Self Improvement

I am a firm believer that our personalities are shaped throughout our lives. I am a living example of someone who's innate nature-being an introvert-can be altered or changed. You don't expect an introvert to do a lot of public speaking. Yet I do. This is because the nature of a person isn't set in stone. However you are, you can change. I believe in accepting people for who they are. That doesn't mean that we must exclude improvement to the relationship and to the character. Accepting someone for who they are means that you allow them into your life with all their faults and weaknesses. If they...

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Teenagers sometimes crack me up. They go around spouting platitudes that they want to be unique, different, their own man or woman-and then dress like their friends, do their hair the same way as their friends, adopt the same mannerisms as they do, listen to the same music, pick up the local slang, adopt the popular color coordination, and exhibit the same attitudes as their friends. In effect, they become carbon copies of each other in their quest for individuality. The truth is, God made us all individually unique. That does not mean that we are mature within that uniqueness. Someone with...

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Have you ever been misunderstood, taken the wrong way, or categorized and stereotyped incorrectly? Find out why this happens and what you can do to be perceived correctly by those around you. WORDS DEFINE YOUR PERSONALITY Essentially, you define yourself to those around you by the words you use. People do judge you by the words that come out of your mouth. Your ability to communicate--or lack thereof--is what ultimately defines you in the eyes of those around you. I remember a time in college where I gained a reputation for being cold and distant. This puzzled me greatly since I neither...

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In the years that I have been a Pastor, the strongest regrets I have encountered are those from people who lost a loved one to death. I hear comments like, 'I wish', 'if only', 'it's not fair', 'why?', and so many others. These regrets can consume a person to the point where he or she becomes paralyzed by them, living in guilt and frustration. Most of us have regrets. We regret a missed opportunity or a wrong committed sometime in the past. These are sometimes strong regrets and sometimes minor ones. No matter the case, dealing with regrets is something that each of us has to do. REGRETS...

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BE APPROACHABLE Those leaders who are standoffish, distant, and unapproachable quickly find discontent in the ranks of his or her followers. A good leader always has time for his followers. Remember, without them, you would not be a leader. A good leader always has an ear for the problems and issues of his followers. Even military commanders will tell you that morale is essential to the overall performance of his troops. Being approachable is a gigantic morale booster. It is always hard to follow someone who does not have time for you. Make time to become a part of the lives of your followers....

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Making mistakes is part of life. But making mistakes in front of your peers, family, friends, or loved ones often brings a sense of embarrassment. Fearing this embarrassment will invariably cause you even more humiliation. Find out why and what you can do. Embarrassment is the natural result of believing that others see you as a fool, stupid, or even obsolete. When boiled down to its most basic component, embarrassment is a feeling of rejection. That's right-rejection. When people laugh at us, snicker, point fingers, or do any other act of humiliation we feel rejected. It is the fear of rejection,...

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In my role as a Pastor and counselor I encounter many people who have found themselves seemingly at a dead end in life. Not only do they lack purpose-or the purpose they have is not one they sought or wanted-but they seem to blunder from disaster to disaster on a fairly consistent basis. And they can't seem to break away from it. Every attempt to break away ends up landing them back in it. There are many, many people who have such a life. For the most part, unless they're fairly young and inexperienced, they don't even need to be convinced that they need to break away from their lifestyle, they...

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When we are young we get into our head that we are somewhat invincible. We think that the world will just lay down at our feet. As a result, we unintentionally set a pattern that billions of others in both the present and the past have fallen victim to. It usually leads to a midlife crisis. Let me explain. No one makes decisions in life thinking that if they do, they will be miserable. Everyone makes decisions on what they believe will bring them a measure of happiness. If they did not believe it, they wouldn't do it. Young people the world over make the same mistakes as the previous generation-having...

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Depression is increasingly on the rise in our society. Its diagnosis has exploded over the last twenty years, and as a result, the medical field has responded with pill after pill. But depression isn't a disease. It can't be transmitted from person to person like the flu. So why is depression on the rise? There is much speculation, such as our fast paced society, the rigors of work related stress, higher social expectations, and more demanding social conformities. It's ironic, really, that in a society that is bent on entertainment and comfort we are more depressed than those who lived on the old frontier...

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Here are probably the top 3 reasons why you might be feeling depressed and a little something you can do about it. All healing begins, first, with understanding the reasons. Anything else merely masks the problem, but does not solve it. As a pastor and counselor for over 15 years, I've had ample opportunity to study depression as time after time people have sat in my office struggling to overcome this mountain in their lives. So, first, let me unequivocally say that although I do believe that depression is affected by our physical or mental condition, it is primarily a spiritual issue. Depression,...

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