Alan Marcinek: News Blog

"Self-acceptance comes from meeting life's challenges vigorously. Don't numb yourself to your trials and difficulties, nor build mental walls to exclude pain from your life. You will find peace not by trying to escape your problems, but by confronting them courageously. You will find peace not in denial, but in victory."
J. Donald Walters
Author, Lecturer and Playwright

God intended every individual to succeed. It is God's purpose that man should become great. It is God's will that man should not only use, but enjoy every good in the universe. The Law of God denies man nothing.
Man is born to be rich. The powers inherent in him are inexhaustible. Each normal person is endowed with a complete set of faculties which, if properly developed and scientifically applied, will ensure success, ever-growing success.
Man is made for progress. Every man contains within himself the capacity for endless development. Advancement into all things is the Law's great purpose. By learning to work with the Law in promoting that aim, man may build himself into greater and greater success.
All the processes of Nature are successful. Nature knows no failures. She never plans anything but success. She aims at results in every form and manner. To succeed in the best and the fullest sense of the term we must, with Nature as our model, copy her methods. In her principles and laws we shall discover all the secrets of success.
Infinite resources are at man's disposal. There are no limits to his possibilities. He focuses and individualizes the elements, forces, and principles of the whole world. He can develop a wonderful intelligence; thus, all life's questions may be answered, all Nature's secrets discovered, and all human problems solved. Nothing is impossible.
Higher faculties, remarkable talents, superior insight, and greater power are dormant in all, and by special psychological methods, these exceptional elements can be developed to an extraordinary degree for actual and practical use. Every mind can develop greatness. It is simply a matter of knowing how. True self-help, self-discovery, self-knowledge, and the proper instruction in applying one's faculties and using one's forces will advance any person. Practice will ensure efficiency; use will bring forth results. Success, therefore, is within the reach of every aspiring man.
Do you wish to succeed? You can. You possess all the essentials within yourself; all you need is to gain a right understanding of the principles and laws upon which success is based, and then to apply the right methods of operating these causes until success is earned.
From Working With The Law

"It is time for us all to stand and cheer for the doer, the achiever - the one who recognizes the challenges and does something about it."
Vince Lombardi
1913-1970, American Football Coach

"When you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders and you feel like you can't do everything, realize you are correct. You can't do everything but you can do one thing and this one thing does make a difference. Each volunteer makes a difference. Each dollar raised makes a difference and each positive thought we all contribute to the collective mood of the country makes a difference."

"To have dreams is the first step toward making them realities. Once you have squared yourself with your past, approved of yourself, and committed to seeking self-fulfillment, next allow yourself to dream. Chart your course. Envision yourself achieving those dreams. Once you have dared to dream, I believe you MUST pursue that dream. If you do not pursue your dreams they will consume you; the knowledge that you had a dream but did not pursue it is killing knowledge. Consider it absolutely necessary to go after your dreams."

DON'T ALLOW OTHERS TO KILL YOUR DREAMS...

"Respect, by the book, suggests concern, thoughtfulness, the quality or state of being esteemed, or held in high regard. That's fine, but to me it also means trust, honesty, the ability to keep an open mind, and interacting with others without rancor or disdain. It starts with ourselves, learning what trust is. And once we learn what trust is, then maybe we can share it with somebody else, and we'll make the world a better place to live."

"And even more distressing is the fact that many of have been forced to make our worklife our entire life. We live in a time in which technology has connected us to the workplace all the time, so we're never really away. And add on top of that a competitive corporate environment in which we are all meant to feel that there is someone else our there who will do our job for less money, and we're hit with the psychological double-whammy of feeling we have a responsibility to get everything done; and a paranoia over what might happen to us if we don't. We all believe family time is important, but how many of us dare to turn off our telephone during dinner!

- Loretta LaRoche, Best Selling Author, Life Is Not A Stress-Rehearsal

"The next step in the process of turning a setback into a comeback, is to take responsibility, which is to face it, trace it, erase it and replace it. It doesn't matter whether you caused the setback, or whether it was thrust upon you, you must take responsibility if you want to turn it into a comeback! Why? Because it is your life, and you must take responsibility for your life!"

Life is totally awesome...

And should always be appreciated...

It's sad when people are so filled with hate...

We can only pray that they have a change of heart..

After 30 years of ministry to the Church "the people of God"... I AM OFFICIALLY RETIRED... I am taking the next couple months off to recuperate and then begin an entire new journey in life..

since my last entry.... I'm sure you've been wondering what I've been up to.... welll... I did get to go and visit the family in Arizona for Thanksgiving. It was probably one of the most enjoyably Holidays my entire life. Then it was back to work.... Preparing for the Advent/Christmas season.

While in Arizona, while visiting my older sister Celeste, she turned me onto this wonderful Candle company by the name of Gold Canyon Candles, they are "the world's finest." It got me so excited that I plan to become a demonstrator after the First of the year. (I needed to get another income to help pay the bills. Wedding are hard to come by when you work for a Church that doesn't own a church building. So weddings and funerals are at a minimum. I do hope to have more information on line and would be happy to show you samples of these great products. The quality of the candles and the scents are magnificent. They really leave Party lite and Yankee in the wax (dust)....

Today is 48th Anniversary of my parents, Joan & Norbert Marcinek... I'm so proud to have them as my parents and I love them very much.

It is also the Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi, the prayer that is attributed to him as the "Peace Prayer" truly sums up what we need in our world today.

Peace Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
when there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is dispair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Peace to all...

Those of you who know me, know that I am not one for enjoying HOT temperatures outside... 95degrees F is over the top for me... A comfortable 68degrees most of the year would be fine for me.. I think a cold front is coming through tonight and things will cool down to mid 70's. I had planned to start my excercise routine tonight after work, but I think I'm far too exausted...

A word of thanks goes out to all families of those who have lost love ones in times of war on this Memorial Day.

Sorry for the delay in updating the website.... Finished my annual pilgrimage to the Outer Banks of N.C. (Avon) to be specific... Stayed at Monkey's Beach House on the north side of Avon, a really great place to stay. Happy Mother's Day to my mother... and all those mother's out there...

Darfur, Sudan Crisis

For more than two years, conflict has raged in Sudan's impoverished western region of Darfur, claiming hundreds of thousands of lives and driving millions from their homes. And despite the news of peace overtures, thousands of displaced people continue to die each month, victims of starvation, disease and violence.

Right now, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is in the camps, providing the basics of life - food, water, shelter - and struggling to keep families and hope alive. Millions of lives remain at stake. The need for relief is immense and urgent.

"The crisis in Darfur needs our attention now. We cannot close our eyes or hearts to the thousands of people — mostly women and children living in the midst of tragedy.

The situation in Darfur, Sudan has gone on unresolved for the last two years. While the crisis now captures little attention in the U.S. media, there has been no end to the attacks on Sudanese civilians. People are still being attacked in their villages. They are being attacked outside of refugee camps, when they go out in search of water and wood. The Darfur crisis has displaced more than 2.4 million people. These people remain in a precarious situation because of the widespread destruction of their communities and their well-founded fear of continued attacks. Humanitarian aid convoys are increasingly attacked by rebel groups and militias. Large areas of Darfur are closed off to United Nations and NGO staff due to the growing insecurity.

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is one of the largest non-governmental organizations operating in Sudan. In Darfur, Sudan CRS is providing desperately needed food and non-food items. In southern Sudan CRS manages the Southern Sudan Agricultural Revitalization Project, the largest agricultural development program in Sudan. In partnership with local and international organizations, CRS also supports initiatives focused on peace-building, health and education.

For More information on this or to find out information on how you can help, go to www.crs.org

Spent some time cleaning up the text in my Bio.... I've got a lot more to talk about in it... and only up to age 13...

I'm busy trying to enjoy May Day today.... Hoping to go outside and bang some sticks together... dance around a bit... water the garden and some of those other "May Day" ritual garden activities...

I decided to add a few pictures to the website. Don't have very many digital pics, so I need to go and scan some to add.

Well I finally broke down and got off my duff and started a website to help promote the CD "You Are Child" and to get back into my "musical" career...
I do hope you will enjoy whatever direction this journey may take us...