Category Archives: Learning

Christmas Gift For Christ

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Father gave us the gift of His Only Begotten Son.  Christ willingly gave His life for each of us.  We can give something back; something that will really please them.

The best gift you could give God, or man, is to make the most of yourself!

How about a promise to give more time and devotion to God this year?  What about more frequent and faithful prayer?  Or more obedience?  Wouldn’t a commitment to spend more quality time with our spouse and children be far better than anything we could buy them?  Of course.  How about overcoming a bad habit and replacing it with a wonderful one?  How about the determination to lose those extra pounds?  These, and others, are by far, some of the best gifts we can give to God and our loved ones this Christmas!  Give the best gift this Christmas… a new and improved you.  Merry Christmas!

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Tough Times Bring Great Ideas

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“Necessity is the mother of invention,” Aesop tells us.  And so it is, IF we are reachable, teachable and touchable.  With the right attitude, necessity can turn on our creative resources and produce incredible results.  But it certainly requires the right attitude and the right thinking habits.  You cannot let necessity crush and debilitate you, and expect at the same time, to create solutions.  You and I must maintain a problem-solving posture and attitude.  Discipline yourself to think about solutions, not to dwell on the problem.

Better yet, let’s try to anticipate necessity.  Take the time to carefully consider what will happen if you neglect your health, your finances, your relationships, etc.  Try to foresee the potential problems and prevent the necessity.   And let that “mental necessity” be the mother of “prevention-invention.”  Train your mind to habitually find solutions.

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You Never Solve Your Problems

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You have to outgrow them!

Carl Jung has been attributed with this wonderful quote, “You never solve your problems, you have to out grow them.”  I love it! You and I have to grow and grow and grow.  And as we do, the problems and challenges that once caused us so much grief will shrink into little disturbances that we can easily handle.

What an empowering thought!  You can outgrow all of your problems! It makes perfect sense.  Let me illustrate with swimming.  If you were to take a man, who cannot swim, and drop him 10 meters off shore, he would have a big problem.  But you have outgrown that problem and could swim to shore, no problem.  Well, what if we took you out 500 meters from shore?  Many of you would have a very hard time getting back to shore alive.  Can you outgrow that problem?  Of course!  I have competed in several short-distance triathlons and so I could swim in from around a mile out, but beyond that, I would have a problem.  Have others outgrown that problem?  Of course!  An IronMan triathlete could easily swim in from 2.5 miles out, and count it as a work out.  You see, it’s all about our personal development, our growth rings.  How big are your growth rings?

Orison Swett Marden wrote, “Obstacles and challenges will seem big or small to you according to whether you are big or small.”  So our obstacles are actually opportunities to see where we are in our growth, and to do something about it!

A great and painful lesson

I vividly remember competing in a tough (for me) triathlon in Costa Rica.  I was not aware that the triathlon was going to take place until about a week before the race.  I had slacked in my training because, as I wrongly assumed, I didn’t have anything to train for.  Well, when the time to perform has arrived, the time to prepare has passed! And I was not prepared.  That triathlon kicked my backside!  I had not outgrown it through discipline, preparation and training.  And so it was bigger than me.  That morning before the race, one of the competitors, who is an IronMan racer, rode his bike about 50 miles BEFORE the race “for a warm up.”  He was definitely bigger than that race.

How do we get bigger?

So we ask ourselves, “How can we increase our growth?”  The answer:  the Law of the Harvest.  You and I will reap what we sow, and in exact proportion as well.

Life is like a garden.  We have to get good nutrients, not only in the body, but in the mind and spirit as well.  We’ve got to pull weeds, mix in fertilizer and get plenty of sun shine….light and truth!  How can we do all this?

The Daily Routine

Failure is fertilizer.  Try new things.  Get out of your comfort zone.  Discomfort is one of the best indications of growth.  Do not stay and vegetate in your little corner of the earth.  Get Out And Live!  And learn and grow from your mistakes and failures.

Input Determines Output.  Feed your mind and spirit with great content.  Study from the scriptures and the best books everyday.  Miss a meal, but don’t miss your daily dose of great truths.  Study the lives of great men and women who have really developed themselves, and model the manner in which they outgrew their challenges.

Pull the weeds.  Get rid of the negative people and input in your life.  Throw away your television and your video games.  Do whatever it takes to keep the porn, the violence and the filth out of your home and out of your life!

We’ve also got to pull the toxic weeds of tobacco, alcohol, drugs and obesity.  They are destroying so many lives everyday.

Exercise and eat well everyday.  Be consistent and vigorous and you will quickly get the results you are longing for.  Discipline yourself to do it.  Don’t let up.  No excuses or “special occasions.”

And most importantly, invite the Light into your life by drawing closer to God.  Seek His help and guidance, spend time with Him and DO what He asks.

If you will work on these habits everyday, I promise that you will experience tremendous growth in your life that will bring you those wonderful rewards that have been reserved for those who are willing to pay the price.  Then, you will really begin to be bigger than your problems.

Please share with us a time when this principle has been true in your life.

The Moon and her Mother

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Change…. a very constant part of life. :)

Change can be bad, if you’re floundering around without any clarity about who you are and where you are going.  That’s like a ship without a rudder, driven about by the waves and the wind, always changing direction and location, because it has no clear destination.  In this sense, we need to be unchanging and consistent in purpose, and passion, and moving forward toward our most noble objectives.

Ironically, though, as we move consistently along the path of growth and progress, WE are going to change and improve.  You and I will learn new principles and have new experiences that will change us for the better.  That kind of change is great.  Cicero said, “No sensible man ever imputes inconsistency to another for changing his mind.”  We ought to be changing, because we are growing.  You and I have NO BUSINESS being the same as we are today, in a few years from now.

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Life Is Easier When You Are Better

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It’s a rather simple formula: the bigger you become, the smaller your problems will be.  Life is often hard, simply because we are too soft.  The more we discipline ourselves to grow and improve, the more capable and qualified we will be to handle life’s challenges and obstacles.  But if we are too easy on ourselves, then life will be hard on us.

CAVI is an acronym I love to use.  It stands for Consistent And Vigorous Improvement.  When we live by CAVI principles and habits everyday, life is so much more enjoyable, fulfilling and exciting.  Reach Upward!

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[audio:http://www.gregdenning.com/audio/Easier_when_you're_Better.mp3]

Please share examples of how this has been true for you.

The Spendthrift and the Swallow

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Have you ever failed at something because of ignorance?  And then realized that you could have prevented the mistake if you had just learned a lesson that was easily accessible in a book, or from a mentor?  I know I have. We don’t have to make all the mistakes ourselves; others have already made them for us.  THANK YOU PEOPLE!

But we cannot learn from others’ mistakes unless we are constantly seeking knowledge and wisdom.  We must read, study, ask and find all the answers we can BEFORE we make the important decisions in life.   Too many of us get caught in the winter storms of life without our winter gear, all because of ignorance.  Do your homework.  Prepare yourself in every way.  And then go it for with all you’ve got!

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What are some of the lessons you wish you had known beforehand? Please share.

Building Self Confidence

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YOU ARE AWESOME!

Do you believe that?  Well, it’s true and you are the first person that must believe it.

Your level of confidence affects everything else you do, whether in school, sports, relationships or work.

The higher your self confidence, the better your results, period. Plus, you’ll obviously feel better about yourself and enjoy life more.

So how do you develop a healthy feeling of self confidence?  Listen Now.

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Two Inspiring Poems

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I wanted to share these two great poems that have inspired and encouraged me to be better.  Keeping perspective during difficult times is so important, because it directly influences the way we respond.  How we view trials often determines how we use them.  We can use our challenges to learn and grow, or to shrink and shrivel.  We have the power to choose… to become bitter or to become better.  You and I have seen the results of both of those choices.  Decide today that you will rise above life’s challenges by choosing to grow stronger and wiser because of them.

Let these two poems reach you, teach you and touch you.  Enjoy and share!

Good Timber

    by Douglas Malloch

The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.

Where thickest lies the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.

The Oak Tree
by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr
A mighty wind blew night and day
It stole the oak tree’s leaves away
Then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark
Until the oak was tired and stark

But still the oak tree held its ground
While other trees fell all around
The weary wind gave up and spoke.
How can you still be standing Oak?

The oak tree said, I know that you
Can break each branch of mine in two
Carry every leaf away
Shake my limbs, and make me sway

But I have roots stretched in the earth
Growing stronger since my birth
You’ll never touch them, for you see
They are the deepest part of me

Until today, I wasn’t sure
Of just how much I could endure
But now I’ve found, with thanks to you
I’m stronger than I ever knew

Reach Upward!

Greg

The Best Shape of Your Life

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You can get into the best shape of your life sooner than you might think.  No, it will not come with some magic weight-loss pill, nor by some special piece of exercise equipment.  There is, however, a special equation, that when properly and consistently applied, will produce incredible results!

You can look better, feel better and live better!  Life is so much more enjoyable with great health.  Let’s commit TODAY to do whatever it takes to ensure that our bodies are as healthy and as strong as possible.

Listen to this great audio program to learn about the incredible formula, and routine, that will dramatically improve your health and fitness.  Do NOT allow yourself to become one of the tragic statistics that I talk about in the program.  Start right now, on the path to a healthier, happier you!

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[audio:http://www.gregdenning.com/audio/Best_Shape_of_Your_Life.mp3]

The Horse and the Groom

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We all live according to priorities.  How do you know?  A priority is that thing to which you give your time and attention.  So take a good, honest look at what you are thinking and doing most of the time, and you will see what your priorities are…not what you say they are, but what they really are.  With that sobering perspective, most of us could use a reordering of our priorities.  This audio session will be very helpful.

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Share your highest priorities. How do you keep them there?