Category Archives: Marriage

Posted on

How to Build a Marriage “No Matter What”

by

During a recent presentation to a group of couples, one of the participants questioned my assertion that we could love our spouse “no matter what”.  Admittedly, it is a bold statement. His concern was that “no matter what” sets a spouse up for abuse. While I agree with the possibility of this extreme, I countered that my concern is that we have watered down this “no matter what” extreme to something more akin to “if I’m not happy”.

If we’re not happy then we have a difficult time believing that God could be. But, what if God isn’t wedded to our personal standard of happiness?

My belief is that God is more into the development within us when we have an unconditional commitment to him and to our spouse. In fact, God models this notion for us in his unwillingness to love and commit to us less than He does.

Consider two people – a priest who has devoted himself to the Lord for the last fifty years, and an evolutionary biologist who has dedicated himself to proving God does not exist. To which of these people is God most committed?

Posted on

LYH36: 15 Goals Everyone Should Pursue in 2015 [PODCAST]

by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Show Agenda

  • Featured Presentation: 15 Goals Everyone Should Pursue in 2015
  • Lesson Principle: “If You Don’t Set Goals for Yourself, Someone Else Will Set Yours For Them”

Featured Presentation

You can find the full blog post on this topic at haroldarnold.com/2015goals

There is one not so secret about those people who achieve great things. They set and commit to goals. The most successful achievers commit to four types of goals (personal growth, healthy lifestyle, networking, and helping others).

If you cannot commit to all of them, then choose at least two personal growth and healthy lifestyle goals and one networking and servant goal.

Posted on

LYH35: Four Steps to a Grateful Thanksgiving [PODCAST]

by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Show Agenda

  • Featured Presentation: Four Ways to a Grateful Thanksgiving
  • Branding Expert: Dick Bruso, Heard Above the Noise
  • Lesson Principle: “Your Gratitude Determines Your Altitude”

Featured Presentation

You can find the full blog post on this topic at haroldarnold.com/thanksgiving2014

No matter your condition, thankfulness is a choice.

I would like you to consider four steps to choose thankfulness this Thanksgiving.

Step 1: As specifically as you can write down the ten things that you are most grateful for this year. 

Here’s my top-10 to guide your own list generation.

The Top 10 Things for Which I’m Most Grateful in 2014

  1. My wife’s personal commitment to being more grateful and its impact on our home
  2. My sister’s (Letitia) pregnancy and impending delivery–due date December 2nd. This is the first child (Kennedy) that one of my sister’s will have.
  3. Successfully completed a 12-month vegetarian fast (with my spouse) in which I consecrated myself to the pursuit of my purpose
  4. My children’s (Quilan and Kyrsten’s) academic success in grad school and high school respectively
  5. Launching a new website with 35 consecutive weeks of new blog posts and podcasts
  6. Spending two days with a branding expert (Dick Bruso) to develop the PERFECT brand for me (stay tuned for more information about that)
  7. Spending seven days in Trinidad with one of my best friends (Paula) and her husband (Philip Thompson)
  8. Spending two days in Atlanta with a couple (Pastors Wesley and Rose Marie Greene) who I think of as spiritual mentors
  9. Launching a MasterMind group with an amazing group of achievers
  10. Finishing my first 10-mile Broad Street run in Philadelphia (along with 35,000 others)

Step 2: Identify the Thankfulness Themes  that are evident from your Top 10 list.

Step 3: Express your thankfulness to the people that you mentioned on your list

Step 4: Thank God from whom all blessings flow

Leave a comment and let me know for what you are thankful. Can’t wait to hear it.

I wish you the happiest of Thanksgiving holidays.

Please do me a huge favor and click HERE to go to iTunes and leave me a rating and review. It will only take 2 minutes of your time. And, it means so much to me. And, just for you, I’ll give you a shout out on the next show.

Posted on

Four Steps to a Grateful Thanksgiving

by

Happy Thanksgiving week!  Next to Christmas, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It’s about family, food, and festivity. But, most importantly, it is a time to be intentional in reminiscing about how blessed I am. Too often we focus on the disappointments and the failures without being truly thankful. In a real way, thankfulness is the key to happiness and success in all your endeavors. How thankful are you? Today, I would like you and me to deeply consider our gratitude.

Even as I write this, I am extremely disappointed with some news I received today. I invested a lot of emotional, financial, and spiritual resources in this endeavor. And, right now it feels like it was for naught. I am still in a somewhat disoriented state from the news.

This then is the absolute perfect time to deeply consider all for which I am grateful. I choose not to focus on the reality of my disappointment. Rather, I will prioritize my gratefulness.

I choose to remember the people that touched me this year (including my awesome wife and children). I choose to focus on the breakthroughs that I gained.  I choose to deliberate on the amazing future that I expect to have.

No matter your condition, thankfulness is a choice.

I would like you to consider four steps to choose thankfulness this Thanksgiving.

Step 1: As specifically as you can write down the ten things that you are most grateful for this year.

Be specific. In other words, don’t just write that you are thankful for your spouse. Record specifically what your spouse did this year that makes you particularly thankful.

Here’s my top-10 to guide your own list generation.

Posted on

LYH34: How to Fail Your Way to Success [PODCAST]

by

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Show Agenda

  • Featured Presentation: How to Fail Your Way to Success
  • Relationship Educator: Dr. Johnny and Lezlyn Parker
  • Life Coach: Rev Niki Brown
  • Lesson Principle: “If you’re too afraid to fail then you’re too comfortable to succeed.”

Featured Presentation

You can find the full blog post on this topic at haroldarnold.com/failtosuccess

Successful thinkers understand that as achievers they must fail their way to success. In this week’s podcast I discuss the ten steps to fail your way to success.