Instant Motivation

Here is a short list of quotes that I visit from time to time to fill up the tank:

“To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing.”  -Elbert Hubbard

“As you make your way through life, let this ever be your goal, keep your eye upon the donut and not upon the hole.” -Author Unknown

“We were born to succeed, not to fail.” -Henry David Thoreau

 “Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children.” -Walt Disney

“Only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever achieve greatly.” -John F. Kennedy

“The great aim of education is not knowledge but action.”  -Herbert Spencer

“Statistically 100 percent of the shots you don’t take don’t go in.” -Wayne Gretzky

“The mediocre teacher tells.  The good teacher explains.  The superior teacher demonstrates.  The great teacher inspires.”  -William A. Ward

 

“Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t-you’re right.” -Henry Ford

 “Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.” -Chinese Proverb

“No pressure, no diamonds.” -Mary Case

“Celebrate what you want to see more of.” -Thomas J. Peters

“If we did the things that we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.”  -Thomas Edison

“You can’t live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.”      -John Wooden

 

“May you live every day of your life.” -Jonathan Swift

“The journey is the reward.”  -Chinese Proverb

“Act as if what you do makes a difference.  It does.” -William James

“You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing that we call ‘failure’ is not the falling down, but the staying down.” -Mary Pickford

 

“The time is always right to do what is right.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

“You will never leave where you are until you decide where you would rather be.” -Dexter Yager

“I never worry about action, only inaction.” -Winston Churchill

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” -Anne Frank

 

“People know you for what you’ve done, not for what you plan to do.” -Unknown Author

 

“Life is too short to be small.” -Benjamin Disraeli

“You must do the things you think you cannot do.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

“Intelligence is not enough.  Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

 

“Each person must live their life as a model for others.” -Rosa Parks

“Coming together is a beginning.  Staying together is a process.  Working together is success.” -Henry Ford

 

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.  The second best time is now.” -Chinese Proverb

 

“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” -Eric Hoffer

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it's the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead

 “The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.” -Confucius

 

“Success demands singleness of purpose.” -Vince Lombardi

 “Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

“Be a dreamer. If you don't know how to dream, you're dead.”                 -Jim Valvano

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”  -John Wooden

 

“Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” -John Wooden

“It's the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” -John Wooden

“To improve you must be uncomfortable being comfortable and discontent with being content.” -John Wooden

 

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” -Abraham Lincoln

 “I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” -Bill Cosby

“The most important single ingredient in the formula of success is knowing how to get along with people.”  -Theodore Roosevelt

 

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” -Frederick Douglass

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” -Mohandas Gandhi

“In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.” -Mother Theresa

 “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.” -Henry David Thoreau

  

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” -Eleanor Roosevelt

“If everyone is thinking alike then someone isn’t thinking.” -George S. Patton

“It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.”  -Henry David Thoreau

“It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision.” -Helen Keller

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” -Winston Churchill

 

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” -Winston Churchill

“Great and good are seldom the same man.” -Winston Churchill

 

“Never, never, never give up.” -Winston Churchill

“Failure after long perseverance is much grander than never to have a striving good enough to be called a failure.” -George Eliot

 

“You see things; and you say, 'Why?' But I dream things that never were; and I say, ‘Why not?’”  -George Bernard Shaw

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” -Marie Curie

 

“You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room.” -Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss)

 

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” -Oliver Wendell Holmes

 

“He who opens a school door, closes a prison.” -Victor Hugo

 

“Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.” -William Jennings Bryant

 

“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.” -Vince Lombardi

 

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” -Nelson Mandela

 

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” -Charles R. Swindoll

 

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.”    -George Bernard Shaw

 

“One extends one's limits only by exceeding them.” -M. Scott Peck

 

“The human mind will not be confined to any limits.” -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

 

“The only limits to the possibilities in your life tomorrow are the buts you use today.” -Les Brown

 “The thing I loved the most - and still love the most about teaching - is that you can connect with an individual or a group, and see that individual or group exceed their limits.” -Mike Krzyzewski

 

“There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder.” -Ronald Reagan

Finding Perspective Beginning at the End

I had the opportunity the other day to cut away from work for an urgent 4 hour detour to sit on a bed and talk to a dear family friend (more family than friend) who is literally in engaged in a life and death battle with pancreatic cancer.  Sadly, she is losing.  She, and everyone in her world, knows it and is dealing with the "picking up the pieces" step of whatever process that comes with such catastrophic realization.

As I sat there talking with her, and even now a few days later, I cannot help but appreciate the powerful clarity of perspective that our conversation has brought to my life.  There is something about holding the hand of someone possibly for the last time or looking into the eyes of someone who knows they will not make it to next month, let alone next year.  That something for me was a Tuesdays With Morrie type of experience where I walked away with a resolve to live with my own end in mind and strive every day to build the life I have in my heart and in my mind to live.

Henry David Thoreau said it best when he wrote, "When it’s time to die, let us not discover that we have never lived."  I will have a time to die and as I think about what that end will feel like, I feel a drive to get the living end of things done right.  A long time ago, I wrote a few basic premises that I have used to guide my day to day living and when I left my friend I immediately made these words the background on my phone:

• I read and follow the word of God everyday.
• My family, faith, and health are vital to my happiness.
• I plan my day before I start my day.
• I am the one cleansed leper.
• I believe in Christ and I strive to be like Him at all times and in all places.
• I am a builder.
• It is more important to be trusted than loved and I am trustworthy.
• I know that through small things, great things can come to pass and I go about looking for such opportunities.
• I want the title of "friend" on my tombstone.
• I will be and do my best for those who love me because they deserve nothing less.
• I am open and honest about money and I consider it to be a servant, not a master.
• I understand that "life's a journey, not a destination and I just can't tell just what tomorrow will bring."
• I believe that there are "more with us than with them" and that there is truly nothing that is impossible, God willing.
• Becoming the person that I want to become will be accomplished only through the wise control of time, agency, talents, and situations.
• I will not fear, come what may.

My default list disclaimer is in effect with the items on this list as well.  Progress is slow across the board, but I am striving.  Some areas come easier than others but every item is a crucial link in my chain and I am only as strong as my weakest link.  Every day, I seem to be rethinking what this living is all about and experiences that I am being given are teaching me new things about what matters.  I am finding that my faith and happiness are built like a mosaic or a collage of moments that matter most.  It is faces, not places, that matter.  It is about building up the relationships with those around me that will bring me joy, success, fulfillment, peace, and love.  Everything else is irrelevant.

Now reason says that it cannot be that easy.  You know what?  Screw reason!  In my end, I will not care what freaking car is in my driveway.  I will not care what brand of clothes are in my closet.  I will not care how much money is on the good ol' prepaid.  I will care about those that I love.  Did I do right by them?  Did I teach what they will need to know BY THE WAY I LIVED MY LIFE?  Is there lamp in my oil?  Am I going out a conqueror?  Did I express love by word and deed?  Do others know that I knew and had a testimony of truth?  Did I love my neighbor like myself?  Did I seek, find, and share charity?  Did I forgive others?

These are the things that matter and these are the things that I hope will provide me perspective as I live, every day taking a step closer to that day when the night "cometh...wherein there can be no labor performed".  To my dear friend, I would sing (if I could sing) these words:

My old friend, I recall
The times we had are hanging on my wall
I wouldn't trade them for gold
Cause they laughed and they cry me and
somehow sanctify me
And they're woven in the stories I have told
And tell again

My old friend I apologize
For the years that have passed since the
last time you and I
Dusted off those memories
But the runnin' and the races and the
people and the places
there was always somewhere else I had to be
And time gets thin my old friend

Don't know why, don't know why
Don't know why, don't know why

My old friend this song's for you
Cause a few simple verses was the least that I could do
To tell the world that you were here
'Cause the love and the laughter will live on long after
All of the sadness and the tears
We'll meet again my old friend

Goodbye, Goodbye
Goodbye, Goodbye

My old friend
("My Old Friend", Tim McGraw)

Finally, in my mind's eye I picture one of the greatest ends ever and the eternal truths taught in the context of a simple conversation had between good friends, one of which happens to be on the way out.  Go with me, if you will, to Glenwood Springs, Colorado in 1887 and to the fictitious rendering of the farewell of Doc Holliday (who ironically died at the age of 36).  You will remember his words (in the movie anyways) to his dear friend Wyatt Earp:

Doc Holliday: What did you ever want?
Wyatt Earp: Just to live a normal life.
Doc Holliday: There's no normal life, Wyatt, it's just life. Get on with it.
Wyatt Earp: Don't know how.
Doc Holliday: Sure you do. Say goodbye to me. Go grab that spirited actress and make her your own. Take that beauty from it, don't look back. Live every second. Live right on to the end. Live Wyatt. Live for me. Wyatt, if you were ever my friend - if ya ever had even the slightest of feelin' for me, leave now. Leave now... Please.


I could not have said it better myself.  Here's to living with the end in mind.

Cup Check and Other Things

It is a rainy Saturday morning in June and I am eating a bowl of Oh's cereal (bottom of the box with the cereal "dust") thinking about things.  At this moment, I am 1/365th of the way through year 36 on this planet and I am taking inventory of my life and rethinking the world around me.

Maybe it's the John Mayer lyrics going through my head:

"Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
No, it won't all go the way it should
But I know the heart of life is good"

Maybe it's more than that.  Maybe it is some crazy cocktail mix of an epic post by G-Money last week, the tail end of Atlas Shrugged, Thomas S. Monson ("the future is as bright as our faith"), Ether 12:4 ("hope for a better world"), last day of school euphoria, and the Mavericks coming back to beat the Heat.  Whatever it is, it's got me "checking my premises" and thinking about a whole lot of things:

Thing #1:

"Damn, it feels good to be me".  I am so incredibly blessed when I consider the people that I have in my life and the experiences that I have had.  I have health, family, friends, faith in the truth, bread, and a roof.  Yes, there is pain, loss, unanswered questions, ambition, a bigger waist than inseam pant size, and a mortgage payment for a house that is not worth the loan.  But, seriously?  I came in with nothing 36 years ago and I could lose it all tomorrow "in one turn of pitch and toss" and yet my heart would be full for what has been given. 

Taking it a step further, the blessed quotient goes off the chart when I consider what I have in the context of what I have done to "earn it".  I am not only a member of the Unprofitable Servant Club, but I am its President, Vice President, Secretary, and Seargent at Arms (what is that anyways?).  

Thing #2:

I think that I am wrong about the state of the world that we are living in.  I understand that things are not liked they used to be and there is a steady decline of all things good, but I think that I am underestimating the number of good people and the overall power of right in a world sliding towards the wrong.  You see, I am that guy who digs talking in social circles about the "signs of the times" and how the world is heading to hell in a hand basket.  I am always quick to cite world events and share an abundance of examples of what I consider to be "spiritual wickedness in high places".  But in doing this, I am finding myself turning a blind eye to the incredible goodness that still exists all around. 

Thing #3:

¡Basta ya!  (Translated=Enough!) Things as I see it have to change.  Things may not and probably will not change, so the way I see things has to change.  On this subject, I remember a lesson taught to me by a Mr. Benjamin Bush in a place another world away in a town called Rocha.  The setting is a rainy day and two young Americans are in a foreign hemisphere trying to share what they know to be true about God in rudimentary Spanish with the humble people of Uruguay.  Needless to say, we were not having any success and I was struggling.  I was pointing out everything that I didn't have, everything that was going wrong, everything that I had given up, and all of the rejection and persecution that I was receiving voluntarily at the hands of "these people" (sound familiar?).  It was then that Benjamin Bush changed my life.

He told me that it sounded to him like I needed a "cup check".  It was obvious that his idea of a "cup check" was not my idea of a "cup check" (not to be confused with the General Manager of the Lakers, Mitch Kupchak) .  He told me to check my premises and figure out why I was doing what I was doing.  He taught me that happiness is not dependent on ideal circumstances.  In fact, happiness was a choice and is 100% under my own control at all times and in all places.

This morning I think of that lesson and what it has meant to my life.  In the context of that day more than 15 years ago, I raise my of morning orange juice (half full) to Mr. Benjamin Bush (wherever you are) and I say let the world go where it is going be it fast or slow, but I will not let the choices of others distract me from my path or destination.  Nor will I let the current culture or climate dictate the way I see the world around me.  I will hold on to my belief that the heart of life is good.  I will hold out, believing that my neighbors are good people and that my country is created and preserved by God and led by well-intentioned people that may be misguided at times, not because they are bad, but because they are kept from the truth because they know not where to find it.

Thing #4:

Maybe it's because I am a Cub fan, but I believe that the good guys will eventually have their day and win.  After all, sure there are bad things happening all around us, but there are good things to.  Kids are learning about how to be like Jesus every Sunday in church.  People are accepting the gospel and being baptized like Jesus every day throughout the world.  Young and old men are taking upon themselves the authority to act like Jesus would act.  Every Sunday, millions of people around the world walk into church buildings beaten and bruised by worldly influences and walk out stronger saints healed by the gospel of Jesus.  Every Sunday, MY OWN SLATE IS MADE CLEAN through the atonement of Jesus and I get to try again to work out my salvation, forge my faith, and be better.  What more could I possibly ask for?

I know I, and others, have gone there already on this blog, but it really does boil down to the words of the poem/hymn, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

"I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along th’unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
'There is no peace on earth,' I said,
'For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.'

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
'God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.'

Till, ringing, singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!"

I will not be the guy who bows his head and doubts because of the current headlines and the decisions of those around him.

Last Thing:

This morning I have a new favorite scripture.  How can you not feel good about things when you read these words of revelation from the Prophet Joseph Smith...

"Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy.

Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing. 

Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers!"

Rain in June and cereal dust be damned!  Forward, not backward.  Courage, brethren!  Good times have been ours and are ours now.  I do not doubt that all things are possible and our best days are yet to come.