“A man has to live with himself, and he should see to it that he always has good company.”--Charles Evans Hughes
“It is amazing what happens to us when we start thinking how we can serve others, and when we do, we also begin to think and feel more positively and better about ourselves.” — Author Unknown “We are all wonderful, beautiful wrecks. That's what connects us-that we're all broken, all beautifully imperfect.” — Emilio Estevez “Each person is a V.S.P. (Very Special Person) because we are each created in the image of God.”—Desmond Tutu “The more you know who you are, the less you let things upset you." —Bob Harris "Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!” — Anne Frank “Do not wish to be anyone but what you are, and try to be that perfectly.”—Saint Francis DeSales “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson “If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.”—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe “Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” —Malcolm Forbes
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Quote of the day:
“My first language was shy. It’s only by having been thrust into the limelight that I have learned to cope with my shyness.” — Al Pacino Reflection: Limiting beliefs can often hold us back from living up to our full potential and must be fought with everything we have in us. Shyness is a result of listening to negative self-chatter and limiting beliefs and must be combated. Here’s an inspiring story of someone who overcame their shyness. The author and dramatist George Bernard Shaw is example of someone who overcame shyness, and he went on to become one of the wittiest, most outspoken public speakers of his time. When asked how he managed to change, he replied, “I did it the same way I learned to skate—by persistently making a fool of myself until I got used to it.” Finally he hit upon a way to conquer his shyness and fear. As a young man, Shaw was so timid he would often walk up and down a street for 20 minutes before he dared to knock on the door of someone with whom he wasn’t well acquainted. “Few men,” he confessed, “have suffered more from shyness and simple cowardice than I have—or have been more ashamed of it!” Determined to turn his weak point into his strongest asset, he joined a debating society. He also attended every meeting in London in which there was to be a public discussion, and forced himself to take part in the debate. With practice, his public speaking improved. Eventually George Bernard Shaw became one of the most confident and brilliant speakers of the early 20th century. Overcoming shyness isn’t just something you should do for yourself; it’s also part of being a contributing member of society. When you have a thought or idea that deserves to be heard, you’re not only hurting yourself by keeping quiet, you’re hurting the people around you. Others need you. They need your intelligence and insight. They need your help to work through problems. If you hide behind shyness, you limit the help you can give to your friends, family members, and colleagues. Fight your limiting beliefs and let your talents shine. Quote of the day:
“What you possess in the world will be found at the day of your death to belong to someone else. But what you are will be yours forever.”— Henry Van Dyke Reflection The Samurai and the Tea Master By Brian Cavanaugh Long ago in ancient Japan, a tea master, learned an important lesson in self-acceptance. That is, know who you are, where you are and what you are doing. As the story goes, this tea master was a traveling companion of one of the greatest samurai on a journey to a distant city. This samurai was greatly honored not only for his courage and skill, but also for his wisdom and understanding. His reputation was held in high esteem, even as far as the distant city. The tea master was in awe of this samurai, seeing the respect he received from all the people along the journey. Therefore, when they reached their destination, while the samurai was napping, the tea master slipped into the samurai's armor and went about the city to feel what it would be like to be a great samurai having the respect and esteem of the people. The tea master enjoyed his charade. The people greatly honored him, and he felt that it was possible for him really to be a samurai. At this time, however, another samurai was living in the region. He had a reputation for being a bully and for being cruel and dangerous. He heard of the wise samurai's arrival and set out to find him. The cruel samurai soon found the other samurai, not realizing that it was only the tea master wearing the armor of the true samurai, and challenged him to a contest of skill. The tea master was horrified! What was he to do? He knew of this cruel samurai, how dangerous he was as a swordsman, and he knew that he would surely die for his folly. Feeling deep shame, the tea master returned to where he and the wise samurai were staying, carefully took off the armor, and woke the sleeping samurai. He told the samurai what he had done and, trembling, asked forgiveness for putting on the armor and for dishonoring the samurai's reputation. The wise and understanding samurai forgave the tea master, but told him sternly that he, the tea master, would have to meet the challenge and that the cruel samurai would surely kill him, either for not being an able swordsman or for pretending to be a samurai when he was not one. The wise samurai then told the tea master to prepare a proper tea ceremony while he thought of a way for the tea master to defeat the cruel samurai. For those who do not know, a proper tea ceremony, to be performed skillfully, requires great preparation, concentration on details, and a focused discipline. The ceremony quickly calmed the tea master, revealing him to be truly the master of his art. The wise samurai was deeply moved by the skill and attention of the tea master while preparing the tea ceremony, and in this he discovered how the tea master would meet the challenge of the cruel samurai. He explained to the tea master that the secret to his success would be not in meeting the challenge as a samurai, but in facing the cruel samurai just as he is now, as the master of the tea ceremony. So the next day at the appointed time the two met for the challenge. The cruel samurai was dressed in his finest battle armor. His appearance was very frightening. The tea master, on the other hand, wore his own ceremonial robe, carrying the wise samurai's armor. Immediately, without even acknowledging the other samurai, the tea master gently placed the armor aside and began the delicate preparation for a proper tea ceremony for the two of them. The cruel samurai laughed at this sight, but quieted quickly, observing the skill, concentration and discipline of the master of the tea ceremony. Soon the cruel samurai himself became frightened as he thought how great this samurai must really be, and wondered, "If he prepares a simple tea ceremony with such skill and precision, how great a swordsman must he also be?" The cruel samurai, now thoroughly scared, prostrated himself on the ground, removed his sword, placing it at the feet of the tea master, and begged forgiveness and mercy for his arrogance. The tea master, heaving a silent sigh of thankful relief, forgave the cruel samurai, who quickly left the city. The tea master then expressed his gratitude to the wise samurai for teaching him the secret of self-acceptance-know who you are, where you are and what you are doing. 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:
“If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Reflection: There is a children’s story that illustrates this quote quite well. The story is about a locomotive that did not want to stay on the tracks. It wanted to wander into the towns that it passed and into the beautiful fields it saw along the way. One day the locomotive decided to leave the tracks, and he did! But when he wandered into town, he created great discomfort among the people. The smoke that belched from the engine dirtied the clothes of the people of the town. The locomotive caused traffic jams and its enormous weight cracked the streets on which it rode. When the locomotive went into the fields, to enjoy the flowers that he saw there, he immediately got bogged down. Farmers had to come with tractors and pull him out. Everywhere the locomotive went he caused trouble, and the more trouble he caused, the more miserable he became. Finally, the townspeople got him back on the track he was created to ride. It was then he discovered that he really could not be happy unless he was on track, following the route intended for him. This simple story suggests that we each have a path [track] to follow in life. When we wander off our path, we cause chaos and sadness for ourselves, as well as for others. We often are tempted to think that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but this is not so. We are all made with certain gifts and talents—and—to fulfill a certain purpose in life. Happiness and contentment come when we stick to our purpose in life and fulfill it with all our hearts. 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:
“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. Quote of the day:
"There is but one cause of human failure. That is man’s lack of faith in his true self.” – William James Reflection: If you've followed my writings you know that I believe that each of us has something not only unique about us, but that our unique gifts have the potential to provide great value to others. Therefore it is important to find out what our talents are and strengthen them. We all have some special talent, skill, or gift--something we do or some way we see things that is different or better than anyone else. If you can't figure out what your special talent is, interview your friends, family, and colleagues. They will tell you. Here are some questions you can ask: What do you think is my greatest strength? What is my biggest weakness? (Ask this only if you feel up to it, and ask them to tell you in a constructive way. Do not comment on anything they say. You are simply gathering opinions.) What do you see as my special talent or gift? What do I do naturally and effortlessly that is special? If I were on the cover of a magazine, what magazine would it be, and what would the story be about? Under what circumstances do I most fully express this gift or talent? The next step is to begin to honor your gift. Do one thing that will allow you to fully express your unique gift. Quote of the Day:
“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” — Malcolm Forbes Reflection: Have you ever asked yourself, "What is my greatest weakness?" Probably the greatest human weakness is self-depreciation, that is, selling oneself short. Self-depreciation manifests in countless ways. For example, John sees a job advertisement in the paper. It is exactly what he would like, but he does nothing about it because he thinks, "I'm not good enough for that job, so why bother?" Or Joan would like to have a date with Jim, but she doesn't make herself available because she thinks she is not pretty enough. For thousands of years philosophers have given this good advice: “Know thyself.” Yet most people, it seems, interpret these wise words to mean “know only thy negative self.” Most self-evaluation consists of making long mental lists of one's faults, shortcomings and inadequacies. It's a good thing to be aware of our inabilities, as this shows us the areas in which we need to improve. However, it is not good to focus solely on our negative characteristics, as this will tend to minimize our worth in our own eyes. Know your weak areas, and focus on them only with the intent to improve, but also know your worth, look for the good in yourself and show it to others. |
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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