This weekend, as I listened to orphaned girls from Moldova speak of growing up without heat, or clothes of their own, or anybody to give them even an encouraging word, I couldn’t help but marvel at both the resiliency of the human spirit and the power of hope. But later, as I pondered so many of our own young people, who have grown up with many advantages, yet struggle with depression, addiction, self-mutilation and even suicide, I couldn’t help but wonder at the poverty of our affluence.
Archive for the ‘Thought for the Day / Quotes’ Category
Thought for the Day – The Poverty of Our Affluence
Posted in Thought for the Day / Quotes on March 5, 2013| 1 Comment »
Thought for the Day – Give an Explicit Gift for Valentine’s Day
Posted in Parenting / Family, Thought for the Day / Quotes on February 14, 2013| Leave a Comment »
The Bible says that “faith, without works, is dead”, which essentially means that a person can profess to have faith, but if it’s never acted upon, it becomes of no value. I believe the same holds true for love. We can convince ourselves that we love someone, but if those feelings are not regularly expressed or acted upon, it too becomes of little or no worth. Many of us (especially of the male persuasion) presume that our love is implicitly expressed through things like bringing home a paycheck or taking out the trash, but I would submit that this falls woefully short of the mark. Some try to compensate for that tendency by giving extravagant gifts on days like Valentine’s Day; but again, I don’t think that makes the grade. Despite the advertising campaigns, things like flowers or chocolates or even diamond rings, can only imply what you feel about someone. If you really want them to know how you feel, you must find a way to express it explicitly. If you can’t seem to articulate it with your mouth, write it down. If you’re not good with words, find a card or a song that expresses what you feel. The loved one’s in your life need for your love to be explicit (i.e. expressed clearly). There’s no better day than today to get started with that (and don’t wait another year before you try it again).
Thought for the Day – Disrespect
Posted in Thought for the Day / Quotes on January 27, 2013| 1 Comment »
The problem with staying around someone who does not respect you is that you begin to see yourself through their eyes.
Thought for the Day – I Can’t Help It
Posted in Opinions, Thought for the Day / Quotes on December 20, 2012| Leave a Comment »
All it takes to remain firmly planted on the path to destruction is someone else to blame for your condition.
Thought for the Day – The Man in the Mirror
Posted in Thought for the Day / Quotes on December 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »
As humans, we tend to be very focused on the things that other people do, despite the fact that our greatest limitations are ultimately rooted in the things that we are unwilling to do.
Thought for the Day – Becoming a Man
Posted in Parenting / Family, Thought for the Day / Quotes on October 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »
My oldest son officially became a teenager this year and over the summer he was excited to find out that his feet had grown bigger than mine. I suspect in the next year or two he’ll weigh more than I do as well. These changes have got him thinking about becoming an adult and the other day he asked, “Dad, when will I know that I’ve become a man?” I took a few seconds to ponder my answer and said, “You’ll know that you’ve grown up when you can take care of yourself and you’ll know that you’re a man when you can take care of someone else”.
Thought for the Day – The Anatomy of Failure
Posted in Thought for the Day / Quotes on April 29, 2012| 2 Comments »
Error doesn’t necessarily become failure until we refuse to learn from it.
Thought for the Day – No Regrets
Posted in Thought for the Day / Quotes on February 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »
I’ve often heard people speak of having “No regrets”, both when looking back on their lives or in the context of their hopes for the future. I’ve even heard some say things like, “if I could live my life over again, I wouldn’t change a thing”. And while those sorts of bold proclamations may sound good as T-shirt slogans or on sports drink ads, they don’t actually play out well in real life. The truth is that we all make mistakes and if we have any conscious at all, that is bound to stir up some feelings of regret. Though unpleasant, it is often those feelings that provide the incentive to grow and change. A wise man doesn’t pretend that he’s never done things that he wishes he hadn’t; he simply owns up to his failures, learns from those mistakes, changes his mind/direction and leaves those regrets on the side of the road (where they belong). I would suggest that there is a world of difference between not having any regrets and choosing not to live with regret. It is a healthy thing to live without regrets, but the only way to be truly free of them is through an act of genuine repentance.
Thought for the Day – Idle Time
Posted in Thought for the Day / Quotes on January 31, 2012| Leave a Comment »
In Western society, we are lovers of pleasure and leisure; and quite often our idle time degenerates into idol time.
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