"I am only one, but I am still one; I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do".
-- Edward Everett Hale
20070915
20070912
20070911
20070910
20070909
20070908
20070907
20070906
20070904
"Your thoughts are what frighten you. Choose to change them, and the fear is gone. Your thoughts are what cause you to be frustrated, angry, disappointed, impatient and uncomfortable. And your thoughts can also take you far away from all those things. For your thoughts can transform anger into forgiveness, disappointment into determination, discomfort into inspiration, and fear into love. The choice is always yours".
-- Ralph Marston, The Daily Motivator
-- Ralph Marston, The Daily Motivator
20070902
20070901
20070831
20070829
20070828
20070825
20070824
"It is far easier to prepare for a storm when the skies are still clear. By the time dark clouds appear on the horizon, your options are drastically more limited and much less effective".
-- Ralph Marston, as quoted by Scott.
-- Ralph Marston, as quoted by Scott.
20070822
20070821
20070820
20070819
"The world is a great book; he who never stirs from home, reads only a page".
-- Saint Augustine, as quoted by dAAve.
-- Saint Augustine, as quoted by dAAve.
20070817
"When it is all too much, when the news is so bad meditation itself feels useless, and a single life feels too small a stone to offer on the altar of peace, find a human sunrise. Find those people who are committed to changing our scary reality. Human sunrises are happening all over the earth, at every moment. People gathering, people working to change the intolerable, people coming in their robes and sandals or in their rags and bare feet, and they are singing, or not, and they are chanting, or not. But they are working to bring peace, light, compassion to the infinitely frightening downhill slide of human life".
-- Alice Walker
20070816
20070814
"Everything I ever touched is gone. Except 'Wheel' and 'Jeopardy!'"
-- Merv Griffin 1925-2007, as told to Phil Rosenthal.
(Image from Chicago Tribune)
20070812
"Has it ever occurred to you when you see something you don’t like to call it something else? Lately as I use my victim consciousness less and less I seem to recognize things differently in my life.
"It is my new thought that we have “made up” everything in our lives so far. So why not make up something else if we don’t like what we made up already? It may seem illogical and irrational at first, but when you think about it, it makes sense. I think none of this stuff we’re experiencing is real, except that perhaps it is a real experience, and that is why we have called it to us…to experience it.
"Accountability seems to be something lacking in our thought process today. I don’t mean that to justify anyone’s outrage over what has been done to them. This isn’t for you to continue to be upset because someone hurt you and they haven’t owned up to it yet. I’m writing this to give you the opportunity to become accountable for creating your life and all of the events that have taken place in it. I suggested this to someone recently and they asked me why they would do such terrible things to themselves. I told them that “Why?” isn’t important. The only real answer to that is you did it so that you could experience it and you made up everyone who participated in it.
"Here is the reprieve, because you have made up everything so far, you can make up something else and you will find yourself with people who are different and ready to participate in the new experiences with you.
"But we must take accountability for our lives. I don’t call it blame; I call it accountability. When you are accountable for your life, you are in charge of your life. That stuff you have been calling bad, call it an event. That stuff you are afraid of, admit you made up the fear. Every time you feel yourself resisting the future, remember you’ve just left the present. Admit that you are good on a regular basis. Admit that God is good on a regular basis. Admit that your life is good on a regular basis. Why not? It beats calling it something else".
-- Reverend Shawn Moninger
"It is my new thought that we have “made up” everything in our lives so far. So why not make up something else if we don’t like what we made up already? It may seem illogical and irrational at first, but when you think about it, it makes sense. I think none of this stuff we’re experiencing is real, except that perhaps it is a real experience, and that is why we have called it to us…to experience it.
"Accountability seems to be something lacking in our thought process today. I don’t mean that to justify anyone’s outrage over what has been done to them. This isn’t for you to continue to be upset because someone hurt you and they haven’t owned up to it yet. I’m writing this to give you the opportunity to become accountable for creating your life and all of the events that have taken place in it. I suggested this to someone recently and they asked me why they would do such terrible things to themselves. I told them that “Why?” isn’t important. The only real answer to that is you did it so that you could experience it and you made up everyone who participated in it.
"Here is the reprieve, because you have made up everything so far, you can make up something else and you will find yourself with people who are different and ready to participate in the new experiences with you.
"But we must take accountability for our lives. I don’t call it blame; I call it accountability. When you are accountable for your life, you are in charge of your life. That stuff you have been calling bad, call it an event. That stuff you are afraid of, admit you made up the fear. Every time you feel yourself resisting the future, remember you’ve just left the present. Admit that you are good on a regular basis. Admit that God is good on a regular basis. Admit that your life is good on a regular basis. Why not? It beats calling it something else".
-- Reverend Shawn Moninger
20070808
20070807
20070803
20070802
20070731
20070729
20070728
20070727
"Many people are wanting to fan your flames of discomfort, because they
believe that "you're either with us or against us; if you don't stand in
the same disgust and horror that we are all standing, then you are not
with us." It's hard for people to understand that you can not agree with
them -- and not be against them. That you could be for something without
being against something else."
-- Abraham-Hicks
believe that "you're either with us or against us; if you don't stand in
the same disgust and horror that we are all standing, then you are not
with us." It's hard for people to understand that you can not agree with
them -- and not be against them. That you could be for something without
being against something else."
-- Abraham-Hicks
20070726
"If you want an average successful life, it doesn’t take much planning. Just stay out of trouble, go to school, and apply for jobs you might like. But if you want something extraordinary, you have two paths:
1. Become the best at one specific thing.
2. Become very good (top 25%) at two or more things.
The first strategy is difficult to the point of near impossibility. Few people will ever play in the NBA or make a platinum album. I don’t recommend anyone even try.
The second strategy is fairly easy. Everyone has at least a few areas in which they could be in the top 25% with some effort. In my case, I can draw better than most people, but I’m hardly an artist. And I’m not any funnier than the average standup comedian who never makes it big, but I’m funnier than most people. The magic is that few people can draw well and write jokes. It’s the combination of the two that makes what I do so rare. And when you add in my business background, suddenly I had a topic that few cartoonists could hope to understand without living it.
I always advise young people to become good public speakers (top 25%). Anyone can do it with practice. If you add that talent to any other, suddenly you’re the boss of the people who have only one skill. Or get a degree in business on top of your engineering degree, law degree, medical degree, science degree, or whatever. Suddenly you’re in charge, or maybe you’re starting your own company using your combined knowledge.
Capitalism rewards things that are both rare and valuable. You make yourself rare by combining two or more “pretty goods” until no one else has your mix. I didn’t spend much time with the script supervisor, but it was obvious that her verbal/writing skills were in the top tier as well as her people skills. I’m guessing she also has a high attention to detail, and perhaps a few other skills in the mix. Probably none of those skills are best in the world, but together they make a strong package. Apparently she’s been in high demand for decades.
At least one of the skills in your mixture should involve communication, either written or verbal. And it could be as simple as learning how to sell more effectively than 75% of the world. That’s one. Now add to that whatever your passion is, and you have two, because that’s the thing you’ll easily put enough energy into to reach the top 25%. If you have an aptitude for a third skill, perhaps business or public speaking, develop that too.
It sounds like generic advice, but you’d be hard pressed to find any successful person who didn’t have about three skills in the top 25%.
What are your three?"
-- Scott Adams, on his Dilbert Blog.
20070724
"As children, we lived our lives using the more the creative “right” side of our brain. As we got older, we had a tendency to pull away from our right side and rely more on the intellectual “left” side of our brain. Layers upon layers of life’s issues begin to attach to us, and slowly we can no longer feel our spirit as we once did. This week try doing something creative, such as taking a class where you can sketch, draw, write, paint, color, sing, or do whatever works for you. Wake up your spirit as you get back in the flow of using your creative and intuitive side once again".
-- John Holland
-- John Holland
20070723
"When others start telling us their problems, too many of us respond instantly with what we believe would be best. Quick responses or quick fixes are not always the best way, since that person may only be venting or expressing their thoughts. Sometimes we must recognize when it’s right to be silent. Sometimes that soul needs to go through what it is they’re experiencing currently in their life. Who are we to pull them from that souls lesson? Use your intuition wisely for a more considered response — if one is really needed".
-- John Holland
-- John Holland
20070722
"I want my funeral to be a real happy time. I want everybody laughing and remembering how crazy I was."
-- Tammy Faye Bakker, 1942-2007, as told to Larry King, and quoted in her obituary in today's New York Times.
-- Tammy Faye Bakker, 1942-2007, as told to Larry King, and quoted in her obituary in today's New York Times.
20070721
20070720
20070719
20070716
20070715
"Do you have a purpose? Do you have a calling? Do you have a vocation?...I want to suggest to you that whether or not you have a job, everyone has a vocation, and that vocation is to live a life that is worth living. The best advice I can give is that which St. Paul gives us in Romans 12, where he says to the likes of you, who all look alike from here, ''Be not conformed to this world.'' Do not join the throng. Don't get lost in the crowd. Don't be a part of the cookie-manufactured college generation, but stake out for yourselves some extraordinary, maybe even eccentric, piece and place of the world, and make it your own".
-- Rev. Peter J. Gomes
20070713
"I was a songwriter, I was struggling, and I loved it. I wanted to be the greatest songwriter. I was writing about everything -- everything I saw. But I was not making money, and I finally agreed with everyone I ever talked to who knew me, who said, ''Boy, you need to get a job -- a real one.'' So I got a job on the Ford assembly line. And every day I watched how a bare metal frame rolling down the line would come off the other end a spanking brand-new car. Wow, I thought. What a great idea. Maybe I can do the same thing with my music -- create a place where a kid off the street can walk in one door an unknown and come out another door a star. That little thought that came to me while running up and down that assembly line at Ford Motor Company became a reality you now know as Motown."
-- Berry Gordy
-- Berry Gordy
20070712
20070711
"Inspiration comes forth from within. It's what the light burning within
you is about, as opposed to motivation, which is doing it because if you
don't do it, there will be negative repercussions. Motivation is making
myself do something that I don't really want to do. Inspiration is
having the clear picture of what I am wanting -- and letting Universal
forces come into play to get the outcome".
-- Abraham-Hicks
you is about, as opposed to motivation, which is doing it because if you
don't do it, there will be negative repercussions. Motivation is making
myself do something that I don't really want to do. Inspiration is
having the clear picture of what I am wanting -- and letting Universal
forces come into play to get the outcome".
-- Abraham-Hicks
20070709
20070708
20070707
20070706
"Every time you say, 'I appreciate that. I really like that. I applaud that. I acknowledge the value in that.' Every time you do that, you spend some of your Energy, and it is the spending of the Energy that creates a vacuum, so to speak, or an attraction, so to speak, that draws more and more and more and more".
-- Abraham-Hicks
-- Abraham-Hicks
20070705
20070704
"This is a working day in the rest of the world, and, for that matter, a working day in the middle of the working week. The Fourth of July, a day that is central to our sense of our own history, will pass uncapitalized around the rest of the globe. It’s a local holiday, after all, nevermind how large our idea of local may be.
"But the idea of freedom is not local. It is universal. Even in these very difficult times, four years deep into a war that has turned much of the world against this country, when some political leaders seek to arrogate the idea of freedom as their own political preserve, the universal freedom described in the Declaration of Independence remains a fundamental truth.
"Our own domestic history has made it clear how deeply acculturated that original idea of freedom really was, but also how difficult it has been, and still is, to win political and economic freedom for every American. The desire for freedom is part of human nature. But what matters as much as the principle of freedom is the practice of it.
"Ideas have a way of recommending themselves by the behavior of the men and women who hold them, and this is no less true of nations. The question isn’t simply whether we can project our ideal of freedom around the world. The question is whether, by who we are and how we behave, we can make the freedom that animates us compelling to others.
"The country looks inward on the Fourth of July — not in introspection, but in an easy, comfortable sense of historical gratification. Yet this is a good day to look outward as well.
"It is a day to ask how good a job — from the world’s perspective — we are doing living up to the principles enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, whether we have done enough to make those sonorous old rights seem like more than a limited case in a limited argument. The answer is more equivocal than we like to believe. But the ideal is one that must drive us all."
-- Editorial, The New York Times.
"But the idea of freedom is not local. It is universal. Even in these very difficult times, four years deep into a war that has turned much of the world against this country, when some political leaders seek to arrogate the idea of freedom as their own political preserve, the universal freedom described in the Declaration of Independence remains a fundamental truth.
"Our own domestic history has made it clear how deeply acculturated that original idea of freedom really was, but also how difficult it has been, and still is, to win political and economic freedom for every American. The desire for freedom is part of human nature. But what matters as much as the principle of freedom is the practice of it.
"Ideas have a way of recommending themselves by the behavior of the men and women who hold them, and this is no less true of nations. The question isn’t simply whether we can project our ideal of freedom around the world. The question is whether, by who we are and how we behave, we can make the freedom that animates us compelling to others.
"The country looks inward on the Fourth of July — not in introspection, but in an easy, comfortable sense of historical gratification. Yet this is a good day to look outward as well.
"It is a day to ask how good a job — from the world’s perspective — we are doing living up to the principles enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, whether we have done enough to make those sonorous old rights seem like more than a limited case in a limited argument. The answer is more equivocal than we like to believe. But the ideal is one that must drive us all."
-- Editorial, The New York Times.
20070702
20070701
"The tragedy of life does not lie, young folk, in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It is not a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disaster to not be able to capture your ideals, but it is a disaster to have no ideals to capture. It is not a disgrace to not be able to reach all the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for".
-- Tavis Smiley
20070630
" Part of noticing intuitive signs, signals, and those gentle nudges is becoming more conscious of what you’re doing in your everyday life. This week, if you’re having a cup of tea, then just drink your tea. If you’re enjoying a meal, then just eat your meal. If you’re walking, just walk. Appreciate, focus, and be in the moment. By doing so, you’ll remain in the powerful present, and that way, your intuition has a better chance of getting your attention".
-- John Holland
-- John Holland
20070628
20070627
20070626
"Your happiness is the most significant contribution that you could make. In your reaching for happiness, you are opening a vortex which makes you an avenue for the Well-being to flow through you. And anything that is your object of attention under those conditions, benefits by the infusion of your Well-being".
-- Abraham-Hicks
-- Abraham-Hicks
20070625
20070622
20070621
20070618
20070616
20070614
20070612
"Before beginning a hunt, it is wise to ask someone what you are looking for before you begin looking for it."
-- Winnie the Pooh, as quoted today by dAAve.
-- Winnie the Pooh, as quoted today by dAAve.
20070611
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
