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
The Road after Forgiveness
Forgiveness is not something we do for others; it is something we do for ourselves so we are free to find new roads to happiness.” – Michael Josephson
I Will Never Be Perfect
I am not and never will be perfect. I am not always as honest, respectful, responsible, fair, or kind as I should be. All I can do is what I should do – Strive every day, with every decision, to be the best person I can be. I don’t expect to be perfect but I know I can be better.” …
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUCCESS AND SIGNIFICANCE.
“The happiest people in the world are not the richest, best looking or most powerful; they are people who find value, meaning and purpose in selfless service and making a positive difference in the lives of others.” -Michael Josephson
Choose to be HAPPY!
“I have decided to be HAPPY because it is good for my health.” – Voltaire
Absurdities and Atrocities
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” – Voltaire
Use Things Not People
People are made to be loved and things are made to be used. Things begin to go wrong when things are being loved and people are being used.
What Golfers and Leaders Have In Common
Just as good golfers know how to use an array of clubs to get them to the hole, good leaders know how to use an array of relationship styles and strategies to get them to their goal. But what makes the good golfer and the good leader great, is knowing which club to use.” – Michael Josephson
COMMENTARY: Mental Sunshine and Flowers
Dave had to undergo painful throat surgery. Since he’s not a young man and makes his living as a professional speaker, the experience was frightening and traumatic. He told me his surgeon was skilled and the hospital workers were competent, but the cold indifference of the parade of nurses and doctors who came in and out of his room was …
Successful People
Successful people treat failure as an opportunity to TRY AGAIN, eager to use the new stepping stones discovered while failing. – Michael Josephson
COMMENTARY: Using All Your Strength
A young boy was walking with his father along a country road. When they came across a very large tree branch the boy asked, “Do you think I could move that branch?” His father answered, “If you use all your strength, I’m sure you can.” So the boy tried mightily to lift, pull and push the branch but he couldn’t …