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Volume 15, # 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . April, 2000 |
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Volume 15, # 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . April, 2000 |
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Learn From Mistakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Anonymous
"Only some of us learn from other people’s mistakes, the rest of us are the other people."
Becoming a Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Norman G. Shidle, Winning Words
"A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skills of the other."
More Worthy Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Rohn, Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine
"One of the major reasons why people are not doing well is because they keep trying to get through the day. A more worthy challenge is to try to get from the day.
We must become sensitive enough to observe and ponder what is happening around us. Be alert. Be awake. Let life and all of its subtle messages touch us.
Often, the most extraordinary opportunities are hidden among the seemingly insignificant events of life. If we do not pay attention to these events, we can easily miss the opportunities."
Learn to Laugh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Charles Schultz
"If I were given the opportunity to present a gift to the next generation; it would be the ability for each individual to learn to laugh at himself."
The Choice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Og Mandino"I choose a better way to live!
Henceforth, each morning, I will awake and fall on my knees and give thanks to God for the gift that only he can bestow…I am grateful for this fresh opportunity. I will show my gratitude in everything I do, this day. How fortunate I am to be here."
Why Not Choose Greatness? . . . . . . . . . . . . Nelson Mandela (from Return to Love by Marianne Williamson)"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the Glory of God within us.
It’s not just in some of us: it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine we consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
Our Great Hope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calvin Coolidge"Little progress can be made by merely attempting to repress what is evil; our great hope lies in developing what is good."
No-Nonsense Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard Sloma"All but the rarest of us yearns for power in one manner or another. A positive and dynamic leader can make a situation work productively. His visible recognition of individual dignity, his publicized expectations of excellence, his observed selfless dedication to problem solutions, and his consistent adherence to achievement of results are critical to his effective use of leadership."
On Silence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Caine, Kung Fu"If one’s words are not greater than silence,
then one should be silent."
An Essential Ingredient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bits & Pieces, 3-1985"Being needed—the knowledge that you are doing something useful and necessary—is an essential ingredient of human happiness. Work done well and to the best of your abilities—is one of the most satisfying of human experiences. What a pity more people don’t recognize this.
Why do we lose sight of this fact? Because most of us have to work in order to live. and it rarely occurs to us that something we have to do could actually be enjoyable."
Forgiveness is Better . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Epictetus
"Forgiveness is better than revenge, for forgiveness is the sign of a gentle nature, but revenge is the sign of a savage nature."
Risk of Listening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. John Castelot"People have an uncanny faculty of hearing but not really listening. Words go in one ear and out the other, especially when they present a challenge.
Because of pride or stubbornness or for some other reason, people refuse to really listen to each other. Disputes go unresolved, misunderstandings deepen, chances for peace and happiness and love are lost.
If it seems risky to listen with care, there is an equal risk on the other side. By not listening, people risk missing the very words which hold the key to true greatness, self-fulfillment and happiness."
Be Thankful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coach John Wooden, They Call Me Coach, p. 99
"I am not what I ought to be,
what I want to be,
Not what I am going to be,
But thankful
That I am not what I used to be."
Searching for Wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Faith Today, 5-16-85"Wisdom is a combination of knowledge and good experience.
It involves being with one’s own interior values.
But growth in wisdom does not just happen. It requires intention."
To Know Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leo Buscaglia"Life was given you by God…in a great big box with a wonderful ribbon on it…What we expect in there is joy, peace, contentment and an abundance of love.
But we also find in that life, pain, despair and loneliness. They are all parts of the same box called Life. It’s not until you dive into it and experience all of it that you will really know life. We learn from pain just as much as we learn from joy."
Wisdom Seeds
"In life you must get good at one of two things: sowing in the spring or begging in the fall." ~ Jim Rohn
"When you decide what you would die for, you will know what you live for." ~ Ric Thayer
Extending Ourselves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Carmody, The Progressive Pilgrim
"Existential meaning occurs when we are going beyond ourselves, transcending ourselves. What is missing when we complain of being in a rut is precisely this sense of extending ourselves. To be happy we must be appropriating new experiences and thereby expanding our core."
Hiding Behind Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sower’s Seeds of EncouragementA man came back from a weekend retreat experience, and when a neighbor asked him how it had gone, he said, "I died!"
Puzzled, the neighbor asked him what he meant. "You see," the man answered, "I went to this thing not knowing what to expect. But in the process of that long weekend, I discovered that I had spent my whole life hiding behind a lot of masks. I realized that I had never even let my wife see me as I really was. I’d been playing games with her, and playing games with my children, and playing games with others—never letting anybody know who I really am. The worst of it was to discover that even I didn’t know myself. I was not in touch with my own honest feelings about myself. And, as all of this was being exposed over the weekend, I died over and over again."
He went on, "It is a painful thing for a middle-aged man to discover that he is not even in touch with his own honest feelings about himself. I am convinced," he said," "that I had to go through this death experience in order to become the new person that I hope to be now."
As Scripture says, "Unless a grain of wheat falls to earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (Jn. 12:24).
Courage to Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . AnonymousIn his book, The Yoke of Christ, Elton Trueblood quotes a letter from a school girl who probes the depth of her soul. She writes, "I’ve been thinking much of this year about the importance of caring, of the passion of life. I’ve often realized that it takes courage to care.
"Caring is dangerous. It leaves you open to hurt, to looking like a fool. And perhaps it’s because they have been hurt so often that people are afraid to care. You cannot die if you are not alive. But then who would rather be a stone?
"I’ve found many places in my own life where I keep a secret store of indifference as a sort of self-protection."
That’s a penetrating insight—a secret store of indifference. It takes courage to care greatly.
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