One word…GRATITUDE.

Before you stop reading, give me a chance.

I’m not saying you should be grateful FOR the hard time. Obviously, having cancer or totaling your car is not something you should be thankful for (though someday you may be).

Jean-Jacques Guiony, CFO of French luxury multinational LVMH supplier of fine wines, says that champagne sales are down because people are too sad about the state of the world to celebrate. Guiony said, “Maybe the current global situation, be it geopolitical or macroeconomic, does not lead people to cheer up and to open bottles of champagne.” With prices seemingly up for everything else, champagne prices are down 20% over the past two years and sales continue to drop.

Is that why?

Self-denial. Delayed gratification. I know, not exactly the best thoughts to draw readers in.

How’s this, then…Success! The way to prosperity!

“I have doubts. Does that mean I don’t have faith?” I’ve been asked this dozens of times.

There’s a great story about this in the Gospel of Mark. A man asks Jesus to help him with his son. He explains that he had already sought help from Jesus’ disciples but they weren’t able to. The man says to Jesus, “If you can, please help him!” Notice the “if” in his request for help, “If you can…”

How you manage your emotions has more of an impact on your marriage, raising kids, and doing well at work than just about anything else. In his book, Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman demonstrates how a person’s ability to manage his or her emotions has more influence on their success in life than IQ.

It seemed like an impossible distance. I was 19 years old, walking along Texas State Highway 69 just outside of Tyler, Texas. I put my thumb out, hoping to get a ride to Alvin, Texas, about 230 miles away. I didn’t think I’d ever get there. But after 30 hours of hitchhiking and walking, I made it, exhausted, and fell asleep on the lawn of a church.

I know, that story deserves more details, but they will come another time and this blog post isn’t long enough for that.