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Volume 29, # 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . October 2013 |
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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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Face New Frontiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . God’s Little Devotional Book for Leaders, p. 29
"When we face challenges that lie just beyond our ability, we enter into the realm of faith and hope. It is as we face new frontiers in our lives that we truly encounter what our Creator has endowed us to do. Don’t be afraid to desire to accomplish more in life."
Positive Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rabbi Zelig Pliskin,
"Happiness", p.77"Be aware of how you speak to yourself in general, and what you say to yourself when you try to motivate yourself in particular. People who motivate themselves with heavy criticism likewise tend to do so with others also. Even if someone finds that this works better for himself than a softer approach, it is still not the pattern of choice when trying to motivate children and students. The harm to their self-image could be devastating.
Choose positive words of encouragement. Believe in the potential of children, students, and anyone else you want to motivate. And speak to them in a way that will motivate them to believe in their own potential."
Life Worth Living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pliny
"True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written, in writing what deserves to be read, and in so living as to make the world happier and better for our living in it."
"Where Do We Start?" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pope Francis
(July 27, 2013) said:
Pope Francis in his homily for the Prayer Vigil with the Young People at XXVIII World Youth Day in Rio De Janeiro,
"Some people once asked Mother Teresa of Calcutta what needed to change in the Church, and which wall should they start with? They asked her, where is the starting point? And she replied, you and I are the starting point! This woman showed determination! She knew where to start.
"And today," Pope Francis continued, "I make her words my own and I say to you: shall we begin? Where? With you and me! Each one of you, once again in silence, ask yourself: if I must begin with myself, where exactly do I start? Each one of you, open his or her heart, so that Jesus may tell you where to start."
Preconceived Notions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Merry Browne
"Preconceived notions are the locks on the door of wisdom."
On Education . . . . . . . . . . . .
Speaker’s Lifetime Library, "The Special Occasion Book," Vol. 4, p. 18"If education has any single goal, it is to encourage people to know how to go about getting the answers. It is not enough in life to be a listener, a passive member of the audience. It is not enough to look straight ahead and never look around. It is not enough to breathe a sigh and figure that your learning days are over. The lucky individual is the individual who never stops learning until he or she stops breathing."
Prayer to Discern God’s Will Said Before The Crucifix
Most High, glorious God,
enlighten the darkness of my heart,
and give me right faith,
certain hope, and perfect charity,
wisdom and understanding,
Lord, that I may carry out
your holy and true command.
Amen.St. Francis of Assisi (Oct. 4)
A Better Way to Live . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Og Mandino
, p. 106"Be a self-starter. Welcome the dawn of each new day with a smile, grateful to your Creator for another opportunity to improve on yesterday’s performance.
There is a better way to live. To confront each morning with hope shining in your eyes, to welcome the day with reverence for the opportunities it contains, to greet everyone you meet with laughter and love, to be gentle, kind, and courteous toward friend and foe, and to enjoy the satisfaction of work well done during precious hours that will never return – that is the way to leave your footprints."
The Great & Noble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Helen Keller,
Catholic Digest, Aug. 1991, p. 74"I long to accomplish a great an noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble."
Resentment is Poison . . . . . . . . . . . Ernest Kurtz, et al,
The Spirituality of Imperfection, p. 213"Resentment is the poison of the spiritual life. The word means literally, feeling again, in the sense of feeling backward: the emphasis is on a clinging to the past, a harping on it that becomes mired in it. Resentment goes over and over an old injury: revisiting the hurt, the powerlessness, the rage, the fear, the feeling of being wronged. Scraping the scab off the wound, resentment relishes anew its pain; it is the particular kind of memory that reinforces the vision of self-as-victim."
Wisdom Stones
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . William Arthur Ward"We can throw stones, complain about them, stumble on them, climb over them, or build with them."
Grow Up – Grow Older?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fr. Brian Cavanaugh, TOR"In life, most people grow up; yet sadly, there are those who seemingly only grow older."
Things That Matters Most . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Price Pritchett
"Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least."
On Honesty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous
"Honesty in life is no little thing."
True Leaders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous
"True leaders are not those who strive to be first but those who are first to strive and who give their all for the success of the team. True leaders are first to see the need, envision the plan, and empower the team for action. By the strength of the leader’s commitment, the power of the team is unleashed."
Light a Small Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous
A village blacksmith’s assistant once visited a large city and sought out the local smithy. He observed that the workers there used a bellows to fan the flames in the forge. The bellows were much more efficient than the exhausting manual fanning which he did back in his master’s shop. He promptly bought a bellows, returned with great enthusiasm to his master, and informed him that there was no longer any need for them to exhaust themselves fanning the flames. He then set out to demonstrate the magic of the bellows, but alas, regardless of how vigorously he pumped, no flame appeared.
"I can’t understand it," he said. "In the city, I saw with my own eyes the huge flame produced by the bellows."
"Did you first light a small fire?" the master asked.
"No," the assistant replied. "I just pumped the bellows."
"You fool!" the blacksmith said. "The bellows can only increase the size of the flame when you begin it with a spark. When you have no spark or fire, all the pumping of the bellows is of no use."
Fast From Virtue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Source Unknown
A story is told of an abbot and a young monk who are invited to supper at the home of a local family. The family was honored to have these holy guests and went out of their way (and probably way beyond their budget) to put on a magnificent meal. The young monk, however, had taken a vow to fast, and so he declines all but a single stalk of celery, which he eats.
On the way back to the monastery, the abbot says to the young monk, "The next time, fast from your virtue."
The young monk had mistaken the religious practice of fasting for true spirituality. He would have been closer to the mark had he practiced charity and entered into the hospitality and generosity of his hosts. Religious practices are means to an end, not an end in themselves.
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