DECEMBER

PERSEVERANCE

With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance,
all things are attainable.

Sir Thomas Buxton

EXCITEMENT

The real secret of success is enthusiasm.
Yes, more than enthusiasm I would say
excitement. When people get excited they
make a success of their lives!

Walter Chrysler

RESPONSIBILITY

If something goes wrong, it is more
important to talk about who is going
to fix it, than who is to blame.

Francis J. Gable

In the End, Only kindness matters....
Kellie Jo Conn

INITIATIVE

Initiative is to success what a
lighted match is to a candle.

Orlando A. Battista




WAR

There's no honorable way to kill, no gentle
way to destroy. There is nothing good in war.
Except its ending.

Anonymous

INSIDE YOU LIES GREATNESS

In each of you, there is a seed
a seed of vast potential
A place beyond the ego mind
A place so rich and fertile
that you can smell its rich fragrance
like after a cool summer rain
you can feel this pulse of life
as it pulses through you

This infinite part of you knows
Like a beacon in the night
it guides you on your journey...
back home...
back... to the Real You

This greatness requires just one thing
...your awareness

Awareness through your breath
noticing in each moment
how precious life really is...

and how precious You really are
for you are its Source
and It is your beginning...

You now stand at the crossroads...
A crossroads of your old self
and the Real you

Embrace this moment
embrace yourself as the creator in your life
This is your essence
breathe it in...
let it flow...
let it just Be...

and so it is....

Paul Bauer

ATTITUDE

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. Circumstances
and situations do color life but you have
been given the mind to choose what the
color will be.

John Homer Miller

HAPPINESS

Remember, happiness doesn't depend upon who you are
or what you have, it depends solely upon what you think.

Dale Carnegie





YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW

You can expect to benefit from life in direct
proportion to what you invest in it. If you
plant positive thoughts and deeds, you will
reap a bountiful harvest.

Napoleon Hill

The secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings than endings.*
-- David Weinbaum

THE END OF THE ROAD IS BUT A BEND IN THE ROAD

When we feel we have nothing left to give
And we are sure that the song has ended
When our day seems over and the shadows fall
And the darkness of night has descended,
Where can we go to find the strength
To valiantly keep on trying,
Where can we find the hand that will dry
The tears that the heart is crying?
There's but one place to go and that is to God
And, dropping all pretense and pride,
We can pour out our problems without restraint
And gain strength from Him at our side,
And together we stand at life's crossroads
And view what we think is the end
But God has a much bigger vision
And He tells us it's only a bend
For the road goes on and is smoother
And the "pause in the song" is a rest
And the part that's unsung and unfinished
Is the sweetest and richest and best
So rest and relax and grow stronger
Let go and let God share your load
Your work is not finished or ended,
You've just come to a "bend in the road."

Helen Steiner Rice

There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly.
-- Buckminster Fuller

Seeds to Plant:

Plant four rows of peas:
Peace of mind
Peace of heart
Peace of soul
Peace on earth

Plant four rows of squash:
Squash gossip
Squash indifference
Squash grumbling
Squash selfishness

Plant fours rows of lettuce:
Lettuce be honest
Lettuce be cheerful
Lettuce be grateful
Lettuce be compassionate

Plant four rows of turnips:
Turnip on time
Turnip with a smile
Turnip for service
Turnip for life

No garden would be complete without thyme:
Thyme for work
Thyme for play
Thyme for others
Thyme for self
Thyme for God

Instructions:
Carefully cultivate your new starts.
Weed out intolerance.
Water often with kindness.
Allow plenty of sunshine and hope.

Guilt and Resentment

Have you noticed that when you try to work on guilt or resentment or other problems, they beat you on the head?

We start by rationalizing our problems, and end up complaining about who is in our way, and how to get them out of the way, and if we had had better parents we would never have had any problems at all. Then we say, "Why is my life so much harder than everybody else's?"

Why don't you sit back and observe your life?

Now.

- John-Roger
(From: Spiritual Warrior, The Art of Spiritual Living)

Q: How does one control the wavering thoughts
while doing meditation?

A: With practice.

The natural tendency of the mind is to wander and the process of meditation or spiritual exercises will help to discipline the mind and keep it directed the way you want it to go. If you are a beginner to meditation or spiritual exercises, it's a good idea not to try to "keep the mind quiet." The mind can continue to chatter but you just place it off to the side and continue to meditate. Don't be real concerned at first if your thoughts are all over the place. As you practice and continue to discipline yourself, you will experience the results. It can take time, so be patient with yourself.

- John-Roger

ADVICE

To accept good advice is to increase one's own ability.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

FOREVER YOUNG

While one finds company in himself and his pursuits, he cannot feel old, no matter what his years may be.

Amos Bronson Alcott

IF I WERE AN ANGEL

If I were an angel,
I'd be right next to you.
I would be your guide,
And I'd help you to be true.

As I saw your face,
And the tears began to fall,
I would use my loving hands,
And wipe away them all.

I would wrap my wings around you,
And hold you very tight.
Then the joy and happiness you had,
Would shine so very bright.

I would go with you everywhere,
It would seem I'm in disguise.
No one would know I'm there,
Unless looking through your eyes.

You know that it is certain,
I'll be with you everywhere.
And everywhere you turned,
You'd know that I was there.

Melinda Tanner

ENTHUSIASM

When we accept tough jobs as a challenge to
our ability, and wade into them with joy and
enthusiasm, miracles can happen. When we
work with a dynamic and conquering spirit,
we get things done!

Arland Gilbert

We Each Have The
Power To Choose...

The wind changes directions
a hundred times or more a day...
It has no goal or focus to be
anything more than itself...
The wind is free to come and go
as it pleases...But people,
on the other hand, have an
inner desire to accomplish,
to achieve, to be productive....
It is a human quality that enables
people to select which way they
want to go and to determine
how fast or how slow
their journey will be...
People have the power to choose
the roads they will travel...
They must never forget that
they are in control of their lives..

So let the wind blow in your face
and circle around you as you
live day to day,
but know in your heart
that you are the one,
the only one, who really
knows which way
the wind blows for you....

The essence of all blessings is goodness.

Let's all go out and do some good.

- John Morton
(From: The Blessings Already Are)

INITIATIVE

Initiative consists of doing the right
thing without being told.
Irving Mack



ABILITY

There's a lot more in each of us than any of
us suspects. Undoubtedly many former
athletes had the power to run the four-
minute mile. It was a barrier until one man
achieved it!
Charles K. Rudman

ACHIEVEMENT

Always continue the climb. It is possible
for you to do whatever you choose if you
first get to know who you are and are willing
to work with a power that is greater than
ourselves to do it.

Oprah Winfrey

"It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end."
--Ursula K. LeGui


Goals give direction to our lives.
We need to know who we are and where we want to go.
But the trip itself, the steps we travel, offer us daily
satisfaction moment by moment--
fulfillment, if we'd but realize it.
Too often we keep our sights on the goal's completion,
rather than the process--the day-to-day living that
makes the completion possible.

How often do we think, "When I finish college, I'll feel
stronger." Or, "After the divorce is final, I can get back to
work." Or even, "When I land that promotion, my troubles
are over." Life will begin "when"--
or so it seems in our minds. And when this attitude
controls our thinking, we pass up our opportunity to live, altogether.

Looking back on goals already completed in our lives, what
so quickly follows the end of a job well done is a letdown.
And how sad that the hours, the days, the weeks, maybe
even the months we toiled are now gone, with little sense of
all they could have meant.

Karen Casey

EXCUSES

There's no such thing as coulda, shoulda, or woulda.
If you shoulda and coulda, you woulda done it.

Pat Riley

ATTITUDE

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental
attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on
the earth can help the man with the wrong mental
attitude.

W. W. Ziege

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

There are two types of people who will tell
you that you cannot make a difference in this
world: Those who are afraid to try themselves,
and those who are afraid that you will succeed.

Ray Goforth

CHARACTER

You can tell more about a person by what he
says about others than you can by what others
say about him.

Leo Aikman

HAPPINESS

A man is happy so long as he chooses to
be happy and nothing can stop him.

Alexander Solzenitsyn

THE FOUR EMOTIONS THAT CAN LEAD TO LIFE CHANGE
(excerpted from Seven Strategies for Wealth and Happiness)

Emotions are the most powerful forces inside us. Under the power of emotions, human beings can perform the most heroic
(as well as barbaric) acts. To a great degree, civilization itself can be defined as the intelligent channeling of human emotion. Emotions are fuel and the mind is the pilot, which together propel the ship of civilized progress.

Which emotions cause people to act? There are four basic ones; each, or a combination of several, can trigger the most incredible activity. The day that you allow these emotions to fuel your desire is the day you'll turn your life around.

1) DISGUST
One does not usually equate the word "disgust" with positive action. And yet properly channeled, disgust can change a person's life. The person who feels disgusted has reached a point of no return. He or she is ready to throw down the gauntlet at life and say, "I've had it!" That's what I said after many humiliating experiences at age 25. I said, "I don't want to live like this anymore. I've had it with being broke. I've had it with being embarrassed, and I've had it with lying."
Yes, productive feelings of disgust come when a person says, "Enough is enough."
The "guy" has finally had it with mediocrity. He's had it with those awful sick feelings of fear, pain and humiliation. He then decides he is not going to live like this anymore. Look out! This could be the day that turns a life around. Call it what you will: the "I've had it" day, the "never again" day, the "enough's enough" day. Whatever you call it, it's powerful! There is nothing so life-changing as gut-wrenching disgust!

2) DECISION
Most of us need to be pushed to the wall to make decisions. And once we reach this point, we have to deal with the conflicting emotions that come with making them. We have reached a fork in the road. Now this fork can be a two-prong, three-prong, or even a four-prong fork. No wonder that decision-making can create knots in stomachs, keep us awake in the middle of the night, or make us break out in a cold sweat.
Making life-changing decisions can be likened to internal civil war. Conflicting armies of emotions, each with its own arsenal of reasons, battle each other for supremacy of our minds. And our resulting decisions, whether bold or timid, well thought out or impulsive, can either set the course of action or blind it. I don't have much advice to give you about decision-making except this:
Whatever you do, don't camp at the fork in the road. Decide.
It's far better to make a wrong decision than to not make one at all. Each of us must confront our emotional turmoil and sort out our feelings.

3) DESIRE
How does one gain desire? I don't think I can answer this directly because there are many ways. But I do know two things about desire:
a. It comes from the inside not the outside.
b. It can be triggered by outside forces.
Almost anything can trigger desire. It's a matter of timing as much as preparation. It might be a song that tugs at the heart. It might be a memorable sermon. It might be a movie, a conversation with a friend, a confrontation with the enemy, or a bitter experience. Even a book or an article such as this one can trigger the inner mechanism that will make some people say, "I want it now!"
Therefore, while searching for your "hot button" of pure, raw desire, welcome into your life each positive experience. Don't erect a wall to protect you from experiencing life. The same wall that keeps out your disappointment also keeps out the sunlight of enriching experiences. So let life touch you. The next touch could be the one that turns your life around.

4) RESOLVE
Resolve says, "I will." These two words are among the most potent in the English language. I WILL. Benjamin Disraeli, the great British statesman, once said, "Nothing can resist a human will that will stake even its existence on the extent of its purpose." In other words, when someone resolves to "do or die," nothing can stop him.
The mountain climber says, "I will climb the mountain. They've told me it's too high, it's too far, it's too steep, it's too rocky, it's too difficult. But it's my mountain. I will climb it. You'll soon see me waving from the top or you'll never see me, because unless I reach the peak, I'm not coming back." Who can argue with such resolve?
When confronted with such iron-will determination, I can see Time, Fate and Circumstance calling a hasty conference and deciding, "We might as well let him have his dream. He's said he's going to get there or die trying."
The best definition for "resolve" I've ever heard came from a schoolgirl in Foster City, California. As is my custom, I was lecturing about success to a group of bright kids at a junior high school. I asked, "Who can tell me what 'resolve' means?" Several hands went up, and I did get some pretty good definitions.
But the last was the best. A shy girl from the back of the room got up and said with quiet intensity, "I think resolve means promising yourself you will never give up." That's it! That's the best definition I've ever heard: PROMISE YOURSELF YOU'LL NEVER GIVE UP.
Think about it! How long should a baby try to learn how to walk? How long would you give the average baby before you say, "That's it, you've had your chance"? You say that's crazy? Of course it is. Any mother would say, "My baby is going to keep trying until he learns how to walk!" No wonder everyone walks.
There is a vital lesson in this. Ask yourself, "How long am I going to work to make my dreams come true?" I suggest you answer, "As long as it takes." That's what these four emotions are all about.

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn

OPPORTUNITIES

Many do with opportunities as children do
at the seashore; they fill their little hands
with sand, and then let the grains fall
through, one by one, till all are gone.

Thomas Jones

Nature Is Our Best Teacher

Nature exists just as it is,
intimidated by no one .
In the world of nature,
what is known as spirit is that which is.
Creatures do not alter their existence
to be other than they are; their spirits
remain true...

In nature, the passage of time,
like the change of seasons, is
endless and forever. Time
is not measured; it just exists.
As people, we try to measure everything;
we want to calculate or evaluate time,
and most definitely, we want to control it.

We could learn many things from nature.
One very important truth
would be simply to be yourself for
that is your true spirit. Another valuable
lesson is to live for today, to be a part
of the changes and processes of now,
for it is in experiencing this moment
that you will be ready to experience the next.
If you live your life touching the present,
you will always be living your life completely.

SELF-WORTH

Before you can win, you have to believe you are worthy.

Mike Ditka

ATTITUDE

The greatest revolution of our generation is the
discovery that human beings, by changing the
inner attitudes of their minds, can change the
outer aspects of their lives.

William James