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Volume 29, # 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . January 2014 |
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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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Work of Christmas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Howard Thurman
"When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with the flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoners,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among brothers and sisters,
to make music with the heart."
Desire to Learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . John Milton,
Areopagitica"Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making."
My Self-Image . . . . . . . . . Rabbi Zelig Pliskin,
Building Your Self-image and the Self-image of Others"Each and every day you will have many opportunities to build yourself and your self-image. Every positive thought, word, and action builds you.
When you see that you have behaved in a positive way, you can say to yourself, ‘This, too, will build my self-image.’
If you have not behaved the way you would have liked, you can think about how you wished to have thought, spoken, and acted. Thinking about what you want to be like conditions your mind to think, speak, and act more in that way. You can say about this pattern of thinking, ‘This, too, will build my self-image.’"
Discover One’s Mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Every person must have a concern for self, and feel a responsibility to discover one’s mission in life. God has given each normal person a capacity to achieve some end. True, some are endowed with more talent than others, but God has left none of us without talent. Potential powers of creativity are within us, and we have a duty to work assiduously to discover these powers."
New Year Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edith Lovejoy Pierce
"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day."
Exercise Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Traveled, p. 121
"By far the most common and important way in which we can exercise our attention is by listening. We spend an enormous amount of time listening, most of which we waste, because on the whole most of us listen very poorly."
Hope of Self-Esteem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dr. Chris Mruk
"There are and will be times in our lives when our self-esteem will be called up and challenged. Such times are critical opportunities. They are structured so that who we are in terms of the vital themes of competence and worthiness are put in our hands in a way that can lead to either their increase or decrease. Additionally, such an outcome depends largely on the degree of work (i.e., struggle and awareness) that one does. When the three factors – vulnerability, possibility, and work – are taken up together, they constitute the underlying hope of self-esteem."
Pacem in Terris . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blessed John XXIII, 4/11/63
"May He banish from the hearts of all men and women whatever might endanger peace.
May He transform them into witnesses of truth, justice and love.
May He enkindle the rulers of peoples so that in addition to their solicitude for the proper welfare of their citizens, they may guarantee and defend the great gift of peace.
May He enkindle the wills of all so that they may overcome the barriers that divide, cherish the bonds of mutual charity, understand others, and pardon those who have done them wrong.
May all peoples of the earth become as brothers and sisters, and may the most longed-for peace blossom forth and reign always among men and women."
A Better Way to Live . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Og Mandino, p. 118
"Rule Sixteen…Search for the seed of good in every adversity.…There is always a seed of good. Find it and prosper."
Teach the Next Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
"We need to teach the next generation of children from day one that they are responsible for their lives. Mankind’s greatest gift, also it’s greatest curse, is that we have free choice. We can make our choices built from love or fear."
Heroic Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Lowney
"The Jesuit approach examines leadership through a very different prism and refracted through that prism, leadership emerges in a very different light. Four differences stand out:
We’re all leaders, and we’re leading all the time, well or poorly.
Leadership springs from within. It’s about who I am as much as what I do.
Leadership is not an act. It is my life, a way of living.
I never complete the task of becoming a leader. It’s an ongoing process."
Why I Succeed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Jordan
"I’ve missed over 9,000 shots I my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot…and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed."
Feeling Gratitude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Arthur Ward
"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it."
Enthusiasm Inspired . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coleman Cox
"When enthusiasm is inspired by reason; controlled by caution; sound in theory; practical in application; reflects confidence; spreads good cheer; raises morale; inspires associates; arouses loyalty, and laughs at adversity; it is beyond price."
Making Mistakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Benjamin Franklin
"The man who does things makes many mistakes, but he never makes the biggest mistake of all – doing nothing."
Omission of Kindness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paul F. Boller, Jr., Presidential Anecdotes
"William McKinley, the 25th U.S. president, once had to choose between two equally qualified men for a key job. He puzzled over the choice until he remembered a long-ago incident.
On a rainy night, McKinley had boarded a crowded streetcar. One of the men he was now considering had also been aboard, though he didn’t see McKinley. Then an old woman carrying a basket of laundry struggled into the car, looking in vain for a seat. The job candidate pretended not to see her and kept his seat. McKinley gave up his seat to help her.
Remembering the episode which he called ‘this little omission of kindness,’ McKinley decided against the man on the streetcar. Our decisions – even the small, fleeting ones – tell a lot about us."
Builder or Wrecker? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous
I watched them tearing a building down,
A gang of men in a busy town.
With a ho-heave-ho and lusty yell,
They swung a beam and a sidewall fell.I asked the foreman, "Are these men skilled,
As the men you’d hire if you had to build?"
He gave me a laugh and said, "No indeed!
Just common labor is all I need.""I can easily wreck in a day or two
What builders have taken a year to do."
And I thought to myself as I went my way,
Which of these two roles have I tried to play?Am I a builder who works with care,
Measuring life by the rule and square?
Am I shaping my deeds by a well-made plan,
Patiently doing the best I can?Or am I a wrecker who walks the town,
Content with the labor of tearing down?
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Graphics used with permission from ChurchArt Online. They are not to be copied or downloaded.