Category: Motivational

“To laugh is to risk appearing a fool.
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out for another is to risk involvement.
To expose feelings is to risk rejection.
To place your dreams before the crowd is to risk ridicule.
To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To go forward in the face of overwhelming odds is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk
nothing.

The person who risks nothing does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.
He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he cannot learn, feel, change, grow
or love.

Chained by his certitudes, he is a slave.
He has forfeited his freedom.
Only a person who takes risks is free.”

– “The Dilemma,” Author Unknown

“Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark,
in the hopeless swamps of the approximate,
the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all.
Do not let the hero in your soul perish,
in lonely frustration for the life you deserved,
but have never been able to reach.
Check your road and the nature of your battle.
The world you desired can be won.
It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.”

– Ayn Rand, 1905-1982, Russian-American Novelist
From her book “Atlas Shrugged”

“your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.”

— by Charles Bukowski

One parent’s plea to the other parents at the playground: please don’t help my kids.

“They’re not here to be at the top of the ladder; they are here to learn to climb. If they can’t do it on their own, they will survive the disappointment. What’s more, they will have a goal and the incentive to work to achieve it.

In the meantime, they can use the stairs. I want them to tire of their own limitations and decide to push past them and put in the effort to make that happen without any help from me.

It is not my job — and it is certainly not yours — to prevent my children from feeling frustration, fear, or discomfort. If I do, I have robbed them of the opportunity to learn that those things are not the end of the world, and can be overcome or used to their advantage.

If they get stuck, it is not my job to save them immediately. If I do, I have robbed them of the opportunity to learn to calm themselves, assess their situation, and try to problem-solve their own way out of it.

It is not my job to keep them from falling. If I do, I have robbed them of the opportunity to learn that falling is possible but worth the risk, and that they can, in fact, get up again.”

In three words I can sum up everything that I learned about life, “It goes on.”

When the going gets tough, make yourself realize that no matter what your problem is, someone is and always will be fighting a harder battle.

Tears don’t help problems and whining won’t make things better. Have faith but understand that faith makes things possible, not easier. Have hope but understand without doing anything nothing gets done.

Be there when people need you, because in order to have friends you must first be one. Make the impossible, possible. Never give up! You only fail when you fail to try. Keep an open mind; you never know what you may learn.

Never compromise your standards for anyone, do it for you. Remember that laughter makes the world go round.

Beware of the person who has nothing to lose, see through the problem to find the solution. Don’t make promises that you can’t keep. Keep in mind, those who gossip to you will gossip about you. Say only what you mean, and don’t believe everything that you hear because some day the story will be about you.

Everyday is a gift, even if it sucks. Count your blessings, not your troubles. Never waste an opportunity to tell someone that you love them, because you never know what tomorrow has in store for you. Give people a second chance, because no one is perfect. Love all that you can, give all that you have, smile away your days, and dream away your nights.

Life, what a wonderful thing!

Copyright © 1999 Rachel Stephens

“A woodpecker can tap twenty times on a thousand trees and get nowhere, but stay busy. Or he can tap twenty-thousand times on one tree and get dinner,” Godin wrote in The Dip. “

Not too much to say about this other than I just love it and must go there (if I’m ever in New Mexico).

Nine times out of ten when I start my day I see the following set of trash cans as I arrive to the office. I keep the trash cans under my desk on the right-most side which is exposed to the hallway so that the person who empties the trash/recycling can access them easier. Every time I see someone hasn’t gone the extra one or two steps to put the bins back under my desk once emptied amazes me. We all have jobs to do and when I get home I empty the trash, clean toilets, and do anything and everything needed like we all do. At work I would empty my own trash but a janitorial service does it for us (the task itself isn’t the point).

Always go the extra mile and take pride in what you do.

“No one ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him; it is the amount and excellence of what is over and above the required, that determines the greatness of ultimate distinction.” – Charles Francis Adams

“The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered “Man. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.  Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.  And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”