Quote of the day:
"When you shoot an arrow of truth, dip its point in honey” -- Arab proverb Think about it: Years ago, there was a group of brilliant young men at the University of Wisconsin, who seemed to have amazing creative literary talent. They were would-be poets, novelists, and essayists. They were extraordinary in their ability to put the English language to its best use. These promising young men met regularly to read and critique each other’s work—and critique it they did! These men were merciless with one another. They dissected the minutest literary expression into a hundred pieces. They were heartless, tough, and even mean in their criticism. The sessions became such arenas of literary criticism that the members of this exclusive club called themselves the “Stranglers.” Not to be outdone, the women of literary talent in the university were determined to start a club of their own, one comparable to the Stranglers. They called themselves the “Wranglers.” They, too, read their works to one another, but there was one great difference. The criticism was much softer, more positive, more encouraging. Sometimes, there was almost no criticism at all. Every effort, even the feeblest one, was encouraged. Twenty years later, an alumnus of the university was doing an exhaustive study of his classmates’ careers when he noticed a vast difference in the literary accomplishments of the Stranglers as opposed to the Wranglers. Of all the bright young men in the Stranglers, not one had made a significant literary accomplishment of any kind. From the Wranglers had come six or more successful writers, some of national renown such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, who wrote the bestseller The Yearling in 1938. Talent between the two? Probably the same. Level of education? Not much difference. But the Stranglers strangled, while the Wranglers were determined to give each other a lift. The Stranglers promoted an atmosphere of contention and self-doubt. The Wranglers highlighted the best, not the worst. This story brings out the fruit of encouragement. Remember it when having to deliver criticism.
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“No Fear, No Hesitation, No Surprise, No Doubt” — Miyamoto Musashi
“He didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.” — Clarence Budington Kelland “No matter how dull, or how mean, or how wise a man is, he feels that happiness is his indisputable right.” — Helen Keller “Many people know so little about what is beyond their short range of experience. They look within themselves – and find nothing! Therefore they conclude that there is nothing outside themselves either.” — Helen Keller “The two most beautiful things in the universe are the starry heavens above our heads and the feeling of duty in our hearts.” — Bossuet “Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform at our best.” —Michael Johnson, American sprinter and Olympic gold medal winner “Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.” — Martin Luther King Jr. “Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourses of my book friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness.” — Helen Keller “Man, the living creature, the creating individual, is always more important than any established style or system.” — Bruce Lee “Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little. The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark.” — Agnes Mile Quote of the day:
“You can think, talk and act yourself into dullness or into monotony or into unhappiness. Or by the same process you can build up inspiration, excitement and surging depth of joy.” – Norman Vincent Peale Think about it: There was once a university professor who sprinkled his lectures with personal reflections that invariably began with, “As I was walking in my garden, it occurred to me that…” Over and over he passed on to his students thoughts that his garden had inspired. One day he invited two of his most promising students to visit him at home, and over a cup of coffee the students asked to see his garden. To their amazement it was only a narrow strip, barely wider than the walkway, with the house on one side and a high wall on the other. “Is this really the garden where you have all those inspiring thoughts, Doctor?” one of the students asked. “Yes,” came the professor’s reply. “But it’s so small!” protested the student. “Ah, yes,” said the professor, a twinkle in his eye as he gestured toward the sky, “but look how high it is!” It’s not really the place but the attitude that is important for inspiration. Quote of the day:
“Be like a postage stamp. Stick to it until you get there.” — Bob Proctor Think about it: Here’s a great story from a friend of mine. Today would have been my daughter Rejoice’s birthday. It’s our custom to celebrate this day every year since she passed away by remembering some of the special moments she shared with us. This year, mine is the orchid story. At the time, Rejoice was living in Osaka, Japan, with her husband and five children. One winter day as she was outside tending to her garden, she saw her neighbor take out a pot that held the straggly remains of a plant. “It was once a beautiful orchid,” her neighbor said with a sigh, “—a birthday gift from my children, but now it’s all shriveled up.” “Do you mind if I have a go at it?” Rejoice asked. Her neighbor was happy to get rid of it, so Rejoice took the pot and tended it for three years, regularly watering and fertilizing the unresponsive plant. She researched what light, temperature, and water conditions suited orchids best, but nothing seemed to get any results. Over those three years, everyone who saw the plant advised her to give up and toss it out. It was clearly dead and just taking up space. Instead, Rejoice persevered, and one morning during the fourth year, a beautiful blossom suddenly appeared. My wife and I happened to be visiting at the time, and I took a photo. Her patience and tender care in this simple matter spoke volumes to me about having a long-term vision and not giving up when I don’t see immediate results for my efforts. Persevering takes faith and an eye to see the possibilities that others can’t. How many people have been given up on by others as hopeless cases? Yet if they receive the love and care they need, what a beautiful blossom their life can become. I hope to grow in having the patience, vision, and faith to see the potential in others, then to help nurture and develop it, so they too can blossom one day. “The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch.” — Jim Rohn
“The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all, but goes on making his own business better all the time.” — Henry Ford “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.” — Mark Twain “Better a hundred enemies outside the house than one inside.” —North American Indian proverb “Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand.” — North American Indian proverb “Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.” — Albert Einstein “Nothing needs reforming so much as other people's habits.” — Mark Twain “Many people seem to think that success in one area can compensate for failure in other areas. But can it really?… True effectiveness requires balance.” — Stephen Covey “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” — Jim Rohn “My hopes are not always realized, but I always hope.” — Ovid “Most people spend most of their days doing what they do not want to do in order to earn the right, at times, to do what they may desire.” — John Brown Quote of the day:
“It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can only do a little. Do what you can.” –Sydney Smith. Think about it: I came across this interesting idea in the book Coach Yourself To Success by Talane Miedaner. that I wanted to share with you. As we can always do something to improve or change our little part of the world. My special project was called “Neat Street.” I was tolerating two big things about living in New York City—the dirty streets and the homelessness. I didn’t like the way my block always looked trashy even though it is in a nice residential neighborhood in midtown Manhattan. I also didn’t feel right about the homeless people. I didn’t want to give them money because I thought it would go to drugs or alcohol, but I didn’t feel right about just walking by either. Then an idea popped into my head: why not ask the homeless people to clean the streets? I was so inspired I went down to the nearest atm and as always, there was a homeless man with his cup extended. I asked him if he would be interested in working. He said yes. I told him the idea. If he would volunteer to sweep my block on both sides of the street every day, I would ask each resident on that block to give him at least $1 a week donation. (This is a city block, so there are over 150 people on our block.) I told him there was no guarantee how much money he would make, but that he had nothing to lose. He showed up on the block the next morning at 7:00 a.m., and I gave him a broom and a dustpan. This was the birth of “Neat Street.” James, the homeless man, ended up being photographed for an article in the New York Times and was also on television. He became a regular part of the community, sweeping the block rain or shine, and ended up making enough money to share an apartment with a friend. Now “Neat Street” has spread to other blocks, and all sorts of organizations have created partnerships with the homeless to provide them work cleaning the streets. Who knows, maybe one day New York will be a remarkably spotless city. If you aren’t the starter type, how about joining someone else’s project that you believe in? It doesn’t matter if your project is a little teeny tiny one. It still makes a difference. By Rubel Shelly
A five-member Air Force panel finished its investigation into the crash of an F-117A. Better known as the stealth fighter, one of these state-of-the-art jets literally came apart in the sky on September 14, 1997. The pilot parachuted to safety and no one in the Baltimore suburb where the plane crashed was hurt. The specific fighter in question had been repaired and checked out thoroughly in January of 1996. As part of that maintenance check, the wings were removed and reinstalled. The inspectors apparently failed to install four of the five bolts that hold part of the wing assembly in place. Two later maintenance checks missed the same problem. One of those checks was prompted when a pilot who had flown the jet reported there was too much “flex” in the wing. Col. John Beard, head of the investigative panel, said, “It is my opinion the accident was caused by unintentional maintenance oversight.” For the lack of four fastener bolts, a $42-million stealth fighter crashed. Because of careless maintenance, the life of a pilot was nearly lost. On account of someone’s “unintentional” oversight, dozens more on the ground were put in jeopardy. It seems like a terribly high price for so trivial a thing as four bolts. The same sort of thing happens all the time. A company fails because it doesn’t stay abreast of market research or product development. A once-bright career goes down the tubes because an athlete didn’t control his temper or because a junior executive was guilty of an ethical lapse. Sadder still, all of us have known marriages to fail because of one or both partners’ “unintentional maintenance oversight.” He didn’t pay attention to her. She didn’t seem interested in him. Oh, there were occasional signs of trouble, but they weren’t pursued aggressively enough to repair the relationship properly. So one day the marriage came apart and crashed—maiming both adults and kids. And what of your personal spiritual life? A well-maintained heart is loving, joyful, and forgiving. It speaks truth and lives with honor. It longs for God as a deer pants for water in a dry place (Psalm 41:1). Prayer is natural, and Scripture is precious. It would be wise to begin this week by checking the maintenance logs. Be thorough. Leave no stone unturned. And be bold in addressing the deficiencies. God wants you to fly, not crash and burn. Regardless of your past, your tomorrow is a clean slate. —Zig Ziglar
We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us. The old skin has to be shed before the new one can come. —Joseph Campbell You have a clean slate every day you wake up. You have a chance every single morning to make that change and be the person you want to be. You just have to decide to do it. Decide today’s the day. Say it: this is going to be my day. —Brendon Burchard Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I fail, but every day is a clean slate and a fresh opportunity—Gretchen Rubin If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down.—Mary Pickford So yesterday you fell off the wagon? Or maybe you blew your diet? Or lost your temper and shot off your mouth? Well, that was yesterday. Today is a brand new day with a clean slate, so forget yesterday!—Abigail Van Buren I love the big fresh starts, the clean slates like birthdays and new years, but I also really like the idea that we can get up every morning and start over. —Kristin Armstrong There is something beautiful about a blank canvas, the nothingness of the beginning that is so simple and breathtakingly pure. It’s the paint that changes its meaning and the hand that creates the story. Every piece begins the same, but in the end they are all uniquely different.—Piper Payne Each new breath and moment is a gift. We can choose to start with a clean slate in the here and now.—K.J. Kilton It’s never too late to be who you might have been.—George Eliot Quote of the day:
“Did you ever observe to whom the accidents happen? Chance favors only the prepared mind." – Louis Pasteur Think about it: He was no scholar, and his classmates teased him. Rather than read, the kid really preferred running around with an 8mm camera, shooting homemade movies of wrecks of his Lionel train set (which he showed to friends for a small fee). In his sophomore year of high school, he dropped out. But when his parents persuaded him to return, he was mistakenly placed in a learning disabled class. He lasted one month. Only when the family moved to another town did he land in a more suitable high school, where he eventually graduated. After being denied entrance into a traditional filmmaking school, Steven Spielberg enrolled in English at California State College at Long Beach. Then in 1965, he recalls, in one of those unanticipated moments, his life took a complete turn. Visiting Universal Studios, he met Chuck Silvers, an executive in the editorial department. Silvers liked the kid who made 8mm films and invited him back sometime to visit. He appeared the next day. Without a job or security clearance, Spielberg (dressed in a dark suit and tie, carrying his father’s briefcase with nothing inside but “a sandwich and candy bars”) strode confidently up to the guard at the gate of Universal and gave him a casual wave. The guard waved back. He was in. “For the entire summer,” Spielberg remembers, “I dressed in my suit and hung out with the directors and writers [including Silvers, who knew the kid wasn’t a studio employee, but winked at the deception]. I even found an office that wasn’t being used, and became a squatter. I bought some plastic tiles and put my name in the building directory: Steven Spielberg, Room 23C.” It paid off for everyone. Ten years later, the 28-year-old Spielberg directed Jaws, which took in $470 million, then the highest-grossing movie of all time. Dozens of films and awards have followed because Steven Spielberg knew what his teachers didn’t—talent is in the eyes of the filmmaker. – by Fran Lostys, adapted Take a lesson from this story: Don’t wait for your opportunity but prepare. Be prepared when opportunity knocks. Quote of the day:
“Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens.” -- Jimi Hendrix Think about it: The young man had lost his job and didn't know which way to turn. So he went to see the old preacher. Pacing about the preacher's study, the young man ranted about his problem. Finally he clenched his fist and shouted, "I've begged God to say something to help me. Tell me, Preacher, why doesn't God answer?" The old preacher, who sat across the room, spoke something in reply -- something so hushed it was indistinguishable. The young man stepped across the room. "What did you say?" he asked. The preacher repeated himself, but again in a tone as soft as a whisper. So the young man moved closer until he was leaning on the preacher's chair. "Sorry," he said. "I still didn't hear you." With their heads bent together, the old preacher spoke once more. "God sometimes whispers," he said, "so we will move closer to hear Him." This time the young man heard and he understood. We all want guidance to thunder through the air with the answer to our problem but we need to take time to be still to be able to hear the whispers in our hearts. Remember to take time to listen and reflect. |
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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