A Word about 'Light'

A Word about ‘Light’

Doors open when we read a good book, and open doors is another way of saying ‘let in more light.’

In my blog ideas file on my computer, I have 178 pages and they are full of quotes and quips, some long passages, some short phases, and they all have come from some book that I was reading at that moment in time.  I feed on these quotes and quips weekly, especially when I am fishing for an idea on which to write.

I cannot live without books.  Just in the last three days I’ve bought three books.  How many do I own?  I have no idea, but they would fill several boxes.  And they are my friends.  They are my mentors.  They are my guides in life.

And they are my light source.  What a great play on words – books as light.  It’s a natural occurrence, I think. 

My love affair started, as best as I can recall, with Dale Carnegie’s classic How to Win Friends and Influence People.  This book still speaks to me, as it does to many others.  I’ve given it as a gift, and I often review my notes from it in search of an idea or two.

I also ready some books as a young teen called the Danny Orlis Series, put out by Moody Press.  Those, to me, modeled the kind of character traits I wanted to possess in my own life.  They were of a Christian perspective, and the values I gained still shape me.

Books are lights – plain and simple. 

Books reveal insights, direction, wisdom, courage, morals, and a whole host of other good traits.

I’ve learned a lot from the likes of Og Mandino, Julia Cameron, Brennan Manning, Philip Yancey, Napoleon Hill, Brene Brown, Mary Oliver, Oprah Winfrey, Cynthia Kersey, Seth Godin, Malcom Gladwell, Daniel Coyle, Maxwell Maltz, Zig Ziglar, Max Lucado, Louis L'Amour, Austin Kleon, Tom Rath, Donald O. Clifton, Kevin Hall, Bob Goff, Henry Nouwen, Mitch Albom, Mary Kay Ash, Richard Bach, John C. Maxwell, Mother Theresa, and a whole lot more.

I’m doing all in my power to let in more light.

Do you need more light?

Read!

This is my

morning reflection.

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Real Power

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Real Power

I am not as strong as I once was.  With age, my muscles have lost some of their power.  When I was a kid, my friend, Larry, and I worked out with some homemade weights we got from a local cast-iron shop.  I had visions of bulging muscles, biceps the size of Jack LaLanne.  (For those too young to know, he was a famous health guru and workout king in my childhood.)

Today, I know my power is not found in my muscles.  But I have found my power.  It is in knowing who I am.  Understanding myself, my desires, my core talents, and having a directional sense of what I want to do with the rest of my life.

That is a real power trip. 

And … I am a happy person.  There is, I think, real power in knowing that I am happy.  Not a lot of people seem to be able to say that.  That is powerful in and of itself.

And I have a sense of self-worth and a work that is highly fulfilling.  I still have my physical voice, my writing voice and my mind, and my beliefs, and those are, perhaps, the most powerful things about me. 

So, I’m capturing the best parts of me, and focusing on those elements. 

Tim Cook said it this way:

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

Words of Hope

Encouragement

Inspiration

Random Early Morning Thoughts

Random Early Morning Thoughts

It’s early morning, and I’m sitting and thinking and writing.  I’m thinking about thoughts, and my endless pursuit of that one great thought for the day that I can turn into something useful for mankind. 

Why?

Why should I care?  Why should you care to read my thoughts?

That last one is the greater mystery.

But to answer the first, I care because … (and the pause lengthens).

I suppose I could say ‘I care because …’

~Because I’m a writer and that is what writers do … they care.

~I have a deadline and I must write. (except I am my own boss of my writing life, and no one stands over me to say, ‘write or die’)

~I might win an award, or get my name in lights. (Hardly)

No.  Those are not lofty enough reasons for me to write like I do.  Rather, I write, I think, because my experience has taught me that mankind needs an occasional glimpse of hope.  Mankind needs a look inside of encouragement, and mankind needs, on occasion, to be inspired.

It is a troubling world at times.  Not only is our present world a conundrum of miss-matched socks, confusing identities, (and I’m not beating the drum of sexual orientation) and conflict.  We are a world seeking hope and validation.  We don’t know who we are, and we don’t know how to be in relationship with others.

I had a conversation recently with a therapist and I asked the question “What is the most common problem you see and hear in your counseling sessions?”

“It all revolves around relationships,” she said.

We kicked that one around for a while and then she said something that I am still thinking through.

“Less ego equals freedom.”

What the heck does that mean?  That takes some unwrapping.  I suppose if my ego is raging, on high alert, then I am bound up in living the story that my ego tells me to live.  If I am a writer, then my story tells me to write a certain style, use certain words, perhaps write at certain times of the day or night.  An inner dialogue is going on between my ears, and my writer’s ego is driving that conversation.

If my ego saw me, perhaps, as a fashionista, I would be spending a lot of money and time chasing clothes, color combinations, shoes and neck ties in the latest vogue.

And, perhaps, my ego would never find satisfaction.  Never!  Because the “new” is always out there somewhere and my inner self will never be happy until I have the next ‘new’.

To take my therapist friend’s counsel, I stop the race toward ego and free myself.

What is that all about?

Less ego equals freedom.

Do I really think this could work? 

This I know … a mindset like this is not for the weak of heart or mind.  It would take great guts to give up some ego. 

And here comes freedom. 

This is my

morning reflection.

Morning Notes Blog Site

Words of Hope

Encouragement

Inspiration