Offering Help A hungry man doesn’t have ears. (Stephen Joyce, son of author James Joyce) A simple statement, but a pungent reminder of how we should consider our offer to help those in need. We may want to scold a homeless man for not looking for a job or “preach” to...
Investments A mind is a terrible thing to waste, but a wonderful thing to invest in. (Investment advertisement) The mention of investments brings to mind thoughts of money, bank accounts, the stock market, and much more. And yet, there are other investments that are...
Sensitivity Sensitivity is exercising my senses so that I can perceive the true spirit and emotions of those around me. (Bill Gothard, speaker and writer) When we think of a sensitive person, we sometimes picture someone who is easily hurt personally by the comments...
Character You have to work on the person you want to be . . . When people look at you, what do you want them to see? (Toya Holiday, basketball player) Good advice! Very little shocks anymore. Dress styles, exaggerated behavior, degraded language (both grammatically...
Change My desire to change became bigger than my fear of changing. (Britney, recovered drug addict) Change is a fearful obstacle to a lot of people. But, for people who recognize their need to change—whether it’s an addiction or another harmful habit, fear of the...
Failure It’s what you do after you fail that determines who you are. (Paraphrase from Sabaa Tahir, fiction writer) From the toddler’s fall in his first attempt to walk until the day he or she dies, there will be falls and failures. The toddler gets back up and...
Preparation It’s not the will to win that’s important, it’s the will to prepare to win. (Bobby Knight, winning basketball coach) Everybody wants to win. Do you know anyone who really wants to come in second? Maybe, but the yearning to win seems to be ingrained in us...
Kindness Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. (Plato) Plato’s observation of life way back in the 5th century B.C. is not much different from what we can observe in 21st century America. It’s not just the homeless and the jobless that are facing...
Moving Forward In order to reach your dream, the passion inside your heart must outpace the fear inside your head. (Kary Oberbrunner, author and speaker) Fear of failure often keeps us from moving forward to achieve the goals we’ve dreamed about. Perhaps it’s the...
Looking Ahead One thing with gazing too frequently into the past is that we may turn around to find the future has run out on us. (Michael Cibenco, teacher) We’re well into 2019, and maybe it’s time to evaluate what progress we’re making. How’s it going with you? Have...
Gratitude To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven. (Johannes A. Gaertner, author) It’s easy to say “Thank You,” but gratitude should certainly extend to more than just the...
Work The price of success is hard work… (Vince Lombardi, successful football coach) He continued, “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.” We might wonder today if...