The key to success

"The key to success is for you to make a habit throughout your life of doing the things you fear."
Vincent Van Gogh

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly"
Robert F Kennedy

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
T.S. Eliot

Take The First Step In Faith

Throughout our lives, we hear people say "I'll believe it when I see it, because seeing is believing" - we hear it so much we accept it as truth, when in fact the opposite is true.

After Walt Disney's death, his brother Roy spoke to a journalist at the opening of Disney World in Florida. The journalist reflected that it was a shame Walt hadn't lived to see the marvellous spectacle. Roy replied: "Walt saw it before any of us - that's why you're seeing it today" Walt Disney had created it in his mind and had faith in his ability to manifest what he imagined.

"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe".
St. Augustine

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen.”
The Bible (Heb. 11:1.)

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."
Martin Luther King Jr.

Build Your Wings On The Way Down

The Harvard Business School defines entrepreneurship as: “The pursuit of opportunity beyond the resources you currently control.” - Meaning of course that entrepreneurs don't wait until everything is just right before they pursue opportunity, they take risks - otherwise, they never get to pursue anything at all.

The same could be said for life - unless we're prepared to take chances, we're just observers on the sidelines - we never get to truly live.

"You've got to jump off cliffs all the time and build your wings on the way down."
Annie Dillard

"If you take risks, you may still fail. But if you do not take risks, you will surely fail. The greatest risk of all is to do nothing."
Roberto C. Goizuet

If you wouldn't write it and sign it.....

A friend just sent me an e-mail with a wonderful little prayer in it I wanted to share with you: "Please God, put your arms around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth." It's a prayer I personally wish I would have thought to have said on many occasions.

Another beautiful little quote from an unknown author goes "The kindest word in all the world is the unkind word, unsaid."

Even Winston Churchill, famous for his witty insult to Bessie Braddock MP ("And you, madam, are ugly. But I shall be sober in the morning."), once reflected "By swallowing evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his stomach."

But probably the best advice comes from the late US newspaper columnist Earl Wilson - "If you wouldn't write it and sign it, don't say it."

Have a wonderful week

We are the sons of our own deeds

In today’s fast-paced world people seem quick to take offense and respond angrily to real or imagined affronts, leading to arguments in the home or work place, or even to road rage. Often we reason that "He (or she) made me so angry". But do other people really have such power
over our feelings?

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way”
Viktor Frankl

"In most encounters we can determine the kind of experience we are going to have by how we respond"
Wayne S. Peterson

"Good actions ennoble us, and we are the sons of our own deeds."
Miguel De Cervantes

The Best Day Of Your Life

“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.”
Bob Moawad

"Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart."
Confucius

"As you stay on the right path, the reward at the end of the journey is well worth the moments of adversity you experience along the way".
Ben B. Banks

When you're arguing with a fool....

An old saying goes "When you're arguing with a fool, make sure he isn't doing the same thing". Native Americans say "Listen or your tongue will keep you deaf" and a quote from the book of Proverbs in the Bible goes “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise.” (Prov. 19:20.)

A wise father once said “I do a greater amount of good when I listen to my children than when I talk to them.” and I'd have to agree, though I wonder why it took me so long to realise that. The sad thing is that very few people do listen and if you do take the time to really listen to someone, it may be the first time anybody's done that, in a long time.

"I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen."
Ernest Hemingway

"A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he knows something."
Wilson Mizner

A lesson from the Socceroos

As Australia follows the gutsy performances of our football team 'the Socceroos' in the world cup in Germany, we are constantly reminded of what it takes to win, to succeed.

Our team has succeeded because they understand that the game is not over until the final whistle has sounded. In both games against Japan and Croatia, they trailed until late in the game, but persisted until they had scored again and won or achieved the outcome they needed.

We could learn much from our soccer heros. How many of us give up before the final whistle? How often do we succumb to temporary defeat and let it become our undertaker rather than our teacher?

"Some men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; While others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before."
Herodotus

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
Calvin Coolidge

The Blueprints Of Our Ultimate Achievements

Visions and dreams are emotionalised goals. They are goals that are truly in line with our core values and they are deep within our heart and soul. They get us out of bed every morning, excited at the prospect of moving closer to them. To really live life as it should be lived, we have to ignite those visions and dreams and keep them alive - They are the blueprints of our ultimate achievements.

"Get excited and enthusiastic about your own dream. This excitement is like a forest fire - you can smell it, taste it and see it from a mile away."
Denis Waitley

"Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that."
Norman Vincent Peale

"Far away there in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead."
Louisa May Alcott

He Who Has Health Has Everything

So often we pay more attention to the health of our car than we do to our body - yet the car will probably be with us for less than five years.

We use the most expensive oil in the engine and fill the fuel tank with premium, even when fuel prices are high - then we go and trust our personal health to the lowest bidder.

“The winners in life treat their body as if it were a magnificent spacecraft that gives them the finest transportation and endurance for their lives.”
Denis Waitley

"He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything."
Arabian Proverb

The odyssey to happiness lies in the dimension of the heart

We all long for happiness, yet the pursuit of happiness usually only leads to temporary pleasure that melts away like a flake of snow in a river

For how can we be truly happy believing that life as we know it is some kind of accident and when we die, we simply cease to exist. How can there be happiness in beliefs based purely on science, when the only thing that science has conclusively proved is that we have much to learn.

"The odyssey to happiness lies in the dimension of the heart. Such a journey is made on stepping-stones of selflessness, wisdom, contentment, and faith."
James E. Faust

"The fact that I don't understand the mysteries of prayer or religion no longer keeps me from enjoying the richer, happier life that religion brings".
Dale Carnegie

You Can Do It

"You have powers you never dreamed of.
You can do things you never thought you could do.
There are no limitations in what you can do except the limitations of your own mind."
Darwin P. Kingsley

"You can be anything you want to be, if only you believe with sufficient conviction and act in accordance with your faith; for whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve."
Napoleon Hill

Life Is A Continual, Rewarding Journey

Getting on the right path in life is just a decision. Staying on that path however, involves hundreds or even thousands of decisions every single day. Each decision we make either takes us closer to our chosen destination or further away from it.

Then as we make intelligent decisions, we grow and become more enlightened - and our expectations of our destination grow and the destination itself changes. And so life is a continual, rewarding journey.

“When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and your discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”
Patanjali

"As you stay on the right path, the reward at the end of life’s journey is well worth the moments of adversity you experience along the way."
Ben B. Banks

Listen to the still, small voice

Just like tuning an old radio to a station, it takes time and practice for us to attune to that voice inside of us - That voice, though still and small, is very powerful - warning us of danger and guiding us on the right path in life. The inspiration from God - divine communication.

"I think we all have a little voice inside us that will guide us. It may be God, I don't know. But I think that if we shut out all the noise and clutter from our lives and listen to that voice, it will tell us the right thing to do."
Christopher Reeve

"Listen to the still, small voice when you are faced with a time of decision"
L. Tom Perry

"None of us will every accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

We Will Remember Them

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morningWe will remember them."
Laurence Binyon

Last Tuesday is a day we Australians honour our soldiers fallen in past wars and celebrate the spirit of ANZAC, with its human qualities of courage, mateship and sacrifice - A spirit which continues to have meaning and relevance for our sense of national identity.

"The way these ANZACs bore the brunt of the fight in theDardanelles stirred in Australians everywhere a new feelingof camaraderie, a feeling that matched the way in which therest of the world suddenly began to look at Australia – notjust as an offshoot of Britain, but as an independent nationof a very independent character.

And this view of ourselves, and the world's view of us,continues today, thanks, to that spirit forged in the fires ofGallipoli.

We must not ever forget, though, what that spirit demanded;or the lives those men gave in the name of our nation.We must resolve anew that we will make this nation,Australia, into one worthy of their sacrifice."
From the dawn Service speech.

You have powers you never dreamed of

Most of us are as capable as we have made up our mind to be. It often doesn't occur to us that we can do much more, be much more - If we just take that first small step out of our comfort zone.

"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy." Norman Vincent Peale

"You have powers you never dreamed of. You can do things you never thought you could do. There are no limitations in what you can do except the limitations of your own mind."
Darwin P. Kingsley

To Forgive Is To Set A Prisoner Free

When someone close to us betrays us, the hurt we carry around can cause us so much suffering, it can even lead to serious health problems.

Recently some youths trashed a scout hall in our area causing thousands of dollars in damage. When interviewed by the press, the scout master did not call for tougher penalties for young offenders, or for their parents to pay. Instead, he said he wanted the young offenders to join his scout group. Some may say he was a little naive- but perhaps he is a strong and sensible leader.
Consider these quotes:

'Forgiveness may be the greatest virtue on earth, and certainly the most needed'
Gordon B Hinkley

'The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.'
Mahatma Gandhi

'To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.'
Lewis B. Smedes

Tis The Set Of The Sails

'One ship sails East,And another West,
By the self-same winds that blow,
Tis the set of the sailsAnd not the gales,
That tells the way we go

''Give me a stock clerk with a goal and I'll give you a man who will make history. Give me a man with no goals and I'll give you a stock clerk.'
J.C. Penney

'The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.'
Ralph Waldo Emerson

'When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it.'
W. Clement Stone

Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You.

As we approach the Christian celebration of Easter, our thoughts again turn to our faith or spirituality and the part it plays in our lives.

Sadly, there are those in our society who campaign against the public celebration of religious festivals. There are even calls to stop singing Christmas carols in schools and public places.

We live in a country where we are free to practice our faith openly and that's something we should celebrate. And regardless of your personal faith, and wether you consider Jesus to be the son of God or just another prophet, what can be wrong with celebrating the life of someone who taught love, forgiveness and tolerance and was even put to death for what he believed in?

I am at odds with the late John Lennon as I firmly believe religion makes the world a better place. Anyone who has done business with people of different countries can tell you that it's much easier to deal with those who have a code of ethics to live by. If we believe that there's more to life than just our physical presence on Earth, we have a reason to treat other people with more consideration.

Sadly the behaviour of some religious leaders and clergy in the past has been at odds with what they represent, even to the point of turning people away from their faith. But nobody, regardless of who they claim to be, has the right to disrupt the relationship we have with our creator. It is ours and ours alone.

And consider this piece of advice: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." It is thousands of years old and has been incorporated in the teachings of virtually every religion known to man. Imagine if everybody on this planet reflected on that saying, every morning.

What a different world it would be!

Does It Hurt Enough?

A good friend told me a very amusing story the other day that I'd like to share with you:

An old man sat on a park bench with his faithful dog by his side. The dog, who was obviously in pain whined constantly. Finally curiosity got the better of a passer-by. "Why is your dog whining?" he asked the old man. "Because he's sitting on a nail" came the reply. "Then why doesn't he move?" asked the stranger. The old man looked up in disbelief: "Isn't it obvious?" he asked, "It doesn't hurt him enough to make him move!"

It would be a rather silly little story if it weren't for the fact that most of us live our lives like that dog - Whining constantly about our jobs and our lives, but never taking any action to change our situation - Because it simply doesn't hurt enough!

"You can't just sit there and wait for people to give you that golden dream; you've got to get out there and make it happen for yourself."
Diana Ross

"Get excited and enthusiastic about you own dream. This excitement is like a forest fire - you can smell it, taste it, and see it from a mile away."
Denis Waitley