In the fall, about 80 listeners to Michael Josephson’s radio commentaries submitted essays describing how his daily messages affected their lives. Ten finalists were selected and a vote of readers of Michael’s newsletter and this blog selected the winners. We invite you to read their essays below and make your own comments.
WORTH READING: “For fourteen years, I have personally grown with Michael, learning to summon the moral courage to choose the road less traveled and to build my character day by day, decision by decision.” – Essay contest winner David Williams, high school teacher
In the fall, about 80 listeners to Michael Josephson’s radio commentaries submitted essays describing how his daily messages affected their lives. Ten finalists were selected, and a vote of readers of Michael’s newsletter and this blog selected the winners. Here is the entry of one of the five winners, David Williams. I confess that I keep a secret list of influential people …
WORTH READING: “Michael’s words have changed my world and I have transcended his words into my actions.” — Essay contest winner Jim Uhl , police officer and professor
In the fall, about 80 listeners to Michael Josephson’s radio commentaries submitted essays describing how his daily messages affected their lives. Ten finalists were selected, and a vote of readers of Michael’s newsletter and this blog selected the winners. Here is the entry of one of the five winners, Jim Uhl. St. Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel at all times; …
WORTH READING: “‘The road to achievement and fulfillment is dotted with hazards and tragedies that can wound us, frighten us, and slow us down. But afflictions and misfortunes can stop us only if we surrender.’ These words by Michael Josephson made me courageous!” – Essay contest winner Denise Osier-Bell, teacher for at-risk kids in Reseda, California
In the fall, about 80 listeners to Michael Josephson’s radio commentaries submitted essays describing how his daily messages affected their lives. Ten finalists were selected, and a vote of readers of Michael’s newsletter and this blog selected the winners. Here is the entry of one of the five winners, Denise Osier-Bell. I left the Sheriff’s Department to go back to college to …
WORTH READING: “Think about what kind of family you are going to be.” — Essay contest winner Pat Chambers, La Crenta California Presbyterian Center for Children
In the fall, about 80 listeners to Michael Josephson’s radio commentaries submitted essays describing how his daily messages affected their lives. Ten finalists were selected, and a vote of readers of Michael’s newsletter and this blog selected the winners. Here is the entry of one of the five winners, Pat Chambers. I can’t remember the exact year, but I remember the experience. I …
WORTH READING: “There is no radio broadcaster who has had a greater impact on my life than Michael Josephson.”– Essay contest winner Suzanne Carter, high school teacher
In the fall, about 80 listeners to Michael Josephson’s radio commentaries submitted essays describing how his daily messages affected their lives. Ten finalists were selected, and a vote of readers of Michael’s newsletter and this blog selected the winners. Here is the entry of one of the five winners, Suzanne Carter. There is no radio broadcaster who has had a greater impact …
COMMENTARY: Changing Self-Limiting Beliefs and Bad Behavior 758.5
Shavonne, a third-grade teacher, was at the end of her rope with disciplinary problems, but she wasn’t enthusiastic when she was told that her school had adopted the CHARACTER COUNTS! program. Now she was expected to explicitly seek to instill and enhance in her students core ethical values like honesty, respect, and responsibility, and to help them develop positive social …
COMMENTARY 758.4 CHANGING THE WORLD ONE BITE AT A TIME
About twenty-five years ago, I founded the Joseph & Edna Josephson Institute of Ethics in honor of my parents because I wanted to change the world for the better. My goal and strategy to achieve change is captured in a short mission statement: “To improve the ethical quality of society by changing personal and organizational decision making and behavior.” I …
WORTH SEEING AND READING: Powerful Posters with Images and Quotations About Racial Prejudice
You are welcome to copy the images, paste them in Word, enlarge it and print them
COMMENTARY:The Wisdom and Philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 758.3
For a man who never reached the age of 40, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., left a powerful and important body of thought. He was a preacher and orator, so rather than writing in the form of books or treatises, Dr. King spoke to the world in sermons and speeches and a few articles. His impact and image as a …
Langston Hughes on Democracy
“I swear to the Lord I still can’t see why democracy means everybody but me.” — Langston Hughes, The Black Man Speaks
COMMENTARY: Why Martin Luther King is a Hero 758.2
The dictionary defines a hero as “a person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life.” A “personal hero” is someone you or I hold in especially high esteem. For me, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is both a national and personal hero. I have no illusions that …
OBSERVATION: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on Violence
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence
WORTH SEEING: Michael Josephson’s HOPE Quartet: Hang On, Pain Ends
Click on image to enlarge. You are welcome to copy the images, paste them in Word, enlarge them and print them.
WORTH SEEING: Poster – Dog consoling friend who is having a hard time
You are welcome to copy the image, paste it in Word, enlarge it and print it for your own personal use.
QUIZ: What would you do? Do you give an honest reference?
You fired an employee for misuse of the Internet (He visited porn sites at work.), and for making inappropriate sexual remarks to a female co-worker. A month later, you receive a call from a potential new employer who wants a job reference. Do you give a candid and complete report, even though you know it will probably prevent him from …
QUIZ: What would you do? Handling an upset customer.
An important and demanding customer has just called. He is upset that his order has not been delivered. You quickly research the issue and discover that you forgot to give the order to the factory, and it will take at least two weeks to get the customer what he needs. If you tell him
COMMENTARY: Making Good Decisions 757.4
More often than we like, most of us are faced with choices that can have serious and lasting impact on our lives. Do we go along with the crowd? Do we tell someone off, quit a job, end a relationship? Unfortunately, these decisions are not preceded by a drumroll warning us that the stakes are high and, even worse, we …
OBSERVATION: Michael Josephson on The Bare Essentials of Home-Run Decision-Making: Choices that Produce the Best Possible Result
In both our work and our personal lives, all of us regularly face situations that raise the most common and basic question: “What should I do?” In all these cases, we must first decide what we should do and how we should do it. Then, we have to decide whether we will, in fact, do what we should do. The best decision makers …
COMMENTARY: True Friends 757.3
So what are the qualities of a true friend? True friends are good companions, people you enjoy doing things with, but they are also people you just enjoy being with. In true friendships the activity is incidental – it doesn’t matter much what you are doing together as long as you are together. True friends are people you want to …
WORTH SEEING: Poster of True Friends poem by Michael Josephson
You are welcome to copy the image paste it in Word, enlarge it and print it out.
COMMENTARY: The Treasure of Old Friends 757.2
In my lifetime, I’ve had the good fortune of having a handful of good friends. Each of my four teenage daughters have many hundreds. At least that what they call every Facebook connection they collect like trophies. The list of those kinds of friends includes people they barely know, some they don’t know at all and even some people they …