Daily Mood Quotes - December 16, 2011

  

Daily Mood Quote

Day 224 – December 16, 2011

Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no mater how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you're generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don't make.

~Donald Trump

I am really not a big fan of Donald Trump, especially politically, or in his recent feud with Rosie O'Donnell. It seems as if it is all showmanship and not much substance. But, as I have often stated, I report the truth, no matter it's source. In this particular case, Mr. Trump's observations about experience and when to pull back on the reigns make good sense.

So, it seems to me that he is absolutely right about listening to your gut. Providing your gut has been properly trained and educated. It's that little voice inside that is supposed to keep us from making big errors in our lives and help us along the way. But so many, so often, ignore it and plow ahead in spite of the warnings. It's usually when they believe that they are going to get something for little, or nothing. Even though they know better “somewhere inside.” Another thing about Mr. Trump's quote that I like is that you are usually better off sticking with things you know. The great thing about our world and the internet is that if you really want to learn something, to “know it,” you can. That however, requires an investment of time, energy, and in many cases much due diligence to get the “hang of it.” And finally, sometimes it is better to just walk away from situations that clash with those first two points. If your gut tells you no, and your experience and education point in a different direction than where the “investment”( time, energy, romance, whatever) is going, it is better by far to simply “put your foot down” and say in the words of Mr. Spock (played by Zachary Quinto) in the movie by J.J. Abrams Star Trek , “Not particularly, not this time.” Not much else to say about this quote, but a lot to think about.

“I've had periods in my life when I've had a bundle of ideas come along, and I've had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I'll do something. If not, I won't do a damn thing.”

~Warren Buffet

The hardest part about life can be those in the middle times, where inspiration vanishes and leaves us working with just “what we know,” hoping the little light inside our heads comes back on sometime soon. I believe that everybody has different skills and gifts, but so often they go nowhere without inspiration. People can attribute inspiration to a higher power, or to background (subconscious) processing, that's not the point here (perhaps it is the subject of another blog). The point is that inspiration is a rare an wonderful thing, which can and often does yield fantastic results. We see this in our daily lives and in industry where genuine innovation and positive change are such rare “blips on the radar.” It rightfully should be embraced...but timing also counts, per Mr. Trump's observations. Few if any of us can generate a constant flowing stream of inspired anything, so its best to be ready for the right idea, right time. Even noted innovators like Steve Jobs put out some clunkers occasionally, because an idea may be genius, but the timing isn't right. Does anyone remember “The Newton” PDA, the first tablet platform from Apple? Sometimes even great ideas need to wait awhile, incubate and allow enough time to be relevant. Now there are tablets, tablets everywhere!

The “in the middle times” are great opportunities to prepare for the next inspired moment, by gaining patience, education, experience and the wisdom to recognize not only the “what,” but the “when.” I suspect that when Mr. Buffet says he's “not doing a damn thing,” he's doing a lot more than sitting like a stump staring off into space (although sometimes that's a good thing too). Life gives us times to gain strength and gather nutrients, both physical and spiritual and times to use those nutrients to grow though positive inspired effort. Experience gives us the wisdom to know when to do which.

How will you view your “gut feeling” today?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading

Daily Mood Quotes - October 8, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 158 – October 8, 2011

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

~Steve Jobs

When I heard this the other day on the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley, my first thought was “a truer statement has never been spoken.” Many of us, myself included have listened to the voices around us, telling us what we should be doing with our lives. Some succeed and some fail. My husband and I have always told our children, “Do what you love and the money will come.” Because, we have seen what happens to people when they don't follow their true passion in life. They are unhappy, misguided and they feel trapped in the never ending cycles of life. All because someone else's opinion took away their dreams and goals.

Mr. Jobs was right, it's all noise and the only voice we should be paying any attention to is the inner voice. Our guidance system. On a Disney glass I bought one of my children many years ago, it reads “A dream is a wish your heart makes.” and someone once told me, “If you can think of it, you can achieve it.” So, why do we let other's have that say? Do other's know us better, do parents know their children better than they know themselves? How many of us bother to ask our children about their dreams, or what their thinking about? More importantly, how many of us assume we know what is best for our children? Especially, when they become teenagers, and adults. The world is changing faster than ever before and what use to be a “solid” career may no longer exist when our children grow up. Mr. Jobs mother wanted him to be adopted by college graduates, so he would have a college education. He dropped out of college to pursue his passion and look at what he achieved. Lets be honest Steve Jobs was an exception and not the rule, education can be very important and useful, but the basic premise applies. The inner voice... Study what you love and wish to spend a lifetime learning.

In the movie Fields of Dreams, The voice (spoken by Lee Garlington) said, “If you build it, he will come.” My question is, if we don't listen, what are we missing out on? Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) said, “I'm 36 years old, I love my family, I love baseball and I'm about to become a farmer. But until I heard the voice, I'd never done a crazy thing in my whole life.” We don't know when, we don't know where and we don't know how our inner voice will let us know what we should be doing, but if we don't pay attention, then we miss the chance to be our “first best” selves.

What dreams will you follow today?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading

Daily Mood Quote - October 6, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quotes

Day 156 – October 6, 2011

“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.

What a week of twists and turns. I got to say this, what a weird week this has been. There was a death in my family. My mother-in-law passed away, sad, but there are good memories of her and lessons that will carry forward. Steve Jobs passed away, a man who once said, “I want to put a ding in the universe.” He did. President Obama went on television to inform the American People that congress isn't working with him (no big surprise) again. Finally, a doctor is on trial for what happened to Michael Jackson. What an interesting week so far!!!

I am not a reporter or even a journalist, but I do listen and I do say what's on my mind, and this week has a lot to offer. One thing I have found that is constant is "the unexpected." As soon as you think, things have settled down and you can proceed forward, the apple cart looses a wheel and heads off in another direction. That's the nature of life and death. Change happens and usually at the least convenient time. Seems that the universe really doesn’t “get” convenient, it just keeps rolling along, changing and proceeding forward. It never asks if it's okay or if we want it, changes are going to happen. There is a song by Anna Nalick called Breathe that goes “And life's like an hourglass glued to the table, no on can find the rewind button now.....” And so it is; what's done is done and things past, will forever be past. The good and the not-so-good we have done are gone along with the past, even if we live with the echos and shadows of those things. These are choices we make, what to hold onto and what to let go of. The key is to embrace the good's watershed and learn from the not-so-good, then let it drift away on the stream of time.

In the movie A River Runs Through It, with Brad Pitt, Tom Skerritt and Craig Sheffer, Older Norman (narrated by Robert Redford) said, “ My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. To him, all good things - trout as well as eternal salvation - came by grace; and grace comes by art; and art does not come easy.”

Thank you to my mother-in-law for raising such an extraordinary man, who I call my husband and my best friend. Thank you to Mr. Steve Jobs for showing us the things we can achieve, if we dream and don't quit. I wish someone could teach congress what they can achieve; if they would just start to “change” some very foolish ideological entrenchments and bad behaviors. It (change) is going to happen anyway; why not start to walk that road forward together, instead of trying to run the other party off the road, or heading in reverse? Let's face it, that way isn't working and is making a “two-car pile up” out of our political system. We all should consider what Abraham Lincoln said, “And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.” Live on, positively.

How will you positively live on today?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading.

Daily Mood Quote - May 29, 2011

Daily Mood Quote

Day 25 – May 29, 2011

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

~Henry David Thoreau

This morning, I watched a great video by Alexandra Robbins, author of “The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth: Quirk Theory”. Her point of view was “how awesome it is to be different?” In a world that pushes with so much emphasis on conformity, its sometimes difficult to embrace our individuality. The fact of the matter is the pressure to conform is as old as mankind. Perhaps it comes from our need for survival, because man worked in teams to secure dinner for the families. Those who stuck out (or worked alone) usually became the dinner in the wild of the prehistoric world. Like other ancient behaviors, this particular trait has run its course. It is no longer a survival advantage to blend in, or to be one of the drones.

Many of us march to a different drummer, or in this case, beat. Not the least of which is Lady Gaga. On American Idol's season finale, Lady Gaga's performance, though a bit over the top, was for the young audience and definitely different. Too hot for me. A different drummer to be certain. Although she is a media sensation and wildly successful, she, in a March 2010 interview with BBCI, revealed that she too considers herself an outcast. It is her difference that makes her a superstar. I enjoy Lady Gaga's music, it's fun and full of energy, but as a product of another generation, her videos cause me to blush.

The simple facts are that, without the contributions of “unique” individuals, we just might still be stuck chasing our food with sticks. We are all given unique gifts and its from those gifts many would consider “quirky” and “different” that the great leaps of mankind have occurred. This includes the computer, pad, laptop, or Smart phone that you are currently reading this on. That all began with a couple of outsiders named Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Not mainstream guys to be certain, yet today for better or worse, we all see them as iconic.

Robert Carradine (Lewis) in Revenge of the Nerds said not so eloquently… "Because when it comes to standing out you will find…. There's a lot more of us than there are of you.... Any of you that have ever felt stepped on, left out, picked on, put down, whether you think you're a nerd or not, why don't you just come down here and join us. Okay? Come on.” 

Embrace the difference, it makes a difference.

What unique gift do you have that you will embrace today?

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote

Thank you for reading

Daily Mood Quote - May 12, 2011

Daily Mood Quote:

Day Eight- May 12, 2011

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”



~Steve Jobs

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell, my blessing season this in thee!

~ William Shakespeare (Hamlet Act 1, scene 3, 78–82)

The lesson is timeless, but somehow folks can't seem to grasp its true value.

When I was a little girl, I went to my parents and told them “I want to grow up and be nun.” My mother laughed and my father said, “sure a n-o-n-e nun” and walked away to get a beer. I'm glad they got a good laugh out of it, but I was serious. Well, needless to say things “turned out different” (thanks Roy Hobbs in The Natural), I am not a nun, I went in the other direction, I am the mother of five children and have been in love with the same man for nearly 30 years. I guess it's a good thing I didn't become a nun, as usually they don't have children.

The point is “be true to yourself first.” Everybody that you know, or meet, is going to have an expectation of you. Well-meaning, or not, self-serving or not, their views will never ever be the true you. That has to come from inside of you, from your heart. We are each unique individuals and we have to be true to our best selves first, regardless of other people's expectations. When we try to be anything else, we will not only miss our true calling in life, we will be dooming ourselves to failure regardless of whatever “success” we may achieve in life. Each of us has a unique purpose, mission and destiny in this world. When you try to be everything for everybody, or fit someone else's version of you, then, you can never be the person you are supposed to be. Mother Theresa was being true to her core person, it just turned out that it was to help millions. If she would have tried to fit into someone else's mold, good or bad, chances are those people may have never received help. We are only given so much time in this world, we must be true to who we are in that time. We all have roles to play and goals to achieve; lets be sure that those roles and goals are yours. Don't worry, the universe will provide someone else to fill in the other roles you are not. That's a fact.

Tune in tomorrow to read the Daily Mood Quote