----------- 100% - I did.
---------- 90% - I will.
--------- 80% - I can.
-------- 70% - I think I can.
------- 60% - I might.
------ 50% - I think I might.
----- 40% - What is it?
---- 30% - I wish I could.
--- 20% - I don't know how.
-- 10% - I can't.
- 0% -I won't.
--Authour Unknown
Some people have a belief that every tree, when it burns, gives back the colors that went into its making - they see in the flaming logs the red of many sunsets, the purple of early dawn, the silver of moonrise and the sparkle of stars.
So it is with us;
what we have accepted into our hearts and made a permanent part of ourselves is given back in times of trials.
If you compared your troubles, or challenges, with those of others, you would surely find that there are those whose troubles make yours look like minor inconveniences.
--By Fulton J. Sheen
1. Speak to People.
There is nothing as nice as a cheerful word of greeting.
2. Smile at People.
It takes 72 muscles to frown, but only 14 to smile!
3. Call People by Name.
The sweetest music to anyone's ear is the sound of his or her own name.
4. Be Friendly and Helpful.
If you would have friends, be friendly.
5. Be Cordial.
Speak and act as if everything you do were a real pleasure.
6. Be Genuinely Interested in People.
You can like everyone if you try.
7. Be Generous with Praise, Cautious with Criticism.
Praise will win out when it comes to gaining friends.
8. Be Considerate of the Feelings of Others.
It will be appreciated.
9. Be Thoughtful of the Opinions of Others.
People love their opinions as they do their own children, calling them ugly won't get you anything but anger.
10. Be Alert to Give Service.
What counts most in life is what we do for others!
--By Author Unknown
You can think about your problems or you can worry about them, and there is a vast difference between the two.
Worry is thinking that has turned toxic. It is jarring music that goes round and round and never comes to either climax or conclusion.
Thinking works its way through problems to conclusions and decisions; worry leaves you in a state of tensely suspended animation.
When you worry, you go over the same ground endlessly and come out the same place you started. Thinking makes progress from one place to another; worry remains static.
The problem of life is to change worry into thinking and anxiety into creative action.
--By Harold B. Walker
When faced with failure, reflect on this Japanese proverb: "Fall seven times, stand up eight." As long as you keep getting up, you are not failing.
Those who learn how to overcome failure become stronger. Let's face it, we are all confronted with failure. The difference is how we deal with it.
Some people use failure as an excuse to give up, to become bitter, or cynical. Other people look at failure as an opportunity to revisit past decisions and to devise new strategies.
Thousands of successful people did not achieve success on their first try, but they were not discouraged. They picked themselves up and went back at it with an even stronger, single minded tenacity to achieve their goal.
Do not be discouraged if your plans do not succeed the first time. No one learns to walk by taking only one step!
--by Catherine Pulsifer
Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips, and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means the predominance of courage over timidity, of adventure over the love of ease. This often exists in a man of sixty more than in a boy of twenty. Nobody grows old merely by a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair - these bow the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the love of wonder, the sweet amazement at the stars and the starlike things, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing child-like appetite for what-next, and the joy of the game of living.
You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt;
as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear;
as young as your hope, as old as your despair.
--By Samuel Ullman
There is
no difficulty that enough love will not conquer;
no disease that enough love will not heal;
no door that enough love will not open;
no gulf that enough love will not bridge;
no wall that enough love will not throw down;
no sin that enough love will not redeem...
It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble;
how hopeless the outlook;
how muddled the tangle;
how great the mistake.
A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all.
If only you could love enough you would be the happiest and most powerful being in the world.
--By Emmet Fox
Having Enthusiasm
Having enthusiasm in performing any task gives you an abundance of energy. Showing enthusiasm also motivates others around you.
An acronym for enthusiasm:
E nergy
N imble
T enacious
H appy
U nbeatable
S elf-confidence
I nexhaustible
A chievable
S uccess
M otivated
Put lots of enthusiasm in all you do!
--By Catherine Pulsifer
If you fear losing somebody you love
like rejection would be no surprise
even if they never said it out loud
you just knew by the look in their eyes
accept that anxiety is due to some action
we took while sleepwalking through life
we would be lying if we tried denying
we cause our own misery and strife.
There is a voice inside of our heads
that tells us of what is to come
deja vu turned upside down
is what it may seem like to some
whether it's foresight or just premonition
it leaves you feeling quite strange
whisper or shout, it allows for no doubt
that your fortunes are due for a change.
The cyclical nature of the human condition
prevents us from being at ease
it bars the door to the peace that we seek
it's a lock without any keys
hope and fear are two sides of a coin
a little like Abel and Cane
it's not every day that just one will hold sway
in the end it adds up to the same.
Listen to this then, if you should find
your emotions won't give you a breather
I'm telling you, dreams don't often come true
but the nightmares rarely do either.
--by Wish Belkin, copyright 2001
Life, sometimes so wearying
Is worth its weight in gold
The experience of traveling
Lends a wisdom that is old
Beyond our 'living memory'
A softly spoken prayer:
"It's the journey that's important,
Not the getting there!"
Ins and outs and ups and downs
Life's road meanders aimlessly?
Or so it seems, but somehow
Leads us where we need to be,
And being simply human
We oft question and compare....
"Is the journey so important
Or the getting there?"
And thus it's always been
That question pondered down the ages
By simple men with simple ways
To wise and ancient sages....
How sweet then, quietly knowing
Reaching destination fair:
"It's the journey that's important,
Not the getting there!"
--By John McLeod
If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley-but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can't be a tree.
If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;
If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass-
But the liveliest bass in the lake!
We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew,
There's something for all of us here,
There's big work to do, and there's lesser to do,
And the task you must do is the near.
If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can't be the sun be a star;
It isn't by size that you win or you fail-
Be the best of whatever you are!
--By Douglas Malloch
Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.
--By Edgar A. Guest
There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave,
There are souls that are pure and true,
Then give the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you.
Give love, and love to your life will flow,
A strength in your utmost need,
Have faith, and a score of hearts will show
Their faith in your word and deed.
Give truth, and your gift will be paid in kind;
And honor will honor meet;
And a smile that is sweet will surely find
A smile that is just as sweet.
Give pity and sorrow to those who mourn,
You will gather in flowers again
The scattered seeds from your thoughts outborne,
Though the sowing seemed but vain.
For life is the mirror of king and slave,
'Tis just what we are and do;
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come back to you.
--By Madeline Bridges
Drop a pebble in the water,
And its ripples reach out far;
And the sunbeams dancing on them
May reflect them to a star.
Give a smile to someone passing,
Thereby making his morning glad;
It may greet you in the evening
When your own heart may be sad.
Do a deed of simple kindness;
Though its end you may not see,
It may reach, like widening ripples,
Down a long eternity.
--By Joseph Norris
One day a mother died.
And on that clear, cold morning,
in the warmth of her bedroom,
the daughter was struck with
the pain of learning that sometimes
there isn't any more.
No more hugs,
no more lucky moments to celebrate together,
no more phone calls just to chat,
no more "just one minute."
Sometimes, what we care about the most goes away,
never to return before we can say good-bye,
say "I Love You."
So while we have it … it's best we love it .
And care for it and fix it when it's broken
and take good care of it when it's sick.
This is true for marriage … and friendships!
And children with bad report cards;
and dogs with bad hips;
and aging parents and grandparents.
We keep them because they are worth it,
because we cherish them!
Some things we keep -
like a best friend who moved away
or a classmate we grew up with.
There are just some things that
make us happy, no matter what.
Life is important,
and so are the people we know.
And so, keep them close!
--by Author Unkown
If we did not know our age, some of us would appear to be very young, and some of us would seem very old.
Sometimes, people use age as a convenient excuse. "I'm too old to start something new", or, "I couldn't learn that at my age." Other people, though, go on to achieve their greatest accomplishments in life in later years.
Take, for example, Colonel Harland Sanders who started franchising his chicken outlets when he was 65 years old. Up to the age of 90 years old he traveled 250,000 miles a year visiting KFC franchises. He not only overcame personal and business adversities, but more importantly, he didn't let age stand in his way!
Feelings lead to attitudes, attitudes become beliefs, and beliefs become the basis for actions.
It is not important how old you are;
it is how you feel, how you think,
and what you do that is important.
To quote Satchel Paige, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you was."
--By Catherine Pulsifer
A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill. In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?" Hands started going up.
He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this." He proceeded to crumple the $20 dollar bill up. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air. "Well", he replied, "What if I do this?" And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air. "My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson", he said, "No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless.... and especially to those who love you.
The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or whom we know, but by WHO WE ARE.
--By Author Unknown
Although you may not be totally familiar with the geography of part of Maritime Canada, particularly with the absence of a permanent link between Prince Edward Island and the Province of New Brunswick, the thought of linking these two provinces permanently was only a dream. The transportation link between these two provinces was either by ship or, in more modern times, by ferry.
In order to link these two provinces permanently meant that many technological obstacles had to be overcome, but perseverance, the vision of a permanent link, paid off. The permanent linking was accomplished by designing and then building a unique bridge. The project began in 1993, and the 12.9-kilometer (approx. 14 miles) Confederation Bridge officially opened on May 31, 1997.
Forming an integral part of the Trans Canada network, the Confederation Bridge is the longest bridge over ice-covered waters in the world. Many obstacles had to be overcome including the tremendous pressure from ice along its pylons during the winter and the spring thaw.
The key to the success of building this unique bridge over a period of four years was perseverance. No matter the task, perseverance is the ability to keep going in spite of obstacles and challenges. Perseverance is the realization that challenges along the way are only minor detours on the march to success.
--by Byron Pulsifer © 2007
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