Tuesday, December 29, 2015

2015-52 - The Best Ever...

To make this coming year the best year ever, start small. Start with one small moment, and put into it all your energy, your enthusiasm, your passion and commitment. Make full use of what you have right here and now, whatever it may be.

To make this coming year the best year ever, keep going. Though challenges and disappointments will certainly come your way, you do not have to go their way. There is every reason to continue moving forward, no matter what, for that is the best response to every discouragement.

To make this coming year the best year ever, take responsibility for it. Instead of making excuses or assigning blame, put your energy into focused, creative effort, into creating value, into living with purpose.

This coming year can be the best year ever... because it will be for you whatever you are willing to make it.

~ Ralph Marston
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"The new year stands before us, like a chapter in a book, 
waiting to be written."


~ Melody Beattie
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Tuesday, December 22, 2015

2015-51 - We are never alone

Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage?

His father takes him into the forest... blindfolded... and leaves him... alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night... and not take off the blindfold until the ray of sun shines through it. He is all by himself. He cannot cry out for help to anyone.
Once he survives the night... he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience. Each boy must come into his own manhood.

The boy was terrified... could hear all kinds of noise... beasts were all around him. Maybe even some human would hurt him. The wind blew the grass and earth... and it shook his stump. But he sat stoically... never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could be a man.

Finally, after a horrific night... the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he saw his father... sitting on the stump next to him... at watch... the entire night.
We are never truly alone. Even when we do not know it, our family and friends are watching out for us... sitting on a stump beside us.

~ Author Unknown

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"You just have to be yourself and go full with confidence and be 
courageous."


~ Gabby Douglas

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Tuesday, December 15, 2015

2015-50 - The Trouble Tree

The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farm house has just finished a rough day on the job. A flat tyre had made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit and now his ancient truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family.

As we walked to the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands.

When opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss. Later, he walked me back to my car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me; so I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.

'Oh, that's my trouble tree,' he replied. 'I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing for sure, troubles don't belong at home with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again.'

'The funny thing is,' he smiled, 'when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before'.

~ Author Unknown
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"If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is 
on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience".


~ Robert Fulghum
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Tuesday, December 8, 2015

2015-49 - Cycle of Evil

There was once a king who was so cruel and unjust that his subjects yearned for his death or dethronement. However, one day he surprised them all by announcing that he had decided to turn over a new leaf.

“No more cruelty, no more injustice,” he promised, and he was as good as his word. He became known as the ‘Gentle Monarch’. Months after his transformation one of his ministers mustered the courage to ask him what had brought about his change of heart.

And the king answered, “As I was galloping through my forests I caught sight of a fox being chased by a hound. The fox escaped into his hole but not before the hound had bitten into its leg and made it lame for life. Later I rode into a village and saw the same hound there. It was barking at a man. Even as I watched, the man picked up a huge stone and flung it at the dog, breaking its leg. The man had not gone far when he was kicked by a horse. His knee was shattered and he fell to the ground, disabled for life. The horse began to run but it fell into a hole and broke its leg. Reflecting on all that had happened, I thought: ‘Evil begets evil. If I continue in my evil ways, I will surely be overtaken by evil’. So I decided to change”.

The minister went away convinced that the time was ripe to overthrow 
the king and seize the throne. Immersed in thought, he did not see 
the steps in front of him and fell, breaking his neck

~ Author Unknown
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“My favourite parable for living a positive and influential life is the Golden 
Rule: Do unto others what you would have them do unto you”.


~ Tony Oller
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Tuesday, December 1, 2015

2015-48 - Look forward...


Don't base your attitude on what you've experienced in the past. Choose your attitude based on what you would like to experience most in the future.

Don't waste a lot of time complaining about what has already happened. Put your time and energy into envisioning, planning and acting to create a life you truly wish to live.

Look forward with eager anticipation, see life at its best, and smile about what you see. What's ahead is what counts, because you have the opportunity to choose right now.

No matter where you are or where you've been, you can choose a positive future for yourself. Look forward, and see the positive possibilities. Look forward, and step decisively towards the best of them.

~ Author Unknown
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“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”

~ Henry Ford
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