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.