Quotes to live by

"We can make quiet but more honest inventories of our strengths, since, in this connection, most of us are dishonest bookkeepers and need confirming "outside auditors." He who was thrust down in the first estate delights to have us put ourselves down. Self-contempt is of Satan; there is none of it in heaven. We should, of course, learn from our mistakes, but without forever studying the instant replays as if these were the game of life itself." ~ Neal A. Maxwell

Inspiration for Motivation

Some of us face mental challenges in life. Some will face physical challenges. Others will face emotional challenges. A few may face multiple challenges.

Some of us will succumb to the burdens these challenges create. Some of us will push forward any way. Others will succeed inspite of them. A few will flourish because of them.

Here is someone who is living their dreams where others feel it may not be possible.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Durbin_(singer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-loSZyL-2s

How will you choose to look at your life and the path to your dreams?

Let the distractions begin

Here we are towards the end of March and life has become very hectic and chaotic. My youngest became sick with RSV two weeks ago. RSV stands for respiratory syncytial virus. Whatever, it just means an unhappy baby and sleepless mom to me. It's meant taking trips to the doctors and the hospital to have her checked and have her sinuses suctioned at all hours of the day and night. My husband and a few of my other children have had a cold. I have been feeling under the weather myself.

In the midst of this I have been going to classes to help me move forward on obtaining my dreams. It has been a crazy whirlwind of doing. I have been moving from one thing to another faster than I can think and I feel barely able to keep up. It has been a roller coaster ride of emotions as well. One moment I feel like I am right on track and know exactly where I am going, the next I question everything and wonder what the heck I have gotten myself into.

It seems the more I feel I know what I want and the more I work to move forward the more distractions, questions, and doubts that seem to surface. I have found that after the initial excitement calms down I begin to feel overwhelmed by what I am doing and then the fear sets in and leads to anxiety. In the past when I have reached this point I begin listening to those doubts and the questions that they bring forth. I would then begin to talk myself out of things or let the situations that would come up be a convenient enough of an excuse not to pursue what I wanted any more.

This year is different. This year I have made myself a promise, I am going to succeed. I know what I want. I know it. I am determined that I will move forward even when it gets scary or I feel unsure. Even though I may feel unsure about my skills or my resources, I am completely sure that I want this life and I deserve it. I deserve to live the life I have always dreamed about. I deserve to spend time, money, and whatever else I need to get me from dreaming about to living my life. I am worth having everything I have ever wanted for myself.

Not only do I deserve it but my family deserves the happy and fulfilled person that I am when I invest in myself. They deserve that compared to an unsatisfied and unfulfilled person for a mother and a wife. They deserve the example I am setting for them by investing in me and pursuing my dreams. They deserve to know that I am happy being with them rather than creating resentments in our relationship together. I have come to realize that the more I give to me and invest in me, the more I am able to give to them and invest in them. You can't draw on an empty account. I have to make the deposits if I want to be able to make investments in the future.

The chaos and the distractions that are arising are only momentary. They maybe an opportunity to get a little course correction or the means of showing you whether you are determined enough to have what you want. Whatever the reason these things have come into your life for, be grateful for them. They are only here to help you if you will let them. Be gentle with yourself, it is at times like these that we can be hard on ourselves for whatever reason. Doing this will be an obstacle for your forward progression. Instead of being self-critical be self-loving. Give yourself the unconditional love and patience you wish you had had all of your life. Doing this will be the boost you need to see you through this experience and receive the success you desire.

Whatever the distraction, whatever the doubt; remember it is just information. It is very valuable information that can help you as you move forward. It can provide you with insight that can keep you on track.

Attitude of Gratitude

Today I am grateful for having a best friend. Growing up I didn't have a lot of friends. We moved a lot and so I would have to make new friends often. We finally moved to a place that we stayed in for quite some time. However, there wasn't an opportunity to have friends here. Having friends is very important to me. For me friends are the family we choose in this life.

Take some time and express the gratitude you feel for your friends in such a way that they are grateful to call you friend.

Quotes to live by

"You are far more powerful than you would ever imagine." ~ Lego

Inspiration for Motivation

Many of us treat life like a race. Sometimes the things we are doing is a race. If you feel like your life is a race here is a story that just might help you stay in the race when you feel like giving up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00q875j

Have you thought of giving up

Right about now I find that my mind is beginning to entertain the idea that I don't have to go after my dreams. That there are many obstacles. Maybe it's just not for me.

I was listening to the radio today and I heard this song and it was exactly what I needed to hear. It reflected all of the thoughts and feelings that have been weighing on me right now. In the midst of doubts and frustrations I have been tempted to talk myself out of moving forward on the things I want. It is the small moments like today when a song comes on the radio that we can choose to be inspired to keep going or ignore them as just back ground noise.

When God closes a door He opens a window. Maybe the inspiration or help you need to keep moving forward and press on is just a matter of paying attention and being grateful when you see it.


Maybe by Sick Puppies

Maybe I'm a dreamer
Maybe I'm misunderstood
Maybe you're not seeing the side of me you should
Maybe I'm crazy
(Maybe I'm crazy)
Maybe I'm the only one
(Maybe I'm the only one)
Maybe I'm just out of touch
Maybe I've just had enough

Maybe it's time to change
And leave it all behind
I've never been one to walk alone
I've always been scared to try
So why does it feel so wrong
To reach for something more
To wanna live a better life
What am I waiting for?
'Cause nothings stays the same
Maybe it's time to change

Maybe it's hopeless
(Maybe it's hopeless)
Maybe I should just give up
(Maybe I should just give up)
What if I can't trust myself?
What if I just need some help?

Maybe it's time to change
And leave it all behind
I've never been one to walk alone
I've always been scared to try
So why does it feel so wrong
To reach for something more
To wanna live a better life
What am I waiting for?
'Cause nothings stays the same
Maybe it's time to change

And maybe it's time to change
And leave it all behind
I've never been one to walk alone
I've always been scared to try

Maybe it's time to change
And leave it all behind
I've never been one to walk alone
I've always been scared to try
So why does it feel so wrong
To reach for something more
To wanna live a better life
What am I waiting for?
'Cause nothings stays the same
Maybe it's time to change
'Cause nothings stays the same
Maybe it's time to change

Attitude of Gratitude

Well, it has been a very busy two weeks. Last Monday I took my baby to the doctor and found that she had RSV. This is a respiratory virus and she was miserable. This led to a very hectic two weeks with not enough sleep. I am grateful to say that she has now turned the corner and is doing very well. She is feeling much better and has begun to be her normal cheerful self.

So today I am grateful for a happy healthy baby girl who wants to play and eat. Yay!

I know that life gets hectic and it frequently throws monkey wrenches in our plans. Even though we are called to do hard things and experience sadness, we can always find something to be grateful. This gratitude is what will make the difference between just surviving or thriving regardless of what our circumstances may be.

What are you grateful for today while you are in the midst of your own storm?

Quotes to live by

"Prayer is the soul's sincere desire." ~ Betty J. Eadie "The Ripple Effect"

Inspiration for Motivation

There are many times when we set out to do something and then become overwhelmed with the idea of it all. The details start to feel like road blocks and we begin to wonder can I even do this. This is an article from some years ago about a blind man who became a wrestler at a time when most people only saw a blind person as someone that had to be taken care of there whole lives and not as an independent self sustaining individual. In the end the difference between success and failure can be defined in one word, perserverance.

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=336&dat=19840617&id=UfVSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DYMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4815,910352

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/654548/Death--Arnold-Carter-Roylance.html?pg=all

Attitude of Gratitude

I am grateful every time I look into my baby's face and see that moment when she recognizes me. I am grateful for that moment of realization that is followed by a million watt smile. Her eyes light up and she just grins from ear to ear. My heart starts to tap dance when she does this. I am so grateful and hope that I never take it for granted.

What small or large thing are you grateful for today?

Quotes to live by

Attorney, "Am I to understand Professor, you actually encourage mistakes in your class." Professor, "The road to genius is paved with humble footing in public. Anyone who falls flat on his face is at least moving in the right direction; forward. And the fellow who makes the most mistakes may be the one who will save the neck of the whole world some day." ~ Son of Flubber

Inspiration for Motivation

When tragedy strikes we are often left reeling. We struggle to make sense of what has happened. However, sometimes things just don't make sense and when this happens we may not know how to let go and move on. Sometimes the only way to heal is not to make sense of it but make sure that something good comes from it.

Today's story is of a woman who turned a tragedy in her past into inspiration to help others experiencing a similar situation. Maybe knowing we are not alone is the gift we are given and can then give to others in a senseless act. God bless you.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865573951/Columbine-survivor-in-Utah-offers-messages-of-hope-to-Newtown-community.html

Is your dream fresh or fading?

I began wondering if you were feeling anything like I have been feeling lately. That right about now my dream was beginning to get a little foggy. That the excitement of the moment was starting to die down and I wasn't quite sure how to continue moving forward so I can turn my dream into a reality. Maybe even beginning to succumb and listen to that negative voice in my head telling me, "it's too hard, I don't know what I am doing, who would want to help me, there isn't a way for it to happen, and it's impossible."

If you have already felt this or are just beginning to feel this, you're not alone. It happens to everyone without exception. It happens to the most successful to least successful, to the richest and the poorest. The difference between them is who decides to listen to that voice or says, "Thanks for the opinion but I have other plans" and keeps pressing forward. Really this is the only difference between success and failure; whether or not you listen to the voice.

I recently listened to one of my favorite speakers John Byetheway's cd Farm Wisdom for City Folks again and was reminded of a story that I think can help you with this struggle. It is an article for Reader's Digest written by Richard Thurman. I am including a copy of the article at the bottom of this post. I hope you find as inspiring and motivating as I did. And remember, don't be hard on yourself. Everyone experiences these kinds of thoughts and has a moment when they pause to reconsider whether or not they want to continue, give up, or settle. Just keep your dream in your mind, keep it clear and present and you'll make it through this. God bless.


“No one in our Utah town knew where the Countess had come from; her carefully precise English indicated that she was not a native American. From the size of her house and staff we knew that she must be wealthy, but she never entertained and she made it clear that when she was home she was completely inaccessible. …

“The Countess always carried a cane; not only for support but as a means of chastising any youngster she thought needed disciplining. And at one time or another most of the kids in our neighborhood seemed to display that need. By running fast and staying alert I had managed to keep out of her reach. But one day when I was 13, as I was shortcutting through her hedge, she got close enough to rap my head with her stick. ‘Ouch!’ I yelled, jumping a couple of feet.

“‘Young man, I want to talk to you,’ she said. I was expecting a lecture on the evils of trespassing, but as she looked at me, half-smiling, she seemed to change her mind.

“‘Don’t you live in that green house with the willow trees in the next block?’

“‘Yes, ma’am.’

“‘Do you take care of your lawn? Water it? Clip it? Mow it?’

“‘Yes, ma’am.’

“‘Good. I’ve lost my gardener. Be at my house Thursday morning at seven, and don’t tell me you have something else to do; I’ve seen you slouching around on Thursdays.’

“When the Countess gave an order, it was carried out. I didn’t dare not come on that next Thursday. I went over the whole lawn three times with a mower before she was satisfied, and then she had me down on all fours looking for weeds until my knees were as green as the grass. She finally called me up to the porch.

“‘Well, young man, how much do you want for your day’s work?’

“‘I don’t know. Fifty cents maybe.’

“‘Is that what you figure you’re worth?’

“‘Yes’m. About that.’

“‘Very well. Here’s the 50 cents you say you’re worth, and here’s the dollar and a half more that I’ve earned for you by pushing you. Now I’m going to tell you something about how you and I are going to work together. There are as many ways of mowing a lawn as there are people, and they may be worth anywhere from a penny to five dollars. Let’s say that a three-dollar job would be just what you’ve done today, except that you would do it all by yourself. A four-dollar job would be so perfect that you’d have to be something of a fool to spend that much time on a lawn. A five-dollar lawn is—well, it’s impossible so we’ll forget about that. Now then, each week I’m going to pay you according to your own evaluation of your work.’

“I left with my two dollars, richer than I remembered being in my whole life, and determined that I would get four dollars out of her the next week. But I failed to reach even the three-dollar mark. My will began faltering the second time around her yard.

“‘Two dollars again, eh? That kind of job puts you right on the edge of being dismissed, young man.’

“‘Yes’m. But I’ll do better next week.’

“And somehow I did. The last time around the lawn I was exhausted, but I found I could spur myself on. In the exhilaration of that new feeling I had no hesitation in asking the Countess for three dollars.

“Each Thursday for the next four or five weeks I varied between a three- and three-and-a-half-dollar job. The more I became more acquainted with her lawn, places where the ground was a little high or a little low, places where it needed to be clipped short or left long on the edges to make a more satisfying curve along the garden, the more I became aware of just what a four-dollar lawn would consist of. And each week I would resolve to do just that kind of job. But by the time I had made my three- or three-and-a-half-dollar mark I was too tired to remember ever having had the ambition to go beyond that point.

“‘You look like a good, consistent three-fifty man,’ she would say as she handed me the money.

“‘I guess so,’ I would say, too happy at the sight of the money to remember that I had shot for something higher.

“‘Well, don’t feel too bad,’ she would comfort me. ‘After all, there are only a handful of people in the world who could do a four-dollar job.’

“And her words were a comfort at first. But then, without my noticing what was happening, her comfort became an irritant that made me resolve to do that four-dollar job, even if it killed me. In the fever of my resolve I could see myself expiring on her lawn, with the Countess leaning over me, handing me the four dollars with a tear in her eye, begging my forgiveness for having thought I couldn’t do it.

“It was in the middle of such a fever, one Thursday night when I was trying to forget that day’s defeat and get some sleep, that the truth hit me so hard I sat upright, half choking in my excitement. It was the five-dollar job I had to do, not the four-dollar one! I had to do the job that no one could do because it was impossible.

“I was well acquainted with the difficulties ahead. I had the problem, for example, of doing something about the worm mounds in the lawn. The Countess might not even have noticed them yet, they were so small; but in my bare feet I knew about them and I had to do something about them. And I could go on trimming the garden edges with shears, but I knew that a five-dollar lawn demanded that I line up each edge exactly with a yardstick and then trim it precisely with the edger. And there were other problems that only I and my bare feet knew about.

“I started the next Thursday by ironing out the worm mounds with a heavy roller. After two hours of that I was ready to give up for the day. Nine o’clock in the morning and my will was already gone! It was only by accident that I discovered how to regain it. Sitting under a walnut tree for a few minutes after finishing the rolling, I fell asleep. When I woke up minutes later the lawn looked so good through my fresh eyes and felt so good under my feet that I was anxious to get on with the job.

“I followed this secret for the rest of the day, dozing for a few minutes every hour to regain my perspective and replenish my strength. Between naps I mowed four times, two times lengthwise, two times across, until the lawn looked like a green velvet checkerboard. Then I dug around every tree, crumbling the big clods and smoothing the soil with my hands, then finished with the edger, meticulously lining up each stroke so that the effect would be perfectly symmetrical. And I carefully trimmed the grass between the flagstones of the front walk. The shears wore my fingers raw, but the walk never looked better.

“Finally about eight o’clock that evening … it was all completed. I was so proud I didn’t even feel tired when I went up to her door.

“‘Well, what is it today?” she asked.

“‘Five dollars,’ I said, trying for a little calm and sophistication.

“‘Five dollars? You mean four dollars, don’t you? I told you that a five-dollar lawn isn’t possible.’

“‘Yes it is. I just did it.’

“‘Well, young man, the first five-dollar lawn in history certainly deserves some looking around.’

“We walked about the lawn together in the last light of evening and even I was quite overcome by the impossibility of what I had done.

“‘Young man,’ she said, putting her hand on my shoulder, ‘what on earth made you do such a crazy, wonderful thing?’

“I didn’t know why but even if I had I could not have explained it in the excitement of hearing that I had done it.

“‘I think I know,’ she continued, ‘how you felt when this idea first came to you of mowing a lawn that I told you was impossible. It made you very happy when it first came, then a little frightened. Am I right?’

“She could see she was right by the startled look on my face.

“‘I know how you felt because the same thing happens to almost everybody. They feel this sudden burst in them of wanting to do some great thing. They feel a wonderful happiness, but then it passes because they have said, “No, I can’t do that. It’s impossible.” Whenever something in you says “It’s impossible,” remember to take a careful look. See if it isn’t really God asking you to grow an inch, or a foot, or a mile that you may come to a fuller life.’ …

“Since that time some 25 years ago when I have felt myself at an end with nothing before me, suddenly with the appearance of that word ‘impossible’ I have experienced again the unexpected lift, the leap inside me, and known that the only possible way lay through the very middle of the impossible” (Richard Thurman, “The Countess and the Impossible,” Reader’s Digest, June 1958, pp. 107–10).

Starting The Week with Gratitude

I have wanted to keep myself on track and not allow myself to wallow in self doubt. What I have been doing is keeping a gratitude journal. I really feel that it is making a difference. I am not only writing things that I am grateful for but I am also keeping a mental tally as the day goes by. This has inpired me to create a weekly post to start the week off right. I have decided that every Monday I will write a post on gratitude and thanksgiving. It will be a short and simple "I am grateful that...." kind of post to one help me share with others what I am grateful about and two help others to remember to be grateful and to express that gratitude.

Remember, expressing gratitude is a sure way to move one from negativity to positivity. I can't remember who the originator of this quote is but Meg Johnson used it and I love it. The quote says, "It is sufficient to say that gratitude from the mind is thank you and gratitude from the heart is I love you." Take the time today to start your week off right by expressing as much gratitude as you can. Tell someone thank you, tell yourself thank you. Tell someone you love them, tell yourself you love you. We definitely do not do that often enough, if at all.

Today I am grateful that I can walk. This is something that I have taken for granted in the past but after having had some pain that made walking difficult I have a new found appreciation for it.

Quotes to live by

"We often remember what we should forget and forget what we should remember." ~ Unknown

Inspiration for Motivation

Sometimes we are on the road to our dream; soaring and flying down the path with excitement when something comes along and sends us in a tailspin. When it's over we wonder if we have the strength to get back up let alone move forward and pursue the dream. Sometimes it's so devastating that others tell us we are justified in giving up.

Here is an amazing example of not only getting back up but also moving forward and chasing after the dream when the unthinkable happens. Remember, you are the one who decides how far you go. Everyone can tell you no or to quite, you are the one who decides if you listen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QRT1p5PdRM

http://bethanyhamilton.com/