August 19, 2009
Do you belong to that body of individuals who seems to believe they already know enough? If success is your goal, you must become a storehouse for new information. You must avoid the pitfalls of becoming someone who is comfortable with his level of knowledge in the field of his choosing. In other words, don’t be a know-it-all.
There’s an eye-opening story about three men whoo were sentenced to be guillotined – a priest, a doctor, and a college proffessor. Each was allowed to to make one last statement prior to his execution. The priest was the first to approach the bench. His final words were, “Keep the faith!” The blade dropped on the priest, came within two inches of his neck and mysteriously stopped. Everybody thought it was a miracle from above, the priest was set free.
The doctor was next. He held his head high and uttered, “Physician, Heal thy self!” Once again the guillotine mysteriously stopped from its destination. Thinking it was a message that the doctor was innocent, he, too, was liberated.
Finally the proffessor approached the chopping block and with apoor sense o timing said, “If you tighten the two bolts on the left, the guillotine will work as intended.”
You see, some people think they have all the answers. Education is a lifelong process and should end only when you do. Every day is commencement da because education is cumulative.
Categories: Motivational, Personal, Success.
August 15, 2009
“Why are we here?” Dr. Martin Luther King was asked. “Life requires our service,” was his reply. Service is the key. Throw yourself into his idea. How can I be of service, or how best can I serve? And keep serving? The greatest thing in the world is the opportunity to be of service to others. There is an entire world crying out for our help, our ideas, our endless products and services.
There is much to be said for the old cliche “Service with a smile.” If your attitude is positive and you go the extra mile, giving added service over and above that which is required, then you are well on your way to becoming a fulfilled person. The habit of giving more and better service brings rewards in many forms – both in the heart and in the pocket-book. Bread cast upon the water will return to sustain and strengthen the individual who is rendering more service and better service than is expected.
Kill ‘em with service! That’s the key to success in life. Give your very best, and work at making it better, and give others more than they expect. When you give freely, your receive abundantly. Service is the answer – service to everyone who is important to you. By serving mankind first, you can in turn be provided with everything you could possibly want or desire.
Categories: General, Inspirational, Motivational, Tips.
Tags: Business, General, Personal
August 10, 2009
Once upon a time there were two shopkeepers who were bitter rivals. Their stores were across the street from each other, and they would spend the better part of each day sitting in the doorway, each keeping an eye on the other’s business. One night an angel appeared to one of the shopkeepers in a dream and said, “God has sent me to teach you a lesson. He will give you anything you ask for, but I want you to know that whatever you get, your competitor across the street will receive twice as much.
“Would you like to be wealthy? You can be very wealthy, but your neighbor will be twice as rich. Do you want to lead a long and healthy life? This you can have, but your neighbor’s life will be longer and healthier. You can be famous, have children you will be proud of, whatever you desire. But whatever is granted to you, your competitor will be granted twice as much.”
The man frowned, thought for a moment, and said, “All right, my request is this: Strike me blind in one eye.”
We tend to be cruel and vent our rage against those we secretly envy. If a man has a better garden, he is envied by his neighbors; if he gains a promotion, he is envied by his fellow workers; if he is able to cope with events so that he lives happily, he is envied by failures. Yet in the end we only hurt ourselves with envy.
Categories: General, Inspirational, Motivational, Personal, Success.
Tags: Art, Autos, Business, Entertainment, Money, Personal
August 4, 2009
Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, president emeritus of Morehouse College, explained that each of us can reach our level of true greatness – if we know what greatness is. Dr. Mays said, “Wealth, position, or power are no measure of greatness. Greatness is defined by what we have become and what we might have been. The people who close this gap we call great.”
What makes the great, great? Ask Alice Walker. After graduating from high school as valedictorian, young Alice was so poor that her neighbors took a collection to purchase her seventy-five-dollar bus ticket to Atlanta’s Spelman College. But poverty proved to be no match. Today Alice Walker lives in a manner in which few do because her books are read by millions.
What makes the great, great? “I know the bitter taste of poverty” said Bessie Smith. “I’ve gone to bed with the gnawing pain of hunger.” Though barefoot and dirt poor, she single-handedly created the musical expression that became known as the blues.
What makes the great, great? Though criticized, ridiculed, and told that colored players would never be allowed to compete. Andrew Rube Foster stayed true to his aim. In 1921 Foster formed the Negro League, professional baseball’s first all-black organization.
What makes the great, great? After attending college in New York, Edith Sampson returned to her tiny Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, home and saw her mother weeping. “Mother, why are you crying?” Edith asked. “We may not be able to keep you in school,” her mother replied.
“Don’t worry,” her daughter responded. “I’ll find a way. I’ll study at home, at night, and every chance I get. Mother, you’ll be proud, and I will finish!” Edith Sampson consequently became the first black female elected judge in the United States.
“What makes the great, great?” The answer lies within your heart. Begin now to close the gap and realize your destiny.
Categories: General, Inspirational, Motivational, Personal, Success.
Tags: Autos, Business, Kids, Marketing, Personal
August 1, 2009
A very wise man once said, “If you can tell me what you want, I can tell you how to get it.” He was a wise man because he knew that each of us has the capability to achieve whatever we desire. The great majority of people who are dissatisfied with their lives suffer from not having decided upon what they want.
A young pianist visited Eubie Blake, the father of ragtime music, and said, “I want to write a musical score. Will you tell me how to go about it?”
“You’re too young,” replied the great black musician. “Wait until you are a few years older.”
“But,” objected the struggling artist, “you composed when you were barely in your teens.”
“Yes,” agreed Blake, “but I didn’t have to ask anyone how to do it.”
The question that begs asking is, How do I know I have the ability to achieve what I want? The answer is self-evident. We do not seriously want things that we do not have the ability to achieve. We all seem to have a built-in governor that keeps us from wanting what is beyond our capabilities. The wide spectrum of occupations and accomplishments shows us the diversity of human desires.
So what is the master formula for attainment? Simple. Make up your mind – know exactly what you want, and then DO IT!
Categories: Inspirational, Motivational, Personal, Success.
Tags: Business, Kids, Law, Marketing, Personal
July 30, 2009
There’s so much talk about excellence today. Ours is a society obsessed with excellence. Are you striving to be your best? Are you committed to excellence or are you average? Though each of us is average in different areas of our lives how great it is to be excellent! And make no mistake about it, we can all be excellent! Successful individuals like the famed educator Booker T. Washington encourage us to do our best.
“Success may involve talent,” explained the celebrated choreographer Alvin Ailey. “But excellence involves YOU”
“If we are to move ahead as a people,” warned former U.S. congresswoman Shirley Chrisholm, “we must strive for the highest standards.” Achievers know the difference between average and excellence. Excellence means standing up to life, living your life for a case greater than yourself so future generations will know that YOU played a role. The successful are remembered for their contributions, and the failures are remembered because they tried but the average are just forgotten.
Strive to make excellence your standard. A commitment to excellence is the attitude to mediocrity. You need only to stand up and choose personal excellence. This act alone will guarantee your success.
Categories: Inspirational, Motivational, Personal, Success.
Tags: Business, Kids, Law, Marketing, Money, Personal
July 29, 2009
Our success, our wealth, and our abundance do not come from technology, or from our vast mineral resources, or from our production lines within our factories. They do not come from our manipulation of markets or our political and economic systems, science, or military might. Whence, then, you ask, do they emanate? Where can you find the key to the twenty-first century? It can be found where it has always been located – in you, the individual.
We have all read news stories telling of almost superhuman feats performed by people under the pressure of a strong emotional stimulus. For example, a twelve-year-old boy lifts an unmovable log off the legs of his father; or a slender house-wife frees her husband trapped beneath the family car. People with a burning desire to accomplish an ambitious goal do accomplish it, while others, without realizing their full potential, fall by the wayside.
Watch an artist painting a picture and see how he occasionally steps back to gain perspective on what he is painting. Likewise, you might benefit from such an approach. Step back and evaluate – how much of your full potential are you using? Are you exercising your unique talents? Are you utilizing your precious gifts? It is althogether in your hands.
Categories: Inspirational, Motivational, Personal, Success.
Tags: Autos, Business, Kids, Marketing, Money, Personal
July 27, 2009
There is an old saying that goes, It is impossible to succeed without suffering. Failure becomes the final test of persistence. He who has never failed has never succeeded.
Success of any kind is like a universal college degree. It can be earned only by following a certain course that exposes the achiever to life’s adversities. It is impossible for success to be easy. Success is difficult; it’s gut-wrenching, pain-inducing. It’s built upon inconvenience. Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Success seems to follow a kind of natural selection process. Only those individuals who are willing to rally again after their failures, those who refuse to let defeat keep them down, those who seem to know that success can be theirs if they just stay with it long enough, finally with he fruits of life.
After failing many times in her bid for political office, former congresswoman Shirley Chrisholm gave a clue to her secret of success: “The thing to try when all else fails is admit that just as they felt they were finally reaching the point in life on which they had set their hearts, the rug was pulled out from under them and they found themselves back at the beginning. Only those of patient persistence are rewarded. Only those who can hang in there long after the crowd has left drink from the victor’s cup. Repeated victories over your problems are the rungs on your ladder of success. Make your breaking point your turning point.
Categories: Inspirational, Motivational, Personal, Success, Tips, Women.
Tags: Business, Financial, House & Home, Personal, Real Estate
July 27, 2009
Most of us normally perform far below our capabilities simply because we lack faith in ourselves. This can be changed . When we talk about faith and belief, we have to refer to the greatest book ever written and the greatest teacher of the ages. He summed it up when he said, “Go thy way; and as thou believed, so be it done unto thee.”
This simple statement cuts both ways, like a two-edged sword. Faith is your key to unlock the door of success. Or it is the lock that imprisons and keeps you from experiencing success and achievement. “Faith keeps the man who keeps his faith,” says the award-winning actor Lou Gosset. “Genuine faith,” writes Dr. King, “is assuring, insuring, and enduring.” And singer Patti LaBelle captures the essence of faith. She says, “Faith gives us the courage to endure the present as we anticipate the future.”
As a positive power, faith is the promise of the realization of things hoped for and unseen. Faith only comes by doing. We learn by doing. For example, we learn to walk not by reading books on walking or watching others walk, but by walking. We learn to talk not by listening to others talk, but by talking. We learn to love not by discussing love, but by loving; we learn to hope by hoping. And likewise we learn to add to our faith by expressing our faith. In order for faith to be effective, it cannot exist in the passive state. Faith must be applied. So add to your faith.
Categories: Inspirational, Love, Motivational, Personal, Relationships, Success, Tips.
Tags: Art, Autos, Financial, House & Home, Kids, Marketing
June 21, 2009
In reality, all of us are born free and equal. But how many truly find meaning within there words? When one child is born into the lap of luxury with servants to attend his every whim and fancy, how can he be said to be born equal to the child who has difficulty securing many of life’s simplest needs – adequate food, shelter, and clothing? How do we account for the great inequality among men and women? The following tale may provide a clue.
As a preacher and a soapmaker took a walk together, the soapmaker turned to the preacher an asked, “What good is religion? Look at all the misery and trouble within the world after thousands of years of teaching about goodness, truth, and peace – after all the prayers and sermons. If religion is so good for people, why should this be?”
The preacher said nothing. They continued to walk until they noticed a child playing in the gutter. Then the preacher said, “Look at that child. You say that soap makes people clean, but see the dirt on that little child? Of what good is soap? With all the soap in the world, that child is still filthy. I wonder how effective soap is after all?”
The soapmaker protested the analogy and said, “But Preacher, that’s not fair. You know soap is useless unless it is used.”
“Exactly,” replied the preacher. “So it is with religion.” Each of us is equal in what counts most: We have equal access to the great Mind of the universe that governs all and knows all. Each of us can draw upon this Life Force for whatever our needs may be, but this power lies dormant unless we use it.
Categories: Inspirational, Motivational, Success.
June 20, 2009
During his campaign to become Seattle’s first black mayor, Norman Rice told a frenzied crowd, “There’s nothing more powerful than an idea. No weapon can destroy it; no power can conquer it!” An idea is power. Ideas rule the world. An idea even built the universe. A single idea – the sudden flash of thought – may be worth millions of dollars, and one trained mind can be the sponsor of a momentous plan. The real ideas of power are in your consciousness just waiting for the miracle of birth.
One idea can change the world. Johnnie Colemon changed the world in her lifetime by presenting humanity with the idea of a higher spiritual existence. Nelson Mandela changed the world by forcing a nation to adhere to the principle of personal freedom. The Reverend Barbara Harris changed the world with the idea that peace and harmony conquers all. Mary McLeod Bethune changed the world by transforming a world of ignorance and poverty into one of self-respect, personal excellence, and achievement. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X changed the world as they forced a nation to come to grips with its commitment to freedom, And you, too, can change the world by giving birth to the many ideas that you harbor within.
Dare what no person will dare. Seek to accomplish what no individual will attempt. Open up the channels between your mind and the creative force, and there is no limit to the good that will come pouring in. Concentrate your thoughts and ideas, and abundance will come flooding down. What you need, what mankind needs, is one good idea!
Categories: Inspirational, Motivational, Success.
June 15, 2009
According to ancient legend, there was an African tribe that was always at war with other tribes. They caused great destruction and pillaged at will. They had no morals, love or compassion. A concerned elder of a nearby tribe moved quickly to try to save his people. He called together members from neighboring tribes in an attempt to right the wrongs. After much discussion the wise an insightful elder decided to take the key to his tribe’s potential and hide it where the warring tribe could never find it. Where to hide this power became the question of huge importance.
Some suggested he bury it deep into the earth. Other said to place it on top of the highest mountain. Still other thought it best to sink it deep into the ocean. There was no agreement until the elder who had gathered the together said, “Here is what we will do. We will hide mankind’s omnipotent power deep within man himself, for he will never think to look for it there. ”
Since this tale was told, Black America has traveled the globe, climbing, digging, probing, exploring and constantly searching for something that it already possesses. Nearly a century ago, Marcus Garvey discovered it, Sixty years later, both A. Philip Randolph and Roy Wilkins found it and shared its secret with those who would listen. But as the story goes, our inexhaustible potential – our greatest gift – has been the best kept secret of the ages.
Categories: General, Inspirational, Motivational, Success.
June 14, 2009
There is a way out of limitation that never fails, and it’s shockingly simple. It calls for no formalities, no money, no effort, and little risk. It is obvious enough when you realize it, but so many overlook it. Here’s a clue: Be still, be quiet, and listen to your spirit. If you will listen to your spirit, you will be amazed at the quick and striking results you will obtain. When you align yourself with this force – the inner voice – you are always in divine order. Everything about you will have meaning and purpose, and though the inner voice can be suppressed, it can never be silenced.
The Creator uses every aspect of you being – spiritual, physical, emotional, and intellectual – to communicate with us. When we learn to look for answers inwardly rather than outwardly, we no longer give people, institutions, or traditions authority to define who we are or what we can become. Although this tranformation will cost nothing, it will not be free. As a matter of fact it will cost you a great deal, because the price o success always requires some type of payment.
And what exactly is the price? None other than your life! If you are prepared to render this sum, your results will be automatic and the answers you seek will not be very far. During the recent presidential inauguration Reverend William DeVeaux, pastor of Washington, D.C.s, A.M.E. church, told President Clinton, “It takes great listening as well as great preaching to make a great sermon.” God speaks to those who take time to listen.
Categories: General, Inspirational, Motivational, Success.
June 10, 2009
It is not inconceivable that a few generations from now historians may record this age as the period of mankind’s greatest folly. In the midst of the greatest abundance the world has ever seen, far too many suffer because of negative mental attitudes. These poor souls remain enmeshed in the jaws of despair and hopelessness when happiness is within their reach.
They are like a sculptor having both the training and the tools with which to work, standing before a huge block of marble, admiring its beauty yet never turning a hand. Or like the man who despises the darkness but sits alone in his modern home refusing to turn on the light switch. Will it be strange if future generations call them foolish? How many among us really believe that all good is ours right now? Not one in a thousand. For too long we have formed the habbit of thinking a thing “too good to be true.” Nothing is too good to be true!
The world is full of people who believe that choice is dead and freedom is a thing of the past. But we must continue to make choices – choices that will eventually determine our destiny. Your greatest gift is the power of choice.
Maggie L. Walker, America’s first black female bank president, gave a rousing speech in which she said, “When it comes to success, the choice is simple. You can either stand up and be counted, or lie down and be counted out!” Choosing the right mental attitude is basic to all achivement.
Categories: General, Inspirational, Motivational, Success.
June 3, 2009
The question “What is Truth?” is the cry of every person’s soul at some time in his or her life. Truth is the state in which spirit dwells, a state of perfection that is eternally, creatively active. Truth may be defined as the action of spirit.
For example, most of us think of ourselves as standing wearily and helplessly at the corner of a circle bristling with tasks, burdens, problems, annoyances, and responsibilities that are rushing in upon us. At every moment we have a dozen different things to do, a host of problems to solve, a dozen challenges to endure. We see ourselves as overridden, overburdened, and overworked.
This is a common picture – but it is not the truth. No one, however crowded his or her life, has such an existence. What is the true picture of life? Imagine sands passing through an hourglass, one at a time. This is the only way they can come. The day may bring many tasks and problems, but invariably they come in single file. They just trickle down one by one. And how do we handle them? One at a time.
Beware of half-truths. You might get hold of the wrong half. Truth is something that must be known in the heart, accepted in the mind, and enacted in life.
Categories: General, Inspirational, Motivational, Success.
June 2, 2009
In his return match with the great German boxer Max Schemeling, Joe Louis told his challenger during a prefight news conference, “You can run, but you can’t hide. There is no hiding place in this ring.” So it is with life and the principles of success. Nobody breaks the rules of success and prosperity. The laws of success are the laws of destiny.
Our Creator has clearly defined mental guidelines to direct our path: The laws of attraction, cause and effect, substitution, belief, habit, use or lose, and correspondence are only a few. Each guideline leads us to the safest and most fruitful path to travel. There is law and order in the universe. These rules for the road plant our feet on firm ground. They are words of reality that can provide light and uplift for your immediate pathways, and they can offer a beam of light down the corridors of our uncertain tomorrows.
No law has ever been passed that will keep an individual from acting like a fool. But obey these laws and proper, disregard them and fail. Some say, “Look what I created!” but the truly successful say, “Look what I attracted.”
Categories: Motivational, Success.
June 1, 2009
It is often oppressive circumstances that on gathers hope. Hope is the father of achievement. It reinforces ability, redoubles energy, fortifies existing talent, and increases faith. Armed with the power of hope, Rosa Parks sat down so that an entire race could stand up.
Hope places everything within perspective. It was hope that rescued the spirits of W.E.B. DuBois as he overcame racism and abuse at Harvard University and became the school’s first African-American Phi Beta Kappa. It was ope that propelled Naylor Fitzhugh through Harvard’s radically charged atmosphere nearly forty years later then he became the first African American to earn a master’s degree in business administration. And it was HOPE that enabled a shy farm girl named Annie Mae Bullock to endure hardship, an abusive marriage, and the roller-coaster ride of the music industry. Today, Janet Jackson fills concert halls as millions jam to watch her strut her stuff.
As our ancestors toiled within the cotton fields of the South, hope was born. As they worked, they composed songs, “sorrow songs,” out of their evironment. With eyes of faith, they could look beyond their innediate enslavement and translate hope out of their existing circumstances.
Remember, life may not always run smoothly. Life sometimes travels in a downward spiral. Sometimes on the road to success we get weary. Our feet hurt. It is during these trying moments that we must fill our hearts with hope.
Categories: General, Motivational.
May 28, 2009
Long ago a king, plagued by many worried, harassed on every side, called his wise men together. He asked them to invent a motto, a few magic words that would help him in time of trial or distress. “It must be brief enough to be engraved on a ring,” he instructed, “so, I can see it every day. It must be appropriate to every situation, as useful in prosperity as in adversity. It must be a motto wise and true and endlessly enduring, words by which a person could be guided for his or her life, in every circumstance, no matter what happens.”
The wise men thought and thought, and finally came to the monarch with their magic words. These were words for every change or chance of fortune, declares the wise men. Words to fit every situation, good or bad. Words to ease the heart and mind in every circumstance. The words they offered to the king were: “This too, shall pass.”
Century after century this old legend has survived. Whether or not the motto was invented for a troubled king, no one really knows. But this much is certain: The words are wise and true and endlessly enduring. They have proved their power down through the ages, to uncounted men and women, in every land and every conceivable situation. These magic words will give comfort to the depressed. As we climb the ladder success and encounter life’s tougher moments, we can find solace in these words of wisdom: This, too, shall pass.
Categories: Motivational.
May 26, 2009
The United Negro College Fund professes that “a mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Latch onto this thought. It’s the first step on the road to freedom and prosperity. Mind is cause, and experience is effect.
Everything happens to us twice in life. First the inner, and then the outer. First the mental, then the physical. First the thought, then the thing. All causation is mental.
Harmonious living tells of harmonious thinking. A turbulent life reveals some kind of inner turmoil. We may believe that we are positive, settled people, but if we notice troubles or conflicts in our outer conditions, we must look within to see what inner negativity has surfaced. If you want to know what’s in your subconscious, you don’t have to go to a psychiatrist. Just look at the condition of your home, your car, your health, your relationships. Outer events are simply skin and bones of inner thoughts.
Whatever you experience in life is really the outpicturing of your thoughts up to this point. Change your thoughts and beliefs, and the outer picture must change also. Judge not according to appearances, but according to your mind’s eye.
Categories: General, Motivational.
May 20, 2009
Most people haven’t the slightest idea of who they are and what they are. When questioned about their true identity many are equally confused. Who are you?
Historically, we were called “nigger” before we had the right to vote, “niagras” when just a few of us went to the polls, “colored folk” when our numbers began to swell, and “Negroes” when we began the great migration north in the forties and fifties. But who are you? With the power in the 1960s came self-respect. “Black,” it seemed, was the final step on the road to dignity and equality. Not so, say many leaders and social activists of the day. “African American,” it has been said, is the proper term. But again, I ask, who are you?
Each of us sooner of later will search for you true identity. For example, ”wetbacks” became “illegal aliens” and then “undocumented workers.” The “old” became the “elderly” and now “senior citizens”; the “crippled” became “handicapped,” “disabled” and now “physically challenged.”
If any of the above labels – African American, black, Negro, of Coloured – seems symbollically out of place, then of course it should and must go. But if you told me that you are a “mind with a body,” a spiritual being, apart of the great “I AM,” you would be closer to the truth. You would be in line with the African proverb that states, “If you don’t know who you are, anyone can name you; and if anyone can name you, you will answer to anything.”
Categories: General, Motivational, Uncategorized.
Tags: People
May 16, 2009
Former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier once said, “Prayer is just as important as roadwork.” The ex-champ beat the odds by utilizing hard work, self-confidence, and unshakable faith – the power within.
Dr. Georgia L. McMurray, who has been stricken with Charcot-Marie-Tooth atrophy, a congenial degenerative disease that has left her completely paralyzed, is one of the nation’s top educators. From her motorized wheelchair she continues her research and remains committed to championing the causes of young adults, particularly teenage mothers. Dr. McMurray’s remarkable life proves that a physical challenge of any kind – whether an early pregnancy or a rare disease – need not be a limitation to excellence. Much in demand, she closes her speeches with a prayer: “I ask God for strength to continue the journey.”
The Archbishop Desmond Tutu continues to fight the greatest enemy known to mankind” ignorance. Armed with nothing more than an uncomparable faith, Bishop Tutu refuses to bend or bow. On more than one occasion he has mentioned that “God will see me through.”
Joe Frazier, Dr. Georgia McMurray, and Bishop Tutu understand the Universal Law of Spiritual Power that governs their lives. They know that the vitality of the Creator – the designer of the universe – permeates every fiber of our being. Infinite Intelligence guides us to health, happiness, and prosperity. Chase your dreams! Climb the highest mountain. Call upon the spiritual power that rests within.
Categories: Motivational.
