Quote of the day:
"Forgiveness doesn’t mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls our lives.” – Author unknown Reflection: I think this is a beautiful story on forgiveness. A woman in Florida was raped, shot in the head by her attacker and left for dead. She survived, but she was blind and mutilated. She later appeared on a television talk show. The interviewer remarked, "You must have a lot of resentment and hatred toward the man who did this!" She replied, "No, I gave that man one night of my life, and I'm not going to give him a second more!" Of course, you can cling to your grudge if you want to. But when you do, you use your strength for this day making yourself and the people around you feel miserable and guilty. Or, you can cut the line to what is behind you through the power of forgiveness and use your strength to pull you toward what lies ahead.
0 Comments
Quote of the day:
“Your thoughts are the architects of your destiny.” — David O. McKay Reflection: We are the sum of our thoughts. We cannot for any length of time behave in a way that is inconsistent with our thinking. You will not be able to change your attitude for the better unless you know what is currently impacting it for the worse. When professional loggers are floating logs down a river and they discover a log-jam, they climb up a large tree near the river so that they can look over the problem and find the cause. What they’re looking for is the key log that is creating the problem. Once they remove that, the river takes care of the rest. An inexperienced person could spend hours, days, even weeks moving around logs without results. Similarly, if these words are speaking to your heart, why not step back and find the negative thoughts or values that are jamming up your life. You don’t necessarily need to change all of your thinking—just the few items that are keeping a positive attitude from flowing in you. Pin-point what is jamming things up and then take measures to change that and your life should start flowing again. Quote of the day:
“It is never too late to be who you might have been.” -- George Eliot Reflection: I thought this story was interesting, not only to see how one man changed his legacy, but the idea of writing your own obituary and then living your life to reflect it. About eighty years ago a man picked up the morning paper and, to his horror, read his own obituary! The newspaper had reported the death of the wrong man. Like most of us, he relished the idea of finding out what people would say about him after he died. He read past the bold caption that stated, "Dynamite King Dies," to the text itself. He read along until he was taken aback by the description of him as a "merchant of death." He was the inventor of dynamite, and he had amassed a great fortune from the manufacture of weapons of destruction. But he was moved by this description. Did he really want to be known as a "merchant of death"? It was at that moment that a healing power greater than the destructive force of dynamite came over him. It was his hour of conversion. From that point on, he devoted his energy and money to works of peace and human betterment. Today, of course, he is best remembered not as a "merchant of death," but as the founder of the Nobel Peace Prize-Alfred Nobel. What do you want your obituary to say? Start working on it today. Quote of the day:
"No one who achieves success does so without acknowledging the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude." -- Alfred North Whitehead Reflection: Someone sent me this story and I thought it had a great lesson. During my second month of nursing school, our professor gave us a pop-quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?" Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say hello." I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy. I think that’s a great story. The point being everyone is significant, even the seemly insignificant people, and deserve our attention and care. You never know when they will be the ones to help you. Quote of the day:
“Men succeed when they realize that their failures are the preparation for their victories.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson Reflection: In 1856, 18-year-old chemist William Perkin turned out to be quite the young prodigy, inventing synthetic dye and going on to help fight cancer. Only, dye was nowhere close to what he intended on making. Here’s his story. Perkin was working on creating an artificial version of the malaria drug quinine. Instead, his experiments produced a dark oily sludge. Not only did the sludge turn silk a striking shade of light purple, it didn't wash out and was more vibrant and brighter than the existing dyes on the market. Up to that point, dyes were made mostly of insects, mollusks, or plant material. As later chronicled in the book Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World, by Simon Garfield, Perkin's invention of mauve coloring became the hit of the Paris and London fashion scenes; Queen Victoria even wore it to her daughter's wedding in 1858. This story just goes to show that good can come out of seeming failure. Be sure to take a close look at your mistakes and failures and see if something better has not emerged. Quote of the day:
“The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.” -- Bruce Lee Reflection: There is a novel by Muriel Spark called Memento Mori. It tells about a group of friends, all over sixty-five, who one by one receive anonymous phone calls telling them, "Remember, you must die!" The novel, partly serious, partly humorous, tells how different individuals come to terms with the telephone message. Though reactions vary, a common reaction is fear. Still, the anonymous caller often causes characters to think back over their lives and assess how they have lived, about the good they have done as well as the not-so-good. In a strange way, the message they receive about death forces them to come to terms with the meaning of the life they have lived. Somehow death leads them back into life. Sometimes it’s good to think about death so that you can live your life more fully. It can help bring into perspective the things that are truly important. Take time to reflect on your life thus far. Ask yourself if you need to make appropriate changes, so that your life will be one worth remembering. Quote of the day:
“To be prepared is half the victory.” — Miguel de Cervantes Reflection: In the days before modern harbors, a ship had to wait for the flood tide before it could make it to port. The term for this situation in Latin was ob portu, that is, a ship standing over against port, waiting for the moment when it could ride the turn of the tide to harbor. The English word opportunity is derived from this original meaning. The captain and the crew were ready and waiting for that one moment, for they knew that if they missed it, they would have to wait for another tide to come in. Shakespeare turned this background of the exact meaning of opportunity into one of his most famous passages: There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life, Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat; And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures. Are you prepared for the next opportunity that comes your way? Quote of the day:
“Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though 'twere his own.” — Johann von Goethe Reflection: It takes time to notice the merits of others. This reminds me of a story. Once a wise old botany teacher was speaking to a group of young and eager students. He gave them an assignment to go out by the side of some lonely road and find a small, unnoticed flower. He asked them to study the flower for a long time. "Get a magnifying glass and study the delicate veins in the leaves, and notice the nuances and shades of color. Turn the leaf slowly and observe its symmetry. And remember: this flower might have gone unnoticed and unappreciated if you had not found and admired it," he told his students. When the class returned after carrying out the assignment, the wise teacher observed: "People are just like that unnoticed flower, too. Each one is different, carefully crafted, uniquely endowed. But you have to spend time with a person to realize this. So many people go unnoticed and unappreciated because no one has ever taken time with them and admired their uniqueness." Are you taking time to observe, admire and appreciate others? If so than you are a wise person. If not, why not start today. Quote of the day:
“Choose to be a love-finder rather than a fault-finder.” — Gerald Jampolsky Consider: Alexander the Great, the world conqueror, wanted to have his portrait painted, and assigned the finest artist in the realm to the job. When the artist arrived in Alexander's court, he was told that the leader wanted a full-face pose. He was very sad, because Alexander's face was disfigured by a long, hideous scar on the right cheek—a memento from the battlefield. The artist thought it over for awhile, then he discovered a way he could paint the portrait and at the same time hide the scar. He seated the leader at a table, placed his elbow on the table and asked Alexander to cup his chin in his hand. The artist then skillfully arranged Alexander's fingers in such a way that they hid the scar completely. And then he went on to paint a very beautiful and flawless portrait of his master. It is always best to minimize the weak points of others and emphasize their virtues. Is there anyone in your life you need to frame and look at in a different light? Quote of the day:
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for anyone else.” — Charles Dickens Consider: This quote reminds me of an Aesop fable that goes something like this. A sleeping lion was awakened when a mouse ran across his head. The lion roared and grabbed the tiny creature by the tail. “Please forgive me,” begged the mouse. “I meant no harm and I certainly did not intend to disturb you. If you could find it in your heart to let me go, I will return the favor someday.” “I’m the king of the jungle and you’re just a little mouse,” the lion laughed. “What could you possibly do for me?” The lion looked at the frightened creature in his paw. “You would not be much of a meal anyway. I’ll let you go.” The mouse thanked the lion and scurried away. A short while later, the mouse heard the distressed roar of the lion. Upon further investigation the mouse found the lion trapped in a hunter’s net. The lion struggled in vain to free himself, roaring in frustration. “Shhh,” the mouse cautioned. “If you continue to roar, the hunters will know that you are trapped and they will come here and take you away. Don’t worry, I will help you escape.” The mouse began to gnaw on the net. In a matter of minutes, he freed the lion! The lion looked at the mouse in awe. “I never imagined that a creature so tiny and meek could ever be of use to me. Yet, you alone have set me free. Please forgive me for misjudging your worth.” How many times do we misjudge other’s worth? |
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
August 2023
Categories
All
|