“He is twice warmed who cuts his own wood,” goes the old saw.

Our foods seem to taste better when we’ve done the preparation, our home more enjoyable when we’ve clean it ourselves, and our yard brighter once we’ve finished pulling weeds and raking the grass. That’s because it’s satisfying to do things for yourself when you are able.

Self-reliance is boost to the ego, no matter how little or how much you have. It reminds you that you’re capable and useful.

Your rule-of-thumb should be “Each day I’ll leave my bed with determination to return to it with satisfaction.”

Everyone feels a sense of hopelessness from time to time. It’s natural.

But no one should ever lose all hope. Without hope, failure becomes our only option.

And remaining in a hopeless state of being becomes our downfall. Instead of action, we’ll wait for what we believed to be inevitable outcome and then the only thing we’ll know is that we didn’t try.

And because you didn’t act, you’ll never change your situation, good or bad, and that too, is a miserable feeling. A vicious cycle.

Remember, hope costs nothing, but a lack of all hope will cost you everything.

Jesus was walking through the woods one morning, shortly after returning from Heaven. He needed to take a shit, but couldn’t find a place.

Finally, unable to hold it any more, he grabbed a few leaves and squatted behind a fallen log. Much to his surprise, he discovered the Easter Bunny doing the same thing.

The bunny finished first and started on his way when Jesus asked him, “Do you mind if your fur gets dirty?”

“Not really,” the rabbit answered.

“Great,” Jesus replied as he grabbed the bunny by the ears and proceeded to wipe his ass with him.

“Welcome to Jerusalem this evening. Earlier today, we caught up with the spokesperson of a man executed 24-hours ago by the local authorities. He claims his client was innocent. But what about his political activities?”

“There are none, his only interest people.”

“So why execute him?”

“He threatens to upset their system.”

“But I thought you said he wasn’t political.”

“He isn’t. He’s about love and how we ought to treat one another.”

“That make no sense.”

“I know, right?”

You keep talking about this man in the present tense.”

“Yes, I do.”

“I’m not understanding.”

“You will come Monday.”

It’s good to be careful. It’s instinctual, that God-given internal voice that tells us something’s not right and that we must beware.

We’re suspicious of people we don’t know because we worry that they’ll take advantage of us and so we keep our guard up. That’s because there are people who’ll cheat us if they’re able.

Yet, being taken advantage of isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you. Far more damaging is allowing your mistrust to make you bitter, cold and withdrawn.

While it’s smart to be protective, be willing to open yourself up to people and experiences.

Everyday that I awaken brings the chance for me to draw in a breath, kick off the dregs of the day before and to venture out into a new world. The same can be said for you, too.

That is the miracle that is you – to live a fresh, new day – unencumbered with the troubles of the future or the past. But you must chose to make it so.

When the opportunity arises, we need to be willing to stand up and commit ourselves wholeheartedly to the prospect of the new day and live it as passionately as we can.

“More, more, more,” goes the song ‘Rebel Yell,’ by Billy Idol.

We always want more. More things, more mullah, more friends.

Whatever it might be that we think we don’t have enough of, if only we had more of it we’d be happy or at least happier. But we know better, or at least we should.

If what you have of something at this very moment isn’t making you happy, why then would more of it give you anymore happiness than you are already not experiencing?

Find satisfaction in the stuff you already have. More of nada is still zilch.

Your attitude determines the state of the world you live in. It can make you or break you.

It isn’t understood why a positive attitude influences our minds and bodies the way that it does; we only know that it does. Research shows that people who’re sick improve faster when they have a positive attitude.

This is the power of the placebo. A positive attitude may not cure a person’s illness, but at the very least it helps that person cope with the stresses of the illness.

Simply stated: what you think is what you get – and remember to breathe.

Odd that I was jus’ recently thumbing through a 1983 People magazine I’ve kept, where ‘Return of the Jedi’ actress Debbie Carrington talked about wearing an Ewok suit, comparing it to a sauna, requiring the crew to continually hand out Gatorade. So it comes as a real blow to my heart-strings to learn she has passed away.

The last time I heard from her was in early July 2017, when she told me that she was making an appearance at a venue in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The first time I met Debbie, we were on the set of ‘Return of the Jedi,’ being filmed in the redwoods, near Smith River, California, north of Crescent City.

She was having a difficult time climbing over, under and through the undergrowth of the forest because of the Ewok costume she had on, so I offered to help her by carrying her from one place to another. That was the beginning of a wonderful friendship.

One evening, close to the wrapping up of filming, a bunch of extras, stand-ins and production crew gathered in a motel room in Brookings, Oregon (north of Smith River) and partied into the morning hours. Much debauchery that I cannot admit too, occurred that night.

She and I got so drunk that we went in the bathroom and fell asleep in the bathtub. When I woke up my left side was completely numb from where Debbie was sleeping against me, but that was okay – I drooled in hair, so we called it even.

Not many people know that aside from being an advocate for actors with disabilities (at 3-foot, ten-inches, she lived with dwarfism,) she had a degree in child psychology that she’d earned the University of California, Davis. She was good-natured unless you called her a ‘midget,’ or described her as ‘diminutive,’ then she’d politely educate you — because she was neither.

So once again I am feeling my age as I find that my friend, whose laughter and voice could carry over any size crowd, has passed away. God-speed, Debbie.

Have you ever yelled at someone who didn’t deserve it? Anger’s the most dangerous and direct emotion human’s possess.

If allowed, it’ll become destructive. Worse yet, it generally happens when we’re most angry at ourselves.

It then becomes a vicious cycle; the angrier we become the worse the destruction. However we can choose to not be angry in the first place.

Furthermore, we can release our anger as it comes over us. Take the time to think about why you’re feeling angry.

Once our anger’s put in perspective you’ll find yourself calmer, then you can act rationally, constructively, not destructively.