LetsReflect.com is a social networking website that is centered on the idea of Self-Actualization. Self-Actualization is the desire to reach your full potential. Members can create their own profile page on which they can list reflections, goals, favorite quotes, etc. to try to reach their full potential while helping other LetsReflect.com users.
My Reflections
1.
There is only one River.
2.
Peoples' opinions are not set in stone.
3.
I can learn. I will learn. I am learning.
4.
The Red Sea was not parted by faith. Nor was it parted by persistence or confidence, wishing, planning, worrying, or bargaining. And certainly not by money. It was parted by obedience.
5.
Forgiveness and allowing are two of the most powerful change-agents in the world.
6.
Giving really is more gratifying than getting (as long as you know how to let go).
7.
If you are not acquainted with your Source, if you are not at peace with your Origin, if you are not in a state of loving exchange and intimate, trusting relationship with your Creator, with (yes, let's say it) your God....how on earth can you ever expect to be fulfilled by anything else? Really.
8.
People who think religion is just about hell and control are deluded by propaganda, and have entirely missed the point. Religion is a roadsign, lovingly painted, that says "Stop, turn back, the bridge is out."
9.
I have lived through some of the most appalling experiences: an earthquake that razed a city to the ground, being beaten up, various addictions, depression, broken heart, spiritual desolation and terror, violent accidental death of a parent, lack of money...and not only am I still here, but I am loved and flourishing. The reflection? No matter how bad it gets, if you're willing to hang in there and learn, things can change. Dramatically.
I'm Grateful For
1.
God's extraordinary desire to have a relationship with me: His healing grace; His gentle, ever-present guidance; His boundless and burning Fatherly love; His unfathomable ongoing generosity toward me; His unfailing faithfulness in spite of who I am.
2.
My beautiful wife and girls.
3.
My job.
4.
My ability to choose.
5.
My life experience.
6.
My mistakes.
7.
The beauty and power of the elements.
8.
Fabulous food.
My Favorite Quotes
1.
"Men go out into the void spaces of the world for various reasons. Some for love of adventure, some for scientific knowledge, and others again are drawn away by the mysterious fascination of the unknown." - Ernest Shackleton, Arctic Explorer
2.
"Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we might oft win, by fearing to attempt."
- Shakespeare
3.
"It is easier to perceive error than to find truth, for the former lies on the surface and is easily seen, while the latter lies in the depth, where few are willing to search for it." - Goethe
4.
"Beauty is the wisdom of women. Wisdom is the beauty of men." - Chinese Proverb
5.
"Nature is a revelation of God; Art a revelation of man."
- Longfellow
6.
"Personality is only ripe when a man has made the truth his own." - Kierkegaard
7.
"He is half of a blessed man. Left to be finished by such as she; and she a fair divided excellence, whose fullness of perfection lies in him." - Shakespeare
8.
"Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take my burden upon you, for it is light." - Jesus
9.
"To the dull mind all nature is leaden. To the illumined mind the whole world burns and sparkles with light." - Emerson
10.
"If you drop your car keys into a river of flowing lava, forget 'em, cos they're gone." - Handy
11.
"The road goes ever on and on, down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the road has gone, and I must follow if I can - pursuing it with eager feet until it joins some larger way where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say." - Tolkien
12.
"An ounce of pretension is worth a pound of manure." - Shelby.
13.
"Be strong; be strong and very courageous." - God
14.
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." - Galileo
15.
"There is something beautiful about a billion stars held steady by a God who knows what he is doing. They hang there, the stars, like notes on a page of music, free-form verse, silent mysteries swirling in the blue like jazz. And as I lay there, it occured to me that God is up there somewhere." - Miller
Sensory Experiences That Ignite My Heart
1.
The sound of my children's laughter.
2.
Stone, wood and the ocean.
3.
The smell of percolating coffee.
4.
A well-tended vegetable garden.
5.
Thunderstorms.
6.
The sight of a study with bookshelves filled with interesting, inspiring books.
7.
Cool movie soundtracks.
8.
The sights, smells and sounds of a rainforest.
9.
Herbs and spices.
10.
A cool change after a heatwave.
11.
Sandalwood.
12.
My wife's smile and touch.
13.
The sound a sharp knife makes when I take it out of the knife-block.
12 Movies That Continue To Inspire Me
1.
Elizabethtown
(Recovering from failure)
2.
A Knight's Tale (Making your own destiny)
3.
The Big Blue (Following your personal vision)
4.
White Squall (Being a man)
5.
Mr Holland's Opus (Giving your life for others)
6.
Hero (The beauty of focus and precision)
7.
Invictus (The power of forgiveness)
8.
The Passion of the Christ (Salvation through unswerving self-sacrifice)
9.
Life is Beautiful (The essence of fatherhood)
10.
Amelie (The rewards of being observant)
11.
The Motorcycle Diaries (Seeing the world)
12.
Like Water For Chocolate (Giving of yourself)
12 Books That Have Shaped My Life
1.
The Bible
2.
Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3.
The Amazing Results of Positive Thinking - Norman Vincent Peale
4.
The Artist's Way - Julia Cameron
5.
Writing Down The Bones - Natalie Goldberg
6.
Diet For A New America - John Robbins
7.
Vegetarian Nights Fresh From Hawaii - Bonnie Mandoe
8.
Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus - John Gray
9.
The Five Languages of Love - Gary Chapman
10.
Shattering Your Strongholds - Liberty Savard
11.
The Celestine Prophecy - James Redfield
12.
The Phantom Tollbooth - Norton Juster
12 Of My Heroes
1.
Nelson Mandela (political leader)
2.
J J Abrams (director)
3.
Stephen Donaldson (writer)
4.
Julia Cameron (creativity guru)
5.
My mum (survivor)
6.
Jesus of Nazareth (messiah)
7.
Thomas J. Leonard (life coach)
8.
Chuck Missler (theologian)
9.
Jamie Oliver (chef)
10.
Superman (Kryptonian)
11.
Stephen Sondheim (composer)
12.
Sydney Bristow (secret agent)
My Bookmarks
My Goals
1.
Make my life an act of worship.
2.
Create an inspirational place to write.
3.
Buy a house. Make it a home.
4.
Take my family to South Africa, and to other countries.
5.
Develop products that reveal the beauty, purpose and order of life.
6.
Give my kids an education that will nourish them throughout their lives.
7.
Provide a good livelihood that will sustain my wife and I in our old age, and keep us creative, healthy, productive and joyful.
8.
Start a blog.
9.
Complete a 21 day fast.
My Affirmations
1.
I'm on a unique path toward a passionate, joyful and fruitful life.
2.
I have much to give that will water the souls of the people around me.
3.
My real work is to love.
4.
God created me on purpose. I matter.
5.
I make sensational, nutritious food that people love.
I Commit To...
1.
Making each day an act of worship.
2.
Cultivating a homelife that radiates warmth and love, like a fire in the hearth.
3.
Clarifying and choosing for my passions.
4.
Being authentic.
5.
Drinking 8 glasses of water a day, and nourishing my body with nutritious food.
6.
Spending time each week taking in beautiful, natural environments, using all my senses.
7.
Being a superlative example for my kids of what it means to live well.
8.
Speak boldly and without shame the things I really believe in my heart of hearts.
What Have I Done Today To Make Me Feel Proud?
1.
My wife and I ate some gingerbread and some maple pecan cookies that I made with my own hands on the weekend.
2.
I looked at the kitchen, and it has started to look like a place where organised, healthy people eat.
3.
I prayed, and felt good.
4.
I took a twenty minute lunch-break and walked to the end of the pier, and stretched, and breathed in the salt water air.
5.
My step-daughter lay in the bunk bed my wife and I assembled for her on the weekend, and said she loves the bed, and the book I gave her.
6.
I drank 4 glasses of water.
7.
I put in a good day's work and felt like I made solid headway.
8.
I gave a close friend some honest, tough love advice, and he said I was spot on and it really made a difference.
My Favorite Reflectors
