Category: Personal Development

Living A Life Of Virtue

Last night, my men’s group began to study ways we can live virtuously. As a society, we don’t talk much about the virtues, which are basically the skills needed to live a moral life.

In our culture today, we do a lot more talking about values than we do virtues. Although values can be a good thing, they are subjective and don’t necessarily help us over the long haul. Our understanding of virtue goes all the way back to Plato and Aristotle, with further development in the New Testament.

Just what is a Virtue? A good definition is: an habitual and firm disposition to do the good, which allows a person not only to do good acts, but to give the best of him/herself. Being virtuous means that you should do good with ease, promptly, consistently and with joy. Sounds like a tall order…

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Life Happens To Everyone

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post from Todd Burrier of toddburrier.com

I realize that because I blog on topics related to living a better life, and with a positive perspective, that I could easily be seen as someone who is either wearing rose-colored glasses all the time or just doesn’t have to deal with anything difficult.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I admit that my glasses are rose-colored more often than not…but that is a choice. And one that ANYONE can choose. There is a positive and negative to everything, why not choose to look at the positive? It is generally a healthy way to view things and it sure feels a lot better! As I have related in past blogs, written in my books, speak about in my seminars, and share with everyone I coach and mentor…it has taken me years to grow from someone who could always point out the negatives and why things are bad for me, to someone who sees the world the opposite way.

Life Happens to me just like it happens to you. I don’t ignore the challenges and adversities in life…THAT would be unhealthy. I do however, focus on how to overcome. It is true that it is not what happens to us that matters, it is what we do about it, and with it, that really matters. I was just overseas on an amazing trip. One in which I received a major award, saw tremendous fruits from my efforts and spent time with incredible people. I left home on a great note as well. While I was away, there was a major “life happens” event in our family. It was handled incredibly well by my wife and my sister, but it is not something that will go away any time soon. It will require adjustments. This is what you do…when things happen, you deal, and then you adjust. You don’t spend time wallowing or wishing it wasn’t so…this is how things get worse, not better.

As I write this, I am using my wife’s computer. Mine crashed the morning after I got back. This cost me many hours of productivity yesterday and will over the next several days. I have to admit…I was a little…upset…yesterday for a few minutes…but after I realized the situation, I have no choice but to work around it. Life Happens.

The key to dealing with “life Happens”, is mental outlook and living a balanced and productive life. When you feed your mind positively you are more up to the task when something confronts you. Balanced productivity means that you are never in neglect in the important areas, so a temporary interference won’t cause you too much issue. These are bigger topics and not for today’s blog.

Inspiration Personal Development Prayer

Ready To Seize The Day?

The past couple of days have been tough. Lots going on, and some of it not so good. I decided earlier this morning that I needed a re-charge, and even though it was a bit cold, I sat on my patio for a while.

I just wanted to sit there, coffee in hand, and think. Despite it being early, there was lots going on in my backyard. It looked like every type of bird was busy picking up nesting materials. They are a determined bunch, and I’m sure I’ll hear lots of baby birds in the very near future.

As the sun rose higher, my thoughts turned to prayer. Even though there seems to be a lot of negative things going on, there is also cause for rejoicing.

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Don’t Let Temporary Setbacks Keep You Down

Post author By seedthrower1
Post date 05/03/2011
1 Comment on Don’t Let Temporary Setbacks Keep You Down

It happens to everyone. We’re going along fine, achieving our goals, fulfilling our commitments, and life is good. But then, an unexpected expense, an illness, a major disappointment, or some type of loss occurs, and we may get the impression that we’re right back to square one. And if we are, so what?

Inspiration Mind Personal Development

Public Speaking

Do you have a fear of public speaking? I’m amazed at how many people do, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you’re one of them. In fact, three-quarters of Americans rate speaking in public as the thing they’re most fearful of. It even surpasses death.

After reading Dale Carnegie’s books, I realized that, although I’m not afraid to speak in public, I could do a much better job with it. I simply don’t spend enough time preparing, which sometimes leads to poorly executed presentations.

So, I went to a Toastmasters meeting tonight. This international group, which has been around since 1924, meets to help its members improve their speaking and leadership skills. The little chapter that meets in Westminster seemed nice enough, and I enjoyed listening to the various presenters give a talk, which was followed with a critique.