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  

COMMENTARY: Box Full of Love

Todd was a sadly quiet eleven-year-old struggling to adjust to the death of his mother. His father left long ago and he was living with an aunt who made it

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: Do I Have to Tell Everything?

Can a job applicant properly withhold information about a criminal record or being fired in a previous job? Can a woman who has just started dating properly say nothing about a previous marriage or abortion? These are problems of candor: When does an ethical person have a duty to reveal negative information about his past? First, let’s reinforce a basic …

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 …

Independence Day and Courage

We celebrate this year’s Fourth of July holiday at a time when millions of people in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Bahrain, and Yemen are at various stages of their own struggle to replace dictators with some form of democracy. It’s a good reminder that the fight for liberty has always required courage. In our own case, 56 men we now …

Happy 4th of July!!!!

“Love your country. Your country is the land where your parents sleep, where is spoken that language in which the chosen of your heart, blushing, whispered the first word of love; It is the home that God has given you that by striving to perfect yourselves therein you may prepare to ascend to him.” – Giuseppe Mazzini

COMMENTARY: Four Exceptional Insights I Wish I Understood Long Ago

1) The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one. Russell Lynes. 2) People won’t remember everything you say or do but they always remember how you made them feel.- Maya Angelou 3) Feeling grateful and not expressing it is like …

COMMENTARY: The Greyhound Principle

Racing dogs are trained to chase a mechanical rabbit that always goes a little faster than the fleetest dog. This causes them to run faster than they otherwise would. Companies that annually set overly ambitious performance objectives for their employees employ this greyhound principle. To a point, it works. Most people achieve more when expectations are set high. The strategy …

Insignificant Success

“It is better to be unsuccessful pursuing a significant goal than being successful attaining an insignificant one.” – Michael Josephson