Category Archives: Personal Growth

Taking a Jump

Posted on July 17, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

African impalas, which can jump four metres high and ten metres long, are often kept in enclosures behind a wall that’s only one metre high. The reason is that impalas will not jump if they can’t see where their feet … Continue reading →

Posted in Called and Chosen, Encouragement, Faith, God, Inspirational, Personal Growth, Religion, Trust in God | Tagged anxiety, Atheism and Faith, fulfillment, God With Us, God's Will, Hope, inspirational sayings, Intuition, spirituality, Wistful Hope, worry | Leave a comment

Stepping Up

Posted on July 14, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

There’s an old fable about a donkey that fell into a dry well. The owner couldn’t figure out how to get the donkey out, but since he’d been intending to cover the well he started shovelling dirt into it. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Encouragement, Faith, God, Inspirational, Living Life, Personal Growth, Spirituality, Trials and testings, tribulation and trouble, Trust in God | Tagged anxiety, God's Will, worry | Leave a comment

When More Feels Like less

Posted on July 10, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

Someone has said that the paradox of our age is that we spend more, but seem to have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses, but smaller families; more conveniences, but less time. We have … Continue reading →

Posted in emptiness, Faith, God, inner peace, Inspirational, Living Life, Personal Growth, pilgrimage, Religion, satisfaction, Spirituality, Trust in God, Wisdom | Tagged disatisfaction, fulfillment, God With Us, happiness, Hope, inspirational sayings, Meaning in Life, peace with one's self, religion, rich inner life, spirituality | Leave a comment

Finding ourselves by not being absorbed with ourselves

Posted on June 30, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

Thomas Wolfe once wrote: ‘The whole conviction of my life now rests upon the belief that loneliness, far from being a rare and curious phenomenon, peculiar to myself and a few other solitary men, is the central and inevitable fact … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, emptiness, Faith, God, inner peace, Inspirational, Life's journey, Living Life, Loneliness, love, Neurosis, Personal Growth, Religion, satisfaction, Spirituality, Trials and testings, tribulation and trouble | Tagged anxiety, Dr Karl Meninger, fulfillment, God With Us, Hope, inspirational sayings, Meaning in Life, peace with one's self, religion, spirituality, worry | 1 Comment

Love isn’t love till you give it away

Posted on May 27, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

Mary Martin, star of the Broadway version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, was about to go on stage one night, as she had a thousand times before, when a note was handed to her. The letter was … Continue reading →

Posted in Joy, Living Life, love, Personal Growth, satisfaction, Spirituality | Tagged entertainment, Gift of love, God's Will, hammerstein musical, inspirational sayings, Love, Meaning in Life, peace with one's self, rodgers and hammerstein, spirituality | 1 Comment

Inexpressible Longings

Posted on May 23, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

Some of the most poignant words in the Bible come from the Book of Ecclesiastes which says, ‘God has set eternity in our hearts.’ CS Lewis reflected that we often wonder why it is that we have such deep, inexpressible … Continue reading →

Posted in Bible, Called and Chosen, emptiness, Faith, God, inner peace, Inspirational, Journey, Joy, Living Life, love, old age, Personal Growth, Prayer, quietness, Religion, satisfaction, Spirituality, Uncategorized | Tagged fulfillment, God With Us, God's Will, happiness, Hope, inspirational sayings, Intuition, Longings, Meaning in Life, peace with one's self, religion, rich inner life, spirituality, Wistful Hope | Leave a comment

Things Stink the Way we Think

Posted on May 18, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

There’s one thing that wise people throughout the ages have agreed on, and that is that our thoughts shape what we become. I heard a story about a cranky old man who made a visit to see his grandchildren, and, … Continue reading →

Posted in children, God, Inspirational, Living Life, old age, Personal Growth, Spirituality, thankfulness | Tagged disatisfaction, grandchildren, peace with one's self, rich inner life, spirituality | Leave a comment

Someone Thinks You’re Wonderful

Posted on May 16, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

There’s a lovely story about a famous tenor, who, some years ago, was scheduled to perform to a packed crowd at the Paris Opera House. But just before the performance began the manager took the stage and anounced that the … Continue reading →

Posted in Called and Chosen, Encouragement, Faith, God, inner peace, Inspirational, Journey, Joy, Living Life, Personal Growth, Religion, Spirituality | Tagged God With Us, God's Will, happiness, Hope, inspirational sayings, religion, spirituality, Wistful Hope | Leave a comment

Stranglers v Wranglers

Posted on May 16, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

Years ago, a group of young men at the University of Wisconsin, who seemed destined for literary greatness, used to meet to critique each other’s work. They were so merciless in their criticism that they decided to call themselves ‘the … Continue reading →

Posted in Encouragement, God, Inspirational, Personal Growth, Religion, Spirituality | Tagged anxiety, fame, fulfillment, religion | Leave a comment

No Gain Without Pain

Posted on May 7, 2013 by vincentsmithauthor

I remember, when I was a young Army chaplain, listening to the Commandant of the Recruit Training Battalion giving the opening address to dozens of young men who were about to participate in a character guidance course, which I was … Continue reading →

Posted in Inspirational, Living Life, Personal Growth, Religion, Soldiers, Spirituality, Trials and testings, tribulation and trouble | Tagged fulfillment, hard times, inspirational sayings, rich inner life, Soldiers, strength of character | Leave a comment