“Faith is not the absence of struggle, but trusting God through it.”
-Church
Tag: faith
The biggest difference between those who succeed and those who fail at any endeavor is their level of commitment. Most people would like to be committed. But in practice, commitment requires an endless series of small painful actions. When a person has no way to deal with that pain, [their] commitment falls apart.
-Phil Stutz and Barry Michels from “The Tools”
“A Decision Can Change Your Life” – Janine Diaz
Nice photo here, of me FINALLY passing my dissertation defense. Ed.D., here we come! Should be official by the end of September.
Included in this photo are my three faculty advisors, whom I appreciate very much. They strove to help me make the best, most professional, acceptable, stellar work possible.
I cannot quantify the hours, days, weeks, months, years of time, I put into this doctorate degree. Technically it was about 3.5 years. But the real time and effort is not quantifiable.
One interesting thing, is that during the process over these years, I could not let myself imagine this day, because it was too painful to imagine while I still had so much work to do. I had to stay Present in the work to keep my motivation. Essentially, not really lifting my head up, but keeping the head to the grindstone until the work was done. Otherwise I was afraid of becoming lazy and unmotivated with the weight of all the work that remained.
No matter what, know that things can get better.
No matter where you are. Or what is going on. Regardless of the impacts of the past, the future can be very unpredictable.
No matter what we think is going to happen, or how we believe things will turn out, we don’t consciously know it all. We don’t know the details. And so often, wild, crazy things have entered into Life to be a part of reality.
Keep positive. Keep open. And definitely, please, stay real.
Keeping positive doesn’t mean denying the truth of the moment. Positivity that can spark change is about accepting the truth of the moment, being a “Yes” to it, with humility, love, connection, and optimism. Imagine the number of people who have done the worst things, and then turned their lives around. Imagine the many miracles people have experienced with seemingly no rhyme or reason, but which have been saving graces in their lives?
Keep positive my friends. Real to your self, your core, your Soul. And yet, positive. Loving. Accepting. Forgiving. Loving. Loving. Loving.
Blessings to you and yours. And all. One Love.
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What is the Answer
What is the Answer?
I donāt even know the question.
I know Iām constantly looking for something.
Whatever it is, itās not going to be found outside.
Even if Iām looking for human interaction / connection, the answer undoubtedly lies in me, or should I say ātruthsā in me.
In a way, thatās a good thing.
Itās always there. Even if lost, itās still with me.
Part of it has to do with needing. Needing / feeding from someoneā¦itās ultimately the direction or path, is through yourself. But, not the ego / character, more so, that door is found inside.
Maybe the reflections on the outside, which is all reflection, helps point us to that door, that way. And by āway,ā I mean honor, focus, source.
I donāt think you, nor I, are exclusively the source, but if you are unsatisfied with the outside, consider looking inside.
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Native American Prayer
“A Prayer to God,
The Spirit of All the World:
O God, Great Spirit of all the world, whose voice I hear in the winds, and whose breath gives life to all living things, hear me! I am small and weak; I need your strength and wisdom. let me walk in beauty, and make my eyes ever behold the setting sun. Make my hands respect the things you have made, and make my ears sharp to hear your voice. Make me wise so that I may understand the things you have taught your people. Let me learn the lesson you have hidden in every leaf and rock. I seek strength, not to be greater than my brothers and sisters, but to fight my greatest enemy: myself. Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes. And when life fades, as the fading sunset, may my spirit come before you without shame.”
(Unfortunately I do not have more detail about the origin of this prayer)
“Luck is the residue of design”
– Predestination (movie)
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When We Do the Best We Can
“When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.“
–Helen Keller
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Excerpt from Siddhartha
“…when you throw a stone into the water, it finds the quickest way to the bottom of the water. It is the same when Siddhartha has an aim, a goal. Siddhartha does nothing; he waits, he thinks, he fasts, but he goes through the affairs of the world like the stone through the water, without doing anything, without bestirring himself; he is drawn and lets himself fall. He is drawn by his goal, for he does not allow anything to enter his mind which opposes his goal.”
—Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
“Everyone can reach their goal, if they can think, wait and fast.”
Short video from Meg LeFauve, writer/director for Pixar Animation Studios. Here she seamlessly weaves together faith, determination, belief, vulnerability, courage through fear, and other values, talking about her career.
Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.
-William James
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Where Courage Lives
Even where there is fear, it doesnt mean we wont overcome. That is where courage lives.
I did a public reading of my book Spark the Flame at BookCon at the Jacob Javitz Center in New York City on June 2, 2018. I read from the section/chapater titled “Theory of General Positivity”, pages 46 – 49.
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Still Difficult Staying Sober
So hard at times to not drink. There are plenty of ideas of why trying some alcohol wouldnt be so bad. I guess the key is, thinking of anything happening after that first sip, as completely unpredictable yet completely preventable, as long as I dont take that sip in the first place.
After uploading the most recent podcast, I ran into this short video of Viktor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning:
Also found online here:
https://www.ted.com/talks/viktor_frankl_youth_in_search_of_meaning
He speaks about aiming for your greater potential to reach one’s true possibilities. Enjoy š
This podcast ended up being over 1 hour long! Enjoy!
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Mistakes are Proof that You are Trying
Mistakes are proof that you are trying
If you dont see many signs,
it canĀ be difficult to believe.
The irony is,
if you believe,
you will see more signs.
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Put Your Heart into it, and Believe
Put Your Heart into it, and Believe
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Sometimes we are given distractions on purpose, so that we look elsewhere while our gift is brought right into our hands
That is a beauty of this world: Things keep going. Things keep growing.
No matter what has occurred, Life will reach out, growing again.
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Spark The Flame ebook
Today is publishing day for Spark the Flame ebook! The printed version will likely be out in early 2016.
This ebook is free for everyone, forever. I hope it is useful to many people around the world for generations. Please share it with anyone and enjoy.
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“The mightiest oak in the forest is just a little nut that held its ground.”