Click the following link for a beautiful story about a beautiful person. I promise you, you’ll want to see all of this one. Walk On!
Amazingly Relevant Self Improvement Article From 1956
The following wonderful article is from A New Treasury of Words to Live By, 1956. The article is titled Make a Weakness Pay Off and was written by playwright and motion picture executive Dore Schary.
Make a Weakness Pay Off
by Dore Schary
“If you have a weakness, make it work for you.” – Dore Schary’s Mother
My mother was a hard-working and very wise woman. Many years ago she observed to me, ‘If you have a weakness, make it work for you as a strength – and if you have a strength, don’t abuse it into a weakness.”
Through the years, and in the different jobs I have held, I have seen constant demonstrations of the truth of my mother’s observations.
A person who chooses to call himself frank and candid can very easily find himself becoming tactless and cruel. A person who prides himself on being tactful can find eventually that he has become evasive and deceitful.
A person with firm convictions can become pigheaded. A person who is inclined to be temperate and judicious can sometimes turn into a man with weak convictions and banked fires of resolution.
Good habits of health too rigidly followed can make you a hypochondriac.
Hard work, unless balanced by relaxation and mind and body, may eventually destroy you.
Loyalty can lead to fanaticism. Caution can become timidity. Freedom can become license. Confidence can become arrogance. Humility can become servility.
All these are ways in which strength can become weakness. But the reverse is true too.
Destructiveness based on a desire to know what makes something tick can often be channeled into constructiveness directed at making it tick better.
Gullibility can be turned into understanding and compassion.
Relentlessness can be turned into versatility.
Laziness can be turned into contemplation and study.
Extravagance can be turned into generosity.
I think of this often and, while I lead quite a regulated life, I very often deliberately break habits -change patterns – merely to avoid the danger of extremes and open up new avenues of inner growth.
Look at that first line again: “If you have a weakness, make it work for you as a strength – and if you have a strength, don’t abuse it into a weakness.” Study it, apply it, and I think you will find comfort, strength, and truth in it.
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I’m sure you can see why I was so anxious for you to read these words. Aren’t they brilliant? ” I very often deliberately break habits -change patterns – merely to avoid the danger of extremes and open up new avenues of inner growth.”
Great stuff! ~ Joi
10 Habits Men Need to Develop and Maintain for a Healthy Heart
From Men’s Health
Attention, men. Below are ten habits that Men’s Health says will strengthen your heart. Try to adopt at least 3 right away, then see how many others you can work into your life.
- Drink Five 8 oz. Glasses of Water a Day. Men who do are 54 percent less likely to have a fatal heart attack than those who drink two or fewer. Experts say the water dilutes the blood, making it less likely to clot.
- Convince Your Partner to Stop Smoking. Breathing secondhand smoke boosts bad cholesterol levels, decreases good cholesterol, and increases your blood’s tendency to clot.
- Work Out for 30 Minutes, Four Times a Week. Middle-aged men who get this much physical activity have a 60 percent less risk of heart attack than inactive men.
- Lose 10 to 20 Pounds. If you’re overweight, dropping 10 to 20 pounds lowers your risk of dying from a heart attack. Overweight people have heart attacks 8.2 years earlier than normal-weight victims.
- Drink more Tea. A recent study found that people who drink three cups of tea a day have half the risk of heart attack of those who don’t drink tea at all. Potent antioxidants, called flavonoids, provide a protective effect. Learn more health benefits of tea.
- Eat Salmon on Saturday, Tuna on Tuesday. What a brilliant plan. Salmon Saturday and Tuna Tuesday. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health say that eating fish at least twice a week lowers heart-disease risk by more than 30 percent. The magic ingredient? Omega-3 fatty acids.
- Ask Your Doctor About Vitamin E and Aspirin. Men who take both cut the plaque in clogged arteries by more than 80 percent.
- Eat a Cup of Total Corn Flakes for Breakfast. This cereal contains one of the highest concentrations of folate of any cereal. Daily folic acid cuts your risk of cardiovascular disease by 13 percent.
- Count to 10. Creating a 10-second buffer before reacting to a stressful situation may be enough to cool you down, meaning no reaction will be necessary. Men who respond with anger are three times more likely to have heart disease and five times more likely to have a heart attack before turning 55. Guys, go back and re-read this one, okay?
- Eat Watermelon. Did you know that watermelon contains about 40 percent more lycopene than is found in raw tomatoes? Plus, a new study shows that your body absorbs it at higher levels due to the melon’s high water content. Half a wedge can boost heart-disease prevention by 30 percent.
Very Important Links From The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
I LOVE it when people are extremely passionate about what they do – when they pour their heart, body, mind, and soul into their purpose in life. I especially love it when that purpose is one that seeks to protect and help those who aren’t fully able to fend for themselves.
Heroes and heroines in action! Is there anything more beautiful?
I got an e-mail today from someone within a group of such heroes: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. They are seeking to help children, so let’s go ahead and call them Superheroes, shall we?
The e-mail was in response to a recent post I wrote about children who are bullies and the children who are bullied. Below is some of the gracious message, including some very important links.
Good mental health is important for every child – it affects every aspect of a child’s life and overall health. Trusted up-to-date resources make it easier to discuss mental health issues, educate readers, and protect our children.
Every day in our schools and communities, children are teased, threatened, or tormented by bullies. To help care for our youth, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) developed webpages and resources (print and online) that serve can as useful tools to you and your readers.
- About Bullying http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/15plus/aboutbullying.asp
Systems of Care http://www.systemsofcare.samhsa.gov/
National Strategy for Suicide Prevention http://nmhicstore.samhsa.gov/suicideprevention/pubs.aspx
National Suicide Prevention Initiative http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/cmhs/nspi/
These sites offer parents, caregivers, educators, and other professionals a great opportunity to know the facts, recognize signs and symptoms, and access easy to read tips on how to talk to children about mental health. These resources can help caregivers build healthier, safer environments and support anti-bullying initiatives. For additional information on this topic and more, or to order resources at no cost, please call the SAMHSA hotline at 1-877-SAMHSA-7 or visit http://www.samhsa.gov/shin/.
Winter Weight Gain and The Kitchen Counter Pact
Old Man Winter leaves behind a lasting impression, doesn’t he? The thing is, I’m not always fond of where he touches – the lasting impressions can be tougher to get rid of in some areas, if you know what I mean.
Two of my three daughters and I met at the bar yesterday and commiserated about winter weight gain over drinks. The bar was adjoined to our kitchen counter and the drinks were iced sweet tea.
We compared winter weight gain woes (how long exactly was this winter?!) and took inventory of things we wanted to tone and tighten. Beautiful and ridiculously fit First Lady Michelle Obama has created an arm fetish in our household, so arms were at the top of the list. We all want THOSE ARMS!
My oldest daughter got pen and paper and wrote out a walking schedule as the youngest and I came up with more ways to eat healthy and tried to schedule time for pilates, yoga, and arm weights. We all signed our name to a piece of paper which included our goals and put it in a place for safe keeping. Each week, we’re going to weigh in (and compare arms… Heaven help me) and see how we’re progressing.
This way, we’ll know when we need to step things up (literally). I have this feeling that my girls are going to work my butt off…. at least that’s what I’m counting on.
If you have a support system around you, count your blessings. If not, then your journey will simply be a little more challenging. Fortunately, if you have a computer and the internet, you can find support in many online weight loss and fitness forums. Prevention.com has an outstanding online community. You’ll find people who are in your shoes and would love nothing more than to help you wear your own shoes more comfortably. And jeans…
Finally, Jillian Michaels (she of The Biggest Loser fame) has an online program that sounds phenomenal. It’s only $4 a week (billed quarterly) – with the first 7 days free. Visit Jillian Michaels to see the details.
If you’re trying to get fit and/or lose weight, support is a key weapon. Try very hard to get the support you need from your loved ones. If, for whatever reasons, they simply aren’t able to provide this support, you can find support online.
A final word, don’t be too hard on your loved ones if they don’t give a great deal of support – they may simply not know how. It’s hard to tell someone you love that they can’t have that piece of chocolate cake that’s as big as their head. Also, watch out for something that is as human as it is harmful: Blaming others for things we’ve done and expecting them to fix it.
We all paint our own portraits. The brush is in our own hand and the paint is on the smock we’re wearing. If we don’t like the way something looks (here’s looking at you again, arms), we have the paint and the brushes – all we have to do is fix what we don’t like.
I don’t have a forum or message board set up on Self Help Daily, but I’d love to hear about your own goals and what you’re doing to achieve them. Just leave comments – I’ll respond to each one, of course. You can also e-mail me any time (joisigers @ aim.com), or give me a shout out on Twitter (@JoiTaniaSigers).
If Old Man Winter left his hand prints on you, make today the day you start wiping them off. When the old guy rolls around next time, we’ll be ready for him. Best of luck!