Excellence

"Excellence can be achieved if you risk more than others think is safe, love more than others think is wise, dream more than others think is practical, and expect more than others think is possible." - Author Unknown -

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -

Faultfinder

"Don't complain about the snow on your neighbor's roof when your own doorstep is unclean." - Confucius -

A businessman was highly critical of his competitors' storefront windows. "Why, they are the dirtiest windows in town," he claimed. Fellow business people grew tired of the man's continual criticism and nitpicking comments about the windows. One day over coffee, the businessman carried the subject just too far. Before leaving, a fellow store owner suggested the man get his own windows washed. He followed the advice, and the next day at coffee, he exclaimed, "I can't believe it. As soon as I washed my windows, my competitor must have cleaned his too. You should see them shine." - Author unknown -

Health

“When health is absent wisdom cannot reveal itself, art cannot be exerted, wealth becomes useless, and reason is powerless.” - Herophilus , a Greek physician -

"Worms will not eat living wood where the vital sap is flowing; rust will not hinder the opening of a gate when the hinges are used each day. Movement gives health and life. Stagnation brings disease and death." - Ancient Chinese proverb -

Some people

"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some people move our souls to dance. They awaken us to a new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same. - Flavia Weedn -

"A new friend is like new wine; when it has aged you will drink it with pleasure." - Ecclesiastes -

I've learned that ...

"I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.
I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back.
I've learned that it's not what you have in your life, but who you have in your life that counts.
I've learned that you can get by on charm for about 15 minutes. After that, you'd better know something.
I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do, but to the best you can do.
I've learned that it's not what happens to people that's important. It's what they do about it.
I've learned that no matter how thin you slice it, there are always two sides.
I've learned that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.
I've learned that it's a lot easier to react than it is to think.
I've learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.
I've learned that you can keep going long after you think you can't.
I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.
I've learned that either you control your attitude or it controls you.
I've learned that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.
I've learned that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.
I've learned that learning to forgive takes practice.
I've learned that there are people who love you dearly, but just don't know how to show it.
I've learned that money is a lousy way of keeping score.
I've learned that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.
I've learned that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down may be the ones to help you get back up.
I've learned that I'm getting more and more like my grandma, and I'm kinda happy about it.
I've learned that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.
I've learned that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.
I've learned that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.
I've learned that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.
I've learned that you should never tell a child her dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if she believed it.
I've learned that your family won't always be there for you. It may seem funny, but people you aren't related to can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again. Families aren't biological.
I've learned that no matter how good a friend someone is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.
I've learned that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.
I've learned that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.
I've learned that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
I've learned that sometimes when my friends fight, I'm forced to choose sides even when I don't want to.
I've learned that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.
I've learned that sometimes you have to put the individual ahead of their actions.
I've learned that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.
I've learned that if you don't want to forget something, stick it in your underwear drawer.
I've learned that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.
I've learned that the clothes I like best are the ones with the most holes in them.
I've learned that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.
I've learned that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will hurt in the process.
I've learned that there are many ways of falling and staying in love.
I've learned that no matter the consequences, those who are honest with themselves, get further in life.
I've learned that many things can be powered by the mind, the trick is self-control.
I've learned that no matter how many friends you have, if you are their pillar, you will feel lonely and lost at the times you need them most.
I've learned that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.
I've learned that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.
I've learned that writing, as well as talking, can ease emotional pains.
I've learned that the paradigm we live in is not all that is offered to us.
I've learned that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.
I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon.
I've learned that although the word "love" can have many different meanings, it loses value when overly used.
I've learned that it's hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people's feelings and standing up for what you believe.
I've learned that no matter how fast or how far you go, you can't outrun God.
I've learned that no matter how far away I've been, He'll always welcome me back.
I've learned that love is not for me to keep, but to pass on to the next person I see.
I've learned that even if you do the right thing for the wrong reason, it's still the wrong thing to do."

- Author unknown -

Explore dream discover

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. - Mark Twain -

Dance dream live love

"You gotta dance like nobody's watching, dream like you will live forever, live like your going to die tomorrow and love like it's never going to hurt." - Meme Grifsters -

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire,
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?

Be thankful when you don't know something,
For it gives you the opportunity to learn.

Be thankful for the difficult times,
During those times you grow.

Be thankful for your limitations,
Because they give you opportunities for improvement.

Be thankful for each new challenge,
Because it will build your strength and character.

Be thankful for your mistakes,
They will teach you valuable lessons.

Be thankful when you're tired and weary,
Because it means you've made a difference.

It is easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are,
Also thankful for the setbacks.

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
And they can become your blessings.

- Author Unknown -

No blame

"When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons why it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and arguments. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. - Thich Nhat Hahn -

Flexibility

“Be the water, not the rock. Water has the flexibility to change direction; a rock stays in one place and gets worn out.” - Japanese saying -

Time Travel

(1) "Time is the scarcest resource, and unless it is managed, nothing else can be managed." - Peter Drucker -

(2) "I recommend you to take care of the minutes, for the hours will take care of themselves." - Lord Chesterfield -

(3) "Time wasted is existence; time used is life." - Edward Young -

(4) "What counts is not the number of hours you put in, but how much you put in the hours." - Anon -

(5) "Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not. - Thomas Huxley -

Have a nice time. Take care.

Whose job is it?

This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. - Author unknown -

"We can do no great things; only small things with great love." - Mother Teresa -

Appreciation

"You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happiness now. How? By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged. Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime. - Dale Carnegie -

"There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread." - Mother Theresa -

Results

“If you want to do something, you will find a way. If you don’t want to do anything, you will find an excuse. In your life you either have Results, or you have Reasons why there are no Results.” - Mel Gill, Author -


"Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won't work." - Thomas A. Edison -

Persistence

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

- Calvin Coolidge -

Buddha Handling Criticism

A man met Buddha on the street one day and began calling him mean and ugly names. Buddha listened quietly and thoughtfully until the man ran out of epithets, and had to pause for a breath.

"If you offer something to a man and he refuses it, to whom does it belong?" asked Buddha.

The spiteful man replied "it belongs, I suppose, to the one who offered it."

Then Buddha said "The abuse and vile names that you offer me, I refuse to accept."

The man turned and walked away.

All the good

"Do all the good you can
By all the means you can
In all the ways you can
In all the places you can
At all the times you can
To all the people you can
As long as ever you can."

- Author unknown -

Peace

"There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them. One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace. The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all. But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest- in perfect peace.

Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why? "Because," explained the king, "peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace."

- Author Unknown -

Anger? - Forgive yourself

"Gas will fill a chamber evenly and completely no matter what the chamber is and no matter how small the quantity of gas. And that's what suffering does, is fill the human soul and the human psyche evenly and completely. So once you're in a state of anger you can be angry at anything. You can't sleep, you can't eat, you can't walk, you can't talk. And you cannot forgive anybody until you first forgive yourself." - Hurricane Carter -

Act of perseverance

"If you were just one step away from reaching your goal, would you take that step? How do you know, right now, that you're not? What a shame it would be to stop making the effort, when just a little bit more would make it all worthwhile. What a shame it would be to have taken all those steps, only to miss the very last one. The next step you take may very well be the one that makes all the others count. You owe it to yourself, and the efforts you've made, to keep going. No, the next step may not get you there. Yet what about the one after that? If you keep moving ahead, a little at a time, you will indeed arrive. When you take that final, triumphant step, you'll be so very thankful you persevered. At some point success is just one step away. Keep going and you'll be there. - Ralph Marston -

"When nothing seems to help, I look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps 100 times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet, at the 101st blow itwill split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it, but all that had gone before." - Jacob A. Riis -

Pursuit of a dream

"When contemplating the pursuit of a dream or the start of a new venture, too many people are hesitant to begin because they can't comprehend the entire journey. If that's where you find yourself right now, don't expect to understand what it takes to get to the top. Just take the next step. There's no shame in starting small; in fact, if you don't start small, you'll probably never start at all". - John C Maxwell -

Excellence

"Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but rather we have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit." - Aristotle -

Power of small acts

"The majority of us lead quiet, unheralded lives as we pass through this world. There will most likely be no ticker-tape parades for us, no monuments created in our honor. But that does not lessen our possible impact, for there are scores of people waiting for someone just like us to come along; people who will appreciate our compassion, our unique talents. Someone who will live a happier life merely because we took the time to share what we had to give.

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have a potential to turn a life around. It's overwhelming to consider the continuous opportunities there are to make our love felt."

- Leo Buscaglia -

Each day too short

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see." - John Burrough -

Beginning of a new day

"This is the beginning of a new day. God has given me this day to use as i will. I can waste it or use it for good, but what i do today is important, because i am exchanging a day of my life for it! When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something i have traded for it. I want it to be gain not loss; good and not evil; success, and not failure; in order that i shall not regret the price i have paid for it."

- Dr. H. Wilson -

No matter where you are

An old man lived alone in Minnesota. He wanted to spade his potato garden, but it was very hard work. His only son, who would have helped him, was in prison. The old man wrote a letter to his son and mentioned his situation:

Dear Son,

I am feeling pretty bad because it looks like I won't be able to plant my potato garden this year. I hate to miss doing the garden, because your mother always loved planting time. I'm just getting too old to be digging up a garden plot. If you were here, all my troubles would be
over. I know you would dig the plot for me, if you weren't in prison.

Love, Dad

Shortly, the old man received this telegram: "For Heaven's sake, Dad, don't dig up the garden!! That's where I buried the GUNS!!" At 4 a.m. the next morning, a dozen FBI agents and local police officers showed up and dug up the entire garden without finding any guns. Confused, the
old man wrote another note to his son telling him what happened, and asked him what to do next.

His son's reply was: "Go ahead and plant your potatoes, Dad.. It's the best I could do for you from here."

Moral:
No matter where you are in the world, if you have decided to do something deep from your heart you can do it. It is the thought that matters not where you are or where the person is.

Think about this. May be in this way we all could be very close to each other in our hearts.

- Author unknown -

Talent

"Talent is most likely to be found among nonconformists, dissenters, and rebels." - David Ogilvy -

Cetainties and doubts

"If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.

Growing is a lifetime job, and we grow most when we're down in the valleys, where the fertilizer is.

Live so that your friends can defend you, but never have to.

Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start."

- Author unknown -

Yardstick

"Never measure yourself using someone else's yardstick." - Sibyl McLendon -