...The Life You’ve Always Wanted- John Ortberg The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual disciplines for ordinary people by John Ortberg SUMMARY John Ortberg’s book, The Life You’ve Always Wanted: Spiritual disciplines for ordinary people, published by Zondervan in 2002, is a contemporary exploration of the spiritual disciplines. Ortberg first introduces the purpose of the disciplines, and then examines eight specific disciplines, followed by a proposed plan for integration and endurance. The following provides a brief summary of Ortberg’s work. Ortberg (2002) begins with a broad assertion, “The primary goal of spiritual life is transformation” and defines transformation as “the inward and real formation of the essential nature of a person” (p. 21). Accordingly, Ortberg (2002) warns of outward and inauthentic change, which includes image management, judgment, legalism, and superficiality. Importantly, the author clarifies that spiritual disciplines are not indicators of spiritual growth; instead, their purpose is to provide training that enhances individuals’ ability to love (Ortberg, 2002). Once the author establishes the purpose of the disciplines, an examination of eight practices commences. First, Ortberg (2002) suggests that joy is a command; thus the discipline of celebration is crucial so that sin no longer is appealing (Ortberg, 2002). Next, the author introduces the discipline of slowing, which attenuates an unrelenting attempt to achieve more (Ortberg, 2002). Ortberg...
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...Jaspreet Kaur Mr. Francis 10/30/14 Period 2 You've got to find what you love If you are scared of death that means you have not lived it all in your life. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple computer and of animation studios, is famous for his creativity around the world. He gave a speech at Stanford University where he inspires the graduates and audience. I believe the speech was spoken really well it motivates and inspires everyone to do good in their life. Steve Jobs shared three personal ideas at Stanford University which lead him to success. Steve Jobs claims that he would never lead to success if he did not get fired from Apple. He loved what he did so he never gave up. While, he was giving the speech at Stanford University he was inspiring the graduates to find a job they would love to do. Getting fired from apple made him realize what he loved and he did not wanted to give up. This motivates me to do what I love to do and never give up. Steve Jobs shared three ideas which lead him to success but I am going to pick two which connected with me. The first idea he shares "You cannot connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards." He was trying to talk to everyone who was hearing the speech to follow your heart and trust that success will follow. The second idea Steve shares is "You've got to find what you love." I felt really connected with this because I always wanted to be an basketball player but my family wants me to be something in the medical...
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..."Welcome To My Life" Do you ever feel like breaking down? Do you ever feel out of place, Like somehow you just don't belong And no one understands you? Do you ever wanna run away? Do you lock yourself in your room With the radio on turned up so loud That no one hears you're screaming? No, you don't know what it's like When nothing feels all right You don't know what it's like To be like me To be hurt To feel lost To be left out in the dark To be kicked when you're down To feel like you've been pushed around To be on the edge of breaking down And no one's there to save you No, you don't know what it's like Welcome to my life Do you wanna be somebody else? Are you sick of feeling so left out? Are you desperate to find something more Before your life is over? Are you stuck inside a world you hate? Are you sick of everyone around? With their big fake smiles and stupid lies While deep inside you're bleeding No, you don't know what it's like When nothing feels all right You don't know what it's like To be like me To be hurt To feel lost To be left out in the dark To be kicked when you're down To feel like you've been pushed around To be on the edge of breaking down And no one's there to save you No you don't know what it's like Welcome to my life No one ever lied straight to your face And no one ever stabbed you in the back You might think I'm happy but I'm not gonna be okay Everybody always gave you what you wanted You never...
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...feels all right You don't know what it's like To be like me To be hurt To feel lost To be left out in the dark To be kicked when you're down To feel like you've been pushed around To be on the edge of breaking down And no one's there to save you No, you don't know what it's like Welcome to my life Do you wanna be somebody else? Are you sick of feeling so left out? Are you desperate to find something more Before your life is over? Are you stuck inside a world you hate? Are you sick of everyone around? With their big fake smiles and stupid lies While deep inside you're bleeding No, you don't know what it's like When nothing feels all right You don't know what it's like To be like me To be hurt To feel lost To be left out in the dark To be kicked when you're down To feel like you've been pushed around To be on the edge of breaking down And no one's there to save you No you don't know what it's like Welcome to my life No one ever lied straight to your face And no one ever stabbed you in the back You might think I'm happy but I'm not gonna be okay Everybody always gave you what you wanted You never had to work it was always there You don't know what it's like, what it's like To be hurt To feel lost To be left out in the dark To be kicked when you're down To feel like you've been pushed around To be on the edge of breaking down And no one's there to save you No, you don't know what it's like (What it's like) To be hurt To feel...
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...class="firstParagraph">Hey guys, has post-grad life got you down? Of course it does, post-grad life sucks. Bills, work, responsibilities, and more bills. Sometimes it seems like there's just not too much happiness to be found once you've left college. But you may just be in luck, because according to this new study, being happier just means weakening your pullout game. From CNN Just in time for Father's Day comes a new report in which millennial fathers claimed significantly higher levels of satisfaction with their work and home lives than single men. As a guy rocking single dad life, I'm gonna go ahead and strongly agree with this one. I mean all my childless friends are just as miserable as me, except I get to have the satisfaction and joy of being a father. Even if I suck at my job (I do) or my social life is trash (It is), as long as I'm being the best damn dad I can be, I'm pretty...
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...something you’ve always wanted to add to your life, and try it, for the next 30 days. It turns out that 30 days is just about the right amount of time to add a new habit, or subtract a habit, like watching the news, from your life. There’s a few things I learned while doing these 30 day challenges. The first was, instead of the months flying by, forgotten, the time was much more memorable. This was part of a challenge I did to take a picture every day for a month. And I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing that day. I also noticed that as I started to do more and harder 30 day challenges, my self-confidence grew. I went from desk-dwelling computer nerd to the kind of guy who bikes to work...for fun. Even last year I ended up hiking up Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. I would never have been that adventurous before I started my 30 day challenges. I also figured out that if you really want something badly enough, you can do anything for 30 days. Have you ever wanted to write a novel? Every November tens of thousands of people try to write their own 50,000 word novel, from scratch, in 30 days. It turns out all you have to do is to write 16,667 words a day for a month. So I did. By the way, the secret is not to go to sleep until you’ve written your words for the day. You might be sleep deprived, but you’ll finish your novel. Now, is my book the next great American novel? No, I wrote it in a month, it’s awful! But, for the rest of my life, if I meet...
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...first sentence of a book always hit you the hardest. And perhaps the best explanation for that was that you’ve always been fascinated with beginnings. You’ve always craved novelty, ached for unfamiliarity — and as for the rest of the story? Well, middles were often mediocre, barring the climax, of course. And then at the end, you would be met with another goodbye — another once thrilling story left to rot, wasting away in the afterglow. And like many stories do, yours began there too, as luck would have it. At the beginning. Before you could even comprehend what it all meant, your mother would start the morning by reading you a chapter from whatever book she had laying around at the given time. When asked why she took the time to read...
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...I have wanted to write you for quite awhile in the time of getting to know you Shane. I think I have spent hundreds of hours trying to figure out: “What does he want? What does he need? How can I make it happen?” The answers to these questions are so simple, yet I am just now figuring it out. This is my vow to you. To us. Honesty: In my opinion, a very significant quality. If not, the most important thing to you, babe. I realize now that it is way better to be loved for the person you are. Honest people can say, do, and act the way they feel without fear of abandonment. Genuine Desire: The want to be wanted. Sex is important to you and great things happen when your needs are met! Physically appreciating you is more than a compliment in your eyes. Optimism: I’ll never forget after time spent in the fort I was in the Wal-Mart shopping for college, and you told me to stop texting you anything unless it wasn’t negative. It still continues in our relationship today, and I know that for you, only positive things will come from my mouth. Physical Health: You may not admit it always, but I know you want to be proud of who your with! For as long as possible I want to stay physically attractive so that when we are old and nastT you get to tell our grandchildren what a hottie I was. This means: diet, exercise, vitamins, and anything to keep the mind stable. Intelligence: Just kidding, everyone loves a dumb blonde, right? Being able to spend time with me and hold a conversation...
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...Atticus shows many qualities through characterization which makes readers believe he’s a perfect father. Most children always want a perfect dad or father figure which can be very uncommon. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a perfect person, but in Jem and Scouts eyes Atticus was perfect. Harper Lee, in the book To Kill a Mockingbird, shows Atticus is a perfect father through characterization by being kind, gentle, and caring. Atticus is a kind hearted father to his kids Jem and Scout. Throughout the story his kind heartedness never changes even with all the stress that he has going on in his life. Some of this stress comes from him being a lawyer for Maycomb county Alabama. He is working on a case that causes a lot of stress and emotion. He is also always worrying about Jem and Scout. This stress escalates when Dill comes into town and becomes instant friends with Jem and Scout. He is still kind hearted though and offers Dill food because he is like a kid to Atticus. Atticus knows that Jem and Scout care about Dill so he helps him out by giving him food and looking out for him and sometimes giving fatherly advice. When Dill shows up and Scout offers him some food Atticus says to her “Scout we can do better than a pan of cold corn bread, can’t we? You fill this fellow up and when i get back we’ll see what we can see. (pg. 160)” Atticus knew that Dill had gone through a lot, and had a long hard journey. He knew that Dill needed the food and was being kind...
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...Critical Response Paragraphs UWF WRITING LAB WRITING CRITICAL RESPONSE PARAGRAPHS By Chris Yow Quoted material is taken from the autobiography The True History and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson Many instructors assign daily critical response paragraphs to ensure students are reading the assigned texts and to help students think critically about the texts they are reading. Critical response paragraphs do not simply summarize the text or evaluate whether or not you like the text; they are a 7- to 10-sentence persuasive and focused analysis, argument, or interpretation about the text. They not only help you think critically about the texts you read but also help you formulate ideas that can be expanded into longer essays. There are four parts to a critical response paragraph:1) an argumentative topic sentence, 2) evidence in the form of quotations or paraphrases for the argument you are making, 3) interpretation of your evidence in relation to the argument, and 4) a strong concluding statement. Follow the guidelines under each part to help you write a critical response paragraph. Do not write a plot summary. Engage the text. 1. The Argumentative Topic Sentence You can think of your critical response paragraph as a mini-essay; your paragraph’s topic sentence (usually the first sentence) must act as both the thesis and the introduction. You should include the author’s name and the title of the text you are writing about, and you must state precisely and concisely what...
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...Confident: Live the Life of Your Dreams By Lori Deschene “With realization of one’s own potential & self confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.” ~Dalai Lama For the vast majority of my life I didn’t believe I could do most of the things I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to be in a relationship, but I feared that if I got into one I’d do something to mess it up. I wanted to perform on Broadway, but even moving to New York City didn’t give me the courage to audition. I wanted to be a writer, but I thought it was far too difficult to get published, and therefore didn’t even try until I turned 27. Maybe you’ve never been as unsure of yourself as I used to be, but you can likely relate to that feeling of wanting to do something but feeling terrified to start[->1]. This not only limits your potential in life; it also minimizes your ability to make a positive impact on the world around you. There’s a lot that goes into overcoming those fears. You may need to challenge limiting beliefs formed years ago, or take yourself out of a situation where other people undermine your abilities. One thing that will definitely help is working on your confidence. Not sure if confidence can be learned? I asked this question[->2] on the Tiny Buddha Facebook page[->3] to see what readers had to say and then used some of their responses to shape these 8 steps outlined below: 1. Tap into the confidence you were born with. I feel it’s something that is always there, something...
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...personal views on life. He is expressing how God has given everyone the things they have and you should give God credit for everything you have and everything you’ve accomplished in life. Personally I believe that it is in no way bad to be prideful of...
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...Have you ever paused to consider your future, and which path you would take? A life where you take risks or a life where you play it safe? Many people pursue security and attempt to live a typical life without succeeding or failing. In the novel, The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls didn’t want a part in this, she had the mindset of no other. She wanted to explore, take risks, and accomplish something extraordinary. She managed to live an exciting and adventurous life where she was able to make her own choices. It didn’t matter to her that she would fail. It mattered that she was able to choose her decisions for herself and not having other people do it for her. She was bullied, pushed to the brink, but still she never gave up on living an adventurous...
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...their love for the children in their lives. Unfortunately that doesn't always stop grandparents and parents from bickering about a variety of issues, especially about the guidelines of the child’s life. In the memoir Growing Up, by Russell Baker, Russell’s grandmother, Ida Rebecca, and his mother, Lucy Elizabeth disagreed on most everything due to a clash in ideals and generations. Russell Baker had a tough life, but succeeded, probably because of his mother’s constant hectoring. Lucy Elizabeth always wanted her children to be successful in life. To her, that meant that they needed to make a name for themselves through business. As a child, Russell constantly was told to make something of himself. From a young age, Lucy Elizabeth was very driven. She often speaks highly of her Papa and how he was “a good man.” He was her model of excellence. Although Papa failed at succeeding in life, he never gave up. She wanted her to brothers and her husband to turn out like the good man her father once was. When they failed to make some she turned to her children to make something of themselves. Russell talks about how his mother despised inactivity and was forced to start working at the age of eight so that he was able to keep up with the competition. At a young age, Lucy Elizabeth was a schoolteacher. She was forced to drop out of school and being a schoolteacher was all she could be with the education she had. She wanted more, but was not afraid to show off the knowledge that she had. ...
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...for anything more in life. Happy valentine’s Day!!!!Happy valentine day to the person I love the most! It makes me proud To be your girlfriend And be with the person I truly love and admire. Happy Valentine’s Day!” Hello handsome, its hard to put feelings into words but I hope you know I love you and think about you everyday. Your words mean everything to me even though your hugs mean more when your holding me tight, everything feels so right with you. I want everyone to know how much you mean to me. Ever since you made me yours, I’ve been the happiest girl in the world, a smile hasn’t left my face. I tell you this everyday, but you are the most beautiful person I know, inside and out and I see that more clearly with each passing day. I love everything about you, about us. You do something to me that no one ever has, you’ve loved me for me. You give me the most amazing feelings inside and its been exciting and just pure amazing. Ive never met someone that was so good for me, and made me want them to this extent. I miss you when you’re not around and I’m the happiest when you are. my smile never fades when I’m alone anymore, Before I met you I never knew what it was like to look at someone and smile for no reason. Before i met you i was so caught up on the negative because I’ve never had any luck with anyone in the past, I was always let down but when you walked into my life and tore my walls down, ever since theres been so much good walking into my life and for that, i thank...
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