JOYOLOGY ON PINTEREST

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The Joy of Pinning

Follow Ted's board JOYology on Pinterest.

Come see our NEW location!

I'm not abandoning this blog (this conglomeration of blogs really), but I've been wanting to streamline &/or consolidate all of them for a while now, so I've started something new: http://tedmallory.wordpress.com

Please follow the link and take a look. I'm hoping to revitalize my blogging by making doing it more consistently and having each post be more brief and focused. I hope you'll like it and follow me at the new single blog site. Thanks. See you there.

Melancholy Prayer

"While life's dark maze I tread,
and griefs around me spread,
be thou my guide;
bid darkness turn to day,
wipe sorrow's tears away,
nor let me ever stray
from thee aside."

~Ray Palmer, 1808-1887

"My Faith Looks Up to Thee" (verse 3)

Lutheran Service Book hymn #202

When in worry, when in doubt, JUMP around, scream and shout

Smile- its good for you!

How to stay positive

Source: Uploaded by user via Ted on Pinterest

It's up to you

The world is full of cactus
~but~
You don't have to sit on it.

Hang tough

Some days it feels like you don't make a dent. You work hard to help someone and, oblivious to your motives, they may even ask you why you bother doing something and tell you straight-out that they don't value what you do at all.

It goes without saying that that can be discouraging, but don't give in to discouragement! Soldier on.

MLK said that only love can defeat hate- love is also our greatest weapon against ignorance, and against selfishness and immaturity and arrogance and smugness and especially against nihilism. Love wins, love works, love and compassion and lots and lots of patience.

Apathy and indifference can't win, certainly callousness and indignation won't get you anywhere. But remember that life isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. Slow and steady wins the race.

Hate and selfishness and anger are all in a hurry to shock and awe. They're all impatient and short-sighted, whereas love (being patient and kind, and keeping no records) takes the long view. Love is far more sustainable, durable, and can last forever.

So the next time you want to give up on investing in someone- a family member, a teammate, coworker, or a child or student- hang in there, even though it may SEEM fruitless. Seeds don't bloom overnight.

"So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up."~Galatians 6:9

Teams and Families

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." ~Paul's Letter to the Ephesians 4:2

Some of the times I miss teaching at a parochial school in stead of a public school are when I wish I could appeal to kids' personal faith in order to get them to treat each other better. There are some students who I try explaining concepts like respect, patience, and deference to but nothing seems to sink in.

It seems like in his book 'Seven Habits of Successful People,' Stephen Covey advises readers "seek first to understand, then to be understood." That's one reason that patience is important, because without it, we jump to conclusions.

Legendary UCLA Basketball Coach John Wooden taught his players that emotion was their enemy. They learned and practiced skills and principles so that they would always be prepared to respond to any situation. He didn't want them to just react based on their emotions, that generally means OVER-reacting.

The other night at a football game a Senior cheerleader moved two Freshmen squad mates further down the row so that they'd avoid getting smacked in the face. One of the Freshman didn't realize this and assumed that the Senior was just being bossy and mean. Consequently she overreacted, fuming with anger, even threatening to quit cheerleading. She let herself get so caught up in feeling disrespected, that it never occurred to her that she was actually being protected. 

Of course, even if I had been free to say, "God wants us to make every effort to keep our unity," doesn't mean that they'd suddenly be compliant to me as their coach or deferential and respectful toward one another. Perhaps the best that I can do is to be gentle and patient, trusting that eventually they'll learn these kinds of lessons throughout their lives.

What if we ALL had this attitude?

"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." ~Paul's Letter to the Philippians 2:3

No Fear

"Fear is only as deep as the mind allows"
~Japanese proverb

Stand firm, be unflappable, your work is not in vain

1 Corinthians 15:58

New Century Version (NCV)

 ⁵⁸ So my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Do not let anything move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.

Citizenship, Sacrifice, and Service

"If a just society requires a strong sense of community, it must find a way to cultivate in citizens a concern for the whole, a dedication to the common good, It can't be indifferent to the attitudes and dispositions, the "habits of the heart," that citizens bring to public life. It must find a way to lean against purely privatized notions of the good life, and cultivate civic virtue."

~ Harvard Prof. Michael J. Sandel

In other words, we're all in this together,
so do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

Make someone smile

In 10 years people won't remember the car you drove 

or how much money you made......

but a person will always remember how you made them feel.

You are what you think

"All That We Are Is the Result of What We Have Thought. The Mind Is Everything. What We Think, We Shall Become." ~Buddha

Stop and look around

"Life moves pretty fast
if you don't stop and look around once in a while
you might miss something."
~Ferris Bueller

What is Education, Anyway?

"Any man is educated who knows where to get knowledge when he needs it, and how to organize that knowledge into definite plans of action."
~ Napoleon Hill

Try

‎"It's impossible" said pride.
"it's risky" said experience.
"it's pointless" said reason.
"give it a try" whispered the heart..♥

Life's most persistent and urgent question

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is:
What are you doing for others?"
~Martin Luther King Jr.