Dear friends, do join me as I hold my once-a-year big event on March 1, 1-5PM at SMX. This year’s event is titled, “Inspiring Excellence.” To get more information and to register, please visit http://bit.ly/inspiringexcellence1
Korean proverb says: “Power lasts ten years, influence not more than a hundred.” You may have power and use it to boost your ego and pocketbook. You may not want to know the conversation that takes place behind your back. Others use influence to touch lives and they will not be easily forgotten. If you’re in a position of leadership, you need to know that you’re given a stewardship of influence.
The Ilocana and I entertained the thought of sending our kids to study in another country. At least for a little while. To have our children travel and experience a change in environment would have been an effective means of education.
But we immediately changed our minds the moment we heard of yet another shooting. A smiling kid enters his school, pulled out a gun and methodically shot his friends and classmates. Why? Whatâs happening to the young people in the world today?
An American friend of mine sent me an e-mail and this is his analysis.
In light of the recent shooting in Massachusetts, let’s see, I think it started when Madeline Murray O’Hare complained she didn’t want any prayer in our schools, and we said OK.
Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school…. The Bible that says, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said, OK.
Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem. And we said, an expert should know what heâs talking about so we said OK, we won’t spank them anymore.
Then someone said teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don’t want any bad publicity, and we surely don’t want to be sued. (There’s a big difference between disciplining and touching, beating, smacking, humiliating, kicking, etc.) And we accepted their reasoning. Then someone said, let’s let our daughters have abortions if they want, and they won’t even have to tell their parents. And we said, that’s a grand idea.
Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they’re going to do it anyway, let’s give our sons all the condoms they want, so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won’t have to tell their parents they got them at school. And we said, that’s another great idea. Then some of our top elected officials said it doesn’t matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs. And agreeing with them, we said it doesn’t matter to me what anyone, including the President, does in private as long as I have a job and the economy is good.
And then someone said let’s print magazines with pictures of nude women and call it wholesome, down-to-earth appreciation for the beauty of the female body. And we said we have no problem with that. And someone else took that appreciation a step further and published pictures of nude children and then stepped further still by making them available on the Internet. And we said they’re entitled to their free speech.
And the entertainment industry said, let’s make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence, and illicit sex. And let’s record music that encourages rape, drugs, murder, suicide, an satanic themes. And we said its just entertainment, it has no adverse effect, and nobody takes it seriously anyway, so go right ahead.
Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they donât know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out.
I think it has a great deal to do with “WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.” Listen.
Kids are not a short-term loan, they are a long-term investment!
We want whatâs best for them, we better teach them the Word of God by introducing them to the God of the Word because nothing better ever comes close.
“If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.” says coach Vince Lombardi. The gap between enthusiasm and indifference is filled with failures. Don’t just do what you love. Love what you do.
Being charming and charismatic is not the same as being trustworthy. In fact the word charisma in the dictionary is located near the word “charlatan.” I would rather deal with one who speaks frankly and truthfully than one who pretends to be gentle and kind but hits people behind their backs. Be truthful all the time.
The long break is over. I feel recharged. I can’t wait to start training the leaders who will be attending my 2 day seminar workshop.
I will look forward to making this day and this week productive. It is my choice to feel good and I will not allow negative influence to cloud my day and judgement for after all, today is a gift from God. I have work to do and I will choose to love it and I will ask God to occupy my heart with gladness. I hope you do too.
Are you fond of trivia?
I am.
Hereâs a list of information that may or may not help you but will always be interesting for you to know. Information that covers many subject matters found in America but would be amusing for us to know.
- The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV was Fred and Wilma Flintstone.
- Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury.
- Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
- Coca-Cola was originally green.
- It is impossible to lick your elbow.
- The state with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska.
- The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% while The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%
- The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400
- The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000.
- Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. (That is of course assuming that they have hair)
- The world’s youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.
- The youngest pope was 11 years old. (Iâm not making this up. Read history books.)
- The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.
- Those San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.
- Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne,
Clubs - Alexander, the Great
Diamonds â Julius Caesar
- And if you like math, you might be thrilled to know that
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
- If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
- “I am.” is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
- Hershey’s Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it’s kissing the conveyor belt.
- Question. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?
Answer. Their birthplace
- Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?
- Answer is Obsession
- Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?
A. All invented by women.
- Q. What is the only food that doesn’t spoil?
A. Honey
- Q. There are more collect calls on this day than any other day of the year?
A. Father’s Day
- Q. What trivia fact about Mel Blanc (voice of Bugs Bunny) is the most ironic?
A. He was allergic to carrots.
- Q. What is an activity performed by 40% of all people at a party?
A. Snoop in your medicine cabinet.
- In Shakespeare’s time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase “goodnight, sleep tight.”
- It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride’s father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month we know today as the honeymoon.
- In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden…. and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
AND FINALLY, Here is a great piece of information you might want to know.
Roses are red, violets are blue.
That’s what they say, but it just isn’t true!
Roses are red and apples are too,
But violets are violet…violets aren’t blue!
An orange is orange, but Greenland’s not green.
A pinky’s not pink, so what does it mean?
To call something blue when it’s not, we defile it.
But ah, what’s the difference…it’s hard to rhyme violet![1]
Life is beautiful. It is a gift from God.
Live it well and enjoy each moment.
[1] Source:  Laugh & Lift,  http://www.premiumhealth.com/laughlift/
Have you ever been criticized? Tell me about it. Do not despair. Albert Einstein theories came under attack; an anti-Einstein organization was even set up.” But Einstein remained unconcerned about these critics.
All great people have been criticized and attacked.
When a book was published entitled 100 Authors Against Einstein, he retorted, ‘If I were wrong, then one would have been enough!”
“Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character” says Albert Einstein.
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. All things being equal, the person with a positive attitude WILL get the promotions and the person with a negative one will not.
Work on your likeability factor daily.
