Have you ever looked at a task and thought, Wow, that’s impossible! Then you stop, or you start to find other ways to get the job done, and you realize that it’s not impossible, it’s just difficult, and then you keep working, and the difficulty isn’t as bad as you thought. Now, it’s still hard, but before you know it, the job that was out of range—too hard to do, couldn’t figure it out—is now completed. Finished. Done. A while back, I was having some quiet time; I was reading a devotional book I love about prayer and came across […]
What’s Your Balance?
I don’t mean your physical balance – although that is important, but what I am asking about today is your “credit” in the accounts of “worthy organizations”… such as your volunteer activities… your kid’s school… your place of worship… what I find (more so at the holidays) is that for many of you – you make great deposits and have a lot of credit with good organizations and although that is a worthy endeavor I just want to make sure that those you need you the most are not short-changed. Suzanne Bates wrote in a recent column that – If […]
How to be lucky
I have always loved the quote, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.” It has been attributed to just about everyone, but the one who is consistently listed is Samuel Goldwyn of TV and movie producer fame. Interesting when you think that he might have said that line considering that he was–in a sense–the star-maker in Hollywood, but even he understood the long view of success or luck (as you’d like to believe). Just think back on your favorite movie star and then research how many times they had to do cheese ball commercials or TV sitcoms or print […]
Be gentle with everyone you meet
If there is one thing I have learned in life, it is this: Be gentle with everyone you meet–you have no idea what has happened to them on their life journey. As most of you know, I am a speaker. I stand before audiences of 100 to 1,000 on any given week, and it never fails–really, it never fails–that someone who looks like a million bucks or who is the life of the party or who carries themselves with such apparent ease is the one who carries the deepest scars. Over the years, I think I’ve developed something like a […]
Time Heals Nothing Unless You Move Along With It
I know you’ve heard the well-worn phrase that time heals all wounds. Well, I question that. Does it? It might heal your hurt if, after a while, you begin to forget about all the intricacies of the situation that caused such pain. Or, most likely, it will not if you choose to hold on tightly to the pain that was inflicted upon you. Choices–always choices either to move on or to hold on. Only you can decide what your future will be. I can tell you with certainty that time heals nothing unless you move along with it. Ah, the […]
To Act
“Often the difference between a successful person and a failure is not one’s better abilities or ideas, but the courage that one has to bet on his ideas, to take a calculated risk, and to act.” — Maxwell Maltz “To act” is my theme for today because, just like you, I hear the most amazing dreams, plans, and ideas from very capable people who never do anything to make any of them come true. It has gotten so repetitive with a few of my friends that I don’t enjoy going out with them because, just like last time, the whole […]
Are You Addicted to Doing?
I know you’ve heard the phrase, “Just say no.” And while it was used to take aim at the war on drugs, I am here to encourage you to “just say no” and stop willfully taking another drug of choice that many people take and tend to overdose on, especially during the holidays–the drug of doing. I’ve never understood why so many good people are addicted to the need for doing so, especially when they don’t enjoy it and can’t afford it. What I see is that they feel pressured by others because they feel they have no way out. […]
Be a lamp – a lifeboat – or a ladder
Be a lamp – a lifeboat – or a ladder. I came across this saying a while back, and it made me stop and think about who in our lives has been there as a lamp, a lifeboat, or a ladder. I’m sure for most of us; it would be easy to choose someone who is a lamp in our life – someone who believed we’d come into our own one day and be the person we were born to be. That one person who, against all odds of human reasoning, liked us, loved us and believed in us, and […]
My Goal in Life Is to be Filthy Rich
My goal in life is to be filthy rich. Now, before you wonder what happened to me, hear me out because I am truthful when I tell you that I really do want to be rich. I want to be rich in knowledge, adventure, laughter, health, family, and rich in love. How about you? No doubt you’d like to join me in being rich in all those areas of life, wouldn’t you? Well then, let’s figure out how to do it and be outrageously successful. I don’t think it is all that hard these days to be rich in knowledge–it […]
