BRING THE HOPE

The Power of Hope

Yesterday, a columnist with the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette credited Bring The Hope with the surge in the stock market. Of course, this was absolutely the case and we're just glad that it's finally being recognized. Yes, you can believe everything you read in the newspaper. Trust us...and read on.

http://bit.ly/2Kp9UI

A Lesson in Hope

This quick lesson in hope makes me laugh. Happy 40th Anniversary to all the great people at Sesame Street. You all have been bringing the laughs, the learning and the hope for four decades. That's cool.

The Great American Slogan Contest

Hey, all. We're having some fun and we want to let you in on it. If you come up with something clever, you might get the chance to raise some big bucks for your favorite charity. Give it a try.

OPTIMISTIC APPAREL COMPANY LAUNCHES NATIONAL SLOGAN CONTEST TO HELP AMERICA GET ITS MOJO BACK; WINNERS TO RAISE MONEY FOR CHARITIES

Contest Ends on Nov. 30th -- The Challenge: Motivate America in Eight Words or Less

FORTVILLE, Ind., Nov. 2, 2009 An optimistic apparel company based in the heartland of America today announced a national slogan contest designed to help the United States get its mojo back. Bring The HopeTM, invites people from all 50 states to participate in its search for the next great American slogan. The contest will raise funds for charitable organizations making a difference across the country.

People interested in getting in on the fun can submit their original slogan ideas online between now and November 30 to be considered. Slogan submissions should be eight words or less and focused on hope, optimism or humor. Online voters will pick three winners and those slogans will be printed on T-shirts for purchase. Then, 25 percent of net profits (up to $5,000) will be donated to each of the winner’s favorite U.S.-based charities. People can submit their own ideas or vote on slogans from others at http://www.bringthehope.com.

“The recession of 2009 has been a real challenge in America and our collective confidence in the future has taken a big hit,” said Bring The Hope co-founder Mike Marker. “We want to get people focused on hope and optimism again and have some fun in the process. We look forward to seeing all of the creative slogans that roll in from around the county.”

The company offered some slogan thought starters to get the conversation started including:

• America: still the best place on Earth
• U.S.A…coming back strong again in 2010
• Get your recommended daily allowance of freedom here
• One nation, under Canada, above Mexico (by Robin Williams)

  “The clothes we wear can provide a canvas for spreading messages of hope and optimism in the world,” said Bring The Hope co-founder Jeremy Chastain. “As we work our way out of these challenging times, we wanted to have a little fun and create an opportunity for people to raise money for their favorite charities.”

Marker and Chastain started Bring The Hope earlier this year. Their optimistic apparel company conducts monthly contests where online users submit original messages of hope, optimism and humor. Voters decide which messages are printed on T-shirts.

Aside from slogans, the United States has two mottos. The country’s first official motto, “In God We Trust,” was established by an Act of Congress in 1956. Until that time, the unofficial motto of America was the Latin phrase, “E Pluribus Unum” or “One from many parts.”

About Bring The Hope™

Bring The Hope is an online apparel company focused on messages of hope, optimism and humor. A significant portion of the company’s net profits go to charitable organizations making a difference in the world. The company promotes self expression and hand prints winning messages on cotton T-shirts. Additional information about Bring The Hope and the charities the company supports can be found http://www.bringthehope.com. “Wear some wisdom. Change the world.”

What Do You Count?

I was talking with a columnist yesterday and we got into a conversation about optimism and the power that attitude can have in our world. As we spoke, I decided to tell him about a lesson that Dr. Kent Millard taught me awhile back. After we hung up, I started counting and it brightened my day. So, I decided to share my story with you too.

The lesson that Dr. Millard taught me involved blessings. He started the lesson by asking, "what do you count?" Then, he said, "if you count your blessings, you'll feel blessed. But, if you count all the things that stress you out, you'll feel stressed."

His point was that too often we keep track of all the things that go wrong and all the things that worry us. Then, we end up feeling more stressed out and worried about why life doesn't always go the way we'd like.

By comparison, he said that when we spend more time counting all of our blessings, we end up feeling thankful for what we have and appreciative for all the positive things happening in our lives.

So, the question is, "what do you count?" I try to count my blessings and I'm thankful for my job, family, friends, sunny days, live music, vacation days and freedom. I'd keep writing, but I have some more counting to do.

Be well.

For The Love of Money

Dear money,

I like you just as much as the next guy and I always feel better when you're around. But, I'm just not willing to give you priority over so many of the other things that I value.

We spend a lot of time and energy chasing you. Sometimes we even give the pursuit of you so much attention that we'll go weeks or months sacrificing time with friends and family just to have more of you. That's gotta make you feel good, but it seems to be making us feel worse. 

Over the weekend, I heard a few stories that got me thinking about you. The first one was about how poor people are now (on average) happier than rich people. The second story was about how more rich people commit suicide than poor people.

Money, we do a lot for the love of you. But, you don't seem to be giving us much back in return. Seems like it's time for us to re-balance our priorities.

Sincerely,

Bring The Hope

What Happens In Heaven

I received the following email/story from my mom yesterday and wanted to pass it along. We have so much for which to be thankful. I'm going to spend some time this weekend counting my blessings. Have a good weekend.

WHAT HAPPENS IN HEAVEN  

I had a dream that I went to Heaven and an angel was showing me around.  We walked side-by-side inside a large workroom filled with angels.  My angel guide stopped in front of the first section and said, “This is the Receiving Section. Here, all petitions to God said in prayer are received.”

I looked around in this area, and it was terribly busy with so many angels sorting out petitions written on voluminous paper sheets and scraps from people all over the world.  

Then we moved on down a long corridor until we reached the second section.  

The angel then said to me, "This is the Packaging and Delivery Section. Here, the graces and blessings the people asked for are processed and delivered to the living persons who asked for them." I noticed again how busy it was there. There were many angels working hard at that station, since so many blessings had been requested and were being packaged for delivery to Earth.  

Finally at the farthest end of the long corridor we stopped at the door of a very small station. To my great surprise, only one angel was seated there, idly doing nothing. "This is the Acknowledgment Section, my angel friend quietly admitted to me.  He seemed embarrassed." How is it that there is no work going on here, I asked?  

"So sad," the angel sighed.  "After people receive the blessings that they asked for, very few send back acknowledgments"  

"How does one acknowledge God's blessings? " I asked

"Simple," the angel answered. Just say, "Thank you, Lord."

"What blessings should they acknowledge?"  I asked?  

"If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.”

"And if you get this on your own computer, you are part of the 1% in the world who has that opportunity."  

"If you woke up this morning with more health than illness…you are more blessed than the many who will not even survive this day."  

"If you have never experienced the fear in battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation ... You are ahead of 700 million people in the world."

"If you can attend a church without the fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death you are envied by, and more blessed than, three billion people in the  world."

 "If your parents are still alive and still married ...you are very rare"  

"If you can hold your head up and smile, you are not the norm,  you're unique to all those in doubt and  despair."

Ok, what now?  How can I start?  

If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you as very special and you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.  

Have a good day, count your blessings, and if you care to pass this along to remind everyone else how blessed we all are…

ATTN:  Acknowledge Dept.  
"Thank you Lord, for giving me the ability to share this message and for giving me so many wonderful people with whom to share it. "  

If you have read this far, and are thankful for all that you have been blessed with, how can you not send it on???? I thank God for everything, especially all my family and friends!!

Halloween Goes to the Dogs

Most dogs hate the Fourth of July and the loud fireworks that come with it. But, Halloween has to rank high on the list of days that dogs dread. Here's why...

 
 
 
 
 

Carving Pumpkins

It's time to carve the pumpkins. You can go with the same old scary face that everyone goes with. Or, you can carve out some messages of hope and optimism. Here are a few cool ideas some others came up with. Happy carving.

 
 

  
 
 
 

Have Fun...Everywhere

Life is full of stress and sometimes we get so caught up in all that we have to do that we forget what we want to do. Life is too short not to have a lot of fun along the way.

The co-workers on the video below have it all figured out. When big meetings and pressing deadlines have you stressed out, take a minute to have some fun. Because, "I want it that way."

Have a great day and be sure to have some fun along the way.

Pete Yorn and Scarlett Johansson

Live music brings the hope and I've been digging on Pete Yorn's songs for several years. Now, he's paired up with actress (and singer) Scarlett Johansson on a new album called "Break Up." And after hearing four or five of their new songs, I've gotta say that I'm a big fan of their sound.  

Tonight, Pete plays The Vogue in Broad Ripple and I'll be there to enjoy the show. I've seen Pete live before, so there's no doubt that the show will be great. But, I'll admit that I'm crossing my fingers and toes on that outside chance that Scarlett will roll into town with him.

Here's to hope and a good show (whatever happens) at The Vogue tonight. If you have a minute, click on the video below to check out "Relator" by Yorn and Johansson.

It's Your Life -- You Pick

If you don't like your life...change it.

If you've been waiting to chase your dream...start chasing it.

Now is the time. Dream big.

New Ideas Bring The Hope

Cheers to Jennifer Regnier for the cool visual blog that she started recently to put messages of hope and optimism out in the world.

We love her concept and can't wait to see what's next. A few of our favorite images from Jennifer's blog are shown below. If you want to check them all out, go to http://littlemissringy.tumblr.com/

 

The World Needs to Believe in America Again

As we come out of our global recession and think about what's next, what would you say if I told you that an objective has been set to halve extreme poverty by 2015? Some might call it crazy, but that goal (part of the millennium goals) was actually established nine years back as part of a global compact.

But as Bono (of U2) points out, this global compact will need America and President Obama to lead if we expect to achieve success. Bono says, "The world wants to believe in America again because the world needs to believe in America again. We need your ideas — your idea — at a time when the rest of the world is running out of them."

Click here to read everything that Bono had to say on this important topic in Saturday's edition of The New York Times.

"These new steps...remind the world that America is not just a country but an idea, a great idea about opportunity for all and responsibility to your fellow man."

Good Friends Bring The Hope

I spent the weekend hanging with good friends at a cabin in South Haven, Mich. Our crew rolled in from three different states and some of us hadn't seen each other for quite awhile. We came in with our different backgrounds and our divergent opinions on various issues and spent somewhere around 40 hours just enjoying each others' company.

Good friends are hard to come by and it can be tough to get people together with all the responsibilities everyone has. So, I'm pretty thankful when everyone finds the time to block a weekend for catching up.

Good friends bring the hope.

"Life is partly what we make it, and partly what is made by the friends we choose." - Tennessee Williams

"A true friend is one who thinks you are a good egg even if you are half cracked." - Author Unknown

"No road is long with good company." - Turkish Proverb

Images of Hope

 

 

 
  
 
 
 

 
 

Preparing to do Something Great

Did you catch the great story by Jeffrey Zaslow in yesterday's edition of The Wall Street Journal? Zaslow's piece was about US Airways Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and it really got me thinking.

In the article, Zaslow points out how Sully flew thousands of flights before piloting what's now known as "The Miracle on the Hudson." But, no one knows Sully for those flights and he now says that his, "entire career is being judged by how (he) performed on one of them."

As Zaslow says, "it wasn't only his skills as a veteran pilot that carried him in those tense moments over Manhattan. It was also his upbringing, his family bonds, his sense of integrity—and his own losses. Flight 1549 wasn't just a five-minute journey from LaGuardia Airport to the Hudson. Sully's entire life led him safely to that river."

Sully's story is amazing. But, I think our lives are similar to his, at least on some small scale. You see, we all have the ability in us to do great things. We all have the opportunity to make a difference and be a hero to someone. So, the question is, "what are we doing today (and everyday) to prepare ourselves for that one great thing we'll do that others will judge us by?"

For the rest of Zaslow's story about Sully, click here.

Hope Never Looked So Clean

Bringing the hope is easy. There are so many ways to do it. You could...

1. Send a card to one of your old teachers and tell them thanks
2. Pay for the person's order behind you at the drive thru
3. Do something (anything) nice for your neighbor
4. Read your kid a book or tutor another kid who needs some help
5. Take used bars of soap from hotel rooms and give them to refugees (huh?)

Okay...so, maybe #5 isn't easy. But, it is a really simple idea that no one had thought of until one very cool Ugandan, Derreck Kayongo, decided to make it happen.

Check out Derreck's story here.

Happy Birthday Mr. Simon

American singer and songwriter Paul Simon turns 68 today and since his music has been bringing the hope for decades, we wanted to wish Sir Paul all the best on his birthday.

The Paul Simon catalog is impressive and inspired. Some of my favorite Simon songs are "Love Me Like a Rock", "Kodachrome", "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover", and "Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard". But, his best video is undoubtedly the one he did with Chevy Chase for "You Can Call Me Al".

Enjoy and cheers to Paul Simon for keeping our feet tapping after all these years.

The True Nobel Prize Winner = The American Soldier

Cheers to columnist Thomas L. Friedman for the outstanding piece he wrote for Sunday's edition of The New York Times. Friedman's column laid out the acceptance speech that he'd like to see President Obama give when he receives the Nobel Peace Prize this December.

Friedman wrote, "...upon reflection, I cannot accept this award on my behalf at all. But I will accept it on behalf of the most important peacekeepers in the world for the last century — the men and women of the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps."  

Friedman is an inspired writer and his column really hits the mark. No one likes war, but we certainly enjoy our freedom and liberty. Thanks to all American soldiers (current and past) for their sacrifice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/opinion/11friedman.html

What Do You Stand For?

The words and phrases we use go a long way to defining how other people view us. That's what I was thinking about yesterday after I bumped into Rev. Jesse Jackson at a sandwich shop in Chicago's Midway Airport.

I have a little history with Rev. Jackson. About 12 years ago, I attended several of his Saturday morning Rainbow PUSH meetings for a client on the south side of Chicago and I can still vividly recall the Rev's chanting when he took the stage. He would say things like,

"down with dope, up with hope"

"stop the violence, save our children", and 

"keep hope...Alive"

As Jackson shouted these phrases out, the audience would enthusiastically repeat them and the chants would continue for some time. It was quite a scene and all these years later, I can still remember those chants. 

Now, I don't always agree with Rev Jackson's politics, but I certainly recall the words and phrases he used more than a decade ago. So, it got me thinking about the words and phrases that I use. Because the words we choose go a long way toward defining how people view us.

I might start borrowing the Rev's phrase..."keep hope ALIVE". I like that one.