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You reap what you sow

Brad Stanton —  April 23, 2013 — 7 Comments

000Beggar“Good morning” said a woman as she walked up to the man sitting on ground. The man slowly looked up.

This was a woman clearly accustomed to the finer things of life. Her coat was new. She looked like she had never missed a meal in her life.

His first thought was that she wanted to make fun of him, like so many others had done before. “Leave me alone,” he growled….

To his amazement, the woman continued standing. She was smiling — her even white teeth displayed in dazzling rows. “Are you hungry?” she asked. “I’ll buy your lunch at the cafeteria across the street.”

She sat down at the table across from her amazed dinner guest. She stared at him intently. “Jack, do you remember me?”

Old Jack searched her face with his old, rheumy eyes. “I think so — I mean you do look familiar.”

“I’m a little older perhaps,” she said. “Maybe I’ve even filled out more than in my younger days when you worked here, and I came through that very door, cold and hungry.”

“I was just out of college,” the woman began. “I had come to the city looking for a job, but I couldn’t find anything. Finally I was down to my last few cents and had been kicked out of my apartment. I walked the streets for days. It was February and I was cold and nearly starving. I saw this place and walked in on the off chance that I could get something to eat.”

Jack lit up with a smile. “Now I remember,” he said. “I was behind the serving counter. You came up and asked me if you could work for something to eat. I said that it was against company policy.”

“I know,” the woman continued. “Then you made me the biggest roast beef sandwich that I had ever seen, gave me a cup of coffee, and told me to go over to a corner table and enjoy it. I was afraid that you would get into trouble… Then, when I looked over and saw you put the price of my food in the cash register, I knew then that everything would be all right.”

“So you started your own business?” Old Jack said. “I got a job that very afternoon. I worked my way up. Eventually I started my own business that, with the help of God, prospered.” She opened her purse and pulled out a business card. “When you are finished here, I want you to pay a visit to a Mr. Lyons…He’s the personnel director of my company. I’ll go talk to him now and I’m certain he’ll find something for you to do around the office.” She smiled. “I think he might even find the funds to give you a little advance so that you can buy some clothes and get a place to live until you get on your feet… If you ever need anything, my door is always opened to you.”

There were tears in the old man’s eyes. “How can I ever thank you?” he said. “Don’t thank me,” the woman answered. “Thank God, He led me to you.”

God is going to shift things around for you today and make things work in your favor.
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Dr. Norman Vincent Peale motivated millions of people to a better life. 313335_487472851307971_1932064598_n
Here are his ten steps to success:

1. Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop this picture. Never think of yourself as failing; never doubt the reality of the mental image. That is most dangerous, for the mind always tries to complete what it pictures. So always picture “success” no matter how badly things seem to be going at the moment.

2. Whenever a negative thought concerning your personal powers comes to mind, deliberately voice a positive thought to cancel it out.

3. Do not built up obstacles in your imagination. Depreciate every so-called obstacle. Minimize them. Difficulties must be studied and efficiently dealt with to be eliminated, but they must be seen for only what they are. They must not be inflated by fear thoughts.

4. Do not be awestruck by other people and try to copy them. Nobody can be you as efficiently as YOU can. Remember also that most people, despite their confident appearance and demeanor, are often as scared as you are and as doubtful of themselves.

5. Ten times a day repeat these dynamic words, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) (Stop reading and repeat them NOW slowly and confidently.)

6. Get a competent counselor to help you understand why you do what you do. Learn the origin of your inferiority and self-doubt feelings which often begin in childhood. Self-knowledge leads to a cure.

7. Ten times each day practice the following affirmation, repeating it out loud if possible. “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13) Repeat those words NOW. That magic statement is the most powerful antidote on earth to inferiority thoughts.

8. Make a true estimate of your own ability, then raise it 10 percent. Do not become egotistical, but develop a wholesome self-respect. Believe in your own God-released powers.

9. Put yourself in God’s hands. To do that simply state, “I am in God’s hands.” Then believe you are NOW receiving all the power you need. “Feel” it flowing into you. Affirm that “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21) in the form of adequate power to meet life’s demands.

10. Remind yourself that God is with you and nothing can defeat you. Believe that you now RECEIVE power from him.


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John Grisham, the famous writer, was turned down by 16 agents and a dozen publishers before he got his first book published. It is amazing that he was only turned down that many times because many great writers were turned down ten times more than that.

John was a lawyer working 60-80 hours a week in Southaven Mississippi. But he still found time to write. He would get up at 5 AM every morning to write for an hour. After three years he finished his first novel – A Time to Kill.

Actor Harrison Ford was told by the VP of Columbia that he just didn’t have what it takes to become an actor. Ford became a self-taught carpenter and made cabinets and other things for the rock band The Doors, Sally Kellerman and a recording studio for Sergio Mendes. He made cabinets in the home of Georg Lucas, who gave him a role in American Graffiti (1973). Lucas didn’t give Ford the part of Han Solo right away. It took a lot of work and persuasion by Ford, but that role made him extremely famous.

Steven Spielberg tried to go to filmmaking school but was not accepted. He visited Universal Studios and met Chuck Silvers, an executive there. Silvers invited him to come back. Spielberg did and hung around the whole summer, pretending to be an employee there, wearing a black suit and carrying his father’s briefcase with nothing inside it but his lunch.

10 years later Spielberg directed Jaws, which made more money than any other movie at that time.


1228Billionaire Steve Jobs was adopted into a working class family; grew up in apricot orchards that would later become Silicon Valley. Dropped out of Reed College because he couldn’t pay the tuition; co-founded Apple in his parents’ garage in 1976. Ousted from the iconic brand in 1985 after power struggle with chief John Scully. Returned to Apple in 1996, creating iPod sensation. In interim, started Pixar animation, creator of hits like Toy Story and Finding Nemo, that was later sold to Disney. Jobs was on Disney’s board and is its largest shareholder. –Forbes online

Phyllis Diller was an American actress and comedienne. She created a stage persona of a wild-haired and eccentrically dressed housewife who made self-deprecating jokes about her age and appearance, her terrible cooking, and a husband named “Fang”, while pretending to smoke from a long cigarette holder. ~ Wikipedia

Diller competed with many beautiful women for the top spot in humor and many say she took it. She took what she seemed to think was her liability and turned it into an asset—her appearance.

The movie Rocky, was written by Sylvester Stallone. Complications his mother suffered during labor forced her obstetricians to use two pairs of forceps during his birth; misuse of these accidentally severed a nerve and caused paralysis in parts of Stallone’s face. As a result, the lower left side of his face is paralyzed – including parts of his lip, tongue, and chin – an accident which has given Stallone his snarling look and slightly slurred speech. ~ Wikipedia

Many would feel that if he had a mouth that was crooked, acting was not for him, but Stallone didn’t let it deter him. Actually, many think his mouth adds character.

Billionaire Ralph Lauren was the son of Russian immigrants and was born and raised in the Bronx where he shared a bedroom with two of his brothers. By age 12, worked after school to help pay for his fancy taste in clothes. At one time worked in department stores. Eventually dropped out of City College to launch Polo Fashions with a $50,000 loan. ~Forbes online

Seeds of greatness

Brad Stanton —  March 15, 2013 — 1 Comment

163917_16 - CopyYou have seeds of greatness inside you that enable you to achieve the goals and dreams in your life. When you plant a seed, you probably water it often, weed it, and put fertilizer on it. The more you cultivate it, the better the harvest will be. In the same way, your seeds of greatness need cultivation to grow and cause you to be extraordinary.

Your goals may be a happier marriage, a promotion at work, to get out of debt, or better health. These are all possible goals and dreams.

Some ways to cultivate your seeds of greatness are to think positive thoughts instead of negative. Set goals and believe that you can achieve them. Be persistent, diligent and enjoy working for the dreams and goals in your life. The more you enjoy working toward the goals, the better you will work. You will end up working smarter instead of harder. Thomas Edison said he never worked a day in his life because he enjoyed it so much it was fun, not work.

Faith, belief, optimism are powerful forces that help you achieve the extraordinary. Most people don’t even think about becoming extraordinary. They don’t believe they can do it, so they don’t even try.

Affirmations are one way many people achieve success. The famous story of the Little Engine that Could is an example. The little engine was faced with a task that seemed impossible, but he repeated “I think I can, I think I can” over and over until he mustered the gumption to pull a heavy load. He accomplished the task and all the other engines cheered.

If you are a Christian, there are plenty of powerful affirmations you can use. One of them is “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Phil 4:10

The problem is, accomplishing big things takes lots of time, sometimes years. It is easy to get discouraged along the way and give up. But you have never failed until you quit. The old saying really is true: winners never quit and quitters never win.  http://bradstanton.com/2013/03/09/amazing-coincidences/