"A Repeated Action"

"A repeated action becomes a habit;
It's a range of habits that forms our character;
It's our character that determines our destiny."

Unknown

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"Abandoning The Children"

We are guilty of many errors and many faults, but our
worst crime is abandoning the children, neglecting the
fountain of life. Many of the things we need can wait.
The child cannot. Right now is the time his bones are
being formed, his blood is being made and his senses
are developed. To him we cannot answer 'tomorrow.'
His name is 'today'.

Gabriela Minstral, Nobel Prize winning poet from Chile.

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"At the end of your life"

"At the end of your life, you will never
regret not having passed one more
test, winning one more verdict, or not
closing one more deal. You will
regret time not spent with a husband, a child, a
friend, or a parent."

Barbara Bush
Wellesley College

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"Believe in your Dreams"

"Believe in your dreams, and your belief will create the fact."

Darol Wagstaff

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"Born of the Sun"

"They say the Dragon never sleeps
He stalks his prey in silence cold,
and when he strikes, what evil fire in his venom.

One day the snake in careless greed,
dared seize a Knight 'Born of the Sun.'
The bite burned deep - right to the soul.
The snake held fast - damage done.
But death could not win

For though the fire had pierced him through,
Knight of the Sun held strong and true.

The fever broke, the serpent fled, one limb his prize.

The knight rose up, these words he spoke:
'You have broken my body but not my spirit.
I will not mourn, nor will I fear it.
Beware tread beast, you have not won this battle,

My quest has just begun."

From the Terry Fox Story written by Rika Noda

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The Champion

The average runner sprints until the breath in him is gone;
but the champion has the iron will that makes him carry on.
For rest, the average runner begs when limp his muscles grow
but the champion runs on leaden legs, his spirit makes him go.
The average man's complacent when he does his best to score,
but the champion does his best and then-he does a little more.

Author Unknown

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"Character in Crisis"

"Only when people and organizations overcome the illusionary traps of victimization and envision the steps to individual accountability can they claim their own destinies and the future of their enterprises."

Four Steps of individual accountability are to:

1. See it.   2.  Own it.   3.  Solve it.   4.  Do It.

Roger Connors, Tom Smith and Craig Hickman

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Common Man

"I do not choose to be a common
man. It is my right to be uncommon if
I can. I seek opportunity, not security.
I do not wish to be a kept citizen,
humbled and dulled by having the
state look after me. I want to take the
calculated risk, to dream and to build,
to fail and succeed.....It is my right to
think and act for myself, enjoy the
benefit of my creations, and to face the
world boldly and say,
THIS I HAVE DONE."

Dean Alfange

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"Friendship"

"Friendship is the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with someone, having neither to weigh your thoughts or measure your words."

George Eliot

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Hero

"A Hero's life is like a meteor passing through the nights
sky, ones who's light travels beyond our view, yet still
shines in the darkest night."

Isadore Sharp

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"If You Think You Can, You Can!"

You can fly if you try, you can soar with the eagles if you dare, or you can run with
the turkey's who don't care.

You can be a total winner even if you're a beginner, if you think you can you can, if
you think you can, you can.

You can wear the gold medallion, you can ride your own Black Stallion, if you think you can you can, if you think you can, you can.

You can raise your C's up to A's and your F's to D's maybe even be in the school
play, if you think you can you can, if you think you can, you can.

It's not your talent or your gift at birth, it's not your bank book that determines your
worth. It isn't in the color of your skin but it's your attitude that lets you win.

You can go beyond exhaustion, you can win the marathon in Boston, if you think
you can you can, if you think you can, you can.

You could have finished off Darth Vadar, you can out debate Ralph Nadar, you can profit through inflation and you can direct this nation, if you think you can, you can.

It doesn't matter if you've won before, it makes no difference what the half-time
score. It's never over until the final gun if there was one so you keep on trying and
you'll find that you've won.

You grab your dream and then believe it, go out and work and you'll achieve it if
you think you can, you can, if you think you can you can.

You believe in God and you're half-way there, you believe in your family and you
country and you're three-quarters there, and then you believe in yourself and you're
nine-tenths there, but you believe and you'll become that by which men and women
live...which is the most powerful thing of all; and that is FAITH - it is the moving
cause of all action.

Denis E. Waitley with Darol Wagstaff

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"Images"

"If we in this nation continue to sow the images of murder, violence,
drug abuse,...perversion, [and pornography] before the eyes of millions
of children, year after year and day after day, we should not be
surprised if the foundations of our society rot away as if from leprosy."

Senator Robert D. Byrd (Michael Medved, Hollywood vs. America, New York: Harper Perennial, 1992, p. 194).

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"In The Arena"

The credit in life goes not to the critic who stands on the
sideline and points out where the strong stumble.
But rather, the real credit in life goes to the person who's
actually in the arena.
Who's face is marred by sweat and dust.
Who knows great enthusiasm and great devotion and learns to
spend himself or herself at a worthy cause.
If they win, they know the thrill of great achievement, and if
they lose, at least they lose while daring greatly so that their
place in life will never be with those cold and timid souls who
know neither victory nor defeat.

Paraphrased from Theodore Roosevelt

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Look To This Day

Look to this day for it is the very life of life.
In its brief course lie all of the verities and realities of your existence -
the glory of action, the bliss of growth, the splendor of beauty.
Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow only a vision
but today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore to this day.

Author Unknown

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Nothing Is As Real As A Dream

"Nothing is as real as a dream. The world may change about you but your dream will not.
It will always be the link with the person that you are today - young and full of hope.
If you hold on to it, you may grow old but you will never be old.
And that ladies and gentlemen is the ultimate success."

Tom Clancy

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Sequoias

While on a tour of California's giant sequoias, the guide
pointed out that the sequoia tree has roots just barely
below the surface.

"That's impossible!" I exclaimed. "I'm a country boy, and
I know that if the roots don't grow deep into the earth,
strong winds will blow the trees over."

"Not sequoia trees," said the guide. "They grow only in
groves and their roots intertwine under the surface of the
earth. So, when the strong winds come, they hold each
other up." There's a lesson here. In a sense, people are like the giant
sequoias. Family, friends, neighbors, the church body and
other groups should be havens so that when the strong
winds of life flow, these people can serve as
reinforcement and can strive together to hold each other up.

Lewis Timberlake, Timberlake Monthly
Reader's Digest, May 1989

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Sermons We See

I'd rather see a sermon than hear one any day;
I'd rather one should walk with me than merely
tell the way.
The eye's a better pupil and more willing than the
ear,
Fine counsel is confusing, but example's always
clear;
for to see good put in action is what everybody
needs,
I can watch your hands in action...
And the best of all the preachers are the men who
live their creeds,
for to see good put in action is what everybody
needs.

I soon can learn to do it if you'll let me see it done;
I can watch you hands in action, but your tongue
too fast may run.
And the lecture you deliver may be very wise and
true,
But I'd rather get my lessons by observing what
you do;
For I might misunderstand you and the high advice
you give,
But there's no misunderstanding how you act and
how you live.
I'd rather watch a sermon than hear one any day.

Edgar A. Guest

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"Shoot For The Stars"

My course is set and I've been trying
now I know I'll soon be flying
past the judges for a score, to my star forever more.

They call my name and I am aware
it takes more than guts or a reckless dare
down the in-run playing my trump
fast as the breeze toward the jump.

My momentum is high, I've paid my dues
won a few and sung the blues
I'm full of hope, free from dope
accelerating down this professional slope.
Through the transition into position
off the kicker like a rocket,
the judges heads jerk out of their sockets
in the air stiff as a board, up-side-down rotating toward...

I'm going too far, passing my star
I need your help from wherever you are
I've done my best, is this a test?
I hope it's not time for eternal rest.

"Fear not my son, you deserve this one
My hands on your shoulders like the wings of a dove
I give you my peace, I give you my love.

On the ground record bound
feeling grateful, safe and sound.

Intercession is the key
to this mystery
Work as though everything depends on you
pray as though it depends on He.

Set your course and keep on trying
soon you'll find that you are flying
be glad you are who you are,
spread your wings to your star.

Darol Wagstaff

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"Someday I'll"

There is an Island fantasy
A "Someday I'll," we'll never see
When recession stops, inflation ceases
Our mortgage is paid, our pay increases
That Someday I'll where problems end
Where every piece of mail is from a friend
Where the children are sweet and already grown
Where all the other nations can go it alone
Where we all retire at forty-one
Playing backgammon in [or golf] in the island sun
Most unhappy people look to tomorrow
To erase this day's hardship and sorrow
They put happiness on "lay away"
And struggle through a [self-inflicted] blue today
But happiness cannot be sought
It can't be earned, it can't be bought
Happiness is where you are right now
Pushing a pencil or pushing a plow
Going to school or standing in line
Watching and waiting, [enjoying your time]
If you live in the past you become senile
If you live in the future you're on Someday I'll
The fear of results in procrastination
The joy of today is a celebration
Life's most important revelation
Is that the journey means more than the destination
you can save, you can slave, trudging mile after mile
But you'll never set foot on your someday I'll
When you've paid all your dues and put in your time
Out of nowhere comes another Mt. Everest to climb
From this day forward make it your vow
Take Someday I'll and make it your now!

Denis Waitley
Seeds Of Greatness Pages 242-243.

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"Take A Moment"

Take a moment to hear today,
What your children are trying to say.
Listen today whatever you do,
Or they won't come back to listen to you.
Listen to their problems.
Listen to their needs.
Praise their smallest triumphs.
Praise their smallest deeds.
Listen to their chatter.
Amplify their laughter.
Find out what's the matter.
Get to what they're after.
Tell them that you love them
Every single night,
And as you tiptoe out, say
"Happy dreams, sleep tight."
Turn out the light.
Turn around and say,
"Oh, by the way,
Regardless of our differences today,
Tomorrow everything will be all right,
And things between you and I are bright."
Take a moment to hear today,
what your children are trying to say.
Listen today whatever you do,
and they'll come back to listen to you.

Denis Waitley

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True Participant

When an individual is no longer a true participant, when
he no longer feels a sense of responsibility to his society,
the content of democracy is emptied. When culture is
degraded and vulgarity enthroned, when the social system
does not build security but induces peril, inexorably the
individual is impelled to pull away from a soul-less
society. This process produces alienation-perhaps the
most pervasive and insidious development in
contemporary society.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Winners And Losers

How do you account for the difference
between those who "Make It" and those
who "bomb out" in any effort in life?
Talent isn't the whole answer. Nor is luck.
There is another element that helps separate
the winners from the losers.
When a winner makes a mistake, he says, "I
was wrong." When a loser makes a mistake,
he says, "It wasn't my fault."
A winner goes through a problem; a loser
goes around it, and never gets past it.
A winner says, "I'm good, but not as good
as ought to be." A loser says, "I'm not as
bad as a lot of other people."
A winner listens; a loser just waits until it's
his turn to talk.
A winner feels responsible for more than
his job; a loser says, "I only work here."

(Author Unknown)

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