“We each decide whether to make ourselves learned or ignorant, compassionate or cruel, generous or miserly. No one forces us. No one decides for us. We are responsible for what we are.” – Moses Maimonides
COMMENTARY: God’s Plan to Heal the World: “He Made You”
It’s almost impossible to find a responsible adult who is happy with the moral state of the world. And it’s even harder if you are attentive to the daily
The Need for Balance
To live and enjoy a good life, find a healthy balance between wanting more and appreciating enough. Realize that what you have is worthy of gratitude and appreciation, even as you strive for more. It’s both a strength and weakness of human nature that we’re never satisfied for long. Whatever we have, wherever we are, most of us want more …
This is NOT the Way the Story is Going To End.
Don’t ever forget, as bad as things may feel, as gloomy as the future looks, at any given moment… You have the POWER to say, “This is not the way the story is going to END.”
COMMENTARY: Justin’s Introduction to Candor
When my son Justin was in high school, I went to an open house to meet his teachers. I was taken aback when one teacher casually mentioned that she had disciplined my son for cheating on a homework assignment. I asked my son why he hadn’t told me about this incident. “You didn’t ask,” he said. To say the least, …
Be.
“Be ASSERTIVE, but not abrasive Be BOLD, but not reckless Be CANDID, but not cruel Be CAUTIOUS, but not timid Be CONFIDENT, but not conceited Be PROUD, but not vain Be STEADFAST, but not stubborn.” – Michael Josephson
COMMENTARY: Eighteen Random Rules of Life
I love maxims, those concise capsules of worldly wisdom. I collect them and write them and, of course, love to share them. Here are 18 random rules of life worth posting on your mirror or, better yet, using as dinner-time discussion starters. Find the lesson in every failure and you’ll never fail. The likelihood that you’re right is not increased …
Before You Do This, Do That.
“Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you criticize, wait. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give.” – William Arthur Ward
COMMENTARY: Parents Are Teachers First
When John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach, referred to the last game he “ever taught,” he was asked about this phrasing. He said simply that a coach is first and foremost a teacher who should not only improve his players’ athletic skills, but also help them become better people. And he was a superb teacher whose lasting influence is reflected …
Be Flexible.
“A wise man adapts himself to circumstances as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it.” – Chinese Proverb
An Open Mind.
A mind is like a parachute. It doesn’t work if it is not open.” – Frank Zappa
Deferred Dreams.
“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?” – Langston Hughes “Harlem”
To Have Lived Well.
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Understanding Life
“Sometimes you have to talk with a two-year-old just understand life again.” – Patricia Love
Live Backwards.
“If you want to know how to live your life, think about what you want people to say about you after you die, and then live backwards.” – Michael Josephson
Be Relentlessly Generous
“Be relentlessly generous in your judgments and actions. Give others the benefit of the doubt and stop being so hard on yourself.” – Michael Josephson
COMMENTARY: The Parable of Brother Leo
An old legend tells of a monastery in France well-known throughout Europe because of the extraordinary leadership of a man known only as Brother Leo. Several monks began a pilgrimage to visit Brother Leo to learn from him. Almost immediately the monks began to bicker over who should do various chores.
Change Happens
If things never changed, there would be no butterflies. Change happens whether you want it or not, so embrace it and make the best of it.
What We Do Can Change Lives Forever
“What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.” – Albert Pike
COMMENTARY: The Best Is Yet to Come … But Only if You Believe It
If you are having a bad day . . . or week . . . or month . . . have a serious talk with yourself and decide what it will take to move on. Preoccupation with your problems, no matter how serious, compounds them and imprisons you in a dark dungeon. There is no lock on the dungeon you …
The Content of Your Character is Your Choice
The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think and what you do is who you become. “Your integrity is your destiny; it is the light that guides your way.” – Heraclitus (Greek philosopher 535-465 B.C.)
COMMENTARY: The Best Dad
Years ago I heard a story of a dad named Paul who gave his young son a small chalkboard to practice writing on. One evening his son called out from the bedroom, “Dad, how do you spell best?” Paul answered him. Moments later, the boy hollered, “How do you spell kid?” Finally he asked, “How do you spell ever?” When …
COURAGE
“One man with courage is a majority.” – Andrew Jackson
Responsible Vigilance
“Responsible vigilance is a potent risk management strategy. What you don’t know CAN hurt you. What you don’t do WILL hurt you. What you try to cover-up WILL KILL YOU.” – Michael Josephson
COMMENTARY: The Blue Stone and the White Lie
This story is about a truth-versus-caring ethical dilemma I once had. I think I did the right thing but I keep wondering if there was a better way. I was putting my two-year-old to bed when Abrielle, who was four, came screaming down the hall in a panic. Samara, the five-and-a-half-year-old, was right behind her equally terrified. “I swallowed a …
People of Character
People of character to do the right think even if no one else does, not because they think it will change the world but because they refuse to be changed by the world.” – Michael Josephson
COMMENTARY: Advice About Teens
Here are three suggestions for the parents of young teens, all learned through my own mistakes: First, remember, with emerging demands for independence, worries about peer acceptance, pressures of school and extra-curricular activities and a continuous search for self-identity, adolescents are on a physical and emotional roller coaster. Like every generation before them (including yours), young teens are often arrogant …
Choices
The choices you make in life will make your life.” – Michael Josephson
The Rat Race
The problem with participating in the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.” – Lily Tomlin Rationalizations world like an anesthetic to the conscience. They don’t’ change the moral content of our choices, they simply prevent us from feeling guilty about them.
The Garden of Creativity
Creativity flourishes in a wild garden of ideas where fear of failure and worry about what others may think are unwelcome.” – Michael Josephson