Category Archives: Life

January 3, 2023 · 6:58 am

What Do You Think is Important?

Yesterday morning I was watching the Today Show when they interviewed, Adam Grant recognized as Wharton’s top-rated professor for seven straight years.

Grant, is an organizational psychologist and a “leading expert on how we can find meaning and motivation and live more generous and creative lives.”

The interviewer was asking Grant about his perspective on goal setting in the New year. His response that the new year is a ideal time to set new goals because it provides a natural window of opportunity. Continue reading →

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December 9, 2022 · 4:09 am

How To Stress Less #5

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“The truth is that stress doesn’t come from your boss, your kids, your spouse, traffic jams, health challenges, or other circumstances. It comes from your thoughts about your circumstances,” opines Andrew Bernstein, author of “The Myth of Stress.”

While you may find that assertion unsettling, exaggerated, or inaccurate, stay with me. Continue reading →

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December 8, 2022 · 3:08 am

How To Stress Less #4

 

(NOTE:  Apparently there was a glitch yesterday that caused many of our email readers unable to access the link to yesterday’s post on stress.  If you missed it, here’s a link to part 3. Click here. )

“Gratitude is a strong strategy to help minimize stress in our lives” affirmed Najma Khorrami, in Psychology Today.

“Gratitude lowers stress hormones in the body,” stated Khorrami a global public health professional. She explains the process this way. Continue reading →

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December 7, 2022 · 4:44 am

How To Stress Less #3

“Even though my mom passed away seven years ago, it still feels like yesterday,” recalls Daniel H. Gibson Jr. “I was actually in the room when it happened. I was playing her a song when, suddenly, she suffered from a heart attack she wouldn’t recover from.”

“Christmas was my mom’s favorite time of the year; she loved spending time with family and watching her grandchildren open their presents,” Gibson reminisces. “Ever since her passing, the holidays have never quite felt the same. So for me, the holiday season is always accompanied by a tinge of sadness.” Continue reading →

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December 6, 2022 · 4:06 am

How To Stress Less #2

Matthew Rogers tells the story about a brother and sister singing “Silent Night” in their school chorus.

The little boy concluded the song with the words, “Sleep in heavenly beans.”

His sister elbowed him and said. “No, it’s not beans. It’s peas!”

I suppose for many people during the holiday season, the song might as well end with beans or peas. Because the stress of the season is anything but peace. Continue reading →

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December 5, 2022 · 6:52 am

How To Stress Less #1

Yesterday I preached a lesson addressing the issue of “Holiday Stress.” The message was not only well received, but several who saw the title advertised asked for the outline.

So, breaking with my normal weekly columns, this is the first of a five part series dealing with stress based on that lesson.

When I googled “holiday stress, I received 345,000,000 results in 0.46 seconds. Among the headlines were these articles. Continue reading →

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August 18, 2022 · 7:22 am

Serendipity Day

According to the calendar of weird, wacky, and unusual holidays, today is Serendipity Day.

I like the word “serendipity.” By definition, serendipity is “the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.”

According to multiple sources, the word was first coined by English author Horace Walpole in 1754. After reading a Persian fairy tale, The Three Princes of Serendip, aka Sri Lanka, Walpole mentioned this in a letter to a friend explaining the journey of the princes and how they made unexpected and unplanned discoveries, which he called serendipitous moments. Continue reading →

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February 23, 2022 · 5:44 am

Ecclesiastes 9:11-12

Have you ever encountered some setback, problem, challenge, or even tragedy, and some well-meaning person says to you, “Everything happens for a reason.”

Other versions of this philosophy are expressed this way.

“God doesn’t make mistakes .”

“God must be up to something.”

“You must be very special for God to trust you with this.” Continue reading →

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October 12, 2021 · 7:16 am

We Cannot Postpone Living

“We may be able to postpone some decisions but we cannot postpone living,” observed Warren Wiersbe in Looking Up When Life Gets You Down.

This statement jumped out at me as I thumbed through his book looking for something to read.

Wiersbe further reminds us that “Life is a gift from God, and we must treasure it, protect it and invest in it.” Continue reading →

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April 29, 2021 · 7:55 am

Show Me How Fleeting My Life Is

Have you heard about the two golfers who really loved golf? While watching the Masters on TV, one said to the other, “Do you think there will be golf in heaven?”

Suddenly an angel appeared to them and said, “I’ve got good news and bad news for you both.”

“What’s the good news? They asked.

“There is golf in heaven…on the most glorious courses you could imagine!” The angel announced. Continue reading →

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