I learned how to fly a private airplane when I was 27 years old. I loved flying, and flying worked well for the business I owned then, Central Bindery. I learned to fly in a small two-seat airplane, a Cessna 150.

This article is designed to fuel your mental motor so that you can head out on the highway. So let’s start with Ten Fun Facts…

One of the British national newspapers has been asking for comments about what it means to be British. So here is a statement from a chap in Switzerland who lived in Britain for twelve years.

Here’s a short story today for your consideration and application.

One day a biologist observed an ant carrying a piece of straw which seemed to be an enormous burden for it. The ant came to a crack in the earth that was too wide for it to cross. The ant stood for a time as though pondering the situation. Then the ant put the straw across the crack and walked across it as a span. “What a lesson for us!” the impressed biologist said. “The burden can become the bridge for progress.”

Let me introduce you to Bruno if you don’t know him. In the movie Encanto, Bruno is the uncle in a family who no one in his family talks about.

I enjoy playing golf. Now that I think about it, I don’t enjoy it. I tolerate it. Or maybe golf tolerates me.

Most every golfer who plays for real has a handicap. Handicaps are created so everyone comes out, even in a golf tournament. If my handicap is 20, and I play on a par 72 golf course, I could score a 92 and be even par. On the other hand, the golfer with an eight handicap and scores 84 scores 76. I scored lower than the guy who scored an 84 because of my handicap. The better golfers become, the less handicap they have.

Let me introduce you to a couple some of you may have heard about from your Sunday school days. The couple was once the king and queen of Israel. Their names were Ahab and Jezebel.

I recently discovered a principle of life that I knew was working but didn’t understand very well. I have spoken for years now on this principle. Stephen Covey wrote the 90/10 Principle, and I have quoted him in this article with some minor editing.

As I travel the globe speaking at churches and leadership conferences, every once and a while, I meet someone special who brings refreshment, a beyond-the-borders approach to Christianity, and profound but straightforward wisdom.

There you go. The title of this article today is a definition of self-control. Self-control is just controlling yourself. Here’s an actual account of an event that happened in 1986. Self-control could and should have easily prevented this tragic occurrence.

Here’s a thought for you. Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired.

One of the scriptures’ most influential and insightful books is The Song of Songs. It is a love story of two real-life characters and their relationship that happened long ago. One was a sun-beaten shepherdess at the bottom of the social spectrum. Her life and choices had beaten her up. She had given up on most anything other than the worst happening to her.

The following testimony is by author/speaker Ty Bennett. What Mr. Bennett says in this short testimony is a life-lifting principle for those who put what he says into practice.

I thought it would be interesting to share six short stories with loud and clear messages written by others. All I can say is read, grow, and enjoy. Oh, one more thing, don’t say to yourself, “My friend, my colleague, or my family member, really needs this story. It would help them so much.” The issue is not ‘them.’ The story is for you first and then ‘them.’ So, grab your cup of coffee and read on.

From time to time, most of us feel left out. We feel like misfits. Others seem so confident, so sure of themselves, “insiders” who know the ropes, old hands in a club from which we are excluded. So, what do the “outsiders” do? They form exclusive clubs too.

Have you noticed that some people are naturally likable? They find it easy. Other people may not possess the intangible of likability, but with a bit of work can be just as likable as those who find it easy. Consider the story below.

Let’s start with an illustration that applies to every human being at some time or another. It’s called ‘Rowing a Boat that Goes Nowhere.’

Billy Graham was 92 years old with Parkinson’s disease when this actual event happened. In January 2000, leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, invited their favorite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon in his honor. He hesitated to accept the invitation because he struggles with Parkinson’s disease. But the Charlotte leaders said, “We don’t expect a major address. Just come and let us honor you.” So, he agreed.

Have you ever considered that crises in our lives often could be caused by being in the wrong job or career, the wrong place mentally, or in the wrong group of people? Sometimes God is saying amid the crisis, “Hey, I love you, but now it’s time to get you to the right spot, and that spot is not where you currently are.” In other words, if at first, you don’t succeed, then skydiving is not for you.

Throughout history, clarity has been a rarity. Joseph Pulitzer once said the following about writing to readers. “Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it, and above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.”

What you could do if you didn’t know you couldn’t—I love that concept! Zig Ziglar uses that concept in one of the chapters in his book, Life Lifters.