NEWSPOT DAILY TONIC: You must be the change you wish to see in the world By Bishop Duke Akamisoko

Advertisement

Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. He who fears he will suffer, already suffers because he fears. We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. Love is a verb. Love — the feeling — is a fruit of love, the verb. Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it In seeking happiness for others, you will find it in yourself. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present. Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose. If you want happiness for an hour — take a nap. If you want happiness for a day — go fishing. If you want happiness for a year — inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a life time — help someone else. When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes. Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful. A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. The only way that we can live is if we grow. The only way we can grow is if we change. The only way we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we are exposed is if we throw ourselves into the open. Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity. I would rather die a meaningful death than to live a meaningless life. Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools. There is nothing impossible to him who will try. Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things. It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change. Whether you think you can, or think you can’t, you’re probably right. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

You only have one life to live so why not make it unforgettable? Each day you have the opportunity to make a difference and be grateful. There’s also an opportunity each day to strive for greatness.
Bishop Duke Akamisoko