Words to Live By: MORE and LESS. Week 12

If you are new to my blog, this is what this weekly series is all about:

One of my notepads lists some ways we should live more and live less.  Inspired by this message on Friday, March 28th, 2014 I wrote a post about "Words to Live By."  I decided to make weekly updates to this post, until I start repeating myself!  I promise each weekly update will contain more information than just the five new phrases though!

 Readers are invited to use the comment section below, if they have new ideas of "words to live by" which would complete the phrase _____________ more. ______________ less."  

(Any time I use an idea that is not mine, I will credit the contributor and their blog, if they have one. Just keep it family friendly, please!)

Here Are the Ideas for This Week:

1. Honesty More. Hiding Less.

• The post in this series last week addressed the recent school shootings.  A number of readers left comments and suggestions of phrases relate to tragedies of that type.  

• “More Honesty. Less hiding.” was suggested by Marisa B. of the blog Mangia, Mangia ...No Talk!  

• Roz Warren recommends, “More treatment,early intervention and support for folks challenged with mental health problems more. AND BAN GUNS!!”

• Jennifer Humphries said, “Love more ALWAYS, help more, ALWAYS, care more ALWAYS and Judge less.”  I would encourage you to read Jennifer's full comment and the story behind the passion of her words.

2. Tip More.  Complain less.

Servers count on tips to help pay their bills.

• People can sometimes be on their worst behavior when dining out.  It is easy to be critical of the server.  We feel entitled because we are paying for our meal, but preparing and serving food is a difficult task to do well.  (I know this to be true, just based on the experiences from my own kitchen!)  So next time, before you begin to complain, think for a minute about how busy your server might be. And don't forget to leave them a good tip!

3. Plan more.  Miss out on less.

A wall calendar is a good way to keep track of commitments.

Keeping track of our busy lives is difficult - and practically impossible without a planning calendar!  My family uses a master wall calendar to record all of our activities and appointments.  

• Sometimes things still get missed.  During a particularly hectic week, we received an email invitation to a graduation party.  I thought my husband had R.S.V.P.’d and he thought the same of me.  I am embarrassed to admit that neither one of us did - and to make matters worse, it never got recorded on the calendar.  The day after the party, we realized we had missed it.  It was a graduate we would have really loved to celebrate. 

4. Pay credit bills more.  Pay interest less.

Credit cards are for convenience - not to spend more than you can afford!

• Pay every credit card bill you receive in-full and on-time!  
• If you can't afford to do so, don't spend that money in the first place! 

Paying interest on these bills is like throwing money away!!


5.  Make friends more.  Make enemies less.

Pluto is a pretty friendly guy!

To view ideas from previous posts please click on the page tab “Words to Live By: More and Less” at the top of this blog .  The list has grown too large to include here!

This notepad is from the Eccolo World Traveler "Lofty Thinking" collection.  The author of the words is unknown.

Note:  For the past 12 weeks, I have been posting in this series weekly. I plan to continue adding to this series, but on a less regular basis, so that I have more time to write about other things.  

 I'm trying to live more, not less.  How about you?  

What suggestions do you have?