Success must never be measured by popularity, fame, or fortune, for these are temporal measures.  True lasting success is finding a need and filling it for the benefit of others. 

Ungratefulness is a universal human fault.  For example, when was the last time you thanked you parents for caring for you? your children’s teacher for the care taken with each day’s activities? the friend that cut your lawn when you mower was out of commission? a church member that brought you some hot soup and a sandwich when you were under the weather?

Many of the benefits and privileges we enjoy are the result of loving actions done long ago.  Look for hidden acts of nurturing, and thank those who make the world better through their caring and compassion.

Dr. Marc, PS 63:7

When we think of reaping what we sow, we usually think of negative results.  However the seed we sow (friendships, compassion, anger, frustration, love, hate) can produce results that can be either positive or negative.  Just as small seeds eventually produce large crops, our small everyday actions can produce far-reaching results for good or for bad.

What kind of crop are you sowing today?  What might be the long-term effects of some of your actions?

What type of harvest will your seed produce?

Dr. Marc, PS 63:7

Pride keeps a person from turning to God, because pride acknolwedges no need of help from anyone, human or divine.

Making the same blunder over and over is an invitation to disaster.  Eventually people have to face the consequences of refusing to learn. 

Pay attention, concentration is everything.

Dr. Marc, PS 63:7

Praise tests a person, just as high temperatures test metal.  How does praise influence and shape you?  Do you work day after day, moment by moment to get it? To stockpile it? Do you work harder after you’ve gotten it?  Do you do whatever you must to earn it? Are you willing to compromise to capture it?

Your attitude toward praise tells a lot about your character.  People of high integrity are not persuaded and won over by praise.  They are attuned to their inner convictions, and they do what they should, whether or not they are praised for it. 

Learn who you are and be such!

Dr. Marc, PS 63:7

A getting-together of the minds can help people see their ideas with new clarity, refine them, and shape them into brilliant insights.  This requires partners who can challenge and confront one another and stimulate thought: people who can focus on the idea without involving their egos in the discussion and who know how to attack the thought and not the thinker.  

Live a life that will make you compassionate and responsive to those around you, and you will be surprised what a contented life you will live.

Dr. Marc PS 63:7

A painted picture provides a perception of what the artist sees as real, but the words that flow off our lips from deep within us will leave behind a truthful picture of who we really are.

Dr. Marc, PS 63:7

“Be My Valentine”  I think that most of us have either said or heard that expression during the month of February, the month long known for romance.. Valentine’s Day is celebrated in countless places around the world. Flowers, candy, ornaments, trinkets, charms and many other types of gifts are exchanged between loved ones all in the name of St. Valentine.

Shrouded in mystery, the exact origins of the celebration of St. Valentine are somewhat unclear.  While the holiday’s history is well documented through the years, the saint (or saints) it’s named after is still a mystery.  (It is unclear exactly who the celebrated saint of love really was for there are 3 separate saints named Valentinus or Valentine, all who were martyrs).

According to one legend, Valentine was a priest who served in Rome during the third century. It is believed that Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself.

While being in prison, it is supposed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl who may have been his jailor’s daughter who visited him during his confinement. As the story’s goes it is reported that Valentine performed a miracle by healing the girl of her blindness.  Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote this girl a letter, which he signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today.

The oldest know Valentine’s poem in existence today was written by Charles, Duke of Orleans during his imprisonment in the Tower of London, following the Battle of Agincourt. The poem was written to his wife

A heart with an arrow piercing through it is the most common of all Valentine symbols and contains a double meaning, love and liability.  Should you send a valentine card to someone you run the risk of rejection and of your feelings being hurt. On the other hand, the heart and arrow also symbolizes the merging of two that now become as one.

Would it not be wonderful to act like this towards others every day of the year? 

Wishing you and your Valentine’s the best of all things on this day of “from the heart” celebration. 

Dr. Marc, PS 63:7

Some lay brick. Some build walls. Other’s construct Cathedrals. 

Which are you?

Dr. Marc, PS 63:7