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Be Content, but Never Satisfied. Your Best is Yet to Come.

I spent a little extra time in reflection today, as today marks my 57th birthday. I have always been one with hopes, and dreams, and ambitions. I set goals, make plans, and go after them with everything I have. I love the hustle. I love the chase. I love the grind. I savor the challenge.

Now if you too are wired even a little bit this way, you know that sometimes it’s easy to get a little too down on yourself. Maybe things didn’t work out quite like you hoped. Maybe you didn’t quite or haven’t quite reached your intended destination.

What I’ve learned is this: you have to find satisfaction in whatever it is you have accomplished. Take pride in the very attempt. Most people around you probably haven’t even attempted to see what they could be or do or accomplish. Be content with who and what you are.

That said, never be satisfied. Understand that today is another opportunity to make an impact, to make a contribution, to make a positive difference for someone somewhere. You’re still getting better. You’re still learning and growing.

Just know, that our best is yet to come.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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Keep a Forgiving Attitude

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

How long do we want to be angry, and bitter, and resentful? How long do we want to carry that pain? How much time and energy do we want to spend trying to tear someone else down rather than focusing on building ourselves up?

Forgiveness doesn’t mean that we don’t set boundaries. Forgiveness doesn’t mean that we allow ourselves to be continually abused. Forgiving others allows us to focus on becoming the best version of ourselves because we understand that it’s really not about them.

Jesus forgave people who hadn’t asked for it, while they were still mocking and torturing him, saying “forgive them, Father, they don’t know any better.” He didn’t let them distract him from being who he was called to do or doing what he was called to do.

If we want to fulfill our highest possibilities and purposes, forgiveness must be our constant attitude.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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Let Our Hope Be Infinite

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

The struggle for a better world is not won or lost in a day, or a week, or a month, or a year, or a decade, or a century, or even a millennium. People in every generation, people of good conscience and good will are called to take their places and do their parts.

History has shown that there will be setbacks and losses. There will be defeats and disappointments. But we must never allow ourselves to be defeated. Our love must always be bigger than our hate, our hope must always be greater than our fear, and our concern must always be greater than our indifference, and our joy greater than our sorrow.

Disappointed is inevitable. Maintaining hope is a choice we are empowered to make through our connection that which is bigger than ourselves, a connection many of us describe as divine.

Let us always hold on to infinite hope.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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One Success Beats a Thousand Failures

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Don’t be afraid to fail. There is no one anywhere who has accomplished anything of significance without first making a lot of mistakes, miscues, and blunders.

Each time we try and fail, we have to get back up, dust ourselves off, reflect, review, reevaluate, make a new plan and try again.

It is said that Thomas Edison went through nearly a thousand different designs before he succeeded in creating his light bulb. In his mind, he didn’t fail 999 times. He learned 999 ways not to do it.

The great thing about success, is that it makes our previous failures completely irrelevant! No one cares how many times Edison failed. We only care that he succeeded.

One success beats one thousand failures.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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“She said to her, "All that you say I will do." -From the story of Ruth and Naomi in the third chapter of Ruth

The story of Ruth and Naomi is many things. It’s the story of the best mother in law / daughter in law relationship in the world. It’s the story of two women working together to survive and thrive in the face of crushing setbacks. It’s the story of how an immigrant woman in dire straights became the grandmother of King David.

In a patriarchal society a woman’s status was largely determined by the status of the men in her life. Naomi’s father was dead. Her husband was dead. Her sons were dead. And she was too old to work.

Ruth, having been married to Naomi’s son was herself a widow. But she was young enough to have some other prospects. Nevertheless, she refused to leave Naomi in a bad spot and worked to provide for them both.

Naomi for her part was a very was woman. She knew the people. She understood the social dynamics. She knew how to navigate them and gave Ruth good advice. And Ruth followed.

Seek and follow good advice from wise people who have your best interests at heart.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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Peaceful Hearts, Peace Minds, Peaceful Actions

“(Go into the world) with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.” - Ephesians 6:15

We must undergo a type of transformation in order to effectively fight for the lives, communities, and world we desire.

First, we must have peaceful hearts. We no longer desire to heap destruction on our enemies. We no longer seek retaliation and revenge. We take no joy from their suffering. We love and pray for them even as we stand against the evil things they may do.

Second, we have to have peaceful minds. We move away from an “us versus them”mentality. We move away from zero sum thinking where in order for us to win someone else has to lose. We understand that no one truly wins unless everyone wins.

Lastly, we have to learn peaceful actions and reactions. We are not called to be passive bystanders to injustice and inequality. We must learn to speak and act in ways honor the humanity of all.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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Guard Your Hearts

It’s easy to become discouraged. It’s tempting to become cynical and jaded. Sometimes when we no longer want to deal with heartbreak and disappointment, we are tempted to close ourselves off and shut ourselves down.

The writer of Ephesians anticipated this very thing when they urged us to “Stand, therefore, and belt your waist with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness” (Ephesians 6:14)

We’ve talked about the belt. The breastplate protects the heart. We always have to keep our hearts attuned to righteousness. That is, we must never lose our longing to see a world marked by equity and fairness. We must lose the heart to work for the wellbeing of all.

We have to guard our hearts.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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Stay Centered in the Truth of Love

“Stand, therefore, and belt your waist with truth and put on the breastplate of righteousness” - Ephesians 6:14

There is one core truth that is the foundation for everything else we say, or do, or believe: God is Love. And the way we come to know, experience and commune with God is through loving God, ourselves, and everyone else the way we love ourselves.

Everything we do and say, all of our actions and reactions, all of our thoughts and desires, all of our processing and planning, first and foremost must be rooted and grounded in love.

Everything else flows from there. Empathy and understanding flow from love. Justice and righteousness flow from love. Forgiveness and reconciliation flow from love. Peace and wellbeing flow from love.

Let us stay centered in the truth of love.

I’m Horace McMillon. This is 60 Seconds of Hope. Peace be with you.

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