"For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'It might have been!'"
John Whittier
(1807 - 1892)
Source: John Greenleaf Whittier
"For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: 'It might have been!'"
THE MOST AND THE GREATEST
The most destructive habit............Worry
The greates joy.............................Giving
The greatest loss.............Loss of respect
The most dangerous parishioner....A gossiper
The world's most incredible computer.....The Brain
The worst thing to be without..........Hope
The most satisfying work......Helping others
The ugliest personality trait........Selfishness
The most endangered species....Dedicated leaders
The deadliest weapon................The tongue
The most power-filled words..........."I Can"
The greatest asset..............................Faith
The greatest natural resource.....Our youth
The greatest "shot in the arm"...Encouragement
The greatest problem to overcome......Fear
The most worthless emotion........Self-pity
The most beautiful attire.................SMILE!
The most prized possession ........Integrity
The most crippling failure disease...Excuses
The most powerful force in life..........LOVE!
The most contagious spirit.......Enthusiasm
if they can do it, you can too
Everything works out in the end. If it's not worked out, it's not the end
Be the ripple in the water. Or you can be the snowball rolling down the hill, but you might need to stop and build a few snowmen along the way. -- Brenda MacIntyre, December 11, 2007
Never let your valley experiences keep you down; it takes two mountains to form every valley.
All I've done is give you a book. You have to have the courage to learn what's inside it.
"It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows great enthusiasms, great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
- Theodore Roosevelt
Begin to weave and the Lord will give you thread.
Our goal is not to have
A problem-free life.
But to conquer all the problems
As they appear
Along our life-road.
You do not have to be
The fastest starter.
Just be a starter!
You will, without fail,
Reach your destination-sun.
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Forget this and attaining Enlightenment will be the least of your problems.
A Life That Matters
Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.
So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won't matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end. It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave. What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught. What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example. What will matter is not your competence, but your character. What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone. What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice. Choose to live a life that matters. It really matters!
A Life That Matters
Ready or not, some day it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations and jealousies will finally disappear.
So too, your hopes, ambitions, plans and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won't matter where you came from or what side of the tracks you lived on at the end. It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave. What will matter is not your success, but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught. What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example. What will matter is not your competence, but your character. What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone. What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice. Choose to live a life that matters. It really matters!
Water seeks its own level and water rises collectively
Come, come, whoever you are
Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving
It doesn't matter
Our is not a caravan of despair
Come, even if you have broken your vow a thousand times
Come, come yet again, come.
Empirical confirmation of Darwin's theory did not prove forthcoming in the first few decades following its publication. Indeed, by the early twentieth century, many noted naturalists had come to regard Darwin's account of evolution by natural selection as a theoretical failure. Some even described their continuing commitment to evolution as a matter of faith, rather an ironic justification in light of the impending Scopes trial of 1925. "I suppose that everyone is familiar in outline with the theory of the origin of species which Darwin promulgated. Through the last fifty years this theme of the natural selection of favored races has been developed and expounded in writings innumerable. Favored races certainly can replace others. The argument is sound, but we are doubtful of its value. For us that debate stands adjourned. We go to Darwin for his incomparable collection of facts. We would fain emulate his scholarship, his width and his power of exposition, but to us he speaks no more with philosophical authority. We read his scheme of evolution as we would those of Leucretius or of Lamarck, delighting in their simplicity and courage." "Modern research lends not the smallest encouragement or sanction to the view that gradual evolution occurs by the transformation of masses of individuals, though that fancy has fixed itself on popular imagination."
TODAY can be a healthy unusual day for you-and for others-if you take time to give someone a smile . . . to express a word of kindness . . . to lend a helping hand to someone in need . . . ..to write a note of gratitude . . . to give a word of encouragement to someone who is temporarily overcome with problems . . . to share a portion of your material possessions with others.
Encouragement isa a necessary part of supervision.
He who does not prevent a crime when he can, encourages it.
Among the calamities of war may be numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates, and credulity encourages.
"Plants of great vigor will almost always struggle into blossom, despite impediments. But there should be encouragement, and a free genial atmosphere for those of more timid sort, fair play for each in its own kind."
I remember standing there on stage in my new Christmas dress, trying not to cry as the church members smiled, nodded and murmured encouragement from the front row. "Go 'head, baby." "Say it now, Luc." "Come on now, baby" But I couldn't remember, and to hide my deep humiliation, my embarassment, I became sullen, angry. "I don' wanna." And I stood there with my mouth poked out. It was a scandal! This fresh young nobody baby standing in front of the Lord in His own house talking about what she don't want! I could feel the disapproval pouring over my new dress. Then, like a great tidal wave from the ocean of God, my sanctified mother poured down the Baptist aisle, huge as love, her hand outstretched toward mine. "Come on, baby," she smiled, then turned to address the church: "She don't have to do nothing she don't want to do." And I was at the same time empowered and made free. . . .
I feel that the progress I have made as a coach, as well as a person, is a direct result of the growth that I have made through my Church callings. I had the opportunity to serve as a bishop in a campus ward while I was still an assistant coach. When I was appointed head football coach in 1972, I decided to approach my role as a coach much the same as I did as a bishop, delegating responsibility to my assistants, putting responsibility on the players for self-improvement in all aspects of their lives, and using personal interviews with players to try to give positive reinforcement and encouragement so that they might do their very best and reach their full potential, both on and off the field.
There is nothing better than the encouragement of a good friend.
There is nothing better than the encouragement of a good friend.
Democracy encourages the majority to decide things about which the majority is blissfully ignorant.
The genius of the Methodist movement, which enabled it to conquer the raw lives of workingmen in industrial England, and the raw lives of men and women on the American frontier, was the "class meeting" - ten members and their leader, meeting regularly for mutual encouragement, rebuke, nurture, and prayer.
Correction does much, but encouragement does more. Encouragement after censure is as the sun after a shower.
