going to take action on that thought. I’m going to reflect on some of the important lessons and principles that I’ve learned in my life. It will be a combination of both Debbie’s and my experiences. I will share a new one every now and then. Hopefully, you have already learned some of these lessons from observing how Debbie and I live our lives.
The Lost Elf, the Alien from Alpha Centauri and Santa Claus
The Lost Elf, the Alien from Alpha Centauri and Santa Clause
Once upon a time, there was an elf who somehow got lost Christmas Eve while looking for her Magic Reindeer that ran away. She decided to keep on looking till she found her reindeer!
While she was wandering, an Alien from Alpha Centauri, all dressed in black, walked into the room. The Elf and the Alien were both so afraid they jumped back in alarm!
After getting over their fright, they introduced each other and decided to keep searching together. Shortly after, they spied Santa Claus. He was SOOOO tired from his deliveries on Christmas Eve that he was taking a little nap. The Lost Elf ran over and poked him till he woke up!
The Lost Elf explained that she was lost so the three of them decided to go on a quest and
find her reindeer and return to her home.
Suddenly, the Lost Elf spied a map hidden in a plastic water bottle. They eagerly pulled out the map and opened it.
The first place marked on the map was a strange room filled with couches and bibles and other kinds of books (including a gigantic encyclopedia of science). The Lost Elf was so cold she started shivering.
Santa Claus was very concerned so he called the Lost Elf over and they started looking in his magic sack! Wow! They found a warm blanket that the Lost Elf could use to get warm. You might notice that even though Santa didn’t like to show favoritism, in his free time he always wore Cincinnati Bengals attire.
Their next destination according to the map was a supply closet to get prepared for their journey. The Alien
from Alpha Centauri had a marvelous device on a pendant around her neck. When she pressed the silver disk it beamed them to another destination. The Alien pressed the button on the medallion.
The map told them to secure a roll of toilet paper from the supply closet. It’s always a good idea to take a roll of toilet paper on a quest because you never know what the sanitary
facilities are going to be like.
The next step on their journey was to a utility room with two machines that magically cleaned and dried clothes.
Here, the acquired a bar of soap so that they could keep themselves clean on the journey. The Alien was so amazed. She had never seen soap before. She kept lifting it to her nose and sniffing it.
They stored all of their supplies in Santa’s magic sack.
The Lost Elf once again opened the map and studied where they should go next. It looked hopeless at first, but then the Alien pointed to her medallion and they immediately knew what the next step would be!
The Alien from Alpha Centauri once more pressed her medallion and the three of them were transported through some crazy, alien technology to destination of their Quest.
They appeared in an ancient cave with boulders and stalagmites. The Lost Elf started searching through the
rubble and … Lo and Behold … she found her reindeer and her Elf on a Shelf. The three of them jumped up and down with joy. When Santa jumped, his belly bounced up and down like a bowl full of Jello.
There was only one more step left in the Quest. The Lost Elf needed to return to her home so she wouldn’t be lost anymore. Santa graciously offered to let her stay with him at the North Pole. So the Alien from Alpha Centauri touched the Lost Elf’s shoulder, then touched her medallion and they were transported to the North Pole.
Then she touched Santa’s shoulder, and then touched the medallion again, and Santa was transported to the North Pole.
The Alien touched the medallion one final time and transported herself back to Alpha Centauri. The No Longer
Lost Elf and her reindeer met up with Santa at the North Pole and they all lived happily ever after!
Welcome to Birds By Ken
A few months ago I needed to add our latest birding trip to this website. Much to my dismay … it wasn’t there anymore! After several discussions with my hosting site (GoDaddy!), I learned that I had missed a few emails from them and they were unable to automatically renew my website hosting contract (due to a changed credit card). 30 days after these missed emails, they deleted my site. No backups kept. No chance to restore. Everything lost!
I did have all of my pictures on my computer, so they weren’t lost. But the vacation blogs I had created over the last five years were lost forever. I turned my eyes to the future, found a different hosting site and here you are … on the new edition of “Birds By Ken.com”.
I’ve taken the opportunity to add a page with some of the songs I have written over the years. I also added a page for the music videos created over some of those songs. And my most recent hobby, a page of the colored pencil drawings I have done. I’ve also got a page with galleries of photos from our family events!
Over the next few months I’ll be adding back pictures from past birding trips, so the content will be constantly expanding.
I hope you enjoy the new version of BirdsByKen.com!