Motivation Quotation: “In hoping you look at a situation, no matter how negative, to seek out the few remaining positive elements and build on them. That’s why hope takes work: one has to dwell on the situation, think it over, weave some possible scenarios, tell oneself some stories with happy endings.” Shlomo Breznitz

Motivation Work: Hope takes work. It doesn’t just blow in with the breeze. Everybody has the right and the ability to hope, but each person has to seek out and find his personal reasons to hope.

Personal reasons to hope can be found every day if we will search for the positive elements in our life situations. Ask hope producing questions like these: What’s good about this situation? What is some possible benefit from this event? How can I make this a little bit better? How could this circumstance have a happy ending? What can I learn from this in order to make my life better?

Life works much better if you immediately go on a hope hunt every time you begin to feel down or discouraged. Somewhere in your life, this very day, is a reason to hope. Will you find it?

If the art of alliteration amazes and astonishes your appreciation for articulation, you will get a kick out of Steve Martin’s new alphabet book.

When I heard Steve Martin read from The Alphabet From A to Y, With Bonus Letter Z, his new children’s book, on NPR, letters were lunging, laughing, and leaping in my ears. His alliteration, humor, and creativity are delightful.

Here is a sample for letter “H.” “Henrietta the hare wore a habit in Heaven. / Her hairdo hid hunchbacks; one hundred and seven.” (Martin was really hopping high on that one!)

Here is another for “N.” “Needle-nosed Nigel won nine kinds of knockwurst / By winning a contest to see who could knock wurst.” (Knock, knock! Don’t answer, that’s Nigel’s lousy knock! He’ll knock anything, even wurst!)

But even Nigel can’t knock Steve’s new book. His humor even works when it is clean and wholesome!

What are you daily downloading into your mind and emotions? If you watch, listen to, or read downer material then you are programming your mind and emotions to be down, depressed, and discouraged.

Downer downloads consist of negative, self-destructive, vulgar, violent, rude, immoral, and disrespectful material. Our media is loaded down with downer downloads. But downer downloads aren’t free. They cost you your peace of mind, your self-respect, your happiness, and your self-control. Now that’s a real downer!

If your life is being driven down by downer downloads, the process can be reversed. Just like a computer, the material downloaded into a human mind drives a person’s outcome and behavior. So if you don’t like the way your life is coming out, consistently change what you are putting in.

Stop devouring downer downloads and begin to deliberately devour delightful and uplifting downloads. Spit out sickovision and begin to munch much on motivational and inspirational books, tapes, and DVD’s instead.

GIGO — garbage in, garbage out — sums it up. Your mental and emotional state is nothing more than the result of your choice of daily downloads. Personally I prefer GSIGSO — good stuff in, good stuff out. Whew! Uplifting downloads are awesome!

The City of Brotherly Love plans to send out patrols of thousands of unarmed peacekeepers to help curb runaway violence. “Traditional policing is not working,” said Philadelphia Police Chief, Sylvester Johnson. About a month ago, he and local civic leaders issued a call for 10,000 black men to patrol the streets. (Organizers said all volunteers are welcome regardless of skin color.)

Recently, more than 7,000 men showed up to volunteer. 6,000 had already signed up online. Orientation sessions will train the volunteers before they are sent to the streets.

This is a great idea. America has abandoned its inner city streets, parks, and neighborhoods to the violent. Now it is time to bring back some brotherly love.

The Guardian Angels have been courageously patrolling violent neighborhoods around the country (and the world) for years. They recently started patrolling here in Nashville. But they have always been a small group. 10,000 men can make a huge difference in Philadelphia.

So why not Nashville and other cities? We have plenty of violent neighborhoods that need peace patrols. Our citizens could join the local Guardian Angels. A group I am involved with does a weekly prayer walk in the inner city and is open to more volunteers.

What if 10,000 Nashvillians spent a hour each week walking inner city streets and warmly meeting and greeting people? What if each of the 10,000 made one ongoing friendship with someone from the streets? Wouldn’t that make a huge difference in our city? If Philadelphia can do it, why not Nashville?

Wilson County Tennessee high schools are teaching the most widely read book in Western Civilization — The Bible. (It is an elective course in their four high schools.) And it is about time. Why should such a pillar of our civilization be left out of public school curriculum?

Public schools teach Shakespeare. However, personally I don’t care much for Shakespeare. I even find some of his work offensive. But Shakespeare has had such a huge role in Western Civilization that his writings need to be taught.

The Bible, however, has had a far greater impact on our culture and history than Shakespeare. So why should we want our children to be ignorant of the contents of the Bible?

Some people say that students can learn the Bible in church. True. They can also learn Shakespeare at a Shakespeare club, however, the vast majority of students are not going to seek out opportunities to learn Shakespeare. That’s why we teach his writings in public school. So why not the Bible?