Listen to episode 524 of the Inspirational Living Podcast: The Heroism of Every Day Life. Edited and adapted from A Man’s Reach or Some Character Ideals by Charles Edward Locke.

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Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: In every age, we hear much talk of heroes. We are fascinated by stories and tales that spur the imagination to the loftiest heroism. But I would call your attention to the greatest of all heroism: that heroism which does not receive the plaudits of the crowd, nor attract the eyes of the multitude. It is not richly rewarded with treasure, and does not have medals struck for its accomplishments.

I am thinking of the rescues and battles, the sacrifices and generosities, and the invincible courage which are unheralded, unrecorded, and unrewarded, but upon which the security and prosperity of our times depend.

Many a person in a moment of emergency would rush at the risk of their life to the rescue of an imperiled friend; but that same person may not possess the stalwart heroism necessary to withstand certain temptations which are ruining their life and bringing agony to those who love them.

Listen to episode 523 of the Inspirational Living Podcast: Overcoming Hurry, Worry, and Irritability. Edited and adapted from The Freedom of Life by Annie Payson Call.

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Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Remember that worrying is resistance, and resistance is unwillingness. Unwillingness interferes with whatever we may want to accomplish. To be willing that this, that, or the other thing should happen seems quite difficult, when to our minds, this, that, or the other thing may bring disaster. And yet if we can once see clearly that worrying resistance tends toward disaster rather than away from it, or, at the very least, takes away our strength and endurance, it is only a matter of time before we become able to drop our resistance altogether.

However, it IS a matter of time, and not instantaneous. So, once we are faced toward freedom from worry, we must be patient and steady, and not expect to gain very rapidly. We must be persistent, and resist the temptation to do nothing to overcome our worries.

I remember a woman who once said to me, "Now I have got something to worry about for the rest of my life.” Her face was set toward worrying. Nothing but her own will could have turned it the other way, and yet she deliberately chose not to use it, and so she was fixed and settled in her self-made prison for the rest of her life.

Listen to episode 522 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Inspiring Thoughts on Self-Development & Self-Growth. Edited and adapted from The Call of Life by William L. White.

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Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: The ushering in of a New Year brings with it to so many people New Year’s Resolutions. This is a splendid practice and I would not discount New Year Resolutions one iota, but instead give unto them strength. Indeed, I wish to encourage not only resolutions for the New Year, but to urge everyone to be on the alert, taking stock, visualizing, and planning to better not only ourselves, but our neighbors and that sphere of the world which we touch. And whenever a new thought for a better practice in the upbuilding of our lives crosses our minds, do not wait for the New Year to roll around to record it and start practicing it, but begin at once.

If the word resolution sounds "too tame," the words maxim or motto may be used. When carried to the final analysis it is “habit” that we are seeking, because after all, life consists of a bunch of habits. If everybody, especially young people, during the formative period of their lives, would give ten minutes to serious thought and write down on paper at least one resolution, maxim, or motto every week, which you intend to practice and actually incorporate into your life, we would see an astounding change for the better in the individual, which means, also, a rising generation.

Listen to episode 521 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Becoming Rich in Knowledge & Wisdom | Education. Edited and adapted from Right Living by Susan H. Wixon.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: That which we know is all our own. The more we know (the more we absorb of useful knowledge) the richer we become. Science which can be shown, demonstrated, and realized, is the desirable thing. Think about it. Does not actual knowledge put to flight all extremes of error and misunderstanding? Take a fact in Nature. Prove it, and it becomes yours. And not all the hyenas and bloodhounds of ignorance can take it from you.

As someone has said before, "There are two valuable possessions which no search warrant can get at, and which no reverse of fortune can destroy: they are what a person puts into their head (i.e. knowledge), and what they put into their hands (i.e. skill)."

Is there any limit to the acquisition of knowledge? No. Nobody has gained the whole of knowledge, and no one knows so much that they may not acquire still more. Sir Isaac Newton said at the close of his illustrious life, that the great facts he had found by study and search, were but pebbles on the seashore, compared to the vast ocean of knowledge still untouched.

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Listen to episode 520 of the Inspirational Living podcast: The Grand Secrets of Success | Self-Reliance. Edited and adapted from The Grand Secrets of Success, compiled by The Toronto News Company.

Today's podcast was sponsored by The Forager Project. They have provided non-partisan voting resources and information for you at ForagerProject.com/vote.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: There are different ways of getting on in the world. It does not always mean making money, or being a great individual for people to look up to. Leaving off a bad habit for a good one is getting on in the world; to be clean and tidy instead of dirty and disorderly is getting on; to be careful and saving instead of thoughtless and wasteful is getting on; to be active and industrious, instead of idle and lazy is getting on; to be kind and forbearing, instead of ill-natured and quarrelsome, is getting on; to work as diligently in the boss's absence as in their presence is getting on.

In short, when we see anyone properly attentive to their duties, persevering through difficulties, to gain such knowledge as shall be of use to themselves and others, offering a good example to their acquaintances, we may be sure that they are getting on in the world.

Those who wish to get on in the world must have a stock of patience and perseverance, of hopeful confidence — a willingness to learn, and a disposition not easily cast down by difficulties and disappointments.

Listen to episode 519 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Success Habits & The Character That Triumphs. Edited and adapted from The Ideal Man by John Priest Greene.

Today's podcast was sponsored by The Forager Project. They have provided non-partisan voting resources and information for you at ForagerProject.com/vote.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: Let us talk about character. IS it grown, or engraved, or forged? All of these. We are born without character, but it soon sprouts, and then grows rapidly. The soil is the home, the school, the social life, the business world — different kinds of soil, each contributing its element to the growth of character.

Parents, teachers, companions, and business associates are the character-cultivators, and largely determine the quality of the product — but each one grows their own character.  The word "character" is Greek, and means "engraved" — an ancient and beautiful conception. We (sometimes with the help of others) engrave our own characters when we begin to act on our own judgment, when we choose and do, and thus form habits.

A habit is a groove or a line cut in the soul, fixed, along which future action is almost sure to run. Many habits make an engraving, a permanent picture of the soul or character. 

It may be truly said, also, that character is forged. The human soul is a piece of metal, without form and beauty. It must be worked over. In order to make it right, it must go into the hot fire and under the big hammer. If properly forged, it will come out with a permanent form of grace and beauty. False lines and deformities — bad habits of thought and action — must therefore be hammered out. They cannot be brushed off.

Listen to episode 518 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Inspirational Life Lessons on Happiness. Edited and adapted from The True Source of a Happy Life by Hugh Wayt.

Today's podcast was sponsored by The Forager Project. They have provided non-partisan voting resources and information for you at ForagerProject.com/vote.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: It will help much in learning the lesson of happiness if we persistently train ourselves to be cheerful and to see the bright things in our every-day life. There are some people who seem to have eyes only for the disagreeable things. They find every bit of roughness and hardness in life's pathway. They see at once (and see it magnified) every unpleasant thing that comes into their lives. They remember every unhappy experience they ever had. They keep on the walls of their memory pictures of all their vanished joys and faded hopes. They indelibly record all the trials, adversities and misfortunes they have ever suffered.

But, on the other hand, they are forgetful of all their blessings. They hang up no pictures of the joys they did not lose, which have filled their lives on so many bright days. They have poor memory for the things that beautify and gladden life. There are few habits more common than this: of remembering the unpleasant and forgetting the pleasant things — and there is no other habit which is a greater enemy of true joy.

The person who would be of good cheer must break this habit if it has fastened itself to your life. You must train yourself to see the beautiful things and be blind to the disagreeable things. There are, in the ordinary life, a thousand pleasant things (favors, joys, comforts, things to cheer) to one unpleasant thing, one real cause for unhappiness. It is a shame, therefore, to let the one bit of roughness, trial, or suffering spoil all the gladness of the thousand blessings, to let the one discordant note mar all the music of such splendid harmony.

Listen to episode 517 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Vitality: Building a Healthy, Energetic Personality. Edited and adapted from Be Good to Yourself by Orison Swett Marden, published in 1910.

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Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: There is nothing which pays greater dividends than self-investment; keeping yourself up to standard by buttressing your health in every possible way and using the utmost care and exactitude in regimen, in work habits, and in life habits.

In order to be well-balanced, self-poised, and broad-minded, one must have a great variety of experience. And for this, play is just as necessary as work. The person who is everlastingly working, who never gets time to play, to see their friends, to travel, or to go into the country, because they think time is too precious, that they must utilize every minute in practical work, is defeating the very purpose which they are trying to attain.

There must be spontaneity, buoyancy, elasticity, and vivacity in your activities. And everyone who wishes to get the maximum of achievement out of life should know all Nature’s methods of rejuvenation.

Listen to episode 516 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Success Mindset: A Sense of Humor. Edited and adapted from Invincible Power by John Henry Remmers, published in 1922.

Inspirational Podcast Excerpt: When life appears to be going against us, our first inclination is to frown and become irritable. This state of mind causes confusion and leads to despair, throwing us out of harmony with Faith. We lose the power of receptiveness and are unable to receive the Divine message and strength which would otherwise lead us out of the darkness back into the light.

On the other hand, when things seem all wrong and we hold onto Faith, reinforced by a sense of Humor, and a smile of confidence, we retain our receptive mood, and positively (very often swiftly) receive the intelligence to solve those problems confronting us.

If you truly wish to live successfully, it is important that you retain always your sense of Humor. Of course, there are times for seriousness and also solemnity, but do not allow any occurrence or condition to so burden your mind that you lose your sense of Humor. In other words, do not look upon life too seriously. It is only a burden if you make it so.

Listen to episode 515 of the Inspirational Living podcast: Mental & Physical Fitness for Success in Life. Edited and adapted from Keeping Fit by Orison Swett Marden, published in 1914.

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Motivational Podcast Excerpt: The grandest work a human being can do is to keep themselves fit for the greatest thing they are capable of doing, the highest service they are capable of rendering; always up to the level of their greatest efficiency. To keep fit is to maintain perfect health. And perfect health depends upon a perfect balance of mind and body, unimpaired physical vigor, absolute inner harmony, and a calm, mental poise which nothing can disturb.

Every normal human being can, if they will, raise themselves to this condition. You can live in such a simple yet scientific manner that you will not only have great disease-resisting power, but you will also be at the maximum of your creative ability.