A Waste of Words and Words that Waste

                  “Isn't it kind of silly to think that tearing someone else down builds you up?”

Sean Covey

My brothers are both very wise men

And I have often had the benefit of their wisdom

Sometimes unsolicited

But there is one thing they told me that I have always remembered

and found to be invariably true:

If someone is talking to you about someone else

They are probably talking about you

when you are not there

It is pretty scary to watch:

A coworker who will slam a colleague behind their back

and then smile prettily to their face

 Yikes!

Let's make a deal to 

                                                           by giving it nowhere to go
                                                                       

                                            Remember the words of Eleanor Roosevelt:

“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”

and that's poetiquejustis

Wounds made by a friend are intended to help, 

but an enemy's kisses are too much to bear. 

Proverbs 27:6

It's A Shot

You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take

Wayne Gretzky

Mind check:

When you have an idea- is your inclination to  focus on why it will not work?

Are you so busy looking at both sides of the coin 

That you lose sight of the goal?

Michael Jordan said:

 

I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times

 I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. 

I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life.

 And that is why I succeed.

Take the shot!

And that's poetiquejustis

But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed,

 but to those who have faith and are saved.

Hebrews 10:39

What Will Tomorrow Look Like?

It is always too early to quit

Norman Vincent Peale

Imagine what your world would be

If you did all the things you are talking about doing

Having adventures instead of idea

Making progress instead of excuses

Where would you be if you headed down the road ahead

Instead of frantically looking for detours?

So tell me...

Where will you be tomorrow

If you just get it done today?

Ralph Marston said:

What you do today can improve your tomorrow.

and that's poetiquejustis

“Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning."

Luke 12:35

Face Forward!

Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward.

Victor Kiam

 

 "been down so long it looks like up to me"

What if I I told that this is a good thing!

Are you falling on your face a lot?

Good for you!

It means you are trying something new

Being brave

Being innovative.

Remember when you were a kid and you went through that rite of passage- the high dive at the pool?

I hope your life is filled with those moments!

And you always take the plunge!

And that's poetiquejustis

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline - 

2 Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline - See more at: http://www.womensbiblecafe.com/2011/05/50-scripture-verses-on-fear/#sthash.eHWkw9Qw.dpuf

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline - See more at: http://www.womensbiblecafe.com/2011/05/50-scripture-verses-on-fear/#sthash.eHWkw9Qw.dpuf

Champion Your Cause

Expect problems, and eat them for breakfast.

Alfred A Montapert

You can dodge

You can weave

You can even get them on the ropes

But problems are going to take a swing at you

so you may as well think like a champ

and that's poetiquejustis

 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, 

 against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world 

and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  

Ephesians 6:12

 
 

Iced

We live amid surfaces and the true art of life is to skate well on them

Emerson

When I was about twelve, I got my first pair of ice skates. 

We lived in New Jersey which is not exactly the center of the skating world,

 but there was an IceOrama or something like that at the mall 

and my parents signed me up for lessons. 

I loved it.

I loved the cute little skirts and the swish of the skates.

I loved the grace and the power of the skaters.

There was only one problem.

I could not skate and I could not seem to learn.

I would watch kids much younger than myself 

do figure 8’ s 

and pirouettes.

I would usually watch this from a sitting position either on the bench or on the ice-

 as I seemed to have fallen quite a bit.

It occurred to me years later that it was neither the skates nor my inexperience that held me back.

I just did not trust the ice.

 I was moving on a surface as alien as the moon

 and I was so unsure of it that I never connected.

                                                           Life can still be that way

.                                                               The ice seems thin

                                        …the rough spot seem frequent

…and there are dangerous bits of black economic and emotional ice where it is the least expeced

But this time, I am ready.

I am lacing up my skates

 and I will take the ice as it comes.

 and that's poetiquejustis

My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy when you fall into all sorts of trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.And let endurance have its perfect effect, so that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything. James 1:2-4

An Even Dozen

I'm not exactly a guy who makes new friends easily

Tom Petty

Well, Tom, apparently, it is not all that  hard
Even I, it seems, can do it.

And that makes me happy

As Will Rogers said:

"I never met a stranger"

Today, I had went to a fundraiser in my town

One of those rooftop-over-looking- the ocean affairs

I knew three people when I walked on to that roof

I new an even dozen more before I left

Old people....

Young people....

They all had stories that I wanted to hear

Lives I wanted to know about

And they wanted to know 

Like tiny stitches in a tapestry- people drawn together

making life's picture whole

By the time I left that event

I was more than I was when I arrived

By an even dozen.

and that's poetiquejustis

Whoever loves a pure heart and gracious speech will have the king as a friend. 

Proverbs 2:11