Nugget of the Night

Last night we had Orrin & Laurie Woodward as the keynote speakers of our local seminar. They were awesome. Laurie read a poem that we thought was hilarious and so I decided to make it the Nugget of the Night... enjoy!

Butt Prints In The Sand

One night I had a wondrous dream,

One set of footprints there was seen,

The footprints of my precious Lord,

But mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared,

And I asked the Lord, "What have we here?"

Those prints are large and round and neat,

"But Lord they are too big for feet."

"My child," He said in somber tones,

"For miles I carried you alone.

I challenged you to walk in faith,

But you refused and made me wait."

"You disobeyed, you would not grow,

The walk of faith, you would not know.

So I got tired, I got fed up,

and there I dropped you on your butt."

"Because in life, there comes a time,

when one must fight, and one must climb.

When one must rise and take a stand,

or leave their butt prints in the sand."

- author unknown

Nugget of the Night

Just got home from an our local open meeting and have some exciting news!

Are you sitting?... well, of course you are... I mean... how uncomfortable is it to surf the web while standing?! I mean I suppose you could do it with a laptop... but a desk top... forgetaboutit!

Anyway, I just found out some EXCITING news! We need to gather all the troops in for November's Seminar in Anaheim... because, get this... the keynote speaker is THE "O"!!!



NO! Not Obama! ORRIN! THE ORRIN... of ORRIN & LAURIE WOODWARD!!!



(here's a good place to put his bio)
















When Orrin and Laurie Woodward were contemplating what could be done with Team, they were looking for an opportunity that would instill strong leadership principles into people's lives. They were both so busy though – Orrin, as an engineer, with four patents and a national benchmark award in the automotive business, pursuing an MBA and Laurie working as an accountant – that they did not necessarily want to believe that this was what they were looking for. Laurie was not excited and Orrin was skeptical. After attending a major function, though, they each captured a bigger vision. Orrin and Laurie have drastically altered the quality of their lives since Team. By plugging into a training system, this engineer and accountant, with minimal people skills, has gone on to be one of the strongest leading couples in demand today. Due to their success in leadership development, they have been invited to speak on three continents – inspiring and teaching tens of thousands of people. Orrin and Laurie remain focused because they feel the responsibility of influencing people’s lives in a positive direction.

Pretty impressive huh?! Well, let's not miss this opportunity to hear from the great ones! Let's sit near the table and gather crumbs from those who have accomplished what we hope to accomplish. Let's give them a warm Southern California welcome! (minus the profanity)

God Bless,
Jason Jasper

Nugget of the Night

Sorry this is a bit late... we attended our local seminar last night, but today was pretty busy and I didn't get a chance to get my notes out.

We heard from Chris & Danaé Mattis this month. They were both very entertaining and seemed to really be enjoying the TEAM experience.

One thing that stood out for me was the concept of having to give something up (sacrifice) to get more in return (reward). Giving up things that you think you NEED now in order to be able to afford the things you WANT in the future. They spoke quite a bit on delayed gratification... which I must admit has been a foreign concept to me for many years... I have always made just enough money to cover the bills and then had fun blowing the rest. I figured if I wasn't putting it on a credit card then I was doing all right. The problem was that as I got older, got married, switched jobs, had kids, got a mortgage, etc. ... the bills got bigger and my "toys" got more expensive.

Soon life starts to creep up on you and you realize that if you blow your "fun money" every week, you have nothing to use when the brakes in your wife's car go out, or you suddenly need $ 7,000 in dental work (no exaggeration - but my teeth are pretty now). Then the only option you have is those wonderful little plastic devils! "Thank you Mr. Visa & Mrs. MasterCard... thank you for allowing me to put my bills off for another month and only charge me 22.75 % interest!"

Then of course next week... you need more toys... but you have to make a minimum payment to the cards... so guess what else goes on credit... yup... that Magic Bullet Juicer that you knew would just save you tons of counter space, make you healthier and save you money. But its OK... because if I call RIGHT NOW! They'll also throw in the Fry Daddy, Ginsu Knives and the Buns of Steal at no extra cost!!!

When you think about it in hindsight... all that junk didn't make your life any better, or save you money... or even counter space for that matter. All it did was provide another opportunity to continue to plug away at the 45 Year Plan.

Here's a depressing little experiment for you...
- take a calculator, pen (or pencil), and a note pad
- Stroll casually around every room in your house, taking inventory of everything you have purchased over the past few years.
- How much of it was an ACTUAL NEED?
- How much of it have you never used since that first week?
- How many dress shirts can you fit on that treadmill?
- How much did you spend on it all?
- How many items are you STILL paying for?
- And finally, what could you have done with that money instead?

...the results may just be enough to get you to reconsider calling the 800 number the next time some handsome guy with an Aussie accent tries to sell you something.

First blog post... hmmmm....

what to write, what to write......

I had no idea it would be so difficult coming up with a "first blog post". I always thought that when I finally got around to starting a blog, that the idea would just come to me (as most of my great ideas do)... and as soon as I was off the toilet... I would blog away!... but nothin! zip! zilch! nachos! mmmm.... nachos.

Anyway... the whole purpose of this blog is to keep people up to speed. Whether for LIFE, family, friends... whatever. It is also a place to vent and discuss issues of interest in the world... and hopefully... through it all, we'll have good time... who knows... we may even LEARN SOMETHING! :o)

Well, stay tuned for future posts, and please feel free to contact me if you have any ideas for the future of this blog.

God Bless,

Jason Jasper