2018-44 - Keep moving...

A college class was graduating on a hot and humid day.

As the graduates walked across the platform and received their diplomas from the president of the college, he smiled, shook their hands, and said loudly, "Congratulations!" Then, in a much lower voice, one that was firm and could be heard only by the graduates, he would say, "Keep moving."

He was only trying to keep the line moving across the stage, but his words were good advice for a lifetime: "Keep moving." After every achievement growing up, graduation, marriage, job promotion, even retirement the best advice is, "Keep moving. Don't stop. Don't stagnate."

There is more to life than you have found thus far. This is not the end; it is only the beginning. "Keep moving."

When we approach life with this attitude, we look forward to the future.

~ LCDR Michael L Schutz, CHC, USN

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Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.

~ Albert Einstein

2018-43 - A lesson in self confidence...

Henry was once called upon to recite in front of the class. He had hardly begun when the teacher interrupted with an emphatic, "No!" He started over and again the teacher thundered, "No!" Humiliated, Henry sat down.

The next boy rose to recite and had just begun when the teacher shouted, "No!" This student, however, kept on with the recitation until he completed it. As he sat down, the teacher replied, "Very good!"

Henry was irritated. "I recited just as he did," he complained to the teacher. 

But the instructor replied, "It is not enough to know your lesson, you must be sure. When you allowed me to stop you, it meant that you were uncertain. If the world says, 'No!' it is your business to say, 'Yes!' and prove it.

The world will say, 'No!' in a thousand ways. And each 'No!' you hear has the potential to erode your confidence bit by bit until you quit all together.

Though the world says, 'No!' to you today, you should be determined to say, 'Yes!' and prove it!"

~ Author Unknown

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Whether you think you can or think you can't, you are right.

~ Henry Ford

2018-42 - Keep exceeding your level...

Bruce had me up to three miles a day, really at a good pace. We'd run the three miles in twenty-one or twenty-two minutes.

Then, one day, he said "We're going to go for five. When we get to three, we'll shift gears, it's only two more."

I said "Okay". Into the fourth mile I'm okay for three or four minutes, and then I really begin to give out. I'm tired, my heart's pounding, and so I say to him, "Bruce if I run any more I'm liable to have a heart attack and die."

He said, "Then die." It made me so mad that I went the full five miles. Later I asked him, "Why did you say that?"

He said, "Because you might as well be dead. If you always put limits on what you can do, it'll spread over into the rest of your life. It'll spread into your work, into your entire being. There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level."

~ Bruce Lee, John Little

(The Art of Expressing the Human Body)

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The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible. 

~ Arthur C Clarke

2018-41 - The Sage...

Once a man asked Confucius, "What kind of sage are you that you can say that Hui excels you in straight-forwardness? That in clarifying things Tuan is superior to you? That Chung is more courageous than you? And that Chuan is more dignified than you?"

In his eagerness to get a reply, the man moved to the edge of the mat and said, "If these things are true, then why are these four men your disciples?"

Confucius answered, "Hui knows how to be straight-forward, but he does not know how to be flexible. Tuan knows how to clarify things, but he does not know how to give a simple 'yes' or 'no' answer. Chuan knows how to be dignified, but he does not know how to be unassuming. And Chung knows how to be courageous, but he does not know how to be cautious. That is why these four men are glad to study under me."

~ Author Unknown

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A bird that cannot open and close it's wings cannot fly.

~   Author Unknown

2018-40 - Dandelions...

I took great pride in my lawn. I mowed regularly, setup a sprinkler system, trimmed the bushes... but I could never get rid of my dandelions. I tried everything, from wet burning to weed-killer, fighting with every means in my power... but all to nought.

One fine day, my neighbour saw me struggling, and gave me a bit of advice, "I suggest you learn to love them." he said.

Learning to love them was no easy task for me. I began talking to them each day. Cordial. Friendly. They maintained a sullen silence. They were smarting from the war I had waged against them, and were suspicious of my motives.

But the day came when they smiled. And relaxed. And we started to be friends.

My lawn, of course, was ruined. But how attractive my garden became.  

~ Author Unknown

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Embrace those parts of yourself that you've skilfully avoided until now. That's your true adventure.

~  Gina Greenlee, Postcards and Pearls