The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.
— Don Williams, Jr.
In a recent blog post, Terry Hershey, inspirational speaker, humorist and author, wrote, “Someone very wise once said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step. This is all heart-warming and reassuring. Until you realize that no one ever tells you anything about the second step.”
Lately that seems very true to me. Often as we are setting out for a new destination, we plan our journey; but like a battle, the plan doesn’t survive the first encounter with reality.
When I first started working in Corporate America, I had two reactions: one – I couldn’t believe that I had actually set a goal and achieved it and; two – I couldn’t understand why I was so depressed.
Sure, I expected that I would graduate from college – after all, I’d graduated from grammar school and high school. College wasn’t that different. What I never really believed would happen is Continue reading » Where To From Here??
Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal.
— Friedrick Nietzsche
The odds that any of us will be successful in achieving a goal are directly proportional to our commitment to figuring out our path to success. Often success is the result of us continuing in the face of small successes or no successes until we reach our goal. It’s not about how “smart” we are. It’s not about who we know. It’s about the ability to be flexibly stubborn in pursuit of our dream.
Stubborn. You probably don’t think of stubbornness as being a positive quality. Certainly when your two year old is stomping her foot at you in an attempt to get what she wants, it isn’t. But stubborn is just another word for Continue reading » Stubborn
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
— Mahatma Gandhi
Every Sunday, after I go to Mass, I meet a friend for lunch. She has two sons, both of whom have struggled with addiction issues. Both have also been trying to figure out what to do with their lives. The younger son, Rhett, has tried to find a career of sorts but he’s struggled because he did some not-so-smart stuff a few years back. Because of his record, he finds it hard to find a job with a future and is waiting for these items to “fall off” his record. Even then, finding a job he’ll like is a challenge.
Recently, Rhett has been showing signs of moving forward. First, he decided that even though it may be difficult to succeed in this overcrowded field, he would enroll in a film study certificate program at a local junior college. (As a graduate of a junior college system, I can only say, “Thank heavens for junior colleges!”)
To get started, he enrolled in six units during the summer semester. For someone starting out cold, summer semester is a huge challenge. The same amount of study material is squeezed into Continue reading » A Story of Personal Power
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
— J.K. Rowling
Recently Ellie asked: Do You Believe in Guardian Angels? I choose to believe in Guardian Angels. I believe that while they may be spiritual beings, they are also physical beings like you and me who choose to encourage one another when the “yuck” overcomes us.
When I was a kid, I knew that my guardian angel not only looked out for me, they sat on one shoulder trying to keep me on the straight and narrow while the devil sat on the other shoulder trying to get me to SIN!!! In my personal fight to be good, my guardian angel was on the front line of the war between good and evil. That image of the angel vs. the devil is very disturbing in retrospect because in addition to it inferring that I have my own personal angel, it also inferred that I have my own personal devil. (Maybe that’s where “The devil made me do it” came from.)
I agree with Ellie that the theological issues behind Guardian Angels and/or Divine Providence intervening are very tricky. Add free will, and I’m not even going to try to mess with it. On the other hand, the angels Continue reading » Encouraged by Our Angels
He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.
— J.F. Clarke
What are you good at? Do you appreciate your gifts? Have you ever been told that something you thought of as a gift wasn’t really a gift? (I have the gift of gab, and yet some seem to think that it’s a curse. Hmmm.) As I get older, I’ve realized that whether something is perceived as good or bad depends largely on where you stand.
My friend Teri moved up the coast to a small town only a few miles from the beach where the marine layer tends to keep things temperate. She moved from Oldtown four hours to the southeast. Both towns are rural. They both have things that those of us from the “big city” think are weird – for example, Oldtown has a resident miniature camel. The residents of both towns tend to think like people from rural areas. When I was up visiting her, I actually said, this is just Oldtown with water and shade. She essentially agreed.
Now, before she had moved up the coast, she had very little patience for the rural residents of Oldtown. Up the coast, they’re somehow more charming. The real difference is Continue reading » Creating Success From Your Strengths
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