Publisher's Synopsis
"Give thanks to God four times: once, for the gift of your life, second, for the possibilities, the strengths with which God has blessed you, third, for the capacity to grow these possibilities forward in your life’s pilgrimage, fourth, for the stirring, moving presence of God’s Spirit with you this moment." Kennon Callahan Keys open doors. Living a full, healthy life is about recognizing your natural gifts the ones God has given you. It is not about rules or law. Claim your gifts, nurture who you already are, learn to be yourself rather than who or what others expect you to be these gifts are your possibilities for a whole, healthy life. In Twelve Keys for Living, an alternative to the many programs that prescribe rules and outline models to live by, Kennon Callahan helps us discover that our strengths are gifts from God. God serves as encourager, nurturer, coach, and mentor as we share in the wisdom, experience, prayers, and scripture contained in Twelve Keys for Living. Through stories and parables Callahan has collected through the years and with the help of teachers, salespersons, cooks, clerks, rich, poor, housewives, philosophers, factory workers, ministers, and many others, Callahan teaches us that claiming our gifts is the first step toward a whole, healthy future. Callahan declares that the path to happiness lies in recognizing and developing the strengths we already possess. He explores twelve keys to help us live a healthy, productive life: mission, compassion, hope, community, leadership, simplicity, joy, wisdom, encouragement, creativity, health, and generosity. Those twelve keys for living are the foundations for happiness and wholeness and help us open the doors to advancing and developing our lives. Callahan encourages us to grow at our own natural pace, taking things one day at a time rather than pressuring ourselves with timetables, deadlines, and ultimatums. He has no interest in transforming mere mortals into the stuff of superheroes. Callahan is more concerned with living ordinary, everyday life as best we can, and experiencing the wonder and joy that comes from living a life of grace, not law. Freed from the failures and disappointments of perfectionism, we can then embark on the lifelong journey of developing our true potential. Making really excellent mistakes finding the keys that will open our doors. When we are invited to discover our strengths, we claim God’s gifts; by denying our strengths, we deny God’s gifts and we deny God. Our strengths wither, and so do we. Strengths, like muscles, grow and develop only when they are well used. Not used, they atrophy. We must each find our strengths and develop them, rather than engaging in a futile struggle with our weaknesses. Twelve Keys for Living helps us recognize what we are put here to do. And be who we were meant to be. Loving and being loved. Being the leaders of our own lives. Discover which gifts you really have...mission, compassion, hope, community, leadership, simplicity, joy, wisdom, encouragement, creativity, health, generosity...claim your strengths...and develop your possibilities! "The twelve keys open doors for a whole, healthy life. Sometimes we lock ourselves away from the very possibilities that will give us a rich, full life. These twelve keys help you open the doors to advancing and growing, building and developing your life.... They draw on the wisdom and compassion of the thousands of persons the mentors, friends, colleagues, and family who have contributed to my own life’s pilgrimage. These possibilities draw on the future and on tradition, hope and common sense, scripture and prayer." "I claim my strengths. Write these words in your calendar. Put them on your mirror, at your workbench, in your car, at your desk, in your kitchen, at your sewing machine. Where you will see them frequently. Say them each morning as you arise. Each night as you go to sleep. Make these words ever present in your life."
