Don’t miss GregoireToday on Friday 7/30 at 1:30 pm ET / 10:30 am PT!

Dr. Alfred Nkut, M.D., is an accomplished physician, entrepreneur, and philanthropist with avid interest in leadership. His experience has shown him that self-improvement, especially development of character goals, is not emphasized in most formal educational systems. For this reason, he grew increasingly interested in studying, learning, growing, and researching to provide additional insight into the subject of leadership.

Dr. Nkut sees every day as an opportunity to add value not only to his own life, but to the lives of others as well. He has also founded the Skylimit Corporation to make a difference in the lives of people, and a financial institution in Cameroon, West Africa with the goal of poverty relief.

Leadership is not only an important quality at work, but also in life. Using Dr. Nkut’s dynamic model of influence as a lever to drive your performance from good to great, become the human dynamo you were meant to be. This book is for those who seek to become successful in all aspects of their lives, and shows how to best harness your potential for success.

Nkut will educate and inspire you, his life journey serving as an example of how to find success through integrity. Using real life cases and guiding principles, Dr. Nkut shows what people can learn about themselves by giving to others, why charitable giving is an essential part of being a successful person, and why the path to success includes faith, community and family.

My sixteen year old daughter is a cashier at our local supermarket.  She frequently works in the “12 items or less” lane and handles hundreds of customers per day. Many of the people in this lane pay with cash.

When I picked her up from work on Saturday, I asked her my usual question, “how was work today?”, to which I usually get a one word response or a grunt while she’s texting a friend.  On Saturday, she  smiled and told me about a couple of customer interactions.

She told me that one woman’s bill came to $20.02 and the woman gave her two twenty dollar bills.  Instead of giving the woman $19.98 change, Emily took two cents out of her  pants pocket and gave the woman her $20 bill back. The woman smiled and was grateful.

A man came in to purchase something for $5.00 who hadn’t anticipated paying the Massachusetts sales tax on this item.  He was 25 cents short and didn’t have any more money. My daughter reached into her pocket for the second time that day and put the quarter into the cashier’s drawer so that the man could leave with his item. He too smiled and was quite appreciative.

Twenty seven cents is not a lot of money in today’s world – even to a 16-year old girl. I am very pleased with her small acts of kindness that touched two human hearts in a positive fashion on the same day.  It doesn’t take very much to bring a smile and happiness to another person.

The better news is that a teenager taught herself one of the secrets to a happy and blessed life: giving feels just as good as receiving.

We don’t control how much we receive, but we do control how much we give.

Give generously of yourself with love and a smile.

Don’t miss GregoireToday on Thursday 7/01 at 1:30 pm ET / 10:30 am PT!

JOHN E. WELSHONS is a highly respected contemporary spiritual teacher who lectures and leads meditation courses throughout North America.  He has been a practitioner of vipassana (mindfulness) meditation and various forms of yoga for more than forty years.  

John has studied world religions throughout his life, and holds a B.A. in Comparative Religions from the University of South Florida, and an M.A. in History of Religions from Florida State University.  He has also traveled and studied extensively in India. He is a gifted counselor and teacher who has worked closely with Ram Dass and Stephen Levine and trained with Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.

In addition to his new book, One Soul, One Love, One Heart: The Sacred Path to Healing All Relationships, he is also the author of Awakening from Grief: Finding the Way Back to Joy and When Prayers Aren’t Answered, two books that emerged from his thirty-five years of experience helping people deal with dramatic life change and loss.

How do we heal our difficult relationships and nurture our healthy ones? What is their significance in our spiritual life? In this deeply moving, groundbreaking book, John E. Welshons answers these questions and many more. He shows why the path to real and lasting happiness lies in recognizing that we are all One, and in living in that awareness. He shows us how to heal our most difficult relationships by transforming them into our greatest spiritual lessons and how to love, forgive, and care for our fellow human beings — even those we find most difficult to love and forgive. With compassion and wisdom, Welshons invites us into a revolutionary new understanding of ourselves, our spiritual life, our world, and all our relationships.

To learn more about John and The Sacred Path to Healing all Relationships visit his website:  onesoulonelove.com

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Moina Noors is from Connecticut and was raised with Islam as her faith.  Her son – Bilal – was born 8  months prior to 9/11/01. Her blog appeared on nytimes.com on 9/11/09.
Moina was dreading having to answer the question from her son, “Mom, what happened on 9/11?” Since 9/11, she has taken it upon herself to educate people about her faith by saying things such as, “We are like you.  Islam is peaceful. Complex sociopolitical factors create lunatics who kill people. Please don’t judge a billion people by a few bad apples.”

In her blog she notes that according to a survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life in 2007, “35 percent of respondents had an unfavorable opinion about Islam”. Could one of those 3 in 10 people be Bilal’s (her son) teacher or soccer coach?”

People are persecuted daily for many reasons – different faith, different nationality, sexual preference, body size, etc.  In each case  the persecution is coming from a position of hatred versus one of love.

Our thoughts are a choice. In each instant we can choose to hate another because he is different or we can choose to love another because we are fascinated with how wonderful and different this person is.

Most people in the world were raised in a family that professed at least one faith.  These days, many children are raised in families where the parents are of different faiths and get exposed to both.  The faith that we profess today for many of us has to do with what family we were born into and into which country we were born.  If you were born in the United States, there is a very high probability that you were born into a Christian family. If you were born in the Middle East, you were most likely born into a family whose faith was Islam.

Why is religion so valuable? It teaches us about a creator of the world who created us and loves us.  Faiths teach us about the traits of God and how God loves us and how God suggests that we live our lives and ways of treating each other.

All religions teach us to love God, ourselves and each other.  What we call God, or how we come to know God, should not matter as much as how we treat God and how we treat each other.

Even if a person doesn’t believe in God, the individual can learn from his or her faith the attributes of God  that have been revealed to us through prophets and tradition and assimilate those traits.

What attributes could we choose to assimilate that are taught by all faiths?  Loving, compassionate, forgiving, merciful, understanding, humorous, generous, wise, kind, patient, encouraging, positive and illuminating.

Try placing the words “I am” before each of those words and assimilating those traits into your mind.  Here are a few examples:

I am loving at all times.

I am compassionate to all people.

I am forgiving of myself and others.

I am merciful towards all.

Can you envision a world where you and each person in the world thought and behaved  with those attributes?

If we believe in God, these are the types of traits that people of faith are called to live by on a daily basis.

If we don’t believe in God, these are the types of traits that are required to live in harmony with others in our cities, states, countries and around the world.

These traits are at the core of our being. Each of us was born with the potential to nurture and develop these traits so that we can become a reflection of God and all that is Good.

We are all part of the same spiritual family.  When I hurt you, I am hurting myself and my family. When I love you, I am loving myself and loving God.  I choose to love you!

We are not going to convert our world into a peaceful, loving planet with guns, tanks and hatred.  We are going to change our collective consciousness by accepting responsibility for our thoughts and actions – one person at a time.

All religions are good because they show us a path to come to know God.  Some religious people from every faith do very bad things in the name of God. They are the very small exceptions.

All people of all faiths are good at their core.  All people without faith are good at their core.

You and I must choose to bring out the best in each situation every day and see the good and God-like qualities that are hidden deep inside each human.

We all possess a soul and God’s Spirit.  Become the person who exposes the good in others!

If I choose to go to California there are many ways of getting there – plane, train, car, bicycle, walk etc.

If I’m choosing to know and love God and others (God’s family), there are many ways of getting there- Islam, Sikhism, Judaism, Hinduism,  Christianity, Buddhism, etc.

Let us respect the paths to God that have been revealed to others.

We are all looking for the way, the common thread is love!

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I just read the very brief article in USA Today called “Students sent home for wearing ‘Islam is of the Devil’ shirts.“  In Gainesville, Florida a 10 year old student and 3 high school students were sent home because they were wearing those shirts to school.  The Dove World Outreach Center Church’s Senior Pastor Terry Jones said that “spreading the church’s message is more important than education.”

Those are the kinds of messages that promote hatred and violence instead of love, peace, tolerance and compassion.

One of the reasons that so many people call themselves “spiritual” instead of “religious” is that they’ve become turned-off by the fighting that goes on between people of faith (the religious)!

Eight times in the Bible we are told to love our neighbor — one of the Bible’s most repeated commands.  Are we only supposed to love people who share the same faith?  Are we only supposed to love the people who are easy to love?

I’m pretty sure that calling people whose faith differs from ours “devils” is not God’s intent.

Check-out the next few lines from Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism:

Do not get equal with one who has done you wrong, or keep hard feelings against the children of your people, but have love for your neighbor as for yourself: I am the Lord. (Leviticus, 19:18)

“God does not forbid you to be kind and equitable to those who have neither fought against your faith nor driven you out of your homes. In fact God loves the equitable.” Qur’an Chapter 60, Verse 8

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries.  Without them, humanity cannot survive.” His Holiness the Dalai Lama

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (NIV, John 13:34-35)

“The universe is the outpouring of the majesty of God, the auspicious one, radiant love. Every face you see belongs to Him. He is present in everyone without exception.” Yajur Veda.

The Buddhists are talking about love and compassion.

The Christians are talking about love.

The Muslims say that “God loves the equitable.”

The Jews are talking about “love for your neighbor as for yourself.”

The Hindus are talking about love for “every face.” God is present in everyone without exception!

Once we take off the blinders of our own faith, we’ll realize that the other faiths share many of our core values – peace, love, compassion, understanding, equality, reconciliation, etc.

Why are you and I so vehemently attached to our faith?  For many of us, it’s because it’s the faith that we were raised with.  We become very protective and defensive. It’s almost as if we’re afraid that we might lose it if we’re exposed to other beliefs.

Is it possible that people of all faiths who believe in God are all praying to the same God?  Give yourself a minute to answer that question.

Is it possible that because of our strong connections to our families and faith communities we’ve insulated ourselves from other faith-filled people?

Have we formed safe tribes or comfort zones that keep us safe from people of other faiths?

Are we afraid of people who are different from us?  Yes.

Be not afraid.

We tend to celebrate and defend the things that are part of our background and heritage. We get defensive and emotional over our ethnicity. Why do we defend our ethnicity? We didn’t have any say in the matter.  I’m half French and half Irish by birth. I didn’t have anything to do with it.

Many people spends hours each day rooting for a sports team.  Why that team? Because it’s where they happened to be born or currently live.  Because so many people are so entrenched in their “comfort zones” they would never imagine living anywhere else or rooting for another team.  When people do “have to” move out of state, most tend to continue rooting for the team that they rooted for when growing up.  If you were born in a different state would you be cheering on another team than the one you’re committed to today?  Probably.

I think that many of us treat our faith the same way.  I happen to be a Catholic Christian because I was born into a Catholic family.  I was so naive and sheltered when growing up that I didn’t even know that there were other religions until I got to high school.  Now that I’ve begun to study other faiths, I’ve learned just how much each of the faiths have in common.  If you were born into a different family or country, might you be part of a different faith family? We all know the answer to that question.

I wonder if the people from The Dove World Outreach Center Church know that Muslims see Jesus Christ as a great prophet and messenger of God. The Qur’an describes the life of Jesus, including his miraculous birth and his service in calling people to monotheism. Christians have a lot in common with Muslims.

As the world gets smaller each day because of improved transportation and technology, it will be helpful for us to learn more about each other’s faiths so that we can have peaceful dialogue on our shared values.  Once we get beneath the labels – Christian, Jew, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist-our beliefs and values are remarkably similar!

I wonder if it would be a good idea to educate our children in other faiths too. Would they be more tolerant?  Yes. Would they be more compassionate?  Yes.

Here’s the “fear” question.  Would it cause them to lose their current faith?  Probably not .  It just might cause them to deepen their current faith. That’s what happened to me.

Welcome to a new tribe.  Welcome to the Global Tribe!

“The practice of peace and reconciliation is one of the most vital and artistic of human actions.”
Thich Nhat Hanh (Buddhism)

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“Organizations lose their relevance when the rate of internal change lags the pace of external change.” That’s a quote from Gary Hamel’s management blog in the 8/21/09 Wall Street Journal blog.

Gary also poses the following two questions to further get our juices flowing:

• Is it the gospel that has become irrelevant or your churches?  (He was speaking to church preachers and laymen)
  • Anyone who’s read the Gospel lately knows that it could not be any more relevant.
• Is the problem God’s message or your methods? God’s message is still on target. Our methods of communicating the message in the 21st century must change.

I’ll give you a few of the stats that Gary mentions in the article:

• Since 1990, the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation has nearly doubled.
• The number of people who describe themselves as atheist or agnostic has quadrupled.
• 2/3 of Americans believe religion’s influence is waning in our society and just 19% say that it’s growing.
• In 2005, just 17.5% of the population attended a Christian church service, down from 20.4% in 1990.

If these were the metrics being measured by a business, the business would be considered to be failing.  We can do better.

Is the rate of external change exceeding the rate of internal change within the church?  Yes.  Within the Catholic Church and many of the other Christian churches, there are several things that need to be changed in order to remain relevant with this generation and in order to sustain themselves for the future.

Within the Catholic Church, priests should be allowed to marry. There are many great, young charismatic men of faith who are not in the priesthood because of the church’s stance on married priests.

Women should be allowed to become priests. When the government or a company’s board or management team is not reflective of its’ constituents it’s thought to be a bad thing. How about when the church does it?  Because there are so few men entering the priesthood within the United States, our churches are filled with older priests or priests who are coming to us from India or other countries. Women need to be on an equal playing field with men.

There are more women than men in other positions of leadership- lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, CCD teachers,  yet we won’t allow them to serve as priests?  It’s time to change.

Because many of our priests are on the older side, they are not resonating as much with our children and younger adults.  Even when the messenger is good, the message doesn’t always get through to a teenager.  What might help the message get through to teenagers and young adults?

• Younger leaders in the pulpit
• Women in the pulpit and in leadership positions within the church
• More casual attire versus current garments
• Updated, more current music
• Blogs and other social media to interact with between services, while away at school or when traveling

Because all Catholic priests are currently male, that means that the entire hierarchy is 100% male-all the Bishops, Archbishops, Cardinals and Pope.  The problem get even worse.  In order to progress from a priest on through the organization, you must rise through the structure, position-by-position.  By the time a priest gets to the top, he’s in his 70’s or 80’s.  Is that person (at that age and time of his career) the best person on the planet to be leading an organization that is being required to change and remain relevant?  Could you envision a young, 45-year old Pope?

Contrast that structure with how businesses operate. Organizations that are looking to change and prosper  promote the best person for the role – young or old, male or female from within the company.   If the organization needs new talent or ideas that should come from outside the company, they’ll do an exhaustive search to find the person with the right skill set to lead the organization into the next phase of its’ evolution.

I remember when Louis Gerstner was brought in from RJR Nabisco to run IBM and was credited with turning around the company’s fortunes.  A cookie and cracker guy running IBM?  Someone had guts to make that move.

Iron Mountain- a multi-billion dollar off-site paper storage company- brought-in Bob Brennan to become  president and COO and help evolve the company from a very successful paper storage company into a paper and information storage company.  A young man from a small high-tech software company as the President of a multi-billion dollar company? Someone had foresight.

Theo Epstein became the General Manager of the Boston Red Sox at 28 years old and helped lead the Red Sox to their first World Series in 86 years! In 2002, Epstein was younger than 22 of the 25 players on Boston’s 2002 opening day roster.

The foundation of the church is very solid.  In order for any organization to evolve and remain relevant, it needs to constantly evaluate itself and its’ vision.  Even when the product is great, we must constantly look at ways to improve and to communicate with our target audience.

My vision for the church is one that is loving and inclusive and has married clergy – both male and female- in the priesthood.  The churches are full and alive with young and old, married and single, males and females.  People come to church early because it’s almost impossible to get a seat. Thousands of young men and women are seeking the priesthood as their vocation of choice.

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Does anxiety ever prevent you from succeeding? Does it ever keep you from being as “good as you should be”?  If so, you have a lot in common with [tag]Olympic athletes[/tags] and professionals from every vocation imaginable. Here’s what one group of elite Olympic athletes recently did to help them eliminate or significantly reduce their anxiety and unleash their athletic potential.

The United States Olympic Swim team invited in The Pacific Institute to conduct a seminar for their athletes prior to the FINA world Championships. The aim of the seminar was to “turn the athletes’ minds into bunkers that fortify them against self-doubts”.

Soon,  ABC’s Good Morning America is scheduled to air a piece on the Seattle-based company and the role that they’ve played with the United States Olympic swim team. The segment is a follow-up to an article in the New York Times by Karen Crouse on 7/26/09- “Avoiding the Deep End When it Comes to Jitters”-, which talked about how even the United States Olympic swim team must prepare themselves to perform up to their potential.

Are you telling me that even Olympic athletes need assistance in order to be able to perform up to their potential?  YES- we all do! Studies show that most of us are only utilizing about 10% of our potential.

How can Olympic athletes experience self-doubt and perform beneath their potential?  When expectations from those around us are high, when we’re trying to perform better than we “know we are” and when we’re trying to perform in environments that are out of our comfort zones, our brains start creating negative (avoidant) thoughts that tell us to “go back where we belong”. Where do we belong? Back with the familiar: at the old job, at the familiar pool, with the old friends, with the old ways of doing things.  That’s why trying to do anything new or different can be so challenging.

Do you every experience self-doubt?  Do you every question your own ability to do something that you know that you’re good at when you have to “do it” in front of a larger audience or in a different setting? Does your negative self-talk ever kick-in when you’re tired, alone or about to try something new?

Pressure and anxiety occur when we try to perform better than we know ourselves to be. There is no pressure when we’re relaxed and performing in areas that are “comfortable” to us.

The key then is for you and I to become comfortable (familiar), in our own minds, with the new level of performance that we desire. So, how do we become comfortable and relaxed prior to swimming the race or giving the presentation?  We must be able to “see it” first in our own minds.

The Pacific Institute’s Project Director Brian Goodell – a two-time Olympic gold medalist- was one of the people contributing in the seminar for the U.S. Olympic Swim Team on how to utilize visualization techniques and achieve optimal performance.

Why do U.S. Olympic team members need to visualize? Because they get anxiety and experience moments of self-doubt just like you and I do whenever they’re in new environments or away from what’s familiar to them!

In order to reduce or eliminate the anxiety, athletes visualize themselves performing up to their potential before they ever get into the pool. They’ve rehearsed and visualized the event in their own minds where they can see themselves performing at a high-level of performance against the greatest competitors in the world in front of thousands (or millions) of people. They’ve already used their forethought to prepare for any obstacles that might be ahead of them and to visualize how to go over, under, around or through the obstacle. They’ve already successfully finished and won the race in their minds before they ever stepped into the pool!

I’ve been successfully utilizing these techniques for myself -and physically- and for my partners around the world for many years. Once we set goals for ourselves, we can use the visualization process to assimilate these new ideas of quality and quantity of performance into our minds safely from the comfort of our homes and offices before we ever have to do it for real!

Staying positive on a daily basis is significantly easier when the foundation for your optimism is based upon Faith and Hope.

In the August 6th USA Today, Sharon Jayson writes a great article about Positive Psychology – Happiness: Staying positive in negative territory.  The piece focuses on “positive psychology” which emphasizes the benefits of optimism and having a positive outlook.

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I truly believe in optimism and having a positive outlook and practice cognitive psychology concepts daily. A positive attitude is only one component in your recipe for a happy, meaningful and successful life. There is another component that carries additional significance which provides the foundation for the support of your positive, optimistic outlook.

What is the one thing that will give us a reason to have an optimistic attitude and a  positive outlook every day?

Money?  Nope. Employment? Wrong again. Relationships?  People tend to disappoint us. They all help but, they come and then they sometimes disappear – at least temporarily – don’t they?

The one thing that will allow us to feel positive and optimistic on a daily basis is FAITH in God – the ultimate relationship! Once we develop this Faith, we receive the gift of Hope and eventually learn how to Love.

Are you looking for cyclical happiness – one that is based upon each day’s events and circumstances and fluctuates daily? Or do you desire a happiness that is constant, everlasting and blossoming on a daily basis?  I choose the latter please!

Faith is defined as a “Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing”. It’s also defined as a “Belief and trust in God”. The definition of Hope according to Webster’s Dictionary is “To wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment”.

Faith in God and Hope for the future (everlasting life) provide us with genuine reasons for optimism each and every day of our lives.  People of Faith know that regardless of what happens today, God loves us, is watching over us and has a purpose for us while we’re on the earth.  I feel even better just saying that!

Belief and trust in God becomes significantly easier when we truly know God.

How do we get to know God?  There are several ways:  Reading God’s Word, Praying to God (talking to God), Spiritual Meditation (listening to God), serving God (sharing your gifts with others) and Worshiping God (with other believers).

In the Old Testament we learn that

“You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.” -Isaiah 26:3.

When you truly trust someone, you stop worrying.  I can’t think of anyone better to trust than God.  Can you?

In the New Testament John tells us that

“Well-formed love banishes fear.  Since fear is crippling, a fearful life-fear of death, fear of judgment- is one not yet fully formed in love.” -1 John 4:18.

He also tells us that

“Whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever” John 3:36.

If I’ve been promised to have “life complete and forever”, what do I have to worry about?    Nothing! Everything else is just the “details along the way”.

Calls to action:

1. Nourish and nurture your existing Faith or set-out on a journey to develop your relationship with God.
2. Learn everything you can about positive psychology (there are two books referenced in the USA today article are Happiness: Unlocking the Mysteries of Psychological Wealth by Robert Biswas-Diener and Ed Diener, and Bounce: Living the REslilient Life by Robert Wicks that I recommend) and how your mind works and then use your genuine Faith in God as your foundation for your optimism and positive outlook.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope”.  Romans 15:13

After much consideration, outside input and one-on-one sessions with Michael Vick, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell decided in favor of Vick’s return to the league. If he’s picked-up by an NFL team, Vick could be fully reinstated by the sixth week of the upcoming NFL season and also be eligible to play in the final 2 preseason games. I am so happy for Michael, his family, his friends and the NFL.

I’ve been reading and listening as much as I possibly can about Vick’s story, his 20 month prison sentence and his 2 months of home confinement. On sports radio in Boston, many of the hosts and callers did not want Michael reinstated.  “He should be banned from the NFL forever!”  “What he did to those dogs is unforgivable!”

Why?

He was convicted of a crime and served his term. He’s been given interviews with Goodell and has convinced the commissioner that his remorse is sincere. At what point should we forgive another human being and allow that person to proceed with his or her life?

Are the people who are calling into sports radio living lives so perfect that they’ve never had to ask for forgiveness from anyone?  I absolutely love Jesus’ quote, “he who is without sin can cast the first stone.”  Can’t you just visualize the body language of the people with large rocks in their hands as they slowly bow their heads in shame and drop their rocks to the ground. Whenever I even remotely consider judging Michael or anyone else, that quote comes to mind.  Yes, I am a sinner and have been guilty of sin for my entire 47 years on the planet. Yes, I’ve had to ask for forgiveness from family, friends, customers and God.  Thankfully, most of them said the magical three words I was praying for:  “I forgive you.”

I was also very impressed with Goodell’s forecast for Vick’s future: “We are not looking for failure. We’re looking to see a young man succeed.”  Great mentors always hold a better vision for us than we hold for ourselves.  Great mentors get other people to buy into that new, stronger vision and commit to a new level of excellence. Roger Goodell can be one of Michael’s mentors as he moves forward. Goodell expects Michael to succeed. He is showing faith in Vick’s sincere remorse and his commitment to change. Faith and conviction are contagious.

Another mentor for Michael is the former coach of the Indianapolis Colts – Tony Dungy.  Tony has always come across to me as a person of strong faith who exhibits love, compassion and patience for his family, his players and for the community. Part of Dungy’s community service is to share his faith, hope and love with prisoners.  They’re a segment of society that we find very easy to hate, judge and look down upon with self-righteousness. They are a segment of society that most of us have given up on. Tony hasn’t. He’s there to provide them with hope in the present and for the future. Tony has tremendous credibility because he’s successfully coached, mentored and trained some of the best athletes on the planet with his proven formula for success.  He’s capable of giving that same formula to prisoners and to Michael Vick, and inspiring stellar results.

One of the reasons we don’t feel compassion and forgiveness towards others is that many of us aren’t that great at providing compassion and forgiveness to ourselves. We keep beating ourselves up over mistakes we’ve made in the past. At what point is it okay to forgive ourselves?

I know that God forgives me for my sins. If God will forgive me then, I should be willing to forgive myself and proceed with my life free from guilt.  Once I get comfortable forgiving myself, it makes it much easier to forgive Michael Vick, and family members and friends who have somehow offended us.

God doesn’t give upon us until we give up on ourselves!

Goodell has shown compassion and forgiven Michael Vick.  Let’s make forgiveness contagious. Who should you forgive today?

Dungy is going to mentor Michael Vick. Who could use your mentoring today?

Below is a collection of 20 affirmations that I have found to apply to my daily life.  I hope that they can fit in with and apply to yours.

“Preach the Gospel at all times…and when necessary use words.”
St. Francis of Assisi

Let your enthusiastic idea at the start be equaled by your realistic action now.
2 Corinthians 8:11

“Be the change that you want to see in the world.”
Mahatma Ghandi

“No food tastes as good as being slim feels.”
- personal trainer

You are nature’s greatest miracle.
Og Mandino

Don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love.
2 Peter 1:5

“The weak can never forgive.  Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong!”
Ghandi

I am already complete…people complement me.
Lisa Nichols

I am at peace with myself, others and all of my past decisions. You, Lord, give perfect peace to those who keep their purpose firm and put their trust in you.
Isaiah 26:3

From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Luke 12:48

“Relationships take time and effort and the best way to spell LOVE is T-I-M-E.”
Rick Warren

Well-formed love banishes fear.  Since fear is crippling, a fearful life-fear of death, fear of judgment-is one not yet fully formed in Love.
1 John 4:18

God… is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of-infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes.
Ephesians 3:20

“There are two kinds of people: those who say to God ‘thy will be done’ and those to whom God says, ‘All right then, have it your way.’”
C.S. Lewis

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.
Colossians 3:23

I will condition myself to look on every problem I encounter today as no more than a pebble in my shoe.
Og Mandino

“It’s not what you do, but how much love you put into it that matters.”
Mother Teresa

You Must Smile In The Face Of Adversity Until It Surrenders.
Og Mandino

You must love the Lord your God with all your heart…This is the first and greatest commandment. A second equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Matthew 20:36-40