by Clay Boykin | Apr 2, 2019 | Consciousness, Courage, Inspiration, Men's Issues, Shame, Vulnerability, Wisdom
Justin Baldoni wants to start a dialogue with men about redefining masculinity — to figure out ways to be not just good men but good humans. In a warm, personal talk, he shares his effort to reconcile who he is with who the world tells him a man should be. And he has a challenge for men: “See if you can use the same qualities that you feel make you a man to go deeper,” Baldoni says. “Your strength, your bravery, your toughness: Are you brave enough to be vulnerable? Are you strong enough to be sensitive? Are you confident enough to listen to the women in your life?”
Huffington Post Article
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by Clay Boykin | Dec 27, 2017 | Anti-Racism, Grace, Inspiration, Wisdom
She was an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist. She’s best known for her series of seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences. She was respected as a spokesperson for black people and women, and her works have been considered a defense of Black culture. She’s Maya Angelou and here in video are her Top 10 Rules for Success, and her famous poem, Still I Rise.
1. Just do right!
She became a poet and writer after a series of occupations as a young adult, including fry cook, sex worker, and nightclub dancer.
2. Be courageous
She was an actor, writer, director, and producer of plays, movies, and public television programs.
3. Love
In 1982, she earned the first lifetime Reynolds Professorship of American Studies at Wake Forest University.
4. Laugh
She was active in the Civil Rights movement and worked with Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
5. Be a blessing to somebody
Beginning in the 1990s, she made around 80 appearances a year on the lecture circuit, something she continued into her eighties.
6. Turn struggles into triumphs
With the publication of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Angelou publicly discussed aspects of her personal life.
7. You are talented
Attempts have been made to ban her books from some U.S. libraries, but her works are widely used in schools and universities worldwide.
8. Learn to say no
She made a deliberate attempt to challenge the common structure of the autobiography by critiquing, changing, and expanding the genre.
9. Always do your best
Her books center on themes such as racism, identity, family, and travel.
10. Keep rising
She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees.
Originally posted Semptember 21, 2016 by: Evan Carmichael
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by Clay Boykin | Dec 12, 2017 | Courage, Inspiration, Leadership, Wisdom
After his wife died, Rick Rigsby was ready to give up. The bare minimum was good enough. Rigsby was content to go through the motions, living out his life as a shell of himself. But then he remembered the lessons his father taught him years before – something insanely simple, yet incredibly profound.
These lessons weren’t in advanced mathematics or the secrets of the stock market. They were quite straightforward, in fact, for Rigsby’s father never made it through third grade. But if this uneducated man’s instructions were powerful enough to produce a Ph.D. and a judge – imagine what they can do for you.
Join Rigsby as he dusts off time-tested beliefs and finds brilliantly simple answers to modern society’s questions. In a magnificent testament to the “Greatest Generation” which gave so much and asked so little in return, Lessons from a Third Grade Dropout will challenge you while reigniting your passion to lead a truly fulfilling life.
After all, it’s never too late to learn a little bit more about life – just ask the third-grade dropout.
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by Clay Boykin | Sep 3, 2017 | Inspiration, Wisdom
Then said a rich man, “Speak to us of Giving.”
And he answered: You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?
And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?
And what is fear of need but need itself?
Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, thirst that is unquenchable?
There are those who give little of the much which they have – and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.
And there are those who have little and give it all.
These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.
And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.
And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;
They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.
Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.
It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;
And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving
And is there aught you would withhold?
All you have shall some day be given;
Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors’.
You often say, “I would give, but only to the deserving.”
The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.
They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.
Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights is worthy of all else from you.
And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.
And what desert greater shall there be than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?
And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?
See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.
For in truth it is life that gives unto life – while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.
And you receivers – and you are all receivers – assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.
Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;
For to be overmindful of your debt, is to doubt his generosity who has the free-hearted earth for mother, and God for father.
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by Clay Boykin | Aug 18, 2017 | Fear, Grace, Inspiration, Self-Talk, Spirituality, Wisdom
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It’s not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. – Marianne Williamson -Author, Lecturer
Oprah’s Favorite Passage from A Return to Love – In 1992, Marianne Williamson, author of A Return to Love, wrote that “our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate—it’s that we are powerful beyond measure”. It is a passage that remains one of Oprah’s favorites 20 years later. Watch as Marianne explains why we fear our light more than our darkness and how everyone has a built-in platform to connect with others. Plus, discover the difference between magic and miracles. Book notes.
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by Clay Boykin | Aug 18, 2017 | Inspiration, Spirituality, Wisdom
Autobiography of a Yogi is one of the world’s most acclaimed spiritual classics. Recently released into the public domain, the complete audiobook is posted below.
As the life story of Paramahansa Yogananda — who is often referred to as the Father of Yoga in the West — this book has touched the hearts and minds of millions around the globe. Translated into forty-five languages, it has served as an ambassador for India’s ancient science of Yoga, introducing countless readers to the methods for attaining God-realization that are India’s unique and lasting contribution to world civilization.
Hailed as a masterpiece from its first appearance in print in 1946, the book was honored in 1999 as one of “100 Best Spiritual Books of the Century.” Today, this story of a life of unmistakable greatness continues its success in opening to the public a realm of liberating spiritual knowledge previously accessible only to a few.
https://youtu.be/33MxkDs4NKI
https://mensfellowship.net/american-vedas3/
