Mind Integrity

"Nothing is at last sacred except that of the integrity of your own mind."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson -

Positive Expectancy

"Positive self-expectancy is the first, most outwardly identifiable quality of a top-achieving, winning human being...There never was a winner who didn't expect to win in advance."

- Denis Waitley -

Happy and unhappy

"Then it hit me -- being unhappy was something I'd been doing, and when I stopped doing it, I reverted to my natural state, which is happy."


-- Orson Bean --

Trying

"Trying is failing with honor."

Without a trace

"We never touch people so lightly that we do not leave a trace."

Achieving success

"Most people are content to just coast along. Many really don't like to apply their talents and abilities, or to put in long hours of work. But to achieve any dream, and to make something truly remarkable happen in our lives, we must face adversity head-on. And we must overcome all of the obstacles in our pathway."

- John M. Huntsman -

Blind Faith

"Do not throw yourself blindly over the cliff's edge in faith; walk to the edge and be directed by the Lord to the invisible path that lies across the chasm."

- Christy Campbell -

Discipline

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments."

Delay and Procrastination

"Delay is the deadliest form of denial."

- C. Northcote Parkinson -

Sand Art

 I love this!

Work funnies - suggestions

"That's not the way the suggestion came down."

- Jim Zohrn

Not afraid of storms

Quote from Louisa May Alcott:

"I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship."

Answers to prayers

Quote

"When He answers yes, it is to give us confidence. When He answers no, it is to prevent error. When He withholds an answer, it is to have us grow through faith in Him, obedience to His commandments, and a willingness to act on truth. We are expected to assume accountability by acting on a decision that is consistent with His teachings without prior confirmation."

- Richard G. Scott, November 1989

Service

We gain more substance to our souls as we serve.

Do what we can

"When we do what we can, God will do what we can't."

No Regrets

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain -

Moments and Christmas Thoughts

Someone posted this great little post on Facebook:

"If, as Herod, we fill our lives with things, and again with things; if we consider ourselves so unimportant that we must fill every moment of our lives with action, when will we have the time to make the long, slow journey across the desert as did the Magi? ... For each one of us, there is a desert to travel. A star to discover. And a being within ourselves to bring to life."

 - Author Unknown -

Orderly and Original

Quote on someones email signature:

"Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work." 

 -Gustave Flaubert, French writer-

Babylon

"We need to give up our summer cottage in Babylon."

Giving

"We will not have less by giving away."

Mourn

"Mourn with those that mourn and stand in need of comfort."

Forgiveness

"If we do not forgive, it does not matter what we do right."

Adversity

Your reaction to adversity is what matters.

Notable Quotables - when there are too many for separate entries

"In difficulty, I look up."

"He who has no faith experiences the full range of pain to satisfy the demands of justice." - Bruce R. McKonkie

"Hard to explain, but not difficult to feel."

"Never let an earthly circumstance disable you spiritually."

Voicemail quote - "Please hold through the silence."

Service - be not spectators, but be participants.

Execute Innovation

Not trying to get in your eyelash

So, a director at work was telling people he didn't want to get in the way of something we were doing.

Instead he said:

"Not trying to get into your eyelash."

Never heard this quote before, but that is representative of how I feel sometimes. A little piece of dust in an eyelash. Or, like a gnat swarming around me - small and annoying.

Dramastically

Someone at work was trying to say that something would "dramatically" impact something at the same time that they were thinking the word "drastically."

Thus was born the word "dramastically."

Just sharing...

Quote - Tithing

"We aren't giving up 10% of what is ours, but rather we are allowed to keep 90% of what is His."

Quote - making the best of things

"Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out."


-John Wooden

Quote - Depression and Disappointment

"There are so many times in life that you’re just extremely disappointed and depressed and in the tank and you still have to perform and you still have to rally and you still have to move forward...That’s true toughness when you can perform at your best when you just don’t feel like it.”

Coach Pete, BSU

Inner Will

Posted by Sunnie on Facebook today:

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack


of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will."

-Vince Lombardi -

Strength and Hardship

Shared by Ann on Facebook today:

“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”

 -Mahatma Gandhi -

Flash Mob - Hallelujah Chorus - Wow

Jonah and the Whale - like you've never heard it before...

Thank you Erin for sharing this on Facebook:

The story of Jonah from Corinth Baptist Church on Vimeo.

9 months - for a baby - no matter how organized

So, I discovered this great quote from Seth Godin today and  I find it a bit funny.

"Nine women can't have a baby in one month, no matter how closely they coordinate their work."

Problems

Quote from Heather Madder life coach:

"The one who sees the problem is the one to fix it."

Sent from my iPhone

Character and Reputation

Once in a while someone has a good quote in their email signature.

Here goes one:

“Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The

shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
Abraham Lincoln

The Little Prince - a quote from the fox

The fox tells the Little Prince that

“What is important is invisible to the eye; only with the heart one can see clearly.”

Deceptive Eyes

"Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them. "

Obi wan kanobi

Hopes and Dreams - another Mirages of Hope poem

Sometimes I stop,

ponder,
wonder,

what were my hopes and dreams?

When did I start living and worrying,
day-to-day,
day-in-and-day-out,
forgetting about the grandiose plans,
what I wanted to be?

Now I want to remember, but can't.

Somehow my mind is blocked,
me blocking me,
the soul of the soul,
captive to lesser me thoughts,
groveling at the bottom of the barrel,
wondering when it will all change.
Thinking small.

But,

God does have plans for me.

What are they, when will they be apparent to me?
Where does my heart have to go to find out ?

More journey?

Enjoying more of my now,
so I can be given different or more?

Perhaps,

Can I quicken it somehow?

Perhaps,

It is time to give up my will,
surrender to the unknown,
mirages of hope,
that turn into waterfalls of knowledge,
that will develop into faith.

It is time.
 
RDC
8/6/2010

Expanding the mind

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 you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.


-- Patanjali

Some and soon

Quote on an email signature at work:

"Some is not a number. Soon is not a time."

- Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Quote on Goodness

“It is no easy task to be good. For in everything it is no easy task to find the middle. … Anyone can get angry—that is easy—or give or spend money; but to do this to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, with the right motive, and in the right way, that is not for everyone, nor is it easy; wherefore goodness is both rare and laudable and noble. (“Man and Man: The Social Philosophers,” The World’s Great Thinkers, vol. II, ed. Saxe Cummins and Robert N. Linscott, New York: Random House, 1947, p. 352a.)

Faith from C.S. Lewis

"Faith... is the art of holding on to things your reason once accepted, despite your changing moods."

 - C.S. Lewis -

Arguing with an idiot

"Never argue with an idiot; they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience."

- Anonymous -

Truth

"There is nothing so powerful as truth - and often nothing so strange."

 - Daniel Webster -

People in heaven

"Remember: the heavens will not be filled with those who never made mistakes but with those who recognized that they were off course and who corrected their ways to get back in the light of gospel truth."


--Dieter F. Uchtdorf --

Forgiveness

"If we do not forgive, it doesn't matter what we do right."

Adversity

"It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself that determines how your life's story will develop."

- Sarah Jane Weaver -

They that be with us

“Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (2 Kgs. 6:16).

It can be replaced

At work the other day we were talking about a new system and in response to someone asking if the system would replace another system, I started to say - " It isn't going to replace it" and halfway through the sentence I realized that all things are possible and so the entire statement ended up being -

"It isn't going to replace it, unless...it does."

A little bit Yogi Berra, but true. There are so many things in life that get replaced that we never thought possible.

Here's to innovation, possibilities, change, etc.

Good and Great Artists - as quoted by Picasso

"Good artists copy. Great artists steal."

- Picasso -

Giving and Getting

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.
- Sir Winston Churchill -

Buying Pants - Men vs. Women

Love this picture!

I am a woman, but act more like a man in this particular scenario. Actually, I wouldn't even be at the mall at the Gap. I'd be on the computer purchasing the pants.

To each his/her own...

Bad People Know Very Little About Badness

Another quote from church today:

"Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to talk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ , because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means - the only complete realist."

-C.S. Lewis from Mere Christianity Book 3 - "Christian Behaviour, Ch. 11 - Faith"

Inhibiting your progress

One of the speakers at church today quoted the following:

"Don't ever let another persons imperfections and poor leadership get in the way of your progress."

I didn't catch where this originated.

Tender Mercies

"We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord's tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance (see 1 Ne. 1:20)."




David A. Bednar, "The Tender Mercies of the Lord." Ensign, May 2005.

Found Magazine

So, I was reading the Reader's Digest and found an article about a guy that would always find random notes outside the trash bin, at the apartment building, etc.

He made an online magazine where you can submit it all.

http://www.foundmagazine.com/

Pretty cool. You never know what will show up every day, but always fun.

Quiet Service

‎"All but a prophetic few must go about God's work in very quiet, very unspectacular ways. And as you labor to know Him, and to know that He knows you; as you invest your time- and your inconvenience- in quiet, unassuming service, you will indeed find that 'his angels have charge concerning thee: and in their hands they... shall bear thee up.'"

- Elder Jeffrey R Holland -

Career Coach: The Future You

So, it is great when friends find information for you on the Internet because they think it would be a good "blog pickle."

My friend, Design Guy, shared this link with me today and made me stop and think for a minute or two. This topic has been on my mind lately - What do I want to do with the rest of my life?

Take a look at the article, it makes a few good points (none of which include "climbing the corporate ladder."

http://www.bnet.com/blog/marshall-goldsmith/your-best-career-coach-the-future-you/112?promo=713&tag=nl.e713

The main points, in case the link stops working soon, include:

1. Be happy now. Don’t wait for next week, next month or next year. A common regret of old people was, “I got so focused on trying to get what I did not have, I failed to appreciate all that I did have. I had almost everything. I wish that I would’ve taken the time to appreciate it.”

2. Build relationships and help people, especially friends and family.

3. If you have a dream, go for it.

Moment of Singleness

In bed alone,
tears fall freely.

No child to tuck in,
my life journey,
ends with me.

How did my choices get me here?

If I'm the captain of my soul,
somehow I followed the wrong map.

A wayward sailor,
thinking the adventure lead,
to the really promising destination.

At the conference I meet people,
from all over,
talking,
listening,
eating,
sitting at the pool.

They got married somehow,
had kids,
went to baseball games,
tucked them in,
school plays.

Somehow it bypassed me.

The dress purchased,
the rings,
the flower girl clothes,
best men ties.

The man - he isn't thinking of me,

lost in his pain,
in his sorrow,
job loss,
money gone,
bill collectors calling non-stop.

No more musings of hope,
faith shattered,
heart torn.

What next?

My heart aches.
 
 
RDC Midnight 8/12/2010

Conscience

A quote from the book I'm currently reading (Illusions - The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, by Richard Bach):

"Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness.

Listen to it carefully."

- Richard Bach -

There is no God for me you said

There is no God for me you said
Dark stone eyes, gaze straight ahead


Abandoned me at time of need,
One set footprints, size of me


No one helps carry load
Weary, mad, at end of road

They say to pray
Kneel , bow head

Mirage of hope
Light flickers, then dead


My heart tried change
Did no good

Saw no answer
Said I should

I cannot sleep,
Toss and turn

Close friend asks,
When will I learn

God loves me, my soul created
No matter what, He has waited


Till son below turns eyes above
Toward Father of infinite love

And proclaims within, there is a God
Stone eyes change, hand on the rod

Ups and downs, through and around
Life journey, eternal round

Change heart now, feel the joy,
Father in heaven loves his boy

Fight Him, mock Him
Deep despair

Embrace Him, follow Him
Eternal care
 
God loves his boy.

RDC
8/1/2010

The World is a Great Liar

An excerpt from Pegyy Noonan article in relation to the outpouring of support at Tim Russert's death in 2008.

 

"In a way, the world is a great liar. It shows you it worships and admires money, but at the end of the day it doesn't. It says it adores fame and celebrity, but it doesn't, not really. The world admires, and wants to hold on to, and not lose, goodness. It admires virtue. At the end it gives its greatest tributes to generosity, honesty, courage, mercy, talents well used, talents that, brought into the world, make it better. That's what it really admires. That's what we talk about in eulogies, because that's what's important. We don't say, "The thing about Joe was he was rich." We say, if we can, "The thing about Joe was he took care of people."

Be the change...

"Be the change you want to see in the world."

Mohammed?

You are your calendar

Always great things from Tom Peters.

Beautiful Song

Don't you love how you can find other little nuggets while visiting specific links on YouTube?

I ran across this video when I was searching something else:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va5d3Fr8uQI&feature=related

They don't allow you to embed it for some reason.

Personal Re-building

“Imagine yourself a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps you understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing, so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of; throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage, but He is building a palace.”

-  C. S. Lewis -

Mess

"Mess is stress."

Greatness

"Greatness is not a function of circumstance."

Yielding - a disciple of life

I'm so grateful for the Internet. Someone gave me this poem when I was in my late teens. I kept a copy, but couldn't find it today when I was thinking about it. Within minutes of searching "poetry" and "the stiff and unyielding," I was able to find the poem!


It is beautiful:


People are born soft and gentle.


When dead they are hard and stiff.

Plants are born tender and supple.

When dead they are brittle and dry.



Therefore the stiff and unyielding are disciples of death.

The soft and yielding are disciples of life.



The unyielding army cannot win.

The unbending tree will snap.

The hard and stiff will meet a fall.

The soft and supple will prevail.



—Tao Te Ching, verse 76

Entertaining Thoughts

Another quote on Patti's Facebook wall:

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." - Aristotle
 
 

Chaos and Dancing Stars

Quote on Patti's Facebook wall:

"One must still have chaos in oneself to give birth to a dancing star" - - Nietzsche

Obey God

Post by Angela on her Facebook:

"Obey God and leave the consequences to Him."

Ugly Duckling

Regret

Quote found on a random blog:

"Leave me now and you shall never learn of regret."

True Friends

Found on a Facebook wall post:

"A true friend is someone who sees the pain in your eyes while everyone else believes the fake smile."

Old Spice and New Spice Marketing

Love how they are using the Old Spice marketing idea to market the use of the library.

Quote - Self and becoming

If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become straight let yourself be crooked. If you want to become full let yourself be empty. If you want to be given everything, give everything up.

 

- tao te ching -

Video - Good things to come

Quote - Christians and Garages

A quote found on Facebook today:

"Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car."


They have a point and admit it - kind of funny.

Quote - Be Kind

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle."

- Plato -

Quote - Sorrows and Joys

Today I remembered a quote from a long time ago - back when I was in college and on a mission.

It went something like this -

"The sorrows will outnumber the joys, but the joys will outweigh the sorrows."

Now, if I could only remember this on a daily basis life would feel a lot better.

Quote - Error and Forgiveness

"To error is human, to forgive is divine."

- Alexander Pope -

Video - Leading and Following

 For the transcript of how this fits into leadership and followership, take a look at http://sivers.org/ff

Quote - Big and small, slow and fast

It is not the big that eat the small, but the fast that eat the slow.

Stairs or Escalator - making it fun

Dilbert - make it up

The best way to compile inaccurate information that no one wants is to make it up.

- Scott Adams, Dilbert, 7/12/2009 -

Quote - shortcuts

"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going."

Quote - Commit

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way."

(W.H. Murray: The Scottish Himalaya Expedition)

Quote - Superior Man

"There are three marks of a superior man: being virtuous, he is free from anxiety; being wise, he is free from perplexity; being brave, he is free from fear."

Confucius