You Tell On Yourself

YOU TELL ON YOURSELF
by James Allen

You tell on yourself by the friends you seek
By the manner in which you speak
By the way you employ your leisure time
By the use of your dollar and dime

You tell who you are by the things you wear
By the spirit in which your burdens bear
By the kinds of things at which you laugh
By the records you played on the phonograph

You tell what you are by the way you walk
By the things of which you delight to talk
By the manner in which you bear defeat
By so simple a thing as how you eat
By the books you choose from the well-filled shelf
In these ways and more, you tell on yourself.



How have you found this poem to be true in your own experience?
Leave a comment and let us know.

Your iPod Could Save A Life

I saw this interesting post about trading in your ipods, etc. to help bring life to a needy Indian village. Check out the radio interview below:




Here's the basic idea:

The deal is either;

1. donate your iPod (I am donating mine first!) to be sold on trade me

2. sell your iPod and donate the proceeds

3. Bid for my iPod on trade me (soon)

4. Promote this blog/face book page to as many people as possible…

5. Rock on, because you going to help a large group of people!

We have to raise $3200 this year to make it reality.


To check out the blog click HERE:


So what do you think?
Leave a comment and let me know what you are thinking.

Imagine The Potential

A great 30 sec video that I saw at Ps James Macpherson's blog. (Click HERE to check his blog out).

Valentines

For all you Valentines bunnies out there:

New Words To Keep Your Conversations Fresh

I love learning new words...
It keeps life interesting and helps people not to nod off into autopilot when you are chatting with them.

Here are a few of the latest additions to my Vocab:

Vapid - flat, dull

Insouciant - easygoing, casual

Convivial - fun-loving

Catechumen - a person unskilled in something, beginner

Abecedarian - One who is just starting to learn or do something


If you have any favorites from the list above... or of your own, why not comment? I'd love to hear from you!

Ever Wondered If You Could Walk On Water?

I was going through the Tweets on my phone (you can follow me HERE) I came across this great blog post on 'How To Walk On Water.' It has some great succinct advice that we all need to hear. Click HERE to go and check it out.

Let me know what you thought of the post.
(I especially loved the mother's reaction).

Living By Design - Part 3

If you've missed out on Part 1 (click HERE) or Part 2 (click HERE) then feel free to go and check those posts out.
In Part 3 today we look at the fact tat this life is SHORT! We only get one shot and so we need to make sure that we get it right!

I'm 32 now and I have 2 kids under 7. Life is hurtling past me at an incredible speed!
It almost seems like time is gaining velocity with each new year.
I can't afford to muck around... my life very soon will come to an end. I will either look back with joy... or with grief.

King David understood that time is short. look at these wonderful words of wisdom from the Psalms:

Psalm 39:4-7 (New International Version)

4 "Show me, O LORD, my life's end
and the number of my days;
let me know how fleeting is my life.

5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Each man's life is but a breath.
Selah

6 Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:
He bustles about, but only in vain;
he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.

7 "But now, Lord, what do I look for?
My hope is in you.

Until I realise the paucity of our days... I will be inclined to nonchalantly live my days away.

I love Robert Moffat's quote, "We will have all of eternity to celebrate our victories, but only one short hour before sunset to win them."

Where are you wasting time and opportunities away? In what areas do you need to live more intentionally?

I look forward to seeing your comments.

Living By Design - Part 2

In the last post (click HERE to see it) we introduced Stephen Covey's idea that things are created twice... first mentally and then physically.
We also had the challenge: Are we living by default or by design?

How do we become someone who lives by design?
We begin with the end in mind.
We look forward to who we want to become and what we want to have accomplished.

If you've ever been funerals... there are the one's where people will be missed by their close relatives... and then there are one's where it seems the whole community comes out, and people speak of someone who deeply impacted their lives. You sit there thinking, "Boy, if I could be just a little like so-and so... my life would have been well lived.

So... who do you want to become (your character)?
What is it that you want to have accomplished? (I'm sure that climbing the corporate ladder or owning the house with a white picket fence, a batch, and all the toys doesn't even feature!)

So what's standing in your way right now?
What do you need to start intentionally doing to become that person?

Leave your thoughts by commenting. I can't wait to hear what you have to say!

Living By Design - Part 1

Stephen Covey has a chapter in his book 'The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People' called Begin With The End In Mind.
In this chapter Stephen challenges us with the thought that all things are created twice. There is first the mental creation and then secondly the physical creation.

When making a sandwich or building a house, when one gets dressed or decides which route to drive... we first craft it out mentally and then we perform the physical act.

Stephen then goes on and gives a challenge: Are we living our lives by design... or by default?

Many of us live by default. We live unconsciously.
Let me give you two examples:
1) Many people simply believe that when they drive to the shopping center that there will be no parks at the front... that all the prime parking spots are already snapped up... and so they drive to the middle or back.
They never do find parking spaces upfront!

2) If you are going to a party where you don't know anyone... and you tell yourself that you will just be on the outside of all the cliques, an outsider to the conversations, and no one is really going to make an effort to connect with you.
So you stand on the outside... your posture is closed and defensive.
You end up being right.

Why? Because you created it first mentally and then you simply followed the script.

How much of your life is lived by design?
How much is lived by default?
Let me know what you're thinking by leaving a comment.