Gratitude

Goals

"Set your goals so high that you can only reach them if you grow."
John Maxwell

Nay-sayers

"There will always be nay-sayers who warn us that we are bound to fail at this or that.  The important question to ask is not "Will I fail?" but "What do I stand to achieve?""
Barbara Bartocci

Hope...

"We hope for a people and a nation in which democracy is made a wonderfully realizable possibility in a pluralistic culture where people bring together a whole variety of life experiences. We hope for a society which is just and free."
Church of the Province of South Africa Minister

Life Lessons

"...life Lessons are concealed in life experiences."
Bonolo Ramaja

Comfortable

"Instead of getting more and more comfortable, I'm getting more and more comfortable with being uncomfortable."
Luke Nelson
"Two Brothers" 5,000 hour project

Grow Great

"We grow great by degrees."
Robin Sharma - The Monk who sold his Ferrari

Survive

"It's always an advantage to be able to survive when others can't."
National Geographic

Said of Early Settlars

"They learnt to rely on the wealth and respect the limitations of the land around them."
Road to Zion - Hawaii

Lose and Win

"Lose with dignity, and win with humility."
Quoted by Nancy Richards SAFM

Wisdom

"Wisdom is doing now what you will be pleased about later."
Joyce Meyer

Birthright

"Do not throw your birthright away through anger."

The "Happy" Test

* Do you find it hard to set goals for yourself?
* Does the future seem bleak?
* Do you prefer being alone?
* Do you have few hobbies?
* Do you dwell on the past?
* Do you rely on alcohol, caffeine and sugary snacks for a "lift"?
* Are you a pessimist?
* Would you like to change your looks or personality?
* Do you dislike your job?
* Are you in a bad relationship?

Count up your "yes" answers.

Score: 0
You are fortunate - you love life.

Score 1 - 3
Your life looks pretty good. You still need to make a little extra effort.

Score 4 - 7
Good start. You also need to do more to fulfil your happiness potential.

Score 8 - 10
You are generally unhappy. Reassess your life and lifestyle. Consider visiting with a counsellor. Gradually reverse your negative thinking processes.

Some things you might like to work with every day:

Accept yourself as you are.
Celebrate the good things about yourself.
Share some good news every day.
Look for good things in others around you.
Convert negative thoughts - reword them into positive sentiments.
Surround yourself with the colours: orange, turquoise, green, violet - these colours enhance your mood when you need an attitude -lift.
Exercise aerobically for at least 30 minutes every other day - trigger the release of your body's feel-good chemicals and endorphins.
Set yourself attainable goals. Reach them. Keep your aims small to begin with.
Dance more. Move your body more - to music!
Avoid eating sugary snacks - they give you an instant boost and then your body plummets lower than you were to begin with.
Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole foods.
Avoid alcohol and caffeine.
Sleep enough most nights.

Emotionally-skillful people thrive and have better relationships.
Contented people have a more fulfilling life.
Happy people enjoy their work more.
Cheerful people find more joy in their every-day life.

Become more optimistic and positive.
Apply more of these success-disciplines in your life.
Improve your general outlook on life - your life.

"Out of small persistent daily efforts proceeds great annual progress..."

Western Times - April 1999

Positive Thoughts

I came to check something on my computer and saw my brother Tim was on Skype. I checked in with him. He is in Cape Town. He sent me this gorgeous picture taken on Christmas Day - sunrise in the Karoo.

My sister Jane sent me these - good thoughts to have in this in-between week...
These sorts of uplifting sentiments fuel my inner-fire and help blow my hair back as I press forward with steadfastness!
ENJOY...

If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain.
If you want ten years of prosperity, grow trees.
If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people.
(Chinese Proverb)

When you’re through learning, you’re through.
(Vernon Law)

Minds are like parachutes, they only function when open.
(Thomas Dewar)

“I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.”
(Confucius 551-479 bc)

Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.
(Stephen R Covey)

The most important choice you make is what you choose to make important.
(Michael Neil)

Management means helping people to get the most out of themselves, not organising things.
(Lauren Apley)

There are no short cuts to anywhere worth going.
(Helen Keller)

If we keep doing what we’re doing, we’re going to keep getting what we’re getting.
(Stephen R Covey)

The best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining.
(John F Kennedy)

Happiness is not a goal, it is a by product.
(Eleanor Roosevelt)

Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ‘em “Certainly I can!” Then get busy and find out how to do it.
(Theodore Roosevelt)

Some men see things as they are and ask “why”? I dare to dream of things that never were and ask “Why not”?
(George Bernard Shaw)

The learning is in the wobbles.
(Dave Meier)

If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.
(Henry Ford)

It’s not what happens to you that makes the difference – it’s what you do with what happens to you.
(Unknown Author)

Change the way people think and things will never be the same.
(Steve Biko)

I believe in businesses where you engage in creative thinking, and where you form some of your deepest relationships. If it isn’t about the production of the human spirit, we are in big trouble.
(Anita Roddick)

Today, if you are not confused, you are just not thinking clearly.
(unknown)

Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.
(Winston Churchill)

Morale is when your hands and feet keep on working when your head says it can’t be done.
(Benjamin Morrell)

There is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes.
(Billy Connolly)

A mistake is only a mistake if you don’t learn from it.
(Unknown)

Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.
(Will Rogers, 1879-1935 cowboy, actor, philanthropist)

One measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it’s the same problem you had last year.
(John Foster Dulles)

It is in the moment of decision that your destiny is shaped.
(Anthony Robbins)

The future of work will consist of learning a living.
(Marshall McLuhan)

The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas.
(Linus Pauling)

I want to work for a company that contributes to, and is part of, the community. I want something not just to invest in, I want something to believe in.
(Anita Roddick)

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.
(Babe Ruth)

If I have seen a little further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
(Sir Isaac Newton)

Imagination is more important than knowledge.
(Albert Einstein)

Thanks Tim and Jane.
A happier, more purposeful, day to all of us.

Success

"With every level of success there is a degree of failure."
Dr Phil

Rise Above

"Rise above people's insults; think bigger than they are if you want to be a success in life."
May Bailey "Wind at My Back"
BYU Television series

Stinking Thinking

"No one is going to have a great life with lousy thinking."
Joyce Meyer

Balance... Balance... Balance...

Health
Drink cool, clear water – every day. Drink about 6 – 8 glasses regularly.
Eat more food grown on trees and plants, and less food manufactured in plants.
Live the three E’s – Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
Make time for prayer - daily.
Play more.
Read more good books.
Take time out - at least five minutes in every waking hour.
Sleep - seven hours minimum - more nights than not.
Walk purposefully for ten to twenty minutes each day.
Smile - at least once every day.

Personality
Don’t compare your life to anothers – You can't know their burdens.
Don’t hold on to negative thoughts. Give them a kick, let them go.
Invest your energy and creativity in the positives of your present.
Keep within your emotional limits most of the time.
Don’t take yourself so seriously – no one else does.
Don’t waste your time and energy on gossip.
Dream more while you are awake.
Don’t waste your time on envy and jealousy.
Forget issues of the past.
Don’t remind your loved-ones of their mistakes of the past.
Don’t remind yourself of your past mistakes.
Relish and cherish your present happinesses.
Don’t waste time hating anyone, including yourself.
Make peace with your past – It is past.
You are in charge of your happiness – discover how to be happier.
Realize: Life is a School – you are here to learn. Learn.
Problems are simply a part of your custom-designed curriculum.
Life is a test. Your life is your test.
Smile more. Or smile less if you smile too much...
Laugh more often.
Agree to disagree. You don’t have to win every argument.

Community
Phone or visit your family often. Take care of these relationships.
Give some good of yourself to another – every day.
Forgive others around you.
Spend some time regularly with the over 70’s and the under 6’s.
Share a smile or more with another person every day.
Remember: what other people think of you is what they think of you.
Work will come to an end. Develop other aspects of yourself.

Life
Choose to do the right things.
Get rid of things that aren't useful, true or beautiful - 'sift and save' regularly.
God is able to heal everything that needs healing - you are not.
Good situations, bad situations, all these will change and change.
No matter how otherwise you feel: Get up. Get dressed. Groom yourself.
Greet God each morning and each evening.
Every day is a new start – make it count – today is your past of your future.
Be… today.

Self Mastery

"People with a high level of personal mastery are able to consistently realize the results that matter most deeply to them--in effect, they approach their life as an artist would approach a work of art. They do that by becoming committed to their own lifelong learning."
Peter Senge

Create and Re-Design

"I have the responsibility to create and re-design my here and now."
Professor Michelle James