Good morning everyone! As we begin to take action toward the fulfillment of our GOALS and DREAMS, we must realize that not every action will be perfect. Not every action will produce the desired result. Not every action will work. Making mistakes, getting it almost right, and experimenting to see what happens are all part of the process of eventually getting it right! Stay Positively Positive today!
In our dark times, we have a tendency to focus on all that is bad and wrong in our lives. While this is very easy to do, we shouldn’t do it! I have made myself ill at times like this as I’m sure many of you have also. These are the times when what we need to focus on is all that is good in our lives. I want you to yell and say STOP!
Then tell yourself that this is just a bad moment in time and this too shall pass! Then I want you to remember all that is good in your life. Remember how fortunate that you are and look around you and see how much that you have and appreciate it all. Tell yourself that this moment will NOT define me, but how I react to it will! I will persevere! I will overcome! I will survive! I am better than this!
Remember that your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens.
Wealth does not come from your bank account, It comes from the depth of your heart. Happy people are happy; rich or poor. Unhappy people are unhappy; rich or poor. Money simply masks your real being by giving you activities to occupy your mind. Don’t fool yourself, recession or not, your true wealth comes from your heart and is always only there. So let your dreams be bigger than your fears, your actions louder than your words and your faith stronger than your feelings! Follow your heart my friends!
Don’t let past relationships ruin your future happiness. Don’t let someone who didn’t make it in your life continue to hurt you. If you do, you’re still giving them a portion of your life. Release the pain from your heart and move on. Scars remind us where we have been not where we are going. ~Lessons learned in Life!
It’s not how many times you fall down that counts; it’s how many times you get up! Never give up!
“I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy – I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.” ― Art Williams
Take a look around yourself and see what kind of company you keep. If there draining all of your positive energy, it may be time to get some new friends. Choose wisely! Misery loves company! You need to realize that the people around you are a direct reflection of you. They have a major influence on your attitude and your actions. Surround yourself with negative people, and they discourage you and tell you how you can’t do something. Surround yourself with positive people, and they encourage you and motivate you to reach higher.
Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. ~Mark Twain
The key to happiness and success can be found through positive people and positive thoughts! Positive people like to live in the moment and get joy from helping others. Your quality of life will go up tremendously if you surround yourself with positive people. It’s up to you! Be picky! You can choose your company and it’s alright to be picky when choosing your friends. Even if you tend to be a little on the negative side, being around positive people will help you alter the way in which you live your life. So choose wisely and surround yourself with people who are positive and will give you positive energy.
I am often amazed how many people limit themselves. I often tell complete strangers that they can do it, to follow their dreams and accomplish their goals. To never quit and for them to keep pushing forward. They probably look at me and think that I’m a little crazy. No argument there, I probably am just a little. 🙂 But, that doesn’t bother me, I’m comfortable with who I am. What really bothers me is watching my close family and friends do the same thing day in and day out.
They are miserable and unhappy and when I speak to them about what would make them happy and what are their goals and dreams, their eyes seem to light up as if I had lit a candle within them. They talk about it for a while and then as quickly as the light was lit, it appears to go dark. I often ask them why they’re not following their dreams. What I get in reply is usually a bunch of reasons or excuses on why it just won’t work. I tell them to not limit themselves and encourage and motivate them with words of inspiration and stories of others who have made it. They pause and think and then I get the common, well maybe I’ll do this, or maybe I’ll do that and I wish them luck and hope and sometimes pray that the next time I see them, they will have some positive news about how our conversation inspired them to follow their dreams and set goals.
Many times I feel as if I want them to succeed more than they want to. More often than not, when I see them again, it’s the same story, still unhappy, still don’t like their job or their money situation and in some cases, their life. But unfortunately, they’re not motivated enough to do anything about it. I’ll talk to some of them a few more times, I get the usual nods again, but sometimes they appear to be annoyed by my motivation and my persistence. I realize then that that maybe I should let sleeping dogs lay, but I’m tenacious, my wife says stubborn, so maybe I bring it up some more. I might do this more than I should and maybe it’s not welcome but it’s really because I love them and want to see them succeed even though it might not come across that way.
At some parties I even notice that they are kind of trying to avoid me because they know I will ask them how they’re doing and they don’t want to talk about it. I really don’t understand they’re mindset. It is all so foreign to me. I grew up poor, I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back now, we were poor and what little we had my Mother had to work two jobs just to keep us afloat. We didn’t have a lot of toys, in fact we didn’t have much at all. After watching my Mother work so hard and our family just get by, I realized that I wanted more and realized that I was going to have to work hard to get it.
Don’t ever let somebody tell you that you can’t do something. Not even me. You got a dream, you got to protect it. When people can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you that you can’t do it. You want something, go get it. Period.
– The Pursuit of Happyness
Unlike my close family and friends today who have so much more than I did growing up, and a more positive influence, all I heard from many, many people, was how I couldn’t do this or couldn’t do that. And that my goals and dreams were ridiculous and that I would never achieve them and that I should stop trying and just give up. You see I came from a family of first generation European immigrants and their idea was to work hard in a factory or some other labor intensive job and fall in line with everyone else. But I realized early on that I did not want to use my body and that I wanted to educate myself and use my mind. Maybe it was my stubbornness that didn’t allow me to quit or maybe it was the fact that I wanted to prove all the naysayers that they were wrong about me and my hopes and dreams.
First, when I was young I said I wanted to go to college and get educated, but not having any money, that was going to be difficult. I was also told that I wasn’t college material and that I should just get a job in a factory. I noticed that the military had the GI Bill and I could get money for school if I signed up so I decided to join the military. I was then told that the military was too tough and that I would never make it there. Next after talking to some of my fellow soldiers about getting out of the military and going to college to be an Electrical Engineer, I was told that it was way too much math and that I would never make it since this individual had tried and had dropped out. While in college I applied for Worcester Polytechnic Institute and was told that it was one of the best engineering school in the world and that it would be nearly impossible to get in, especially since my math skills were a little weak and I had been out of school for too long because I was serving in the military. While in college I spoke of following my dreams and going to work at Microsoft and having a beautiful home and a BMW and a wonderful family and maybe running my own business someday. All of which, I am blessed to say, have come true. Now, I’m not saying it was an easy road, God only knows it was not, but what I am saying is that if I can do it, it’s possible; if you can believe it, you can achieve it!
Now that I think about it, maybe what I should be telling my family and friends is that they will never achieve their dreams. Maybe I should tell them that it’s NOT possible and that they should just quit. Nah, I just can’t bring myself to do that. It brings back to many painful memories and that’s just NOT my style. So the next time I see them, I’ll ask them, how are those dreams and goals of your coming along and try to motivate them and tell them some more stories. I hope and pray that they might read this and maybe, just maybe, this will motivate them to get out there and follow their hearts, set some goals and accomplish all their dreams.
For those of you that have never seen this, it’s one of my favorites:
The Ant Philosophy, by Jim Rohn.
LESSON: It is important to plan and be realistic. Think ahead.
LESSON: Stay positive at all times.
LESSON: Do all you can….and more!
So, never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can!
What a valuable lesson that we can learn from our friends the ants.
Change is inevitable. The question is not IF it will happen but WHEN. And, that when things do change, will you get better or stay the same? For things to get better in your life, YOU have got to get better! YOU have to change. You need to be in state of constant improvement. Strive to be better today then yesterday, but not as good as you will be tomorrow. If things are bad, don’t worry, change is right around the corner.
No matter how difficult the situation is, it won’t last forever. What follows the night is the day. What follows the winter is the spring. —Tony Robbins
Enjoy the journey, learn from your mistakes and make sure you’re making plenty of them because if you’re not, then you’re living life to safely. Get out of your comfort zone and do something different today. Dream BIG! Take chances, take risks and most of all, follow your dreams!
Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing. – Abraham Lincoln