October 1, 2007 16:50 - Enslavement, Freedom, and Motivation
"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Usually, people associate this wonderful quote with politics and world government topics.
However, I believe it can also be associated with your personal growth and how you live your life.
If you're really honest with yourself, are you living your life to its fullest potential?
Do you believe yourself to be living at maximum capacity while you're really shortchanging yourself and sacrificing your true wants and desires because of fear or decisions where you put the needs of others in a superior position to yours?
Do you believe yourself to be living the life you desire while you're enslaved in a life of mediocrity and "settling for less"?
Do you lack the motivation to first admit this truth to yourself and, secondly, begin to break out of your self-induced enslavement?
While I've already written an entire section on my website regarding motivation (just click on the "motivation" tab on the left sidebar options) which I hope you'll take advantage of, I've also discovered a wonderful video that encompasses some of Brian Tracy's work.
Brian Tracy has been a great motivational force in my life.
I hope you can learn as much as I have from him and that it allows you to "break free" in your life!
October 4, 2007 23:43 - Living With Purpose and Finding Inspiration
"Men do less than they ought, unless they do all they can." - Thomas Carlyle
This is one of my favorite quotes.
I came across it again today and it got me to thinking about how true it is for most people...
Why is it that while you may be seeking the ultimate truth regarding why you're here and what your life is all about, you can still find it so easy to live in a mediocre way?
Why is it so easy to do less than you ought when doing all you can is when you find the most meaning to your life?
Interesting concept, is it not?
October 7, 2007 22:45 - Happiness Quotes
"Most of us believe in trying to make other people happy only if they can be happy in ways which we approve." -Robert S. Lynd
"For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness." -Unknown
"Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn't stop to enjoy it." -William Feather
"The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself." -Benjamin Franklin
"It doesn't matter how long we may have been stuck in a sense of our limitations. If we go into a darkened room and turn on the light, it doesn't matter if the room has been dark for a day, a week, or ten thousand years - we turn on the light and it is illuminated. Once we control our capacity for love and happiness, the light has been turned on." -Sharon Salzberg
"Happiness is a warm puppy." -Charles Schulz
"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." -Abraham Lincoln
October 10, 2007 22:20 - Ethics Quotes
"Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds." - Buddha
"The first principle of ethical power is Purpose. By purpose, I don't mean your objective or intention - something toward which you are always striving. Purpose is something bigger. It is the picture you have of yourself - the kind of person you want to be or the kind of life you want to lead." - Ken Blanchard
"If you don't have integrity, you have nothing. You can't buy it. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not a moral and ethical person, you really have nothing." - Henry Kravis
"Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe…the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me." - Immanuel Kant
"In any ethical situation, the thing you want least to do is probably the right action." - Jerry Pournelle
"You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings." - Pearl S. Buck
October 23, 2007 21:36 - Let It All Go!
"By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try, the world is beyond the winning." - Lao Tzu
I came across this quote today and it was one that I personally needed to read and think about.
I thought maybe my thoughts on this could help you, too.
Even with all that I've learned over the years regarding personal and spiritual growth which I've tried to express on this website, I still find I go through periods where I have to remind myself of the advice I leave here for you!
The last couple of days have been a struggle for me. A struggle between the ears. A struggle within my mind.
I've had a couple of days where I've allowed myself to become frustrated in regards to where I am in a couple of my personal and financial goals for the year.
I've dwelled on these types of thoughts. I've held on to old paradigms in my thinking. I haven't been living within the moment and enjoying all that I have to be grateful for.
I read the above quote and I realized what needs to be done. I have to let all these non-productive feelings go.
Just reflecting on those wise words and writing out this post is beginning to work ;-)
My hope is that if you're feeling anything similar in your life today that you'll reflect on my words and tomorrow you can re-direct your aim in a more positive manner.
Isn't this thing called life amazing? One lesson that builds upon another... helping us to close in on our true purposes for being here.
"Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting our misperceptions." - Gerald Jampolsky
