Quote of the day:
“I live by this credo: Have a little laugh at life and look around you for happiness instead of sadness. Laughter has always brought me out of unhappy situations. Even in your darkest moment, you usually can find something to laugh about if you try hard enough.” —Red Skelton Reflection: I love the following story. The choices this young man made influenced a lot of people for good. Jerome K. Jerome was a British writer whose father died when he was 12. At age 14, he had to go to work to support his mother and sister. His life got even harder when his mother died, but after many different jobs, the end result was that he became a writer—not of sad stories, but a famous humorist, writing funny stories to encourage others. After such a difficult beginning in life, he said, “It is from the struggle, not the victory, that we gain strength.” Maybe he was influenced by Mark Twain when he said, “The best way to cheer yourself up is to try to cheer somebody else up.” There is enough good and bad in everyone’s life—ample sorrow and happiness, sufficient joy and pain—to find a rational basis for becoming either an optimist or pessimist. We can choose to laugh or cry, bless or curse. It’s our decision. Which perspective do we want to view life?
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Quote of the day:
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” -- Mark Twain Reflection: Some find themselves in a family, or circle of friends, that will pull them down if they strive to better themselves. They remind me of the story of the crabs. A single crab in a lidless bucket is bound to escape. Yet when more than one share a bucket, none can get out. If one crab elevates itself above all, the others will grab this crab and drag it back down to share the common fate of the rest. Take a lesson from the crabs and don’t let others discourage you. Find people outside the bucket that will pull you up and out. Select friends who stand above petty, unimportant things. Select friends who are interested in positive things, friends who really do want to see you succeed. Find friends who breathe encouragement into your plans and ideals. Quote of the day:
"The mind ought sometimes to be diverted that it may return to better thinking.” — Phaedrus Reflection: Studies show that if you have a problem that you can’t solve, if you give your mind a break the solution comes to you easily. In Elias Howe’s case it came to him in a vision, but taking a walk or as the quote says, just diverting your thoughts works well too. Elias Howe, lived in the mid-1800’s and is credited with inventing the sewing machine. One day, as he was working on the sewing machine project, he became particularly frustrated. He had been working with a regular sewing needle and had tried many different ways to mechanize it, with no success. He decided to take a break from his efforts and sat at the window of his workshop, gazing out in reverie. He later told his wife what happened: As I wandered in my mind, a remarkable scene came to me. I was in a deep jungle and I was in a big, black pot with a roaring fire under it. I was being cooked alive! A warrior came at me with spear raised and ready to thrust. But what I noticed at that moment was some-thing very curious about the spear: It had a hole in its tip. The pivotal discovery in the invention of the sewing machine is that the hole for the thread goes in the tip of the needle, not at its other end, as in a regular needle. This breakthrough had eluded the inventor in his conscious intellectual efforts, but came to him when he gave his mind a rest. What problems are you wrestling with that your mind needs a diversion from? |
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
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