Tag Archives: #confidence

#inspiration

The Beauty of America

I have followers in over 160 countries spread throughout the world. I’m grateful for all of you. My home is in Texas. If you have never visited Texas I hope you have an opportunity to. We’re friendly people!

Part of the beauty of the United States is the kindness we show to others, including our enemies. If there was a disaster in Russia, for example, we would be the first to respond. We have a history of helping. If you recall, the United States helped build a sarcophagus over the Chernobyl nuclear reactor after its core was breached.

It’s election season in the United States, and that can bring out some ugliness from some people. The beauty for most of us is, we can vote differently and still remain friends. I believe the heart of mankind is good.

The election will pass and our country will survive. We are better together…

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#inspiration, #spirituality

Credit

Whether at work or at home, we contribute to the wellbeing of others. When we are working with a team, if our ideas help the team achieve its goals we want our supervisor to know. When other kids parents compliment our children, we let them know how hard we work in raising our children. We want credit.

But what would happen if we just did our work without caring who gets the credit? Maybe we are afraid we will be overlooked for advancement, or we fear someone else takes credit for our work. These concerns, while legitimate, aren’t really important in the grand scheme of things. We are not looking for recognition from our colleagues, but from an audience of one.

God sees everything. He is around us and in us all the time. He’s keeping his own score. He is just and will make things right.

Do your best, and don’t worry about getting credit. God knows…

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#inspiration

I Don’t Need That Kind Of Help

In his book, “The Vision of the Anointed,” Thomas Sowell explains how Congress decides they see something that merits their attention. Millions of dollars are spent studying the “problem,” while countless hours are wasted on something that, many times, was already getting better.

In 1950, less than 3% of people 14 and older were illiterate. The government decided that was too high and decided to get involved. Today, the illiteracy rate is 21%!

In 1960, 20% of black children were born in single parent homes. Congress wrote welfare laws that affected black families disproportionately. The laws were written so that if the welfare applicant had two parents living in the same home, they wouldn’t qualify for help. Fast forward to today and we have 80% of black children being born without a father. Thank God that this is starting to go the other way. Fathers are important.

When Congress decides to involve themselves in problems “only they can solve,” I’m not sure I want their help. My money is on the people. They will solve their problems better than anyone, especially the government…

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#inspiration, #spirituality

Misfits

Everyone has felt like they don’t belong sometimes. The crowd wasn’t really your type, you were underdressed, or maybe you were just feeling insecure. All of us have felt that way. Somehow, some way we survived! (Sarcasm)

I believe being a misfit is a good thing. It’s your opportunity to stand out from the crowd, to speak up when others are being silenced. If a child is being harmed or misled, we have one opportunity to put things right. Take the chance and have no regrets.

Being different from the rest is how God made us. He must love variety because different heights, shapes and sizes are all around us!

Embrace the idea of being a misfit. You will be noticed and remembered. Make sure it’s for something worthwhile…

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#inspiration

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a kind of thinking in which you question, analyze, interpret, evaluate and make a judgment about what you read or hear. Great strides in science and technology have happened as a result of critical thought.

Emotions can block critical thinking. When Arnold Schwarzenegger won the governorship of California, people were screaming they wanted an amendment so he could run for president. This was before he even took office! My thoughts at the time were, let’s see how he does as governor before you anoint him with oil.

We should question everything. Now I understand there’s a lot of data thrown our way every day. Select what’s important. Do your research and dig beneath what the media tells you. You can’t trust them to tell you the whole truth. Your innate curiosity will keep you going when others might quit.

Thinking critically is vital for decision making in our lives. It applies to our decisions about our health and our safety. Take the emotion out and simply think…

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#inspiration, #spirituality

Unspeakable

In the Harry Potter series we learned of Voldemort, also known as “he who must not be named.” Voldemort was born in 1926 and his parents named him Tom Marvolo Riddle. His practice of the dark arts started him on his path of destruction.

There are unjust acts going on around us every day. Children are kidnapped at the border and sold into slavery. Criminals openly rob stores in California and aren’t prosecuted. There are over 500 murders per year in Chicago, even though the city has been designated as having some of the strictest gun laws. Someone missed the memo.

Remaining silent on these and other issues makes us complicit. Those of us in the faith community must take the lead on this. We have gotten far too reliant on the government to solve problems. Their history shows they make things worse.

Be fearless when it comes to speaking out against injustices, crime, and child abuse. Doing what’s right is rarely easy, it seems.

Take the lead and don’t look back…

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#inspiration

Charisma

Charisma is defined as “compelling attractiveness or charm that can inspire devotion in others.” Being referred to as charismatic is quite a compliment.

How does a person become charismatic? I believe it begins with just being yourself. People who are comfortable with themselves and don’t feel the need to act like someone they’re not are genuine. They are a pleasure to be around. You can differentiate between authentic people and fakes.

Stay true to yourself, work through past trauma, and refuse to change colors for the crowd. Then you will be charismatic…

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#inspiration

Reagan

Yesterday I saw the newly released biopic “Reagan.” The story of Ronald Reagan’s life was told by a retired KGB agent played by Jon Voight. You might think of tax cuts and Iran-Contra when you remember Reagan. I think of the fall of the Soviet Union.

Communism is alive and well-funded still today. Communism was founded by Marx and Engels in the 1840’s. On the surface, Marxism sounds like an ideal world. “Everyone prospers,” they tell you. But they lie. Your freedom of speech, freedom to worship wherever you like, freedom to live your life peacefully and go wherever you want are all controlled by the state. Neighbor spies on neighbor as well as their family and friends. Instead of prosperity you have paranoia.

We are always one generation away from losing the freedoms that many people shed their blood for. And don’t be fooled, socialism is “communism light.” It will sneak up on you if you aren’t paying attention. One minute you’re celebrating Christmas and the next minute you’re thrown in jail for saying, “Merry Christmas.”

Don’t take freedom for granted. Thousands died in the Revolutionary War so we can live freely today…

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#inspiration, #spirituality

Better Than

When I was nineteen years old, I had the privilege to live in Norway for the summer. It’s the most beautiful country I’ve ever seen. There’s a picture of the town I lived in at the end of this entry.

I worked as a tour guide for the American, British and German tourists who came through. One thing always pissed me off about the Americans: many of them made comparisons to the United States, saying “this is nice, but we have it so much better at home.” They might be talking about a flush toilet. Seriously. And the Norwegian toilets functioned just fine.

Insecure people compare and complain. No one is better than anyone else. God loves us equally, even the people I don’t care for. Insulting others is, technically, insulting the one who created them. I don’t believe that’s a wise thing to do.

If you feel the desire to compare, remember how important you are to God. He created you, and he didn’t forget about you…

Andalsnes, Norway
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#inspiration

Pesticides

Pesticides are sprayed on the food we eat to control rodents, insects and weeds. Some of the chemicals are harmful, even carcinogenic. Organic produce costs more, no doubt. But what is our body worth? We can’t see the pesticides, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.

Media influence in the culture of today are kinda like pesticides. The last true journalist was Walter Cronkite who simply reported the news as it was. Cronkite didn’t try to mislead us or politicize the news. He was reliable.

Pay attention to what you are told. I encourage you to question everything. Use multiple resources to vet what you are hearing.

Being well-informed is a good thing…

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