How Joy Works

I am grateful for all of my problems. After each one was overcome, I became stronger and more able to meet those that were still to come. I grew in all my difficulties. – J.C. Penney To the extent that you reject, or separate yourself from, your challenges you will fail to experience real growth….

. . . and not a camera. We project our thoughts and “sense-of-things” onto the World. Nothing in the world is stressful, or difficult, or complicated or beautiful, elegant or amazing. As Shakespeare said: “for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” We think we see things, but we really just…

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trial. – Confucius If everything is easy, nothing is valued. If nothing is valued, life has little meaning. A life without meaning is the greatest misery a human can know. *  *  * Work hard. Get your hands dirty. Fail,* regularly. Fall down and…

Being honest may not always get you many friends, but it’ll always get you the right ones. –  John Lennon I’ve heard Jim Rohn say that you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with. It’s true. It’s also true that sometimes there are things you need to hear that most…

If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your troubles you wouldn’t sit for a month. – Theodore Roosevelt There really little I can add here. We are not responsible for what others do, but we are responsible for who we have in our lives. We are not responsible for…

Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people. – Carl Jung When confronted with someone, or something or some situation which I don’t like, I do my best to ask myself: “What is it about this that I don’t like about myself.” What I have begun to realize is…