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Volume 30, #9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . May 2015 |
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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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At Mother’s Knee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hosea Ballou
"Education commences at the mother’s knee, and every word spoken within the hearing of little children tends toward the formation of character. Let parents bear this ever in mind."
Aim for Holiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pope Francis
, 10/2/2013"Do not be afraid to aim for holiness and turn yourselves over to the love of God. Holiness does not mean performing extraordinary things but carrying out daily things in an extraordinary way – that is, with love, joy and faith."
Never Too Late . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . George Eliot
"It is never too late to be what you might have been."
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mark Twain
"The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is by breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one."
Dream Dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leo Josef Cardinal Suenens
"Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true."
Positive Expectations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kouses & Pozner, The Leadership Challenge
, p. 123"Positive expectations about other people and optimism about life pay hefty dividends. Research on the
phenomenon of self-fulfilling prophecies provide ample evidence that other people act in ways that are consistent with our expectations of them. If we expect others to fail, they probably will. If we expect them to succeed, they probably will. Much of this has to do with how we behave toward others. Our expectations shape our own behavior, not just that of others.…One of the primary ingredients in getting others to sign up for your cause is letting your own enthusiasm show, conveying to others that they too can be great."
Settling for Less . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nelson Mandela
"There is no passion to be found in playing small – settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living."
Alone in Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reb Nahman of Bratslav
"Master of the Universe, grant me the ability to be alone. May it be my custom to go out doors each day among the trees and grass, among all growing things. And there may I be alone in prayer, to talk with my Creator, to express everything in my heart. And may all the foliage of the field awake at my coming, to send the power of their life into the words of my prayer, so that my prayer and speech are made whole through the spirit of all growing things."
Wisdom Seeds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Arthur Ward
"Wise are those who learn that the bottom line doesn’t always have to be their top priority."
Do One’s Duty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . President Dwight D. Eisenhower
"No one can always be right. So the struggle is to do one’s best, to keep the brain and conscience clear, never to be swayed by unworthy motives or inconsequential reasons, but to strive to unearth the basic factors involved, then do one’s duty."
Beginning Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Og Mandino
"Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do with no thought of any reward. Your life will never be the same again."
Hope in the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . Zig Ziglar, Staying Up, Up, in a Down, Down World, p. 220
"When there is hope in the future, there is power in the present, and since hope is the foundational quality of all change, there is considerable reason to be excited.…"
On Meekness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Donald DeMarco, The Many Faces of Virtue, p. 23
"Meekness is more synonymous with empowerment than it is with weakness because, as Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote, meekness makes a man self-possessed.…When we are overcome by anger, we lose the sense of ourselves that allows God to dwell within us. Anger excludes God; meekness invites His presence."
Something Magical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Richard Carlson, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff…, p. 25
"There is something magical that happens to the human spirit, a sense of calm that comes over you, when you cease needing all the attention directed toward yourself and instead allow others to have the glory."
Project Influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chris Lowney, Heroic Leadership, p. 18
"The Jesuit model explodes the ‘one great man’ model for the simple reason that everyone has
influence, and everyone projects influence – good or bad, large or small – all the time. A leader seizes all the available opportunities to influence and make an impact. Circumstances will present a few people with world-changing, defining-moment opportunities; most will enjoy no such bigtime opportunities in their lifetimes. Still, leadership is defined not by the scale of the opportunity but by the quality of the response.
You Can Do Better! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William E. Bailey
"To see your problem and your solution,
Look in a mirror.
The accomplishments of each generation
Have always exceeded those of the previous generation –
You can do better!"
Patient Waiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saint John Paul II
"For a stalk to grow or a flower to open there must be a time that cannot be forced; nine months must go before the birth of a human child; to write a book or compose music often years must be dedicated to patient research. To find the mystery there must be patience, interior purification, silence, waiting."
Keep Moving . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sourcebook of Wit & Wisdom, p. 1
A college class was graduating on a hot and humid day. As the graduates walked across the platform and received their diplomas from the president, he smiled, shook their hands, and said loudly, "Congratulations!" Then, in a much lower voice, one that was firm and could be heard only by the graduates, he would say, "Keep moving."
He was only trying to keep the line moving across the stage, but his words were good advice for a lifetime: "Keep moving." After every achievement – graduation, marriage, job promotion, even retirement – the best advice is, "Keep moving." Don’t stop. Don’t stagnate. There is more to life than you have found thus far. This is not the end; it is only the beginning. Keep moving.
Story of the Apple Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous
A nobleman was riding his horse along a road and saw an old man digging in his garden. Beside the man lay a sapling ready for to be planted. The nobleman called out, "What kind of tree are you planting?"
"An apple tree," replied the old man.
"An apple tree! How old are you?" exclaimed the nobleman.
"I’m 90," came the answer.
"You are 90 years old and planting a tree which will take years and years to bear fruit?"
"Tell me," said the old man, "did you ever eat an apple when you were young?"
"Certainly, why do you ask?"
"Well," said the old man, "who do you think planted the tree from which those gifts were obtained?"
The nobleman hesitated, "I have no idea."
"You see, sir, our forefathers planted trees for us to enjoy, and I am doing the same for those who will come along after me. How else can I repay my debt to those who lived before me?"
"Apple Seeds" plantings will resume in September.
Plant these seeds well and water often!
Apple images are from ClickArt Incredible Image Pak 65,000 Broderbund, Inc.
Graphics used with permission from ChurchArt Online. They are not to be copied or downloaded.