Quote of the day:
“There is incredible value in being of service to others. I think if many of the people in therapy offices were dragged out to put their finger in a dike, or take up their place in a working line, they would be relieved of terrible burdens.” — Elizabeth Berg Reflection: Dr. Karl Menninger, the famous psychiatrist, once gave a lecture on mental health, and then answered questions from the audience. "What would you advise a person to do," asked one man, "if that person felt a nervous breakdown or depression coming on?" Most people expected him to reply, "Consult a psychiatrist." To their astonishment, he replied, "Lock up your house, go to the poor area of town, find someone in need and do something to help that person." The moral of the story is when you help others you help yourself. Like Booker T. Washington says, “If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”
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Quote of the day:
“To the dolphin alone, nature has given that which the best philosophers seek friendship for no advantage.” — Plutarch Reflection: I love dolphins and find their stories so fascinating. There are many stories about the wisdom of dolphins, from how they have saved drowning people to their response toward the disabled who enter the aquarium water. I think the following account is particularly touching. There was a young woman with cancer who went to Florida to die. She had friends there who worked with dolphins and disabled children, and they had her join the dolphins in the water. The dolphins treated her so gently it seemed obvious they sensed her affliction. These same dolphins would swim over to a hemiplegic child and exercise the child’s paralyzed limbs. That young woman who swam with the dolphins called her therapist one night to say she was having trouble dying. He answered that it would be easy when she was ready. He told her he had never had a call from a dolphin with that problem. She died peacefully that evening. Dolphins, like dogs, have an uncanny ability to love unconditionally even unto death, their talent lies in their care, concern, love and friendship for no advantage. It would be to our benefit to learn a lesson from the dolphins. Quote of the day:
"People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.” — Audrey Hepburn Consider: I once heard a story about a woman's husband who had returned from the war with post-traumatic stress syndrome. She was unable to deal with him or get him to care for himself and was ready to leave him. But first she sought the help of a healer. The healer told her she could make a potion to heal her husband, but it required the chest hair of a bear. The woman spent months befriending a bear at its cave. She brought it food and was able to get closer and closer until one day she was close enough to pull the hair and run for safety. She then brought the hair to the healer. The healer threw the hair into the fire. The woman screamed, "I risked my life for that hair. You were to make a potion to heal my husband." The healer smiled and said, "Now go home and be as patient with your husband as you were with the bear." The ability to wait patiently for something is a valuable character trait. It allows the other person time to know themselves and to heal. The only exception is when the other person's behavior threatens your well-being. Quote of the day:
“I’m not in this world to live up to your expectations and you’re not in this world to live up to mine.” — Bruce Lee Reflection: I once heard a story about a candle flame. It was a beautiful flame and gave light to many, but there were many hands reaching out of the darkness trying to quench the flame. It seemed as though the principal danger came from those who were trying to make the flame burn the way they wanted, and in the place and fashion they thought it ought to burn. And there were those hands which were even tender loving hands of concern for safety, which were trying to shelter the flame. These were the hands of those who felt they were well-meaning and concerned for the candle’s welfare, but instead they were only smothering it, and causing it to smoke and to stink. It was a kind of smothering, protective love. The idea being that, of course, you must burn, but you don't have to burn that way. You can burn here, or you can burn there or you can burn our way. But every time the flame tried to burn their way, it began to die. It had to be free. It had to burn free, at whatever the cost. The candle struggled the most violently against those “soft-loving hands” to try and flicker out of their grasp. It seemed to wriggle between their fingers in order to burn freely. Those hands had the strongest hold and presented the strongest challenge and danger to the flame. You are that magnificent candle giving light, warmth and beauty to those around you. However, those we love and who love us most sometimes come closest to putting out our light than anyone else. Like the quote says, you are not in this world to live up to other’s expectations; you are in this world to live up to your own. So burn free! Quote of the day:
“The man of genius inspires us with a boundless confidence in our own powers.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson Reflection: At one time Andrew Carnegie was the wealthiest man in America. He came from his native Scotland. When he was a small boy, he did a variety of odd jobs, and eventually ended up as the largest steel manufacturer in the United States (U.S. Steel). At one time he had forty-three millionaires working for him. In those days a millionaire was a rare person; conservatively speaking, a million dollars in those days would be equivalent to at least twenty million dollars today. One day, a reporter asked Carnegie how it was that he had hired forty-three millionaires. Carnegie responded that the men had not been millionaires when they started working for him, but had become millionaires only as a result. The reporter's next question was, "Well, how did you develop these men to become so valuable to you that you paid them that much money?" Carnegie replied that people are developed the same way gold is mined. When gold is mined, several tons of dirt and stone must be moved first to get an ounce of gold, but one doesn't go into the mine looking for dirt-one goes in looking for gold. That's exactly the way we should view people. Don't look for the flaws and imperfections. Look for the gold, not the dirt; the good, not the bad. Look for the positive aspects of life. Like everything else, the more good qualities we look for in people, the more we are going to find. Quote of the day:
“Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.” — Albert Einstein Reflection: In the "Star Wars" movie, The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker flies his X-Wing Ship to a swamp planet on a personal quest. There he seeks out a Jedi master named Yoda to teach him the ways of becoming a Jedi warrior. Luke wants to free the galaxy from the oppression of the evil tyrant, Darth Vader. Yoda reluctantly agrees to help Luke and begins by teaching him how to lift rocks with his mental powers. Then, one day, Yoda tells Luke to lift his ship out from the swamp where it sank after a crash landing. Luke complains that lifting rocks is one thing, but lifting a star-fighter is quite another matter. Yoda insists. Luke manages a valiant effort but fails in his attempt. Yoda then focuses his mind, and lifts out the ship with ease. Luke, dismayed, exclaims, "I don't believe it!" "That's why you couldn't lift it," Yoda replied. "You didn't believe you could." That is often our problem in life we don’t believe something can happen. We are limited by our belief. Don’t let your limiting beliefs stop you from reaching your full potential. Quote of the day:
“Life is a series of sales situations, and the answer is NO if you don’t ask.” — Patricia Fripp Reflection: Rejection or getting a “no” for an answer is sometimes very hard on people. It certainly has been for me in times past. Recently, I came across the “one in seven” concept in three different places which I want to share it with you here. It helped me to look at rejection in a more positive light as the fellow in the following story does. The sales trainer told me that to make a sale I had to collect seven “no-sales” first. In other words, I could look forward to making one sale for every seven times I was turned down. I got so excited about this guaranteed sale, that I actually looked forward with great excitement to being turned down! I almost cheered every time someone said "no," and I would rush, laughing to the next door on the street, in order to get the next "no" out of the way just as fast as I could, because I knew in my bones that every "no" was putting me that much closer to a great big sweet old "YES!" Did I get discouraged when the eighth door and the ninth door yielded yet two more "no's"? OF COURSE NOT!! Those eighth and ninth "no's" were like money in the bank! Soon after FOURTEEN "no"s there would be TWO great big sweet old "YES'S"!! And if I racked up TWENTY-ONE "no's," I knew I had THREE "yes's" coming! Every "no" was good news!! I know if I call on enough people there will always be a YES waiting for me—and I'll come to it in good time. So getting a "no" is good news! Are you letting the fear of rejection stop you from getting the seven no’s you need to get a yes? Quote of the day:
“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.” — Chinese Proverb Reflection: A psychologist walked around a room while teaching stress management to an audience. As she raised a glass of water, everyone expected they'd be asked the "half empty or half full" question. Instead, with a smile on her face, she inquired: "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz. She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my arm. If I hold it for a day, my arm will feel numb and paralyzed. In each case, the weight of the glass doesn't change, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." She continued, "The stress and worries in life are like that glass of water. Think about them for a while and nothing happens. Think about them a bit longer and they begin to hurt. And if you think about them all day long, you will feel paralyzed–incapable of doing anything." It’s important to remember to let go of your stress. Remember to put the glass down! Relax and be who you are. Quote of the day:
"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year” — Ralph Waldo Emerson Consider: What would you feel if you knew it was your last day to live? While considering and reflecting on that question read this story about the novelist, Dostoevsky. He told the story of the time he was arrested by the czar, and sentenced to die. The czar played a cruel psychological trick on people who rebelled against his regime by blindfolding them and standing them in front of a firing squad. They heard gunshots go off but felt nothing, and then slowly realized the guns were loaded with blanks. The emotional trauma that went with the process of dying, without experiencing death, had a transforming effect on people. It certainly had an incredible effect on Dostoevsky; He talked about waking up the morning of his mock execution with full assurance that that would be the last day of his life. As he ate his last meal, he savored every bite. Every breath of air he took was taken with an awareness of how precious it was. Every face he saw that day he studied with intensity. He wanted every experience etched on his mind. As they marched him into the courtyard, he felt the sun beating down on him and he appreciated the warmth of the sun as never before. Everything around him seemed to have a magical quality to it. He was seeing the world as he had never been able to see it before. All of his senses were heightened. He was fully alive! After his captors removed his blindfold and he realized he had not been shot; everything about him changed. He became grateful to people he had previously hated. He became thankful for everything about life, but especially for life itself. What do you think your life would be like if you were sentenced to death, but then got your life back again? What kind of changes would you make in your life? Why wait for a life and death situation to change? Why not start making those changes now? Quote of the day:
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson Reflection: This quote from Emerson is interesting as in today’s world it’s even harder to be ourselves than it was in his time. But no matter how hard it is, no man or woman has anything about themselves more valuable or precious than their own individuality. God made us all different, just as each snow flake is different, so are we. Many of us strive for originality and greatly desire to be different from other people. But we often neglect to do the one thing that makes us different, and that is to be ourselves. Instead, we are apt to be imitators of other people and the way they act and think. Reflect on this thought and see if you are an imitator or being yourself. |
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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