Daily Mood Quotes - January 14, 2012

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 240 – January 14, 2012

“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.”

~Gail Devers

Seven months ago, I applied for a job as a columnist for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. I saw the advertisement on-line, and since I have decided to chase my dream of becoming a writer, I applied. After four months had past, I figured they gave it to someone with a name, or a relative. So I let it go. Yesterday, I got an e-mail saying I didn't make the cut. No big surprise, it's hard to break into any business, including the writing business unless your a name, or you have a relative in the business. I'm not being cynical, just being honest. I have seen and heard so many stories about how people got their jobs and let me tell you it isn't through education, experience or good luck. I wish the Pittsburgh Post Gazette luck with whomever they hire, because giving quality advice is a tough slot to fill. Especially when the truth is put on the back burner for ratings.

“Every accomplishment starts with a decision to try.”

~Unknown Author

Master Chief use to tell me, “if you don't try, then how will you know.” Between you and me, I hated that statement because it meant I was going to try. Now I find myself saying that to my children and regularly to myself, when I get the notion to quit, or when I feel defeated by life. What's that old saying, “pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.” Back to the drawing board.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”

~Winston Churchill

I have had successes, I have had failures and I can tell without a doubt, the courage to continue matters. A friend once said to me, “if you quit you die” maybe not literally, but eventually courage, determination, resolve, the strength to move forward and try again fade away. You find yourself asking the questions, “why,” or “what happened” and “is it too late?” Know this, as long as you draw breath, it is never to late to find the courage to continue. Success and failure are a part of everyday living and we have the power to control that. For me and the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, the failure would have been, me not trying. Success will come in its proper time and with continued effort. Onward, upward and ever forward...

“Keep on sowing your seed, for you never know which will grow – perhaps it all will.”

~Albert Einstein

Ever heard the saying, “too many irons in the fire?” I have heard that most of my life, it must be a common saying, because everywhere I have ever lived, Minnesota, North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Virginia; I've heard it, I wasn't real sure what it meant, until recently. It goes hand-in-hand with the saying, “never put all your eggs in one basket.” There is a balance to be attained. You have to put yourself out there, let the world know who you are and focus on what your heart says is possible. Don't be shy, apply for all those jobs, talk to all those people, let the world know you are here and you can do it. H.H. Swami Tejomayananda said, “Some are destined to succeed, some are determined to succeed.” Go for it!!!

“There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.”

~Ella Wheeler Wilcox

In the movie The Secret of My Succe$$ with Michael J. Fox (Brantley Foster/Carlton Whitfield), a  college graduate who lined up a job in New York, only to be fired the same day he started due to a hostile takeover, suddenly found himself unemployed in a big, hostile, city. Not letting the setback defeat him, he took on New York's business world and ultimately succeeded, his way. It's a movie, but the message stands: Be determined, be resolved and define your destiny. Everyone has one.

How will you define your destiny today?

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Daily Mood Quotes - November 27, 2011

Daily Mood Quotes

Day 207 – November 27, 2011

“Whatever they grow up to be, they are still our children, and the one most important of all the things we can give to them is unconditional love. Not a love that depends on anything at all except that they are our children.”

~Rosaleen Dickson

“Other things may change us, but we start and end with family.”

~Anthony Brandt

“There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human society, are created, strengthened and maintained.”

~Winston Churchill

Today is a family day. A game of Monopoly is what is on tap and later this evening an NFL Football game.

How will you spend this day?

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Daily Mood Quote - August 26, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 115 – August 26, 2011

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

~Winston Churchill

Every choice you make has an end result

~Zig Ziglar

Each of us has power; not necessarily the kind of power the President may have, or the kind of power a weightlifter may display, but power none-the-less. It is our personal power, our daily power, and it comes in the form of attitude and choice. This morning I woke up feeling yucky, sore throat and body aches and I didn't feel much like exercising, so I decided “not today.” Unfortunately, that choice resulted in me getting pretty down on myself, because I was letting one rough "morning start" dictate how I was going to feel for the rest of the day. That's unacceptable. So what, if I feel tired and have some body aches, I'm pushing 50; it happens. I played sports as a child, I once was a runner, I've had children, and an appendectomy. My body has been through a lot, it should ache some. Anyway, I donned my exercise clothes and went for a walk, a 3.3 mile walk and I have to say, it was good and it changed my attitude from sour to pleasant, all because I made the “choice” to exercise.

It's amazing the power we have, we can change anything in our lives just with a choice. Say yes, instead of no, smile instead of frown, be polite instead of grumpy...the choices are endless.

When we make a choice to do something positive for ourselves, or for others, the end result is most often good for all involved. Note; I said positive, not selfish. Selfish usually provides, only a minor “bump” of perceived good, followed by a torrent of not-so-good. If you are selfish toward the world, expect the same in return. Hard lessons, but accurate ones.

In the movie Mr. Destiny, Larry Burrows (played by James Belushi) said, “How can my life change so much just because I hit one stinking baseball?” Mike the Bartender (Michael Caine) replied with, “Well, you see Larry, one's destiny is a very complicated thing. Every incident in a person's life affects everything else that follows it. Instead of missing the baseball, however, you hit it. Then you became a hero, married the prom queen, and so on, and so forth, until you find yourself exactly where you are. So you see, hitting that baseball has spun your life off in an entirely new direction.” Just like my day, I woke up sore and possibly heading for a rough day, until I changed my mind and exercised. Pretty good day so far and I suspect it will get better, because I feel better about things; change the attitude, change the day and possibly the events of your life.

What “choice” will make a big difference for you today?

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Thank you for reading.

Special request: Please keep those, who have made the difficult choice to stay and ride out Hurricane Irene, in your thoughts and prayers. May they be safe and protected.

Daily MOod Quote - August 14, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 103 – August 14, 2011

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

Yesterday, I was in a bit of a sour mood. I had reached my limit of disappointments with people and rejections on the job search for the week, so, it came out in my words. I was always told; let it out, get mad, voice your disappointment; because holding it in only creates bigger problems. Sometimes it even spawns health problems. Well, I don't need those kinds of problems, so I got mad and used my words to express my frustration in the disappointments and rejections of the week. I got it out and I feel better now. Thank you.

It rained last night and after the sour day yesterday, I took the rain as a sign of washing away all the old and bringing in all the new chances and opportunities that this week will offer. Sounds a little like “pie in the sky” but without a little “pie in the sky” thinking, where would hope come from? You need hope; especially after a grumpy, sour day. When rain follows...don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Take it for what it is, renewed hope, renewed opportunity for growth and a chance for your dreams to come true.

In the movie A Cinderella Story, Hillary Duff (Sam) is told by her father (Whip Hubley), “Never let the fear of striking out, keep you from playing the game.” All right, this statement is about fear. But, isn't it fear that gets in the way of hope, or at least stops us from hoping? Just a thought.

Winston Churchill, a great dispeller of fear, once said: “All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope”. I believe he deliberately placed hope in the final and most memorable position, because hope is the mechanism that makes all the other great things possible. It provides the chance for freedom; for without hope we are all enslaved, even within ourselves. Hope is the core of justice, because it lives in the aspiration of fairness and truth winning out. Hope lies deep within honor and duty, in that what you are doing has a worthwhile and noble goal. And hope is at the heart of mercy. That from the wellspring of human kindness and mercy, a better world for all will grow. So hope, in all its shades, forms and descriptions, is the foundation of all that is good and right with humanity and without it; then fear and despair win and we are truly lost. In that light, I wish us all hope first, then all good to follow. With this week we begin anew; hope in heart and a new day to start again.

Where will you find hope this week?

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Thank you for reading.

Daily Mood Quote - August 7, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 96 – August 7, 2011

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.

~Abraham Lincoln

Funny thing about responsibility, it affects everyone; no one escapes. Sometimes, we have to be responsible for the actions of others, whether we choose to or not. It has a lot to do with the decisions we make and how late we enter the process. Sometimes, the last guy in is the one holding the bag. It isn't his bag and he had nothing to do with developing the bag, but he is the one who will ultimately be responsible for the bag. That is the choice we make when we Step-up and Step-in© and accept responsibility. How many of us have witnessed a job that was vacated, or left by an employee who was let go, who did not do the job they were assigned and the new employee is left holding the bag? They are stuck solving the problems. And, being the one who accepts the responsibilities for all their predecessor's decisions and actions. In some cases, the successor ends up losing the job, before ever having a chance to make a change and fix the mess. I guess that's the risk we take.

Winston Churchill said, “The price of greatness is responsibility.” From choosing to be a parent to choosing to run for the Presidency of the United States; people take risks. When people assume lead roles they not only assume responsibility for themselves, but for others and sometimes that includes those to which they have no connection to, or any control over. That is the price of responsibility and greatness.

In the movie Twister, Bill (played by Bill Paxton) said to Jo (Helen Hunt), “...Things go wrong. You can't explain it, you can't predict it...” The point is sooner or later everybody is faced with the responsibility to stop kicking the can down the road and do something before the “can” becomes the size of a tractor trailer, that is so far off in the ditch we can't even see the right road anymore. Just the direction from which we came, via the damage path. Yet, so many are quick to judge and quicker to criticize. The view from the cheap seats must be pretty good...(thanks Michael Douglas from the movie The American President). The world is full of Monday morning quarterbacks; from sports to politics, to business and family decisions, there is always going to be someone who is second-guessing. The fact is great people step up, assume the risk, accept the responsibility and try regardless. Sometimes, that means cutting a new, and often highly criticized, path back onto the right road. And the rest...well, they're the rest.

Will you be a quarterback on the field today or a critic tomorrow?

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Daily Mood Quote - July 31, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quotes

Day 89 – July 31, 2011

Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.

~Winston Churchill

Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.

~Mohandas Gandhi

When I sat down today, the last thing I wanted to do was write a blog, which is why this is late. It's hot outside and my knee hurts (old bike accident from many years ago). I was going to write about the third “F” of our family trying to find the new normal (my husband hates the "new normal" phrase), but I really don't want too. Remember, this is a mood quote blog. The country is going to heck in a hand basket (possible default on bills for our country, economic problems, high unemployment, and a gallon of milk has gone up 50 percent in the last week, not to mention gas prices). I am finding it difficult to be Little Mary Sunshine today (no, my name is not Mary). It would be so easy to quit after having two of the most disappointing weeks a family can have. I just wanted to scream and yell at everybody who is doing it wrong and tell them “YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG.” but that doesn't seem to help. Mostly, they just don't care. ARRRRGH!!!

One of the first things I do in the morning is check my e-mail, to see if there is anything I need to deal with immediately. This morning, I got an e-mail from my younger sister, who I believe reads this blog. She sent me an e-mail of encouragement this morning... it couldn't have been more perfectly timed, just when I was ready to quit. Here's what happened. Last week, she sent me an e-mail that was a test for “how old are your eyes.” The first test was find the B in several rows of R's, then find the 6 in several rows of 9s and so on. I found them all in this test, which is funny for a person with a vision disability. It took a few extra minutes and I enlarged the font size (maybe that's cheating, I don't know) but, hey there are “Vision issues here.” Anyway, I sent her back an e-mail reminding her, that she sent this e-mail to a visually impaired person. She sent me an e-mail that said, “I realize I sent this to someone who has a college degree and has an international blog...so where is the disability?...” She reminded me, I don't let anything get me down. Not for long anyway.

She was right and maybe this blog is about family after all. It seems no matter how much the world kicks your butt, family is there to pick you up. Even if you don't live in the same city, or state anymore. Sometimes “family” can be those few true friends we find in life. It's that little word of encouragement, at the right time, that helps people with their continuous efforts. Thanks Sis.

In the movie Rocky, Rocky (played by Sylvester Stallone) says to Adrian (Talia Shire), “I was nobody. But that don't matter either, you know? 'Cause I was thinkin', it really don't matter if I lose this fight. It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either. 'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood.” Well, I'm not a boxer, but I can and will “go the distance” (thanks ghost voice from Field of Dreams). I won't stop three feet short of the gold (Napoleon Hill - Think and Grow Rich). Let's see where it goes.

How will you apply continuous effort and indomitable will today?

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Thank you for reading.

Daily Mood Quote - July 27, 2011

 

Daily Mood Quote

Day 85 – July 27, 2011

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.

 ~Winston Churchill

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

~Buddha

 

Yesterday, at the grocery store, my husband and I were checking out. There was a couple behind us bragging about their awesome vacation and the beautiful scenery they encountered. The wife was ruffling through her purse, pulling out coupons and handing them to her husband for use at the checkout. He mentioned to her that some of the coupons were expired, and in a much lower tone, she said to him, “Use them anyway, they're stupid here, they won't notice, just slide them through.” I turned my head slightly in his direction, to make him aware that I had heard the exchange. He responded to her, “I'll just put these in my pocket.” Whether or not he did, I don't know, I left in disgust.

These were obviously well off people, who could have easily afforded the few groceries they had. It made me wonder how they got their money? If they are willing to stoop that low to save a few pennies, maybe a nickle, then what else are they capable of? Is it that hard to be truthful, to be honest? Maybe I am being a bit cynical about this, but it seems to me that this duplicitous behavior is becoming a dominating factor in our society. From inappropriate and irrelevant interview questions, to lying about expired coupons in a grocery store, we seem as a society, to have developed the “habit” of falsehood. How far are we willing to fall before things change? Or, are we just following the example that has been put before us, on television, movies, politics, friendships and on the job. It is corrosive and destructive to the very fabric of our communities. Do people even know how to be honest, or truthful anymore?

I know my disappointment is evident in today's Daily Mood Quote, but I found that action so petty and repulsive that it just “stuck” with me. It was as if I needed to peel the slime coat, of accidental contact with an infectious disease, off of my spirit. Euwww! In the movie Striking Distance, Lieutenant Vincent Hardy (played by John Mahoney) said to Tom Hardy (Bruce Willis) “Loyalty above all else...except honor.” I understand that in a marriage you are supposed to be “loyal” to each other, but when your spouse asks you to do something you know to be wrong, or goes against your moral fiber and you comply, then you are as complicit and guilty in the event as the spouse asking you. Granted this was a minor offense, but it is akin to shoplifting and if someone is willing to do this, then what else are they willing to do when more is at stake? By the way, to touch on an earlier blog, these are things that don't show up on a credit report. I wouldn't be questioning those with low credit scores, but rather those with remarkable ones...what lies did they tell to get it?

Abraham Lincoln said, “resolve to be honest at all events; and if, in your own judgement, you can not be an honest lawyer (insert career or event here), resolve to be honest without being a lawyer. Choose some other occupation”

Where will your “truth” be today?

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Daily Mood Quote - May 26, 2011

Daily Mood Quote

Day 22 – May 26, 2011

 

Never, never, never give up

~Winston Churchill

Sometimes the process of living can be an unpredictable thing. While it is true, or at least generally accepted that those who fail to plan, plan to fail... No matter how well you plan, things beyond your control, the weather, people, medical issues can take your plans and scatter them like so many dandelion seeds in the wind and you have to start again. Very rarely are you in a better position after the Storms of Life (thank you Randy Travis) blow you away. For many of us over the past several months, that literally has been true. Many people will offer words of comfort and hopefully help. However, it is up to each of us individually to make that commitment inside ourselves to never, never, never quit. To forge ahead in spite of circumstance.

To be fair, that is easier said than done. Crushed plans, dreams, and hopes can make us believe there is a bleak future, but the future is unwritten and it remains full of possibilities for those who don't quit. Like Clint Eastwood in the movie The Outlaw Josey Wales said “...'Cause if you lose your head and you give up then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is.”

Remember that each day of our life is a gift. My husband has always said, “The sun shines after every storm” and I didn't believe him, so being the person I am, I tested that theory. Every time there was a big storm, I (being silly) tracked the sun, and oddly enough, every time it stormed, the sun did shine afterwards. It popped right out there as if to say, “I needed a nap and now I back, refreshed and ready to go.” Nighttime storms excluded of course. The morning did bring the sun, though sometimes there was fog. The important thing here is that I looked for the sun. I may have been up to my knees in mud puddles and muck, both literally and figuratively, but that is what you need to do. You need to resolve to look for the sun. Every life has storms at one time or another. In my family its my fading vision and my husband's painful neuropathy, that will eventually take away his ability to walk. So where's the sun in that? I believe that together we shall carry on, and “it's a good thing we love each other, because it looks like we are going to be spending a lot of time together.” Love brings with it the sun.

Where will your “sunshine after the storm” come from today?

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