Meaningful Mondays - Arrows Out

"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies."

Those seemingly insignificant small decisions influence how we use our time, what we view on the internet, what we read, the art and music with which we surround ourselves, what we seek for entertainment, and how we apply our commitment to being honest and truthful. Another seemingly small and simple thing is being civil and cheerful in our personal interactions. None of these desirable small and simple things will lift us to great things unless they are practiced consistently and continuously."
- this excerpt is from a quote from former Senator Dan Coats of Indiana.

“The army needs leaders like the foot needs a big toe.”
- Bill Murray

“Empowering stability is true gratitude aligned with a vision supported by principle-based leadership that leads to predictable results.”

Is happiness the ultimate goal?

"Like fear, anger, worry, and other fleeting emotions, happiness is an emotion that comes and goes, but cannot last."

Happiness is more externally driven, leaving us at the mercy of outside forces or changing circumstances.

Fulfillment is internally driven. It is the process of living a valued life, where the pursuit is about BECOMING, not arriving. We determine what is meaningful to us and then we have the power to live our lives in a manner that is consistent with what we value.

"How you choose to invest your time is either a deposit or withdrawal from your future."
- Lee M. Brower

"The key is not spending time - but investing in it."
- Stephen Covey

"The way we spend our time defines who we are."
- Jonathan Estrin

"Looking for the good in others doesn't make you naive. It means you're not cynical. Recognizing people's strengths doesn't deny their flaws. It reveals their potential to overcome their flaws. Those who refuse to see the good in others fail to bring out the best in others."
- Adam Grant

"What the human being is best at doing is interpreting all new information so that prior conclusions remain intact."
- Warren Buffett

We were bombarded with love, kindness, selflessness, and joy. What a weekend!

Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.
- Martin Luther King

"Gratefulness arises when we experience something that is valuable and freely given."
- Brother David Steindl-Rast TED Talk

"Helping one person might not change the world, but it could change it for that one person."

"By becoming the answer to someone's prayer, we often find the answers to our own."
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf

In January 2015, seven-year-old Sailor Gutzler and her family were flying from Florida to Illinois in a private airplane. Sailor's father was at the controls. Just after nightfall, they developed mechanical problems and crashed in the pitch-dark hills of Kentucky, upside down in very rough and isolated terrain. Everyone but Sailor died in the accident. Her wrist was broken and she also suffered many cuts and scrapes and lost her shoes. The temperature was 38 degrees - it was cold and rainy - and Sailor was wearing only shorts, a T-shirt, and one sock.

What can we learn from how she survived? "My vision of the future is that there is a light- and knowing that light is there inspires me to be in and stay in motion." Sailor chose not to let fear paralyze her, but to be in motion and seek the light - and it saved her life. Likewise, we must give place for the hope that we will find the light by embracing belief rather than choosing to doubt. Our actions are the evidence of our belief and become the substance of our faith.

Your vision of the future can sustain you through your present agonies.

The only thing worse than being blind is...

"A bird sitting in a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking because her trust is not in the branch, but on her own wings."
- Anonymous

"On particularly rough days when I'm sure I can't possibly endure, I like to remind myself that my track record for getting through bad days so far is 100% and that's pretty good."
- Anonymous

"Worry doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength."
- Corrie Ten Boom