Daily Mood Quotes - February 9, 2012

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 252 – February 9, 2012

“Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we're here we should dance.”

~Unknown Author

As my husband has recently noted, “I've been dancing my tushy off” the past couple of months, I'm happy to have such a good dance partner to go through life with. You see  “Life's a dance” as John Michael Montgomery says in his song, Life's A Dance, you really do learn as you go. You don't have a choice. Not true, you do have a choice.

To be perfectly upfront, I have struggled to find words to describe the dance life has put in front of me and my husband. Until yesterday, I was trying to remember the recipe for Chicken Noodle Hotdish (or casserole in other parts of the world), and found myself saying things like a dash of parenting, mixed with a few bills, no that's not right, more like; a dollop of teenage attitude and a “double dose” (thanks Robert De Niro as Jack Byrnes in Little Fockers) of grad level homework...Wait a minute! I'm making hotdish here, “Recalculating!” (thank you Allstate Insurance. Those mayhem commercials have to be some of the funniest I've ever seen, so true to life...my life lately) and start over again. Then it hit me, the past several months have been a recipe. A recipe for “overwhelmed.” That's what I've been; overwhelmed. I'm sure I would have figured this out earlier, but when your in the middle of one of life's hurricanes, it's hard to get any perspective, or catch your breath in the heavy winds.

Well, I needed to step out of the storm for a bit and get my bearings. I've been turned and twisted so many ways lately, it took a while to clear my head. Sometimes the best thing we can do, is step back and look at the whole picture (you got to be honest about the picture), make changes as needed and continue on. The last couple months have included two deaths, very intense classes, financial strain (I know President Obama says, our economy is getting stronger and hundreds of thousands of jobs have been created. Let me tell you, not where I live, job creation is an “epic fail” here), parenting, cold weather and planning for the future, everything we call “everyday life.” Can't do much about the deaths but accept and continue on; the intense classes are kicking my hiney, some of the toughest studies I have had to date and my vision is an obstacle. I can understand the material, analyze it, communicate it and write about it, I am struggling to keep up with the reading. My husband reads to me a lot and I spend a lot of time reading the e-books on the computer, font size increased to 185%. Unfortunately, text book publishers don't make audio books for colleges. I'm entering my last couple of months of grad school and it is some of the hardest work I've ever done...at least until I start my PhD program. As far as financial strains, parenting, cold weather and planning for the future: As I said before, everyday life stuff. But, it just all popped up on us at once; like nasty weeds. All we can do is live it, live through it and pick through all the thorns and nettles one by one.

Sooo, we dance on and hope the tune changes for the better, or at least lets us slow dance until we catch our wind...

Hope will you dance through life's mayhem today?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading.

Daily Mood Quotes - January 23, 2012

Daily Mood Quote
Day 244 – January 23, 2012

“Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is far worse than the suffering itself, and no heart has ever suffered when it's gone in search of its dream.”
~Paulo Coelho from The Alchemist

It's no secret that the past several months have been very difficult for me and my family, 2011 ended with a goodbye and 2012 has begun with a very rough start. The one thing I keep in mind is my husband's saying, “things that start out rough end up great” lately that's been more of a wish than a proven axiom, I have to believe, I just have to believe.

I Ching (hexagram 3) says (I paraphrase), “Difficulty at the beginning works supreme success...” One interpretation is “Times of growth are beset with difficulties. They resemble a first birth. But these difficulties arise from the very profusion of all that is struggling to attain form. Everything is in motion: therefore if one perseveres, there is a prospect of great success, in spite of the existing danger.” Like a plant springing from the soil, and so this year may yet yield great success, but not if I give up and quit (I've got to tell you, I thought about it), so this leads me to my next quote. John F. Kennedy said in his September 1962 Rice Stadium Moon Speech, “If this capsule history of our progress teaches us anything, it is that man, in his quest for knowledge and progress, is determined and cannot be deterred.” Determination is the key, it is the “don't stop,” plow ahead, never stop innovating, never stop adapting, never stop period, mind set that helps us to achieve, individually, together and as a country.

Now, it is my time to achieve, I enjoy writing the Daily Mood Quote, it is who I am. But I must pare back some, because it is time for my Master's capstone project and this project is massive in its size and scope. It requires a lot of hours, interviews, research, analysis and writing to prepare for the presentation to experts in my field of study that will determine my grade and acceptance into the PhD program. Yes, I have decided (that's what I have been doing over the past several days, making a decision) to pursue a PhD in the study of leadership and its principles. The study of leaders and leadership has become a passion of mine, it's a mindset of “can do” and positive perseverance. That said, here's how I plan to manage my time for Daily Mood Quotes; I will post a quote every morning to the daily mood quotes blog, and occasionally some commentary, as time permits, along with a movie reference, if it applies. The commentary and movie quotes won't be everyday, but I'll put them in when I can. It takes a lot of time to make sure they're right. I have not made it a secret how important my education is to me. I believe, education is the cornerstone of success, successful communications and successful relationships. I love learning and my end goal is to someday write books on leadership and teach leadership principles. That goal requires me to buckle down to work and focus right now, not tomorrow.

I want to thank everyone in the 100 plus countries who read daily mood quotes and I hope you will continue to read, while I pursue an even higher education. I'll keep you posted. Have a great day.

Are you achieving your dreams? If not now, then when?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote
Thank you for reading

Daily Mood Quotes - December 11, 2011

Daily Mood Quote

Day 219 – December 11, 2011

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Gee whizz, I really hate to wax political, its such an unseemly mess and there are way too many blogs dedicated to polarized sides of any political issue. But, I must tell you that I have been distantly following the Republican Presidential primary, with indifference and a healthy dose of skepticism. I know that historically these things are at very best a popularity contest, won by the candidate who is willing to bend the lowest and pander to the fears and greed of socially disconnected, special interest groups. For the past thirty years, the Republican party has progressively distanced itself from anything that remotely resembles the genuine will or needs of the people of the Unites States of America. Ostensively, the party's leaders have been focused almost exclusively on the narrow financial interest of a small group of self-serving, ideologists (I would say idiots, but...) that have bastardized the American ideal and transplanted it with a twisted, mono-partisan and greed driven perspective. I hasten to remind, that when Mr. Gingrich was Speaker of the House, the split between parties became a gaping chasm. His rhetoric is corrosive, destructive and completely ignorant. If you don't believe me, check this out. If it sounds a bit harsh I can't really apologize, because it isn't nearly as harsh as the viewpoints expressed by him.

The following recent statements are from the front running Republican Presidential Candidate Newt Gingrich.

"Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works so they literally have no habit of showing up on Monday. They have no habit of staying all day. They have no habit of 'I do this and you give me cash,' unless it's illegal."

“I think that we’ve had an invented Palestinian people who are in fact Arabs, and who were historically part of the Arab community,” said Gingrich. “And they had a chance to go many places, and for a variety of political reasons we have sustained this war against Israel now since the 1940s, and it’s tragic.”

Ummm. “Stupid is as stupid does” as Forrest Gump (played by Tom Hanks in the movie Forrest Gump) would so eloquently profess. It really needs no further explanation, or comment. However, I say what's on my mind (it is a daily mood quote), so here it goes. First of all, no child rich or poor, aspires to poverty, for that matter I suspect neither do their parents. He has blithely disrespected and turned a blind eye to millions, not thousands, but millions (if not billions globally), of working poor; the honest, hardworking people who have not had the advantages, that I might add, where given to him to start their lives. Need examples? What about the children of working single moms who have two, or sometimes three jobs and yet still struggle to make ends meet? What about the children of split shift working fathers who may work sixty hours a week and are not paid a fair and equitable wage for their efforts because of the inequities of the system? What about those, through no fault of their own, are unemployed and can't find work? Does he know how fast savings evaporate, when you are unemployed and trying to keep a roof over your head, while trying to feed those “poor” children? Poor can come at you fast and hard, without mercy. But, I guess he wouldn't know that having almost his entire life paid for, from his teen years on. And, I might add, for the most part, paid for by the tax money wrenched away from the “poor” people he just spit on.

Dalai Lama said, “Where ignorance is our master, there is no possibility of real peace” well, these two statements demonstrate true slavery to ignorance. Is this really the best America has to offer for Presidential candidates? Are you freakin' kidding me (thanks Mike C.)? What kind of peace can an idiot like this make? What I find so surprising is that Mr. Gingrich has a PhD and taught History and Geography at West Georgia College in the 1970's. Apparently, he learned nothing but how to twist the arms of political contributors and manipulate the easily swayed. I think a quote from Maya Angelou would be appropriate here, “My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors." I think that says it best.

To end my little rant: In my opinion, Newt Gingrich is a political prostitute, pandering for money to advance his campaign's “war fund.” He'll say or do anything, without thought to the consequences, to achieve his goals. Do you honestly think the rest of the world's memory is as failing as our attention deprived voters? Can you image what would happen, if he spoke like that at the United Nations? He does not represent the nation. Nor should he ever... Mr. Gingrich, shame on you and your ignorance.

Will you think before you speak today?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading