August 31

I do not believe that you can ever be loved unless you truly love other people. Even a dog knows when you love him. I bought an old dog along with my house in the country. I bought him because he came up and put his paw on me and nudged me, looking at me with those beautiful eyes as if to say, “I’m here.”

August 30

If you traveled the world over, you would never find another person quite like yourself. Geneticists say if it were possible for one couple to have millions of children, no two would be exactly alike. Because you are different from everyone, there is something which only you can do in this world. The only way you may live a truly creative life, or know the highest happiness, is by being yourself—by developing your own unique potential.

August 29

There is pollution of the mind. If we harbor hate, prejudice, and negativism, we destroy our best thinking potential. We frustrate our highest achievements.

August 28

When energy runs low and discouragement creeps in, when you have to force yourself to keep going or when some unexpected obstacle throws you and you find it hard to pick yourself up and get going again, it is a time of crisis when the vital factor is simply good old perseverance. Have you got what it takes to stand up and go at it again—and still again? That’s the question. Of course you have.

August 27

With faith and patience and sound thinking, you can do many things that “can’t be done.” Things once thought impossible become possible. As the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers claims: “The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer.”

August 26

When tension begins rising in my mind, I often find one technique effective. I practice remembered peacefulness, returning mentally to and imaging the most peaceful scenes I have known. I affirm, “The peace of God, which passeth all understanding . . .” (Philippians 4:7).

August 25

Be a tough-minded optimist. That is one who does not break apart in the thought processes or attitudes, whatever the stresses. It is one who continues hopefully and cheerfully to expect the good no matter what the apparent situation. This optimist stays right in there, everlastingly slugging away. 

August 24

What a stupendous framework God provides as a setting for our lives! The endless galaxies of innumerable stars; the tempestuous, enormous oceans; the great sighing, surging winds; rolling, reverberating thunder; dashing rain; the drama, mystery, and diversity of the recurring seasons; the thrill of the rising sun and the glory of its going down; the romance of silver moonlight—these are wonders round about us all our lives for us to get thrilled about.

August 23

There is one certain way to decide whether you are old: What is your attitude when you arise in the morning? The person who is young awakens with a strange feeling of excitement, a feeling which he may not be able to explain but which is as if to say, “This is a great day; this is the day on which the wonderful thing will happen.”

The individual who is old, regardless of age, arises with the spirit unresponsive, not expecting any great thing to happen. This day will be just about like all the rest. The person may hope it will be no worse. Some people retain the spirit of expectation at threescore and ten; some lose it early in life. The measure of one’s age is actually how well he retains the romance of youth.

August 22

To have friends, be friendly and kindly to everyone. Be happy and outgoing. Get a lot of fun out of everything. Act so that people will have a good opinion of you. Have a spirit-lifting and inspiring personality. Like people. Help those who are having it rough. This is the way to real happiness.

August 21

Many people suffer poor health not because of what they eat but from what is eating them. Emotional ills turn inward, sapping energy, reducing efficiency, causing deterioration in health. And, of course, they siphon off happiness. This situation can be improved by a big daily dose of faith and positive thinking.

August 20

Storms bring out the eagles; little birds take to cover. Little people try to run from storms and are sometimes smashed by them. But big persons ride storms to better things.

August 19

Some people shrink from going to places that remind them of their departed loved ones; others shrink from doing things that they once did together with others, especially as husband and wife. This is understandable, because it can sharpen the sense of physical loss. The antidote is to remind yourself that the loved person is not only still with you in a spiritual sense but is far more constantly with you than was possible when he or she was alive.

When my wife, Ruth, telephoned to tell me my mother had died, she said: "I know you will find this hard to believe right now, Norman, but your mother is going to be with you and nearer to you from now on to a far greater degree than she ever was before. In the past, you have always made plane trips to be with her for a few days or even a few hours. Now she can be with you always.” This was true and, once I was able to grasp it, my sense of grief and loss was vastly diminished.

August 18

Hope is like a pointing finger painted on a door that is closed to you. It points, directing you to another door further on that will open to your big opportunity. Look for that other door—that open door.

August 17

A homing pigeon, released in the air, instinctively heads for home. Birds in migration over thousands of miles unerringly return to the same place from which they came. Every rivulet is pulled by the lure of the sea. We come from God; He is our home. Every human life feels the tug of God. The instinct is to return to Him and love Him always.

August 16

There’s a story about a rusty pickax found in the old Colorado gold country. The handle had long since deteriorated, but the rusted pick remained driven into the ground a hundred years or more. The manner in which it was driven hard into the earth revealed the defeat felt by some frustrated prospector. It seemed to say: “Oh, what’s the use? I’m through.” The pathetic fact—which this unknown defeated prospector never learned—was that a few yards farther on was a rich vein of gold that later produced millions. If only he had persisted. 

August 15

God has confidence in us. He gives us the power of private judgment. He makes us free moral agents so that we can do what we want to do—even contrary to His will. That is a big God. If God were a little God, He would tell us exactly what to do. But He leaves us free. Still He hopes we are smart enough to do right.

August 14

You can reach any goal . . .

IF you know what the goal is;

IF you really want it;

IF it is a good goal;

IF you believe you can reach it;

IF you work to achieve it;

IF you think positively.

August 13

Have you ever noticed how people who master words and use them well, bringing out their beauty and employing their persuasiveness, are those who go far in life. One does not need be a great platform speaker. The fine choice of vocabulary in daily speech will mark one as different and of extra quality and in a quiet way that person will become a leader. Just think what wonderment is inherent in a combination of words. 

August 12

“Let your requests be made known to God,” says the Bible (Philippians 4:6). But it also says, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). Ask for what you want but always be willing to take what God gives. It may prove better than what you ask for.

August 11

When you get discouraged, when you cannot seem to make it, there is one thing you cannot do without. It is that priceless ingredient of success called relentless effort. You just never give up, never quit.

August 10

Beneath the tension-agitated surface of our minds is the profound peace of the deeper mental levels. As the water beneath the surface of the ocean is deep and quiet, no matter how stormy the surface, so the mind is peaceful in its depths. Silence, practiced until you grow expert in its use, has the power to penetrate to that inner center of mind and soul where God’s healing quietness may actually be experienced.

August 9

While driving your car, if you become annoyed by impolite and careless actions on the part of another driver, instead of reacting in kind, remain affable and send up a sincere prayer for him. You can never know what pressures motivate him. Perhaps your prayer may reach his problem. One thing is sure, it will reach you. 

August 8

To cure worry, spend fifteen minutes daily filling your mind full of God. Worry is just a very bad mental habit. You can change any habit with God’s help. Start practicing faith, the number—one enemy of worry. Every morning say, “I believe,” out loud, three times. Pray: “I place my life, my loved ones, my work in the Lord’s hands. There is only good in Your hands. Amen.”

August 7

A long while ago, there was a man who had to hook up his wife’s long dresses every day. They used to hook from top to bottom and he got tired of the job. It was most exasperating. He nearly lost his religion every time he did it. He is the fellow who developed the zipper. He met a situation with creativity.

August 6

A prayer for energy: Dear Lord, I need more energy and strength. I seem drained and tired. I do not seem to possess what it takes to do all that I must do. I know that the wrong kind of thoughts can make one tired. Change my thoughts that they may be in harmony with Your power. Keep me in close contact with You who are the Source of energy, energy that never runs down. I accept this strength and energy now. I thank you. Amen.

August 5

How do some people rise above calamities that leave others crushed in spirit, bitter and defeated? In the Book of Job we find a clue: “When he [God] giveth quietness, who then can make trouble?” (Job 34:29). The first essential for meeting misfortune sturdily is to achieve quietness, calmness, serenity at the center of yourself. Out of such quietness at the center arises simple gratitude—for the gift of life, for present blessings, for advantages and possibilities you do have. This thankfulness, in turn, opens doors to happiness and opportunity which otherwise remain closed.

August 4

Enthusiasm is no Pollyannish, sweetness-and-light, inborn and fortuitous concept. It is a strong, rugged mental attitude that is perhaps hard to achieve, difficult to maintain, but powerful—so powerful!

August 3

A prominent businessman whose daily schedule is packed to the limit, his responsibilities many and his activities widely diverse, always handles himself with impressive quietness. “I have learned to begin and end each day calmly,” he says. “I repeat to myself this line from Isaiah: ‘In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength’ [Isaiah 30:15]. That is my secret.”

August 2

My method for awakening is this: When I return to at least a semiconscious state after a night of sleep, while still lying in bed, I repeat this phrase from Psalm 139: “When I awake, I am still with thee” (verse 18).

These words emphasize the greatest truth known to man—that we are not alone. Then, just before getting out of bed, I repeat that glorious old passage from Psalm 118: “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (verse 24). He made this day to be a precious thing full of opportunity; He gives it to us. We must do something good with this day.

August 1

Say to yourself every day, especially when things get dark and trouble stares you in the face, “I am a child of God.” Asserting and affirming your divine origin will strengthen you and you will realize that whatsoever comes you have Someone watching over you and helping you. This practice will help you to have a great day every day.