Here are this week’s quotes on taking action. Words of wisdom that can help you grow if you take them to heart and apply them. Meditate on the quotes and put their advice into practice. There is one for each day of the week.
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Quote of the day:
“Many of life's failures are those who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” — Thomas Edison Reflection: In 1952, Florence Chadwick stepped off Catalina Island, California, into the waters of the Pacific Ocean, determined to swim to the mainland. An experienced swimmer, she had already made history as the first woman to swim the English Channel both ways. The weather that day was foggy and chilly; Florence could hardly see the boats accompanying her. Still, she swam steadily for fifteen hours. When she begged to be taken out of the water, her mother, in a boat alongside her, told her that she was close and that she could make it. But Florence, physically and emotionally exhausted, stopped swimming and was pulled into the boat. It wasn’t until she was on board that she discovered the shore was less than half a mile away. At a news conference the next day, she said, “All I could see was the fog--I think if I could have seen the shore, I would have made it.” Sometimes we are in a fog and feel like giving up when actually if we hold on a little longer the fog will lift and we can make it. Is there something in your life that you are in the fog about? Keep holding on a little longer. Quote of the day:
"The little unremembered acts of kindness and love are the best parts of a person's life.” — William Wordsworth Reflection: Maria E. Pagano, PhD, an associate professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, has investigated the helper therapy principle (HTP), which is based on the concept that when people help others, they are also helping themselves—particularly when the helper and the recipient of that help share a common malady. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly published her review article on the topic. Among the evidence cited were studies showing that… While service to fellow sufferers is a cornerstone of 12-step programs of recovery, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Dr. Pagano noted that it is not necessary to share a common health problem in order to benefit from doing good. For instance, helping others in general has been linked with longer life, less depression, higher self-esteem and greater life satisfaction. For a “helper’s high” and a significant health boost, lend a helping hand to someone in need. Vitamins for the Soul
Here are this week’s quotes on new beginnings. Words of wisdom that can help you grow if you take them to heart and apply them. Meditate on each one and put its advice into practice. There is one for each day of the week.
Quote of the day:
“You can’t see the forest for the trees.” — Frederick Engels Reflection: A visitor to Amsterdam had heard about the wonderful church chimes—so the legend runs. He was told that he must hear them, whatever else he might miss in the old Dutch city. The tourist did not know how best to hear the chimes, so he went up into the tower of the church to get as close as he could to the bells. He thought he would thus be best able to get the full benefit of his visit. There he found a man with great wooden gloves, like hammers, pounding on a keyboard. All he could hear was the crash of the keys, the harsh clanging and the deafening noise of the bells above his head. He wondered why his friends had talked so enthusiastically of the chimes. To his ears there was no music in them, nothing but terrible clatter and clangor. Yet at that very time, there floated over and beyond the city—the most entrancing music. Men in the fields a mile or more away paused in their work to listen. People in their homes and travelers on the highways were thrilled by the marvelous notes that fell from the tower. The place to listen to chimes is not positioned too close to them—but a distance away, where the clangor has softened into sweet music. So it is with the experiences of life. When we are in their midst—we may only hear only the jarring notes of tension, stress or confusion, and perhaps even the bitter cries of suffering and pain. We are too close to it yet. But when we get farther away, when the sharpness of the ordeal is past, when the trying time is over and forgotten—the music grows sweet. Not until afterward comes, with its comfort, do we begin to understand the meaning of the experience that was at the time, so difficult to bear. Quote of the day:
“Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them—every day begin the task anew.” — St. Francis de Sales Reflection: A jeweler brought a large and beautiful onyx to an engraver of precious stones. "See how clear, pure, and transparent this stone is," said the jeweler. "What a fine one for your skill, were it not for this one fatal blemish!" Then he showed him at one point an underlying tinge of iron-rust, which, as he said, made the stone almost worthless. But the engraver took it, and with matchless skill and delicacy wrought upon the stone, carving a graceful figure. By most ingenious and patient use of his engraving tool, he fashioned it so that what had seemed an irreparable blemish was made into a leopard-skin, on which rested the foot of the lovely figure—the contrasting colors enhancing the beauty of the lovely cameo. This illustration shows us what to do with the tough things we face. We often think we can never make anything of our life when surrounded by discouraging circumstances. But it is possible to make our life all the nobler, greater, stronger, more beautiful—by means of the very things which we think have potential to ruin us. We can take difficult conditions and make them yield new strength and beauty in our character. It is useless to fret over the difficult and discouraging things that confront us—fretting will never remove them, and it only weakens our energy and mars our life! But if we meet them with undismayed courage and persistent resolve, we will conquer them, and in conquering them we will find strength of character and noble worth in ourselves. Quote of the day:
“The soul is dyed by the color of its thoughts. Think only on those things that are in line with your principles and can bear the light of day. The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become.” — Heraclitus Reflection: There is an interesting story of one who became a writer of worldwide influence, who in her youth was said to be the homeliest girl in the town where she lived. There was not an attractive line in her face. The girl herself recognized the fact that she had no beauty, nothing in her features to win others to her, and with charming good sense and in an admirable spirit she resolved to overcome the physical disadvantage by making her life and her personality so beautiful that people would love her and be attracted to her in spite of her homeliness. So she began to cultivate the graces of kindliness, gentleness, and friendliness. She yielded her heart to the full sway of love. She became a minister of help, of cheer, of comfort, of joy, to all within her reach. Wherever there was sickness, care, trouble, need, or sorrow — she found her way, carrying the blessing of her kindly presence and the ministry of her gentle hands. She became known everywhere as a messenger of love. People forgot her homeliness, in the congenial warmth of her spirit. She was spoken of now, not as the homely girl, but as an angel of love in the community. Her face never grew beautiful and attractive in its physical features, but there was a light in it in later years which adorned its homeliness. Love is a wondrous beautifier. No matter what you look like, beautiful or unattractive, we can all take to heart the message in this story. Vitamins for the Soul
This is a new series I decided to send out once a week this year. I will be sending seven quotes on different topics for your inspiration and empowerment. Meditate on each quote and put its advice into practice. There is one for each day of the week. Here are this week’s quotes on making the New Year.
Quote of the day:
“The last dejected effort often becomes the winning stroke.” — W.J. Cameron Reflection: Here is a story from the classic “success” book Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill. Darby and his uncle, over a hundred years ago, were caught up with "gold fever". They headed west to seek their fortune. After weeks of labor they were rewarded with an inkling of what they felt might very well turn out to be one of the richest mines in Colorado. But despite countless days digging and drilling, the profitable vein of gold ore they expected to find never appeared. Frustrated and discouraged, they sold all their equipment to a junk dealer for a few hundred dollars and headed home. The wise junk dealer called in a specialist mining engineer who advised that the project had failed because the Darby family were not familiar with "fault lines." His calculations showed that the vein of gold would be found just three feet from where the Darby’s had stopped drilling. And that's exactly where the junk dealer discovered one of the largest deposits of gold to ever be discovered up to that time. Napoleon Hill writes, "It rewarded him with millions of dollars because he knew enough to seek expert counsel before giving up." Don’t be too proud to seek counsel and advice from an expert, even if it is your last dejected effort. It could be the winning stroke as you may be only three feet away from realizing your dreams. Quote of the day:
“Before you speak ask yourself if what you are going to say is true, is kind, is necessary, is helpful. If the answer is no, maybe what you are about to say should be left unsaid.” — Bernard Meltzer Reflection: I think this quote has good advice, in addition to the story below, which expounds on the subject even more. In ancient Greece, Socrates was reputed to hold knowledge in high esteem. One day an acquaintance met the great philosopher and said, “Do you know what I just heard about your friend?” “Hold on a minute,” Socrates replied. “Before telling me anything I’d like you to pass a little test. It’s called the Triple Filter Test.” “Triple filter?” “That’s right,” Socrates continued. “Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you’re going to say. That’s why I call it the triple filter test. The first filter is truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?” “No,” the man said, “Actually I just heard about it and...” “All right,” said Socrates. “So you don’t really know if it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter, the filter of goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend something good?” “No, on the contrary…” “So,” Socrates continued, “you want to tell me something bad about him, but you’re not certain it’s true. You may still pass the test though, because there’s one filter left: the filter of usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?” “No, not really…” “Well,” concluded Socrates, “if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?” Let’s take a lesson from these quotes and put our words through the Triple Filter Test before saying them. |
AuthorThe goal of the blog is to provide interesting, motivational, soul feeding material. All to help remind us that God loves us all and wants a personal relationship with each of us and will take care of us in times of trouble. I aspire to be a force for good by providing you with positive input. I encourage you to share the blog with others. Archives
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