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motivation

The Power of Character

Today is D. L. Moody’s birthday. He was born 185 years ago today. I found a quote that goes along with what I’ve been pondering lately. There is a lot of power in character.

If I take care of my character, my reputation will take care of me.

Dwight L. Moody

Dwight L. Moody Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2022. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/dwight_l_moody_157636, accessed February 5, 2022.

The other day, I used a Thomas Paine quote about character and reputation. I suppose it has been heavy on my mind because of past leaders that have fallen when their character didn’t match what they preached.

In fact, it seems we have gotten to a place where we try to ignore the character of leaders. We know they don’t practice what they preach, but we assume no one else does either.

Deep down, we know we can’t trust someone with lousy character. Charisma can only do so much. Talent is not enough to overcome immorality. A preacher with an excellent presentation ends up doing more harm than good when they are found to be dishonest.

Perhaps we want to support the crooked leader because we feel we have no choice. Besides, their words resonate with us. They utter what we would like to say to someone if we had the courage.

brown wooden blocks with number
Photo by Brett Jordan on Pexels.com

Let’s Build Our Character

There are still good people out there. They have taken care of their character and therefore have the credibility to speak what is good. We can be virtuous. If we have faltered in the past (and who hasn’t slipped and faltered), we can work to build our integrity today.

Integrity comes from honesty. No, none of us are righteous. Especially me! Indeed, when we’re honest about our shortcomings, it builds integrity, honor, and trust. Being upright doesn’t mean we are perfect. It means we are honest with ourselves and others.

Like D. L. Moody said, let’s work on the power of our character. When we do, our reputations will be protected.

Categories
motivation

Advice is Like Snow

My post will be a little short today because we had plenty of snow at my house this morning. This guy got to shovel a lot of the white stuff for my morning workout.

Advice is like snow – the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind.”

Samuel Taylor Coleridge
trees covered with snow
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

May the advice you receive be soft and help you make the changes you desire. I will strive to do that tomorrow when there is hopefully a little less snow to shovel.

Categories
motivation

Sit Still!

I have discovered that all human evil comes from this, man’s being unable to sit still in a room.

Blaise Pascal

There is a time for everything. Unfortunately, we tend to not know when it is time to move and when we should sit still. We value action much more than contemplation, don’t we?

There is always a sales goal that we must meet. We have a production goal that has to be fulfilled. And who can forget that job that is very, smoking hot? And of course, there are plenty of distractions all around. How can our kids be so fidgety when we have work to do?

There are goals that need to be met. However, if there isn’t any time to sit still, we can lose focus on what is really important. It isn’t easy when we have so many demands.

brown tree with snow
Photo by Simon Berger on Pexels.com

Today, a winter storm is brewing where I live. Some of us will be forced to slow down and perhaps think for a while. It isn’t what any of us planned. But perhaps it is what we need to stop, sit still, and consider the bigger picture. May we all get a chance to stop and contemplate for a while. At the very least, it may be able to prevent us from some kind of human evil!

Categories
motivation

The Greatest Legacy

Six years ago today, my family lost a dad and grandfather that left a lasting, good impression on our lives. He was a man that left the greatest legacy to his kids.

In his last months, he was so concerned about leaving his family in good shape financially. Yet, he left more than most kids ever hope to have. Billy Graham’s quote says it perfectly.

The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.

Billy Graham

Billy Graham Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2022. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/billy_graham_626354, accessed February 2, 2022.
Photo of my wife and grandkids in 2004. He gave the greatest legacy to his family
Photo of my father-in-law with his wife and grandkids in 2004

Character

I have been blessed by two fathers who have shown me what character looks like. They have lived their values both in public and behind closed doors. The more I have lived and heard the stories of others, the more I know how rare that is.

One moment of indiscretion and ruin a person’s legacy. I am so glad my father-in-law was the real deal. I encourage all of us to live what we believe. Otherwise, what good are our beliefs?

Faith

My father-in-law lived his faith. He believed the future would be better even as he suffered near the end. His faith sustained him through many difficult times.

We would have numerous conversations about the future. Many of them were about the possibilities if we lived a life of faith over fear. It caused him to plan and take steps by faith. I am so thankful for his positive outlook.

My one regret is I would love to have a written record of those conversations so that my children’s children would know about his legacy. That is a project I aim to work on one day. Until then, let’s all work to live the greatest legacy to those who come after us.

Categories
motivation

The Steps to Success

All of us want to succeed. But very few of us want to take the steps to success if that means we fail at something. I get it. Who says, “Yes! Give me more failure, please!”

William Whewell Quotes. BrainyQuote.com, BrainyMedia Inc, 2022. https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/william_whewell_126253, accessed February 1, 2022.

Honestly, until today I wasn’t aware of who William Whewell was. The guy was a renaissance man long after that era was over. He was an Anglican priest, scientist, polymath, and philosopher. Whewell gave us the words “scientist” and “physicist” among others. In short, he was a genius.

Yet, he also saw the value of trying, failing, learning, and trying again to succeed. We may be risk-averse, but without the possibility of failing, there is no path to success. Failure and achievement go hand in hand.

We each have a choice on whether to make something of significance or to avoid the risk of failure and appearing foolish. Each thought we have towards a goal has to be tested. Let’s face it. not every thought we have is going to succeed in the real world.

In a world full of manufactured goods, we are tempted to believe that since that product looks consistent and perfect now, there was never any failure involved. However, I have seen how much trial and error goes into a product and marketing campaign. No one gets it right on the first try.

An assembly line may create a consistent, perfect product now, but how did that product get to that point? Even the assembly line took some testing, failing, and readjusting before it ran smoothly.

Even then, it may not run perfectly one-hundred percent of the time. Has anybody heard of product recalls? Hopefully, a company learns and improves from each one.

So I encourage you to take some steps to achieve today. Be bold enough to try, make some mistakes, learn, and climb the steps to success.