Proverbs 4:23
Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.
Today won’t leave you as it found you. It will leave you better or worse—more congenial or more cantankerous, more caring or more insensitive, more judgmental or more tolerant. It will leave you with faith, hope, and love enlarged or diminished.
Proverbs 18:21
What you say can preserve life or destroy it.
Words deliver hope, comfort, and encouragement to people; and praise, honor, and thanksgiving to God. Words also wreck relationships, ruin reputations, and inflict wounds that never heal. Few things do more good than words. And few more harm. Words can heal a heart—or break one.
Proverbs 15:23
There is nothing better than the right word at the right time.
When you acknowledge someone’s work and worth, you contribute to their happiness and sense of self-esteem. Don’t wait for a headline performance; keep an eye out for small things you can praise. Don’t just see them, applaud them. Tell people you appreciate them—and tell them why.
Proverbs 17:22
A cheerful heart is a good medicine.
Cheerfulness is good for you—and for those around you. Facial expressions transmit a packet of information that is either positive or negative. A smile needs no interpreter; it’s the same in every language. You’re not well-dressed until you put on a smile. So turn that frown upside down.
Proverbs 12:25
Anxiety leads to depression.
The track to tranquility is refusing to get agitated by things you can’t control. You can’t control the weather, the economy, or the traffic. You can’t control other people’s choices, opinions, or words. But you can control your response to the things you can’t control.
Proverbs 27:19
Your mind shows what kind of person you are.
Your attitude is more important than your education, your profession, or your bank account. It’s more important than what people think about you or say about you. It’s more important than the hand you’ve been dealt. Your attitude enables you or cripples you. Don’t put ownership of your attitude in someone else’s hands.
Proverbs 27:1
Never boast about tomorrow. You don’t know what will happen between now and then.
Is there something you should do that you’ve been putting off, promising yourself that you’ll do it tomorrow—or the next day? A letter you should write? A habit you should break? An attitude you should change? You rarely get around to doing what you delay. You never finish what you never start. Just do it.
Proverbs 3:13
Happy are those who find wisdom and those who gain understanding.
What is the most important thing to you? If you don’t know the answer to this question, you have no way of knowing if you’re putting first things first. So give it some serious thought. The most important thing in life is to know what the most important thing in life is.
Proverbs 15:13
A sad heart produces a broken spirit.
Hiking the trails of past mistakes dead-ends in defeat. Obsessing about squandered opportunities and brooding over roads taken—and not taken—guarantees failure. Your past doesn’t determine your future unless you let it. Yogi got it right: “It ain’t over ’til it’s over.” Don’t cave in. Refuse to lose.