On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Here’s a thought-provoking reflection from international speaker and bestselling author Joyce Meyer:

When hikers get lost and they’re trying to figure out exactly where they are, they look to go higher. A higher vantage point gives them a better perspective.

The same is true for us. Sometimes it’s hard to see where we’re going because we have limited vision. We can become confused by our problems and unsure where to go next because we don’t have the right perspective. In order to get God’s perspective, spend your quiet time with Him going higher.

Hike past ingratitude; climb above doubt and discouragement. If you choose higher expectations and higher hopes, you’ll begin to get a new perspective—a godly perspective. And when that happens, you’re going to be able to see God’s plan for your life clearer than you ever have before.

Source: Quiet Times With God by Joyce Meyer.

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

A long-time fan of bestselling authors and coaches Marc and Angel Chernoff, I look forward to reading their emails and blog posts. Here’s an excerpt from a recent post:

The bottom line is that almost every situation imaginable has hidden beauty in it if we are willing to open up to it. For example, in the past, even as Angel and I coped with the death of loved ones, we discovered opportunities for us to appreciate life more, to celebrate the lives of those we’ve lost, and to tune in to the priceless time we’ve had, and still have, with people we love.

We do our best to embody this same mindset in every difficult life situation we encounter. When we get ill, it’s a chance for us to rest. When some unforeseeable event postpones one of our business projects, we spend more time with family. When our adolescent son throws a temper tantrum, we see that he’s expressing himself, asserting his individuality, and being human.

We choose to find what’s right, even when it’s hard to see. And we can all practice this on an average day. Try to use frustration and inconvenience to motivate you rather than annoy you. You are in control of the way you look at life.

Instead of getting angry, find the lesson. In place of envy, feel admiration. In place of worry, take action. In place of doubt, have faith. Remind yourself that your response is always more powerful than your present circumstances. Because while a small part of your life is decided by completely uncontrollable circumstances, the vast majority of your life is decided by your responses. Again, where you ultimately end up is heavily dependent on how you play the hands you’ve been dealt.

Note: I highly recommend subscribing to Marc & Angel’s website

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Here’s a thought-provoking reflection from international speaker and bestselling author Joyce Meyer:

In your effort to enjoy life, you need to have a vision—a clear picture of what you would like to have in the future. For example, what would your life be like if you felt energetic and had excellent health? What would it take for you to reach your goal? Or, what would it be like to be debt-free, and how can you work toward that?

God has only one gear: forward! He has no park and no reverse. He wants you to start progressing toward your goals, but before you can do that, you must get a clear image of those goals. Don’t merely “wish” things were different in your life, but have a clear goal and work toward it.

If you are hung up on your past disappointments, you are never going to escape them. Think and talk about your future, not your past! Talk about the new you that you are becoming. Every successful person starts off by envisioning his or her success.

Create a vision of the ideal you. Writing down your goals helps bring them into the real world and makes them solid. Keep your vision and a list of your goals somewhere handy so you can consult it periodically and see how you are doing. Your list of goals can serve as stepping stones on your way to becoming your ideal self.

It’s time to get out the road atlas of your life, pick your destination, and slide that transmission into gear: forward!

Source: Trusting God Day by Day by Joyce Meyer

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

Each Sunday, I receive an inspiring message from poet Donna Ashworth’s Soul Mail newsletter. Here’s the latest:

For anyone who needs reminding today, there is no such thing as a straight road in this life…

You are never really ‘there’, never fully healed and perfect.

Rather I see it as a bendy, twisty route we walk. And it often feels as though we are going backwards. But I think we are actually looping. As all things do.

I like to imagine it as a figure of eight, an infinity shape.

We loop around the same lessons, the same heartaches, over and over, but each time we do we are a slightly different version of us and so we are not truly going backwards.

The loop always moves ahead. We are always moving ahead.

So if you feel like this today, if you feel you are in a place you thought you’d left behind; mentally, emotionally, or literally… be comforted by this image of infinity shape of life that we all tread.

You are exactly where you are supposed to be and the only thing you need to keep hold of as you loop around, is love. And perhaps faith and hope. All these things make for the very lightest of luggage (in fact I think they carry us).

And as you loop don’t forget to stop sometimes and appreciate the view from where you are. And congratulate yourself on how you travel so bravely. You never give up. And that is a thing so very worth celebrating.

I highly recommend subscribing to Donna Ashworth’s website.

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, artists, and other creatives a mid-week boost.

In The Rules of Life, international bestselling author Richard Templar shares a personal code for living a better, happier, more successful kind of life. Here is an excerpt from Rule 25, “Have a Plan”:

You’ve got to have a plan. A plan is a map, a guide, a target, a focus, a route, a signpost, a direction, a path, a strategy. It says that you are going to go somewhere, do something, be somewhere by a certain time. It gives your life structure and shape, gravitas and power. If you allow life to turn up any old thing, you’ll be floating downstream as quick as you like. OK, so not all plans work out, not all maps lead to the treasure. But at least you’re in with a better chance if you have a map and a shovel than if you just dig at random—or, like most people, don’t dig at all.

A plan indicates you’ve had a bit of a think about your life and aren’t just waiting for something to turn up. Or, again like most people, not even thinking about it but going through life perpetually surprised by what happens. Work out what it is you want to do, plan it, work out the steps to take to achieve your goal, and get on with it. If you don’t plan your plan, it will remain a dream.

So what happens if you don’t have a plan? Well, you reinforce, to yourself, your sense of being “not in control.” Once you have a plan, the logical steps to achieve that plan also become available and accessible. A plan isn’t a dream—it’s something you intend doing rather than something you want to do. And having a plan means you’ve thought through how you’re going to do it.

Of course, just because you have a plan doesn’t mean that you have to stick to it, to follow it, to obey it to the letter, come hell or high water. The plan is always up for review, for improvement, for changing as and when you need it. The plan shouldn’t be rigid. Circumstances change, you change, your plan changes. The details of the plan don’t matter.

Having a plan gives you a fall-back position. When life gets hectic—and boy does it do that sometimes—it is easy to forget what we are here for. Having a plan means that when the dust settles, you can remember, “Now what was I doing? Oh yes, I remember, my plan was to…” And off you go again, back on course.

Source: The Rules of Life, pp. 38-39.