My dear friend Russell Shaw is at it again, and this is well worth the read! Thank you for the send, Russell.

Happy Earth Day! What a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Mother Earth and the miracle of God's creation that this planet we live on is.

I received the following list by email from my dear friend Stefanie, a brilliant woman who holds a patent (genius!) and was a classmate when I attended Milwaukee School of Engineering. There is no original author noted in the email.

1. Take a 10- to 30-minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile. It is the ultimate anti-depressant.
2. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. Buy a lock if you have to.
3. Buy a DVR, tape your late night shows and get more sleep.
4. When you wake up in the morning, complete the following statement, 'My purpose is to __________ today.'
5. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
6. Watch more movies, play more games and read more books than you did last year.
7. Make time to pray and meditate. They provide us with daily fuel for our busy lives.
8. Spend time with people over the age of 70 and under the age of 6.
9. Dream more while you are awake.
10. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured.
11. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, wild Alaskan salmon, broccoli, almonds & walnuts.
12. Seek to make at least three people smile each day.
13. Clear clutter from your house, your car, your desk and let new and flowing energy into your life.
14. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, issues of the past, negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
15. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class; the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
16. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
17. Laugh more. It keeps the energy vampires away.
18. Life isn't fair, AND it's still good.
19. Live for love. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
20. Take yourself less seriously. Everyone else does.
21. Agree to disagree. You don't have to win every argument. (or to quote Kristan Cole, "It is better to be kind than to be right.")
22. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
23. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
24. Take charge of your happiness. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
25. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
26. Forgive everyone for everything.
27. Look inward for approval. What other people think of you is none of your business.
28. Give time, time. Time heals almost everything.
29. Adjust. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
30. Stay in touch. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. 
31. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
32. Appreciate what you have. You already have all you need. Envy is a waste of time. 
33. Believe the best is yet to come.
34. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
35. Do the right thing!
36. Call your family often (or email them to death!): Hey, I'm thinking of ya!
37. Each night before you go to bed complete the following statements:
I am thankful for __________. Today I accomplished _________.
38. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
39. Enjoy the ride. Remember this is not Disney World and you certainly don't want a fast pass. You only have one ride through life, so make the most of it and enjoy the ride.

Always building on your knowledge will keep you motivated, sharpen your skills, and make you a better agent. It will also support you having more business. With resources being tight for many right now to take advantage, it's important to avail yourself of valuable tools. When they're FREE, and they provide quality, that's a huge win.

I discovered "Coach Ken" Goodfellow's wonderful new online video training resource today. After watching several of the videos, including a six-part Mastermind series with Bill Renaud and Ray Otten, I am comfortable sharing there's some excellent content to be found here. They cover a broad range of topics, from HR issues and team building to marketing and technology tips. And because most of us are visual learners, the video element is a definite plus.

While visiting Active Rain's agent site this morning, I came across a post for a fantastic site, PDphoto.org  that offers thousands of free photograph images that you can use in your blogs, marketing pieces, enewsletters... wherever you need some beautiful image to enhance your message. Be sure to check it out!

And while I'm on the subject of Active Rain, if you haven't built a profile there and started occasionally posting and responding to others, consider doing it. I have read several posts about agents who are receiving referrals through this network. It's absolutely free to you, other than your investment of time to get it started (I literally spent only fifteen minutes establishing my profile the first time).

Other free services you can be using: how about a blog? Google offers Blogger, a great way to get started with a free blog. You'll need to establish a Gmail account to use it, which by the way is also free.