We should every night call ourselves to an account;
What infirmity have I mastered today?
What passions opposed?
What temptation resisted?
What virtue acquired?
Our vices will abort of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Success Is Everything
Success Is Everything
by Jim Rohn
Someone once said to me that success isn't everything and I think I know what they really meant. I believe they really meant that money wasn't everything and I certainly agree with that.
But I do believe that success IS everything.
First you need to succeed to survive. We must take the seasons and learn how to use them with the seed, the soil and the rain of opportunity to learn how to sustain ourselves and our family. But then second is to then succeed to flourish in every part of your life.
Good question to ask mature people "If you could do better should you?" And I think almost everybody would answer the question in the positive.
If you could improve your health shouldn't you do that?
If you can learn more shouldn't you do that?
If you could earn more and share more, shouldn't you do that?
If you can improve your relationships and spirituality shouldn't you do that? And I think that is what success is really all about. It is not just a destination that is set for everybody to try and go for.
It is like Zig said, "improving in every area of your life to see if you can't with satisfaction at the end of the day, week, month and year and say 'I have made excellent progress this year, for myself, for my family, for my business, my career and my health'".
I think that kind of success everybody recognizes is legitimate and something we should all strive for.
Interesting phrase in the bible that says strive for perfection - not that we can ever reach it.
But it is in the striving, to be a little bit better today than yesterday, in our speech, our language, our health, everything we can possibility think of.
So yes, in my opinion it is good to succeed!
Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; While failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day
It is the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to either fortune or failure
.
.
by Jim Rohn
Someone once said to me that success isn't everything and I think I know what they really meant. I believe they really meant that money wasn't everything and I certainly agree with that.
But I do believe that success IS everything.
First you need to succeed to survive. We must take the seasons and learn how to use them with the seed, the soil and the rain of opportunity to learn how to sustain ourselves and our family. But then second is to then succeed to flourish in every part of your life.
Good question to ask mature people "If you could do better should you?" And I think almost everybody would answer the question in the positive.
If you could improve your health shouldn't you do that?
If you can learn more shouldn't you do that?
If you could earn more and share more, shouldn't you do that?
If you can improve your relationships and spirituality shouldn't you do that? And I think that is what success is really all about. It is not just a destination that is set for everybody to try and go for.
It is like Zig said, "improving in every area of your life to see if you can't with satisfaction at the end of the day, week, month and year and say 'I have made excellent progress this year, for myself, for my family, for my business, my career and my health'".
I think that kind of success everybody recognizes is legitimate and something we should all strive for.
Interesting phrase in the bible that says strive for perfection - not that we can ever reach it.
But it is in the striving, to be a little bit better today than yesterday, in our speech, our language, our health, everything we can possibility think of.
So yes, in my opinion it is good to succeed!
Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day; While failure is simply a few errors in judgment, repeated every day
It is the accumulative weight of our disciplines and our judgments that leads us to either fortune or failure
.
.
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Does worrying ever help?
By Saralee Perel
My husband, Bob, gets the brunt of my worry storms. Yet he still loves me.
"You hungry?" I said.
"Not really."
"What's wrong?" I grabbed the thermometer from my key chain.
"Nothing. Will you please stop being you for let's say, 4 minutes a day?"
"Well, sue me for caring."
"I'm sorry. Let's eat. Fried food sound good?"
"Not if it's fried in canola oil."
He sighed. "What's wrong with canola oil?"
"A canola is a Canadian ola that's Spanish for tomato, which is in the deadly nightshade family. And deadly nightshade is poisonous. No canolas!"
"Canola oil is made from seeds of the field mustard plant."
"Oh."
We drove to a vegetable stand. "Bob, I'm worried you have a stomach ache."
"I don't. I do, however, have one huge pain in the neck."
Many years ago Leo Buscaglia wrote, "Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy."
Yesterday I called the billing department at a huge hospital and spoke with a gal named Dianne. She could tell I was freaking out about my bill.
She ever-so-gently said, "You can choose to worry yourself sick about problems or not. That same problem is still going to be there either way."
Last month, we received an audit notice from the IRS incorrectly stating we owed $8000. Bob persevered through phone calls with 45-minute wait times, e-mails, faxes, a zillion trips to the bank, as well as certified letters. And he won.
He never worried about the audit, the $8000 we don't have, the paperwork, or the ludicrous process of reaching a human being, so to speak, at the IRS.
"How do you not worry, Bob?"
"In the long run, most problems won't matter. Plus I always say, 'Wait to worry.' If I didn't win with the IRS, I would have worried then."
What he does worry about is me. My walking problem makes me fragile. Frankly, like most of us, Bob is having an overall harder time as we get older.
"I worry about the future," he said tearfully. "It's almost too sad to think about."
I told him, "It's only too sad because it's so beautiful." I touched his arm. "Don't miss me while I'm here."
He was still tearful.
"Sweets," I said, "thinking about losing our dog didn't make it any better when she died. It was just as painful. Look at this day. Here we are, so lucky to live near the seashore in our tiny, cozy home. Don't miss today by worrying about something inevitable that you can't control."
I took his hand and led him to the bedroom where we spent an entire hour doing what people in love do who are spending a glorious day together near a seaside town. Googling "fried seafood." Then we went to a local shanty and gorged ourselves on fried shrimp.
Made with canola oil.
-----------------------
Award-winning nationally syndicated columnist, Saralee Perel, welcomes e-mails at sperel@saraleeperel.com or via her website:www.saraleeperel.com ( http://www.saraleeperel.com/). Her newest book is "Cracked Nuts & Sentimental Journeys: Stories From a Life Out of Balance."
"I love you and Bob. Your wisdom and humor in your book provides guidance and encouragement to thousands of people." ~ Mike Atkinson, Owner, Mikey's Funnies. You can read about her book and/or order it from her website or through Amazon.com.
Copyright 2013 Saralee Perel. Permission is granted to send this to others, with attribution, but not for commercial purposes.
My husband, Bob, gets the brunt of my worry storms. Yet he still loves me.
"You hungry?" I said.
"Not really."
"What's wrong?" I grabbed the thermometer from my key chain.
"Nothing. Will you please stop being you for let's say, 4 minutes a day?"
"Well, sue me for caring."
"I'm sorry. Let's eat. Fried food sound good?"
"Not if it's fried in canola oil."
He sighed. "What's wrong with canola oil?"
"A canola is a Canadian ola that's Spanish for tomato, which is in the deadly nightshade family. And deadly nightshade is poisonous. No canolas!"
"Canola oil is made from seeds of the field mustard plant."
"Oh."
We drove to a vegetable stand. "Bob, I'm worried you have a stomach ache."
"I don't. I do, however, have one huge pain in the neck."
Many years ago Leo Buscaglia wrote, "Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy."
Yesterday I called the billing department at a huge hospital and spoke with a gal named Dianne. She could tell I was freaking out about my bill.
She ever-so-gently said, "You can choose to worry yourself sick about problems or not. That same problem is still going to be there either way."
Last month, we received an audit notice from the IRS incorrectly stating we owed $8000. Bob persevered through phone calls with 45-minute wait times, e-mails, faxes, a zillion trips to the bank, as well as certified letters. And he won.
He never worried about the audit, the $8000 we don't have, the paperwork, or the ludicrous process of reaching a human being, so to speak, at the IRS.
"How do you not worry, Bob?"
"In the long run, most problems won't matter. Plus I always say, 'Wait to worry.' If I didn't win with the IRS, I would have worried then."
What he does worry about is me. My walking problem makes me fragile. Frankly, like most of us, Bob is having an overall harder time as we get older.
"I worry about the future," he said tearfully. "It's almost too sad to think about."
I told him, "It's only too sad because it's so beautiful." I touched his arm. "Don't miss me while I'm here."
He was still tearful.
"Sweets," I said, "thinking about losing our dog didn't make it any better when she died. It was just as painful. Look at this day. Here we are, so lucky to live near the seashore in our tiny, cozy home. Don't miss today by worrying about something inevitable that you can't control."
I took his hand and led him to the bedroom where we spent an entire hour doing what people in love do who are spending a glorious day together near a seaside town. Googling "fried seafood." Then we went to a local shanty and gorged ourselves on fried shrimp.
Made with canola oil.
-----------------------
Award-winning nationally syndicated columnist, Saralee Perel, welcomes e-mails at sperel@saraleeperel.com or via her website:www.saraleeperel.com ( http://www.saraleeperel.com/). Her newest book is "Cracked Nuts & Sentimental Journeys: Stories From a Life Out of Balance."
"I love you and Bob. Your wisdom and humor in your book provides guidance and encouragement to thousands of people." ~ Mike Atkinson, Owner, Mikey's Funnies. You can read about her book and/or order it from her website or through Amazon.com.
Copyright 2013 Saralee Perel. Permission is granted to send this to others, with attribution, but not for commercial purposes.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Accelerate your Abilities
By Chris Widener
In today's fast-paced life, the wins usually go to those with exceptional skills and abilities. The old quote is true,
"The race is not always won by the swift and the strong, but that is the way to bet."
With this in mind, and with your desire to become increasingly successful, here are some ways to accelerate your abilities, thus enabling you to achieve greater and greater things.
Become dissatisfied with your current state. Growth for growth's sake is good.
Those who will achieve much are those who say to themselves, "I want to grow. I want to be better. And I am willing to do what it takes to get there. This current state is not enough!"
This dissatisfaction will create for you an insatiable drive to do what it takes to get your abilities to the next level.
Visualize the benefits of increased abilities.
Put them at the forefront of your mind.
This will saturate your mind with the motivation that it will take for you to do what it takes to increase your abilities.
What good will come out of my increased ability?
How will I be better off as well as the others around me?
The answers to these questions act as the carrot before the horse, moving you forward.
Understand your weaknesses.
If you want to improve, one of the best ways is to start with some area that you aren't particularly good at.
This is the "shoring up method."
Sometimes it is easier to improve something you aren't good at that something you are.
And the gains will still look great for your overall situation!
Take some time to consider what areas you are weakest in and focus in on them for a while.
The results will obviously be much more pronounced than getting better at something you have already somewhat mastered.
Attempt greater levels of what you are already good at.
Another tact to take would be to stretch yourself in an area that you already have some skill and ability in.
What areas do you excel in?
Now understand that when you leave the weaker areas weak and make extraordinary gains in one area, then you will be moving more toward "specialist" rather than "generalist."
That is okay, but needs to fit in with your overall goals.
Commit time each day to improvement.
Steady improvement is the way to go.
In fact, you may not see improvement for days or weeks.
You may feel like you are failing each time.
But alas, eventually you will get it and your skill will increase to the next level.
The key is day in, day out, spending time working on improving.
Even five minutes a day equals a half hour a week, 2 hours a month.
That adds up! Remember, Practice, practice, practice.
Seek out and spend time with someone who has greater ability than you.
One of the best things to do to increase your ability is hang out with people who are already more skilled than you.
Watching, them, studying them, interacting with them, even competing with them will make you better.
As in sports, to improve, you play with people better than you, not worse.
They will raise you to a new level.
Who around you can you get involved with who will help you with your ability?
Take a class or hire a coach. Go to school my friend.
Take a course at a local college or vocational institute.
Take a class online. Hire one of the many coaches available today.
Pick a specific skill you would like to improve upon and find someone who is a specialist in that area.
At the very least, pick up some audio or videotapes to help you grow.
Be the tortoise, not the hare.
Slow but sure.
Take your time, do it right.
Keep going in the right direction.
Learn your craft correctly.
Don't give up quality for speed.
The whole idea of acceleration is this way: Slow start, work up to high speeds, go the distance.
Luckily life isn't a sprint but a marathon!
In today's fast-paced life, the wins usually go to those with exceptional skills and abilities. The old quote is true,
"The race is not always won by the swift and the strong, but that is the way to bet."
With this in mind, and with your desire to become increasingly successful, here are some ways to accelerate your abilities, thus enabling you to achieve greater and greater things.
Become dissatisfied with your current state. Growth for growth's sake is good.
Those who will achieve much are those who say to themselves, "I want to grow. I want to be better. And I am willing to do what it takes to get there. This current state is not enough!"
This dissatisfaction will create for you an insatiable drive to do what it takes to get your abilities to the next level.
Visualize the benefits of increased abilities.
Put them at the forefront of your mind.
This will saturate your mind with the motivation that it will take for you to do what it takes to increase your abilities.
What good will come out of my increased ability?
How will I be better off as well as the others around me?
The answers to these questions act as the carrot before the horse, moving you forward.
Understand your weaknesses.
If you want to improve, one of the best ways is to start with some area that you aren't particularly good at.
This is the "shoring up method."
Sometimes it is easier to improve something you aren't good at that something you are.
And the gains will still look great for your overall situation!
Take some time to consider what areas you are weakest in and focus in on them for a while.
The results will obviously be much more pronounced than getting better at something you have already somewhat mastered.
Attempt greater levels of what you are already good at.
Another tact to take would be to stretch yourself in an area that you already have some skill and ability in.
What areas do you excel in?
Now understand that when you leave the weaker areas weak and make extraordinary gains in one area, then you will be moving more toward "specialist" rather than "generalist."
That is okay, but needs to fit in with your overall goals.
Commit time each day to improvement.
Steady improvement is the way to go.
In fact, you may not see improvement for days or weeks.
You may feel like you are failing each time.
But alas, eventually you will get it and your skill will increase to the next level.
The key is day in, day out, spending time working on improving.
Even five minutes a day equals a half hour a week, 2 hours a month.
That adds up! Remember, Practice, practice, practice.
Seek out and spend time with someone who has greater ability than you.
One of the best things to do to increase your ability is hang out with people who are already more skilled than you.
Watching, them, studying them, interacting with them, even competing with them will make you better.
As in sports, to improve, you play with people better than you, not worse.
They will raise you to a new level.
Who around you can you get involved with who will help you with your ability?
Take a class or hire a coach. Go to school my friend.
Take a course at a local college or vocational institute.
Take a class online. Hire one of the many coaches available today.
Pick a specific skill you would like to improve upon and find someone who is a specialist in that area.
At the very least, pick up some audio or videotapes to help you grow.
Be the tortoise, not the hare.
Slow but sure.
Take your time, do it right.
Keep going in the right direction.
Learn your craft correctly.
Don't give up quality for speed.
The whole idea of acceleration is this way: Slow start, work up to high speeds, go the distance.
Luckily life isn't a sprint but a marathon!
Monday, July 22, 2013
15 things you should give up
By Luminita D. Saviuc
Here is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier.
We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy – we cling on to them.
Not anymore.
Starting today we will give up on all those things that no longer serve us, and we will embrace change.
Ready?
Here we go:
1. Give up your need to always be right. There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?”Wayne Dyer. What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?
2. Give up your need for control. Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel.
“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.” Lao Tzu
3. Give up on blame. Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.
4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk. Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that.
“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.” Eckhart Tolle
5. Give up your limiting beliefs about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly!
“A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind” Elly Roselle
6. Give up complaining. Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things – people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.
7. Give up the luxury of criticism. Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.
8. Give up your need to impress others. Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take of all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.
9. Give up your resistance to change. Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it.
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell
10. Give up labels. Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don’t understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Wayne Dyer
11. Give up on your fears. Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place.
“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
12. Give up your excuses. Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even real.
13. Give up the past. I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.
14. Give up attachment. This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.
15. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations. Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves. You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.
(with permission)
http://www.purposefairy.com/
Here is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier.
We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy – we cling on to them.
Not anymore.
Starting today we will give up on all those things that no longer serve us, and we will embrace change.
Ready?
Here we go:
1. Give up your need to always be right. There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?”Wayne Dyer. What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?
2. Give up your need for control. Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel.
“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.” Lao Tzu
3. Give up on blame. Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.
4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk. Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that.
“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.” Eckhart Tolle
5. Give up your limiting beliefs about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly!
“A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind” Elly Roselle
6. Give up complaining. Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things – people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.
7. Give up the luxury of criticism. Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.
8. Give up your need to impress others. Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take of all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.
9. Give up your resistance to change. Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it.
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell
10. Give up labels. Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don’t understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Wayne Dyer
11. Give up on your fears. Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place.
“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
12. Give up your excuses. Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even real.
13. Give up the past. I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.
14. Give up attachment. This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.
15. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations. Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves. You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.
(with permission)
http://www.purposefairy.com/
Monday, July 15, 2013
What is a father?
With love to my father.
A father is a person who is forced to endure childbirth without an anesthetic.
He growls when he feels good and laughs very loud when he is scared half-to-death.
A father never feels entirely worthy of the worship in a child's eyes.
He is never quite the hero his daughter thinks.
Never quite the man his son believes him to be.
And this worries him sometimes.
(So he works too hard to try to smooth the rough places in the road of those of his own who will follow him.)
A father is a person who goes to war sometimes...and would run the other way except that war is part of an important job in his life (which is making the world better for his child than it has been for him).
Fathers are men who give daughters away to other men who aren't nearly good enough, so that they can have children that are smarter than anybody's.
Fathers fight dragons almost daily.
They hurry away from the breakfast table off to the arena, which is sometimes called an office or a workshop.
There they tackle the dragon with three heads: Weariness, Works, and Monotony.
And they never quite win the fight, but they never give up.
Knights in shining armor; fathers in shiny trousers.
There's little difference as they march away each workday.
And so I hope that one day, I will be deemed a worthy father.
A father is a person who is forced to endure childbirth without an anesthetic.
He growls when he feels good and laughs very loud when he is scared half-to-death.
A father never feels entirely worthy of the worship in a child's eyes.
He is never quite the hero his daughter thinks.
Never quite the man his son believes him to be.
And this worries him sometimes.
(So he works too hard to try to smooth the rough places in the road of those of his own who will follow him.)
A father is a person who goes to war sometimes...and would run the other way except that war is part of an important job in his life (which is making the world better for his child than it has been for him).
Fathers are men who give daughters away to other men who aren't nearly good enough, so that they can have children that are smarter than anybody's.
Fathers fight dragons almost daily.
They hurry away from the breakfast table off to the arena, which is sometimes called an office or a workshop.
There they tackle the dragon with three heads: Weariness, Works, and Monotony.
And they never quite win the fight, but they never give up.
Knights in shining armor; fathers in shiny trousers.
There's little difference as they march away each workday.
And so I hope that one day, I will be deemed a worthy father.
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