Being broke and being broken

There is a massive difference between being broke and being broken. -Tim Marks

Transformation on the journey

"Life is a journey, not so much a destination, but a transformation. 

Looking back, doesn't it sometimes feel our richest times come right in the midst of our hardest moments? 

God made us to live in community, to laugh and cry, to hurt and celebrate with each other no matter what we are going through.

And transformation is tough.

We don’t always end up where we think we will.

But we have to remember, even when we struggle to believe in Him, He always believes in us. He fills our life with purpose and passion if we just let Him.

The best part of the journey is that the God of the universe sometimes allows us to play a part in changing the world. 

Isn't that a trip?"

-From movie "To Save a Life"

Learning to unlearn

"Learning to be who you really are often begins with unlearning, with deep questioning of your beliefs and assumptions, often imaginary, about yourself. This process, which can be so joyful, is not always easy."
-- Dennis Lewis

Imaginary troubles

"If I had my life to live over...I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary troubles."
- Don Herold

Where have I gone wrong?

"Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."
- Charles M. Schulz

Bad Memory

"One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory."
- Rita Mae Brown

Putting together and falling apart

"It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart."
- Suzanne Collins

Be defeated by greater things

"The purpose of life is to be defeated by greater and greater things."
- Rainer Maria Rilke

Optimism or lack of cynicism

"I understand the concept of optimism. But I think with me what you get is a lack of cynicism."
- Tom Hanks

Sane people

"What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?"
- Ursula K. Le Guin

Precious Privilege

"When you arise in the morning think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive -- to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love."
-- Marcus Aurelius

The things we love

"The things that we love tell us what we are."
-- St. Thomas Aquinus

Clouded Mind

"If your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things, then this is the best season of your life."
-- Wu Men

Facebook funny - Mom and boy

T: "Mom, I'm so bored. I have nothing to do."
Me: "I can give you things to do."
L: "It can't be chores, or waltzing, or angry dancing."

Living

"I like living. I have sometimes been wildly despairing, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing."
- Agatha Christie

Protection from happiness

"You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness."
- Jonathan Safran Foer

Smile first

"Start every day with a smile - and get it over with."
- W.C. Fields

Kick in the teeth

"You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you."
- Walt Disney

Object of life

"Men can only be happy when they do not assume that the object of life is happiness."
- George Orwell

Going Mad

"I have a plan - to go mad."
- Fyodor Dostoevsky

Go on failing

"Go on failing. Go on. Only next time, try to fail better."
- Samuel Beckett

Following Paths

"Follow your passion. Stay true to yourself. Never follow someone else's path unless you're in the woods and you're lost and see a path. By all means, you should follow that."
- Ellen Degeneres

This is my life - both happy and sad

"So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be."
- Stephen Chbosky

Pens Dwell

"Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery."
- Jane Austen

Truth will set you free

"The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you."
- David Foster Wallace

Plotting Happiness

"I'm kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy."

- J.D. Salinger

How to live?

"Everything has been figured out, except how to live."

- Jean-Paul Sartre -

Sing on the boat during the storm

"It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea. You can't stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship."

- Anne Lamott -

Daring Life

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

- Helen Keller -

6 reminders of life success

Just read great set of rules in the Post letters to editor from Bernard Paiewonsky, reminds me of all the jobs I have had in my career and good reminders (the first two especially)
1. being smart is not enough
2. being right doesn't matter
3. good luck beats intellect
4. politics trumps reason
5. emotion defeats thinking
6. pioneers pay a price for being first

You never do it alone - say thanks along the way

None of us got to where we are alone. Whether the assistance we received was obvious or subtle, acknowledging someone's help is a big part of understanding the importance of saying thank you.
Harvey Mackay

Trips in Life - meeting halfway

The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people halfway ~ H Boye

Become what we believe we are

"Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn't have it in the beginning."

- Mahatma Gandhi

Leadership

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.
- Max de Pree -

Busy Life

"Beware of the barrenness of a busy life."
-- Socrates

Qualifies

...whom God calls, God qualifies.

Determined soul

“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

Grab the opportunity

Grab the opportunity and avoid the chance

Grace

"Grace is ever present. All that is necessary is that you surrender to it."
-- Ramana Maharshi

Never too late

"It's never too late to have a happy childhood."

- Tom Robbins -

Let it Rain

"For after all, the best thing one can do
When it is raining, is to let it rain."

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow -

Optimist

"Optimist: Day-dreamer more elegantly spelled."

- Mark Twain -

Hope

"Hope" is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all.

- Emily Dickinson -

Trust Yourself

"Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do."

- Benjamin Spock -

Positive Attitude

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."

- Herm Albright -

By it, I see everything

"Not because I see it, but because by it, i see everything else."

- C.S. Lewis -

Adding value

"Go where you add value, not where everyone is doing the same thing."

Winters and Springs

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant."

- Anne Bradstreet -

Not OK

"I'm not okay, you're not okay, and that's okay."

- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross -

Faith at the edge of light

"Faith, to be faith, must walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness."

- Boyd K. Packer -

Struggle

"There's always got to be a struggle. Sure. What else is there? That's what life is made of. I don't know anything else, do you? I mean if there is, tell me about it."

- Van Morrison -

Modified Dreams

"You must either modify your dreams or magnify your skills."

- Jim Rohn -

Good and Bad Days

"There are good days and there are bad days, and this is one of them."

- Lawrence Welk -

Waste of Time or Experience?

"Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely."

- Auguste Rodin -

A song only you can hear

“You don't love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear.”

― Oscar Wilde

My Soul to bow down

“At the end of time I want my art to stand up and my soul to bow down.”
― Rob Ryser, Great Desires for Absent

Who Am I Being?

Who Am I Being with my life? instead of What am I supposed to be doing with my life?

Falling Down

Sometimes you fall down, because there is something down there that you are supposed to find.

Pearcing Mundane

"Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous."
- Bill Moyers -

Modesty

"Modesty isn't about covering up our bodies because their bad, modesty isn't about hiding ourselves… it's about revealing our dignity." - Jessica Rey.

Spending time with God

If you find yourself a bit irritated or overwhelmed, it's a sign that you're spending less time with God and more time with this world.

Perfect Day

You cannot live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you. ~John Wooden

Imagination

"You can’t depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

Olympian Training Tip

I asked an Olympian for his #1 training tip. said: rest more. The hardest part of work is stopping working, but make space for growth. Katherine Krug

Adapt, Reject, and Add

"Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own "

Bruce Lee

Coincidence

Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous. - Albert Einstein -

Mirrors - if you don't like what you see

If you don't like what you see, and it isn't what you want, step away from the mirror.

Teaching and Leading

If you are not teaching, you are not leading

Poor - in spirit

A Japanese proverb

- "He who knows not when he has enough, is poor" -

Poor indeed.

God like - our ability to think

This is written in my notes. It is beautiful, but I don't know if it was a quote or me writing excerpts from something.

We are most like God in our ability to think. Our mind, His mind, is expansive.

If I can do this for a moment, maybe God can do this to me permanently.

Hmmm. This has some deep stuff in it.

Life is a gift...

now go make it count!

Perhaps attributed to Michael Hyatt at http://www.michaelhyatt.com

Flight 2013 - prepare for take off

Good Evening and welcome to Flight 2013! We are prepared to take off into the New Year. Please make sure your Attitude and Blessings are secured and locked in an upright position. All self destructed devices should be turned off at this time. All negativity, hurt and discouragement should be put away. Should we lose Attitude under pressure during this flight, reach up and pull down a prayer. Prayers will automatically be activated by Faith. Once your Faith is activated you can assist other passengers. There will BE NO BAGGAGE allowed on this flight. The Captain has cleared us for take off!

Our Birth

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The soul that rises with us, our life’s star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar.
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory, do we come
From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy.

~William Wordsworth, Intimations of Immortality

Customers - a faster horse

"If I'd asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have said a faster horse."

~Henry Ford #business #leadership

Gratitude - some daily tips

In church on Sunday, one of the speakers made a couple of great points, perfect for this week.

1. Thank people. It makes them feel appreciated, will change your way of thinking about others, and it may be one of the best motivators you ever use.

2. Every night, take a few minutes to write down what you are grateful for. At first, you'll hit the big things, then over time, you'll be grateful for far more than you ever thought you would be.

Talent and Character

"Talent is built in silence; character in the stream of the world." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Angry vs. Loving People

‎"Angry people want you to see how powerful they are. Loving people want you to see how powerful you are."

-- Chief Red Eagle