Self-Improvement Archives - Page 41 of 48

Chief Cook and Bottle Washer

January 20, 2015 Diana Derringer Comments 1 comment

Are you a chief cook and bottle washer?

In your home?
At work?
In your club?
In other organizations?

If you answer yes to the following questions, you qualify.

Are you in charge of almost everything?
Do you complete most of the work yourself?
Are your tasks important but routine?
Do you often wish for more help?

We can easily complain if we have the role of chief cook and bottle washer. Perhaps, however, we need to look at our responsibilities a different way.

Think about people whose health will not allow them to work.
Express gratitude for our abilities.
Thank those whose help we receive.
Train others to perform similar tasks.
Request help when we need it. People are willing to help more often than we realize.

For all those chief cook and bottle washers out there, thank you. For everyone else, lend those special people a helping hand.

“Blessings on you if I return and find you faithfully doing your work” (Matthew 24:46 TLB).

Thank you to Brad Montgomery for the photo of sweet Savannah, a chief cook and bottle washer in training. Thank you to Rebecca Stafford, a longtime chief cook and bottle washer, for suggesting this expression.

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Music to My Ears

January 13, 2015 Diana Derringer Comments 2 comments

Rain on a tin roof sounds like music to my ears. So do waterfalls and ocean waves. Water from each of those refreshes the earth. Their sounds refresh my soul.

What sounds like music to your ears?

• A child’s laughter?
• A teacher’s praise?
• A loved one’s voice?

Like beautiful music, they fill us with joy.

If we long for those sounds, why don’t we create them more often?

• Give a child or adult a reason to laugh.
• Praise others when they do well.
• Speak words of love.

At the same time, let’s avoid harmful sounds.

• Abusive language and actions
• Gossip
• Words of hatred

In a world filled with negatives, let’s offer something positive. May our words, actions, and attitudes fill the hearts of everyone we meet with the sound of music.

“I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin” (Psalm 39:1 NIV).

What sounds like music to your ears? Please comment below.

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Fair to Middling

January 6, 2015 Diana Derringer Comments 3 comments

I love Midway Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park. Like the name suggests, it sits in the middle of the Upper and Lower Geyser Basins. However, it definitely is not fair to middling. It:

Steams, spews, and stinks
Changes constantly
Never disappoints its visitors.

Unlike Midway Geyser Basin, when we say we are fair to middling, we mean:

I’m not wonderful.
I’m not bad.
I’m in the middle of those two feelings.

Nothing horrible happens. Nothing great happens. We live, but little more.

Who wants to live like that?

Of course, we all have those days, but we hope they don’t last long.

We want to feel well. We want to wake each day ready to jump out of bed and go.

Often we get this fair to middling feeling because we fail to give life our all. We hold back because we fear failure. Yet, we all fail.

The greatest baseball players have more strikes than homeruns.
The greatest actors frequently forget their lines.
The greatest teachers occasionally have to say, “I don’t know.”

Let’s give life our best. Let’s not rob ourselves of opportunities and adventure. Living every day for all it is worth does not mean constant activity. It does mean squeezing every possible benefit from that day. That may mean staying busy as a bee. It may also mean taking a nice long rest.

Regardless of our circumstances, let’s move beyond fair to middling. Let’s choose to live a full life.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10 NIV).

Special thanks to Judith Coopy for suggesting this expression.

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Don’t Put the Cart before the Horse

December 16, 2014 Diana Derringer Comments 0 Comment

Please welcome my friend Emily Akin as today’s guest writer. Emily and I met at Kentucky Christian Writers Conference. Emily lives in northwest Tennessee with her husband of 45 years and their Jack Russell terrier, Jeb.

“I always have prayer before I go into the courtroom,” said the judge I was interviewing. “One day, I didn’t get a chance to pray before going in. Everything seemed to go wrong.”

Later, he returned to his office. While there, he realized he had forgotten to pray.

“I prayed, and I went back into the courtroom. Everything fell into place,” he said.

The judge had “put the cart before the horse.” We say that when a person makes a task more difficult by doing things in the wrong order. The cart is made for the horse to pull rather than push.

Put the horse in front of the cart. The horse pulls the cart.
Put the horse behind the cart. The horse does not know what to do.

We put the cart before the horse by:

Starting on a trip without knowing what route we’ll take.
Buying clothes for an event before we’ve been invited.
Asking God to bless our efforts after we’ve made our own plan.

Our plans work out better if we consult God first. Perhaps what we’ve planned is not what God wants for us. It could be that we have the right idea, but we are going about it the wrong way. Let’s be sure our plans follow God’s purpose. Put the horse before the cart in everything we do.

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Proverbs 19:21, NIV).

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Photo courtesy of Morguefile.

Don’t Rock the Boat

December 9, 2014 Diana Derringer Comments 4 comments

“Don’t rock the boat.” “Leave everything as it is.” “Maintain the status quo.”

We have many ways to tell one another not to change anything.

Change is hard, yet:

To make wrongs right requires change.
Progress requires change.
Learning requires change.

If we rock the boat when fishing:

We may fall out.
The boat may turn over.
We may scare away the fish.

If we rock the boat in life:

We may become uncomfortable.
Other people may become uncomfortable or angry.
We may make mistakes.

Yet, nothing ventured, nothing gained. We can’t move forward without change.

Don’t rock the boat just to cause trouble. Do rock the boat when the boat needs rocked.

“Make the most of every opportunity” (Colossians 4:5).

Thanks to Debbie Tapscott for suggesting this expression.

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Fit as a Fiddle

December 2, 2014 Diana Derringer Comments 7 comments

If your doctor declares you fit as a fiddle, that’s good. You’re healthy.

If anyone says he’s fit as a fiddle, he means:

I’m great.
I couldn’t be better.
I’m quite well, thank you.

My father taught himself to play a fiddle when I was a small child. People with a non-bluegrass music background may not know that fiddle is another name for violin. The music style makes it different.

Bluegrass music has an Irish, Scottish, and English background. This traditional music style grew in the Appalachian region of the United States. It remains popular among many people today.

In the attached video, ten-year old Carson Peters tells Ricky Skaggs the difference in a violin and fiddle. He also plays and sings a bluegrass music favorite, “Blue Moon of Kentucky.”

In addition to playing a fiddle, my father loved to play with words. He had several expressions similar to fit as a fiddle. My favorite: If I were any better, there would have to be two of me.

Whether we play a fiddle or not, why not seek a lifestyle that makes us fit as a fiddle?

“Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you” (3 John 1:2 NIV).

How do you tell people you’re fit as a fiddle?

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You’re Pulling My Leg

November 25, 2014 Diana Derringer Comments 0 Comment

If you’re pulling my leg, you’re telling me an untrue story as a joke.

Many people recognize such a story as unbelievable. Not me! I swallow it hook, line, and sinker.

Almost anyone can pull my leg. Tell me the wildest tale, and I believe it. My picture should be included in the dictionary under the word gullible.

That’s okay. Everyone enjoys a little innocent fun. We laugh at how easily people fool me. Maybe someday I will learn.

How I wish all life could be as innocent. How I wish all untruths were jokes.

We live with the reality that we often hurt one another with our words.

We tell lies.
We say one thing but mean another.
We keep our mouths shut when we need to speak the truth.

Every day we choose our words. Will what we say help others or hurt them?

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, LORD, my rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14 HCSB).

Special thanks to Xuesong Li and Yaming Zhu for demonstrating the literal meaning of this expression.

Do you have an expression you want explained? If so, please comment below.

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As Old as the Hills

November 18, 2014 Diana Derringer Comments 4 comments

Do you ever feel as old as the hills? It is possible whether we are 18 or 80.

The hills of Kentucky have existed longer than any of us have lived. So have most hills and mountains. That does not stop us from saying people or possessions are as old as the hills.

• Those of us who hate to shop wear clothes as old as the hills.
• When tired, we feel as old as the hills.
• We describe well-worn furniture as old as the hills.

Our society values youth. Many people think older adults are over the hill.

They don’t understand the benefits that come with age.

• Years of experience
• Wisdom from life lessons
• Appreciation for how fast time passes

Regardless of how old we are or how old we feel, let’s give thanks for:

• Every age
• The beauty of the hills around us
• The one who created all

“Were you born before the hills were made?” (Job 15:7 NIV).

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Your Goose is Cooked

November 11, 2014 Diana Derringer Comments 1 comment

If you travel the Enchanted Highway in western North Dakota, you discover “Geese in Flight.” This largest scrap metal sculpture in the world stands in the middle of nothing but fields.

If your goose is cooked, you stand in the middle of nothing but trouble. You have behaved badly, and you have been discovered. Like this sculpture on a hill, you cannot hide.

Geese can be mean.

Some make more noise than dogs.
Some attack people and animals.
When they bite, it hurts. (Trust me. I know.)

Geese can also be helpful.

They produce eggs.
They supply down (small soft feathers) for pillows and other bedding.
They provide meat.
Because they are loud, they make good guards.
Some make great pets.

When a goose gets mean, it may become its owner’s next meal.

When your goose is cooked, you don’t become a meal. You do suffer the consequences of your bad behavior.

However, that suffering often serves a good purpose. It causes you to straighten up and fly right.

“They acted like fools in their rebellious ways, and suffered because of their sins” (Psalm 107:17 NET).

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Low Man on the Totem Pole

November 4, 2014 Diana Derringer Comments 2 comments

Totem poles are carved and painted by Native Americans in the northwest part of North America.

According to dictionary.com, comedian Fred Allen probably started our saying “low man on the totem pole” around 1940. The phrase became popular “despite its lack of application to a genuine totem pole.”

The low man on the totem pole is often considered the least important person in a group.

He holds the lowest position.
Others show him little respect.
He usually has to do the work no one else wants to do.

A new person in an organization may refer to himself as low man on the totem pole.

Nevertheless, the low man on the totem pole has hope.

Everyone must begin somewhere. Most begin at the bottom and then work their way up to the position they desire.

Some people prefer a lower position. In addition, the person at the top cannot do what he needs to do without the people who work below him.

People at the bottom are needed as much as those at the top.

Often they are needed more.

If the lowest image on a totem pole is destroyed, the totem pole can no longer stand. Repairs may help, but the totem pole will never be the same. That truth applies to organizations as well. Therefore, my hat’s off to all who serve as low man on the totem pole.

Click here for further information about totem poles.

“Work happily together. Don’t try to act big. Don’t try to get into the good graces of important people, but enjoy the company of ordinary folks. And don’t think you know it all!” (Romans 12:16 TLB).

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