Category: Mind

The Iron Lady

Last night I had a bit of an ironic experience. I was talking with some friends about the sadness of Alzheimer’s disease and the toll it takes on families. Very sad, difficult, and painful.

Then, before I went to bed, I watched about thirty minutes of “The Iron Lady,” in which Meryl Streep does a remarkable job portraying Margaret Thatcher, who was once the Prime Minister of England, and now suffers with Alzheimer’s herself. Such a brilliant mind to be lost to this disease.

If you haven’t seen the movie, you should check it out, even if it’s only to see Streep’s fine acting abilities.

Why did I want to write about this today? It’s because of a haunting line I heard last night.

Left To Tell

One of the people in a faith formation program I’m leading at church recently asked me if I had ever heard of the book Left To Tell written by a Rwandan woman named Immaculee Ilibagiza.

When I told her I had never heard of the book, she promised to loan me her copy, which she brought the following week.

I was in the midst of reading another book at the time, and it was only over last weekend that I was able to get into this powerful story about the Rwandan holocaust which took place in 1994.

Inspiration Mind Personal Development

The Art of Self-Discipline

Post author By seedthrower1
Post date 03/13/2012
No Comments on The Art of Self-Discipline

Today’s post comes from my friend Todd Burrier, who you’ve met on these pages before.

I get Todd’s posts just about every day, and he always has an uplifting message.

This post is a big challenge, since many of us tend to lack self-discipline. Put a spy/mystery novel in my hands, and it doesn’t matter what I was supposed to be doing, I can quickly let time slip away.

I’m actually reading a new one right now, and, well… No matter what’s going on in your life right now, we could all use a bit more self-discipline. It will only make us better people, wouldn’t you agree?

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Be Forgiving

I was talking to a friend early this morning. He had forgotten that he made a commitment to his coworker to meet earlier than normal, and the man had to wait for some time for my friend to show up. He wasn’t happy.

In life, things like this happen all the time. Sometimes, we’re the person who forgets. Sometimes, we’re the person left waiting. It’s these little things in life that seem to drag us down.

Ignatian Spirituality Inspiration Mind Personal Development

The Dream Manager

A friend of mine gave me a great little book for my birthday. Written by Matthew Kelly, The Dream Manager is a wonderful story of how a struggling company was able to turn things around because they helped their employees achieve their dreams.

Written in 2007 when we were living in better times, I believe the book has even more relevance today, since there are so many who are going through difficult times and might feel that their dreams will never come to pass.

Inspiration Mind Personal Development Prayer

More On Friendships

Several weeks ago, I wrote a post about our need for God-centered friendships. I hope it caused you to take some time to assess your relationships, looking for signs of a mutual lifting up and encouraging one another to grow in holiness.

The other day, a friend of mine gave me some pamphlets written by Fr. Emmerich Vogt, a Dominican priest. My friend was hoping that we might be able to distribute the pamphlets at my church. Fr. Vogt travels around the country giving talks on transformation, a subject dear to my heart. One the pamphlets in his Self Knowledge series was on friendship, and he raised some really excellent points about what it means to have healthy and holy friendships.

Inspiration Mind Personal Development

Sign Up For A Class

I can’t remember being this excited for the New Year. 2011 has been one for the record books, and I’m glad it’s ending soon.

I’ve been writing about the season of Advent quite a bit lately, and these days of preparation for Christmas can also help us get ready for the year to come.

I met with a good friend yesterday, and he has agreed to help me lay out a success strategy for 2012. Not only is he helping me develop the plan, but he’s also willing to keep my on task so that I accomplish what I set out to do. Nice.

Inspiration Mind Personal Development

It’s Snow Time

In all the year’s I’ve lived in Maryland, I can’t recall ever having predictions of snow this early. Heck, it isn’t even Halloween yet 🙁

Well, the weather forecasters are predicting, if you can believe it, up to eleven inches of snow in my area by Saturday night. Yuck.

Inspiration Mind Prayer

He Has Plans

I went to a conference this weekend down in Richmond, VA. According to the map, this shouldn’t be that long of a trip, traveling on major roads and, despite the rain, a nice drive. Wrong.

From what I understand, some of the worst traffic in the country can be found on the highways I was traveling. I can attest to this fact, and I have to say that even the congestion in Los Angeles doesn’t compare. But, in the end, my trip was made better by a cd set that came in the mail the day before.

Ignatian Spirituality Inspiration Mind Prayer

Rejoice

I got together with some friends last night for dinner. The weather here in Westminster is starting to remind us that we’re in the fall season. I think the low last night was in the 40’s.

As we sat outside talking for a bit, I realized how blessed I am. Despite all the problems in our world today (and in our own lives), we still have it really good. That’s cause for rejoicing. 🙂