No Goal or Prize = No Finish Line

I half-heartedly laugh when I hear someone say they enjoy running. I mean, come on.
Do I run? Yes. Do I enjoy it? No. Except for the finish line.
I guess what I’m saying is that when I train for a half marathon, I need a little motivation. Because, really, it’s not so fun to get up at 6 in the morning. And it’s even less fun keeping the legs moving for an hour straight, or two hours straight – eventually. I mean, this takes REAL effort.
But I have found one thing to keep me motivated while running one-mile circles around a stagnant lake… but first…
I guess everyone has their reasons for putting forth real effort, keeping their eyes focused on the prize… family, money, ego are probably among the most popular. Of course, some people do things just for the hell of it. But if it’s really worth it, can it really be that easy? I’m not convinced.
In order for me to go to the gym, I need to know for certain that one sign on the wall will still be there: Sacrifice + Sweat = Success. There! Now I can run a couple more miles on the treadmill and do a few more exercises! Either that, or I need that trainer or friend yelling at me and telling me I’m a complete sissy. Come on you *****, two more reps!
The reason why I need to keep the rewards of my labor on the top of my mind is not really clear to me. It’s hard for me to do something simply because I know it’s good for me. Probably for the same reason it’s hard for somebody to lose weight unless they have a bet. If I don’t have that goal in mind every couple minutes, it just doesn’t seem as important.
Ironically, in real life, I am exactly the opposite. I have no specific five-year plan. I think that would lack flexibility, which in my mind is a must-have. Do I look at the big picture, yes. Do all of the boring runs and half marathons add up to me being in pretty decent shape over the long haul? Sure. I get it.
This just goes to show that even short-term goals can require someone to be quite motivated all of the time. Which I am.
But, as I said, I need the help. And that motivation comes to me every once in a while through websites like this – where words of wisdom can be short and sweet, or absorbed gradually.
I prefer the short and sweet. So for me, I keep closeby one saying that sums it all up. It’s at the bed stand or next to the faucet – somewhere I will see it, even if it’s dark and cold and stagnant outside.
“Without ambition one starts nothing. Without work one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Silence Quotes

There are times when silence has the loudest voice. -Leroy Brownlow
Silence is a source of great strength. -Lao Tzu
See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence…we need silence to be able to touch souls. -Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Silence is the true friend that never betrays. -Confucius
I have learned silence from the talkative, tolerance from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strangely, I am ungrateful to these teachers. -Kahlil Gibran
Let us be silent, that we may hear the whispers of the gods. -Ralph Waldo Emerson
In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in an clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness. Our life is a long and arduous quest after Truth. -Mahatma Gandhi
Lying is done with words and also with silence. -Adrienne Rich
Silence is the safest course for any man to adopt who distrusts himself -François de la Rochefoucauld
Silence is more eloquent than words -Thomas Carlyle
To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men. -Abraham Lincoln
Silence is one of the great arts of conversation. -Marcus Tullius Cicero
The world would be happier if men had the same capacity to be silent that they have to speak -Baruch Spinoza
I often regret that I have spoken; never that I have been silent. -Publilius Syrus
When the eagles are silent the parrots begin to jabber. -Winston Churchill
That man’s silence is wonderful to listen to. -Thomas Hardy
And Silence, like a poultice, comes to heal the blows of sound. -Oliver Wendell Holmes
An inability to stay quiet is one of the most conspicuous failings of mankind. -Walter Bagehot
Silence is as deep as eternity, speech as shallow as time. -Thomas Carlyle
The tree of silence bears the fruit of peace. -Arabian proverb
Silence is the perfectos herald of joy. I were but little happy if I could say how much. -William Shakespeare
True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment. -William Penn
Silence at the proper season is wisdom, and better than any speech. -Plutarch
The Pause; that impressive silence, that eloquent silence, that geometrically progressive silence which often achieves a desired effect where no combination of words, however so felicitous, could accomplish it. -Mark Twain
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. -Martin Luther King, Jr.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. -Martin Luther King, Jr.
No one has a finer command of language than the person who keeps his mouth shut. -Sam Rayburn
One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say. -Will Durant
Silence is golden when you can’t think of a good answer. -Muhammad Ali
In silence man can most readily preserve his integrity. -Meister Eckhart

Making Mistakes Quotes

I make a lot of mistakes.
How about you?
These “making mistakes quotes” below should help you not feel so bad about your blunders. Maybe that’s a good place to start in fixing our mistakes?
1. There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from. -Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
2. If you don’t make mistakes, you aren’t really trying. -Coleman Hawking
3. The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything. -Edward Phelps
4. A winner is someone who accepts his failures and mistakes, picks up the pieces, and continues striving to reach his goals. -Dexter Yager
5. The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. -John Powell
6. If you aren’t making many mistakes, it is sure sign you are playing it too safe. -John Maxwell
7. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life. -Sophia Loren
8. An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field. -Niels Bohr
9. The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one. -Elbert Hubbard
10. If you have made mistakes, even serious ones, there is always another chance for you. What we call failure is not the falling down, but the staying down. -Mary Pickford
11. From errors of others, a wise man corrects his own. -Syrus
12. Admit your errors before someone else exaggerates them. -Andrew Mason
13. Just because you make mistakes doesn’t mean you are one. -Anonymous
14. If you shut your door to all errors truth will be shut out. -Rabindranath Tagore
15. Mistakes are the usual bridge between inexperience and wisdom. -Phyllis Theroux
16. As long as the world is turning and spinning, we’re gonna be dizzy and we’re gonna make mistakes. -Mel Brooks
17. You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm. -Colette
18. If a mistake is not a stepping stone, it is a mistake. -Eli Siegel
19. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, make amends immediately. It’s easier to eat crow while it’s still warm. -Dan Heist
20. Mistakes fail in their mission of helping the person who blames them on the other fellow. -Henry Haskins
21. Making mistakes simply means you are learning faster. -Weston Agor
22. I never make stupid mistakes. Only very, very clever ones. -John Peel
23. It was when I found out I could make mistakes that I knew I was on to something. -Ornette Coleman
24. If you do not make mistakes, you are not working on hard enough problems. And that’s a big mistake. -F. Wikzek
25. Never say, ‘‘oops.’’ Always say, ‘‘Ah, interesting.’’ -Anonymous

10 Positives Assumptions

10 Positive Assumptions
1) I will make and keep my commitments.
2) I will find the right people who can help me.
3) I will look for an answer in every problem.
4) I will give up “trying” and simply do.
5) I will make it okay to be wrong and make mistakes.
6) I will create my own “good luck”.
7) I will not be afraid to lose before I win.
8) I will do it now!
9) I will be who I am and become what I was meant to be.
10)I will accept that all things are possible.
-Robert Anthony, in his book “Betting on Yourself”

A Thought About Gossip

Here’s a great thought about gossip, called “Who Am I?“.
I am more deadly than the screaming shell of the cannon.
I win without killing.
I tear down homes, break hearts, and wreck lives.
I travel on the wings of the wind.
No innocence is strong enough to intimidate me, no purity pure enough to daunt me.
I have no regard for truth, no respect for justice, no mercy for the defenseless.
My victims are as numerous as the sands of the sea and often as innocent.
I never forget and seldom forgive.
My name is Gossip.

Pursue Your Dreams

All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them. -Walt Disney

Do you have the courage to pursue your dreams? Not only pursuing your dreams but reaching them and making sure that they do come true is a challenge. It is very easy to dream but actually doing what it takes to make sure that your dreams become a reality is hard. Here are some ways that you can develop courage and increase the likelihood that

your dream will become a reality.

1. Become very clear about your dream. Know exactly what you want to get. Visualize it in your mind with as clear of details as possible. Napolean Hill said in his famous book, Think and Grow Rich, Thoughts are Things. What you think about, you bring about. Make sure that you are thinking about your dream in clear and positive ways.

2. Write down your dream. Give it life with as many details as possible. Include all aspects of your life. Write down with as much clarity as you can the action steps that you will take to make your dream happen.

3. Find pictures from magazines, newspapers and other sources that tell the story of your dream. Cut these out and glue them on a board to create a dream board. Add words that also describe your dream. Keep your board in a place where you will look at it regularly.

4. Take your dream board and create a dream and vision video with the same images and text. Watch the video regularly and share it with your friends, family, support team, mentors and anyone else you feel like sharing it with. You may even also want to put it on your website or blog for the whole world to see.

5. When you are struggling or encountering challenges, remember that no one ever realizes their dream without these. Make a plan as to how you will overcome them and move forward.

Reach for the stars and if you miss you will at least reach the rooftop.-Anonymous

Success is the Bride of Endeavor

It’s the coward who stops at misfortune,
It’s the knave who changes each day;
It’s a fool who wins half the battle,
And throws all his chances away.

There’s little in life but labor,
And tomorrow may prove but a dream,
Success is the bride of Endeavor,
And luck but a meteor’s gleam.

The time to succeed is when others
Discouraged, show traces of tire;
The battle is fought in the homestretch
And won ‘twixt the flage and the wire.