InnerSelf.com

What if someone close to you turned out to be a hero to millions? The seeds of greatness can sprout anywhere, through anyone. Every great person, from Galileo to St. Francis to Martin Luther King Jr., grew up as a normal person and did normal things with normal people. Probably none of their buddies expected...

by Katherine Gibson.

Self-doubters tend to dismiss compliments and embrace criticisms. They focus — even highlight — their weaknesses, ensuring that others see their shortcomings as clearly as they do. Eleanor Roosevelt's clever one-liner "No one can make you feel inadequate without your permission" says it all.

Q: In step seven of your book, you talk about guilt as a great human weakness. I was brought up in a family where I was made to feel guilty for everything, and find it difficult to transcend this deep-seated emotion. How would you suggest I banish guilt from my life...

by Marie D. Jones..

I once worked for a rather abusive woman who constantly berated, belittled and badgered her employees -- me included. If any of us sought to stand up for ourselves, we were chastised and told in no uncertain terms that we were insecure whiners who should appreciate we had a job in the first place.

Sometimes when things don't go the way I want, rather than sitting back and letting things go their own way, I start pushing and shoving and trying to make things happen the way I want... Can you relate to this one? Whether it's something at work, or at home, or wherever, we start getting forceful and insisting on things going a certain way (our way).

by Karen Bentley.

It's not possible to make the choice to be a loving being until you first recognize your own loveless mistakes. The ability to see your own anger is critically important. Anger takes many forms: irritation, lack of patience, refusal to communicate, holding a grudge, making fun of someone, manipulation of another, criticism, blame, complaints...

by Cheryl Canfield.

The quest to discover 'Who am I?' and 'Why am I here?' is often preceded by some crisis that serves as a wake-up call and has the potential to propel us, if we're willing, into a more expanded or spiritual awareness. It was cancer that gave me the opportunity to test the principles I had come to believe in. Would I have the courage and faith to live my beliefs through this difficult challenge?

by Jim Brickman with Cindy Pearlman.

Face it -- the one person you never spend time with is yourself. It's almost too mind-boggling when you think of the questions that would immediately come up if you did: Would I find myself amusing? And here's the big one: Would I even like myself?

In my community, there is one man whose life speaks louder than his words. He is known as Sam, and he lives on the streets. His life provides us with a sense of charity so that we can live guilt-free in our lavishly furnished homes. We don't want to learn how one could adapt to living on the street.

A testimonial of an encounter with a policeman who assisted in showing her the way back to the path of enlightenment and recovery: "One morning last spring I was driving down US1 at 5:30 in the morning. Well, I wasn't just driving, I was speeding. I was going at least 15 miles over the 45mph limit, and my mind was not on the road..."

by Philip Simmons.

It's been almost four years since I was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease, a degenerative and ultimately fatal neurological condition. In that time, I've managed to finish climbing all forty-eight of the New Hampshire peaks above four thousand feet, a task begun at age six with my first ascent of Mount Washington.

by Shane Archer.

A testimonial from someone who went from self-hate and self-destruction and ended up behind bars to discovering the goodness within and set out on a path of recovery.