Listen to episode 524 of the Inspirational Living Podcast: The Heroism of Every Day Life. Edited and adapted from A Man’s Reach or Some Character Ideals by Charles Edward Locke. Visit today's sponsor Swanson Health at Swanson.com. And use coupon code LIVING20 for 20% off. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: In every age, we hear much talk of heroes. We are fascinated by stories and tales that spur the imagination to the loftiest heroism. But I would call your attention to the greatest of all heroism: that heroism which does not receive the plaudits of the crowd, nor attract the eyes of the multitude. It is not richly rewarded with treasure, and does not have medals struck for its accomplishments. I am thinking of the rescues and battles, the sacrifices and generosities, and the invincible courage which are unheralded, unrecorded, and unrewarded, but upon which the security and prosperity of our times depend. Many a person in a moment of emergency would rush at the risk of their life to the rescue of an imperiled friend; but that same person may not possess the stalwart heroism necessary to withstand certain temptations which are ruining their life and bringing agony to those who love them.

Inspirational Living: Life Lessons for Success & Happiness

The Heroism of Daily Life | Inspirational

Listen to episode 523 of the Inspirational Living Podcast: Overcoming Hurry, Worry, and Irritability. Edited and adapted from The Freedom of Life by Annie Payson Call. Visit today's sponsor at ReelPaper.com, and use the coupon code LIVING for 25% off your purchase. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Remember that worrying is resistance, and resistance is unwillingness. Unwillingness interferes with whatever we may want to accomplish. To be willing that this, that, or the other thing should happen seems quite difficult, when to our minds, this, that, or the other thing may bring disaster. And yet if we can once see clearly that worrying resistance tends toward disaster rather than away from it, or, at the very least, takes away our strength and endurance, it is only a matter of time before we become able to drop our resistance altogether. However, it IS a matter of time, and not instantaneous. So, once we are faced toward freedom from worry, we must be patient and steady, and not expect to gain very rapidly. We must be persistent, and resist the temptation to do nothing to overcome our worries. I remember a woman who once said to me, "Now I have got something to worry about for the rest of my life.” Her face was set toward worrying. Nothing but her own will could have turned it the other way, and yet she deliberately chose not to use it, and so she was fixed and settled in her self-made prison for the rest of her life.

Overcoming Hurry, Worry, and Irritability | Motivation

Listen to episode 522 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Inspiring Thoughts on Self-Development & Self-Growth. Edited and adapted from The Call of Life by William L. White. Visit today's sponsor Swanson Health at Swanson.com. And use coupon code INSPO20 for 20% off. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: The ushering in of a New Year brings with it to so many people New Year’s Resolutions. This is a splendid practice and I would not discount New Year Resolutions one iota, but instead give unto them strength. Indeed, I wish to encourage not only resolutions for the New Year, but to urge everyone to be on the alert, taking stock, visualizing, and planning to better not only ourselves, but our neighbors and that sphere of the world which we touch. And whenever a new thought for a better practice in the upbuilding of our lives crosses our minds, do not wait for the New Year to roll around to record it and start practicing it, but begin at once. If the word resolution sounds "too tame," the words maxim or motto may be used. When carried to the final analysis it is “habit” that we are seeking, because after all, life consists of a bunch of habits. If everybody, especially young people, during the formative period of their lives, would give ten minutes to serious thought and write down on paper at least one resolution, maxim, or motto every week, which you intend to practice and actually incorporate into your life, we would see an astounding change for the better in the individual, which means, also, a rising generation.

Inspiring Thoughts for Self-Development & Self-Growth

Listen to episode 521 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Becoming Rich in Knowledge & Wisdom | Education. Edited and adapted from Right Living by Susan H. Wixon. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: That which we know is all our own. The more we know (the more we absorb of useful knowledge) the richer we become. Science which can be shown, demonstrated, and realized, is the desirable thing. Think about it. Does not actual knowledge put to flight all extremes of error and misunderstanding? Take a fact in Nature. Prove it, and it becomes yours. And not all the hyenas and bloodhounds of ignorance can take it from you. As someone has said before, "There are two valuable possessions which no search warrant can get at, and which no reverse of fortune can destroy: they are what a person puts into their head (i.e. knowledge), and what they put into their hands (i.e. skill)." Is there any limit to the acquisition of knowledge? No. Nobody has gained the whole of knowledge, and no one knows so much that they may not acquire still more. Sir Isaac Newton said at the close of his illustrious life, that the great facts he had found by study and search, were but pebbles on the seashore, compared to the vast ocean of knowledge still untouched. ------- Thanks to Himalaya Botanique for sponsoring today's episode. Himalaya Botanique — the toothpaste that’s free from fluoride, SLS, and artificial colors and flavors, but bursting with foam and flavor! Enjoy 20% off your purchase of Himalaya toothpaste, using discount code LIFELESSONS at Amazon. To learn more about Himalaya Botanique and Ayurvedic wellness visit Himalayausa.com.

Becoming Rich in Knowledge & Wisdom | Education

Listen to episode 520 of the Inspirational Living podcast: The Grand Secrets of Success | Self-Reliance. Edited and adapted from The Grand Secrets of Success, compiled by The Toronto News Company. Today's podcast was sponsored by The Forager Project. They have provided non-partisan voting resources and information for you at ForagerProject.com/vote. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: There are different ways of getting on in the world. It does not always mean making money, or being a great individual for people to look up to. Leaving off a bad habit for a good one is getting on in the world; to be clean and tidy instead of dirty and disorderly is getting on; to be careful and saving instead of thoughtless and wasteful is getting on; to be active and industrious, instead of idle and lazy is getting on; to be kind and forbearing, instead of ill-natured and quarrelsome, is getting on; to work as diligently in the boss's absence as in their presence is getting on. In short, when we see anyone properly attentive to their duties, persevering through difficulties, to gain such knowledge as shall be of use to themselves and others, offering a good example to their acquaintances, we may be sure that they are getting on in the world. Those who wish to get on in the world must have a stock of patience and perseverance, of hopeful confidence — a willingness to learn, and a disposition not easily cast down by difficulties and disappointments.

The Grand Secrets of Success | Self-Reliance

Listen to episode 519 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Success Habits & The Character That Triumphs. Edited and adapted from The Ideal Man by John Priest Greene.Today's podcast was sponsored by The Forager Project. They have provided non-partisan voting resources and information for you at ForagerProject.com/vote.Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Let us talk about character. IS it grown, or engraved, or forged? All of these. We are born without character, but it soon sprouts, and then grows rapidly. The soil is the home, the school, the social life, the business world — different kinds of soil, each contributing its element to the growth of character.Parents, teachers, companions, and business associates are the character-cultivators, and largely determine the quality of the product — but each one grows their own character.  The word "character" is Greek, and means "engraved" — an ancient and beautiful conception. We (sometimes with the help of others) engrave our own characters when we begin to act on our own judgment, when we choose and do, and thus form habits.A habit is a groove or a line cut in the soul, fixed, along which future action is almost sure to run. Many habits make an engraving, a permanent picture of the soul or character. It may be truly said, also, that character is forged. The human soul is a piece of metal, without form and beauty. It must be worked over. In order to make it right, it must go into the hot fire and under the big hammer. If properly forged, it will come out with a permanent form of grace and beauty. False lines and deformities — bad habits of thought and action — must therefore be hammered out. They cannot be brushed off.  

Success Habits & The Character That Triumphs

Listen to episode 518 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Inspirational Life Lessons on Happiness. Edited and adapted from The True Source of a Happy Life by Hugh Wayt. Today's podcast was sponsored by The Forager Project. They have provided non-partisan voting resources and information for you at ForagerProject.com/vote. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: It will help much in learning the lesson of happiness if we persistently train ourselves to be cheerful and to see the bright things in our every-day life. There are some people who seem to have eyes only for the disagreeable things. They find every bit of roughness and hardness in life's pathway. They see at once (and see it magnified) every unpleasant thing that comes into their lives. They remember every unhappy experience they ever had. They keep on the walls of their memory pictures of all their vanished joys and faded hopes. They indelibly record all the trials, adversities and misfortunes they have ever suffered. But, on the other hand, they are forgetful of all their blessings. They hang up no pictures of the joys they did not lose, which have filled their lives on so many bright days. They have poor memory for the things that beautify and gladden life. There are few habits more common than this: of remembering the unpleasant and forgetting the pleasant things — and there is no other habit which is a greater enemy of true joy. The person who would be of good cheer must break this habit if it has fastened itself to your life. You must train yourself to see the beautiful things and be blind to the disagreeable things. There are, in the ordinary life, a thousand pleasant things (favors, joys, comforts, things to cheer) to one unpleasant thing, one real cause for unhappiness. It is a shame, therefore, to let the one bit of roughness, trial, or suffering spoil all the gladness of the thousand blessings, to let the one discordant note mar all the music of such splendid harmony.

Inspirational Life Lessons on Happiness

Listen to episode 517 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Vitality: Building a Healthy, Energetic Personality. Edited and adapted from Be Good to Yourself by Orison Swett Marden, published in 1910. Today's podcast is sponsored by Love Good Fats, the delicious, award winning bars and shakes, made with clean ingredients and only 1-2 grams of sugar. Get 20% off with the coupon code: LIVING. Go to: https://livinghour.org/lovegoodfats Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: There is nothing which pays greater dividends than self-investment; keeping yourself up to standard by buttressing your health in every possible way and using the utmost care and exactitude in regimen, in work habits, and in life habits. In order to be well-balanced, self-poised, and broad-minded, one must have a great variety of experience. And for this, play is just as necessary as work. The person who is everlastingly working, who never gets time to play, to see their friends, to travel, or to go into the country, because they think time is too precious, that they must utilize every minute in practical work, is defeating the very purpose which they are trying to attain. There must be spontaneity, buoyancy, elasticity, and vivacity in your activities. And everyone who wishes to get the maximum of achievement out of life should know all Nature’s methods of rejuvenation.

Vitality: Building a Healthy, Energetic Personality

Listen to episode 516 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Success Mindset: A Sense of Humor. Edited and adapted from Invincible Power by John Henry Remmers, published in 1922. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: When life appears to be going against us, our first inclination is to frown and become irritable. This state of mind causes confusion and leads to despair, throwing us out of harmony with Faith. We lose the power of receptiveness and are unable to receive the Divine message and strength which would otherwise lead us out of the darkness back into the light. On the other hand, when things seem all wrong and we hold onto Faith, reinforced by a sense of Humor, and a smile of confidence, we retain our receptive mood, and positively (very often swiftly) receive the intelligence to solve those problems confronting us. If you truly wish to live successfully, it is important that you retain always your sense of Humor. Of course, there are times for seriousness and also solemnity, but do not allow any occurrence or condition to so burden your mind that you lose your sense of Humor. In other words, do not look upon life too seriously. It is only a burden if you make it so. 

Success Mindset: A Sense of Humor & Laughter

Listen to episode 515 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Mental & Physical Fitness for Success in Life. Edited and adapted from Keeping Fit by Orison Swett Marden, published in 1914. Today's podcast is sponsored by Love Good Fats, the delicious, award winning bars and shakes, made with clean ingredients and only 1-2 grams of sugar. Get 20% off with the coupon code: LIVING. Go to: https://livinghour.org/lovegoodfats Motivational Podcast Excerpt: The grandest work a human being can do is to keep themselves fit for the greatest thing they are capable of doing, the highest service they are capable of rendering; always up to the level of their greatest efficiency. To keep fit is to maintain perfect health. And perfect health depends upon a perfect balance of mind and body, unimpaired physical vigor, absolute inner harmony, and a calm, mental poise which nothing can disturb. Every normal human being can, if they will, raise themselves to this condition. You can live in such a simple yet scientific manner that you will not only have great disease-resisting power, but you will also be at the maximum of your creative ability.

Mental & Physical Fitness for Success in Life

Listen to episode 514 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Making the Most of Yourself | Life lessons. Edited and adapted from Personal Power by Keith J. Thomas. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Most people who are conscious of weaknesses of some kind or other, use the knowledge to avoid the work which would call their deficiencies into play. They lack self-confidence because they keep their weaknesses ever before their eyes. The wise individual relies on his or her strength. They takes their stand upon what they can do. And when they are called upon to do something which will make use one of their weak faculties, they makes up their mind to do the best they can, while they draw upon their strong qualities as much as possible. The golden rule, therefore, is to keep your strong qualities in front of your eyes, so to speak, and ignore your weak ones. Do not pander to these latter ones. Treat them as if they were sources of strength, too. That is what Shakespeare means when he says, "Assume a virtue if you have it not.” Every now and then you will ask yourself how your weak faculties are improving (and if you have done your best to develop your mind and character); and you will have the satisfaction of noting an extraordinary development of strength which you never dreamed of.

Making the Most of Yourself | Mind Power

Listen to episode 513 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Making the Most Out of the Day | Motivational. Edited and adapted from Youth and Opportunity by Thomas Tapper. Motivational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. If you enjoy our podcast, please do share your favorite episodes with friends on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. We also appreciate your positive reviews at the iTunes store. Thank you. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from Youth and Opportunity by Thomas Tapper, published in 1912. When Alexander Pope wrote the line, "Hope springs eternal in the human breast," he expressed a truth that (considered in the fullness of its suggestion) is electrifying. With the coming of the inspiring impulse of hope, we find again open to us the doors that have shut us in. We look out over a vast field of possibility. Once more, we are in the presence of our rightful heritage. It lies, bright and enticing, before us; it beckons us to come; it speaks to us plainly; it promises much if we will only go forth and dwell as a worker in the fair field of its golden opportunities. We feel no doubts arise within us about the reality of eternal hope. We are convinced that we may possess the best things of life to whatever extent we desire. We realize that we have only to be brave and pay the price. And the price is Work. Shall we, then, with courage (and courage is rightly a quality of the heart) begin to labor for the rewards and blessings of hope — or shall we permit the light to fade from our sight, and entering again upon the way of darkness, grope in a poverty of opportunity? Our decision in this matter, conditions all the success that may be our portion — for, curiously, this word “success” has a simple basic meaning: to go along. It implies motion toward the thing desired.

Making the Most Out of the Day | Motivational

Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. For a limited time you can now get 25% off our Book of Zen apparel at Design By Humans, including free worldwide shipping for orders over $75. Check out our inspirational t-shirts, hoodies, and gift items by visit LivingHour.org/bookofzen. Each item includes one of my own original sayings inside a zen enso circle. Thank you. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from Personal Power by Keith J. Thomas, published in 1917. It is the modern habit to worship bigness. The people we are told to admire are those who conceive of vast undertakings and carry them through successfully. There seems to be a romance about “thinking in millions,” which is apparently absent when dealing in smaller numbers. I once knew a titan of industry. He was a man known for big thoughts, who did big things. He controlled hundreds of workers; he traveled all parts of the world; he was ever searching for ideas, and always seeking the expansion of his big undertakings. And yet, through it all, he was always most profoundly impressed with the vital importance of the little things of life. Thus we, who are so enamored with talk of bigness, may well consider the significance of this mature conclusion from a great captain of industry: that the small things may well be the greatest things after all. 

The Greatness of Little Things | Success Mindset

Listen to episode 511 of the Inspirational Living podcast: The Key that Unlocks the Heart | Life Lessons. Edited and adapted from Personal Power by Keith J. Thomas. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. To support our podcast with a one-time financial donation, please visit LivingHour.org/donate. Thank you. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from Personal Power by Keith J. Thomas, published in 1917. Our own mind is for our own use. We cannot exert any of its power without affecting ourselves. Feelings of anger affect us physically. Indeed, they hurt us, and do not harm the object of our displeasure. There are what may be termed positive and negative forces of mind. Active sympathy is a positive quality. Indifference is negative. When we exercise a benevolent feeling of mind it has some practical use, and this is clearly understood in the case of sympathy. Sympathy is a good sentiment. We were meant to be compassionate. And if a habit of mind is good, it must produce some good effect on our lives. The value of sympathy lies in its power to harmonize minds, so that one can become susceptible to the influence of another's thoughts. You will find that the cultivation of sympathy will draw people toward you. They instinctively open their hearts to a sympathetic listener. When two brains are "tuned up" to sympathy, they will naturally convey and receive messages from one another. The action of the brain is similar to that of phone in its ability to generate waves. We do, in fact, project thought waves which are capable of penetrating space and affecting a brain that is in sympathy with our own.

The Key that Unlocks the Heart | Life Lessons

Listen to episode 510 of the Inspirational Living podcast: How to Create Good Luck | Success Tips. Edited and adapted from Personal Power by Keith J. Thomas. Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Welcome to the Inspirational Living podcast. I’d like to start today by thanking our two newest patrons: Patrick Hampton and Linda Brill.  Patrick and Linda now get exclusive access to over 250 additional podcasts plus full transcripts. You too can gain access right now for as little as $3 a month. Learn more by visiting LivingHour.org/patron. Today’s reading was edited and adapted from Personal Power by Keith J. Thomas, published in 1917. An old proverb says that "Good courage breaks ill luck.” In other words, mental power, rightly directed, is the only force that creates good luck. Hard work alone will not make you lucky. You must be ready to seize your good luck when it comes, and you must search for it until you find it. Ask yourself now, "Am I lucky! Am I trying to be lucky? Am I determined to be lucky?" You are the only person who can decide. If you want to be lucky, you must train your mind to obey your will, and you must rule it with wisdom, courage, and foresight. In what manner are you exercising your mind and keeping it fit? You must know that your mind will do a lot of work for you without any effort on your part if you train it carefully. For instance, the mind works while we sleep. Not only is this shown by our dreams, but there are countless instances where people have gone to bed worried and perplexed over some problem, and on waking in the morning have found the solution in their minds.

How to Create Good Luck | Success Tips

Need a free online life coach? Look no further than the most motivational self-help authors of the past. Inspiring readings from James Allen, Napoleon Hill, Hellen Keller, Booker T. Washington, Khalil Gibran, Marcus Aurelius, and more.

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Inspirational Living: Life Lessons for Success & Happiness

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