The fear of long words is called “hippopotomonstrosesquippeda.” Makes sense. It took a 36-letter word to define a fear of long words. This word was first used by the Roman poet Horace in the first century to criticize writers with an unreasonable penchant for long words. God is all about simplicity. The Message Bible reads,…
It’s okay to not have all the answers. Michael Rounds is the author of 10,000 Days Sober and an addiction recovery specialist at a correctional facility in Indiana. From his personal perspective, he suggests four ways to deal with a slip in recovery. One of those is to treat recovery as a marathon, not a…
Paul Anderson was the world’s strongest man. In 1957, he backlifted a table loaded with calibrated weights totaling 6,250 pounds. The 1985 Guinness Book of World Records said this lift was “the greatest weight ever raised by a human being.” Anderson made over 500 public appearances, in which he impressed millions with amazing feats of…
On January 20, 1987, Unsolved Mysteries began a run that lasted for 602 episodes. Hosted by Raymond Burr, Karl Madden, and Robert Stack, the show unearthed some of the great mysteries that had never been solved. Everyone loves a good mystery. Mystery books are the second most popular genre of books sold each year. Over…
Paul Ekman is a well-known psychologist and was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2009. Ekman has spent over 50 years studying the habits of men and women. As a result, he has produced a list of the reasons that people lie. Interestingly, Dr. Ekman concludes…
In baseball, teams play 162 games to see who can get the best record and that which comes with it – home-field advantage. In football, playing at home is worth about three points in the odds. In the NBA, the home team wins 63 percent of the time. In the NFL, it is 58 percent.…
The question is not whether you will fail, but when you will fail. And what you do next. Andrew Stanton, the director behind Toy Story, offered wise counsel: “Fail early and fail fast. Be wrong as fast as you can.” In other words, learn from your mistakes. Let your failures instruct your future, and move…
Finishing strong is epic. Ever heard of a fellow named Napoleon Bonaparte? One of the greatest military minds and conquerors in history, Napoleon died on this date 203 years ago. Things didn’t end as he would have hoped. After expanding the French empire across Europe, he began to experience military setbacks in 1812 and suffered…
Your pain is the price you must pay for someone else’s blessing. Rick Warren writes, “In every area of your life where you’ve had pain, you have a testimony.” It is your suffering, not your success, that gives you credibility. No one turns to your God because you handled your great days well. They turn…
In the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby, in 2009, jockey Calvin Borel rode Mine That Bird to a most unexpected victory. A 50-1 long shot, the horse was running dead last until the final turn. No race was ever won before the final turn. You may not be winning right now, but the outcome…