Quote of the day:
“Unless we are sensitive to another person, and take time to hear the meaning in what they are saying to us, we may well miss a precious moment to connect.” – Author Unknown Think about it: One day I was lying on my bed, reading, when my mother came into the room. She held out a vase—a rather ugly one—and asked, “Would you like to have this vase?” I replied quickly, “No, I don’t want it.” As she turned to walk away, something said to me, “Wait a minute, not so fast.” So I asked, “Where did you get it?” She said, “Oh, I got it when I filled an order.” Filled an order? I thought. So I asked, “What do you mean, filled an order?” “Well,” she said, “when I was a little girl, the Smith Company mailed catalogs to people. I would take the catalog around the neighborhood, and I’d get people to order from it. When I filled an order and sent it in, they gave me a prize. One time, I got a porch swing for my family.” Now you have to understand that my mother is 81 years old. She is one of six children in a family that her father deserted when she was quite young. Money was real hard to come by. My grandmother managed to keep the family together through the years, although I don’t know how. For my mother to win a luxury like a porch swing was a significant accomplishment. Although she no longer had the swing, she had the vase—a vase full of meaning—which she offered to me. “Mom, I want the vase,” I said spontaneously. The vase now has a prominent place in my living room. It symbolizes a precious moment that my mother and I shared. I learned that day that unless we are sensitive to another person, and take time to hear the meaning in what they are saying to us, we may well miss a precious moment to connect. -- Author Unknown, adapted from Motivated Magazine
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A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something.--Wilson Mizner
What’s the payoff? Listening keeps you informed, up to date, and out of trouble. It increases your impact when you do speak. It gives you a negotiating edge, power, and influence. It makes other people love you. Listening is a gift to yourself and to other people.--Dianna Booher There is no such thing as a worthless conversation, provided you know what to listen for.--James Nathan Miller To listen is very hard, because it asks of us so much interior stability that we no longer need to prove ourselves by speeches, arguments, statements or declarations. True listeners no longer have an inner need to make their presence known. They are free to receive, to welcome, to accept. Listening is much more than allowing another to talk while waiting for a chance to respond. Listening is paying full attention to others and welcoming them into our very beings. The beauty of listening is that those who are listened to start feeling accepted, start taking our words more seriously and discovering their true selves. Listening is a form of spiritual hospitality by which you invite strangers to become friends.--Henri Nouwen Take the time to really listen today, and see how it changes other people’s lives—and yours. --Dhara Jani Listening means the difference between passing or failing a test, making or losing a sale, getting or losing a job, motivating or discouraging a team, mending or destroying a relationship.--Dianna Booher When you listen, it’s amazing what you can learn. When you act on what you’ve learned, it’s amazing what you can change.--Audrey McLaughlin Listening to the person right in front of you helps you to discover how to effectively serve that person.--Mary Jo Sharp The voice any person likes to hear best is his own. Everyone likes to talk, but some do more than others. Many people would give anything to find someone who would just listen to them. When we listen long enough, we not only begin to know and understand an individual; we also gain his gratitude and his willingness to listen to us, enabling us later to speak relevantly to him.--Paul E. Little Listening is like a stethoscope to the human heart. We can find out what is happening inside the heart of a person by simply listening to them—an invaluable tool when sharing Christ. The Bible emphasizes the importance of listening. James instructs believers to be “quick to listen and slow to speak.”--James M. Rochford Quotes on Listening part 2
Listening has the quality of the wizard’s alchemy. It has the power to melt armor and to produce beauty in the midst of hatred.--Brian Muldoon The benefits of listening are interdependent and synergistic—the more you reap one benefit of good listening, the more listening you will do, and the more the other benefits will start to pile up.--Chloe Sekouri Just being available and attentive is a great way to use listening as a management tool. Some employees will come in, talk for twenty minutes, and leave having solved their problems entirely by themselves.--Nicholas V. Luppa Listen with your heart. Practice empathy when you listen. Put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Listen for growth. Be an inquisitive listener. Ask questions. Everyone has something to say which will help you to grow. Listen creatively. Listen for ideas or the germs of ideas. Listen for hints or clues that may spark creative projects. Listen to yourself. Listen to your deepest yearnings, your highest aspirations, your noblest impulses. Listen to the better person within you. Listen with depth. Be still and listen. Listen with the ear of intuition to the inspiration of the Infinite.--Wilferd A. Peterson Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don’t listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff.--Catherine M. Wallace Of all the tools available to us in dealing with conflict, none is more important than attentive, intentional listening. Listening helps reduce resistance and opens our thinking to creative solutions. Listening not only clarifies the message but changes both the messenger and the listener. Listening makes it possible for both sides to have a change of heart.--Brian Muldoon If we do not care enough about a person to really listen, they will likely pick up on this. This too will have a dampening effect on our relationship with them and our future interactions. … Everything begins with careful listening.--Norman Geisler Quote of the Day:
“The real beginning of influence comes as others sense you are being influenced by them – when they feel understood by you – that you have listened deeply and sincerely, and that you are open.” -- Stephen Covey Think about it: I suspect that the most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention, especially if it’s given from the heart. When people are talking, there’s no need to do anything but receive them. Just take them in. Listen to what they’re saying, and care about it. Most times caring about it is even more important than understanding it. It has taken me a long time to believe in the power of simply saying, “I’m so sorry,” when someone is in pain—and meaning it. One of my patients told me that when she tried to tell her story, people often interrupted to tell her that they once had something just like that happen to them. Subtly her pain became a story about themselves. Eventually she stopped talking to most people. It was just too lonely. We connect through listening. When we interrupt what someone is saying to let them know that we understand, we move the focus of attention to ourselves. When we listen, they know we care. Many people with cancer can talk about the relief of having someone just listen. I have even learned to respond to someone crying by just listening. In the old days I used to reach for the tissues, until I realized that passing a person a tissue may be just another way to shut them down, to take them out of their experience of sadness and grief. Now I just listen. When they have cried all they need to cry, they find me there with them. This simple thing has not been that easy to learn. It certainly went against everything I had been taught since I was very young. I thought people listened only because they were too timid to speak, or did not know the answer. A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well intentioned words. -- By Rachel Naomi Remen, adapted from Motivated Magazine I would say that listening to the other person’s emotions may be the most important thing I’ve learned in twenty years of business.--Heath Herber
Of all the skills of leadership, listening is the most valuable, and one of the least understood. Most captains of industry listen only sometimes, and they remain ordinary leaders. But a few, the great ones, never stop listening. That’s how they get word before anyone else of unseen problems and opportunities.--Peter Nulty Without credible communication, and a lot of it, the hearts and minds of others are never captured.--John P. Kotter I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m going to learn, I must do it by listening.--Larry King Listening benefits the listener as well [as the one being listened to]. It helps build trust, avoid misunderstanding, and above all it’s a true gift which you can share to uplift people .— Dhara Jani The true listener is much more beloved, magnetic, than the talker, and he is more effective and learns more and does more good.--Brenda Ueland In real ways, we are invited each day to slow down and listen. But why listen at all? Because listening stitches the world together. Because listening is the doorway to everything that matters. It enlivens the heart the way breathing enlivens the lungs. We listen to awaken our heart. We do this to stay vital and alive. This is the work of reverence: to stay vital and alive by listening deeply.--Mark Nepo It is right to be contented with what we have, but never with what we are.—Sir James Mackintosh
The strongest principle of growth lives in human choice.—George Eliot Let’s learn to grow up before we grow old.—John Wimber Growing spiritually can be like a roller coaster ride. Take comfort in the knowledge that the way down is only preparation for the way up. —Rebbe Nachman Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an action and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.—Author unknown Have courage for the great sorrows of life, and patience for the small ones. And when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.—Victor Hugo Give yourself to God without reserve; in singleness of heart, meeting everything that every day brings forth, as something that comes from God, and is to be received and gone through by you. This is an attainable degree of perfection.—William Law Ideals are like the stars—we never reach them, but like the mariners of the sea, we chart our course by them.—Carl Schurz The acknowledgment of our weakness is the first step toward repairing our loss.—Thomas à Kempis We shall never come to the perfect man till we come to the perfect world.—Matthew Henry One must not always think so much about what one should do, but rather what one should be. Our works do not ennoble us; but we must ennoble our works.—Meister Eckhart I am not what I might be, I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, I am not what I hope to be; but I thank God I am not what I once was, and I can say with the great apostle, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”—John Newton Quote of the day:
“To be a king and wear a crown is a thing more glorious to them that see it than it is pleasant to them that bear it.” – Queen Elizabeth Think about it: Some years ago there was a popular song about righting all the wrongs in the world. I don’t remember all the words, but the gist of it was, “If I were king of the world, I would do things differently.” There would be no more war, or hate, or suffering, or any of the other evils that plague our planet. It is a noble thought, at least on the surface, but it failed to take into consideration one important factor: we have each been given free will, free choice. In that sense, we are each “kings of the world.” We may not rule over the whole world or be able to make a visible impact on the grand scheme of things, but it is given to us to rule our own personal world. Depending on how well we do at that, we may then be able to have a positive impact on the world around us. As kings and queens we have both dominion and responsibility. Queen Elizabeth I of England said, “To be a king and wear a crown is a thing more glorious to them that see it than it is pleasant to them that bear it.” In other words, it’s not always easy to rule, especially not wisely and justly. In fact, if you will take an honest look at your realm, I think you will realize that it’s humanly impossible to always rule well. You can’t always get it right, nor can you expect those around you to. But the good news is that although we won’t always get it right and will not be perfect from one moment to the next, God can help us moment by moment to have the love, humility, wisdom, understanding, and everything else we need to “rule justly” if we ask Him to. -- By Keith Phillips, adapted from Motivated Magazine Volunteering is not a choice, it’s a responsibility. —Author Unknown
At the end of our life, our questions are simple: Did I live fully? Did I love well?—Jack Kornfield Volunteers don’t just do the work, they make it work.—Carol Pettit When kids volunteer, it tells others that they don’t have to be perfect, or famous, or even grown up, to make a difference. —Kalynnn Dobos, age 7 Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth. —Muhammad Ali I always wondered why somebody didn’t do something about that. Then I realized I was somebody.—Lily Tomlin If you don’t have any charity in your heart you have the worst kind of heart trouble.—Bob Hope When you volunteer, it means you give yourself without any regression, without condition, but with full devotion.—Author Unknown Those who can, do. Those who can do more, volunteer.—Author Unknown Volunteers are seldom paid; not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless! —Author Unknown Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.—Margaret Mead I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.—Albert Schweitzer There is no “I” in Team but there is a “u” in volunteer!—Author Unknown Values are like fingerprints. Nobody’s are the same, but you leave ‘em all over everything you do.—Elvis Presley
You are a master of the words you don’t say and a slave to the ones you do. —Unknown Integrity is what we say, what we do, and what we say we do. —Don Galer Power is the ability to do good things for others. —Brooke Astor That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong.—William J.H. Boetcker Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.—H. Jackson Brown, Jr. When what we want to do and what we ought to do are two different things, character is built in the choice we make.—Bill Bennet Integrity has no need of rules. —Albert Camus To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful. —Edward R. Murrow Lead your life so you wouldn’t be ashamed to sell the family parrot to the town gossip. —Will Rogers Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity. —W. Clement Stone Quote of the day:
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” -- Mother Teresa Think about it Suppose your bank account was credited $86,400 every day, but with the catch that you couldn't save any of this money. Every evening, the bank would cancel whatever part of that amount you had failed to use during the day. The fact of the matter is that every morning, we’re credited with 86,400 seconds, 1,440 minutes, or 24 hours. Every night, the bank of time writes off as lost whatever time you failed to invest. It carries no balances. It allows no overdrafts. Each day, the bank of time opens a new account with you, and each night, it burns up the records of the day. If you fail to use the day’s deposit, you must take the loss. You might think: I’ll take 86,400 in currency rather than in seconds, please. But how valuable do you think that money would be if you’ve got no time to spend it? Jesus told a short story about a rich fool who stored up all his wealth in barns, and when they couldn’t hold any more, he decided to build bigger barns to keep it all for himself. It so happened that he died that very night and realized he couldn’t take anything with him! Don’t let that happen to you. |
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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