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161 " ACTION STEPIf you are ever bored, look for a way to get outside yourself and serve others. "
― Matthew Kelly , Resisting Happiness
162 " From time to time it is good for us all to learn to listen again. Listen to those you love. Listen to your body. Listen to your conscience and soul. Listen to God. "
163 " Only in the classroom of silence can we gain the calm and clarity that allow us to know when to wait patiently and when to push forward impatiently, when to plan diligently and when to live spontaneously. It is in the quiet of our own hearts that we learn how to calmly manage the present and passionately create the future. It is this calmness and clarity that will allow us to realize what we are called to and what matters most. Finding our place in the world and beginning to fulfill our mission is then nothing more than a matter of time. A man or woman who takes time in quiet reflection sincerely seeking to find his or her place in the world will not be ignored. First will come the inner calm, then will come the desire to serve, and then will come a wonderful clarity of purpose. Guided by that calm and clarity, we begin to affect what we can affect, and only then do we truly begin to have an effect. "
― Matthew Kelly , Perfectly Yourself: 9 Lessons for Enduring Happiness
164 " When he realized Mother Teresa carries everything she owns in a small bag, he made an effort to simplify his own life. He says, “I try to remember what really counts—not money, or titles, or possessions, but the way we love others. "
― Matthew Kelly , Rediscover Catholicism
165 " It is impossible to be bored at Mass if you come to listen to what God has to say to you right now in your life. It doesn't matter how good or bad the homily is; God will speak to you through it. It doesn't matter how good or bad the music is; God will speak to you through it. Whether it is a wonderful, prayerful mood or there are kids running up and down the aisle throwing crayons and eating potato chips; God will speak to you. "
166 " Freedom is not the ability to do whatever you want. Freedom is the strength of character to do what is good, true, noble, and right. Freedom is the ability to choose and celebrate the-best-version-of-yourself in every moment. Freedom without discipline is impossible. "
― Matthew Kelly , The Seven Levels of Intimacy: The Art of Loving and the Joy of Being Loved
167 " We become what we celebrate. It is true not only of the life of a person but also of the life of a family. It is true of the life of a nation, and it is true of the life of the Church. "
168 " People do stupid things because they mistakenly believe those stupid things will make them happy. "
169 " God loves ordinary things. The world is always trying to seduce us with the extraordinary. The culture fills our hearts and minds with spectacular dreams about hitting home runs, but life is about getting up every day and hitting a single. "
170 " You cannot succeed at anything unless you are willing to delay gratification. This ability and success are intimately linked. ACTION STEPSay no to yourself at least once every day. "
171 " You can get good at something just by working hard at it. If you’ve got some talent and you work hard at it, you can get really, really good at it. But excellence, peak performance, being the best you can be at something—that doesn’t happen without coaching. "
172 " If you desire to be a person of hope, a person who has the will that what is good might be reality, you must be a person of two things: meaning and action. "
― Matthew Kelly , Beautiful Hope: Finding Hope Every Day in a Broken World
173 " We all die, and yet, so often we conduct our lives as if we were going to live forever. If you knew you were going to die one year from today, how would you change your life? "
― Matthew Kelly , Rediscover Jesus: An Invitation
174 " True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment. – William Penn – "
― Matthew Kelly , The Book of Courage
175 " When we hear our talents calling us forth, we hear the voice of God inviting us to fully participate in the adventure of salvation. "
176 " It’s uncomfortable to look at ourselves, assess our selfishness and sinfulness, and tell another human being about it. "
177 " When you do break through resistance, celebrate that, and then press on to live the life God imagined for you before the beginning of time. And if you ever feel discouraged or defeated, remember this: Every moment is a chance to start anew, a chance to turn it all around. "
178 " All of life’s regrets come from not having the discipline to overcome resistance and delay gratification in order to build a bigger future. In the same way, when we slay resistance we are always glad we did. "
179 " If we are to be happy, it will be as ourselves. "
180 " We lose our sensitivity to sin in exactly the same way. After a while, a big self-destructive behavior doesn’t look that bad among all those little self-destructive behaviors. "