Thinks I find along the way
Recently, Adam Bevell, who lost his sight more than two decades ago, attended his 20th U2 concert in Nashville. Throughout the show, he held up a sign that read “Blind Guitar Player: Bring Me Up!” And eventually Bono took him up on the offer by inviting him on stage to strum along to “All I Want is You” and then letting him leave with a parting gift. The green guitar…
“Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.”
– Benjamin Franklin
We are all usually our own worst critics. While criticism is our friend, at the end of the day, we need to be able to look in the mirror, and smile at the person looking back. How do we bring joy into the forefront of our lives? How can we shake off the stress and strain of everyday life and discover true happiness? Here are a few ideas to get you started on the path to robust joy…
“If you had to give rock and roll another name,” John Lennon once said, “you might call it ‘Chuck Berry.’” The man known as the father of rock and roll turns 85 today and he’s still going strong. To celebrate, we bring you this powerful 1958 performance of “Johnny B. Goode.”
I needed to go into the city for errands. It was a chilly morning at the beach, not even 70 degrees. I put on my jacket, got in the car, and headed out. I made the turn onto the canyon road and was struck by the beauty of the fog burning off, playing peekaboo with the canyon walls. It was 94 and sunny when I arrived in town.
I ran my errands and stopped at In-and-Out Burger for lunch. When I got back in the car, the thermometer read 102. It was hot. Traffic was bad, the temperature reached 106 on the freeway, and even the air conditioning didn’t help much.
Finally, I turned back onto the canyon road. The grass was brown and I worried about wildfires they get so bad here.
Soon, I noticed the temperature was down to 94 again, then 90, then 88. The hills turned green. I rounded a corner and could see the Pacific Ocean. The temp was 82. By the time I made it home it was back to 74
I was surprised at the big difference a few miles made. Sometimes, a small change can impact the way we’re feeling a lot. Feeling overwhelmed or pressured? Do something else for a while. Give yourself a treat. Sometimes, the smallest change in our routine can do wonders to change the temperature in our lives.
God, help me see any changes I can make that will have a positive effect on my energy and on the way I feel.
“If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.”
– Johann von Goethe, was a German writer and polymath.
When you learn your lessons, the pain goes away.
– Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, The Wheel of LifeSometimes, we wait and wait for a painful situation to end. When will he stop drinking? When will she call? When will this financial stuff get better? When will I know what to do next?
Life has its own timeline. As soon as we get the lesson, the pain neutralizes, then disappears.
And the lesson is always ours.Examine your life. Are you waiting for someone or something outside of you to happen to make you feel better? Are you waiting for someone to learn his or her lesson for your pain to stop? If you are, try turning inward. See what the less on really is.
God, please show me what I’m supposed to be learning right now.
When a person needs resuscitation, the signs are obvious. They stop breathing, they’re non-responsive. It’s easy to see that the person displaying these symptoms needs immediate help. In marriage, the symptoms that a relationship requires life-saving measures are sometimes difficult to detect. Couples learn to adapt and function despite their critical status. But functioning in a marriage is not what you and your spouse really want. You want to thrive. So, how can you bring a dying relationship back to life? It’s time to administer some marital CPR by doing four things…
Follow the ‘via’ link above for more…
One thing men are very talented at is getting into trouble – especially when they are husbands. Sometimes we’re thoughtless, sometimes we’re forgetful, sometimes we’re selfish, sometimes we’re downright mean. More often than not we get ourselves in deep water because we are – quite simply – clueless.
Regardless of how we got there, trouble is a place we need to vacate, and fast. We need grace, we need understanding and we need forgiveness.
Forgiveness is a sweet and a beautiful thing. But forgiveness can neither be earned nor demanded – it has to be given, as a gift. However, rather than skulk around in hiding, there are a number of things All Pro Dads can do to facilitate the conditions in which forgiveness might possibly thrive.
It’s important to remember that you’re not so much trying to get out of trouble as you are working to heal the relationship. That’s something that requires self-evaluation and humility. So try these 10 Ways to ask your wife for forgiveness…
Unfortunately, I need this now. Follow the ‘via’ link above along with me to get the 10 ways…
JUST FOR TODAY
I will try to live through this day only
and not tackle my whole life problem at once.
I can do something for twelve hours that would appall me
if I felt that I had to keep it up for a lifetime.JUST FOR TODAY
I will be happy.
This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said,
that, “most folks are as happy as
they make up their minds to be”.JUST FOR TODAY
I will adjust myself to what is,
and not try to adjust everything to my own desires.
I will take my “luck” as it comes and fit myself to it.JUST FOR TODAY
I will try to strengthen my mind.
I will study. I will not be a mental loafer.
I will read something that requires
mental effort and concentration.JUST FOR TODAY
I will exercise my soul in three ways.
I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out.
If anybody knows of it, it will not count.
I will do at least two things
I do not want to do – just for exercise.
I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt;
they may be hurt, but today I will not show it.JUST FOR TODAY
I will be agreeable,
will look as well as I can,
dress becomingly, talk low,
act courteously, criticise not one bit,
not find fault with anything
and not try to improve or regulate
anybody except myself.JUST FOR TODAY
I will have a programme –
I may not be able to follow it exactly,
but I will have it.
I will save myself from two pests:
hurry and indecision.JUST FOR TODAY
I will have a quiet half hour
all to myself and relax.
During this half hour, sometime,
I will try to get a better perspective of my life.JUST FOR TODAY
I will be unafraid,
especially I will not be afraid
to enjoy what is beautiful,
and to believe that as I give to the world,
so the world gives to me.
“Live life fully while you’re here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don’t try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.”
– Tony Robbins
“For true success ask yourself these four questions: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?”
– James Allen
Bright, shiny objects! 
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