I received an e-mail with a story worth sharing. Only the names have been changed to preserve privacy. Doug is the proud and loving father of Emma, a high school junior who takes a leadership class responsible for putting on dances and other student events. All student body officers must take the class, but a number of other kids like …
COMMENTARY 767.4: Careful — Your Children May Be Watching
Matt, an eighth grade teacher, was in a huge hurry. With guests arriving at his home shortly, he had a small list of things to buy. With 14 items in his basket, he decided to chance it and use the “10 items or less” express line. Matt’s heart pounded when he saw Phil, one of his students, come toward him. …
Guest Post: Black & White by Barbara Gruener
Editor’s note: Today we bring you a guest post from school counselor and friend of CHARACTER COUNTS! Barbara Gruener. You can keep up with Barbara’s thoughts on character and education at her blog, The Corner on Character. I grew up in a black-and-white world (literally), surrounded by Holstein cows, on our family farm. The motto on the sign in front …
COMMENTARY 767.3: Improve the World — Be Nice!
Marta was a hard-working single mother. Last week, at church, her minister urged the congregation to improve the world by doing more to help others. He’s got to be kidding, she thought, I can barely make ends meet and provide my children with basic necessities. Still, she felt guilty – “maybe I should be doing more.” So, on the bus to work …
QUOTE: If you want to be happy, learn to be alone without being lonely. Learn that being alone does not mean being unhappy. The world is full of plenty of interesting and enjoyable things to do and people who can enrich your life. — Michael Josephson
See more words and images on love and relationships here.
WORTH SEEING AND READING: Happy Together or Alone: Words and Images About Love and Relationships
click to see images (new images added March 23, 2012)
OBSERVATION: “The love of sports is deeply embedded in our national consciousness. The values of millions of participants and spectators are directly and dramatically influenced by the values conveyed by organized sports.” — Josephson Institute, Arizona Sports Summit Accord.
In 1999, the Josephson Institute of Ethics convened a 3-day summit in Arizona with 40 of the most influential leaders in sports including John Wooden, Bob Costas and many of the countries most successful athletic directors, coaches and university presidents. The result was a document referred to as the Arizona Sports Summit Accord which
COMMENTARY 767.1a (Bonus): Is Pro Basketball “Just” a Business? Dumping Derek Fisher Is Lawful but Awful
It’s just a business. Virtually all my friends and fellow fans of the Los Angeles Lakers were content with this justification in response to my protest of the Lakers’ surprising decision to trade a much-loved 16-year-veteran player who had made a huge contribution to the team’s unity and success over the 13 years he’d been a member. When I …
COMMENTARY 766.4: Leadership By Example
Mark Gibson, a former gymnastics coach who worked with many elite athletes, tells a wonderful story about a 15-year-old girl whose work ethic and attitude brought out the best in everyone. Cindy wasn’t a great gymnast, but when she was in the gym everyone complained less, worked harder, and, not surprisingly, achieved more. Cindy was such a powerful motivator because …
COMMENTARY 766.1: The Paradoxical Commandments
In 1968, when Kent M. Keith* was a 19-year-old sophomore at Harvard University, he wrote “The Paradoxical Commandments” as part of a booklet for student leaders. He describes the Commandments as guidelines for finding personal meaning in the face of adversity: 1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway. 2. If you do good, people will accuse you …
WORTH READING: Dealing With Grief: 17 Deep Thoughts for Dark Times
There are no magic potions or secret strategies to deal with grief but here is a selection of special quotations and poems that might provide some perspective, if not comfort. 1. Sorrow makes us all children again — destroys all differences of intellect. The wisest know nothing. — Ralph Waldo Emerson 2. Time is a physician that heals every grief. …
QUOTE: 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, no one drags us along one path or the other. We are responsible for what we are. — Moses Maimonides (adapted)
See more than 100 quotes and images about ethics and virtue from a spiritual or religious perspective here.
COMMENTARY 765.5: Controversy – Young Christian Says He Hates Religion but Loves Jesus
I recently posted a commentary about religion in America and additional data based on a massive study by the Pew Foundation. Today I want to seek your opinion on a passionate controversy ignited by a You Tube video posted by a 22 year-old named Jefferson Bethke.
COMMENTARY 765.4: 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.” The boy tried mightily to lift, pull, and push the branch, but he couldn’t move …
WORTH READING: Wow! Lots of interesting findings and facts on Religion in America
Today’s commentary looks at some of the data in a major survey conducted by the Pew Forum for Religion & American Life. The study comprehensively details the belief patterns of the 14 largest religious traditions. Below is a more complete summary of key findings I found interesting. BELIEF IN GOD. 92% believe in God or a universal spirit; only 8% say …
GUEST POST: Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes by Anne Josephson
Anne Josephson, the wife of Michael Josephson, founded The Josephson Academy of Gymnastics (JAG Gym), one of the largest and most successful gymnastics schools for children in Los Angeles. She is a prominent member of the gymnastics community and an expert on youth sports. She writes a regular blog posted on her website. This post originally appeared on her blog …
WORTH SEEING: Poster – Don’t Make Things Worse
When bad things happen to you, DON”T MAKE THINGS WORSE by starting to see yourself as a victim, or someone who doesn’t deserve
OBSERVATION: You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present. — Jan Glidewell.
Bad things happen to us and around us. Often the best we can do is to limit the harm with a resolve to move forward with open arms.
OBSERVATION: Bad News and Good News
Here’s the bad news: Virtue isn’t a golden ticket to a pain-free life. Bad things happen to good people as often as they happen to bad people. It seems unfair, but in the natural order of the world, suffering is random. To expect otherwise is to sentence oneself to despondency, disillusionment, bitterness, and anger. Here’s the good news: The magic …
OBSERVATION: “Don’t confuse fun with fulfillment, or pleasure with happiness.” — Michael Josephson
One of the gifts of maturity is to realize that happiness is bigger, broader and more enduring than pleasure, and that fulfillment is more meaningful and rewarding than fun and that sometimes, the pursuit of pleasure and fun obstruct the achievement of happiness and fulfillment. — Michael Josephson www.whatwillmatter.com.