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Volume 26, # 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . January 2011 |
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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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Change Your World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Earl Nightingale
"You can change you and your environment by doing this simple exercise. For the next 30 days, treat every person you meet, without exception, as the most important person on earth. You will find that people will begin treating you the same way. You see, every person is the most important person on earth."
Kindness at Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Dragon’s Almanac, # 1258
"Kindness at home is better than incense burnt in remote parts."
Truly Hopeful . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Eugene Kennedy, The Joy of Being Human
"Hope is a human function, something you only find where persons strive together to discover and realize the fullness of themselves. The big chore in life is rooting our hope in what is real about ourselves.
The truly hopeful are those who are not self-conscious about it: they are too engaged with their present commitments in life to become anxious about what they will be like tomorrow. These people build their tomorrows in the love they share today."
Wisdom Seeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Arthur Ward
"Parables often enlighten us;
Precepts frequently instruct us;
Examples usually lead us."
Do Your Duty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wolfgang von Goethe
"How can you know yourself? Never by thinking; always by doing. Try to do your duty, and you’ll know right away what you amount to. And what is your duty? Whatever the day calls for."
The Road Less Traveled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. Scott Peck
"Life is difficult.
This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths.…Once we truly know that life is difficult – once we truly understand and accept it – then life is no longer difficult. Because once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters.
Most do not fully see this truth that life is difficult. Instead they moan more or less incessantly, noisily or subtly about the enormity of their problems, their burdens, and their difficulties as if life were generally easy, as if life should be easy. They voice their belief, noisily or subtly, that their difficulties represent a unique kind of affliction that should not be and that has somehow been especially visited upon them, or else upon their families, their class, their nation…and not upon others…"
Rut of Average . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Denis Waitley, "The Joy of Working," INSIGHT, 11-86, p. 40
"No matter how much we’re given…the most important factor is to use our gifts to the fullest. But most of us…don’t do very much with what we’re given. We are satisfied to be in our rut of average. Let’s face it: We’re living in a society where average is enough."
Test of Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ann Hibbard
"The test of character comes when being truthful endangers what you want."
Strength to Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., p. 62
January 17"The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority."
Day’s Opportunities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. Brian Cavanaugh, TOR
"Don’t miss out on each day’s opportunities. Pray for guidance. Dare to dream possibilities. Work your dreams into reality. Stretch yourself beyond your comfort zone."
Know How to Take a Hint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Baltasar Gracian, The Art of Worldly Wisdom, p. 14
"Know how to take a hint. Knowing how to reason was once the art of arts. It is not longer enough. One must also be a diviner, especially in matters where you can easily be deceived. You will never be intelligent unless you know how to take a hint.…The truths that matter most to us are always half spoken, fully understood only by the prudent."
Act of Humility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ernest Kurtz, The Spirituality of Imperfection, p. 95
"Humility involves the refusal to coerce, the rejection of all attempts to control others; real listening may be the humanizing act of humility. Obedience – to obey – means simply to listen thoroughly."
Compose Our Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michel de Montaigne
"To compose our character is our duty, not to compose books, and to win, not battles and provinces, but order and tranquility in our conduct. Our great and glorious masterpiece is to live appropriately. All other things – ruling, hoarding, building – are only little appendages and props at most."
On Kindness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Samuel Johnson
"Kindness is in our power;
even when fondness is not."
Earth is not Heaven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rick Warren, Pulpit Helps, Jan. 2003, p. 10
"Every time you forget that character is one of God’s purposes for your life, you will become frustrated by your circumstances. You’ll wonder, ‘Why is this happening to me?’ ‘Why am I having such a difficult time?’ One answer is that life is supposed to be difficult! It is what enables us to grow. Remember, earth is not heaven! Never forget that life is not about you. You exist for God’s purposes, not vice versa.…God gives us our time on earth to build and strengthen our character for heaven."
Price of Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coach Vince Lombardi, InspireList.com
"The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand."
A Year of Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steven B. Cloud, Pulpit Helps, Vol. 14, # 2
Though even thinking on the subject of time may prove discomforting, it is not a bad idea – especially at the beginning of a new year.
As we look into 2011 we look at a block of time. We see 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, or 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, 31,536,000 seconds. And all is a gift from God. We have done nothing to deserve it, earn it, or purchase it. Like the air we breathe, time comes to us as a part of life.
The gift of time is not ours alone. It is given equally to each person. Rich and poor, educated and ignorant, strong and weak – every man, woman and child has the same 1440 minutes every day.
Another important thing about time is that you cannot stop it. There is no way to slow it down, turn it off, or adjust it. Time marches on.
And you cannot bring back time. Once it is gone, it is gone. Yesterday is lost forever. If yesterday is lost, tomorrow is uncertain. We may look ahead at a full year’s block of time, but we really have no guarantee that we will experience any of it.
Obviously, time is one of our most precious possessions. We can waste it. We can worry over it. We can spend it on ourselves. Or, as good stewards, we can invest it in the kingdom of God.
The new year is full of time. As the seconds tick away, will you be tossing time out the window, or will you make every minute count?
The Ledger of Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jim Rohn
The Bible gives us a list of human stories on both sides in the Ledger of Life. One list of human stories is used as examples – do what these people did. Another list of human stories is used as warnings – don’t do what these people did.
So when your life’s story gets in one of these books in the Ledger of Life, make sure they use it as an example, not a warning.
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