Good
day, and welcome to our final issue of
September! Time keeps
moving on, at its own pace and in its own way,
bringing us with it into
what used to be the future, but is now the present
and will soon be
our past. Please make the most of all your
present moments this week!
Far
better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious
triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than
to take rank with those poor spirits who neither
enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in the gray
twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."
-Teddy Roosevelt
Do you
remember when you were a child and no dream seemed too
big? Some of us thought we would walk on the moon;
some dreamed of riding with Roy Rogers; others imagined
stepping to the plate in a big-league game. Every one
of us, when we were young, had a common trait - we were
dreamers. The world hadn't gotten to us yet to show us
that we couldn't possibly achieve what our hearts longed
for. And we were yet still years from realizing that
in some cases we weren't built for achieving our dream (I
realized about my junior year of high school that I was too
short and too slow to play professional basketball.
The dreamer is always the last to know).
Eventually we started to let our dreams die. People
began to tell us that we couldn't do the things we
wanted. It was impossible. Responsible people
don't pursue their dreams. Settle down, get a job, be
dependable. Take care of business, live the mundane,
be content.
Do you know what I say to that? Hooey!
It is time to dream again!
Why? Here are just a few reasons:
* Avoiding regret. The facts are in, and someday we
will all lie on our deathbed looking back through the
history of our lives. We will undoubtedly think about
what we wished we had done or accomplished. I for one
don't want to regret what could have been, what should have
been. So I am deciding today to pursue my dreams.
* Making the world a better place. All of the great
accomplishments that have ever happened began with a person
who had a dream. Somebody rebuffed the naysayers and
said to himself or herself, "This can be done, and I am
the one who will do it." And in many instances
they changed the world for the better. It isn't just
the Martin Luther King's and the J.F.K's either. Think
of all the people we have never heard of who have started
things large and small that help people world-wide every
day.
* The world needs people like you to dream of something
great and then to pursue it will all of your heart.
Maybe you belong to a business, school, or organization that
started out with good intentions but has settled into the
same ol' same ol'. Shake them up and remind them of
how they could really help people if only they would dream!
* Personal and family fulfillment. One of the things
that happens when we stop pursuing our dreams is that a
little piece of us dies and we become disheartened, if only
in that area of our lives. Stepping up and pursuing
your dream rekindles that passion and zeal that everyone has
the capacity for and lets us experience fulfillment.
Having a purpose puts the zip in our step and the zing in
our emotions!
* Leaving a legacy. How will your children remember
you? As one who sought all that life had to offer,
using your gifts and talents to their fullest extent,
leading the family with a zest for life, or as an overweight
couch potato who could have been? Our children need to
see that we dream; that we search for something
better. They in turn will do the same!
So where do we start? Here are some ideas:
* Reconnect with your dream. Set aside some time to
let yourself dream. What have you placed on the
backburner in order to live the status quo? Settle on
one or two dreams that you can and will pursue. Don't
come up with too many. That will only deter you
further.
* Decide that you will do it. This may seem elementary
but many people never decide and commit fully to their
dream. They simply keep "thinking" about
it. Tell others that you are going to do it.
This puts you on the record as to what you are dreaming
about. It makes you accountable. It will help
you do it if for no other reason than to avoid
embarrassment!
* Develop a step-by-step plan. This is absolutely
essential. You must sit down and write out a few
things:
1. A timeline. How long will it take to the end?
2. Action steps. Point-by-point what you will do
and when you will do them.
3. Resources you will need to draw from. What
will it take? Who will need to be involved for help or
advice?
4. An evaluation tool. You need to evaluate from
time to time whether you are progressing or not.
5. A celebration. Yep, when you are done you
should already have planned what you will do to
celebrate. Make it big!
I have found that there is no better time than now. So
set aside some time today to get started on your
dream. Follow the action plan and set your sights for
the top of the mountain! You will be glad you did!
* * * * *
Chris
Widener is a popular speaker and writer as well as the
President of Made for Success, a company helping individuals
and organizations turn their potential into performance,
succeed in every area of their lives and achieve their
dreams. Reproduced with permission from the Jim Rohn Weekly
E-zine.
We
have some
inspiring and motivational books that may interest you. Our main way of supporting this site is
through the sale of books, either physical copies
or digital copies for your Amazon Kindle (including the
online reader). All of the money that we earn
through them comes back to the site
in one way or another. Just click on the picture
to the left to visit our page of books, both fiction and
non-fiction!
"What
we call a turning-point," says Arnold, " is simply
an occasion which sums up and brings to a result previous
training. Accidental circumstances are nothing except
to people who have been trained to take advantage of
them." An opportunity will only make you
ridiculous unless you are prepared for it.
The
trouble with us is that we are ever looking for a princely
chance of acquiring riches, or fame, or worth. We are
dazzled by what Emerson calls the " shallow
Americanism" of the day. We are expecting mastery
without apprenticeship, knowledge without study, and riches
by credit. Because the politician acquires power by
bribing the caucus, influence by "standing in"
with the saloon keeper, wealth by fraud, and immunity from
conviction by packing the jury, we are cozened into looking
at life through a distorted lens. These are
opportunities to be shunned like the cholera. They
appear to rest upon a solid foundation, but they lead to
infamy, and crime, and harmfulness to mankind, and perhaps
suicide.
It
is a common saying that "Luck beats science every
time." But this is the gambler's maxim, the
fool's motto.
Young
men and women, why stand ye here all the day idle? Was
the land all occupied before you were born? Has the
earth ceased to yield its increase? Are the seats all
taken? the positions all filled? the chances all gone?
Are the resources of your country fully developed? Are
the secrets of nature all mastered? Is there no way in
which you can utilize these passing moments to improve
yourself or benefit another? Is the competition of
modern existence so fierce that you must be content to
simply gain an honest living? Have you received the
gift of life in this progressive age, wherein all the
experience of the past is garnered for your inspiration,
merely that you may increase by one the sum total of purely
animal existence?
The
new is supplanting the old everywhere. The machinery
of ten years ago must soon be sold as old iron to make room
for something more efficient. The methods of our
fathers are daily giving place to better systems.
Those who have devoted their lives to the cause of labor and
progress are constantly falling in the ranks; and, as the
struggle grows more intense, men and women with even
stronger arms and truer hearts are needed to take the vacant
places in the Battle of Life.
Born
in an age and country in which knowledge and opportunity
abound as never before, how can you sit with folded hands,
asking God's aid in work for which He has already given you
the necessary faculties and strength? Even when the
Chosen People supposed their progress checked by the Red
Sea, and their leader paused for Divine help, the Lord said,
"Wherefore criest thou unto me? Speak unto the
children of Israel, that they go forward."
With
the world full of work that needs to be done; with human
nature so constituted that often a pleasant word or a
trifling assistance may stem the tide of disaster for some
fellow man, or clear his path to success; with our own
faculties so arranged that in honest, earnest, persistent
endeavor we find our highest good; and with countless noble
examples to encourage us to dare and to do, each moment
brings us to the threshold of some new opportunity.
Don't
wait for your opportunity. Make it, make it as the
shepherd-boy Ferguson made his when he calculated the
distances of the stars with a handful of glass beads on a
string. Make it as George Stephenson made his when he
mastered the rules of mathematics with a bit of chalk on the
grimy sides of the coal wagons in the mines. Make it,
as Napoleon made his in a hundred "impossible"
situations. Make it, as all leaders of people, in war
and in peace, have made their chances
of success. Make it, as every person must, who would
accomplish anything worth the effort. Golden
opportunities are nothing to laziness, but industry makes
the commonest chances golden.
Living
Life Fully, the e-zine
exists to try to provide for visitors of the world wide web a
place
of growth, peace, inspiration, and encouragement. Our
articles
are presented as thoughts of the authors--by no means do
we
mean to present them as ways that anyone has to live
life. Take
from them what you will, and disagree with
whatever you disagree
with--just know that they'll be here for you
each week.
Acceptance is
not a state of passivity or inaction. We are not
saying you can't change the world, right wrongs or replace
evil
with good. Acceptance is, in fact, the first step to
successful
action. If you don't fully accept a situation
precisely the way
it is, you will have difficulty changing it. Moreover,
if you
don't fully accept the situation, you will never really know
if the situation should be changed.
Today
has just started for me--actually, it started almost an hour
and a half ago, when I woke up, but I haven't gone outside
yet and I haven't gone to work yet. So most of the day
still lies before me, waiting for me, full of opportunity
for me to get an awful lot out of today.
And
as I sit here wondering about my day to come, I have to ask
myself what kind of attitude I'm going to take with me into
this new day. The temptation is to get caught up in
worries and problems (and there are plenty of both, believe
me!), because that's somehow the easiest way to approach a
day. My mind really likes it when I focus on negative
things because then my mind doesn't have to do anything
productive--it can just sit there, thinking about bad
things, creating new imaginary scenarios to make the
negatives even worse. It can create situations and
actions and reactions that turn me into a victim, that make
my life look terrible.
Our
attitudes control our lives. Attitudes are a secret
power
working twenty-four hours a day, for good or bad.
It is
of
paramount
importance that we know how
to
harness and control
this great force.
Tom
Blandi
My
ego likes it when I do things like that. Because if I
can see myself as a victim, if I can see life and life's
circumstances as being "against" me, then I'm
focusing on my own importance. I'm making myself so
special that life is going out of its way to make me
miserable. The truth is, though, that life doesn't
care whether I'm miserable or happy--that's my own choice to
make, my own reality to forge.
The
fact is that the attitude that I take into today is going to
be one of my own creation, and the attitude that I create
today is, for the most part, going to create the reality
that I live through today.
If my
attitude is positive and cheerful and creative and open to
new things, guess what my day is going to be like? Bad
things may happen, but guess how I'm going to respond to
them? What do you think will happen to my energy level
all day long?
The
greatest discovery of my generation is that people can
alter
their lives simply by altering their attitude of mind.
If my
attitude is closed and resentful and negative and fearful,
can you imagine what my day is going to be like? How
am I going to react when some sort of setback or something
else negative occurs? Am I going to have much energy
today?
If I
spend my time focused on what I see as negative aspects of
my life, how do you think that life is going to mirror back
to me my own perspective?
But
if I spend my time focused on the right here and right now,
and if I don't spend time worrying about what might happen
in the future or how the past has been, what do you think
that life is going to show me?
Each of us makes
our own weather,
determines the color of
the skies in the emotional
universe which we inhabit.
Fulton J. Sheen
I'll
be honest--I will run into some people today with whom I'm
not completely comfortable. I will have thoughts about
many things that could take me over and overwhelm me,
including relationships, financial situations, work
conditions, the lack of opportunities in certain areas, and
much more. My challenge is to acknowledge those things
and accept them, and then return my focus to the positive,
to the potential, and to what I can do as opposed to what I
can't do.
A man
named John Dryden once said: "Only humans clog
their happiness with care, destroying what is with thoughts
of what may be."
It's
a sobering thought that I may be able to destroy all the
potential and possibility of today just by carrying a
negative attitude with me. I can't even begin to think
of listing all of the potential good that's out there for me
on this day, and I most assuredly can miss it all just by
focusing on what I see as negative. My ego may like
being in charge that way and bringing me down, but the ego
is only a very small part of who I am, and today, I won't
live for the ego's sake--I'll live for the good of my entire
self, and I'll do my best to contribute some positiveness
and some good energy to the world as I make my way through
it.
I realized that living in the present is not an
idea.It’s
reality.It’s
like taking one step at a time.Sounds good.Good philosophy, right?Then it occurred to me, Have you ever taken two steps
at a time?We
can’t.It’s
as simple as that:we
can’t. It’s the
same with living in the present.Our thoughts may wander to the past or the future.Yet, our thoughts are just thoughts.Our bodies are in the present.We are in the present.That’s just the way it is.
Before
you can jump out of the airplane, before you can fly solo in an
airplane, before you can go on the whitewater rafting trip, before
you can make a bungee jump, you have to sign a waiver.
The
waiver is a document that says you realize the dangers in what
you're about to do, that you and you alone have made the decision
to participate in the activity, and that you and you alone are
responsible for the outcome.
You
sign away your right to sue, whine, complain--to do anything
except risk your life for a new experience.
You
sign the waiver to protect others from being liable in case of an
accident. I think waivers are a good reminder that
ultimately no one is responsible for my life but me. There
is no one to blame, no one to sue, no one to ask for a
refund. I make my own decisions and I live with the result
of those choices each day.
So
do you.
It's
your life. Sign a waiver saying that you take responsibility
for it. Set yourself and others free.
*
* * * *
Read
the following waiver carefully. Fill in the blanks, and be
aware of what you're signing. Take responsibility for what
you do.
Waiver
I
understand that during the course of my life I will be required to
make many decisions, such as where I want to live, whom I want to
live with, where I work, how much fun I have, and how I spend my
money and time, including how much time I spend waiting for things
to get better and people to change, and whom I choose to love.
I
understand that many events that occur will be out of my hands and
that there are inherent dangers and risks in all decisions I
make. Life and people have no obligation whatsoever to live
up to my expectations; I have no obligation to live up to the
expectations of anybody else. Life is a high-risk sport, and
I may become injured along the way.
I
agree that all the decisions I make are mine and mine alone,
including how I choose to handle the events that are beyond my
control. I hereby forfeit my right to recourse as a victim,
including my rights to blame, complain, and whine or hold someone
else responsible for the path I choose to take. I am
responsible for my participation--or lack of it--in life.
And I take complete responsibility for the outcomes and
consequences of all decisions I make, understanding that
ultimately it is my choice whether I become happy, joyous, and
free or stay miserable and trapped.
Although
people may voluntarily nurture and love me, I and I alone am
responsible for taking care of and loving myself.
Signed:
_________________________
Date:
______________________
People who are “being” are fully present.They are totally engaged in the moment.
This engagement includes an easy appreciation and sense
of connection with
whomever or whatever they are relating to
at the time.These
people are aware
of a job well done or a difficulty surmounted
and will respect and often
acknowledge the person who has
accomplished it.“Being” is a state of heart
and mind that is receptive
and able to listen carefully.
Sallirae Henderson
Yes, life
can be mysterious and confusing--but there's much of life that's
actually rather dependable and reliable. Some principles apply
to life in so many different contexts that they can truly be called
universal--and learning what they are and how to approach them and use
them can teach us some of the most important lessons that we've ever
learned.
My doctorate is in Teaching and Learning. I use it a lot when I
teach at school, but I also do my best to apply what I've learned to
the life I'm living, and to observe how others live their lives.
What makes them happy or unhappy, stressed or peaceful, selfish or
generous, compassionate or arrogant? In this book, I've done my
best to pass on to you what I've learned from people in my life,
writers whose works I've read, and stories that I've heard.
Perhaps these principles can be a positive part of your life, too! Universal Principles of Living Life Fully. Awareness of
these principles can explain a lot and take much of the frustration
out of the lives we lead.
™
