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motivation

Failure Over Excuses

In John Maxwell’s book, Intentional Living, Maxwell encourages us to live each day with intentionality instead of merely good intentions.

One of the biggest regrets I’ve had was that I never attempted to become a newspaper syndicated cartoonist. I sent plenty of magazine gag cartoons and I had modest success. I even put together a submission to send out for syndicates. But I never took the first step and mailed that packet.

On the other hand, when I took a risk and went with my wife to Arizona, I felt I failed because I only got steady work just weeks before circumstances made us head back to the Midwest. Yet, I don’t regret it for a minute. We made good, new friends and I learned I could do what it took to make a living without the aid of old friends and family as support.

Maxwell is right, I regret the excuse I made for never submitting a syndicated comic strip more than the failure of trying a move that didn’t quite work as we expected.

Categories
motivation productivity Running

Lessons From a Seventeen Mile Florida Run

August sunrise at Juno Beach, Florida
I took this photo when I was into the third mile of my run.

Seventeen miles wasn’t my goal. I was determined to get nineteen miles in. But after seventeen miles, there was a drawbridge between me and my goal. It looked like a mountain. I had been training in Ohio. But now I was in Florida. It was 10:00 AM and 91° Fahrenheit. My water bottles were nearly empty. I decided to call it off and get a ride.

Next month (September 2017), I plan to run The Air Force Marathon in Dayton, Ohio. It will be my first marathon and I have been training for the race. I was determined to keep to my schedule despite the change of locale. 

Three days later, I am thinking about what the run taught me.

Categories
motivation

Going With the System Can Only Take You so Far

This Entrepreneur article may not be what the high achieving students want to read, but I’ve seen it in action.  

Why Valedictorians Rarely Become Rich and Famous — and the Average Millionaire’s College GPA is 2.9

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children's ministry cartoons church cartoons Kidzmatter Magazine Magazine

Volunteer Appreciation Sunday

© Copyright 2017 Kidzmatter &Kevin SpearI have seen my wife display supreme leadership when it comes to volunteers. It takes a true leader to motivate a group of volunteers, especially when change is involved.

Categories
motivation

No Disturbing the Rocks

Sign says Notice: Do not disturb rocksThis sign amused me when I first saw it, then it got me thinking. I never thought rocks needed protection. Yet some do, don’t they?

The rocks surrounding this sign were large and looked too heavy for anyone to move. It looked like a solid foundation to me. Yet someone must have moved a few of them before if this sign was deemed necessary.