Grace Notes

Why did I walk through crowds of fellow-beings with my eyes turned down, and never raise them to that blessed Star which led the Wise Men to a poor abode! ~ Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol Who do you say I am? Even if we do acknowledge Christmas as the day celebrating Jesus’ birthday, are [...]

For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.  ~ Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol What will it be: a boy or a girl? That’s probably the first question people ask when a couple announce they are expecting. But these days the [...]

Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts. ~ Henri Frederic Amiel In my previous blog Be Grateful – not Hateful, I highlighted the reasons for having an attitude of gratitude while also demonstrating this in practical ways. It seems [...]

Be Grateful – Not Hateful (Have an Attitude of Gratitude) When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude. ~ G.K. Chesterton In an earlier blog, I mentioned how learning new information or gaining knowledge actually increases the brain’s capacity by forming new neural [...]

The victim mindset dilutes the human potential. By not accepting personal responsibility for our circumstances, we greatly reduce our power to change them.”    ~ Steve Maraboli In today’s political climate and pervasive in contemporary culture, we have become masters at playing the Blame Game. Whether we’re making false allegations against another party, blaming our country’s [...]

Old Dog, New Tricks (Successful People Continuously Learn) The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge. ~ Stephen Hawking I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures . . . I divide the world into the learners and nonlearners.   ~Benjamin Barber Are [...]

What’s the Big Idea? “Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt There is no question that social media has heightened my awareness of all the trivial and inconsequential happenings I almost missed out on. Prior to the emergence of Facebook, Google, and Twitter, I don’t know how [...]

On October 6, 2006, Charles Carl Roberts IV entered the West Nickel Mines School – a one-room Amish schoolhouse – and took everyone inside hostage. He then proceeded to shoot 10 girls in the school, killing five. Rather than face justice, Roberts then took his own life, leaving suicide notes behind for his young family. [...]

There’s an old joke that goes something like this: How many psychologists does it take to change a lightbulb? Only one, but the lightbulb has to want to change. So it is with human beings. But if change is inevitable, why do we resist it? For some people, it boils down to fear of failure [...]

Another quality of successful people is that they choose to compliment rather than criticize. While both are expressed opinions, for the purpose of this post, a compliment refers to a statement made to or about another person that shows genuine appreciation by acknowledging a particular strength or trait of theirs (e.g., You’re very careful with [...]