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Volume 33, # 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . December 2017 |
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![inspiration, motivation, Apple Seeds, [Apple]](AppleSeeds-1c.jpg)
![inspiration, motivation, Apple Seeds, [Apple]](AppleSeeds-2c.jpg)
Plant these "seeds" well and water often. Enjoy!
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Lighting a Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Butler Yeats
"Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire."
Creative Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ted Engstrom
"Creativity has been built into every one of us; it’s part of our design. Each of us lives less of the life God intended for us when we choose not to live out the creative powers we possess."
Fear not… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cardinal John Henry Newman
"Fear not that thy life shall come to an end,
but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning."
Conflict: Good…Bad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christophers, 9/1985
"In trying to settle differences, keep in mind that the ‘other side’ is a real person with real feelings, concerns, needs and views – someone made in God’s image and deserving of respect."
Add a Little . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hesiod
"If you add a little to a little and do this often, soon that little will become great."
Practice Generosity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sanskrit proverb
"One who allows one’s day to pass by without practicing generosity and enjoying life’s pleasures is like a blacksmith’s bellows – it breathes but does not live."
Be a Thermostat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joel Weldon
"A thermometer only measures the temperature. It reacts to the situation.
"A thermostat determines the temperature. It controls the situation.
"Are you a thermometer or a thermostat? Do you simply conform to your environment, or do you control your life by controlling your thinking?
"It can be done. Anything can be done with the right attitudes. Decide to act, not react."
Laugh at the World . . . . . . . . . Og Mandino, The Greatest Salesman in the World
"Scroll 7: ‘I will laugh at the world.’
"And how can I laugh when confronted with man or deed which offends me so as to bring forth my tears or my curses? Four words I will train myself to say until they become a habit so strong that immediately they will appear in my mind whenever good humor threatens to depart from me. These words, passed down from the ancients, will carry me through every adversity and maintain my life in balance. These four words are: This too shall pass.
"And with my laughter all things will be reduced to their proper size. I will laugh at my failures and they will vanish in clouds of new dreams; I will laugh at my successes and they will shrink to their true value.
"Never will I allow myself to become so important, so wise, so dignified, so powerful, that I forget how to laugh at myself and my world."
Christmas Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Soundings, Vol. 2, # 12
"May the forgiving spirit of Him to whom we dedicate this season prevail again on earth.
"May hunger disappear and terrorists cease their senseless acts.
"May people live in freedom, worshiping as they see fit, loving others.
"May the sanctity of the home be ever preserved.
"May peace, everlasting peace, reign supreme."
Fear of Mistakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ted Engstrom, The Pursuit of Excellence
"One of the greatest obstacles we face in attempting to reach our potential is the fear of making a mistake, the very human fear of failure. And yet, excellence is based on failure, usually one failure after another."
Master of Camouflage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Earl Nightingale
"Opportunity is the world’s most skillful master of camouflage. It hides in a thousand places and wears a thousand faces. Sometimes it looks like failure, or tragedy. But it is always there."
Live More Fully . . . . . . . . . . Donald DeMarco, The Many Faces of Virtue, p. 36
"If speed is a way of life for our restless age, then, ‘speed kills’ is its epitaph. The paradox is that speed does not intensify or improve our experience of life. Rather, it destroys it. By contrast, patience gives us the opportunity to practice discernment, to test what is true, and separate it from what is not true. Patience allows us to live more fully and realistically."
Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bennis & Nanus, p. 43
"Trust is the lubricant that makes it possible for organizations to work.…Trust implies accountability, predictability, reliability.…Leaders are reliable and tirelessly persistent."
To Live…for Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . Bishop Donald Wuerl, THE PRIEST, Dec. ‘87, p. 35
"God’s grace frees us. It gives us a new, fuller freedom. Grace supposes our own freedom of choice because God’s love is not forced on us but rather offered to us."
Bees of Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . Mamie McCullough, Top Performance, Vol. 1. #6, p. 41
4: Bee Consistent…Consistency is a highly-prized quality of success, not only in your relationships with others but also as it affects you personally. It allows others to know what to expect from you. At the same time, consistency reduces personal stress through having a base from which to work. A solid base of moral values will help you bee consistent.
Think Big . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Source Unknown
"One must think big. It is deadly dull to be mediocre.
"Ambition to accomplish something does not mean the same thing as competing for a quick getaway at a traffic light. It is a positive, purposeful, creative aim; an urge to do something definite."
Forgiveness is Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Arthur Ward
"Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hate. It is the power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness."
Forgive Us Our Christmases . . . . . . . Stories for Speakers & Writers, p. 21
A little girl who had been counting the days until Christmas could not help but be puzzled by what the day before Christmas was like…On Christmas eve she noticed:
Dad seemed to be loaded down with worries as well as bundles. Mom’s anxiety had reached the breaking point several times during the day.
Anywhere the little girl went, she seemed to be in the way, more than ususal. There was such a hustle and bustle by so many to do so much, all in the name of being "ready for Christmas."
By the time the child was hustled off to bed the feverish planning for Christmas had completely unnerved her. So, as she knelt to pray the Lord’s Prayer, she got part of it mixed up and prayed: "Forgive us our Christmases as we forgive those who Christmas against us."
Has Christmas in our day actually become a bundle of worries for us rather than a blessing?
What is Enough? . . . . . . . . . Gregory F.A. Pierce, Spirituality @ Work, p. 104, 107
In a production of "A Christmas Carol," one of the characters says wistfully, "Enough, what a glorious word." And when Jesus asked the disciples what they had to feed the multitude they said five loaves and two fishes, Jesus said, basically, "That is enough."
Deciding what is "enough" in [life] and then sticking to it is a very underrated virtue. How much of the pressure, the busyness, the competition, the unhappiness, and the inability to see God in our [life] results from our failure to practice this discipline?
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